Tuesday, September 30, 2014

More Autumn Leaves

I'm still thinking about the glorious autumn colours that were on display this past weekend.  Some trees were just getting started, not yet changed into their fall finery:
while others were full on bursting with bold colour.
It has been on my mind so much, I just had to make this journal page tonight:
Hopefully the show will still be going strong this coming weekend, it usually lasts a good two weeks.

Monday, September 29, 2014

The Sound of Autumn


Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Friday, September 26, 2014

Haiku My Heart: Garbage Day


With fall's arrival
Clean up and clear out begins
Flowers become trash.
Took a walk last night as the sun was setting.  Twas the night before garbage pickup and the curbside along one short block was quickly filling up with all manner of items being thrown away.

Branches and a dishwasher
a discarded table

leaf bags decorated with goalies (yes, clearly we Canadians are obsessed with hockey!)
a corner cabinet
general unidentifiable mixed debris
and, most sadly, the remains of a Rose of Sharon bush/tree, with its flowers still in bloom, not knowing they had been discarded.
 

For more Haiku My Heart offerings, kindly visit the blogs of my fellow poets, lovingly gathered together at recuerda_mi_corazon.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

One Saturday in September

For the past few years, one Saturday in September, I attend the Aberfoyle antique market. They're actually open every Sunday throughout the spring, summer and fall but twice a year, they have a special Saturday market that includes several more vendors than their usual bunch. There is always lots of cool stuff to see and in some cases, buy.
This trunk was the very first thing I saw.  I might have bought it, just for the fabulous papers glued inside it (I think they were needlework patterns):
I really loved the cover of this celluloid photo album but I thought the $40 price tag was too high for an empty photo album and the back cover was quite an ugly velour patterned fabric.  Still, now that I'm looking at this photo again, I'm regretting the fact that I didn't go back later in the day and see if they'd lower their price.
Which is exactly what I did to get a deal on  a different album from another vendor, who was more than happy to sell me this to me, including the photos inside (sample below), for only $20 - score!
This woman was my personal choice for best costume.  I remember thinking, "Oh wait, were we supposed to dress up?!"
I just love seeing the way certain items are collected together and displayed.
This hairdryer looked like it belonged in a Jetsons' movie.
I kid you not, it's called the Turbinator!
It's always a sad time of year, knowing the outdoor antique market season is drawing to a close.  We ran out of time, money and energy before seeing everything last weekend, I might just have to sneak in one more visit before they shut up shop for good on October 26th!




Wednesday, September 24, 2014

My Birgit Book

Here are some photos of the little book I made in the class taught by Birgit Koopsen that I took on Sunday afternoon.

Front cover with ribbon tie:
First 2 page spread:
The yellow design on the right hand side was made using something called a Shimmer Sheet, which gives a very cool effect.

Second spread:
Third spread:
Fourth spread:
This next one was my favourite page. I really like how the different colours of embossed powder pop out from the darker background. And I love, love, love the designs on Birgit's new washi tape stamps!
Here is the back cover:
I'm pleased with how this little book turned out. It's a good reference to have as a reminder of the various techniques we learned in class.  The book itself was so easy to put together, I'll definitely be making more in the future, hopefully putting some of the techniques I learned to good use!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Fun With Birgit

We had lots of fun this past weekend taking classes at Bizzy B with Birgit Koopsen.  I was there both Friday night and Sunday afternoon, but missed the Saturday canvas class as I was attending the fall outdoor antique market at Aberfoyle (more on that later in the week!).  Here is a couple of photos of my fellow students hard at play during Friday night's class:
Both classes were focused on techniques.  Friday night's class was called "Technique Tags".  We decorated a number of large tags using various techniques using acrylic inks, gesso, stamps, stencils, embossing powders and modelling paste. 
The pictures below are two of Birgit's tags, they are just so darned pretty!
Here is Birgit in the middle of explaining to us the steps we need to follow to finish this particular tag.
Sunday's class was called "Embossing and Beyond". We used embossing powders (a powdery substance that when heated, leaves a raised, embossed surface) to make various designs on individual pages and then joined the pages together to make a little book.  I'll post photos of my book tomorrow, but for now, here are a couple of pictures of Birgit's.
Barb showing us Birgit's book
The cover of Birgit's book
One thing I really enjoyed about Birgit's classes was that she kept things moving at a very fast pace. Not so fast that it's impossible to keep up but fast enough that you don't get bored and don't have time to wonder, "now what?"  To be honest, we were so busy, I didn't have time to take too many photos, although I did take this picture of my new art buddy Janine, who sat across the table from me for both classes.
We all had a lot of laughs throughout. Our table was quite amused when Diane, a newbie to art classes at Bizzy B, discovered what happens when you place your still hot heat gun on top of your plastic kit bag - oops!  Not to worry, Diane, we've all got a similar experience in our past - I call this a right of passage!!
Diane with her melted bag
Another thing that really excited me about Birgit's classes was the fact that we got to play with her brand new stamp designs, which are gorgeous!  You can see them in this blog post of Birgit's.  They should be arriving at Bizzy B very soon - can't wait to get some for myself!!

Here's our happy group at the end of Sunday's class, showing off our new little books!
Thanks again, Birgit, for a wonderful weekend of learning. I hope you'll come back and visit us again soon!!




Monday, September 22, 2014

A Note From Monday

My computer seems to be acting a little weird this evening so for now, I will simply say that I had a very enjoyable weekend taking classes with Birgit Koopsen at Bizzy B on Friday night and Sunday afternoon
Our happy group from Sunday afternoon
and antique hunting at Aberfoyle with my friend Barb on Saturday.
Can you find Barb in this photo?
More details to follow in a later post when my laptop is cooperating a little better!