Moving Day!!!!!

Hi Everyone, just a quick and brief note to tell you I am moving my blog today! I will be leaving Crazy4art4u up but will not continue posting here. I hope you all will follow me over to my new place http://www.elizabethstudio54.blogspot.com/ and help share in my excitement!
Hugs to you all, and hurry over to my new blog, I just put up my first post over there.

The Winner Is...

Morning All,
So in a few minutes I will be drawing a name for the winner of my giveaway, and I just want to say thanks to everyone that participated! Your help has been much appreciated. Before I go on to the winner however, I am putting a link up to a friends blogpost that I would like you all to be aware of - it comes with a warning. Unfortunately it is about a company that does not behave very well and in our sphere of artists I think that is just unacceptable so, I here is the linkk to Katarina's post so you can read and judge for yourself. Remember caveat emptor (let the buyer beware)...

OK, I have conducted this drawing very scientifically - I put all of your names in one of my husband's baseball caps and he picked the winner... I know, I know all those random number programs but I am getting a little tired of too much technology in life so, this was fair and honest - everyone had an equal chance of being drawn and I fluffed the little pieces of paper with your names on them really really well before and after I put them in the hat! The other choice would have been to have Raphael (a.k.a. monsieur kitty) choose one at the risk of it being shredded before I could read the winner. 

And now the winner is Avalonne83 over at the "The Black Cat" Blog  CONGRATULATIONS AVALONNE!!!! I will be emailing you for your mailing information so I can get your book out to you right away. Thanks again everyone for all your help - you are all true friends and I love you all :D When I finish my project for which this giveaway was designed I will post pictures - don't look for them until around late November.
Hugs to everyone,

Giveaway Ends Tonight

Hey Everybody!
Hope you all have great plans for this upcoming long weekend and for those of you not living in the states I hope you have left yourself time for creating some great art this coming weekend. I thought I would give a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter a comment on what "and then there was none" brings to mind for you and be entered in my handmade book giveaway.  I still need more ideas as this is for a project I am doing for the Brooklyn Arts Library in New York. So far you all have contributed some great ideas ... so this is it, your last chance. So, as Hercule Poirot would say, "get those little gray cells moving" and leave me some more ideas in the comments section!
Have a lovely day and good luck to all who have and will enter the giveaway...check back here tomorrow for the winner's name.
Hugs,

Dream Porch, Well, and Dream House!!!

I had planned on something else today for my friends on my blog but while out blog hopping (I really need to stop doing this and get some serious art made), I found this AMAZING - did I say AMAZING - I mean AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS PORCH - this girl has some serious talent at decorating!  I usually try to keep myself under control and say what I have is nice and I should not be jealous of what others have but oh my... well, you tell me if I am wrong - go and visit her porch redo, and other pictures of her home, and see for yourself...ooops, sorry I can't stop drooling. She is a very lucky lady, which I am sure she knows. Go and enjoy and dream...or maybe take a nap on the porch. Hmmmm, I have to do some decorating planning now!

One of those early "Fall is in the Air" Late Summer Days

The sun is finally shining again so I thought you might enjoy taking a little walk around bits of my yard and we can chat while I snap a few pictures to remind me of summer. Hope you enjoy...

I didn't get much more gardening done this year
beyond the front of the house but a little lavendar
some tomatoes, cosmos, and lots of basil
at least it smells fantastic!

This plant was gorgeous with lovely orange flowers but
it didn't fair well this very hot and dry summer either *sigh*
It looked great at the beginning contrasting with the
beautiful deep orange Tiger Lilies and the dark purple plants
that for the life of me I can't think of the name right now LOL

And of course you cannot live in the country
without having wreaths - handmade of course-
for each season of the year!

My copper cat guarding my miniature pink rose
bush that is not fairing very well this summer

What would a country house-barn be without
a front door light fixture like this?

Another coveted item that I found in the farm
garbage dump at the back of the property - I still use
it for a light potted plant to sit on in early summer

One of my most prized posessions is this bell
that sound is the bouy in Bar Harbor, Maine -
my most favorite place on the planet

I have no idea what this old hook like apparatus
was once used for but I do like the look of the
rust against the white and the cedar shingles that
cover my barn/home

What would an old farm be without a rusting horseshoe or two?
I never used to think about it but I really have come to like
old rusty things that remind us of a time gone by

Only in the summer does the sun shine in through
the front door windows like this - I love the juxtaposition
 of shadow falling on the rugs

"Out and About" Thursday

I am trying to be much better at getting a post out most days and am trying a new venue on for size. I thought doing posts by theme might be interesting for all of us. It gives me a chance to practice on all you wonderful guinea pig friends with my writing and my picture taking, which seems to have gotten marginal at best since the advent of digital...hmmm, wonder what that is about. Anyway I thought Thursdays I would post tips or other blogs/websites with nifty new ideas or techniques or new online classes I have found, heaven knows we all need more classes LOL.

