MY Journal (Mixed Media)

This week I finished up the front and back of the journal I have been using....  Somehow It just seems more fun to pick up a fun journal instead of just a book......  The heart at the botttom right is a small tin which holds paper clips and is glued onto the hournal....On the back of the journal is a cigarette type cigar tin that is slim and nice and the colors were perfect.  (Havana Honeys....roller derby chicks...mud or jello female wrestlers....?    I also gluee this tin to the back and it holds a pencil, 2 pens, small sissors, etc.  Now I won't have to go "searching" it will all be together for me...

They say BRASS is in this year...but I really prefer the copper .... rusty colors with a green or blue hue....  The round brass and black item is a vintage cabinet door knob and the horizontal piece moves to the left and right so it opens the journal and I really love the victorian steampunkery look of the item.  

I found a very nice fretwork laser wood cutter online and they do some very special pieces that are spectacular and reasonably prices.  I have made 2 orders and have been more than pleased with the aroma of the wood/burn smell which brings back childhood memories for me and the top of the line quality of the pieces.  

This journal will be a mish mosh of this n that ....

Kitchen Facial

Tonight, the first time in probably 10 years (and these were years I should have used)  I remembered that my mother used to give herself egg white facials... And what is egg white but placentia???  AND... what is the main incredient in most face masques....oinments, gels, etc..??  PLACENTIA.... and I got mine for roughly 10 cents which refrigerated will last so I can do it every night for a week.....  My face is tighter,  just a very soft tingle and my face is so soft.   Did it diminish the wrinkles....no, but that is not to say it won't over time and my face is as soft as baby skin not to mention how clean and fresh it feels.

Steps:
I would do a test by applying some of the egg white to the inside of your  elbow.  You want to make sure you are not allergic to egg whites....and some people are so don't skip the test.   A pinking of the skin is sometimes seen .... but as long as it is not RED you should be OK....
1.  Wash hands and face with a mild soap and water.
2.  Using your fingers dollop up as much of the egg white as you can applying it to your face using outward and/or upward strokes.  I went down my neck applying the egg white in upward strokes also. The direction of the application is an important part of the procedure.
3.  Let dry.
DO NOT laugh or smile when you are letting the mask dry or it will crack and you will have to remove  as the "tighness" will no longer be...so do alone in a door shut room.  You will feel a drawing, tightening procedure whe you have applied, which will also draw impurities out of the pores.

4.  AS SOON AS THE MASQUE IS DRY or within 5 minutes remove  the masque with a wash cloth and hot to warm water.
5.   Follow with a cold rinse patting on to close your pores.
6.  Apply an astringent (Witch Hazel is what my Mom used so what I use) and pat dry I pat my skin with a clean face towel.
7.  Apply a good moisturizer
  My Mom used the pink Oil of Olay so .... yep, that is what I use.  It certainly worked for her so.....why not use the same thing?  Do other products work?  I am sure they do but the cost is certainly higher than my products....and nothing short of a face lift is going to last longer...

 Egg whites and Witch Hazel are both "natural " ( you can even purchase a witch hazel bush and make your own).  Oil of Olay has been around a GOODLY amount of years so it has to have a good reputation as to effectiveness or it would be long gone....  

So give yourself an old tyme natural facial ....  I think you will be pleased,,....

Bearded Dragon 

Pillow Sole Socks

As we get older hmmmmrrppphhhh it seems it takes LESS to make us happy and we enjoy those "little" big things in life.

This past week I found Pillow Sole socks.  When I saw and felt them I said "yea, right (in a negative mind only thought) but I bought them to try as I have Mortons' Neuroma and RSD... WELL,,,let me tell you...I went back to the store the next day and I bought 2 more pairs (they run $7 per pair and were on sale for buy one get one at 50% off).  These sock are awesome.... for what little extra there seemed to be in the sole.  AND they carry the socks in knee length as well....    The brand I purchased was Legale...  So if you want/need some foot comfort I have to say this would be a great option....  If your feet hurt seems as if everything is "wrong"...

Gathering

I enjoy "gathering supplies".

