"The Graduate" by artjunkgrl

"The Graduate" by artjunkgrl, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

We are coming up on a new year of school after a (somewhat) restful but overall wonderful summer. After taking a "summer blog break", I've decided to move over to a typepad address. This will hopefully allow me to post more often with less difficultly uploading.

....I'm excited about the change and about being able to share even more fun stuff on my blog.

Please visit me at my new website address www.artjunk.typepad.com.

ART JuNK~ Bloggers who are "DAL's"

DAL (Doin' a Lia)* phrase coined by my blog sista Jude!

Check it out!

Nancy


Jude

What are YOU waiting for????

xxoo

your crazy DAL sista

Doin' a Lia again...what are YOU waiting for???

had a family art fest today....layed out all the newspapers and did a "lia" as Jude would say! lol! below is the beginning of my first painting on canvas. it's called, "art therapy"....lol....

So, what are you waiting for, doesn't this look like fun?! well it is!

got fabric scraps? make a quiltie!

I made this little "crazy" quilt collage this afternoon. I know it's random. It was free flow, from a bunch of scraps I had saved in baggie. I love quilts and fabric almost as much as paper! xxoo L.

New "vintage fashion" blank book I'm workin' on...

  a work in progress. this is a second one I started from a blank book I bought at $ store. The gorgeous vintage fabric came in from a round robin buddy of mine who I am also participating in a round robin with. I'm really getting into making these books! I worked on this one this afternoon. I've actually been pretty fatigued today...(it's been quite a week!) but it was nice to have something sitting there to work on while watching a movie with my hubby on sat nite. more soon! I really want to learn to "embellish" altered books and I'm reading up more on that. Oh, my youngest wants to do a RR with me! she wants to salvage the book that I damaged with the fabric softner sheets! can you believe it???? she's only 8!!! she made her first chunky book. it's on my flickr. she made a page in my friends book and then I did one last nite. now it's her turn. she signed in on the front page and everything! I still get a kick out of her asking me to use the "gesssso"....!!! she's my little altered art princess! ~L. 

sneak peak inside RR book

Hi all! I'm workin' on a round robin altered book. I'm doing a "retro homemaker" kind of theme. It is way fun. I'm still learning. I started out doing another older book I got from an antique place....well, I ended up scrappin' it as the pages were coming unglued (my mistake...you see..."Lucy" (that's me..lol) decided she would freshen up the book by putting in softner sheets here and there and letting it set for a day). I started to work in the book a few days later and started gluing stuff down. then I would go back and it would peel away. I then used every glue in my "arsenal", even went out and bought PVA, the only one I didn't have. well, it happened again. then while talking to one of my RR friends it dawned on me that I had softened the pages with the sheets! I thought it was the humidity...(well I'm sure that didn't help), anyhoo, I was so stubborn about staying with the book until I figured it out. Well, anyway, I learned something,and I really like working on a clean slate (although I love the altered book look with the words in background). Oh well, more to learn, more to learn.

MOM update, all is well, took her for her check up yesterday and she is getting cast off tomorrow. WWWOOOOOHOOOO!!!! I am beside myself that she is well and happy. Hug your MOMMA today or call her if you can. I thank God that she is doing better. The doc called her the "bionic woman" yesterday, lol. Bless her heart!

Happy Day all!!!! I don't know how much I can post for rest of summer, but I will be poppin' in from time to time. I am thinking of all of you though! xxoo Lia

"flower girl" collage by artjunkgrl

"flower girl" collage by artjunkgrl, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Thank you all for visiting my blog!

I am taking a summer "blog break" to attend to some other things. I want to devote some time to working on my altered books/art journals and finish my

BookofDreams, (check out ArtsyMama's beautiful project). I enjoy interacting with all of you and will be thinking of you. I just feel it's time for a break so I can spend more time with my family, playing and enjoying the creative process "off-line".
I'll still be posting some of my artwork on my flickr, so you can check what I'm up to there, just click on the above picture and it will take you to my album.


Wishing you all a great rest of the summer--stay cool and follow your heart and your dreams this summer and always!!

~Lia

junk finds and junk poem

Found this fabulous box of song sheets for $6 on my summer junkin' trails (exits I make my husband veer off on...lol...). some are so pretty I want to frame, others I can use for my art and swaps :)! I love junking!

A Poem for my fellow junkin' queens!*



ON THE JUNKIN' TRAIL
BY LIA K.

I love to hunt for treasures
because it's so much fun
I try to ignore my husbands pleas
when I hear, "it's time to go hun!"

I love seeing those big ole billboards
Honey, "Antiques 1 mile ahead!"
my husband rolls his eyes and pretends
he didn't hear what I just said...

But sometimes I get my way
And lure him off the road
He insists on following me inside
To remind me there's "no room to load"

Before he finishes I've left him behind
playing "hide and go seek" in my mind...

I find lots of little nooks and such
with ephemera and photos in mind
Knowing that regular stores
don't offer anything in this kind

I like to rescue what people don't want
and make into something good
I know the people that were left behind
once did that when they could

The vases, jewelry and books bring me back
the nostalgia overwhelms me
as I overfill my sack

"Oh there you are" my husband chides
I can't believe I'm found
But the more I try to leave the past
the closer I am bound.

L.K.
7/2006


**click on my sidebar Friday Finds (my inspiration!) we are all codependent junkers! lol!

"Splendor" by artjunkgrl

"Splendor" by artjunkgrl, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

I made this with a beach girl image from Tracy Roos www.tracyroos.com collage image collection that are available through www.alphastamps.com. The direct link to her images is www.alphastamps.com/tracycollagesheets.html

The background is painted newspaper I prepped while in west virginia visiting my sis. when I am having a block, I just do prep work and paint backgrounds for future collages. This is the first time I tried embossing. it's a lot easier than I thought, pretty straightforward. I'm finding that I want more and more layering in my collages. more "tooth" as they say...anyway, I love vintage beach images! Anyhow, the rest are stickers from dollar store and paper on bottom is from michaels collage pack.
I kinda lost my groove while I was away, but I'm back and trying some new stuff. Hope to get more art done and posted soon! --Lia

"Queen" of the house by artjunkgrl

"Queen" of the house by artjunkgrl, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

~"Even the Queen has to Clean!"

I am surely the Queen of this castle, but many times I feel like the Maid! I guess I want to wear the crown, but I often trade it in for the apron!

Well, today I took a break and put on my art crown....lol...boy, I am out of my groove. It always takes me a few days after being gone to get situated! I've had lots to do, but it's all good, and soon I will be back to my "semi-normal" routine. Thank you to all my blogging friends for encouraging me to keep creating and to have fun. You all mean the world to me! You could never know how much!

My Mom is doing MUCH better as of today and my eye problem is also clearing up! I guess when it rains, it pours, but then there is always the rainbow: family, friends and ofcourse, my collage junk!

I hope to post some more soon! I just got a few new things in the mail and used some of my swap materials for this. The crown and the silver ribbon...I love that stuff!!

~Lia