"Think Spring" challenge and the "BE" challenge piece -8 pages for Valentine -technique -"Fat Book" challenge

The BE challenge piece is 5 x 7 -heavy gesso with spray luminescence in bronze and embossing powder in blue. Images that are over the edge are finished with liquid laminate.

........8 pages for Valentine Fat book

A WINTER POEM - 4 poems

In the depth of winter,
I finally learned
that there was within me
An invincible summer.
Camus
................
Hope is the thing with feathers,
that perches on the soul-
and sings the tune
without the words
and never stops at all......
Emily Dickenson
...................
Look backward with gratitude
Look onward with hope
Look upward with confidence
................
"Splendour in the Grass"
What though the radiance
which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,
of glory in the flower,
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

-- William Wordsworth

Metallic challenge on PID yahoo group-and dryer sheet challenge

Metallic challenge ,and I chose copper- the background of picture is joint compound mixed with copper surfacer. The picture is raised inside the frame. Added patina green to all copper finishes on this piece. 5 x 7 wooden frame.Dryer sheet challenge-used sheet, paint luminescence under , elnmers glue down and sprinkle german glitter glass-gemstone brads and PID images.

Piece for coloring technique-4 fabric journals

Technique Thursday- coloring technique with paint ,glaze and water- lots of coats. I used Elmers for the glaze. She was a black and white image. worked on her face too.
4 fabric journals-2 pages with pockets-built in bookmark with beads and "My Secrets" on pocket in 4 different languages. different quote on front printed on fabric. All fabric is batik. These are for 4 sisters. If you like them leave a comment. thanks

Paris Inspired pieces!!

The plate is 6 x 4 and is called "The Muse"-finished with a finish called sophisticated finishes- copper and verdigris, image from PID. The other "A day in Paris" the background is a napkin with an antique key and distressed and surrounded with copper tape which I burnished with a verdigris color rub. The "fly me to the moon is a tin tile-crackled with elmers , added images and alcohol inks,rusted heart, flourishes and napkin.

Christmas is on it's way!!!!

A COUPLE OF PIECES FOR CHALLENGES AT PID USING THEIR IMAGES. ONE IS "WINGS" AND THE OTHER IS "CHRISTMAS EVE" I AM WORKING ON ALL MY PROJECTS, BUT WAS HELD BACK FOR A WEEK BY GOUT IN MY RIGHT HAND. ALMOST GONE NOW SO WILL GET ON WITH THE "YULETIDE"
"MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS"
I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY...............
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
'There is no peace on earth,' I said,
'For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.'
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

APPROPRIATE IN A TIME WHEN THE WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN IS TAKING SO MANY LIVES.
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The Day is Done

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
................................
I Have been Aquainted with the Night by robert frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain --and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night

Altered book-- AND Added thoughts!!

This book is on ebay right now. The little fabric covered book is 3.5 x 3.5 , is also on ebay. rainbow 869.
...............................

Karen's whimsy

Go to Karen's whimsy for all kinds of free public domain images to take for free and instructions on doing a lot of altered books and other things. just put in Karenswhimsy in google.

altered book

winter beauty at PID yahoo group--assemblage piece and wings book also for PID> The first pictures are of a french inspired altered book I made and sold on ebay. It is really much better than the pictures show.

Just a few things to say !

Just a few things I did last week. the first book is paris oriented and the other is kind of a memories thing. Have been trying to learn how to do coptic bookbinding, slow process to learn. I will do it however,eventually. Going to do some tea cozies. Some to put on ebay and some for gifts.Beautiful weather here. Had about 120 trick or treaters. Fun and so cute. Lots of big kids this year but fully costumed.

ADDING FAVORITE QUOTES: 11/20/08
A lie does not consist in the indirect position of words, but in the desire and intention by false speaking, to deceive and injure another.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Water and words....easy to pour....impossible to recover.

The best apology against false accusers is silence and sufferance, and honest deeds against dishonest words.

A half truth is the most cowardly of lies.

You may write me down in history
with your bitter twisted lies.
You may trod me in the very dirt.
But still I RISE. Maya Angelou

Jesus knows me, this I love.

No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.
Abraham Lincoln

We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. ~Tad Williams
.................................
May you have the wisdom to feel discomfort at easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart.

May you have the wisdom to feel anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality and peace.

May you have the wisdom to feel sorrow and tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.

May you have the wisdom to feel the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
Author unknown