November :: Colour Groupies ATCs

4 caryl hoobler, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

For November, the colors for the Colour Groupies ATCs are Yellow & Brown, just perfect for this time of year! Because of a postal strike in Scotland, which fortunately is settled for now, Frieda sent her ATCs out a little early. I loved the card she enclosed her November ATC in so much, that i used it both directly and color copied it to make my ATCs and the cards to enclose them in. Click on the photo above to see Caryl Hoobler's card & ATC in full, plus all of the rest I created for this month's exchange.

I used the actual card, cut up for most of the ATCs, but some are copies like I used on the cards. I placed the patterned card section on top of brown cardstock sized 2.5 x 3.5", then accentuated the yellow and brown areas with watercolor crayons and pencils. I punched out yellow flowers and stars, glued them on, and then used a yellow-gold Brilliance ink pad and a feather stamp to add pattern to the edges of the ATCs. The fortunes are not available anymore; they are old fabric images from ARTchix Studio. You could make your own, though! I hope you enjoy. I made these a while ago . . . still waiting for Debby's to arrive in Canada, but she has promised not to peek -allowing me to do my art housekeeping before we move!

p.s. moving update: my studio shelves are almost completely bare, yikes!! lenna young andrews, November 11, 2009

AB RR -altered book round robin

crop 4Gigi.1, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

Here is a small portion of my altered book spread in Gigi Lorenc-Gibson's book. Her theme is Enchantment. Gigi told us she loves shiny things, glitter and ribbon. For this altered page I used a color copy of a painting by John Singer Sargent that I think embodies enchantment. To see more, and to read a few of the details behind the altering, click on the photo above! thanks, lenna 11/11/09

boat racks and boxes

I am still in my studio boxing things up for our move with an occasional time-out for art for exchanges . . . more on that tomorrow. But, my studio shelves are looking quite empty now. I must say I'm moving through the work without too much distraction! There are some rubber stamps I stop and hold for a minute, saying goodbye to them for a few months, 'till we have a new home, some other stamps that I decide must be tucked into my "art for the road" box. Then there is old correspondence I've saved for years that I can't help but stop and read, shifting through stuff -deciding to let go of some . . . fabric to pick through -choosing a few small bits to take with me, images to look through and stash in my art bag, so many pieces of art to look at as I pack them, cards and gifts people have sent . . . but I have not been way-lay ed too much. Listening to music I continue to chip away at it. The pile of boxes is getting quite large now! Moving long distance to Florida means paying by the pound when it is delivered, so I am trying to make good decisions. When the studio is more packed up I will take another photo and you will be amazed. This is after giving away and selling a large part of my art supplies this spring, in preparation for now!

My husband Steven has been selling leaf blowers, snow blowers, old desks, washers and dryers to name a few; using Craigslist to clear these things out! He has given both of his brothers most of his father's sculptures and paintings and also extra tools and dive tanks he does not want to pay to move. Steven made a canoe and kayak rack today to go on top of the trailer that tows the Melonseed sailboat. My father made both the sailboat and the canoes himself out of cedar strips. We will be towing them down to him now . . . . It is so cool. See photos below.

We have secured a cottage to rent while looking for a new place - the lease is on it's way, phew. Both of my sons have asked to come visit soon after we get to Florida -one in December and the other in January, hallelujah!! That is my 'moving report' for now! I will be back with some art tomorrow. : ) yours creatively, lenna young andrews -November 10, 2009

packing up

Packing is hard work, especially when the moving van is coming in only 3 weeks! I had to have a little fun with all this work, so i took these photos of packing up in my studio and the box and bag that will be my quote, "studio" for probably the next 2 months. I am sure this small amount of art stuff will serve me well!

AB Exchange with Sharon Borsavage

cover, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

This is the cover of my altered book with a theme of Nature -the incredible beauty of it. I take so many photos when out walking that I couldn't resist choosing this theme. On the cover has an image transfer of a photo I took out in the woods, transfered to fabric. Then I used my xyron to adhere the fabric to the cover of an old music book. For more photos of the pages I did, click on the cover!

I am altering this book in collaboration with Sharon Borsavage, who is so kindly putting up with me entering into this exchange with her as I am about to move - from CT to Florida!! We are doing a 1-1 exchange, working in each other's altered books, in a very unscheduled manner as we are both quite occupied theses days. But you should see new work in both books every so often on both of our blogs in the months to come. We hope you enjoy, as we know we will! ~ lenna young andrews, November 4th, 2009 -- please note our moving out date is November 28th with the closing here in Avon on November 30th. After that, we are off to join my parents in Bradenton, Florida - halelujah! So if I am scarce, this is why : ))

good news : )

Here is the latest news! Yesterday was my husband Steven's last day of work at ICS - Innovative Computer Systems in Farmington, CT. He had told his boss Steve Roux about 5 months ago, that he would be leaving his job when our house sold because we would be moving to Bradenton, Florida to be near my parents. Well, our house had not sold a couple of weeks ago when this decision was made -- it was time for Steven to leave the company, and we understood. A party was planned in his honor. Steven had worked at ICS for 17 years! We kept our fingers crossed that our house would sell soon.

Yesterday morning on Steven's last day at work and the same day as the party, we received an offer on our house! wow. We accepted the offer, met after work to sign it and seal it, and then went to the party!! What a happy celebration it was. Our closing is scheduled for November 30th and if all goes well, Steven and I will be heading to Florida soon after that. Steven insists it is my "Guardian Angel" that made these events happen in such a way, but I must say thank you for all your good wishes, support and prayers -so appreciated!

I created another Animoto video from photos I took at Steven's farewell party. Check out his Florida shirt! Click Here to see it. : )

Artist Trading Cards

Another Animoto video montage I made, this one may be my favorite yet! Click on the arrow to play.

10.27.2009 My Artistic Life challenge - Inspired by Your Reading Materials!

10.27.09. challenge, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

On Helga Strauss' blog, My Artstic Life we are working on expanding our creativity through her fantastic weekly challenges. Click on the link above to find out more . . . and click on the photo above to view the full image. This is the 2nd week of an online class Helga is generously offering for free! This week our assignment was to "make a collage using images from one of your favorite magazines and add dots and circles in a variety of ways". Last week we worked on dots & circles (see below) and we were supposed to pick our favorite pattern to add to our collage. A perfect idea!

I do not usually work with circles and dots so these have been great challenges for me. Thanks, Helga!!
lenna young andrews, October 27th, 2009.