My True Love Gave To Me: A Vacuum????

My Dad has wised up.

I remember seeing big wrapped boxes for my mom under the tree.

 Having Major Kid Wonder.

A Treasure had to be in a box that big, right? Well, sadly, inside that box with so much
Kid Potential was usually 

An Appliance.

A toaster oven, an iron, a cooking pot,

or a vacuum.

This all too frequent phenomenon is experienced every Christmas by all too many women.

And this must be stopped.

My Christmas card this year was inspired by this horrible trend.
I started with an image from
a wonderful book:
"Men's Adventure Magazines in Post War America".
I used Bernie Berlin's Never-Dull technique,
from my favorite how-to book
"Artist Trading Card Workshop."
That book is the shiznitz.
I neglected to scan the original image.my bad.
 I followed Bernie's instructions and got this:


Too Cool and Way Too Much Fun.
Next the search was on for the perfect vintage image...

This one is good....but not exactly what I had in my mind....too 70's...not old enuf..

Ah...now this is more like it....but maybe not perfect...

Eureka!! This one is perfect! OOPS!

I meant Hoover!!

This one has great text!

KATHY: SPOILER ALERT!!!

 STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!

The next steps involve

really FOUL language and

an over indulgence of alcohol.

Trying to teach yourself Photoshop

 is like being on a blind date.

 So many layers to learn, each one more frightening than the last...

This is not exactly what I pictured in my mind. But it can only go up from here.

teehee.

In Conclusion, this card is dedicated to all women all over the world who

have suffered the agony of opening

a wrapped appliance on Christmas Morn.

And my Mom?

Well, since my Dad wised up

she is sporting her favorite appliance of all!

Diamond Jewelry.

xoSusan

PS. Robin, from A Robin's Nest: I lost your address. Email me! I would like to send you a tardy card!!

Marsha: Thank you for your loverly card! I lost your address also and was having hives and shortness of breath over it. Thank God, you sent me your card, or I do believe I would be hospitalized right now.

Can't Wait To Catch Up.

You are my favorite Maker of Magic.

Kathy:

I told you to stop looking. You never listen to me. I don't know where your card is. It said some REALLY funny stuff in it. I mean like stand up comedian worthy. I hope you get it some day.

Cuz I think I peaked on that card.Love You.

teehee.

xoS

More Blog Love

Wow, I am fortunate to know THE MOST AWESOME Bloggers in the world. Not only are my blog friends Talented, Wise, Funny, Inspirational, you are all unbelievably GENEROUS with your friendship, and ART!!! Big Thank You goes out to Sherry of Got Art? who sent this wonderfully festive Happy New Year ATC:


How cool is that?? I love it!! Sherry is taking a little hiatus from blogging but visit her blog anyway!! There is so much talent to see there from ANY of her posts, past or present. I'm sending Positive Thoughts out to Sherry and hope YOU will do the same!!

I received a Christmas Card from Marsha of Tumblefish Studios, Gorgeous As Only Marsha Can Do It!! Beautiful detail, The Most Intense and Juicy Colors Ever!!

And in True Marsha Style, she enclosed a print of one of her horizontal works, that I requested to add to my "Marsha Wall". Yes, I am a stalker of The Highest Caliber!!
How Stunning is That???? Marsha also Generously enclosed another print, but I'm not going to share it here. I am going to Emulate Marsha's RAK and send The Magic along to a dear friend. Payin it Forward!!! xoMarsha Many Many Thanks.

I just hopped to Marsha's blog to get her address to link, and was deeply saddened by news she shared. One of her dear blogging friends lost her battle with cancer. I did not know this artist personally or by her work, so I will let Marsha's post speak for itself. Marsha's father has been diagnosed with cancer, her daughter has been in and out of the hospital frequently this winter, and her dear friends have seriously ill parents. I am going to join Marsha in asking for prayers for all of these Beloved People in Marsha's life. We Artist Blogging Friends are a POWEFUL and LOVING group of AMAZING STRENGTH and SUPPORT. Thank You Thank You for adding your Positive Thoughts, Prayers and Comments to all Your Comrades in this Big Wonderful Bittersweet thing called LIFE.

