Farfel & Star have a new home

When Steven and I decided to sell our home here in CT so we could move to Florida near my parents, we sadly knew that we would not be able to take our two cats Star & Farfel with us. For one thing, we are simplifying our life and downsizing for this upcoming move, and for another -my mother is highly allergic to cat fur. So, after we made our decision, I contacted Mary's Kitty Korner in Granby, CT. This is the shelter where we adopted Star & Farfel from as kittens about 2 years ago. I worked with Lisa who had helped us before and we set up an ad through their listing on Petfinder.com. It took about two months, but we were lucky to find a wonderful new adoptive "mom" for our beautiful and sweet boys . . .

The exchange took place last Thursday at Mary's Kitty Korner, and I received an email from their new mom today! "The boys are doing well. They spent their first day sniffing everything. Star hid behind the TV and I couldn't find him any where and worried that he snuck outside (which would have been odd, nonetheless), but then I found him. They both spend time together under my bed or on my bed now when I'm not home. Otherwise, they have been playing with their new toys and seem to be having fun. They follow each other everywhere, so I can see why they needed to be adopted together! They are really sweet. Enjoy Canada! " Cheryl (we leave for vacation in a week's time)

I was so happy to receive this news and very glad they are both adjusting as I thought they would, and doing well. It is strange to not have them around, but there are benefits too -only 2 animals to feed now - instead of 4, etc! And, this was necessary for us. I feel blessed that Star & Farfel did not have to spend any time in a cage waiting for someone to adopt them, and instead they went from one loving home to another. We are all very lucky!

On our way home . . .

On our way home: This is the theme that Marion Bockelmann chose when she won the "garden party" lotto on the ARTchix Studio yahoo group last week. As a member of the yahoo group, you can participate in a Bi-Weekly Lotto and have the chance of winning all of the art entered for the lotto, and hosting the next one! : ) I was not sure if I would have time to do something, but I squeezed in my interpretation of the theme this morning . . . .

I did not feel like making an ATC this time, so I made a small 4" x 4" piece for the lotto instead. It has a fabric base. I sewed two paper images from ARTchix Studio's ART BLAST collage sheet on the top layer of fabric with my sewing machine first. The two birds are faux post from the Feather Your Nest Faux Postage Sticker Sheet, and the "Love Birds" words I added are from the birdsong collage sheet. The back looks like this:

I attached another piece of fabric and sewed the two together so the seams would face the inside. I stuffed the little fabric pillow with a bit of batting and used yellow embroidery thread to make a few stitches around the piece and sew the bottom up by hand. I then took an extra stamped quote on watercolor paper and added color to it with Twinkling H2Os. I still had this on my table from practicing for one on Helga's weekly challenges! When it was dry, I added the paper quote to the bottom of the piece with fabric glue. Then I turned it over and added another faux post image from the Feather your nest sheet and signed it! Voilà! I can enter the lotto now : ))

ARTchix Weekly Challenge 7/7/09 ~ play with pink & blue

For Helga's weekly challenge on her blog I played with the colors pink & blue! Amazingly, in the monthly color combo I participate in with 4 friends, we have yet to work with this particular combination . . .

I decided to make 'Twinchies', which are 2"x 2" squares, as I already had some watercolor cards cut in that size . . .

I used various words (fortunes) and images from the ARTchix Imagine collage sheet, a sticker from the Chixies True Colors Sticker collection (spoil me muse -i love art) and wonderful words that I love from the Her Words collage sheet. I painted the watercolor squares first with Twinkling H2Os water colors in watery shades of pink & blue, added a bit of blue checked scrapbook paper and finished them all with a blue glitter pen. This was just what I needed to do today. Thanks for the challenge, Helga!

garden party Mail Art for Marion!

This is what I sent to Marion Bockelmann when she won the "garden party" lotto on the ARTchix Studio yahoo group -which is where you can participate in a Bi-Weekly Lotto and have the chance of winning all the art entered for the lotto! I was inspired by the theme and created 2 pieces; a Fabric ATC and a also a bookmark. You can read how I created them, here in my orignal post!

