The Virgin

Prayers for a hurting world, a world in chaos.

My image above relates directly to the gospel reading at Mass today, from the Wedding at Cana, where Mary tells the servants "Do whatever He tells you."

I cannot help but think that, given the events of this past week, He is telling us to reach out in compassion and love to those devastated by the earthquake in Haiti.

Do whatever He tells you.

I'm trying, Mother Mary.

Silver Sunday with Sylvia

It's Silver Sunday again at Gypsy Fish Journal, so allow me to once again introduce you to another member of my family....

Say hello to Sylvia, so named because she is, in large part, silver.

I rescued her from an estate sale garage two days ago, and told her not to get too comfortable, as she's headed to the booth next week!

 

 

Why, she even came with her original instructions still in the box!

This brings the body count to four in my house.

Four dress forms, that is.  ;-)

Beauties one and all, but Sylvia holds the honor of being the only silver one, and therefore the only gal invited to this lil' Sunday soirée.

Be sure to visit Beth at Gypsy Fish for links to all the other SS participants!

What 10 cents gets ya these days...

One BIG ( 24" by 36"), heavy, altogether impressive vintage mirror!

Yep, there's your proof right there!

Found at a local thrift store today.

Heck, I even managed to impress myself with this find, and I'm a tough crowd to please!

I came home with an SUV loaded full of treasures, some headed to the booth, some headed to Etsy, some headed to Warrenton, and some destined for my next mixed-media art creation. I'll take some pics of it all once I get a little free time (hmmmm, what's that?).

Sooooooo.....what did YOU find on the junkin' trail this fine Saturday???

Worth a Thousand Words?

 (Vintage Hat as Art, available via my Etsy Shop)

Of course, I've layered my lovely hat on top of a vintage postcard texture, just to show y'all my new and bestest toy.

Yep, somebody just got Photoshop. ;-)

And I'm having a ball with it! I'm afraid that I'm gonna be a Photoshoppin' fool for the next little while, so bear with me.

 

Above is me tinkering with textures on my screen door pic from last Summer.

Below is the original.

Before Image:

My Tree of Life photo from last Summer as well, with a wood texture added.

Below that is the original image.

Here's the shadowbox I made (my first!) from a couple of days ago, with my little buddy Charlie perched cozily inside.

Yep, tweaked with PS Elements a bit, too.

I'm such a novice at Photoshop it's laughable, but I have an intense desire to learn, and to hopefully be able to create art worth sharing at some point.

Right now, it's a back and forth of trial and error with what I want to achieve. It took me a few hours tonight just to teach myself how to layer images and add textures, so I think I might have a steep learning curve ahead of me.

But do you know how wonderful it is to quite literally stumble upon something you:
1. Never thought you were good at
2. Never thought you would enjoy
3. Never had the slightest interest in

And then, out of the blue, you discover that it gives you endless hours of joy and pleasure?

Well, that would describe what photography and photo editing have become to me these past few months.
I could quite honestly sit here hour after hour digitally manipulating every image in my computer. It's THAT much fun for me!

Quick shout-out, I couldn't have done any of this without the generous assistance of Denise at

My Vintage Gardens. She's a whiz at PS, do yourself a favor and head over to her blog. Prepare to "oooh" and "aaah" , her work is stunning.

Watch my Etsy shop in the weeks ahead, I hope to be able to begin creating and selling my own mixed-media original art. Wouldn't that be something?!

Fingers crossed and prayers ascending!

Happy Friday Everyone!

White Wednesday...

...a very old and weathered white tombstone, the marble cross darkened and covered in moss and lichen.

While the tombstone might represent death to some, to me, it represents life. A new life beyond death, a belief central to my faith.

From death springs life.

From under a frosty blanket of snow, life will spring forth in just a few short months.

This much we know.

But to gaze upon this image, to contemplate the lichen clinging to the edges of the cross, I am forced to view the ferocious tenacity of life in all its many forms....the lowly lichen included.

As it clings to the cross, as life springs forth from what many eyes view as a place of death, so I am reminded of the tenets of my faith.

As we pray at Mass, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

From death,  life emerges.

Fresh, new, eternal.

Just words and an image to ponder this White Wednesday, hosted by Kathleen at

Faded Charm.

Critique My Craft

Or crap, as the case may be. ;-)

Please be kind.

Truthful, but kind.

I lucked upon a stash of wonderful Martha Stewart Crafts Collector Boxes, which are basically shadowboxes, for a fraction of what they normally sell for. Found them at Tuesday Morning, which is also where I lucked upon a treasure trove of Martha Stewart rubber stamps and paper punches, too.

It's no secret that I am not a crafter. Understatement, much?

And yet I have this intense desire to be this crazily crafty chick, whipping out paper wreaths and angel fairy jars,  crocheting neck warmers and sewing homemade Snuggies for my dogs. Whaaaaa? Why you be laughin' at that last one?  ;-) They only make 'em for little pip-squeak mutts, and my babies are 60 lb Huskies! Big dogs need love (and warmth!) too.

But I digress.

So I gathered up all the tools of the trade that I had at hand...

1. Shadow Box
2. Old Sheet Music
3. Scrabble Tiles
4. Flash Card
5. Old Skeleton Key
6. Mod Podge
7. E6000 Glue
8. Craft Punch (for sheet music doves)
   

Mind you, this is the first time EVER that I've attempted to do anything like this. I'm going for more of a minimalist look, not an everthing-but-the-kitchen-sink sort of collage.
This is the first draft of what I've got thus far...

 

 

AND...here's a later pic I snapped after this posted, incorporating some of your ideas...

 

And here's a later fix, with the edges of the flashcard aged a bit...

Dingleberry here had already glued the key in place, so it would've been tough to have laced a ribbon through it, so I used this awesome fabric ribbon I received from Jill at Gypsy Brocante. You rock, Jill!

Almost there...

Annndddd.....

The Final Edit!

Meet Charlie, my latest bisque baby courtesy of my new friend Katie's Etsy Shop, Linda Paloma.

The next one will be SO much better, thanks to all of your contributions.

So there you have it!

I know it's nowhere NEAR the level of artistry of my buddy Dawn from Feathered Nest, or any one of a hundred of you other crafty lil' critters. But it's a start.

So tell me.

What do I need to add? Or take away?

Fine as is? Ha! Hardly.

Here's your chance to make me a better artist....PLEASE!

XO,

Me

For No Other Reason Than....

....to say Thank You.

I just clicked on to my blog and took a quick look at my followers list, and was suddenly overcome with.... gratitude.

I am so thankful for each and every person who visits here, whether you leave a comment or not (even though I love  comments!), or whether you become a follower or not (although I love those, too!)

Just the fact that you took a few minutes out of your busy day, and chose to spend a little time here with me, out of the hundreds and thousands of other blogs out there....it's humbling.

I make a lot of mistakes.
I'm not the most talented, or the most prolific.
I'm certainly not the craftiest or the most inspiring.
I'm just me.

And you should know that as much as I may have contributed to your lives, you have blessed me a hundred times more so.

So, again, I say

For allowing me the opportunity to live out a little piece of my dreams here with you.
For sharing in my life, and for encouraging me when I've needed it the most.
For accepting me into your sister (and brother) hood, and for making me wonder how I ever got along before knowing all of you.