LOST IN MY IMAGINATION

LOST IN MY IMAGINATION.....LOST ON MY COMPUTER.  Lost time spent looking for files....H E L P !!  I knew I had to get something on my blog this morning and wanted to put the collage I finished that was done at the same time as my last posted collage...but I couldn't find it. But I did find pictures of the Homecoming Parade that I took last week.  I thought I filed them in my Facebook file..but lo and  behold there they were under BLOG..Too much, too many.  I bought an external storage for all my pictures in case my PC ever decides to dump all my files. I have that all screwed up too.  Loose files, duplicate files.  I really need to take a class on how to save your files with some sort of something that makes sense......My camera downloads to a KODAK program.  Every download is filed by date unless I add a name which I never do..My PC has files under my pictures according to the group that I want to share with. FLICKR, ETSY, BLOG, FACEBOOK etc. Then I have files for every member of my family to save pictures of their kids and grandkids. I have to change the size of most pictures I upload but I have to be careful not to change anything I might want to print so in most cases I have two sizes.....S I G H..........I wish I could just start over..but be careful what you wish for or you could loose it all...eeekkk.

The external hard drive that I bought a couple of years ago is called THE BOOK it cost less than two hundred dollars and I am sure is way less today. I sleep better at night knowing I have a back-up system but not everything gets put on there.  Time....Here is a little hint for you...for Twenty-five dollars a year..FLICKR will save your pictures for you.  My brother pays Fifty-dollars a year for an on line service to save his stuff. Lets face it, all of it takes ..................................................T I M E...........gotta go...........hugs, Diane

Ready to Mail

Well this is the last of them.  All six are finished and ready to package up and mail.  This was a fun swap and I am looking forward to seeing who's work I get in return. Then I will put them all in a little book.  Just came home for lunch and thought I would up load them. Have a sunny week and do something fun....Hugs, DIANE

Is it Fall Already?

It seems like this Summer just flew by. We just had our County Fair and for me that means the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall...We had a cool change in the weather and even a little shower, but it didn't dampen the spirit of all the Fair goers.  Saturday night we enjoyed the bull riding. Today my back is paying the price for sitting on metal bleachers and benches and walking for three days.  It was fun to connect with friends and family. Have an Artful week...................Hugs, Diane

Hands in Art

Who would have thought your could do something so simple as trace your hand and turn it into a journal.  These were the hands I made that didn't fit the swap I joined so I am making my own little book. I made six of these and I will show you the book later.  I think I may chunk it up a bit..  Anyway I made six more for the swap using the same quotes so it went a little faster.  I am putting them in the mail today. I am anxious to see my returns.  I have seen a few I would really like to have.

I am glad today is Friday...only one more day of work and then I have Sunday off.  It is suppose to be 105 today.  Uggggg.  At least the store has air conditioning so it isn't too bad.  They started the mural across the street on the side of the Post Office.  They painted the sky and started the mountains.  I should take some pictures to share..Have a great weekend........................DIANE

Art Comes in All Sizes

Working on the smallest size has never been easy for me.  These are 2.5" x 3.5".  I finally got around to buying some clip art from "iTkUpiLLi"  I have  been following her work for over a year and just love what she does.  I would like to learn how to use the Adobe program or one of those photo pro. I have been playing a little with Adobe but it frustrates me and seems difficult.  I got to be pretty good with Windows Picture It, but it wouldn't work with my new Windows 7 PC.  I will keep trying until I get it, she has a tutorial here     http://itkupillishop.blogspot.com/2010/01/paint-shop-pro-tutorial-how-to-cut.html She uses Paint Shop Pro.

Anyway I bought a sheet with backgrounds, a sheet with fish and a sheet with lady's and butterfly wings. I added some rubber-stamping and some gel pens and carefully cut her elements to add to my design.  I have two more on my table that I will share soon. Meanwhile have an artful week...........DIANE

Where is Marsha?