To send them to Germany, I rubber stamped a card (Tall cards by JudiKins) and an envelope for Marion with Magenta stamps, to hold her lotto bounty. I just heard that Marion has received my envelope on the yahoo group, so I can share it with you now.
: )

my Florida visit : 0 )

I had a great visit with my mom & Dad in Bradenton, Florida recently. I am showing them here in a photo-op with their good friends from the UK, Roger & Pat James! That's Roger on the left, next to him - my mom, then Pat, and then my Dad. Doesn't he look great? : 0 ) Dad made a wonderful handmade canoe paddle for Steven and gave it to him last March when we both were visiting, and then Dad went ahead and made a special canoe paddle for me, which he gave me last Friday. I am amazed at his workmanship. He made the handle out of apple wood; he carved it himself just for me.

WOW! If you look closely - click on the photo below, you can see how he specially burned my nickname, 'Lenna Pie' into the handle of the paddle! This is what his mother - my Nonie, used to call me, along with everyone else in my family! Well, actually, my parents do still call me Lenna Pie sometimes!!!!

Dad is doing so well with his liver cancer and is presently in remission. He really looked the best I have seen him in a long while (a year and a half) and my mom looked really good too. Both of them helped me to scout out a few homes this weekend and we found some possibilities . . . now Steven & I have to sell our home here in CT first, and then we'll be making an offer and moving down there!!

generosity project - another ATC! (that stands for: artist trading card)

Here is what I made for Vicki Page, one of my creative swap participants who responded to my generosity meme. What fun! I created a colorful ATC for her using my water color crayons and various ARTchix Studio images. I love that bird image from the Pretty Bird sheet! Then I rubber stamped and collaged a card and envelope for her as well, using Magenta and Catslife Press stamps. Vicki received it over the weekend, and so now I get to share it with you too! Click on the scan for more detail.

I am wrapping up my time in Florida with my parents and will be heading home tomorrow. What a fun time we had, and I am sure in part to dad feeling a lot better these days. I am counting my blessings.

generosity project :: fabric art for my friend Linda Schultz

I am down in Florida right now visiting my parents, but received a lovely email from Linda Schultz last night saying . . .
"I am so stunned by the beauty of the piece you created. It is so
lovely. I think I will shadow box frame it perhaps with some
little treasure or bottle that I picked up. (I love this idea!)
When the package arrived today and it was like a tonic lifting my
spirits. Thank you! so very much. You can see a scan and a write-up
on my blog: lindalovesgerry.blogspot.comI was so happy when Linda Schultz responded to my generosity meme! Linda and I have known each other for a long time, and having her respond to this project gave me the chance to create something special for her. Linda love all things Vintage, and in fact, has her own on-line store called: Collage Closet. You can visit her blog too! For her gift I took vintage lace and paired it with a soft burlap type fabric, to frame a silky piece of fabric which backed an ARTchix Studio image (and words) and a piece of floral/bird fabric I had that I thought Linda would like. I added puffy batting and hand sewed beads to the piece. (Frieda's influence!!) Here is a close-up - click for detail. This project has been a wonderful, creative experience for me. I have one more to create, and two more projects to be received and shared! It's been very good all around - I am so glad I did this. : ^ )

And down here in Florida, my dad is looking better than ever. We did a "drive-tour" today together to check out possible homes, and will go with our real estate friend to actually view some on Monday. Alas, no offers on our home in CT yet, but I have faith the right person will find us before too long and we'll be on our way here : ) In the meantime, I will try my best to embrace what I have!

Hot Red and Blue ::: July Colour Groupies ATCs

The color combo for July is: Hot Red and Blue!
This is part of my on-going monthly exchange with Colour Groupies -- a small group of mixed media & fabric artists that includes me, Frieda Oxenham, Debby Harriettha, Tristan Robin Blakeman and Caryl Hoobler.

