silver + white

As part of the 'Colour Groupies' (a closed group of  five artist friends) I make ATCs based on a color-combo theme every month. Everyone in the group does this and then we share them with each other! It's been a wonderful challenge that I've enjoyed for two years now and I'm looking forward to another great year of fun and challenges in 2010. We will miss Tristan very much as he won't be exchanging with us next year, boo hoo!

December's color-combo was Silver and White. I used a shiny silver card stock which does not photograph very well, but here goes . . . . the one below is for Tristan Robin Blakeman and uses an image from Vintage Image Madness.

The Imagine/ 'I only look sweet and innocent' ATC is for Debby Harriettha and uses an image from ARTchix Studio.

The Simplify/ 'Love is a gift" ATC is for Caryl Hoobler and uses an image from Vintage Image Madness.

-the Journey/ 'Every girl should conquer the world at least once in her life' : ) is for Frieda Oxenham and uses an image from ARTchix Studio.

-I made two extra silver and white ATCs which I'll share below-

This was a challenging and fun colour combo, and one that made me think -especially since i was working out of my temporary studio - a box and a bag!! It took me a while to get these ATCs made once I arrived in Florida and then some time for them to be received as they were sent very near Christmas and out of the country to Canada, and also to Scotland where Frieda was experiencing a huge amount of snowy weather that kept her from receiving her postal mail. Now that they have all been received, it is fun to share them. Look for some yummy Azure and Royal Blue ATCs as our 1st color combo of 2010. lenna young andrews - december 30, 2009

while the cat's away . . .

While the Alpha Stamps web site shipping staff is taking a break for the Holidays, owner Leslie Elledge is having a really super give-away every morning (12/26/09 - 01/03/09) of very cool Alpha Stamps products through the Alpha Stamps blog! Quoting from the blog:

"Starting on Saturday, December 26, 2009 (through Sunday, January 3rd, 2010), I’ll post a Giveaway on the blog every morning, and you’ll have until 11:59pm PST to enter. To enter all you’ll have to do is leave a comment on that day’s blog post (don’t forget to leave your email address, too, so I can contact the winners!)* After midnight I’ll randomly pick the previous day’s winner."

Go and make a comment and have a chance to win! http://www.alphastamps.com/blog
Thanks, Leslie!

an adventure

Christmas was very simple for us this year with our move from Connecticut to Florida . . .  no big celebrations; just a quiet visit with my mom & dad (well, and 4 dogs!) and my mom had a small and most delicious party on christmas eve. Presents were very minimal this year, and it was actually nice! Steven did go out and buy me a few lovely little things (he said he just had to!) and I really wanted to make him a small piece of art, shown above. It is the same size as the first piece of art I gave him in 2004 when we had just connected again, which is shown below. Wow, both pieces use the same masking tape background technique. I think this, the small size, and that they are made for him especially, is why he likes them!

Well, moving here is a huge adventure in itself, so that is part of the reason for the words on my christmas collage for Steven. Since moving to Florida, Steven has made a point of getting out every day to explore the area either by himself or with me and the dogs. He has taken the single-man canoe my dad made for him out many, many times since we've arrived, when the tide is right. Below is a photo of my dad with the "featherweight" canoe he made for Steve in 2006.

Here in Bradenton, FL we are surrounded by water. We have the Manatee River, Palma Sola Bay and Tampa Bay, plus lots of other waterways I am not even familiar with! The tide makes a huge difference on when you can paddle or even motor boat, this much I know. I would say my Steven is definitely a 'boat guy'. He grew up summers right on the St. Lawrence River in Canada with all kinds of boats: motor boats, row boats, canoes, kayaks & sailboats, and he was an avid white water paddler when he was in his 30's and 40's. Now he loves to flat water canoe.  I wanted to create something for him that reflected these adventures he has lately been embracing.

For his collage at the top, I started with one of the backgrounds I teach in my collage on canvas online workshop, a masking tape background. I laid masking tape down on a small 2.5" x 3.5" canvas and covered it with a Halo Blue Gold Lumiere paint. It is hard to tell in the photo but it has a true luminescence to it and changes colour when you shift the canvas. I chose that color for it's water-likeness and then looked for a few words and images i might have. I think the small photo in the middle is of my nephew dale, at the same family get-together as the picture of Steven & Asia above. When we lived on a small lake in Avon, CT in 2006, we had a BYOB - Bring your Own Boat (a handmade Dale Andrews boat!) party. We had 3 wee lassies (single man) canoes, 2 larger canoes, and 1 sailboat all made by my dad out on this teeny tiny lake, Secret Lake! Another photo from that day is below - my mom & dad are getting the Melonseed sailboat ready, the same boat Steven & I towed here 3 weeks ago along with 5 other boats!

