A Bowlful

I'll be taking a two week break - and my bowl is full.

These are the puzzle pieces sent in for the swap (click on the "puzzle pieces" label below for all the related posts).

Also, please check back on August 1st for the "final" Disintegration Project reveal (organized by Seth at the Altered Page). I have a post prepared, although I'll be absent .... in the meantime, enjoy your summer days, take time for tea, take time to look at things differently!

Hugs, Kimmie

Puzzle Swap #11 & 12

(for Phyllis)

(for myself - the Title Piece)

Many of the artists in this swap are Canadian - so I wanted my Title Piece to reflect that. "I.P.A." stands for Inchie Pushers Anonymous .... or an occasional India Pale Ale :)

Puzzle Swap #9 & 10

(for Deb)

(for myself)

The puzzle swap involved everyone choosing a color choice and the theme for all is "vintage."

Tomorrow I'll show the last 2 that I've made and then on Saturday I'll show you all of the ones that have come in, from the other swappers so far, in one big colorful bowlful of puzzle pieces - fun!

Puzzle Piece #7 & 8

(for Jan)

(for Dena)

All of these puzzles pieces that I been showing you are made by me and will be swapped out to other artists.

They, in turn, are sending me pieces of their own. That will be my final puzzle.

There are 11 participants and it's a 12 piece puzzle. The 12th piece will be my title piece.

When I show the final completed puzzle you'll see 10 pieces from other artists, one of my own and then a title piece (also of my own).

I hope that makes sense. I know it's hard to picture it .... but I'll show you the final completed puzzle as soon as all the pieces come in :)

today it's coffee :)

coffee in the cup, rose peatals in the "flaner," sunshine in the sky

the eye mask, chamomile tea, melatonin .... none of it works on a day like today.

sunny and bright from sun up to sun down.

so wake up and smell the coffee :)

7 am today - not too bad

this is what I saw out the window:

(hot air ballon)

this is what I have in my bag:

(a cotton beachy sweater)

I finished the other one a while back and will bring it on my trip :)

(cotton short sleeved sweater)

I can hardly wait to go

"over the rainbow"

to the land of Oz

Puzzle Piece #5 & 6

(doing 2 at a time now cuz I'll be abandoning the blog soon for my vacation!)

(for Loretta)

(for Mrs. N)

Two more of these :) ...... I hope I'm getting you guys intrigued enough to try one. I bought the blank puzzles at Mister Art (here's the link). They're 30% off right now too.

Puzzle Piece #4

(this one is for Nanel)

I have a particular fondness for this particular puzzle piece due to the Killian's Irish Red beer cap. I have such a weakness for bottle caps :) ...... I actually used scissors to cut out the center part of the cap, leaving the ripply ring behind. It makes it more like a medallion and just a tad bit smaller for the small scale of the puzzle piece.

Buried Treasure

Seth at the altered page has put forth a pretty cool challenge. To dig through your blog and pull out one (or more) "treasured posts."

I re-took photographs of this piece. In the original post it was just much too small. I also didn't really go into much explanation about it - other than the materials used and the process.

This particular piece is called "Solace." The text at the top is Norwegian: "Hvor skal jeg trosten fange?" I chose the text after the assemblage was done and I chose it randomly - but upon translation it was really profound (to my thinking).

it is translated: "Where shall I find solace?"

The photograph is a cabinet card of my husband's ancestors in Denmark.

I have altered it to show both the comfort and the loneliness of marriage.

The lace, the velvet ribbon, the beeswax coating, the lavender, the buttons on the suit, the hinge .... they all symbolize things in marriage I can't quite put my finger on to be able to explain it better .... but the words "Where shall I find solace?" combined with the aged faces speak volumes to me and give me hope and trust and joy for today and for tomorrow.

Puzzle Piece #3

(this one is for Tammy)

This puzzle piece needed to be in pink.

I think I accomplished that, don't you ;)

The rosebud is paper and came from an old valentine.

Thanks for looking!

Happy very middle of July!

What is in your tea?

