Time for Tea

The above images are of a tea box made for a 14 Secrets exchange, one of my favorites thus far. Using 'Cosmic Tea Time' as a theme, I painted, collaged and otherwise embellished a candy box that was the perfect size to stuff with an assortment of teas, tea lights, bath teas, flavored honey and other goodies.

In return, I received a beautiful, little wooden box collaged with colorful papers, dressed with a hint of shimmer and topped with a unique handmade bead 'knob', created by Andrea. It's just the right size to sit on my desk, keeping my favorite teas close at hand (Earl Grey and green).

This is such a neat idea, I am going to make more as gifts. As I come across interesting boxes and containers, I'm setting them aside.

There's nothing more soothing on a cold day than a hot cup of tea...

A Few Art Spirit Dolls

I have discovered that I really enjoy creating art spirit dolls. Above is a close-up of Luna Blue Dancer, a healing doll made for an amazing swap last year. More of her in a bit... here are a some photos of some of my other, earlier (and experimental!) efforts.

This is a little zaftig 'pocket goddess' named Joy:






Joy is about 4" tall and was created for one of the first swaps I participated in. Such a fun-loving little spirit, Joy was a delight to create.


Next is a paper doll, but not in the traditional sense. Entitled "Soul of a Writer" she's made with brown craft paper that has been painted and stamped, and then rolled, glued, embellished, painted some more...



She has her own little book and, as you can see, holds yet another crumpled draft in her hand even as the words continue to spew from her head. A writer writes because she must...


Here we have Gypsy Soul. Gypsy is one of my favorites – she holds so many little treasures. She was also created for a swap.








Gypsy "embodies all of Nature, from her leafy charms to the branches she has gathered. Her beaded embellishments represent the seeds of creation. She honors each of these elements within her life." (excerpt from her booklet)

She even has her own teeny tiny Tarot cards: The Sun, The Moon, The Star and The World. Gypsy spoke a lot during her 'becoming' – she was quite clear about what she wanted!

It is impossible to imagine a more complete fusion with Nature than that of the Gypsy.
~Franz Liszt


As promised, more pictures of Luna Blue Dancer...











From her journal:



I am your healing Moon Sister, Luna Blue Dancer. I am the soul of your emotional well-being. I am here to remind you to honor your divine feminine being-ness and to free your deepest emotional Self through all things creative. The seed of all healing lies within the Heart.

The path to healing lies within the Soul.


Luna is embellished with mother-of-pearl and amethyst stars, and wears a necklace of moonstone and lapis lazuli, which also doubles as a bracelet for her earthly Sister. Luna's creation was a slow and peaceful process and it was hard to part with her when she was completed! Ah, but she went on to the home she was meant for all along...

I am currently gathering stuff and things and such for a recycled doll exchange. I love the process – the path that creating a doll leads leads me along and I'm getting anxious to start on this new one. I can feeeel her tugging at me...

No Starving Artists

So I walked over to the art table today where I'd set this bowl after photographing it yesterday... to find that my 16-month-old grandson so thoughtfully left me a snack. :)

Mmm, Kix... he's just so adorable......

Catching Up...

I haven't been here in awhile... I know, tsk tsk... but I have been participating in some great art exchanges. I'll post a few pics here, starting with the calendar page above. Two wonderful artists, Lore and Carol, had the grand idea of gathering a group together to create an art calendar for 2009, one artist for each month. How fun to see each person's interpretation of their month. The January page above was created by Lore. I shall endeavor to post each page as the month arrives.

As always, click on any image to enlarge it.

I pulled the month of July out of the Magic Art Fedora:



I was trying to create something a little different. The page was done using acrylics, colored pencils and digital imagery (the sunflowers are from a photo of a little 'volunteer' taken in my yard). The danglies at the bottom of the page denote the moon phases for the month. The moon accent is polymer clay.