The first ATC you see here, is the one I made and kept for myself. The color red, and particularly HOT Red, is not a color I usually reach for. Fortunately, I had a silky red drawstring bag in my fabric stash that I used to cut the backs and a small section for the front. Sometimes I like to make paper ATCs for this group and sometimes I make fabric . . . I certainly enjoy that I have the freedom to do what I like!

Here are the backs - very simple, but they get the color across!

For Caryl :

For Debby :

For Frieda :

And For Tristan :

To create them I simply cut out the front fabrics, laid some batting in the middle and stitched the fabrics and batting together with a zigzag stitch. Then I cut out paper hearts from the Heart and Soul collage sheet offered by ARTchix Studio. I used my machine to sew the paper hearts to the front of the ATC, one of my favorite things to do! The collage images all had a touch of red, and my machine's thread was switched to red for this month's color combo. Lastly, I sewed the silky red fabric to the backs of all the ATCs and used a sticky label to identify them.

:) another fun combo! I made and sent these a little early, with my June 'forest & rust' combo ATCs and they have all been received. We like to keep it a secret until they have been seen by the recipients!

6.23.09 ARTchix Weekly challenge: art up an uplifting quote

Check out 'lead ARTchix' Helga Strauss' blog for more info on her creative weekly challenges! This week our challenge was to "Art up a favorite, uplifting quote". Love it! I used to produce uplifting quotes as unmounted rubber stamps called LennaLines, so this was right up my alley... in fact, I still have a ton of my favorite quotes listed on my website. Check it out!

For this bookmark I used a piece of watercolor paper, my trusty watercolor crayons, 2 ARTchix Studio images, 14K gold markers around the edges, and one of my favorite LennaLines quotes, stamped with permanent black StazOn ink. I attribute this quote to my Grandmother, even though it was (and is) a favorite saying for many people. After she died in 1994, my mother gave me a box of her letters and notes. Inside, I found a piece of paper where she had jotted down the following sentences, at age 80.

"Let not the trial of this dark day destroy your perspective; the best is yet to come.
When walls of gloom surround you, think on this; the best is yet to come. In rosey glow of joy and happiness, it still holds true; the best is yet to come.
I lost my love at 24, he came to me at 38, 'twas perfect joy. The years I cried to see my mother toil were followed by her aging years of comfort and of peace.
My years of deep depression and despair were followed by an understanding that opened doors to precious fellowship.
Yet this, at 80, I can say, as I see every sun rise from the sea, I'm sure; the best is yet to come.
-Bertha Allshouse Dimock"


Thanks again, Helga for the opportunity!

my mother & my grandmother --

it's been raining . . .

it's been raining, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

-So, I entertained myself with a new look for my blog!!!!!

garden party art

Congratulations to Marion Bockelmann who won! My ATC and bookmark are headed your way!

On the ARTchix Studio yahoo group you can participate in a Bi-Weekly lotto. The winner of the last lotto selects a theme, and any group member who wants to creates something small, usually an ATC. This is tossed into the lotto by posting a photo on the group of what you made on the theme using an artchix product. The deadline is announced, and on that day the previous winner randomly chooses a new winner from those who posted their art. Then everyone who entered sends the piece they made to the new winner and he or she chooses a new theme!

I have not played for a while as I have been busy with selling our home, but things have lightened up recently and we are pretty well set for the next house showing, so I decided to dive in and create! Lisa picked a wonderful theme of 'garden party' that I could not resist. Entries are due June 22nd, so as of this post you still have time to join -- just go to the group -- remember you need to be a member to join in. It's easy to do!

I created a fabric ATC with a small paper image from the 'feathered friends' collage sheet. I added words from the 'tell me a story' sheets - transparency and collage. I hand sewed beads on the paper image of the woman in the garden after using my xyron adhesive machine to make a sticker out of it . . . I know I was inspired to do this by my friend in Scotland, Frieda! This is a signature of hers that I am beginning to enjoy.

