Greetings, Dear Readers!
I thought I'd begin the Halloween madness by posting a few layouts I've created. I was inspired by both a song: Some Kind of Zombie by Audio Adrenaline...and by Elsie's (A Beautiful Mess) zombie cookies.

Here are the digital layouts I've come up with...

I thought the "Christian" take on zombies was novel...I also think that the irreverent work of Edgar Wright in "Shaun of the Dead" pays perfect homage to the "zombie movies." A few personal faves are the Evil Dead Trilogy starring Bruce Campbell: The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness. All are hilarious spoofs of the bad "spooky wannabe" low budget movies. HILARIOUS!

Which reminds me...only one day left to check out the poll and vote for your favorite kind of scary movie! Psychological Thrillers are thus far the runaway favorite!

Have yourself a SPOOKTACULAR night!

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Greetings fellow zombies and other spooktacular types! Here's another layout with the Halloween theme...I do my digital scrapbooking using Adobe Photoshop Elements...and in this layout I was playing around with the light filter. The "haunted house" is actually city hall in Hartford City, Indiana! My sister and I were on a day jaunt, (looking for an elusive covered bridge) and found this wonderfully eerie place sitting in the town square. I remember thinking at the time, "Wow...that would make a good haunted house!" So I snapped the picture.

Also, to help me get into the spirit of things, I've made another Etsy Purchase: BEHOLD THE MUMMY!

BOO!
Oh whatever... I didn't scare you.
I'm too cute to be scary. Anyways... Mortimer the Mummy used to work in a library. Now he ROAMS THE COUNTRYSIDE.... hoping no one unravels him!

A complete backstory with each little character...you've just gotta LOVE the wonderfully wacky artists at Etsy! Mortimer is supposed to be a finger puppet...but because I have little cause to wear a mummy on my finger, I'm sporting him as a pin. He's 2" tall and amazingly detailed. Nicole, I am in awe of such nimble fingered talent!

And, OH! Speaking of MORTIMER, it's time to watch one of my favorite movies of all time, Frank Capra's "Arsenic & Old Lace". Cary Grant is a GORGEOUS, zany leading man...who is the nephew of two spinster aunts who ... uh... like to share their home brewed elderberry wine with the "gentleman callers" that come to see them. Check it out at IMDB!

And look at this groovy wallpaper I found at digital blasphemy:

And finally, my greatest halloween find thus far: (fanfare, mistro!)

TOFU: THE VEGAN ZOMBIE

GOODBYE TO A DEAR FRIEND

Dear Readers,

I have been debating whether or not to spare you the emotional wreckage of the grief I currently find myself in...then I decided, If I can't be ME on an ART blog, WHERE can I be ME?

So I am sharing with you the fact that I have lost someone so dear, so near my heart, I can scarcely find words to express it. (those of you who know me know it's an unusual thing for me to be at a loss for words). However, Thursday last, my precious friend, spiritual director, pastor and fellow artist gave up the long, painful battle with bone cancer.

My friend Deb Smith was one of those rare individuals who was true to who she was, regardless the expectations of those around her. To say she was not "typical" doesn't even BEGIN to do justice to the unique and precious qualities this woman possessed.

One of the things which our friendship shared was a desire to create something beautiful out of... well, whatever we could find. (She saw beauty in EVERYTHING so EVERYTHING was "up for grabs" when it came to her artwork!) She encouraged and inspired me to "work big" and get my art off a journal page and onto a canvas (24x18...which was HUGE for me!) She walked me through the therapeutic process of being "bold" on canvas, in whatever medium I chose to use...and then encouraged me to find a symbol (much like the tattoo (I TOLD you she was not your stereotypical pastor!) she had on her ankle) to use in every piece of my art. For me, it was a leaf...green, growing, seasonal. It seemed to fit.

Deb's art was bold and expressive and deeply symbolic. Here is a piece she painted for me to mark the occasion of my graduation from seminary:

I can't begin to express how I'll miss her...and what she brought into my life.

To read more about this amazing woman, you can go to: http://www.lovingdebsmith.blogspot.com for a tribute written by her oldest daughter, Charity. You can also check out the "official" obituary here: Mt. Vernon Register News.

