Feeling the Love

I had the pleasure of sharing the weekend with about 20 of the most creative women I have ever met! Mandy, aka vegas bling girl, shared her beautiful home with all of us for what I hope will become our annual holiday party. We each drew a name back in November and were responsible for the gift for that person and of course it was a secret. The only catch-we each had to handmake our gifts. I have never seen so many beautiful pieces of jewelry, art, dolls, fabrics and what I'll call thing-a-ma-bobs. These are the pieces of jewelry that I was lucky enough to recieve from Betty. I'm wearing all three pieces as I type away right now. They really put me in the holiday spirit, thanks Betty! I had a terrific time.

Altered Book Divas

Last Saturday we began on an Altered Book Journey. I termed the group Divas because of the original definition of the word. The term was originally used to describe a woman of rare, outstanding talent, which all of the lovely ladies who joined me demonstrate on a daily basis! We exchanged our books and are on our way. My book is titled Overkill. I got this tiny book at ArtUnraveled this year. The reason why I picked it up is because the last name of the guy who wrote it is Cox. I learned courtesy of Angela that you make an entry page for all of the people who contribute to your book sign and usually at least one spread. If anyone would like to join us our next arting is on Saturday, December 30th at 3:00p.m.

I feel like a Pumpkin

I love pumpkins and wish we could have them around all year long. Now I can! I used the same technique that I did for the sunflowers that I completed last Spring. Boy does time sure fly.

Not just anyone can do resin!

Oh, my goodness. Last weekend and this weekend I played around with resin at Colleen's house tyring to do color on the silver art clay. My goodness it was so hard. The first thing I did were the little charms. The ones on the left I didn't touch. Notice the one on the right, I touched it,opps. By the next weekend I was ready to go with the silver art clay, or so I thought. Look how many little bubbles I have in my little heart. Oh well, better luck next time.

Handsome Family

This is my mom and dad and my brother Chris. Rarely do you see all of them dressed up so I had to show everybody this pic.

Chris and Amanda's Wedding

I recently traveled to Illinois for my brother's wedding. His two little girls Bailey and Clara were in the wedding. They are truly pieces of my heart. And yes for those of you who noticed there is officially another Amanda Cox in the family!

Pearl Netted Bracelet

This is the 1st beading class that I took that was more than just a single strand. I wanted to finish this project so bad because I just knew left to my own devices without Colleen I would never finish it! Luckily Jeri had a button that I could use to finish it up as mine ended up being to big. I love it and I think next time I'll make my button out of Silver Art Clay.

Precious

I call this new ring precious because it is the first piece that I fired in my new kiln that I got for my birthday. I was so happy and couldn't wait to use it so I bought some clay off of Colleen and went for it. I can't believe I did this ring on my own and it actually fits!

Star and Soul

Ok, so originally this class was titled heart and soul but I couldn't resist the stars so I decided to do them instead.

Seeing Stars

These are a pair of earrings that I made out of Silver Art Clay and a couple of extra beads that I had laying around the house.

Gallery Book with Secret Shrine

I created this book at ArtUnraveled in Phoenix this year. It was an all day workshop with Jacqueline Sullivan. The first thing that we did was to make the paste paper and let it dry. Then we took a 5x5 canvas and used tissue paper on the back and sides of the canvas to create texture and depth. We then created a design on the back board cover and the canvas by using molding paste. Once that was dry we applied the color to the canvas and then the back of the book. We made folds and attached our paste paper together to form the inside of the book and cut squares in the book to hold pictures. I still haven't put pictures in my book yet. The hardest part was developing the secret shrine as it involved sewing on a button and working through the paste paper. Sewing is not my "thing". I also have ribbon on the book so that I can tie it closed or keep it open. It was a big project but was a lot of fun!!!

Lily earrings

This was the second piece that I created using Silver Art Clay. We rolled out the stamen then the flower and then completed the bail. Although my pieces lack symmetry, I do consider it a success because of the sanding that I did on the piece. In this class I learned the importance of the 10-80-10 rule. 80% is spent on the sanding of the clay before firing in the kiln.

