The Four by Four Challenge

This page might be a repeat for some of you but it was all I had to share today and I just wanted to change my Valentine page.  Tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY....so I thought I would start celebrating tonight with a HOT FUDGE SUNDAY.......yummmmmmm.  It was a very small sunday, but just right after a steak dinner with garlic mashed potatoes and fresh veggies.  I love going to Applebees. Their food is always fresh and yummy.  Anyway my biggest BIRTHDAY TREAT would be to see how many of you would leave a note for me. One would be a true friend, two would be a blessing and three or more would be the frosting on the cake....Hugs..........................DIANE

The Sweetest Month

I haven't been taking pictures of any of my work lately.  Not even our new puppy has had her picture taken except with my phone...I packed my Nikon on our little three day get away and never took it out of the case..

I am in the process of re-doing my studio.  It seems I have so much STUFF that I am in the need for more shelves. I also am going to add another table.  I got a Circut the ultimate paper cutter.  Hopefully I can get organized and keep my tables cleared off for work space.

Puppy's take up a lot of your time.. I guess I forgot how much attention they need. I take her to work so when we are home I feel I have to give her some play time and some training.  Yesterday the weather was nice so I worked with her on a leash for the first time.  She did really good. Of course she is so little, about 2 pounds now, you barely feel her on the end of the leash....

Hope my blog friends missed me a little...I promise I will get some pictures of the puppy that is taking all my art time away from me, and hopefully I can keep up with my blog friendships this the sweetest month..Hugs and blessings.......................................DIANE GLASS

Love my CHUNKY BOOKS

Well, it has been awhile since I have made anything to trade in the world of Altered Art.  I really love to make the chunky 4" X 4" book pages. I have several books in various themes all neatly stored away in a plastic container that I get down and fluff through. Humm. I think I just thought of a theme......I will have to keep it under my hat and see if it works up.

I closed my facebook account. Found it to be a little two habit forming. Just didn't have enough time to spend there.  When I first joined it was mostly just a people site where friends could connect and share and it seemed to have gotten very commercial.  I didn't play any of the games.  Any way I have heard they are going to start charging in July.  I am sure another site will pop up. The thing is with the net....there is so much info out there I enjoy just skipping through different sites to see what I can find. HAVE A GOOD FRIDAY......DIANE

Thankful

As the end of the year approaches I tend to reflect on my life.  The things that I have enjoyed, the people who have enriched my life. Growing another year older, the love of family. My aging parents and the troubles they are having almost daily it seems.  I think a lot about the loneliness's they each have, having lost their partners in the last few years, living alone. The unwillingness to change and downsize their homes.  The forgetfulness that comes with age and the memories of their childhood that become so strong. Stories that I have never heard are coming out.  The bike that they shared with their brothers.  One bike and three kids.  This week my mother-in-law locked herself out of her car with the groceries on the front seat. Today the locksmith comes to open the car..luckily she didn't by ice cream.  My mother got out of the hospital only to find that she couldn't get in her house.  The neighbor that so lovingly took her to the hospital, carefully locked my mothers purse and keys inside the house. Luckily my niece found a front door key.

Yes, it is the little things in life that we can be thankful for.  Family, friends and the creative moments.  Mostly our health I guess.  We don't always think about it until someone we know is going through ill health.  So I give thanks for all I have and I pray for the ill, the lonely, the out of work, the down and out and the hungry............DIANE

Monochromatic Swap

These are the 4 X 4 Chunky pages that I made for a swap I am in. I mailed them the other day. I like to take pictures of my work before I send it off. I always have a picture of the individual page and sometimes I do a group shot.. The red just had to have a group shot. I often post the individual pages a few days apart, but my blog time has been rather limited lately so this time I figured I would just show them all.

I have spent most of my computer time at Etsy looking for Collage sheets to use in my art. Let me tell you there are many to choose from and you can really eat up the time searching. And like most things, it is easy to get sidetracked. Isn't it great now between downloads and paypal you can have your new collage sheet within hours instead of days through the mail. Saves money on postage. The first sheets I bought a few years ago were mailed to me now just a click away...almost too easy. Seek the beauty of today....tomorrow is here soon enough. Diane

P.S.