In my collage for Steven, the words and the transparency image of the woman  are from ARTchix Studio.com. The words are from ARTchix's Tell me More collage sheet. There are so many great words you can add to a collage on this sheet; as usual, Helga has done an awesome job! I also added a bit of rubber stamping with permanent ink on top of my masking tape background, as I often like to do for depth. To me the stamping of the branches represents the mangrove trees here and all the canoeing through tunnels, and other new adventures that Steven has been having! merry christmas, steven!
-lenna young adnrews - december 27th, 2009

Valentine Twinchie swap!

Christy Laudig is hosting a Valentine Twinchie swap (2" x 2" tiny collages) and asked me to join! This is a 4 for 4 swap due January 28th, but I decided to do mine early because next month we will be busy with moving! We have a house lined up to rent, starting January 15th and that is when our furniture and things will finally come down from Connecticut! Christy said, *Think Valentine’s Day* and this is what I came up with - 4 for the swap, plus 2 extra Twinchies. I think they would make a great center piece for a card!

These are 2" square plain pieces of watercolor paper that I used a red watercolor crayon on, to add color to. I applied the crayon to the outer edges only and then used a wet water brush to drag the color towards the middle so it varied in intensity. Then I took images from Vintage Image Madness - the Passionate Pursuits collage sheet and cut the image out in a heart shape. I stamped the 2" square with silver stars after the watercolor had dried and then laid the romantic heart shaped image on top. I also added words from ARTchix Studio's Tell Me More collage sheet that were perfect! I finished the edges with a silver metallic marker and splattered just a bit of the same ink on the squares. I can't help but do this! - happy valentine's a wee bit early! lenna young andrews - december 26th, 2009.

new exchange - skinny book pages . . .

. . . earlier this year i was asked to join the "oh my gothic" yahoo group, which started out a couple of years ago making and exchanging gothic arches. Then the group moved into making/exchanging house-shaped collages and starting in 2010, the group will be creating 4" x 8" 'skinny book' pages. This size, shown above, is an interesting and new shape for me!

The idea is you create a single page, both front and back for your mailing partner that month based on her theme, her likes & dislikes. The front and back of the pages above are for Connie Senyitko, my January partner. Connie let the group know that she liked anything vintage; vintage images of children, birds, nests, flowers, quotes . . . . so i hunted around in my somewhat limited supplies (still awaiting the moving van/my studio proper, around january 15th) and found some things i felt worked, hooray! You will find I used collage images from ARTchix Studio.com as well as Victorian Birds & nests. On the back i used a whimsical old postcard of children and birds that i have had for a long time; it came off my studio wall & into my art bag, but i thought it was just perfect for this project. I added color to the plain white watercolor paper page with my watercolor crayons, and i added some rubber stamping with an Azure Blue StazOn ink pad and a Brilliance Platinum Planet (silver) pad. I finished the edges with a 14K Gold metallic marker and could not help splattering a bit of the ink on the pages as well.

Each month, for 15 months, we will receive a 'skinny book' page based on our theme and when the exchange is over we can bind them together and have a very cool book that was created collaboratively! The theme for the pages I will receive is * * Love * * with my 'likes' listed as: fabric, flowers, leaves, creative & unusual approaches & techniques, meaningful quotes, you having fun with my pages, and what love means to you. I love nature and a natural look.

It is very exciting to be involved! thanks to Debby Harrietta for inviting me! lenna young andrews - december 26th, 2009.

wishing you art & love for the holidays

Warm wishes from Florida! I'm looking forward to sharing art with you in the new year and I'm wishing you much art and love for the holidays (a card for you!)