First off there is this site http://www.blogguidebook.com/, which I am sure many of you have seen their bee logo floating around on different sites. Here is the skinny on why you might want to look at them a little closer - first you can list your blog in an orderly compendium of blogs by your venue; second you can advertise your blog merchandise if you are a merchant blogger, again by venue so people will find you by your category; third it is a fun place with information, how to better your blog and all kinds of other nifty stuff geared to us bloggers. There is also a special currently going on to get an upgrade to your listing that you might want to check out. The basic listing is free but there are lots of different levels and of course you get that really cute bee button for your blog! Sorry, I have this thing for bees...

Second, I found this website today while I was searching around for a template or inexpensive place to purchase tags - yes, I am crazy-go-nuts for tags too! Anyway, this site http://www.diyhangtags.com/ has free PDF templates you can download if you are into making your own tags and don't have one of those humungus (sp?) tag punches. They have all kinds of cute shape including a primitave star, hearts and lots more so you may want to go have a look see there as well.

Hope you all find some of this useful...

Hugs,

White Wednesday

My all time favorite bowl, ever! It was made in Italy and came
to me via TJ Maxx - oh how I love that store -
 my DH can tell you all about that LOL

Hi all, I apologize for not posting much this month I just can't seem to stop finding all these neat classes to take online and of course once I find them I grab them for fear they will disappear before I get back to them - where does that dumb feeling come from?

I just bought a new digital camera for taking better pictures for my Etsy shop and soon to be website and I am working on figuring it all out - I think I need some more neat props to add to the pictures.

I had planned on going outside today and taking pictures around the house but since it is pouring rain for the 5th straight day (we sure needed it so I am not complaining) I decided to do a "white" still life! I just love, love, love white don't you? This is my favorite bowl - I just love the diamond cut-outs all around the top. Ok, I digress, again, back to the photography - I was surprised with the difference between the two pictures below with just the use of the flash in one and not in the other!  Ok, my backlighting for the one that looks creamy was just a candle LOL so not sure why I was surprised...anyway, I am babbling again!  Hope you enjoy the white wednesday...

Talk to you soon,

Interesting effect, my all time favorite white, yes white,
bowl without my using a flash, hmmmm.

Giveaway Scout

Hi Everyone, just a short post right now about a neat little place that compiles blog giveaways in a search engine format. If you like participating in giveaways and finding new and fun blogs to read then try going to, or if you have a giveaway going on at your blog, listing your blog on Giveaway Scout. You can reach them by going to http://www.giveawayscout.com/.  I have a gadget on the bottom of my blog that continually updates different giveaways. Give it a try and see if you find anything interesting!
Hope you all are having a fun summer and staying cool!
Talk to you all soon.
Hugs,

"And Then There Was None" + Giveaway

Fall

Please Refer to Post on July 26th for Giveaway Details

Hi Everyone, I thought it was high time I got my act together and posted pics of what you are competing for in my 1st ever giveaway. I apologize for any rough spots you have run into with things like my button or figuring out how to email me, etc. There is now an email link on my sidebar - yes, it now works! Please attribute the missed fine tuning to my newbie status at this giveaway thing. So here are the pictures of my first giveaway - one of my handmade books - since fall is just around the corner I thought this would be appropriate for those early morning fall walks to jot down sightings and visions that for us in the northeast will all too soon be hidden underneath a thick blanket of snow:

Lots of beautiful ribbons in fall leaf colors to
inspire you or just to be there to twiddle around
with while you are writing in your new book

Several embellished pages, of course the front and back
covers along with several  pockets with pull-out tabs
to write on or add favorite pictures to

32 pages, hmmm or was it 36 pages of 140# cold pressed
watercolor paper to draw on, paint on or however you
choose to use your book

Late Summer Day at Dusk...

Sounds of the forest outside my window

The lure of nature's beauty

 Denseness is a blessing?