I believe the world is always a little darker, a little less amazing when we lose the light of an artist. Deb epitomized Matthew 5:16: "Let you light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."

May we all seek to shine as brightly.

And now another post from:

Blogging!!

Okay, so here's the deal...this book is FULL of beautiful things that I just know YOU, dear reader...will just LOVE! Ergo, you MUST run (do not walk) to fetch this book at your local bookstore. If inspiration is what you want...THIS book has it! If photo and writing is what you look for in a blog (by the way, DO saunter and/or sachet over to the BLOG-O-RAMA Poll)----->
this is the book for you! (Sheesh, you'd think I was a featured author or something) I guess you can tell by now that I get OH SO EXCITED when I find anything (or anyONE) who provides me with inspiration! I've read it's a personality quirk of mine...ENORMOUS ENTHUSIASM.

(An aside: Do you know I've been offered EVERY job I've ever applied for (even the ones I didn't really want) because of this very thing...employers seem to like an ENTHUSIASTIC someone on their payroll...go fig!)

Annnnnnnnnnyhoo, more MAHVELOUS eye candy from Artful Blogging:

This blog is from the incredible Judy Wise...I just LOVE her busy, too-full pages...and the mix of photos with the writing...well, I think it's just FAB. Behold:

One of the things Judy does that I find SO utterly fascinating, is spray painting and stencil work...in JOURNALS. Isn't it the coolest?

And then there Steph Mcatee's Vision/Family/Art.

And check out this yummy "trinket" created for Halloween. Can't you just see it holding your place inside a journal ?

And now...without further adieu...my Friday Find (albeit a wee bit late)

All I can say is...

Blogging

I have found the most WONDERFUL book: Artful Blogging. In Stampington's usual fantastic style, the magazine is full of eye candy, beautiful photos, and writing found on many artistically FABULOUS blogsites.

Many of you readers know what a bird lover I am ... just look at the fabulous mixed media collages from The Red Door Studio:

The magazine is full of such beautiful images as these...but also images "in process"... like Crafty Girl Kelly Angard's site Kelly's website is photography, words and art...perhaps she processes things much like I do???

Words and art are so intertwined I can rarely separate the two...thus my love for the anything-goes AltAred Art style of collage. Oh! Speaking of AltAred Art, I am teaching a class on Saturday, October 27th from 10-2. Anyone who is even slightly intrigued with the idea, or if you just like to make a mess...join us! You can email me privately for more info. We're going to start off with basic AltAred Books...I've discovered it takes some folks a bit of time to remove their mother's voice from their heads: DON'T MARK IN THOSE BOOKS!!! DO have faith...I have managed to eradicate "the voice" and have duct taped the mouth of the "inner critic." The creative process is worship for me...thus the AltAred Art...I put all I do - all I create on the altar as an offering of thanks and grace to God.

More AMAZING websites and info from the Artful Blogging mag...and of course, my "Friday Finds"...Stay tuned!

Peace Out!

RECYCLED ART! AMAZING!!!

Peace and Joy to you, dear readers!

I'd like to share with you an amazing "find"...an artist who is Franciscan to her core. She is not "officially" a member of a Franciscan order, but I learned while listening to her explain her artwork to me that she has a love for creation and a desire to see even the most "useless" items turned into artistic treasures. She said, "Some friends give me gifts, my REAL friends give me trash..." Darlene is a great Christian woman...her work is inspired by scripture. Each piece is about 2 ft. x 3 ft. She seems to do things on a "grand scale." You simply will not BELIEVE the things this woman can do with a used coffee filter...

Some of the recycled items used are driftwood, pinecones, broken mirror, beads, marbles, sticks, old fencing, chicken wire, screen, paper pulp, old screen doors, cardboard (of all descriptions), linoleum flooring, used coffee filters, old keys, string, rusted license plates, metal washers, sewing patterns, fibers, leaves, leaf pods, twigs, springs from spiral notebooks, cocoa beans, sawdust, even plastic army men!

Each of these items are one of a kind, and are currently displayed in Darlene's home, studio, and shop. Any piece is available for purchase! I can also give you a list of materials used for each piece. Darlene is glad to create commissioned works ... she is happy to share her gift with the world!