Bottles as Art

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was taking a class in bottle art.  I am glad it is on line because I can take my time!!!

The first part has been a lot of decoupage and so therefore is slow, at least it is for me.  Glue gets everywhere and I have to keep letting it dry before I can move on.

So far I have done three layers.  I took a picture of the first layer, the gold paper, ( a heavy crinkled paper) then I didn't take a picture after I added the purple stringy stuff.... ) but I did take a picture of it with the gold stringy stuff added on top.  Don't you love my descriptions.  Actually both the purple and the gold were some sort of ribbons I got from the Berwick/Offrey ribbon outlet, a favorite source in a nearby town. I tore them up before I added them.

So here are the pictures.  I plan to add ribbons, beads, button and more "stuff" but this is it for the moment.

With the gold crinklly paper and the picture that sets the theme.

The purple and gold stringy stuff added.

Here is a closeup so you can see better what it looks like.

 I won't be able to work on this for awhile, so be patient with me.  But I promise I will show more pictures when I do the next step.

Wishcasting Wednesday

 What do you wish for your creativity?  

This was the question asked on Jamie Ridler's blog as a part of Wishcasting Wednesday.

 My wish is for a  clearing of the mind so that my creative muse can get in and work with me!!!   I have way too many interests and there are so many things around me that keep my creative self covered up.

This picture of our cat Spooky seems to sum up the way  my creativity has been going lately.

 

We will be traveling again soon and I am hopeful that some creative juices will join me, perhaps to do some journaling, some stitchery or other creative things.

 

Dear Little Deer

As I mentioned in my last post I am working on some bottles but don't really have anything I want to show yet.  I have such busy days in my shop that I can only work in the evening and am too tired to do much.  But I have done a bit of decoupage on two different bottles.  I just do a bit at a time so it can dry and I can see if I have missed anything.

WELL......  while looking out the window early this morning we were surprised to see a deer visiting our birdfeeders.  He or she really ate a lot!  Bill had to refill it shortly after.  Here are two pictures he took of the event.   The first picture the deer looks so innocent.  In the second picture...... not so innocent.....
Hope the he/she enjoyed the meal.

Bottles, Bottles,  Bottles !!!!   I love bottles (and jars too) and collected a few over the years.  I like to have them on window sills among other things. The light shines through.

I have signed up to take a class in decorating them in different ways.  I have been collecting up the supplies I will need.  The ones I will use first are shown in the picture above.  I haven't decided what bottle I will use first.  Stay tuned.

Meanwhile here are a couple of jars I did up recently inspired by a couple of books I have.  They are what are obviously fantasy type "specimen" bottles.

I hope to have something to show you soon.

More flowers

I seem to be on a coleus kick this year.  There are some many varieties and colors.

There are some coleus I put in the this tea cup planter in May.

I  am having some trouble figuring out how to add pictures today for some reason. And to add to the words.   I started this morning and gave up so am back again to try again.  I wanted to add a few more pictures that I took the other day.  Not as many as I thought were good enough to post but I liked these four.  I hope I can get them to settle properly here.  They are here and labeled but I can't move them to the order I want.  I hope they make sense.

And here the tea cup is in late July.  The coleus has really grown and filled in.

These are corel bells, a dark leaves version. And some plant I don't know the name of just behind it.

I am back again...........................

Wow, I have been along time away from this blog.  After my accident, the fall,  I just couldn't seem to get back to it. I have recuperated from that and have been rather busy doing things.  Just not blogging.   During this time we have been to two blue grass festivals, had a visit from my sister and brother in law and to our favorite farm and flea market in Leesport.  We also found another good one in Reedsville, Pa.  I have taken lots of pictures and hope to get them posted over the next week or so.  I have done two art swaps during this time, but   just swapping supplies, not the actual art.  I just can't seem to get myself to do much art but I am blaming it on the weather.
     I started taking pictures today after I went out to my antique shop and found Bentley the cat resting in a baby cradle that is filled with a small rug and some quilts.  He sure does know how to find nice places for naps.

Since I had the camera with me I took a few pictures of my yard on the way from the shop to the house.  The first thing that caught my eye was these two lilies growing close to each other.  Aren't they bright and cheerful.

 Next I looked at the Rudbeckia (black eyed susan.)  they are always plentiful at this time of year.  The big problem is that they are quite invasive and have pushed out all but one of the Echinacea (Purple Cone Flower) that were growing there.  But I still love the Rudbeckia!!!  

Here is a cute little planter I found at a flea market in Reedsville, PA.  Those hens and chicks are using the log as a planter.  The same lady had an old pocket book filled with hens and chicks.  There are some creative folks out there.  Here is a picture of the one that I bought.  It was so reasonable priced I couldn't leave it!

I have lots more pictures but will save them for another day.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been away from my blog for awhile.  Too much going on or not enough.

I haven't been doing much creating art.  I seem to be doing a LOT of reading though.

   Two weeks ago I started to get back spasms again.  Haven't had them in ages.
So I went to the doctor and he set me up on a pill regime, not much but enough and by
Saturday morning my back and therefore my life was back to normal.  Or so I thought.

On Saturday afternoon I was fairly busy in the shop. After one customer left I headed into the house  to get my dinner started.  (Lasagna)  As I was walking down the stairs to get on to the patio
I lost my balance.  And down I went. On to the concrete and brick. My customer who is also a very good friend and my husband both heard my screams for help. They came running to help. I had landed on my back.... and put a nice gash in my head.

Off we went to the emergency room.  The doctor was worried so had me get a CT scan to make
sure it wasn't a fracture..  It wasn't.  So he gave me 7 staples..... ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!!!!
He then said I could go home.  My back was bothering me but he was pretty sure it was connected to
the spasms I had been having last week.

Well maybe so.....  but today I went to my regular doctor to be checked out a bit more thoroughly.  He says I banged up my back, bruised some bones and set off the spasms again so back to the pill regime.
I have to use the heating pad a lot and don't sleep too well. Funny thing, I never did get a headache from hitting my head.  Just have a hard head I guess.

Once all of this is behind me I intend to get back to doing some art projects.  I have three things waiting for me. Mean while I am getting lots of reading done.

It has been dumping rain here the past few days off and on and everything is really growing fast.  I hope to get a few pictures of my garden when I feel up to it.