Flea Market Treasures

So.....yesterday I went to the Kane County flea Market,the largeest in the Midwest. It sure isn't what it used to be,back in the days when antiquing was a fabulous thing...however,I did manage to find myself a few treasures to use in my artwork:

 Some cool baubles that will end up in journals!

Old amusement park tokens,I think:they say "only loaned for amusement"!!! HMMMMM.....

 I have tons of these cab cards of women,but not so many of handsome young gentlemen!these were a rare find,especially at 50c each!!!

 Calling all STEAMPUNK addicts!!!Are these cool or what!?!?!?I am young enough(LOL)to not totally recognize them,but once I found out that they were vintage TV bulbs,they started to look a bit familiar.....they are stuck into the corks because the prongs are a bit sharp...they also look cool that way! Think how these would look in your Steampunk assemblages,Tim Holtz  curio boxes,etc.etc.!!!

 Seriously?!?!?What costs 19c anymore?!?!NADA. Old grovery store labels. These will be making appearances in Smash books to come I think!

 Some very very cool fabric  ribbon pieces with handwriting on them...

 I love bird images...this one has clear beads all over the robin!

 And is this gypsy just not right up my alley?

 There was a vendor selling OLD book pages that she had torn apart.....got these 3 bird pages...

 ...and these incredible Japanese book pages dated  1832...I bought the very last 4 that she had...complete with worm holes,but SUCH cool paper and graphics...They are very very fragile, so I will be using them in some Asian pages soon.....

I bargained hard for this 3"clock face!!!:>:>:>

 I grew up in Elgin,Ill.,a town reknowned for the Elgin Watch Factory. This is a copper plate used  there for engravers to practice on. It says Vincit...I think he was starting to engrave "Omnia Vincit Amor"(Love Conquers All,in Latin)...but he messed up so didn't finish it..... I will use it somehow on the cover of a journal in the future...

All this for about $20. Made my day!!!

Some May art!

 These are some tags done for a swap called 100 Reasons to Live that Ali in the UK is also hosting.

 These next 4 pix are my May Soul Journal pages. Ali had us,at random,pick 4 sets of 3 colors,plus a word,to use as background and theme.....a very very fun project.this first one is orange,light green and cream, plus the word Release.

 Who would have thought of this color combination?!?I actually really love it and plan on using it again! Red,purple,brown plus Joy.

                            Purple,black,aqua plus Dream.

                          Green,yellow and blue plus Escape.

Keys4Art 2012,contd.

We took a really fun side trip down to Key West!

               

Keys4Art 2012

  

         Wow,long time no blog!!!I've been away quite a bit,and when I am home,just haven't been in the blogging mood. But it's a rainy day,and a good time to catch up. I am posting just some of my many photos from this years art retreat at my friend Elena's in Key Largo.There were 18 of us this year!Elena just keeps on keepin' on!!! The art highlight this year(for me anyway) was the fabulous Lynne Perrella coming down to teach a class!  

 

 Everyone pitched in chopping,dicing,cutting to help make.......

 Jacquie's STUPENDOUS PAELLA!!!!!!!!!! That girl does nothing small!!!!!

                          It took two to stir this!!!

Lynne Perrella

                Maritas' banner on the left,mine on the right

Don't quite remember whose these all belong too...they are all wonderful!

                  Pretty sure these next few are actually Lynne's...

                                These 2 are Elena's!

                     I did 2 small canvases of gypsies.....

                        My banner again...LOVE it!

March soul journal pages

For this month's theme,Ali chose Dreams.The first page,on the left,uses a quote about dreams.the second page ,on the right, is about your dreams of yesterday,of today and of tomorrow.One of my art resolutions of the New Year is to use more of what I already have on hand.....'cause I have so much!!!Therefore,these backgrounds were all made using used papertowels left over from a previous project. LOVE how it turned out!

The third page,on the left,uses a song quote about dreams.The one I chose is from Iron Maiden.Lastly,we were to design our own Dreamcatcher!

 Closeup of my Dreamcatcher!This was really fun to do...thanks for the great idea,Ali!!!

February art journaling with Ali

These pages were all done a little bit at a time,as per ALi's directions.First the backgrounds,then images,then stamping,then journaling...etc. The point was to do a little bit each day in Feb. 

 Fun!

White journal pages

These are two pages that I did for my friend Lee's white Evolution journal. Someday I am going to do a whole journal in shades of white!LOVED working in this!

Lace and "jewel" closeup