Living in the woods can be thrilling, exciting, a little bit scary, inspirational and...sad. You come to learn the sounds of the forest, the cheerful, carefree along with the well, not quite so carefree, actually downright distressful. My studio has two lovely windows that allow me to be right up against the woods in all its glory, sometimes a little too close. Sitting at my computer listening to the sounds of the end of a busy day of foraging and flying and singing the forest begins to settle into its nightly rhythms, which unfortunately means danger to many of the creatures who make the forest their home. You are usually taken unawares, at first not recognizing the danger or hearing the distress calls - it's all happening so fast that actually it is almost over before you realize some little creature just fell victim to...suddenly the sounds all around have quieted in the wake of the fear that just flooded through, even the crickets stop for a moment or two before resuming their familiar nightly group melody. The deed is over now, nothing can be done, the strong prey on the less strong - it is a matter of survival that the little bird who moments ago was happily singing readying for its distant journey of migration that lay just ahead as the days of sweet summer gradually grow shorter. Now she has become a part of the mechanism of survival for one larger and stronger than she ...

American Goldfinch
photo credit to blevinsphoto.com environmental photographer
par excellence!

"And Then There Was None" Giveaway

Today's post is actually a request for your help. What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase, "And then there was none?"  I am offering in return for your efforts a giveaway - the winner will be chosen using that random number thingy (I know, don't I dazzle you with my technical vocabulary - see why I need your help!) The deadline to submit ideas is August 31, 2010 midnight from wherever you are in the world at that time. I will do the random thingy September 1st at 12:00 noon EDT and will post the winner shortly thereafter.
A picture of the giveaway package will be posted as soon as I finish assemling it.
So, here is the way the giveaway works:

1. Comment to this post - "What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase, 'And then there was none.'" (Make sure to leave your name and email in the comment) - this earns you one entry to the giveaway
2. Put my button up on your blog - send me an email letting me know that you have put up my link button on your blog and put your blog url in the email - this will earn you an entry in the giveaway. 
3. Post on your blog about my giveaway - tell your visitors to tell me where they heard about my giveaway when they leave their comment to my post and the blog owner gets another entry for each person their blog directs to this post (plus one extra entry for posting about the giveaway - so that would be 3 chances just for commenting, putting up my button on your blog, and for posting about my giveaway)!
4. Deadline to leave a comment is 12:00 midnight August 31st from wherever you are on the planet at that time
5. Grab the code from the button on my sidebar and add it to your blog.

Thanks bunches and look forward to all the creative ideas I know you all will contribute!                    

 

New Blog to Visit

Sorry I haven't been around much recently...kind of went crazy with some really awesome online art classes I stumbled upon and well...how can one say no to learning a new technique? LOL Now, where to put all these new art supplies! I have also been setting up another blog frenchcountrybarn.blogspot.com  that will be part of my new Etsy store that I am hoping to finally have open this fall.  If you get a chance stop over and check out the progress, which is going slow, pretty much like everything I do...SLOW. That reminds me of my 6th grade teacher Ms. Patterson who gave me a C on an art project that she said she would have given me an A on but I turned it in late (because I wanted it to be perfect). She said, "you must learn that on time means on time and that is why I am giving you the C." Well,  Ms. Patterson obviously left less of an impression on me than I guess she hoped for! LOL 

July 4th Weekend and Blue Girl

Happy July Everyone, and hope you all had a nice, safe and enjoyable July 4th weekend, which is quickly coming to a close for this year. In case you are wondering how I spent mine - nice and comfy in the air-conditioning creating ART of course! I created my first Technicolor Face from Sharon's class and am lovin' this technique. I also spent some time just cruising the Net watching art vids by some pretty amazing artists. Even found one, well actually part I and part II by Rice (pronounced Risa) on making a multiple signature book using thin leather for the cover, sorry to any vegans out there but I love leather for book covers. Her YouTube vids are at http://www.youtube.com/user/ricefz you should stop by if you have a chance.
I found a fabulous leather distributor in Canada at the beginning of this year, with the intentions of using the leather for my handmade books. She sells beautiful hand dyed Italian leather intended for clothes, soft, soft, soft and very thin in scrumptious colors like azure blue with silver scroll work stamped on it and did I mention the beautiful pistachio? Can't wait to get back to making books...but for now painting and watercolor are on the immediate horizon. I have a fabulous watercolor class online coming up July 20th that should yield some great ideas and techniques and I am slowly moving along with the videos from Suzi Blu for 4 of her classes, what can I say, I just couldn't help myself. I am taking her beginner class for Folk Art dolls, "Goddess and Poetry", "Piety and Passion" and I just signed up for her "Angels" class. The really neat thing about Suzi's classes is she gives you the vids to download so you can refer back to them forever! I am looking forward to seeing what she has in store for the Fall semester. She has dropped hints here and there and anything from Suzi is going to be awesome, informative, technical and creative. You will definitely learn the skills necessary to grow your art! Oh, and did I mention she is having a sale on her classes right now? OK, enough endorsements, but you should check Suzi out...I think I am going to go back to my studio now and play some more ART!

