Erosion Bundle Reveal

I took down my Erosion Bundles. I had to hang the one in the ivy up in the sun to dry a bit before I cut it apart though. Above is the first picture of the bundle that had been in the ivy. I never considered that it might end up smelling musty. The inside pages weren't dry and so it's currently laying on the back porch to hopefully air out while drying. The cloth it was wrapped in was all crusted with leaves and had some holes in the corners and bottom. Here is a couple of pics of the inside of the book. I was surprised to find that in both bundles the chalk stayed hard. I was really hoping for some fabulous saturation of colors.

And here are a couple of pics of the hanging bundle. I really like how the paint from the canvas kinda melted to the copper and the effects. I was really hoping for more tarnishing on the copper but it wasn't directly exposed.

I learned some things in this process for next time as I do hope there is a next time:
Papers will smell musty if in a bundle on the ground
Chipboard just gets wet although some did fall apart (because it got wet)
The whole bundle needed to have more exposure to the elements to really deteriorate.
Multiple papers will stick together once wet
All in all I might have realized these things before if I had thought about it, but I didn't. I just threw a bunch of stuff in to see what would happen. I can't wait to make some art with it all. The deadline for art is August 15th I believe. I need to go look at others bundles to see how they turned out.

I'm the Taxman

Ok I'm not REALLY the taxman but since it's tax day in the great US of A I've had that song in my head ALL DAY so I'd thought I'd share it with you! lol Are you singing it now too? You will be soon. Just wait.  It's also Gutter Girlz day and Erosion Bundle day so I've got some pics for you.

First of all though I want to talk about this great post over at Creative Every Day's blog by Kat Sloma.  CED's theme for the month is on the senses so Kat asked these questions of the readers today and I wanted to answer them here as they are questions I've pondered upon occasion myself.

1. What's your favorite sense? By this question, I don't mean the most useful sense to get around in day to day life. But the one that you feel like in your gut that you just can't live without. This probably ties in to your "soul language."  

This is pretty easy for me because it would have to be sight. Being an aritst and happiest when creating my sight is definitely important to me. Also I love to read & can't imagine not being able to. A close second for me would be touch. I'm the bad girl at the museum who wants to touch the art.
 
2. What's your least favorite sense? What's the one you would give up without thinking too much about it? Why?

I think the answer to this question would have to be smell. My allergies are awful and already cause me some smell issues so while smell is so linked to memories if I never had to smell anything stinky again I'd be happy. lol

Ok that being said I wouldn't want to lose any sense. The senses are what makes our world interesting & I know with the loss of one the others become more distinct.  I'd love to hear your answers to this question so leave me a link if you answer them on your blog or feel free to leave me a comment with your answers!   


This months Gutter Girlz challenge is based on one of my old fav songs from Concrete Blonde, Everybody Knows. This song brings back so many memories for me. The title also had some significant meaning as it goes along with some things in the big book. Hop on over there & check out what the other girls did.

Today is also the day to take down the Erosion Bundles but since I put mine up late I'm leaving it up a little longer. I'll take it down around the first of May but I snapped a couple of updates shots of it. I almost hate to take it out of this lovely ivy that is growing all around it doing lovely things to the inside contents I'm sure!

It's suppose to rain this weekend so it'll get at least one more good soaking. Hope you're enjoying the spring weather!

Erosion Bundle Update

My Erosion Bundles have officially been in the weather for 15 days now. They've experienced a bit of rain and this past weekend a lot of snow, which is melting now. I grabbed a couple of pics before it got to bad out the other day.

Here is the one hanging from the Shephard's hook that usually has a hummingbird feeder on it. We had some ice first so that is what is clinging to the sides of it now. I've had to replace it on the hook a couple of times due to the high winds.

Now the one in the ivy couldn't even been seen at this point but I could tell where it was just a bit. By that night you couldn't even see my shoe prints from earlier in the day so all that melting snow is doing some marvelous things to that bundle now

 

And that's it for now. We'll see what's happening in 15 days.

Creative Every Day

This year I've pledged to be Creative Every Day . Now I KNOW this might not happen EVERY day, but I think it can happen most. I mean I already scrap almost every night last year (well until the holidays came) and I promised myself that this year would be the year I started fostering more of that creative spirit inside of me beyond scrapping. I'm participating in The Erosion Bundle Project and I'm a guest host at Year in the Life Art Journal and many other things that I'll share as I go along. I've got so many things I want to participate in this year that I'm starting to make list and write them on a creative calendar.
The CED challenge got a lot less daunting when I realized that I could just work on something every day. I didn't have to finish it. Also it's not just art or scrapping. It's taking photos and cooking too. Since I'm doing the Project 365 on my iPhone that might be all I do creatively for that day. And if I forget a day so be it. So this week I've taken my photo every day! Can't BELIEVE I've remembered. You can go see them on my tumblr acct if you'd like. I've tried some new recipes. Both Nana asked for seconds! I've searched for inspiration in fabric and nature and colors in general for my Inspiration Defined class. I did last weeks homework which was to pick a fav lo and to lift it.
The old lo:

and the new lo.
Last night I worked on my next Gutter Girlz LO which you won't get to see until next Friday while creating some new friendships with some scrappy girls from Twitter. Tonight I plan to work on the art of lettering writing for my Happy Mail partners.

Adios 2009

So another year gone and the end of a decade. 10 years ago tonight I was living in Denver and working at Palomino's Rest. I was mad that I had to work on Y2K because I wanted to be in KC partying with my friends. Seems silly now considering it's almost midnight and here I sit alone on a computer and I'm completely happy about it. All the pressure of having 'fun' on New Years gone with sobriety. What a decade it has been too. I've lived in Denver, Tulsa and Independence. I've worked as a waitress, retail, nanny, hairstylist, graphic artist, student, envelope stuffer,  transcriptionist & a caregiver. I've seen terriorism, war, and natural disasters beyond belief. I've buried my mother. I've escaped an abusive boyfriend and been accused of abuse myself. I've overcome alcoholism and drug addiction. I've traveled to Dallas, Austin, KC, Sacramento, San Francisco, Napa County, Las Vegas & LA.  I've found a piece of serenity and my own soul. I've made a spiritual connection with a higher power. I've rediscovered my passion for reading and creating. I've made long lasting friends both in person and thru the World Wide Web. It's been a busy 10 years! I suddenly feel a little amazed at all that it has held.
I'm really looking forward to 2010. I've got tons of things on my todo list. Mostly creative endeavors. I'm taking an inspiration class at Big Picture Scrapbooking with some friends from Twitter. I'm going to hang an Erosion Bundle outside and document it's changes for the next 4 months. I'm a guest host at A Year In The Life Art Journal. I'm on the Scraptivity,  Scrapperie, & Gutter Girlz DT's. I'm going to take a doll making class with another scrappy gf. I plan to visit Dallas & Kentucky & Austin & Sacramento/San Francisco/Napa again. I haven't really decided yet on any resolutions yet. I'll get back to you on those in a few days. In the meantime here are 10 of my fav. lo's from this past year. Wherever you are I hope your having a WONDERFUL New Year's celebration. May 2010 be everything you've hoped and wished for!