Also, the poll is up for voting on art swap ideas. Please check it out, if you'd like to participate in an art swap in the new year. Wishing you and yours the very best! with love, lenna young andrews - December 22nd, 2009

De Soto National park

De Soto National park, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

There is so much natural beauty here in the Bradenton, FL area. I am really enjoying our daily walks and I'm using my camera a lot. When we get settled and the moving truck comes down with all my "stuff" including my scanner and printer, I can see myself using photos like this one in my art. Hmmm, transparencies, fabric transfers . . . to view more Florida photos, click on the photo above.

I did create my silver and white ATCs yesterday. This was a challenge considering I am working out of a bag and a box for a studio!! But they need to be received by my exchange-mates before I share them with you, so look for them down the road.

Our good news is, Steven & I have found a year long lease, a house that suits us, yay! It is one block from a small park with a tiny beach. The dogs can run there & Steven can put in a canoe and paddle to his hearts content! The house is larger than the cottage we are in now and will fit all our furniture. It has extra bedrooms so friends and family can visit and even a whole bedroom for my studio.

I have called our moving company and they will "release" our things in storage on January 11th. There is a 4-8 day window of arrival in Florida after the release because there will be 3-5 families items on one large tractor trailer. Can you imagine? I have never done an out-of-state move before, so this was all new to me. But, this means sometime between January 15-21 we will be in a more permanent situation and I can start putting my studio back together! : > )
lenna young andrews - Decemember 16th, 2009

Florida!

I promise to share some art soon! I have ATCs to make for the colour groupies exchange . . . but in the meantime my son Decklin, Tina, plus my sister are visiting and with my mom celebrating her birthday, I have mostly family related things to share. Steven had great fun setting up this photo shoot with some plastic animals he just had to purchase! If you click on the photo you'll see a lizard on my shoulder and the pink umbrellas for our drinks he asked me to make . . . and then he sent this photo to his friends in CT!
Yes, there are LOTS of bugs, lizards and creepy crawlies in Florida. Well, maybe not QUITE as big as you see in this photo though . . . .

Here are some other photos that Steven took.

Chloe, in front of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge . . . my favorite photo

Steven canoeing one of my dad's handmade boats through a mangrove tunnel in Robinson Nature Preserve . . . click on any of these photos for a more detailed view.

Stay tuned, more art to come!

lenna young andrews - December 12th, 2009

happy birthday mom!

-my sister Kathy, my dad, my mom, me, my husband Steven (taking the photo!), my son Decklin & his partner Tina, all gathered at my parent's house last night along with some friends of mom & dad's, to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday. It was so awesome!! with love, lenna young andrews - december 11th, 2009

our friend Anole, hitchin' a ride

our friend Anole, hitchin a ride, originally uploaded by creativelenna.

we are enjoying our new life, visiting with son Decklin & Tina, my sister Kathy arrives today in time for mom's 75th birthday party . . . looking at houses and rentals, taking lots of walks and breathing in the new nature that abounds, Steven is in paddling 'heaven' and we have lots of anole lizard friends!!! Click on the photo above for more, or go here for a slide show!

with love, lenna young andrews - December 10, 2009

Vintage Image Madness 2010 Calendar

Below is a preview of the cover of the Vintage Image Madness 2010 Calendar. I am so honored that owner Casie Metcalf chose my 4x4 collage for the COVER of this year's calendar!!
Casie has had the calendars professionaly printed and they are now available on the Vintage Image Madness Etsy site for $10 a calendar, with 1/2 of the proceeds going to Bernie Berlin's A Place to Bark this year! This is the third year I have participated in this collaborative effort and I am so proud to be a part of it! The calendar measures 4.75 inches by 5.5 inches and comes packaged in a CD calendar case. It comes with 14 total pages - 12 months plus the front & back covers. Each month is a separate page. The case can be turned inside out to form a desktop stand to hold and display the calendar. The calendar has been professionally printed for outstanding color and wonderful reproduction. This calendar would make a lovely gift for yourself or that artful someone in your life and will help Bernie Belin to continue her outstanding animal rescue work. lenna young andrews - December 8th, 2009

creative art swaps

While i am not quite ready to announce an art swap yet, i have set up a poll on my creative swaps blog so that you can tell me what you might be interested in.

-Wow, thanks to all of you who have gone and voted on swap ideas already! So far, ATCs and 4x4 collages are the most popular. If you have not voted yet and you are thinking of participating-please go to the creative swaps blog and make your preferences known! : ) lenna young andrews, december 9th, 2009