Musings of a Country Day

I can hardly believe it is already the last day of June. Even though this is just the beginning of summer somehow I have always used this as a benchmark from which the summer seems to fly by. Perhaps having to do with living on a different schedule now, no longer working because of fibromyalgia, I will see the change of seasons differently with them not flying by quite as quickly - before I have even had a chance to notice them. There has to be some upside of this miserable disease that leaves one too exhausted to do even the most basic of tasks - that rewards one with lots of pain if one dares to challenge that set protocol of, "no you cannot do that," much of the time... OK, enough whining, sorry but my diagnosis just became official two weeks ago after years and years of doctors and testing. On the bright side, at least I have an official name to call it when I have a tantrum, LOL.
Now where was I, oh yes, summer in New England - we wait and wait and wait for warmth and green and flowers to return only to have it feel like a magical little "poof" and it is fall again. "Note to self, must talk to the summer and flower fairies regarding length of stay".
For this summer I am writing, blogging and pressing lots of those precious wildflowers that pop up in my meadow. I figure this way when I am looking out at five or more feet of snow I can take them out and make beautiful art with them, dreaming the dreams of wildflowers. If anyone knows of a good but inexpensive laminating machine that would be good for working with attaching dried wildflowers to cards please let me know...or any tips on attaching dried flowers to one's artwork greatly appreciated.

Now for my story of the day, well actually yesterday. Some of you are familiar with my love, my brown tiger cat Raphael who is the details man in my studio and serves as my head art critic. The story begins with a quiet enough morning, trying to gently wake to the fresh new day with a fresh cup of coffee while reading some of my favorite blogs when all of a sudden I hear DH yelling, not a usual yell, rather the kind with the sense of urgency in it, and it has my beloved cat's name in it! I fly into the kitchen to see DH putting on sneakers talking almost incoherently about Raphael, porch, screen. I didn't wait for a clearer translation  running to the porch only to be met with a gaping opening where only moments ago a sliding screen door lived. I see the screen lying in the deep grass as a silent testament to what has just happened. I knew this would happen one day in my gut as these screen doors are very flimsy - with a mild push they pop out of their tracks - hence the horrifying opening. I jump out the opening landing, of course on what else - rocks - New Hampshire has no soil just rocks! DH is just coming around from the front of the house as I yell, "where is he, where is he, do you see him" - throwing the fallen screen out of my without a thought of its surprising heft. Our porch sits on pilings raising it off the ground by about 3ft but as I start to crawl under I hear this howl. I recognize my cats voice like a mother recognizes her child's own little smell I begin fighting the 4ft tall wildflowers and other self sown plants only to see Raphael just around the corner of the porch not even a foot away from me, howling  - "Mom, what happened and why am I all of a sudden outside?" My husband's voice is deep and combined with the panic in it he is scaring Raphael, (completely unintentionally), so I yell for him to shut up (I know, I know, I was just panicked and I apologized profusely later)! I am now playing a hide and seek with Raphael because he is so freaked he isn't sure what to do. I talk to him gently trying desperately to control the panic rippling through every fiber of my body and he finally starts to calm down...how do I know this - because the little bum decides to sniff this very interesting weed that has just come to his attention! My chance has come, I reach out and grab him behind his neck, mommy cat style and scoop him up simultaneously with my other arm - SUCCESS! OK, I can start breathing again as I cuddle him and begin to tell him why this was bad on so many levels. "Raphael, this is the forest and lots of critters that are not particularly inclined to be friendly to kitties live out here at night, not to mention ticks and all sorts of other dangers to kitties". All is well again and the adrenaline is subsiding as I hand Raphael to my DH and turn to the more mundane task of re-installing the screen... And Raphael, mommy,daddy and bunny all lived happily ever after in their converted barn in the woods...

Have a beautiful day!

Tarnished and Tattered ~ Outside the Box Art Challenge

Today is the Day to Share our Challenge!

Hi Everyone, Today is finally the day! We all reveal our mini creations using our little soap crates! I had ideas, and more ideas and then more ideas but alas the one I really wanted to do (a little box for those little packages of tissues) was not meant to be, the tissues are too long *Sigh* So I decided to make my little box for holding a positive word a day. I had seen this in other formats, beautiful glass jars, etc. but the opening on our little soap boxes seemed perfect for this. The idea is that each day you pull out a new slip of paper with a word or affirmation and that follows you all through that day! I am still working on the list of words and positive affirmations that will eventually fill my little box, so for now - just the box.
First I decoupaged antique sheet music that I distressed and aged with Ranger Distress Ink in "vintage photo" then I glued pearls into brass earring findings and glued them to the edge of the opening. Of course I couldn't leave out my bling so I added some Swarovski bicone crystals here and there for extra sparkle. I glued a velvet ribbon around the crate sealing the edge and painted 3 round wooden beads in black and glued them to the bottom for feet.