If you haven't heard of Tim Holtz you are more than likely not into altered art or if you are and haven't heard of him I am glad to be the first to tell you about him. Better yet check out his site here. http://www.timholtz.com/index.html

FAIRIES IN THE WOODS

Fairies in the Woods is a 4" x 4" page for a swap I am in. There are 6 players and each person picks a picture that they like and every player makes them a page using that picture. It can be altered in any way and you can use all or part of the picture anyway you want...This is the girl I picked and it will be fun to see how the other artist use her in their art. I will show you the other pages I do and when it is done I will show you the pages the others have made for me...Happy Art day to you...Diane

King of the Circus

Yes I do love my 4 x 4 Chunky book pages...they are so fun and all the fluffy yarn and beads. When you get them all together with a ring binder they are so cool. Six or seven make a really fun size. This was part of a 6 x 6 swap I am in.

Chunky Pages with Trees

Just a couple of pages I made for a swap I was in....If a picture is worth 1000 words....Here are 2000..........................Live Artfully..........Diane

Electablue Lisa Brown

Pippin

CParmelee Cathy Parmelee

dina54 Dina Haskins

Adrianya DanaLynn Driscoll

Me Diane Glass

Well I got my chunky book together from a swap at Mail Art Worldhttp://www.mailartworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401

Everyone picked their own subject and I picked this vintage dog. I love what everyone did with it and I love my little book.

Got Bling Swap

Oh I have kept a few surprises for you..................I had fun making this lovely. Her face is bling enough and then she wore the pearls.

Sandy posted her pages over at flickrhttp://flickr.com/photos/artsygemini/2912764289/in/pool-793762@N25 They are all fantastic but this one holds a special place in my heart....She has been making these Jesters for quite awhile and they are so uniquely SANDY. I have been wanting one and lo and behold she made one as a Hostess gift for me....how lucky can I get. I haven't gotten it in my grubby little hand yet but can't wait for it to get up the mountain to me.....

There are still some people who signed up who are MIA but I am always hopeful and for my very first swap I am overjoyed at the turn out, overwhelmed by the art work and I am sure to be stressed in a good way before it is mailed back to the players..

I couldn't say earlier but it is because of the loss of my friend Carol that I started this swap. I realised how precious time is and thought JUST DO IT.....Love to all my art friends. Diane

Trees of Wonder

This little 4 x 4 was made for a PAT swap over at MAIL ART WORLD. http://www.mailartworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401 I like these little groups. You can sign up for as many as you want and there are only six people per group and you pick your own picture and five people do some art with it...I always like to make one for myself so I end up with six pages all with the same picture yet all completely unique. FUN FUN FUN.

Two more people are ready to send their GOT BLING SWAP pages to me....How exciting. The first pages I have gotten have been so great. Looks like the art work on this is gonna be fantastic...I am already planning my second swap....JOY......Diane

GOODBYE SEPTEMBER

" RED.....A color whose hue resembles that of blood or of the ruby or is that of the long-wave extreme of the visible spectrum. In the color range between a moderate orange and a russet or bay". ( Webster )The red rose will be gone but replaced with leaves of gold and bright orange, some red. Sound so poetic and looking so beautiful. Changing the color of the mornings. Shadows that are longer. And then the M E S S ......WORK, RAKE, BURN. Love fall.



Got another package yesterday for the CHUNKY BOOK SWAP-GOT BLING....hopefully the others will arrive in the next 15 days..........Who0Hoo.....Diane

LAST FLOWERS OF SUMMER

What an interesting flower this is.....I don't know the name of it. It was given to me by a friend. It looks like a Crocus and it is a bulb, but I didn't know they had one that bloomed in the late summer. The flowers are about as big as my fist and really quite beautiful.