I have a loose tea that I just love. It's called, "French Blend - Special." As I was shaking it out the other day I noticed the odd bits of things in it ..... on closer look I could see that it has rose petals, lavender buds, and another purple petal - perhaps echinacea (purple coneflower). I wondered what qualities these added ingredients would have .... granted, one cup of tea would have a very small amount .... but they were not added for no reason at all. There must be a history of herbal lore behind it.

Echinacea

works to increase the activity of the immune system by stimulating white blood cells, which attack the viruses and bacteria that lead to illness or infection. Echinacea is also every effective in treating respiratory ailments like colds. Some research has found Echinacea to be effective as an antiviral or antifungal, which also helps it fight infection. Echinacea can also be used externally to treat skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.

Lavender

primarily used in connection with insomnia, anxiety, depression, and mood disturbances. This is due to recent and past studies showing lavender's effectiveness in producing calming and soothing effects in those who use it.

Rose Petals

Roses soothe heart and emotions. They also balance the mind. The reasons for the diuretic effects of the roses are they contain Vitamin C, pectin, malic and citric acids. Rose tea: can provide relief from sore throat, runny nose and blocked bronchial tubes; is useful to those prone to chest problems by fighting against infection; also fights infection in the digestive tract and re-establish the normal bacterial population of the intestines; relieves fluid retention and hastens the elimination of wastes through kidneys; has an uplifting effect on the nervous system and can relieve insomnia, depression and fatigue

Thank you for coming over for tea today!

If you have "Tea on Tuesday" over at your blog today, I'd love to know about it!

I hope you're having a sweet Tuesday

in or out of the garden

with or without tea

...cheers!

"Tooting My Own Horn"

2 of my cards have been published in this magazine:

here's 2 page spread:

Kris Dickinson (her blog is Nostalgic Collage) organized it. She sent around the rubber stamp (of the cat in a party hat) and we all took turns with creating 2 cards for submission in this ongoing feature of Stamper's Sampler: "Different Points of View." The idea is to showcase how many different ways one stamp can be used.

I made this twinchie:

and this atc:

Thank you Kris! I have to toot your horn too, because it was a patient task to organize our group and submit our work. To give you an idea of the patience involved, I made my cards last June. June of 2008 that is!

Puzzle Piece #2

(for camel diva)

Here's another puzzle piece for the swap I'm in this summer. It was hard to get a clear photo - I don't think my camera could quite figure out the best focusing point. For this piece I used a really cool cowboy image that Jean (Bluebirds Living in the Meadow) sent me, an old rusted heart charm, some mica chips, books text and part of a Tim Holz grungeboard star.

I've been a girl on the go the last couple of days (see my summertime excuses listed just below my banner) - these puzzle pieces are coming in really handy so my blog isn't completely abandoned while I'm galavanting about with my kids in the sweet sweet summertime.

Puzzle Piece #1

(puzzle piece for Lolita Sue)

approx. 2X2"

I saw this on Patty's blog (Magpie's Nest) and had to try it out. These are really quite addictive. The puzzle pieces start out blank and then you get to decorate them any way you want to. They can then be re-assembled into a complete puzzle. The pieces I'll post for the next several days are pieces I've made to swap out, so my personal end product puzzle will be made up entirely of other peoples work (except for 2 that I'll do myself).

Clear as mud?

Just stay posted for the next couple of weeks as I show the progress a bit at a time.

Today's tea ....

... is on my other blog today ...

.... thanks for dropping in :)

Beach Weather?

pen and ink mermaids of my own imagination on beach worn clam shells

I hope you're having a beautiful beachy kind of July ;)

Our beach weather disappeared, but I'm sure it will be back soon!

(fyi: these lovely ladies are in my etsy shop)

Happy Independence Day

Potential

You and I are definitely on the same page if you are drooling all over this collection of old tin kitchen stuff.

I got some of it at the Goodwill - and some of it from friends who said, "I thought you could use this in your art ....."

I hope you have a Goodwill AND friends like that :)

I'll keep you posted on what the tin-woman does with these ....