About two weeks ago I purchased this darling little French book called Merimee's Colomba by J.A. Fontaine with a copyright of 1916. The book cover, itself, is in terrible condition, tearing off of the inside binding. The book is approx. postcard size ( 4 x 6).
I got the book, for a song; well not really as if you heard me sing, I wouldn't get anything even for free - lol!
But; I fell in love with the book as the size and French script was calling to me. When I got the book home, I tore the front and back covers off of the book which I will use for altering with a future project I have in mind.
I was left with these wonderful distressed and beautiful pages of French script in a charming size. I decided to use these pages as a sketch book as I've always loved sketching or stamping over script writings.
I searched my stash of magazines and found a "glam" book of French runway models and thought these would be a match for my sketch models. They really didn't turn out looking exactly like my "subjects" but that's okay; I drew them and colored them in and made them into my own. You notice runway models very rarely smile. What is up with that? Are they told not to do that or are they just hungry ? :)
The pages of this book are a bit delicate and very soft, with wear, so I had to use gentle mediums on them for color. I used soft pastels and waxed pencils, did some stamp overs with white gesso or Staz On ink, added some French postage stamps as collage elements, and then sealed the little pages over.
I think what I'm going to do with these is make little greeting cards out of them as gift packs. And; I will look forward to doing more of these with the rest of the book pages.
Hoping you all are having a good week, so far, and thoughts of you are with me through mine.
Our weather has turned glorious with clear blue sky, cool air and a wonderful breeze for the next couple of days! We had such a humid past weekend and this coming holiday weekend is going to turn extremely hot and humid. They are predicting temps in the 90's :(
Wishing you all a safe and happy 4th of July weekend.
Much love, Marilyn xxoo
What a reunion! Remember an earlier post regarding "Gertie the Garden Girl" and my posting how the inspiration came from parting, too quickly, with my VERY first rubber stamp set when I was a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? Well; "Nellie the Nest Lady" and I have been reunited thanks to Marlynn of Honeysuckle Breeze! There are times when we give ourselves gifts without even knowing it and blogging is one of those gifts I gave myself without even realizing where it would lead. It has lead to doors of blossoming friendships for which I am eternally grateful!
After my post, it didn't take too long, that I received word, from Marlynn, that she can arrange to get Nellie back to me! I was overwhelmed with joy and appreciation and I wanted to share this on my Blog.
Marlynn, so generously and thoughtfully, arranged to find Nellie, for me, and sent her, back to me, in this lovely box. I am sharing pictures, here, of Nellie the Nest Lady stamp set (Stampin' Up!) and the beautiful box that Nellie so deserves!
This stamp set is where I began my art journey! From my first demonstration with Nellie, it lead me to where I am now - in one of the happiest and joyous places in my life................learning, sharing, evolving, and, most importantly, the blossoming of new friendships and wonderful connections through Blogging!
Marlynn; I cannot thank you, enough, for reaching out and returning Nellie home to me.
I have linked Marlynn's Blog above; please visit her when you have time as you will not only be inspired by her beautiful artwork but also her words and sharing so much of herself with her faithful followers.
Thinking of you all with warm and loving thoughts!
Have a great week ahead; all be safe and peaceful within.
Love - Marilyn
I've been working on catching up with some things, here, after a full but joyous week with Sophia.
I took some time, this morning, to complete a journal spread that I had started a few days ago.
I love birds and watching them build their nests, busily, lovingly, taking care of their eggs and then feeding their young. We have a family of wrens outside our back room and observing them got me to thinking about the whole nesting thing.
We, as humans, protect our nests don't we? In one way or the other. We can all have different types of nests whether we live alone, or share space or a house with someone else and/or others, pets, too. A garden can be a nest, too, and our plants need to be nurtured, cared for and loved.
Our art is a nest of sorts. We need to nurture our art and protect it by making sure we spend time with it as we do with the other things, and people in our lives that we love and treasure.
I wanted this journal spread to reflect my feelings of protecting my own nest which consists of a beautiful family, wonderful friends and my art.
