art junk girl

monthly mosaic: artjunkgrl june

monthly mosaic: artjunkgrl june
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

I haven't been keeping up with my monthly mosaic...catching up on this! Here's some of June's artjunk..
1. Day 1: Explore, 2. "life is beautiful" journal page (closeup), 3. life is beautiful journal spread, 4. "new beginnings", 5. inspired to try something new..., 6. inchies-in-progress..612, 7. inchies, 8. Mail Art for Kira~, 9. "This is who I am" .... (journal page), 10. art inchie, 11. "Rolling on the floor laughing" prompt, 12. inchie mania, 13. victorian inchie, 14. journaljunk, 15. more square-zies...570, 16. the waltz, 17. "sneak peak" into journal page sent to Mahima, 18. RR with Nance, 19. a peek into inside cover of my RR with Nance, sign-in page, 20. my favorite square photo~my sweet Dad, 21. kira's "crowning" challenge, 22. a new collage (without words added), 23. new squares in progress, 24. art junk studio is expanding..., 25. my first doll quilt, 26. Untitled, 27. disappearing nine patch, 28. still at it..., 29. 4 squares done...still wip-ped, 30. comp journal entry~, 31. Out of the Blue Mail Swap~4 x 4 collage I made for Mendy!, 32. wip...doll quilt challenge, 33. altered address book, 34. my first 9-patch square...woot!, 35. going through my fabric stash...for my doll quiltie project~, 36. weird shot of my feet...(and slippers)
I really heart flickr toys~ I did this with their mosaic feature, which is so much fun. :)

"New Beginnings"..

I got out some pretties from my "special stash" (aka things Lilia-fleamarketstudio, has sent me)...I think it's time to do something pretty in my journals! I have been especially inspired by Artist Anahata Katkin as of late...among many other talented artists! I really want to work on layering and using much more mixed-media in my journals. I usually just add a few things, but I really want to let go and have more fun! I don't want to be afraid of trying "something new". :) LK

Bits and Pieces...

What is it about bits and pieces that I love so much? I have thought of that from time to time since I've started blogging a few years ago....I've discovered so much about such things by recording my day to day creative activities. I have answers for some of it and not for others. Readers have left comments that have given me some "aha" moments. Most days I just go about my business and create without a thought as to "why" I do what I do or how. One thing I know for sure is that I love fragments...little bits and pieces. I'm more likely to throw a big piece of scrap paper away than a little tiny one. These little tiny bits intrigue me so much. Could it be that I grew up as a daughter of a talented seamstress and dressmaker? I was always surrounded by scraps. My Mom would have us "pick up all the scraps" as a game when she was done clipping and sewing for the day. There were always lots of different ones...different colors, textures, sizes. My mother worked arduously for years to raise us and give us what she thought was important. I remember standing near her sewing machine looking at her with pins sticking from her mouth (yes, she did this often as a holding place) while her head was buried down staring at her piece and being "in the zone". I often got the "not now" or the "pick up the pins for me" or go do your schoolwork responses. I asked her, begged her, on several occasions to "teach me to sew". She would emphatically say, "no". What do you need to sew for? "You need to study and get an education. It's too much work to make your own things when you can buy them." That would be the end of that.
That is what I remember growing up...my Mom at the machine, surrounded by a sea of fragments. I started to collage at a very young age...I've often wondered if my love for piecing paper and fabric has stemed from a need to "order my universe"...put together all the pieces in a nice, tidy whole. I often felt like things were scattered and I always wanted things to be neat and tidy "like other peoples houses". We often had pins on the floor (yeouch) and my mom was a clutter bug so there was loads of fabric about (and scraps) as she, too, did not throw the smallest bits away. So, there you go. Making something from bits and pieces, fragments of my life.

Pictured above is a postcard collage I put together for Kira as a mail trade. The lower right ribbon was saved/salvaged from my mom's vast collection of fragments. There are also catalog pieces, magazine bits, stamps, advertising, wallpaper and pieces I cut from collage sheets Nance has given me. Just a bit of it is sewn to the right...the bit with the words. Interesting. That's where my mom wanted me to concentrate. Books, words, letters. I'm a college graduate, I'm a Mom, a Wife, a Daughter, a Sister and a Friend. I create not because I have to, but because I want and need to. Something my Mom doesn't quite understand as crafting was a means to income in her life. But I just can't stop collaging those bits, each and every day. It takes me back to that time beside her. It makes me feel young again, it brings together all the fragments in my mind into pieces that represent part of my whole. I'm thankful for this. I may never understand it fully, but I'm here and I will continue to express myself this way, bit by bit and hopefully find myself along the way. :) LK

art inchie

art inchie
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way.. things I had no words for."

~Georgia O'Keeffe

Just to let my readers know....

Dear Friends,

I'm fixin' to finally open up an etsy shop (it's been set up for months, but I haven't taken the plunge). I've been puttin' together some ephemera packs from my personal collection as well as putting aside some collage work I've made (I've been selecting pieces for the shop as I've been re-organizing my studio). Thought I'd let you all know first as some of you have asked me about it. It's gonna be slow and go, just to let you know, but here is the link. I plan on loading a few things this weekend and then some here and there this week. If there is a piece in my collection that you are interested, let me know and I will tell you if it is available for sale. I won't be goin' all commercial on y'all so don't worry...this will be a one time announcement just to let my readers know first.

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Lia