In the Meantime...

Front Cover

While the Princess is busy cutting apart all your Woot Loot entries so we can put them in the tiara for the big draw later this morning, and while we wait for the incredibly fun annoucement I referred to yesterday, and in honor of the upcoming "holiday", I thought I would share some book pages I made.

Inside front cover

(Just a note: The Queen hates Valentine's Day. Always has. It has never been particularly good to the Queen...but seeing as how she won't be able to abolish the red-and-pink, flower-and-love-filled, I-love-you-til-I-could-just-barf "holiday" - at least before it crops up again this year - she relents and will participate. But kind of like eating liver, she won't like it.)
For years I have been making books as "little" gifts, to say thank you, happy birthday, or even just to let someone know they are special. I started making these twenty years ago (is the Queen showing her age? ) before scrapbooking was popular and prior to paper becoming a mainstream art. I say "little" because the books never end up being little. It's a sickness I have. I'll start out making a ten page book...and before I know it, I have seventy ideas I think are equally great - and I can't bear to let any of them go. So my book goes from 10 to 70 pages in the blink of an eye...well, not really. More like a month of hard work and a lot of "I'm sorry this is taking me so long!" apologies. In the end it always seems worth it - the recipient is usually so amped to receive the book, the tardiness of the gift becomes a non-issue. Usually.

I was involved in a relationship for several years - and as a Christmas gift one year, I made a handmade book for my then-sweetie. Apparently men don't get the amount of time, thought, energy, or heart that goes into one of my handmade books...or maybe some of them do? I'm not sure if he got the amount of passion I put into this book - or the meaning behind it. Do men just lack appreciation for handmade gifts? Or was it just him who didn't get everything this book represented?
Since this book got so out-of-hand in size, I had to use metal rings to bind it...a whopping eight of them! I can't bring myself to throw it out even though I have no use for it. It is still quite the (extremely heavy & bulky) masterpiece to look at - but it's been relegated to a box in my closet. This seems like a sad waste because it's a great book - and I think it deserves to see the light at least once more, before being permanently retired to my foot locker full of memories. You may be wondering why I have it if it was a gift for someone? Well, he sent it back to me during a fight. That simple act was enough to tell me we wouldn't be facing many more gift-exchanging events as a couple.
The book is so large I could probably dedicate an entire website to its contents. Since I'm pretty sure there isn't a huge call for that, I will share a few pages with you every now and then, starting with today.
Today's installment includes the first few pages of the book. I hope you enjoy looking at them - and that they inspire you. Try making one of these books - they are a great release of creativity, are fun to make, allow you to try many techniques, and are true keepsakes. My advice tho? Save it for the women in your life. For the guys, gor for (insert favorite sports team here) tickets instead.

The Most Exciting News!

I have the most enormous, gigantic, humongous, ginormous news to share with you all. This is a BIGGIE. This is massive. Bordering on unbelievable and astounding.

I can't give you details yet - but they will be coming TOMORROW.

Along with the winner of Woot Loot being announced, I have another announcement that is sure to flip your tiara. I am so excited to tell you - I can hardly stand it!

I can't. I can't stand it. I have to let you in on a little part of the secret:

This is my first sponsored giveaway. And I'm not starting small, either! This is a top-notch company...but don't take my word for it. (Even though my opinion is royal!) Listen to what other, very reputable, sources have to say:

"HGTV's DIY Show featured these as a great home decoration."

Brooke Shields owns one of their pieces.

Howard Stern thinks it's "cool".

Oprah likes these so much they were featured as one of Oprah's favorites on her "O List".

Better Homes and Gardens design editor raves about her piece from this company, blogging "this one is a jaw dropper to everyone who walks into your home", and including it as a design idea in the magazine.

The Dallas Morning News, NBC, Washington Woman, and "Moving Up" (a show on TLC), have all featured this company and their products.

David Pogue, columnist for NY Times and CNBC says his piece is "Awesome!".

Now do you see why I'm beside myself with excitement??

You will love what is coming up...so stay tuned. This is something so awesome, you do not want to miss out!

Q...is for House?

That's right. Q is for house. The Queen's house. I suppose that makes this a castle - although it isn't really in the shape of a traditional castle. Then again, I suppose I'm not a traditional Queen.

If you remember, a few posts back I posted a picture of the house/castle after it had only been painted. (Aileen at Outside the Margins sells them - along with loads of other cool things. They arrive unfinished.) Here's a quick review of the beginning:
I originally bought two of these - this "house" shape and a rectangle. I'll introduce the rectangle when it isn't nekked.

After seeing the example Aileen has posted,
I was really stoked to order one. But when I sat down with it, I was stumped. The "rooms" are little - and even though I have no problem finding small things around the studio to include, my problem was more like what I should include. I wanted my adornments to be cohesive. After trying more than a gazillion combinations (yep, it was a gazillion on the nose - I counted), I chucked that idea and decided to just put things I like in it. Cohesive or not, this was a fabulous project to use up a lot of odds-and-ends. The best part? I got to go through my extensive collection of vintage beads and findings while searching for things to include. Sometimes, going through my collections gets my creativity flowing...and sometimes it's just a whole lotta fun!

And this is what I came up with...

You can click on the pictures for a larger view.

As you can tell, my house is not very cohesive. Or, I suppose it doesn't look very cohesive. To a normal person. Which I'm not. (Helllooo...I refer to myself as "Queen"...)

Most inclusions are vintage. (Does that make it cohesive? Or am I reaching?)

Here are a couple of close ups...