It is time to catch up with friends....Funny how in this busy world of ours we can reconnect with friends in just a CLICK..I haven't been writing in my blog as much as usual.  I haven't had much time for art lately. The yard and spring cleaning has been taking up most of my time.   Today I went on strike...and spent my whole day in my studio.  I bought some new clip art.   The fish on her head is one of the things I bought. I had to cut the tail off to make a hat out of it. My friend Marsha has sorta disappeared lately.  I know she has taken on alot of new ventures and is making a big splash in the art world. http://www.deviantscrap.com/shop/home.php?cat=249She is wonderfully talented and I am sure she will be quite famous soon.  She has a magical style all her own and has gone into selling some of her stuff to the rest of us so we can make some magicial, fun things too. She inspired this 4" x 6" little work of Art that I did today.  Hope you are having fun Marsha,http://tumblefishstudio.blogspot.com/    Love and Hugs, DIANE

P.S. I will tell you about my other cool artist that I found and bought down-loads from in my next post.  Stay tuned.  HINT she did the fish that I used for the Hat.

A DOZEN ROSES

The flowers that I got for our anniversary were so beautiful.  I am so glad I could photograph them and look at them long after they are gone.  Christmas is gone for another year, the house lights are down and put away. One more day and they will all be gone until next year.

I don't believe in making New Year Resolutions. I always have things in my head that I would like to change or make time for.

I was Skyping with my Brother last night.  It was so fun and this morning I feel like a kid with a new toy.  Now all I need to keep up with the youngsters is an account for TWEET AND TWITTER.  I have my Facebook, Etsy,Ebay, Flicker, Blog and Art Site......and YouTube......OMG I don't spend too much time on the Computer...do I???  It's no wonder I haven't had time for Art lately. I have made several beaded necklaces that I need to finish and photograph and post. I have a lot of things to up load to Etsy if I get the time. I am seriously thinking of "Sell, Sell, Sell this year. Maybe some of the collectibles that I have. May check out Ebay. I have bought stuff there for years but never sold. I was wondering if it was any faster to up load and list than resizing everything for Etsy.  Any HELP from my fellow bloggers would be appreciated.

Oh ya I bought a painting from Suzan Buckner. My first from her. Can't wait to get it and see it in person.  I just love her art and my goodness she is productive. I will ask her if I can share what I bought with you.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK.............DIANE

Lazy Afternoon

I have been on a Jewelry Kick lately. My old art light burnt out and I had to buy a new one. I up graded to a bigger model with a nice big magnifying glass attached. It took me a while to get the hang of it. You know how your work space is set up and everything has a place. Well this light has a larger base and a bigger (longer) light head. So after bumping my head a few times I moved everything around and set it on my right instead of in front of me. I am learning to move the magnifying glass to suit my back. I still catch myself looking over it but all in all it is much better. Really helps on the beading.

The bottom picture is a collage I did of my grandmother. I took a lot of pictures to see which set-up compliments the jewelry and which detracts. I probably took 100 pictures of several pieces of jewelry I made. Thank goodness for digital pictures.

Last time we were in town I bought a external hard drive to store all my pictures on. Get this......It is one tera bite. I had never heard of it either. Can't really understand how much a gig is...Tee...don't you just love talking computer language??? Anyway 1 TB is equal to 1000 GB. Lucky for us BEST BUY has very helpful young people that will talk slow and try and get you to understand...The boxes are also giving more information. This one tells me it will hold 285,000 JPG's...LOTS OF PICTURES.

I haven't decided if I want to remove from my computer all the files. Might speed up my pc a little or take a chance on loosing all my pictures if my pc crashes. Humm.....I almost never back up my files. baddddd.

Well I guess I will get with my lazy day and throw in a load of wash and head for my messy art table and sort out some beads that have been getting stirred up with a big stick or some Mad Artist.....................Have a creative day. DIANE

Random Thoughts

I have recently joined a group of artist in a broad effort to STOP ART PIRACY http://www.flickr.com/groups/stopartpiracycampaign/ Please stop by this site and add your support. Support in numbers not money...we are raising awareness to the problem of people stealing art and posting it as their own. How low can you go. Our aim in the art world is to inspire, teach, learn and share techniques. Maybe along the way get some art published and always to meet friends with the same interest.

