I decided to give her beaded, frizzly hair. Inside some of the washers, I placed irridescent sequin-like flowers, attached with pearl-ended pins. 
Some of the beads spell words, such as ART, HOME, FAMILY. The spirals represent her thoughts spiraling out into the world. It will take a lot of time to finish her hair this way!
The silver leaf seemed to be the best nose; I attached it with wire. Its weight will also help balance against all the wires in her head. I may need to modify the blueness of the face somehow--it's pretty intense. When he saw it, my husband asked, "What planet are you from?" Ha! She looks rather sad, which was not intentional. Perhaps she's not so much sad, as she is at peace with herself.
Just finished this brooch for a friend of mine. She recently moved and found a bag of old embroidery thread, hoops, etc. and asked if I wanted them. "Sure!" I replied, not knowing yet quite what I'd do with embroidery thread, but hopeful.
When I went through everything, I found these little cards that I guess you're supposed to wind your thread around. Since I'm into the charms, I noticed the obvious HOLE in them, and thought--of course--a charm! So I cut them into varying-sized pieces.
I then got out some bright paints and a sponge brush, and just quickly dabbed them all over with the paints, one color at a time. Then I used glossy black and a fan brush for little black specks. I decided to turn them over and paint the backs solid colors, just in case they get turned around.
Then I got out my box of "tidbits" (yes, it's really labeled that) and picked through, looking for bits and pieces to glue on. I have probably 30-40 of these now, all ready to use for whatever.
Hopefully Lora will be pleased with her altered embroidery cards. I can just hear her laugh.
I was just interviewed by a reporter for the Herald News; I'm being featured in the Sunday paper in a couple of weeks in the Artworks section! Here is one of my pieces I emailed her a photo of--"Mother and Son."
I can't believe the ripple effect of having that art show has had....I've done a workshop, and now this--plus the article will talk about my having workshops--great free advertising!
Makes me want to go into my studio and just create all the livelong day...........
Here it is! My necklace is complete, with 35 charms. I had so much fun working on these; my brain was constantly thinking up new possibilities for these charms.
The only problem is, it is quite heavy. So I will not likely wear it for very long at a time. Can't wait to make another one; this time I'll be more conscious of the weight factor.
But I do love it! Quite artsy.
And here is another artist paper. This one is actually a result of the other two. Some of the darker texture is a result of laying this sheet of watercolor paper atop the canvas, and pulling off color (and leaving some texture behind on both). Some of the lighter colors are leftover glazes from the layers. It reminds me of the woods in a park near our house in the Autumn when all the leaves are golden yellow and lit up on a sunny day.
So now I have 3 new backgrounds upon which to collage. I really like the layered effect and can't wait to try this again.
Here's an artist's paper that was also done, following directions from Somerset Studio. Well, I sort of followed the directions. I like the layers. When it was done, I felt it needed a little text as a focal point, so I browsed through some of my books, waiting to be used as text or as altered books. A "Dick and Jane" book caught my eye, and I opened to this story, where one of the children is saying "I want to play with Sally." Playing is exactly what I was doing with this piece, so I snipped out that section, added some midnight blue to the edges, and glued it down.
I think I will be making more of these kinds of papers. There is definitely drying time required (with no heat gun allowed), so they're a good project to work on, then go to some other project (like CHARMS--my new-found addiction!) while you're waiting for the paint or glaze to dry.
The current issue of Somerset Studios has directions for its included artists' papers this time. The technique includes a lot of layering--painting, glazing, sanding, etc. I've always been interested in learning more about this technique as I love the layered look.
This is a canvas that uses some of those techniques. I did not have a white gel pen at the time, so I used my silver. Also did not have the inks called for, but I do like the look without that extra layer. It's hard to tell from this image, but some of the lighter areas are metallic.
Recently, early in the morning (like 4 a.m.!) I can hear the birds' beautiful songs. I just read that these are sort of like mating songs--each bird singing its own special notes, trying to attract another bird. Now that I know this, I appreciate their beautiful songs, laying in my dream-like state, half-awake and half-asleep.
The text is from a dictionary and says "morning songs of birds." The text is glued on a piece of tape. I found the roll a few years ago on a walk--battered and worn. Seems to fit perfectly here. The squiggles seem to me like random notes, adding up to a beautiful melody.
I decided to give her beaded, frizzly hair. Inside some of the washers, I placed irridescent sequin-like flowers, attached with pearl-ended pins. 
Some of the beads spell words, such as ART, HOME, FAMILY. The spirals represent her thoughts spiraling out into the world. It will take a lot of time to finish her hair this way!
The silver leaf seemed to be the best nose; I attached it with wire. Its weight will also help balance against all the wires in her head. I may need to modify the blueness of the face somehow--it's pretty intense. When he saw it, my husband asked, "What planet are you from?" Ha! She looks rather sad, which was not intentional. Perhaps she's not so much sad, as she is at peace with herself.