My Dear Friend from The Other Side Of The World, Lorri of Artivity in Australia, has also had a terrible loss in her life. Her Cherished mother passed away recently. Although I feel powerless to Really Help, I did the only thing I could, support her with Words and Love. Lorri's blogging about her painful loss is very real, very raw, and an amazing tribute to her mother. I have had to brace myself to visit her blog, because although, I try to be supportive, I can be a coward too. Lorri's writing is so powerfully written, and I am thankful she has her blog to help in a small way to purge her emotions. Lorri sent me an angel.

I didn't crop, sorry. Please say a prayer for Lorri and her family.

My Mom is celebrating her birthday this week. The family is celebrating this Saturday with a dinner in her honor. I am so blessed to still have my parents with me. I Love You, Mom. I Love You, Dad.

Me and my Dad.
Me, my sister Deb, my sister Linda, at her wedding 2008.
Mom and Dad's Engagement photo.

25 years together.

The Colonel and his wife attending a Military Ball.

Sam and my STUNNING Nieces.
Me, Mom and Dad
My cousin Dionne and My Wonderful sister in law, Robin.

My hilarious Nephew Joe and his Awesome wife, Erin.
The coolest Brother, Dan and The Coolest nephew ever, Tim.
Me and Dad at Linda's wedding.

Me and Sam.
I Love and Appreciate Each and Every One of You.
So this is what happens sometimes. We start out carefree, silly and shallow and End Up, Saddened yet Thankful, and therefore Grown Up. I was going to delete the beginning of this post because it started out too lighthearted. After visiting Marsha's blog and reading Lorri's latest post, I felt completely different. Then I realized turning on a dime is what life does. Keepin it Real is hard. Much Much Love, Susan

Medieval Mixed Bag

I took a much needed break from Charm Chicanery and Dabbled in the Middle Ages. WAAAY before DG3 was invented. teehee. I worked on two more Armored Men for the Manuscript:


He's not glued in yet. I have to find a very beautiful male face to add. I just love the crackle stamp on the Armor. I used my fav embossing powder color, Marcasite, and watercolor markers to color the cross. On this page I also used Portfolio Oil Pastels to color in the Maiden.
The next spread is Armored Man after the Skirmish, and it's not pretty.

I purchased the digital anatomical 1" circle collage sheet from Piddix on etsy. I love creepy anatomy illustrations. You probably know that by now. teehee.
I also bought the Most Gorgeous digital collage sheets on etsy from Itkupilli. They are simply scrumptious. Marsha from TumblefishStudio turned me on to Itkupilli. There is NO Turning Back Now!! By the way, Marsha has some magical collage sheets for sale on etsy. Good Luck in your New Venture Divine Miss Marsha!!
Here is an ATC background with an Itkupilli image transferred with alcohol and Apollo trans 7039. The substrate is illustration board, which I adore. I did a watercolor wash over top the transfer:
Couldn't you just eat that with a spoon???? teehee. Anyhoo, being in a Medieval Mindset and all, I added another Crackle Stamped and Embossed Armored Man and since he is nothing but a ghost, some stamped, embossed wings.
He's not glued down yet. Not sure what words I'm going to add yet, have a couple ideas running around. And yeah, they're all creepy. teehee. xoSusan

Angel Images

First and Foremost, a BIG Thank You to everyone who has commented about my First Ever Journal Page. I am honored you visit and take the time to comment. Thank you!! The Muse is still kicking hard with no time to indulge her until Friday. Can't wait!! Marsha, I will pay attention to your astute "grass is always greener" comment and try to be grateful for the opportunities that I Do Have or at the very least, stop whining!! teehee.There is pressure Everywhere, no matter what choices we make. It must be very Bittersweet to have Art as your full time "job". I can so relate to needing that feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day. If the muse isn't kicking, there is no shame in seeing that pile of laundry dwindle down to nothing, and to check out the gunk that ends in the vacuum cleaner bag!! Keepin it Real, Marsha!!

