My Muses

It seems like a long time since I got to do a challenge, so I decided to take a challenge break! The new GPP Street Team Crusade (no. 14) is called "Imaginary Friends". It asks the question, "Who or what is your muse?"

I think that my muses must be angels, because they turn up so often in my art. Whether they are vintage-style, cute or elegant, angels show up in many of my creations, as ornaments or wall decorations, on cards, altered books, wearables - everywhere!

Here is a children's board book that I turned into an angel altered book. The all-gold angel is on the front cover, and the all-silver angel is on the back cover. (Of course, all the inside pages have angels on them as well!) Thanks for looking! (HI Michelle!) :)

Little Bits of Special

I have enjoyed several "little bits of special" these past few days. First, I found some nice items at garage sales yesterday and today. Art books are good for inspiration, and yesterday I found two. Art text books contain images from different art eras and time periods, which I find helpful if I need to draw or create in an unfamiliar style.

One of today's great finds was a Cuisinart Mini-Prep food processor. They work great to condition polymer clay - sure beats all of that hand-kneading! Also, blending clay colors is much quicker in a processor; plus, you can stop at any time during the blending process, if you want your clay mottled or marbled.

Another item I'm looking forward to using is a "kitchen carousel", but I'm going to put it to work holding my pencils, markers and paintbrushes.

Not to mention that I picked up a copy of "Artful Blogging" at the store, a little something for my leisurely browsing pleasure!

And, saving the best for last, I received some inchies in the mail from a swap that I participated in! To top it all off, the swap hostess even included a few extra little goodies!

Since I didn't get any pictures of my garage sale goodies (a picture of a mini processor would be boring anyway), I posted a picture of some spiritual book pages. The background is blended-color tissue with words (love, hope, joy, peace, faith) stamped on it. The images are a church and an angel, surrounded by Bible verses. Well, I'd better go fill up that "artist's carousel" ;)

Bread Clay Angel

I made this bread clay angel quite a few years ago. She was simply baked and varnished. Looking at her reminds me of a favorite clay book that I have - it's called Dough Creations, by Pat Gardner and Kay Gleason, published in 1977. I bought it at a yard sale a long time ago. Besides going over the history of dough artistry, this book also has some edible dough recipes and four good inedible dough recipes. Each "craft dough" recipe has its own chapter, which includes not only the dough recipe with directions, but also several projects with complete instructions. Although I've had this book for years, I still go back to it occasionally. If you like working with clays ad you find this book, get it! It's a keeper!

Enjoy the weekend! If you find an opportunity, do something artsy or crafty!