RamsHead -Salt Pond Bay, St. John

SaltPond Bay RamsHead, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

A Happy New Year to all who visit the creative lenna blog! I am so glad to have you with me on my journey. If you follow my work here regularily, you know it's been quite a while since I posted . . . I must say I have enjoyed my time away with my family. Steven and I are having great fun discovering the charms of simple pleasures like playing one of our favorite childhood games, Monopoly! Because of our vacation & the time we enjoyed together, we have also proposed to take 2 days off a month, as a "vacation date". No computer for Steven or I, no work; just time spent together however we choose! Yesterday was the first of these "vacation dates" and we visited the New Britain Museum of American Art. Wonderful! I saw one of my great Uncle's paintings there, always a thrill. We watched Forest Gump on TV, played Monopoly, read books (I'm reading Elinor Lipman), cooked dinner and talked. I am looking forward to this!

I did want to drop by though and say hi, and also share a photo I took while Steven & I were in St. John, US Virgin Islands. As you can see, it is quite beautiful there. If you click on the photo, it will take you to my flickr photo sharing account where you can view many more pictures as a slideshow or singly, as you choose. Steven & I took probably 200-300 photos between us, but don't worry - I did not upload them all! We hope to use many of them in artwork in the months to come. I also kept a diary of sorts while we were there and I may choose some photos and upload them along with my entries in the weeks to come.

I have recently updated my creative swaps blog and I welcome you to visit: http://creativeswaps.blogspot.com/

We wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year! Yours creatively, Lenna

Journal Quilt #28: Dec. 16, 2007

_Dec16.2007, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

Journal Quilt - ice & snow. This is the 28th journal quilt I've made this this year! When our flight didn't leave on time today I snuck this in! [note: we did get away the next day] This journal quilt started with a photo I took of a boulder in our back yard (see photo below, previous post) all icy. I printed the photo on matte paper and then sewed it to fabric. The Iridescent Glass Spheres I added are from Alpha Stamps - I just love these!

This is my journal entry for the back of the quilt (added 12-26-07)

December 16th, 2007 * Journal Quilt Number 28 *

*Ice and Snow*

For this journal Quilt I used a photo I had taken of a boulder in our back yard that had been covered with ice during a recent storm. I printed the photo out using matte photo paper and considered doing an image transfer to fabric, but decided instead to use the print just as it was on paper so I could capture all the details of the ice on the rock. I added a square of batting behind a piece of muslin and then stitched all the layers together – batting, muslin & photo printed on paper – by stitching around the edge with a zigzag stitch. Next, I used a straight stitch to follow the lines of some of the branches in the photo and further ‘quilt’ the piece. Lastly, I added 2 sizes of Iridescent Glass Spheres from Alpha Stamps by using quick-drying Goop glue. The way these glass spheres sparkle reminded me of the ice!

The ice storm that fell the day before I made this journal quilt delayed our trip to the U.S, Virgin Islands by a day, and the icy conditions made me worry a bit, but everything turned out OK. We got off the next day for our trip and when we returned it was an unnatural 50 degrees outside (for Connecticut in December!) and all the ice in our driveway had melted. : ) Merry Christmas!

snow & ice & vacation!

12.07.07 010, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

Steven & I were supposed to leave this morning on our vacation, but yesterday morning they canceled today's flight because of a 2nd storm (within a few days) hurling itself across the country. This photo was taken before these storms hit Connecticut, but you get the idea . . . . snow & ice, oh my!

Hopefully we will be off to warmer weather and relaxation tomorrow . . . . our gift to ourselves. Any comments left here will be saved and published upon our return! Thanks.

Wishing you a creative and fun-filled holiday time during the next few weeks . . . yours creatively, Lenna

Featured artist!

About 2 weeks ago I received an email from Nina Pateña, a Design Team member for Queen Kat Design stamps - which are all clear stamps and meant to be used with clear acrylic blocks. Queen Kat and Nina host a related blog called Queen Kat's Blogger's Club and were looking to feature me on their blog.

Nina wrote, "We think your blog rocks (in fact, we think you rock!) and we’d love to feature you as one of our Bloggers of the Week/Day in the QK Bloggers Club!"

How lovely! I answered their questions via email and just 2 weeks later my interview/feature article is up! Go HERE to read it - what fun! : ) Thank you both, Queen Kat & Nina. These two are on the look-out for more featured bloggers as they 'aim to bring stampers and scrappers together in one blog'. Do you know of someone who should be featured? Do you want to be featured? Check out the QKD Bloggers Club!

I've been TAGGED!

I have been tagged by Wanda!

Here are the simple rules to being tagged:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Here are my random/weird facts:

1. Most of you probably don't know (unless you've been reading here for a while) that I had heart surgery when I was 6 years old. My grandfather often came to visit me during the 6 weeks I was in the hospital and later told my mother, “Lenna is so bored that she put a crayon between her toes and is drawing pictures that way!” I had Patent Ductus Arteriosus, a heart valve problem that was fixed with some complications at the time; but I have lived a healthy life since then.