Well, I also had other ideas so I created another small piece, this time a bookmark. I used 4 sections of the 'Floral Fantasy' sheet I had recently won from Helga for being published in Sew Somerset with a mini chix image - it was perfect for this theme! These images were glued to a piece of watercolor paper. I cut out a small image from the Saucy Showgirls sheet -her dress was laden with flowers and it was just what I wanted for this piece. I used watercolor crayons around the small edge of the watercolor paper and brought some of the color onto the images. I added 'she is free' from my favorite 'her words' collage sheet. I punched a hole through two paper flowers, added a leaf Helga sent me in a goody bag and threaded the ribbons through it all. I also edged the bookmark with a 14K gold marker. Click on any photo for more detail.

: ) lenna

ARTchix Weekly Challenge 6/16/09

Here is my answer to Helga's challenge on her blog when she said, "Make a grid of art." Please click on the photo for a close-up.

Making a grid is something I don't think I have ever done before . . .
I hemmed and hawed and did not do anything until after our Open House was over, our friends from New York had left, and the deadline was seriously upon me!! I decided finally to do a grid of rectangles, 2.5" x 3.5" in size, as Helga said any shaped grid was okay. Then I chose items from the goody bag Helga sent me when she picked my entry as one of her favorites a couple months back. This was serious fun! I also used a 10" x 14" watercolor painting I had created in the class I was taking the past few weeks as a base for my grid. It was not a good painting by itself as I am not a realistic painter, but it was awesome to use for what I wanted to do, and I was happy to recycle it into this challenge!

I laid the papers, collage images, stickers and ART Blast card from Helga's Goody bag out on top of my still life painting and glued them down once I got an arrangement I liked. I punched a heart shape out of the middle image and laid the extra heart shape on the receipt above it. I added black lines with a thick marker around some of the rectangles, and painted a black border around the entire edge with black acrylic paint. I used 3 different Magenta stamps by brushing the same black paint on them lightly before stamping; I wanted the same look. I added a couple of paper flowers Helga had included by using a brad, in fact everything you see as far as paper & images was from her goody bag! I think I went this way because it limited me in my decision making and helped me accomplish my goal! To finish my piece, I splattered some paint and brightened it by sponging more yellow paint on. Thank you Helga, it is always a pleasure!

Art Quilt Received : ^ )

This is another gift that I made and sent out for my generosity project, and this is definitely a special one. I was so pleased and so happy that my very good friend in Scotland, Frieda Oxenham, responded to my original post. That meant I had my chance to be extra generous, and create a special gift, just for her!

Frieda was picked as one of the 'winners' for this particular project I blogged about, and so soon afterwords I set out to think of what to create, especially for her. This was a bit of a challenge for me because I respect her so much as an artist, and I found it was a little intimidating. She has won so many awards for her art quilts and she is also such a generous and prolific artist in the mixed media world! I festered about what to do for just a bit . . . but I knew I wanted to do something with FABRIC for her and something that had meaning for her and also for me . . . and definitely something she would like!

Finally, I started by simply choosing bright batik fabrics that I imagined Frieda would like - as she has mentioned her love of bright fabrics before. I ripped out a 12"x12" section of two different fabrics; pink & purple! Then somehow, I got the idea of doing something related to her garden. Probably because Frieda has been sharing so many beautiful and appreciated photos of the flowers in her garden in Scotland as of late on her blog, which I have so enjoyed. Occasionally, if a larger version of a photo was available, I would copy it and save it to my own computer for reference or possible use later. While creating this art quilt I remembered I had a very lovely photo of what I believed to be one of Frieda's gardens when the daffodils were in full bloom. I got the idea to print that photo out onto fabric and incorporate it into the art quilt I wanted to make for her.

I ripped out another rectangle of the pink hued batik fabric, gathered some batting, and also the Alpha Stamps floral and leaf beads I had on hand. This made very much sense too, as Frieda still is, and I was, an Alpha Stamps design Team member! I took the top two pieces of fabric with the batting behind them and sewed them together. Then with a decorative leaf stitch from my sewing machine, I added the garden photo printed on fabric. To the top right corner, I added a small bird image from ARTchix Studio's garden sheet collection. I could not resist hand-beading some teeny tiny beads around this image, mimicking the beautiful work Frieda does on ATCs and her larger quilts.