When I purchase supplies from garage sales, Etsy vendors,  street faires, thrift stores, antique shops, or going for "walks" I tend to gather things that I like, unusual items, or a item that brings back a memory, or maybe creates a new one.   Many times I have NO idea what I am going to do with the item, how it will work into a design, etc. but I know that it "will" somewhere along the line.  I have items that I have had for 10 years or more.  The spools of thread reminded me of my grandmother who was the town seamstress and when I was young I can remember her continual complaining about the poor quality of thread....it is a good thing whe can't see what we have to work with today....but at least she would have the option of getting better thread if she was willing to pay triple the price....the thread on these 2 spools I am sure is what she "used" to work with back in "those" days.   The nut is an acorn I picked up in CA when we went to see a family member in the hospital...and I LOVE tree bark.  I am on the look out now for birch, aspen, bark (white and black).  A few years ago I purchased an antique ledger book and when I finally found time to look at the entries I discovered it belonged to an artist who was handpainting place settings, dishes, tea sets, etc.  and she loged in the persons name, what she did and the amount the purchase was for.....   And the intricately cut laser wood tree......Unique and I have just glued one on to an art journal I am making for myself.  The pewter witch I bought at Goodwill and it is going to be used in a wire sculpture I am "gathering" for....

Just as with all art........the journey is half the fun....and each item I purchase or find is a personal "treasure" ....  a sense of satisfaction... and even excitement.  Everyone tells me an artist is a "different" breed of person and I have yet to ask or know if they mean that in a bad or good way....

So enjoy your own personal journey.....

Another Bridge and New Projects

Another covered bridge from the Scio, OR bridge tour can be found in the middle of my post.......this was the newest one...... while the others were built in the 1930's.   This was the only red one...the others are all white.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For the past few days I have been busy but still finding time to work in some  'me' time in my work room.....   I have 4 new things I am working on; in different mediums that I can jump back and forth between.

I am working on a pink crystal necklace made out of a tiny crystal looking salt and pepper set and I want to incorporate some colored wire into this piece if it is feasible to do so....

Tonight I began another abstract wire sculpture using a Tablespoon this time, half of a welding rod,
some bubble glue that ran over onto my living room rug of all places and dried there but lifted right off the carpet with no effort leaving none in the rug....and fit perfectly into what I am doing.....is this one of
those "happy accidents" that Bob Ross always talked about....lol....  I purchased some colored wire to play with so I am pretty sure that some will be used on this piece.  And .... the base of this one is going to be a piece of tree bark (I think) from PA that flew back to PA and then later was trucked from CA to here in OR...so it has litterally been a LOT of places and I have had it quite a few years.....(over 10).
Not that it matters but the bark is Hemlock.  I am finding that I really like the wire medium as I am really in control of where the wire goes, how it is wrapped, twisted, turned, and molded....and seems to "fall into place".  With this piece I THINK, I know where I am going....but I have thought that before so we will see what happens....  I also like that I have not seen many wire sculpture artists  so I pretty much know that these are truly MY pieces, not copied from anyone else....and I can say with confidence will be one of a kind....not duplicatable.  I am going to wait until I get about 6 made and then decide what I will do as far as selling them and where.

I just finished painting, matting and framing a 5 x 7 acrylic painting of Mt. Shasta from a photo I took this fall....... and have plans for my next painting which I will start sometime this coming week.  It is

going to be a floral....on a black background....

Next I want to get a clay "something" in process.  It is fun working between the different mediums and projects.....and each helps on of the others I am working on....a nice flow that is enjoyable.

This weekend is to be nice so I will enjoy the sunshine and warm weather......back shots on Monday which I am not looking forward to with a couple days of "down recovery time".... which I normally don't do but am planning on definately doing this time.......

Have a great weekend everyone.

EVIL DOERS --- Hannah Bridge

We have all encountered Evil Doers' in our life which can be either human? or technical.   Whatever or whomever has done a complete job of slowly destroying nearly everything in my computer, thank you very much;  so now to begin the fixes, repairs and hopefully restores.  All of my photos here on ArtisticRenderings have been "obliterated" "deleted" but I am determined to move forward a little wiser than before.

This weekend I was near Scio, Oregon and even though the weather was not co-operative with plans we still managed to enjoy and visit 6 of the old covered bridges in this area.

One of the bridges was called HANNAH so this is where I sit...  the bridge to tomorrow.

My email site is gone so I need addressses of all of my friends to re-establish an address book on my new email site..... so please comment here and provide it to me.    When all one has to do is "click" we fail to "remember" personal information of importance.....  so across the bridge to the rest of today.