Thinking of you all with warm thoughts and hope you are enjoying your weekend.
Enjoy your nests :)
Much love..................................Marilyn xxoo
I took some time, this weekend, to work in my journal. I had some thoughts and feelings to blow out and, again, the journal is a great place to do that :)
I had such a good week, this past week, with Sophia, and she has offered me a bit of a surprise. I found a poem, that I felt fitting for my feelings, that I wrote on this journal spread. I will share it with you,here, as I'm not sure you will be able to read it on the journal page that I shared:
"A Lovely Surpise"
Life has started all over for me,
The young years of happiness
Have come again in a sweeter form
Than a mother could ever guess.
The love and devotion I gave my own child
I thought I could give no other,
But life held a lovely surprise for me....
I became a grandmother.
.................Kay Andrew
I love these photos of Sophia and she's learned to roll over and is not too far from sitting up on her own. She is 6 mos. old already! I wanted to share these with you.
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend; it is a rainy one here but I've managed to get lots done. Mowing the lawn will be the challenge as the weather has prevented me from doing so. Our yard looks like the "Little Shop of Horrors" :)
Warm and caring thoughts for all of you...............Love, Marilyn xxoo
This is a journal spread that I worked on last week and still have a little more I want to do with it. This journaling has really gotten a hold, of me, in a very special way. It helps me work through some things.
This reflects my feelings I've had, lately, of prioritizing my time more. I have been "moving and shaking" a bit too much over the past year. :)
I do know that my two top priorities are family and friends. Without either one, I truly feel I couldn't create the art that I do.
So; I am going to "Just Be" here for a couple of weeks. I'm helping my son and daughter-in-law out with watching Sophia for the month of June until my son's school year ends in a couple of weeks.
I will be with Sophia every day, during the week, for most part, until the end of June. I am so enjoying, this opportunity, and time with her. She has rocked my world :)
I might be a little "quiet" during this time, and will try to touch base, on your Blogs as I can. After all; I don't want to miss out on what you are all creating and expressing.
Just know that you all are my wings of support and friendships and sharing art and life, with you, mean so much!
Be well, happy and peace at heart; I'll be back, posting, when I can.
Much love - "Grandma" Marilyn xxoo
Hello everyone! I'm wishing you a safe and happy week ahead. Congratulatons to Gail Jefts for winning my Blog giveaway. I heard back, from her, and it will be in the mail by week's end - fun!
I did get a little art in, last week, and this is an 11 x 14 canvas work - mixed media.
I used to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator years, ago, and, in fact, that is how I got my start into the art world. :)
My favorite SU set was "Nellie the Nest Lady" and I had a stamp sale, a few years ago, at my house and SOLD HER! AGH! Now; I want her back and see that she is a retired set and quite expensive. Oh well. I'll check around. A friend, of mine, warned me about selling stamps that someday I might be looking for a particular one and she was right. :)
So; this was the inspiration for this piece here. I sketched "Gertie" and tried to go with my memory of "Nellie". The cone flowers were sketched and painted in with heavy acrylics, lots of collage, etc.
Thinking of all of you, hope you had a wonderful weekend and no one was effected by those terrible storms over the weekend in the mid west. Tornado watches were around all weekend, here in our area, which is very unusual. We did get a doozie storm, yesterday, and our area had some minor damage.
All be safe and enjoy your week ahead.......................Love always - Marilyn xxoo
Congratulations Gail Jefts!
You are the winner of my "Cabbage Head" giveaway.
I used my highly technical random selector (my husband) and, this morning, he picked your name out of a basket.
Woohoo!
Please email me and I will arrange to get the art piece, to you, along with a collage sheet.
For all who played in the giveaway, please feel free to use my "Cabbage Head" image as you wish. One catch - please share if you use it in your artwork; I'd love to see what you do with it.
Thank you all for joining in and I can never express my appreciation to all of you for your continued support and friendships! Pretty soon I'm going to need another pair of wings :)
Love to all; hope you had a good weekend and have a safe and happy week ahead.
Much love - Marilyn xxoo