It still needed something! So, I sewed the Alpha Stamps jeweled flowers, leaf beads, and added the pearlized stick pins from Alpha Stamps .... I knew I also wanted to add words and had to think for a while before I knew what I wanted to say. Finally! Meet you in the garden! I decided to rubber stamp this, as Frieda says she learned how to stamp on fabric from ME! I practiced a little and then went to the main fabric. because the batting was already in place it was a little tricky, but it worked. I was happy because what I wrote/stamped could be interpreted in more than one way. It could be the little bird saying, "meet you in the garden" or it could be Frieda saying to her husband John, 'Meet you in the garden', or it could be ME in CT, USA ---saying one day, Frieda, I will meet you in your Garden!! : ^ )))

I got an email from Frieda today, a week after I sent the art quilt out, and I will share with you what she said:

"Oh wow, I could barely believe the wonderful package which was handed over by my postie today. What a beautiful gift and I so love the picture you've used of our garden and how you combined it with the gorgeous batik fabrics. And I do so hope that one day we will meet each other in the garden as your text suggest!! Saying thank you, really does not seem adequate, but at the moment it's the best I can do!! Thanks again so much, from the bottom of my heart!"


: ) she need say no more! I am smiling. What a fantastic project I 'larked' into! Here is a close-up scan, click on any photo for more detail:

"Generosity" ATC received!

click on any photo for more detail Thanks, Patti, for letting me know that another one of my generosity meme projects was received!! This little gift that I sent to Patti Schmid because she responded to my original post, is an ATC that I started creating in my 'water media' class that just ended yesterday. I will certainly miss that class. One Thursday in class, after working on a landscape painting, I wanted to do something a little more 'looser' and free, so I pulled out my Dye-Na-Flow paints and decided to fool around. These paints have a very thin consistency. They are formulated more like dyes or inks, even though they truly are paints. Dye-Na-Flow comes in a wide range of colors and that day I opted for the brightest of colours! My teacher Frank Federico was really 'wowed' at the bright neon colors I used, but he so enjoyed seeing my finished ATCs when I returned the following week!

You can read more about Dye-Na-Flow HERE-the Jacquard web site. For this project I used a sponge and also a fan brush to paint the different colors all over the page. At that point, I had not decided yet what to do with my wild painting . . . . .

When I got home later, the idea hit me to take the entire sheet and cut it up into 2.5" x 3.5" sized ATCs as you see above (all scrunched together). I used my big paper cutter to do this and it worked out great; I got 15 cards from the entire large sheet. At first I did not know what more I wanted to do with them; I had only decided that I would give some to my teacher & classmates, and perhaps give some as gifts for this project. Then, it hit me! I still have all my "LennaLines" quote stamps from when I took my favorite quotes and made them into unmounted rubber stamps to sell. Using the quotes would allow the bright painted background to shine through while giving the ATCs the something extra they needed. I used Fabrico (VersaCraft) ink, which I heat set, in a midnight blue color - less harsh than black, but still with enough contrast. I chose quotes for all of the ATCs and stamped away.

I picked the ATC with the "Art is a calling" quote for Patti because I thought it would speak to her better than any of the other quotes. I do not remember where I got that quote from, Patti . . . it has been in my collected bank of quotes for about 15 years! You can read a whole bunch of my favorite quotes, tucked away on my website. I edged Patti's ATC with a metallic 14K gold marker to frame it, and make it more special. The envelope I sent the ATC in, that you see at the top of the page, is made from fabric! I glued an ARTchix Studio heart on with Tacky Glue as I knew Patti is fond of ARTchix things, and then I used a permanent marker to address it to her. Self adhesive stamps work great on fabric envelopes! So glad you enjoyed, Patti! Thanks for letting me know - this has been a great project so far . . . . I have 3 or 4 more to make and send!