Also thanks to Michelle Ward for commenting!! She is one Incredible Artist and I am honored that she stopped by to view my entry in her #34 Come Over To The Dark Side Crusade.
My new blog visitor, Hollie, asked about the Angel Image I used in an earlier ATC. These were originally purchased from a company called Queen of Tarts. I think. It was a long time ago. Because I can't find the company, sadly I think it is No More, I feel that it's ok for me to share these images. If anyone out there has information to the contrary please let me know and I will take the images down.


Also, Hello to Deanna and Georgia from Sunday's Lynne Perrella workshop. Georgia was kind enough to make our group aware that The Rubin Museum of Art in NYC is exhibiting Carl Jung's Red Book for the first time. You can find some excellent images here. Wonderful article here, titled "The Holy Grail of The Subconcious". Just reading about Carl Jung makes me all too aware of how little I do know....but I can See that my house is a mess and my kid needs to eat so I'll bid you a Concious Adieu....xoSusan

Big Blog Love

In celebration of TumbleFishStudios ONE YEAR Blog Anniversary, I cleaned my ENTIRE Downstairs. We are talking mopping too. I am tired and cranky now, but this Art Montage will snap even the grumpiest guss out of their Funk:


I know I should have done something more exciting to celebrate, but Marsha is a woman, a wife, a mom, an Artist, a devoted blog friend to many, a housekeeper and chef (except on Tuesdays, teehee) and much more and well, I know she would appreciate Doing What I Keep Putting Off as a form of Celebration!!! I like the frames, so far. They were not a big investment, cuz, well, those days are So Over, and they were on sale at Target. The top and bottom frames I left empty. I was thinking of getting some wooden M's and maybe a TFS for the bottom and painting them black and nailing them to the wall inside the frames. Or better yet, I can try and convince Marsha to create and sell some 4x6 Horizontal work. But, I think that is too much to ask. I think they look kinda cool empty too. Now all I need is a cool black futon up against the wall so I can enjoy my little fireplace with a Hot Toddy. Just a reminder the piece on the left is called "The Giver" and I purchased it on Marsha's etsy site. I tried to buy the "Finding Love" piece but some other weenie got it first, so Marsha was a saint and sent me a print of it, that is the middle piece. Above and Below are two postcards she generously included in my order. The piece on the right is ME Fairyfied. One of the top 10 Best Ever things that has happened to me was being Fairyfied by Divine Miss Marsha. Oh my God, when getting the etsy link I saw Marsha has limited edition prints for sale now.....oh, hell, I'm gonna need a bigger wall. xoSusan

Aw Shucks......

I have been given an award by Marsha from Tumblefish Studio:

Thank you Marsha, right back at ya!!!

And in the Spirit of Friendship, Sisterhood, Sharing and Caring, I am passing it on to ALL the gals in my blogroll!!! You all Rock!! Special Honors, however, go to PaulaBeth from BarnOwl Studio. Beth has been a very generous friend to share her experiences and life lessons with me. Did you ever have a friend that with just a word or two, pulls your head out of your hiney, and makes you go, OH DUH!!! Well, that's Beth!! Here are the first 2 of 3 ATC's that are for Beth and Inspired by Her Words:

I still haven't purchased an Epson printer compatable with doing alcohol transfers and Apollo 7039. In a way that is a good thing, because I am having a great time playing with my stamps. You can't tell by the scan, but on "Letting Go", the bird body and tail is not attached to the background. The headpiece is a scan of vintage marcasite jewelry that I pimped up with embossing powder. The Backgrounds on both ATC's are my hand painted papers. "Life Is In Session" also has scrapbook paper, mica and an image from my Italian playing cards. Now, I'm off to finish the third one in this series.....xoSusan