Introductory Silver Art Clay Piece

This is the very first piece that I ever made out of art clay. This one piece ignited a passion that continues on for working with this medium!

I'll Fly Away

I recently took a mold class at Colleen's house to learn how to use and make molds with Silver Art Clay. When I saw the mold for the angel wings I knew instantly that it was want I wanted to do that day. I'll fly away is one of my favorite spiritual songs of all time. They used to play it at my grandma's church when I was little. I also just felt like flying away that day. Everytime I wear the earrings it takes me to another place and makes me feel like I can fly!

Found Object Bracelet

I took this class at ArtUnraveled from Keely Barnham.  She was great!  She showed us how to drill anything with a dremel.  I drilled all the materials for this bracelet and beaded everything.  This was the last class the I took on that weekend and I decided to make this piece about Love because I loved the whole experience in Phoenix.

Early Birthday Ring

Today I decided to take a vacation day from work and attend a gemstone class at Colleen's house. There was only two of us.  It was so much fun.  This is the 1st ring I have ever made and it turned out pretty good for a first try I think.  I enjoyed making it along with the great company and of course the chance to pet Rizzo.

Wonder Woman

All the world is waiting for you and the power you possess.  In your satin tights fightining for your rights.  Just kidding.  I do love wonderwoman though.  This was a collage class that I took with Kelly Kilmer at ArtUnraveled in Phoenix.  It was a lot of fun and we learned some basic background concepts.  My love of wonderwoman goes back to my childhood.  My dad loved the show and Linda Carter of course.  I told my grandma who lived right next door that wonderwoman gave my daddy goose bumps.  Too funny for a 3 year old!

Lucky In Love

I made these pieces for my soon to be sister-in-law's birthday. I hope that she likes them as much as I do. The hearts are all made out of Silver Art Clay. I then completed the earrings and necklace with pink crystals and sterling silver balls. The clasps are really cute too complete with heart and arrow. Appropriate since my brother stole her heart. Awww...

Alice

I made Alice next.  She was so whimsical looking that I decided to call her Alice after her adventures in wonderland of course!

Abena

Abena is the first necklace that I ever beaded through taking a class a discount beads.  I love how she turned out.  It attracted me to the creation of jewelry which has been going ever since.  I like to name all of my pieces so this one's name is Abena, which in the African language means born on Tuesday.  Abena was made on Tuesday and she is made out of African turquoise.

The Canvas Tissue Collage

This canvas was created in a workshop lead by Leslie Parsons.  She assured us all that we did not have to know how to paint or draw.  She was right, as I can do neither and look how this turned out.  I love sunflowers and pink.  What a perfect combination this turned out to be.

Anywhere But Here

Again the atlas. I told you I loved it. In this exercise we had to send a message to ourselves. I decided to send my package away with no return. This was a different experience for me to utilize a different color pattern in this piece. As you will notice I enjoy bright primary colors but this piece is very shiny and gold. These pages really represent a love for Copper and Annie that could no longer be expressed. My love of my world, my kitties, could no longer be with me. My mom and I raised them when they were orphaned. They have a very good loving home but I still miss them a great deal and sometimes I still imagine that Copper is up snuggling with me by my head and that Annie is curled up in bed at my feet. You will always be in my heart, kitties.

Home

This is the atlas again. We had to write a story across the two pages about our arrival in Las Vegas. I wrote about my drive across country from Illinois with my two kitties. Then we had to cover the writing with images of our true home. This image represents my home complete with a horse. I love horses. We had 4 growing up and my dad or should I say mom has 1 now named Tootie. We have a barn and lots of trees in our yard. The middle of the page says roots but you can't really read it in this image. These are my hands literally touching the earth. I went outside got some Las Vegas dirt and rubbed it across the pages. In farming one of the most important elements of success is the health of your soil.

Living Large: The Altered Atlas

The atlas journaling class by Juliana Coles was my favorite!!!! I loved working in the atlas plus the atlas itself is special to me. I was talking to my friend Katharine and telling her that I was taking this class but didn't have an atlas yet. She happened to have one in her car which she went out and got and gave me. This was the very first page that I did in the atlas. I enjoyed working on it and had fun putting everything on the page.