I got to work on some art yesterday.....I was going through withdrawals since my trip down south. I worked on a PAT Swap that I am in over at MAIL ART WORLD. http://www.mailartworld.com/forum/gallery/index.php?n=1722 What a fun swap. Everyone picks a picture they like and then 5 people make make you a 4 x 4 Chunky Book Page of that picture..My picture was a black and white dog and the first page was fantastic. Can't wait to see the others. I didn't have time to photograph the ones I made yesterday but boy it was fun. Really different to HAVE to work with the same photo.

I LOVE BLING

Pretty in pink, I think!!!.....I just love this photograph. I would love to know the history behind it. Was she a movie STAR? Anyway she almost didn't need any Bling with her dress and hair and fancy hat. This is a 4" X 4" Chunky book page. It will be punched on the upper left side and held together with a binder ring that opens so you can add pages if you want. She has more yarn and beads that hang from the right side that don't show in this photo.. Think Pink Today...Diane

Dream of Bling

Well, I sent of a couple of bags of bling to a couple of people that wanted to join the swap, but thought they didn't have any bling to use....I have a ton of broken and miss matched bits and pieces of jewelry. If anyone else wants to join and feel that they need some let me know. Also it doesn't have to be jewelry.......you can use sparkly buttons, charms, beads and of course glitter...CHECK THIS OUT TO SEE SOME OF THE ENTRY'S http://flickr.com/groups/793762@N25/

POST NUMBER 80

Today my blog hit 80........It has been so much fun and I have worked to keep it Art Focused and still somewhat intimate. I have made a lot of new friends and have been touched by their openness, overwhelmed by their artistic ability and charmed by their kindness.

It has brought a new feeling of accomplishment to my life and a great stress reliever as well. There are times when I wonder if anyone is out there, and other times when I realise it is a rather selfish pleasure that I have all to myself.

This is a fun 4 x 4 Chunky book page that I made for the Got Bling swap...I call it "Jungle Bling" One day I didn't have anything in my mind I found this flower part and wondered what it would be like to stamp it. It sat on my work table for a long time before it found its way on to this piece. Makes me know why I have so much stuff out on my table. Sooner or later they find a place on my art. Have a creative weekend......Diane

HERE COMES THE BLING....

Oh..........these are fun. Here is my Bling Bride. The photo was in my Grandmother's photo album. I think she was a niece. What a wonderful gown and the bouquet is beautiful. Full length vail....so elegant. I know these were not wealthy people but nothing was too much for their daughter. It would cost a fortune now days for a gown and vail like this. Coffeelatte http://flickr.com/photos/telltaleheart/ is the newest member to this swap and we are excited to have her...Anyone else out there wanna join there are still several spots open...Art-On. Diane .........WhooHoo.....just found out that Cathy has signed up too....http://flickr.com/photos/22815284@N02/ Thanks Cathy glad to have your art here.

Lady Bird

One more for the "GOT BLING" Swap.......You know how I love Crows....I always joke that I am part Crow...The bird not the Indian....I love to bring shiny things back to my nest...I am a collector of bits of string and colorful yarn, beads and BLING....Have a sparkling day......Diane

EVERY GIRL LOVES BLING

Here is another 4x4 chunky book page for my swap...I hope there is no confusion as to where to sign up...On flicker I started a group site where you can up load your work for this swap, so if you are a member of flickr you can join there.http://flickr.com/groups/793762@N25/ If you blog only you can sign up here on the newest post or the original post. We still have lots of room and the due date is not until OCT 15th. so there is lots of time. Hopefully I didn't make it too far in advance. We are getting some really great artist for this so.... sign up. We have Amyfaire from AFA who does amazing 4x4's .
Have a Art Full weekend. Diane

Emma future Oueen of Quitealot

This was a fun little 4" X 4" collage for my CHUNKY BOOK. Amyfaerie hosted a swap at AFA. I should get my 6 returns any day now. I made a few extra pages to fill in my little book. They are so fuzzy and wonderful when you put them all together, I am getting excited to see which ones I receive.