I hope you like what I've done... and...
Thanks for stopping by,

Echo Challenge Word ~ "Meander"

Main Entry: 1me·an·der
Pronunciation: \mē-ˈan-dər\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin maeander, from Greek maiandros, from Maiandros (now Menderes), river in Asia Minor
Date: 1576
1 : a winding path or course; especially : labyrinth
2 : a turn or winding of a stream
— me·an·drous \-drəs\ adjective

To meander through an old New England Mill Town in the early morning of a gently overcast and cool summer day one is greeted with the silence and solitude of the vast magnitude of times past which somehow have managed to traverse time silently joining you in this early morning walk. The wonderful faded reds of the old brick buildings now fulfilling duties other than for those which they were originally built; beautiful white wooden picket fences with all manner of heirloom herbs and flowers all vying for their own spaces many gregarious enough to grace both inside the garden and spilling over their white wooden containment's into the edges of the now paved roads. Oh how time has changed our world: except in the quiet hours of an early morning walk in an old New England town.

A Really Neat Giveaway

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a nice time blog hopping and looking at all the creatively done studios out there. Boy there are some beautiful ones I have seen so far, not done looking but coming up with loads of new storage and decorating ideas. Anyway, today I was over visiting my new friend Paula's blog "Journal Artista" and she is having a giveaway (sp?). I think it might be ending tomorrow so you need to hurry over there. Watch the video above and at the end she shows you what the lucky winner will receive! WOW!
Short and Sweet today -
Enjoy your Monday...
Ciao for now,
Beth

Where Blogger's Create II Party Is Finally Here!

Home Sweet Home

Hello Everyone, OK I just realized I jumped the gun - I was so excited about this party I confused the days and posted last night (Thurs) Duh!! LOL. Thanks to Karen over at My Desert Cottage for hosting this second year party of Where Blogger's Create! With over 400+ participants this year there is plenty of studio ideas to see and drool over! Well, recovering from my error in dates, today is the correct day to post... so welcome to my well loved and well used  9'x10' studio here in this adorable 100+ year old barn which not only houses my studio but is also my home here in the beautiful woods of Harrisville New Hampshire. I am lucky with my studio because first, I have one. It even comes complete with bunny rabbit for those on the fly critiques one needs as they work, and of course kitty who gives the close up critiques that are oh so crucial to the fine details of one's work.
You will notice as you tour my studio, given its small size and my voracious appetite for different media that all fluff and frills have yet to be added. I don't even have curtains or valances so as to maximize the natural light. In case you are wondering about my bookcases they are those wooden crates you find at Michael's or Walmart (project on to do list is to paint and decoupage them).

My Little Reference Library

This is where my rocking chair will go as soon as I replace the cushion!
Honest, it does fit there, even a footstool...

 

My computer desk, and yes that is a bunny on top of the white dresser!

Sooooo much stuff, sooooo little space

Sewing Area, oh and did I mention that the white dresser bunny's
cage sits on top of is FULL OF FABRIC! (Can you say, "the one
with the most fabric wins!")

Scary closet, there is actuall another small dresser
behind my black camera bag and it is...you guessed
it, it's also FULL OF FABRIC! We are getting closer
the fabric keepers hall of fame! LOL

Mixed-media area - can you tell I am one of those who needs
my supplies in my sight or else I forget I have them and end up
with two or three of something *Sigh*

Those hat boxes are great for storage just don't pick them up
without holding the bottom. Can you guess what is stored in
them? YUP...MORE FABRIC! teehee

And we have gone almost full circle, another
bit of my reference library. Please don't trip over the
baskets and if you will follow Raphael my head artistic inspector
and critic who is now gently guiding you safely

out of my little studio...refreshments are being served on the screened in porch

which you may have seen pictures of in other posts on my blog.

 

Oops, it looks like your guide was more interested
in the refreshments than tending to your
safety - oh Raphael...the guests!

Well, that I know was a whirlwind tour but if you have any questions please feel free to email me and please visit again. Raphael, Joheved and I thank you all for stopping by and Happy Blog Hopping! It would be nice if you would leave a comment so we know you stopped by in case we weren't here when you visited. New friends are so nice, don't you think?!

Ciao for now,

Beth

        

Joheved (Yo-hev-ed) "on the fly art critic" a.k.a. "bunny face"
She is a sweetie and was ever so glad to meet you all...