Two Months!

Can you beLieve that it has been over two months since I posted anything? That kind of coincides with my new boss coming to town. There is an enormous amount of work, now, and I am supposed to be part-time.
We visited Mark in Texas last week and he is doing great. We did a little sight-seeing, but mostly just hung-out with him.
I have been inspired to do a You Tube video and imbed it here in my post. However, I don't have the proper set-up and don't know how to edit a video. Maybe this is where Archie could help. I would like to demonstrate some of the techniques I have learned recently.
I threw out my back yesterday, but think I know the problem - degenerated muscles - don't know how to regenerate them.
Guess I'll sign off now.

Inspiration

Christy Tomlinson's art really inspires me - and she does too, even though she is a Mormon.  Somehow, she seems to get so much done while battling fibromyalgia and raising 5 children, while I seem to get so little done with only a bad back, arthritis and 3 grown kids.  Anyway, for those who are interested, I'm going to try to add her badge to my blog so you can find hers.  BTW - I used red for the font color because it's one of my favorite colors!

New Stuff

Here's some of my new stuff:

These are all 5" x 7" mixed-media art on canvas.  The backgrounds are either pale yellow or creamy beige, with accents in red, brown and black.  All four are for sale in my Etsy store.

Store is Open

My new Etsy store, "bynancyoriginals", is open for business.  So far, I've listed only 6 items, but more are finished and ready for photography.  I need to clear out some of these canvases, so I can make more, which is the fun part.

Etsy Problems

Evidently, Etsy isn't as easy as it appears.  I can't get my pictures to upload, and then there's more work to be done on the store banners, etc.  I'll let you know when I get things up and running.

Art from the Retreat

Last weekend, I spent 5 nights at a craft house in Wichita.  There is enough room for 12 people to scrapbook, eat together in the dining room and 4 bedrooms with a total of 12 twin beds.  The house is in the historic section of town.  In addition to scrapbooking, the garage is set up for "messy" crafts - that describes me and my artwork.  Here are the results:

My House contains the Bible verse from Joshua - as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  This piece is 8" x 10".  I used tissue paper, paint, stamps, buttons, paper, ribbon, rub-ons and an embroidered flower.

Measuring only 5" x 7", For the Lord is Great could go anywhere.  I love red, and used a lot of it on thispale yellow based piece.

Laugh with Me measures 5" x 7".  It is a companion piece to the one above, with lots of red on a beige base.  Next begins my birdhouse series:

Spread Your Wings shows a cheerful off-white birdhouse and a Bible verse about eagles.  Measures 8" x 10".

 Life is Tweet uses the verse about how much more valuable we are than birds.

FLY refers to God renewing our spirits so we can soar like the eagle.  After the weekend in Wichita, I do feel refreshed and ready to tackle new things - like my new boss.  He really kept me busy!  As soon as I learn his routine, I'm sure things will settle down.  I hope to get my Etsy store up and running today - bynancyoriginals is its name.

New Adventure

Today begins two new adventures in my life - a new boss and a new Etsy store.  I'll post here about both as we go along.  Since the beginning of 2011, I've taken 2 mixed media art classes online, from Christy Tomlinson at Scarlet Lime.  She is an amazing teacher and really fueled my interest in this type of art, which is really just an extension of the scrapbooking I've done for years.

What is Mixed-Media Art?  It is simply art incorporating more than one medium.  I use paper, acrylic paint, sprays, watercolors, oils, stencils,fabric, buttons, stamping, doodling, rub-ons, ribbon, lace and whatever else that strikes my fancy.  Just a couple of days ago I came across some rub-on titles that fueled my imagination.

First, I'd like to show you some of my mixed media artwork and describe each.

Dreams Can Take You Anywhere
This is one of my first pieces, mounted on a 10" square canvas.  There are a couple of layers, beginning with a piece of ledger paper then paint, rub-ons, paper, buttons, stamping and half of a zipper.  The flowers remind us of the beauty that God created, while the butterflies symbolize how our dreams can "take us anywhere."  This piece is not for sale - it was created as a gift for someone.
Eat Drink and Be Scary is a piece I did several years ago as a gift for my son.  Incorporating a page from an acrylic scrapbook album, the picture and papers are attached to the back of the acrylic.  The black title and leaves are glued to the front.  After punching holes in the plastic, two brads adorn the lower left corner of the picture and ribbon is woven through two holes below the picture.  You can definitely see the scrapbook origins of my mixed media pieces here.

Enjoy and come back again for more - as soon as I take some pictures!