Karen's Muse and Musings

New Construction

I just finished another house for the swap on the Oh My Gothic group. This one is for the sadly blogless Linda Kunsman.

Wings

If you have followed my blog, you know I love birds, poetry about birds, and quotes about birds. Yet, somehow, I have missed this profound quote from Victor Hugo until today.

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.”

Here is the reverse side of my house-shaped art which I made for Caryl, who has been very kind and patient since I am late with this swap.

Keep on singing!

What happened to the month of June?

Oh my gosh, the summer is half over! The last few weeks have been so busy for me. In late May, there was my fabulous visit with Joanne, Catherine, and other art friends in Michigan. Only downside was I caught a cold on the plane on the way home. Then a couple of weeks later, I was off to Birmingham for a workshop with DJ Pettit and Deryn Mentock. That was fantastic! DJ and Deryn are both generous and patient instructors. When I came home, I caught grandson Bobby's summer cold or virus. I thought I would be immune since I just had a cold. Wrong! This virus was much worse — high fever, chills and aches for a few days. Then came another trip, this time to Lakeland, Florida, to meet my great nephew, Ethan, for the first time. Between and during the traveling and the illnesses, I still had my babysitting duties for grandson Bobby who is now 10 months old and growing so fast. Normally, I keep him 2 or 3 days a week, but this week I'm keeping him every day. I now know why younger women have the babies — I'm exhausted!

One of the projects we did in Birmingham was a fabric and paper journal as taught by DJ. I fell in love with this project and I am longing to finish it. Hopefully, I'll get back to it this weekend. Here's are a few photos of what I've done so far. First, the front cover. We began by tracing a DJ drawing and painting it. You would think everyone's results would be the same. Not so!

I'm pleased with the cover although I want to do one that features my own drawing. Now here's my back cover which is entirely my own. (The brocade band on the sides of both covers is actually the spine of the book.)

Now here's a peek at the inside.

I love the idea of using vintage items like the doily and gloves as "pages" to wrap the signature. I'm dying to get back to work on this. I have an antique shirt collar I've been saving, and that will be featured on the next signature.

Now here's a photo of sweet Ethan, my great nephew who fell asleep in my arms as I sang to him. My sister took this picture which I will always treasure. That spotted thing behind him is my freckled arm!