Back in the Deco Saddle!

Oh how I've missed doing decos! It seems like ages since I've finished my last, although I know it really hasn't been that long. They really are one of my very favorite round robin type artforms!

So, this deco spread that I created for Julie Anne was really quite simple... she made it simple for all of us! She simply wanted a rubbing... and she set the deco pages to serve as frames for the rubbings... so all we really had to do is to get a piece of rice paper (or Mulberry paper would have worked nicely too, I imagine) that was the right size, and find something of interest to create a rubbed image.

Therein lies the challenge. Not everything you think might make an interesting rubbed image does... I tried quite a few things before I finally found just the right thing... a teapot template. (Hey, I did say it was JUST the RIGHT thing... can you think of anything more "me" than tea?)

So here's a photo...

It was a lot of fun!

~Anne

Inchies!

OK... if any of you also visit my flickr account, you already know this story, so bear with me.

I've been hesitant to try inchies, because well, to be quite honest, I didn't really want to get obsessed with yet another artform. I've been bitten by the ATC bug, as well as the 'zine bug, the charm-making bug, the altered book bug, the fatbook/chunkybook bug, the puzzle altering bug... you get the picture, right? Nearly every artform I attempt, I end up falling in love with... and well, I just didn't need to become obsessed with something else.

So, I thought, as long as I don't try inchies, I won't become obsessed.

Makes sense, right?

However, one of my best friends chose to host an inchies swap with my yahoo group, so I felt obligated to join in the fun. I mean, it is my group. Shouldn't I partake of the swaps they participate in, if for no other reason than to promote good will within the group itself?

Yeah, I'm full of them... excuses, that is.

So, I finally got out my paper cutter and started cutting out 1 inch squares. One thing that is really nice about inchies is that they are quite small, so you can use your left-over papers for them.

The requirements of the swap are 8 inchies per set, and I've decided to make 2 sets. Here's my first one...

and my second...

I fear that perhaps the second is too similar to the first, since I used similar images and the same embellishment. The backgrounds are quite obviously different, but, I don't know if that's enough to consider them two individually separate sets.

Anyways, I hope that the swap hostess likes them.

~Anne

I love Altered Books!

For the couple of months that I've dedicated to my move, I've not had a lot of time to do any artwork... it was particularly frustrating for me because I had a couple of commitments to my art group to work on a couple of altered books as well as the decos I recently received in the mail, and I really hate making others wait on me.

It happens way too often too... sometimes, I just don't feel creative or artistic, and it's hard to sit down and work on something when it's just not there for you. Perhaps that's a cop out, although it's not a cognitive cop out, that is, it's not something that I'm aware that I'm copping out on... if that makes sense? I just quite honestly do not feel like my best work comes out of me when I'm forcing myself to do something that I'm not feeling.

But... that wasn't even the case this time, it wasn't that I wasn't feeling creative or artistic, it was that I didn't have the time, space, or energy to devote to artwork because of the move. And even though the move has been over and done with now for a couple of months, I've still a great deal of work to do before I can say that I'm all moved in... but most of the work that I've left to do involves my art studio/garage, and that is something that will take a while...

Anyways... I did manage to finally finish my layout for Laura's Ocean book...

There were some pretty amazing layouts in this book by other artists, I felt rather intimidated by them... but I am happy about how the layout came out... I hope Laura likes it as well.

Well, hopefully later this week, I'll have time to post my true colors journal photos! Until then, thanks for stopping by and catching up with me!

~Anne

New Stuff!

Hello Everyone!

I've been somewhat silent here on my blog lately, I guess that's nothing new... it seems like weeks and weeks can go by and I don't post... but, it really doesn't seem like it's that long for me.

Anyways, I've been busy with various art projects, the one that's been consuming most of my time has been a fatbook with my yahoo tea group. I've been wanting a rubicoil machine for a while, and I used this fatbook project as an excuse to finally break down and get myself one. Yippee!

So, my tea group and I put together a tea-time indulgence recipe book -- fatbook style! Here is my page that I made for the book...

and the back of the page........

I really like the way these turned out.

~Anne