I found a few other places to check the rules of copyright. Respect the rules. Dig deep into your creative imagination and be original. You will find your own style and more than likely people will distinguish you and your style. I know a lot of us in groups are doing the same theme of art, and it is fun to see how many ways you can cut it, but always stick to your own style. DIANE

http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
http://reviews.ebay.com/COPYRIGHT-INFO-for-POSTCARDS-in-The-Public-Domain_W0QQugidZ10000000004222864?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:LISTINGS:6
http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm
The Best Hearts are Crunchy http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

Stargazer and White Delight

I couldn't resist showing you my white lily and another shot of the Stargazer now that three blooms were open. It was a little tricky because the wind has been coming up everyday, just when the lighting is just right. Anyway it doesn't take a lot of talent to photograph something so beautiful...I mean how can you go wrong. And since a picture is worth a thousand words.........Have a beautiful day........................DIANE

A WING AND A CHARM

This is the last of my Victorian Steampunk Jewelry. I can't tell you how much fun it was to create the funky jewelry. I had been saving chain for quite awhile, picking it up at thrift stores here and there. Had not a clue what I would use it for but loved the different sizes that I found.

The dice and game pieces I started collecting when I started on my ALTERED ART journey. Being a collector, the fun was finding the stuff whenever my husband and I would go on a little trip somewhere. I even enlisted him in the quest. And he would always come back with a scrabble game or something I could add to my stash. It was fun. Things that were not already on the list were fun to find. Altered art is all about thinking outside the box. Some of the things I gathered I still haven't thought of a use for, but I will come up with something . Have a creative day............................DIANE

SHARE YOUR JOY

I just wanted to share with you an altered matchbox that I received in a swap. The artist Robin Sanchez gave me permission to take some pictures and share with you what a wonderful little matchbox I was lucky to receive. Robin and I first traded art in Oct. 08, when she signed up for a swap I was hosting at flicker "Got Bling". Her work just charms me, the colors she uses and the professional quality of her work really stands out. She taught me that the back of these 4 x 4 chunky book pages should be as interesting and beautiful as the front. A sticker with your name on it just isn't enough, she really raised the bar for me.

I made up a little story about my matchbox........It's a LOVE STORY about a man and a woman. He said he would love her til the end of the earth. He gave her a promise and the key to his heart. Then she found all these other pictures of beautiful women in his wallet....THE END......DIANE

You can see more of LtlBlonde at flickerhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ltlblonde/ and a little sample of her Got Bling Page herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ltlblonde/2810878043/in/pool-793762@N25

The Eyes Have It

This one was fun....The glasses were given to me in a grab bag swap. They were little Zero's from some alphabet set. I just clipped off the little pegs that were on the back. I used Diamond glaze to seal everything the chain is really cool with these gold color links that came off some vintage jewelry, two vintage dice and her "hat" was some found object with some watch parts.

Have a blessed Sunday.........................DIANE

Art Gives Me Wings

Ahh yes.....Crowns and Wings and Artsy Things. A very big influence in the world of altered art. It seems as though everything has sprouted wings these days. You will find them on puppy's and kittens and kids. And crowns aren't just for royalty anymore, vintage women are my favorite to crown. And don't forget the crowing glory of the pointed hat and you can Zetti just about anything. I am loving the Journal pages that I am seeing out and about. They are fun and colorful and just full of imagination.

I have four more necklaces to share and then on with something else. I know it may seem early for some of you but I am already thinking about what to make and give for Christmas. I have an idea for two small scrapbooks and one altered book. I guess that's a start, just to think about it.

Art On..........Diane

Celebrate Freedom

Celebrate Freedom. Here is another Steampunk style necklace. I can't tell you how much fun I have been having. The back of this is a very heavy and nice key chain stamped "Nine West". Something I picked up at a Thrift Store and on the front I glued a watch face with epoxy. On the top I put on an old lock with jewels and the key and a little brass wing with a tiny red dice. On the chain I added two large old dice and a small red poker chip from some game. The chain is made up of several different chains one with little beads. It is nice and long 34 inches.

Enjoy the 4th. of July weekend. Cook Out, eat watermelon, go for a swim.......E N J O Y, DIANE

Victorian Steampunk

Altered art jewelry is always fun to make and the influence of "Steampunk" makes it even more lively and fun. Although I know very little about Victorian steampunk, I think the style is very artsy, different and has a lot of personality. I love the fact that watch parts are used in it, along with wings and things. It is not the culture that interest me as much as the art form.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980's and early 1990's. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used--usually the 19th. century, and often Victorian era England--but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date." Type in "Steampunk Handmade" on Etsy and you will see the varied interpretations of the art form. I would like to think any young hip person would like the style or any older very artsy person..

I have really enjoyed making these necklace's and I will be showing several others over the next week or so. I started cleaning up some of the mess today and can finally see some table in my art room. Enjoy the sweetness of life..............DIANE