everythings coming up lilies

i forgot how many lilies i have in the garden

mostly orange and yellow

about 5 years ago while wondering through canada blooms

i found a booth selling "bare roots"

lilies and hostas

so i bought a ton

potted them and kept them in my bay window

watering, waiting, watching them grow

finally green leaves, then transplanted them into

the ground when it had thawed

something very satisfying about this process

especially when you get great results

above, my favorite

hemercallis hybrid

moonlit masquerade

daylily

posts from blogger past

every morning after i wonder through my garden
i sit and read through some my favorite blogs

while visiting marie, the lost aussie

she posted about something seth , the altered page

he brought up a great point

and has challenged everyone to go through their "old" posts

and find a "buried treasure"

well, once i got reading, i realized that

this is a wonderful "self discovery"

when i started blogging , it was to take

the next step in my evolution
i was a little nervous, i'm by no means a writer

and was wondering how i would ever

come up with the words never mind

have something that would interest people

WELL

a year and a bit later
i've posted 235 times,

have had over 7700 visitors,

and 77 followers

i had a hard time deciding which was my favorite post

so i decided to use someone else's words

words to inspire

posted november 19th

for "a day of sharing words"

a challenge started by

lk ludwig

"we get so caught up in the furry of our lives
that we forget the essential thing about art-
that the act of creating is a healing gesture,
as sacred as prayer,
as essential to the spirit as food is to the body

our creative work reveals us to ourselves,
allows to transform our experience
and imagination into forms that
sing back to us in a language of
symbol of who we are,
what we are becoming,
what we have loved and feared.

this is the alchemy of creation:
that as i attempt to transmute a feeling or a thought
into and artistic form that can be
experienced by another,
i myself am added to,
change in the process."
jan phillips

--------------------
photos from my weekend trip to owen sound
it was truly a creative time which changed me
thanks to lk ludwig for starting this idea
(see previous post)

-------------------

some of my favorite posts

what's in a name?

good question

been there, done that

sacred

aince awa, aye awa

thanks seth, for sending me on this trip

and thanks too, to all my visitors

happy creating!

moon child

i've been celebrating my "birth week" since saturday

but today is the actual date

every month i'm a moon child

my moods change accordingly

everyday i'm a crab girl

defiantly, hard shell, soft inside

and everything i approach is sideways, never head-on

it might look like i'm a "go getter"

but i will contemplate everything, from all angles,

before i actually do something, i'm just quick at it

now that i'm older and wiser!

oh, did i mention the water!

i'm ruled by the tide, twice a day

good thing i have that crab shell to hide my mood swings!!!

me when i was 4

seems like a long time ago

oh, wait a minute! it was!!!

art sisters

a few weeks ago i received an invite

to my friends ludgera's
"art sisters birthday party"

three of us were celebrating our "39th" birthday!!

it was a fab U lous party

12 artists hanging out

eating, drinking and making art!

we all took a "vow"

"what happens at art sisters , stays at art sisters "

( our real ages and who had "non" virgin drinks"

lugera, hope and myself all b-day girls

leslie, mary, carmi, susan w.,

daniza, martha, christina , susan v. and
katie ( the twisted sister, back right!)

everyone hard at work

there was some amazing work going on

it was fun to each interpretation of the same photo

what a talented bunch

so inspiring to be around all this creative energy

some of my altered photos

i spent most of my time walking around the room

admiring all the fantastic work

i learned a few new tricks,

thanks martha for the staz-on resist technique!

presents galore!!!