2. Did you know that my great uncle was a famous American Impressionist at the turn of the Century? His name is William Glackens, and I am named after his daughter, Lenna Glackens (pictured to your left). William Glackens married Edith Dimock, who was also an artist and the sister of my grandfather noted above. I have a whole page devoted to William Glackens on my website.

3. I have never created an "Inchie" before, but have now signed myself up for TWO inchie swaps hosted by Frieda Oxenham!!



4. My studio is still only partially unpacked, with lots of boxes all about, even though we moved in September- 3 months ago. We did not OWN our home until the middle of November, but still . . . you would think I could have unpacked a few more things! It has not stopped me from creating, just gets a bit frustrating at times. (which means I will attend to it soon - I hopE!)

5. I am seriously considering taking a job outside of my art and my teaching only because the extra money would certainly help with any expenses of our new home.


6. Every year I visit beautiful Wolfe Island, in Ontario, Canada - the largest of the Thousand Islands. I had a dog named Coda for 5 years, and he now lives on this Island with Farmer John Posthumous. This farmer adopted Coda after I could not keep him anymore. Last summer Steven & I saw Coda (in John's truck) for the first time in 2 years. His granddaughter told me they are inseparable (John is in his late 70's or 80's) and Coda seemed to recognize me, but was obviously farmer John's dog now. I felt settled after seeing Coda like that.

7. I met my husband when I was only 15 years old, but did not marry him until I was 48! Did we have a very long courtship? No . . . our first marriages ended when the same thing happened to both of us: our spouses cheated on us and left. It all worked out for the best though! Steven and I were good friends for many years; Steven even watched my children grow up and used to draw silly pictures for them. At that time I never thought of Steven romantically . . . . Steven on the other hand, freely admits now that he has always had a crush on me! : ) We are very happy to be together and still very much in love.

I am tagging:

Carla Kurt - http://anonyrrie.typepad.com/

Frieda Oxenham - http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/

Debby Harriettha - http://innerreflections.typepad.com/

Eva Nyberg - http://eva-minabilder.blogspot.com/

Maggie Hannigan - http://creativegleanings.blogspot.com/

Vicci Henderson - http://www.moonstarsandpaper.blogspot.com/

Cat Dodt-Ellis - http://catworx.blogspot.com/

TipTop journal exchange ~ for Angie

I am in an exchange of journal page spreads, called TipTop Journals. Last summer, Frieda Oxenham and Debby Harriettha invited me to join them, and I said (without hesitation) - 'Yes!' There are 10 of us all together and each month we create a journal spread for a different partner, on her chosen theme. Here is what I created for Angie Hall Haviland - click on the photo:

We all are using the same size, and in most cases, the exact same blank journal with removable pages; this makes it very easy to create for each other. Angie had a 'free choice' theme, so I tried to think of what colors she might like and what I thought was important to her. I picked pink & gold for the colors and chose a theme of family, friends & love. Here's the left page - click on any photo for a close-up view:

and the right page:

I used both Angelina "film" and a bit of Angelia fibers, pre-printed words, pink flower petals used for paper making, itty bitty gold stars & gold star glitter, little bits of abalone shell and various handmade papers. The image of the man & woman on the left page (above) is from Vintage Image Madness - I love it! On the bottom of the left page and on the top of the right page are images from Tracy Roos 'Christmas Angels' ~ available through Alpha Stamps.

In my typical fashion, I did not really know what I was going to do when I started. I had a germ of an idea and I started gathering things that I thought might work for this page spread. As usual, I thought of other things or added items after I began . . . one thing usually leads to another when I create! I had never worked with Angelina film before. I tried ironing it, crumpling it up and finally got the most interesting results with my heat gun. This film is what is adding most of the irridescence you see to this spread. All in all, I am happy with how this piece came out and hope Angie enjoys it!

FBRR - fabric book rr!

Here is Sara's page for the Fabric Book RR I have been involved with for almost a year, hosted by Dawn Sellers. This is my very LAST fabric page to contribute; this is for Sara Davis' garden & flower themed book. Sara had ribbons flowing out of her cover, so I felt I need to add ribbons to my page for her; they are from Alpha Stamps (scroll down).
The flower images are fabric and from the 'Iris' sheet and the bugs are paper collage images glued on from the 'Butterfly' sheet; all Alpha Stamps.

Below is one of my pages stacked with all the rest, inside Sara's wild, ribbon festooned cover! Sara, your book left town today - and is on it's way back home to YOU!

Brass pendant

A brass pendant I made from Alpha Stamps 'Pendant Kit'. I love these kits Leslie puts together!

I had fun earlier with the ribbon sachet kit . . . . so I had to try this kit too. The brass pendant kit comes with a college sheet, transparency frames (which cover the image nicely), 3 brass label holders and 8 yards of yummy ribbon. I made this pendant reversable; using 2 images, 2 transparencies & 2 brass frames, so that when it flips over while you are wearing it there is something lovely to see on both sides... Below is the other side - click on any photo for much greater detail.