been feeling a bit dead lately . . .

i have developed something of an obcession with the day of the dead, specifically sugar skulls.  this last month or so i dedicated some time to doing some dia de los muertos crafting.  here goes:


first, i went to the local goodwill and picked up these drab yet lovely owls, surely once part of some awesome old lady's owl collection:

and now:

they both got a solid coat of black, then white bases before all the feathers could be painted.  i am quite pleased with them and trying to find homes for them.

and then i got some paper mache skulls from the craft store and they got a makeover:

detail shot of the first one:

thanks for looking!

jo

boo!

it's looking new around here . . . some small changes on here and many changes everywhere else.  change is good.

jo

i set fire to the rain . . .

is anyone else completely addicted to adele?  yes, of course you are, because she is phenominal!  i've been listening to her over and over while i work lately, and i sing along, loudly.  but anyways, time to talk about what i've been making . . .

i think it's about time to catch up on some swap lovelies that i've made, now that all their new owners have taken possession.

first are three airbrushed t-shirts i made for my personal swap buddy, atsuko.  these are based off some embroidery designs that she and her daughter enjoy, and i think they've found a happy home.

 night owl

 naughty birdie

curvy mermaid!  she's my favorite.  this mermaid has some junk in her trunk and she's rockin' it.

this is a painting i did for myloveasdeep as part of a personal swap.  she's got a thing for the whale vs giant squid story and i had a blast painting this.  i've decided that wood is my favorite paintable surface.  love how it turned out and was sad that i had to send it away.  it's a good thing she loves it or i'd ask for it back.


altered puzzle pieces!  i was involved in an altered puzzle piece swap with several other ladies, and these are the pieces i produced:

 shark and seahorse for an 'under the sea' theme

 picasso theme (the bottom one is a self portrait)

 fruit theme

there were a lot of theme ideas for these two.  i had fun with it.

phoenix fox i painted for phoenixfiredesigns

button tree i made for goldensunshine in a personal swap

that's all the painted goodies i can show you for now.  i have lots more, but i don't want to overwhelm.

thanks for looking.

jo

busy busy busy . . .

i don't have a whole lot of time to chat today - meet the teacher night!  thing 1 happenes to have the same second grade teacher as i had for second grade, so the whole "meeting" thing seems a bit silly, but i digress.  the joys of a small town.

today i'm going to show off some of the winter gear i've been toiling away on.  scarves and cowls aren't that exciting to look at, but i try to make them interesting?

 this cowl is real wool and alpaca, in gray and cool shades of purple/green/blue/brown

 cream cowl with teal buttons

 lime green cowl with aqua buttons

 plum colored cowl with wood toggles

long cream scarf with red and periwinkle peonies cascading down one side

thanks for looking,

jo

ack!

geez . . . i have not posted in for.ev.er!  so much loveliness has gone down and i have so many things to show you!  now, i cannot show you everything today, because your brain would bust from overload, and you'd be simply heartbroken at not having all of the greatness for yourself.  it's okay, we'll take this slow.

today, for you, some airbrush.  i keep getting requests for more airbrush, and so you're going to get it!  this is stuff i've been doing over the blisteringly hot summer, so enjoy . . .

here's one i did for a swap on craftster . . . i'm pretty proud of it

 (in process)

(finished)

more to come tomorrow!

jo

i'm a stalker, too

i find great joy in perusing the work of other artists and crafters, and one of my favorites is having a give-away!  check it out . . .

oopsicraftmypants

and what is she giving away, you ask?  why, it's one of these:

i know, right?  you cannot run over there and sign up fast enough, huh?

have fun, and take a look around her site and see all the lovelies she's making!


jo

getting my swap on . . .

i've been out for a bit, but things have been getting super crafty in here, lately.  the heat advisory is partly to blame, but mostly because i've been involved in a few craft swaps.

here's some of the stuff i can show off, because my partners have already received it.  the rest will have to wait a bit longer.

this is a painting i did of our lady of guadalupe as a sugar skull for redstar13.  she mentioned loving the images of our lady of guadalupe, as well as skeletons - so i put the 2 together.  i do hope she likes it.

around the outside i painted a rosary's worth of roses ( the roses with 2 leaves are the mysteries/our fathers and the single leaves are the hail marys).  and to be accurate, you would use the three roses on the front and the cross in her hand to complete it.  no, i'm not obsessive at all.

these are 2 sets of magnets i made for troublet, one set for each of her kiddos.  this was my first adventure in polymer clay, and it was alright.  i would rather use ceramic, but i am without a kiln so i guess i'll stick with the polymer for a bit ;)

i've got a lot more to show you, someday.

jo