OMG!!!! i was so blessed and

i was overwhelmed by every gift

handmade cards and art,

the background is a silk scarf from paris,

just beautiful, i might have to make it into a halter top

an antique book, 1893, with lots of images to scan

encaustic wax and dry artist pigments

along with a huge piece of barn board

( it will look great covered with wax and metal)

bezels, felt flower, hand cream, pencils, canvas and paper

a lavender sachet, my favorite scent,

with a beautiful angel sewn on top

and a bottle of henkell

(which will be enjoyed during a bubble bath!)

this was the best birthday party, EVER

thanks girls !!!

discarded

my new arrival from

catherine anderson

this months them: discarded

i'm always excited to see every ones

interpretation and their photos

my submission
an old school bus that was once used
as someones home
i love the balloon shades
there was evidence of a fire and
had been abandoned for a while
------------------
photo taken last year
near my friends cottage
in owen sound

fun with clip art

i love the blog world

my friend ludgera sent me this link

saray-viola

there are so many links to different sites

for free vintage clip art

somewhere is this dragonfly image

( i will find it again)

i played with it in ps

added some paper images,

some text from an old post card,

a postage stamp and a photo frame

found on flickriver

out for a stroll

today was one of those days

on my own with

nothing to do and no where to go

so i decided to head down to my favorite

neighbourhood, queen street west

there is just so much to see and do

art shops, galleries, vintage clothes,

antiques stores and junk shops

cool cafes and funky shops

in the same block

i met taco the newfie

and then found this sign

who could resist a peek in the paper place

i always spend way too much


this sign reminded me of judy
----------------
all in all if was a great day
i got some new art supplies
hit a great yard sale
and met some interesting people
i love it when the day just happens!

rusty things

this weeks challenge at

unique exposure

is rusty

i could have posted a hundred photos!

-----------

above a few from my trip

in arizona

O' CANADA

parliament hill, ottawa


we got to witness the "changing of the guard"
at the war monument
the bag pipes always make me cry
i feel so lucky to have been born here

sir john a. macdonald
--------------
to all my fellow canadians
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
-------
photos taken last july first
in ottawa

flee market finds

once a month i like to visit the

st. lawrence antique market

i get there as early as i can

i love wondering through, usually twice

deciding what i'd like and how i'm going to use it

i have so much "stuff"

i try to put a limit on what i get

and how much i spend

some things are just worth it

like the brownie starflash camera

i'd finished and was leaving

waiting for the light to change and looking back

i caught it , sitting there calling to me!!!

i had to buy it, only $10

i have a small collection, this one makes 5

other great finds:

a bag of crystal $5

a box of metal hardware $20

a bag of watch parts $10

and children's shoe form $5

it was a fun morning

i even saw some celebs

justin and colin from home heist

more blooms

after the rain yesterday

i could smell the honeysuckle

i have 4 in bloom

my arbor is covered in clematis

on both sides, white and purple

red prince weigela

and a second bloom on my woodland poppies

everything else is growing nicely

with all the rain then the heat and now more rain

i can't wait to see what blooms this week

garden blooms

a few of this week blooms

out by the back fence where the cherry tree

used to shade the whole back garden

now the sun is filtering through

and things have really change since last year

the hostas and coral bells are bigger

the creeping jenny has taken over the flagstone path

the hydrangea's are twice the size

everything seems happier

also in the garden, evening primrose(sun drops)

perennial geranium and weigela

it's official

after watching last nites show

michael buble meets madison square gardens

i have a crush!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NAUmr6seb8&feature=player_embedded

summer dayz!!!

since sunday the temperature has been

climbing up into the 30's c.

which is nice for the garden

all that heat had made a few things burst open

my peonies were just sitting

in these little buds for weeks

i was beginning to wonder if they would every bloom

yesterday they were half open

and today, full blooms!!!

i love them, they remind me of my granny

more encaustic

another project from heather's class

inspired from one of my texture photos

it was one of those projects

that started out as something else

(brown and copper leaf)

and went off on it's own tangent and

became something really cool

i added the metal bar and gave it a rust treatment

the rust came out a bit yellow instead of orange

which works great with this piece

i finished off the sides with roof flashing
rusted it and nailed it to the sides
i've enjoyed using my found objects
adding another element to my work