May 8th 2011

I had been working on some crochet projects making small flowers to pin into your hair or on hats so I had yarn and hooks available at hand. After playing with a few different stitches, single crochet, triple crochet and a scalloped edge I attached with a little glue and stitched the buttons on with thread.

May 7 2011

I am really beginning to enjoy talking about my cards. Its great to revisit these first cards especially because I know how much growth artistically Ive experienced in the last year. As we progress through the cards I'm sure you'll see it to. This card was created using card-stock, aluminum foil that was pleated and glued and the dots are actually elmers white glue. You may not be able to distinguish but two are using the shiny side of the aluminum foil and 2 are using the duller more mat side of the foil. I remember thinking that I really wanted my cards to push what I consider traditional ATC building materials and just walking around my house thinking of things that could be exciting or unusual.

May 6th 2011

This odd little duck was created with reproduction sea glass and silver plastic beads. Only being 4 days into my experiment I was still very eager to try new things and push the boundaries of what I thought I could do with and artist trading card. So its not my favorite... it does however give me ideas even now looking at it. I would like to add that I believe that this is the heaviest of all the cards as well.

May 5th 2011

I was so happy to discover that I get to talk about this particular card today. These are zippers for anyone who cant quite see it of different hues of pink rose and wine. I had discovered these years ago in a discount store and had been holding on to them for this very card ( I just didn't know it at the time) I had seen a pamphlet at the hobby lobby the week before talking about all the wondrous things you can do with zippers and I thought I would just have to spend one of my days giving it a shot. May I note its only been 3 days and dots have made an appearance twice already! I cut, rolled and stitched the zippers into swirls and spirals and loops until I was fully satisfied with myself and adhered them to a card stock card with hot glue.

This card as well as several others took on such dimensionality that they had to be creatively stored so as to not smoosh or crunch other more delicate creations. I particularly love this viewpoint because it shows off the wonderful dips and curves that get lost in the straight on photo. My love for zippers had definitely grown since this particular project.

May 4th 2011

I have an ongoing love affair with dots and circles. It was my second day of making cards and my inspiration was sparked by a baggie of colored scrapbook papers that I had bought months before to use as tags and labels for things I was selling. I cut each of the circles by hand (I didn't want them to be perfect) and just used some elmers to put it all together. This card was not as inspired as the first and it was a little bit of a disappointment that just the day before I had such an involved and interesting piece. This card kind of told me that not every day is going to be a great one and just like in real life I will have to like it for what it is.

No worries readers if you too like dots this theme will appear again and again and again.

May 3rd 2011 The Begining of my Art journey

    I started my journey May 3rd 2011, after becoming inspired by a friends similar interest in a year long project. In the past I had participated in the Artist trading card meetings and swaps where I fell in love with the simplicity of the 3 1/2 in x 2 1/2in size. So I set out, spur of the moment, on a Tuesday night and made the first of my 366 cards (this was a leap year). It seemed like a mountainous task at the time. During my year I've learned a few things about myself and have lived a lot of life. I started this project 4 years after the failure of my first attempt of opening my own artist boutique. I will always be an artist and though hurt by the loss, knew that I couldn't deny my artist drive. Not all cards are great and some are down right bad but I didnt edit or throw them out because they each taught me something about my process or showed me a little of myself and where I was at the time.
     When I started I was working downtown in Kansas City as a shoe shine. Over the year and during a recession I had two other jobs as well as a major breakup from my eight year relationship and many financial hardships along the way. It would have been excruciatingly easy to give up and let my cards lapse into oblivion but I didn't. During my darkest times having the simple task set before me kept me sane and I was so grateful for the distraction.
    I do have my bachelors degree in fine arts and my original thought was to have an art show to display what a year of my life looks like. Maybe someday this blog will afford me my wish. I hope you enjoy reading and viewing my year as much as I loved making it.

May 3rd 2011

My first card was thrown together excitedly, standing up, or hovering over my craft table scrounging through all my scraps and bits. I was so inspired I couldn't work quickly enough. I incorporated paper and ribbon, hand stitching, stamping, and great plastic. I am and always will be in love with this card.  
                 

My latest projects

As some of you may know I've taken on refurbishing older furniture pieces. Above is a photo take from my new location at the Mission Road Antique mall in Leawood Kansas. When I was just first delving into re purposing reusing and refinishing furniture I was just finishing a year long project that I'm very excited to be adding to my blog here. Its been about 4 months since I finished a series of small (atc, or baseball card sized) art pieces. I created one each day for the duration of a year (leap year in fact) for a total of 366 cards. As it stands I have no means to get a book published but I thought I would share my journey a card or two at a time over the next year.