(Note: Everything is vintage unless otherwise stated)

Upper left room: Brass flower charm, brass cabachon with lots of little holes, resin oriental man carrying buckets of water.
Upper right room: Three vintage flowers I glued together to make one flower, two lemon charms in resin, and a brass hat with a propeller on it. (The propeller really spins!)
Left side between floors: Silver fairy charm. Not vintage.
Right side between floors: An angel in flowing robes - was a button. I removed the shank. Not vintage.
Lower left room: Steel butterfly with Perfect Pearls. (non-vintage) buttons, thread.
Lower right room: Glass leaf charm, (non-vintage) square mirror with (vintage) cabachon, silver woman charm, (non-vintage) plastic photo corner tipped sideways to resemble a crown, (vintage) gold rhinestones.
Da Bling Room: Loads of rhinestones glued...everywhere!, resin flower finding, polymer clay face glued to the center of the flower. Perfect Pigments dabbed on her face.

Other little tricks and techniques:
I took a copper charm that says "be true" and has a spiral, and stuck a little crown charm on it. The blue sea glass was covered in 4 coats of UTEE, then had OPALS embossing powders sprinkled onto the hot UTEE. (The first link to UTEE is a great article on using UTEE...The second link to UTEE will take you to YouTube.com, where Suze Weinberg shows more creative projects. Fun stuff!)Vintage bird I think is just adorable - I've named her Gerty the Birdie. Gerty has a vintage red rhinestone eye. She is in front of a small Peyote stitched piece I did awhile ago - and in front of that is "Create" in metal. I used 4-5 coats of UTEE on that as well.And in the final close up...the "q" (for Queen, of course!) is a glittered letter that I added Glossy Accents to. Adding that layer helps to keep the glitter on the letter. A silver crown charm I added tiny real rubies to - I had pulled those out of a very sad ring I had. The word "Inspire" is 3D card stock, and "Hope" is imprinted in copper. The yellow flower is a very cool vintage finding - and I added a small blue vintage flower to the center. The yellow flowers are a strange shape and I can't wait to use more of them. In front, sitting on the shelf or "floor", is just an organza (yellow) ribbon scrunched into a fun shape. There is also a black plastic tag that says "bliss" on the far left and a cute little lady bug button on the far right - neither are pictured in the above photo.

I know this post is long - but when I look at creations done by others, I want to know how they created different things...and now you know all the little bits-and-bobs I used on my Queen House.

Which this non-traditional Queen prefers to call her unconventional Castle.

A Neglected Blog

I have been so busy with art that my poor blog has been neglected. I'm so sorry to everyone for leaving you hanging - I have been reading every one's entries for the current Woot Loot and I'm totally impressed with the resolutions posted. Ok, I'm really impressed with the comments that have been posted! Thank you to everyone who has posted and I wish all of you the best of luck. I wish I had a watch to give every one of you - but I promise there will be more Woot Loot to come. I wish I had an email address to comment back to everyone because I sincerely appreciate every single one of you who takes the time to read my ramblings and post a comment. In case I haven't said it lately, you guys rock!

I haven't posted in an entire week [gasp!] because I've been busy making art. Yay! I have some great new stuff to show you guys but don't have pictures yet, so you'll have to be a little patient. I do have pictures of some very easy cards I made and I'll post those. As always, I'm very interested in hearing what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome, as are any thoughts you have.

All of these cards come from Paper Wishes. Although I don't think this edition is available anymore (I could be wrong), there are plenty of other choices available if you are inclined to make something similar. I have to say there isn't an easier or faster project out there.

Clicking on the picture will enlarge it.

Even the backs of the cards are beautiful - with a special tag for your name.

And a hint of what's to come...new art postings, some cool news, and not one - but TWO - interviews. One is with Christine Street, the owner of Chocolate and Steel over at Etsy - who creates the most delectable "modern handcrafted silver jewelry" you've ever seen (ever...in your LIFE!)...and the other exciting interview is with the owner of Technique Junkies, Pat Huntoon. If you haven't visited Technique Junkies yet, you don't know what you're missing! I don't want to give away too much about these amazing ladies - so I won't say anything more. Please stay tuned - you are in for some great posts! xo

Get Your Sexy On with Silhouette

Ok. You've got to hear this. Seriously. I'm trying to contain my excitement and not allow my total dorkiness show. Really, I am. I'm so insanely excited about this I feel like a little kid!
This is the most whopper of a giveaway...I can hardly believe Simple-Finds.com is doing this. Giving away a QuicKutz Silhouette AND $150 in download credit proves there are people nuttier than I am! Yes, you heard me right. This is just insane. As much as I want to cut off access to their site - especially since they are already sitting at somewhere around 519 comments - I couldn't not post this for my dear and loyal subjects.

I will be wildly thrilled if one of you win this - of course, not as bonkers as I would be if I won it - and just FYI, will fully expect an open invitation to come play if you win as a result of this post. A QuicKutz Silhouette...just saying the words causes my eyes to glaze over and take on a dreamy quality. Say it with me...Silhouette. Ahhh Doesn't it just roll off your tongue like a lackadaisical stream flows over well-worn rocks? Mmm I love it! The folks over at Simple Finds are incredibly generous for offering this...but I honestly think their kindness borders on crazy when you add on the $150 download credit they are throwing in with the Silhouette. Have they lost their minds?? Apparently...because they didn't even stop there. They are also giving the winner FIVE colors of vinyl to top off this luscious giveaway. The QuicKutz vinyl itself is worth a whopping $40!! If you're trying to add it all up, this giveaway is worth a whopping $560. Yep. That's right. Five hundred and sixty smackaroos. 7,647 pesos. 16,457 rubles. That's a lot of pesos and rubles!

ASTONISHING.

Can you even think of a better way to start 2009?

Is anyone even still here reading??

This is a whopper. Enter my Woot Loot and then tear over to Simple-Finds.com and enter this smashing giveaway.

You can thank me with flowers.