Gena and I decided it would be fun to swap half our pages so I also got to make six for April:



This page is a little more traditional. Again, it was created using acrylics, colored pencils and digital imagery. The kiddoes are my two youngest at ages 4 and 5. (They're 21 and 22 now.) Though you can't tell in the photo, their image is raised to add some dimension. The cloud and small flowers in the corners are polymer clay.


Next up... healing tag books, a 14 Secrets exchange. This was one amazing swap. Everyone created 25 healing pages using shipping tags and imparting some bit of wisdom, advice, or a recipe for healing and comfort. Gena then mixed up allll the tags (hundreds!) and put them together into 25 books – a labor of love, to be sure. The end result was beyond what any of us could have imagined. Each book is unique and is cherished by its lucky recipient.

Here are some photos of mine:











I wish that I could post pictures of every page, they are all beautiful.


Lastly... not an art exchange, but a Christmas gift from my oldest son. Philip has been busy 'throwing pots' and he created some gorgeous pieces. I love my bowl:





Alrighty, folks – enough for now, eh?

More to come...

One World One Heart Giveaway

=====UPDATE!=====
February 12, 2009

Congratulations to Abigail (Rusted Wings Studio), winner of the necklace and to Sandi (The Victorian Gypsy), winner of the pendulum!

Thanks to everyone – all 233 of you! – who stopped by and left such nice comments on my giveaways. Once again, this has been a fun event and I've enjoyed visiting so many new blogs and discovering a plethora of artful delights.

Thanks to everyone who has participated and to Lisa Swifka for organizing this event. See ya next year on the Gypsy Caravan!

===Comments are now closed.===
Thank you for stopping by and check back tomorrow, 2/12/09, for the winners.

It's time once again to join the Gypsy Caravan and travel to the far reaches of the blogging realms. Oh, the tantalizing treasures to be found... ;) Courtesy of Lisa Oceandreamer of A Whimsical Bohemian, who, for the third year now, has organized the One World One Heart Giveaway – a chance to meet a collection of amazing artists from around the planet via their blogs and win some of their wonderful wares. To learn more and find a list of participants, please visit the OWOH blog. (I somehow managed to morph the logo into an un-link, oops.) At last peek there were over 400 Gypsy souls on this little jaunt (and more gathering all the time) – wow!

I participated two years ago but missed it last year and am glad to have received a reminder from a fellow 14 Secrets member this year. Just the impetus I needed to toss some glitter on the wild things growing in the corners of this blogspace and give it a fresh sparkle.

Here are my giveaways:

1) In soft shades of springtime, a triple strand necklace of green aventurine, polymer clay beads, copper bead accents and just the right amount of silver-lined Czech glass seed beads to dance with the light. Green aventurine is a heart balancing (chakra) stone. Perfect, right? The clay beads are made by my friend Bill, who so beautifully incorporates nature's gifts into his work by mixing the clay with all manner of earthy things. The closure is a slip hook in a silver finish. Necklace measures 19”, including clasp.

Strung on 49-strand quality jeweler's wire and double-crimped at each end for extra durability.



Here is a close-up so you can see the layers of rich color in the clay beads. They really enhance the stones and are so nicely complemented by the copper accents:



2) What self-respecting Gypsy would travel without her tools of divination? The second giveaway is a pocket pendulum (5 1/2"), made of garnet with a rainbow moonstone center accent bead, an ice flake quartz crystal, star charm, and a clear, faceted quartz crystal point. The garnet stones are a lovely, deep wine hue. Hey, it’s functional and pretty! If you don't have need of a pendulum, hang it in a window to catch the light.



Click on any image to enlarge it.

To enter the drawings for either of these items, please leave a comment on this post with an email address or blog URL where you can be reached. My giveaway is open to anyone – you need not have a blog to enter. One name will be drawn for each item from all entries. If you are a winner, you will have 7 days to respond after being notified before another name is drawn. Drawing closes at 11:59pm ET February 11th and winners will be selected on February 12th.

That's that! A complete list of the Gypsy Caravan bloggers can be found at the OWOH blog. Go! Visit!

Have a cuppa tea on me and enjoy your journey.