It's A Secret

Just got over a BORING 2+ Hour power outtage. Got real hot in here. Thank goodness all the important prep for going back to work ie, laundry, ironing, cooking was finished. Read my book, took a nap, woke up inspired to create, heard a weird hum and it went black. Dammit, why didn't I put off that nap. Know what I did instead of creating?? took a looooong shower, deep conditioned my hair, did my nails by candlelight, moisturized everything. I don't usually take the time to do that stuff. So tomorrow I'm going to look especially well, buffed and groomed. No one will recognize me!!! Yesterday the muse was kicking, I completed one ATC and started 4 others. I have been so inspired by the amazing artists in blogland. Because of the talent out there, I've noticed that I am taking more time and care with my Art. All you Artists are making me make, well, cleaner Art. There are a lot less glue blobs on my ATC's. teehee. Seriously though, each and everyone of you gals on my blogroll are an inspiration. Oh uh, PMS alert I'm getting all, well, moved and shit. teehee.



Anyhoo, I spent a lot of time and care on this one because it is a gift for a very special Artist Friend. I can't tell you who, yet, cuz I haven't mailed it to her yet. Can you guess who? This one uses my own handmade painted background, part of a rubber stamp, german scrap, Marvy markers, and the words are from one of those magnetic poetry kits. They are great, if you ever see one at a yard sale, snap it up. The words are easy to cut down with tin snips.

I have become enamoured of my rubber stamps again. They fell by the wayside with the advent of Purell Transfers. I'm not using that technique until I buy a new Epson printer that is Compatable with the Apollo 7039 and Purell. Huge HUGS and SHOUTS go out to Andre for giving me this INVALUABLE information. He and I are both COMICALLY Addicted to transfers. Here's another dirty little secret, I have a hard time thinking outside the box. I just started "experimenting" with stamps, using portions, cutting them up and well, altering the results. The advent of a new addiction I think......xoSusan

Divine Miss Marsha

I got one of those emails in which you are Shocked and Awed. Marsha Jorgensen, generous friend and Artist Of The Highest Caliber (sounds like one of The Knights Of The Round Table doesn't it, teehee) has honored me by FairyFying Moi. Marsha and I have connected on many levels. It has been a rewarding personal journey filled with The Good The Bad And The Ugly. teehee. Always real, always heartfelt, always kind. Rebirth is a subject we are both striving to claim in our lives, whether it be from our past experiences, our own misguided thoughts, or outside forces we can't control. On this path, we have laughed our butts off and learned from each other. It's tough being a woman, but it is also Joyous. Marsha's art portrays the Joy and Magic we need to seek more often in our lives.

copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 7/31/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, download, or use this image in any way without my permission.

If you haven't visited Marsha's blog, TumbleFishStudio or her etsy site, please do. And just maybe, if you are very, very lucky you will be able to bring into your home and heart, A Fairy Full Of Magic. Thank you, Marsha. You are Divine. xoSusan

The Giver

I have a new favorite possession. I stalk Marsha Jorgensen's blog TumbleFishStudio almost daily. She is a prolific producer of magical, happy and celebratory art. She has been published in Somerset Studio numerous times. If we lived on the same coast I'm afraid that she would have to put out a restraining order on me. teehee. Seriously, I adore, aspire and am inspired to make art that may evolve someday to her level of skill, use of color and imagination. Like I said, Stalker Alert!!! Here is Marsha's The Giver, and its mine all mine, hahahohoheehee. Ok, I'm back.
Marsha is traveling right now, so her etsy shop is not up and running. Visit her blog and bask in the wonder. She'll be back soon. You can shop then. Here are 3 postcards she graciously included in my order, but only because I'm her #1 Fan. teehee:

Sorry for the crooked scanning. Something is up with my scanner. And my dishwasher, and my washing machine and my garbage disposal. But that's a story for another day. Marsha's art sells like hotcakes, so if you see a piece you must have, don't hesitate, or you will be lost. I know. I speak from heartbreaking experience. Damn that buyer to HELL. Oh, did I type that out loud? teehee. Thank you Marsha. That's it. Thank you. xoSusan