Happy Independence Day!
A quiet day for me, and a creative one as well! I spent the day in my studio after my DH got into a little spat. I have PMS big time, so I am overly sensitive. We had different ideas on how to spend today, he's a social butterfly and I'm a quiet, sometimes social, definitely not an extrovert.
So we are in our own corners.
I spent the morning downloading some new music from iTunes . I go through phases were I will download a bunch of music until I get sick of it and then download some more. I love all kinds of music, so today I was into quiet music. I downloaded Five for Fighting, (live sessions) This is really good! I cried over the song "two lights" about a Dad who hears that his son, (in the war) might be hurt. so he takes a drive for a long time and asks his wife if his son is allright then leave two lights on. I cried like a baby thinking about the mother's and fathers of our soldiers and some might not make it home. I am grateful for their sacrifice.

The live recording of 100 years is (IMO) better than the radio version, but it could be the mood I am in. Music just sounded so good today. I also downloaded some podcasts of acoustic radio shows for free! Never knew I could do that. I am listening to some indie artists that are amazing!

I worked on a deco for Donna L. called "A walk in the woods" Both sets of pages are above. Very fun! I am glad this was the theme for today, because the colors represented my mood.
God Bless America
Astrid

I had a hard day yesterday

First let me say thanks to all who responded to help me with the collage sheets, I am going to go over what you all have said and report back, a big thank you!

We bought a fixer upper a few years ago and just starting to do major work. I am so excited about this but do not do well in a chaotic atmosphere! We got a new roof put on our house, Yay! But for three days I heard pounding, banging, yelling and my dog barking all day! A piece of plaster fell down from all the banging on the roof just missing my head! I am used to peace and quiet! So I didn't get any work done. But the end result of a new roof in so worth it!

It has been storming here in N Florida and yesterday my studio flooded! Luckily anything that was on the floor was in plastic so nothing that I can see got damaged.

Yahoo was having a tantrum yesterday and I could barely read my email or send any out!

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy!
xxoo Astrid

Laura's Deco

I have been working on Laura's deco called "Inspiration" So here's a couple of pages. Done with Rubber stamps and watercolor, H2o's and die cuts. These represent my many moods as an artist.

Woven background, watercolored the fairy. Used beaded trim and scrabble tiles.
For a Fairy Deco Swap. Used Beach and Twinkling h20's on pixie. Did paper weaving and cut out circle with die cut machine. Added sparkling sequin stars and sparkling sticker border.

This page is for Gail

I have been sooo busy but managed to do a page for a swap I am in. It's a book on Friendship. The background is stamped and handcolored and then collaged border with napkin print, added some large flowers from a card, wings are those copper foil German Scrap which I antiqued and the angel is a pop up. xxoo Astrid

Did ya miss me?

Thought I would share some of the things that I am going through.
I have had my 17 yo ds home from school because of a Measles outbreak. 22 years since the last case was reported here in Alachua County. Well anyway I got a call from the school because my son hasn't been vaccinated. Years ago I didn't believe in shots and had a religious exemption. But since then I have changed my views. Having my son home all day and fighting about getting school work done was really taxing to say the least! It really threw off my schedule.

Plus a couple of things happened with my business. The postal rates went up and trying to figure out the new rates was a nightmare. So I closed my store for a week until ebay and the post office worked out all the kinks.

I have for a long time ran my business like a hobby, little bit of this and a little bit of that and some art here and there.
Now I am freaking out because I have way more stuff to do than there is time, just like I have way more stuff than I have space. And guess what, my studio is a mess!
Just yesterday I was looking for that perfect embellishment to add to a project that I was doing and darn if I could not find it! So annoying. And if you are like me I get stuck on that perfect item, nothing else will do. What just happened? I lost precious time looking for something and disturbed my flow of creativity. I am determined to get out of my rut! Any suggestions are appreciated!

I haven't been blogging lately but will be visiting you all soon, xxoo Astrid

Fairy Land

I am working on a fairy deco, this is my first page. I used my new build a butterfly sizzlits, love them! This is the blessing fairy and anyone who views her will be blessed in many ways!

Tagged!

• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself
• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog
• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names
• Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged and to read your blog


1. I have been to India all by myself!! It was my 40th birthday"get out of my comfort zone" present to myself.
2. I sneeze very loudly and it's scares my family!
3. I like weird "snake charming" music as my husband calls it! It's Asian Underground/electronica.
4. My name "Astrid" means star and is more common in the Scandinavian countries.
5. Love my first name but hate my middle name which I never use and is a name of a white bird.
6. I lived in an alternative lifestyle Yoga Community for over 20 years but don't anymore. Still practice the philosophy though.
7. I have been a vegetarian (not vegan) for almost all my life, no meat, fish, eggs or chicken or gelatin.

Thanks to Laurie for tagging me!
I tag
Wendee Deal
Judi
Elizabeth
Jan
Robin
Niki
Kathi

Latest Finds!

Hi All! I thought I would post some of my latest finds! I got these in Lake Tahoe at a thrift store. They were marked $2.50 and I thought that sounds good to me. These looked like they were old and the printing of very fine quality and they still had the paper backing like they did in the olden days. When I went up to the counter the girl was fiddling with them and prying the stickers off, I thought she needed to take off the stickers for inventory, when she finally got them off, she showed me that the price was actually $3.50 and that they have people come in and change the price tags on things. I told her that I am very sorry that, that happens but my integrity is worth a lot more than a couple of bucks, she looked embarrassed and proceeded to ring me up. Sheesh people ripping off the thrift stores! What is this world coming to!! Anyway I love them and not sure what I will do with them yet, right now they decorate my studio. xxoo Astrid

Deco Swaps ATC swaps and Fairy Swaps oh my!

Good Morning! Gosh has it been almost a week since I have posted?! Boy have I been busy! There was a Scrapbook Yard sale at our local Scrapbook Store. Not only did I sell a bunch of stuff, I bought a bunch of stuff! Still going through everything, I always go to those things to pick up great bargains.I also picked up some stuff at a yard sale, I have always been a bargain hunter and it fits right into the "altered art" lifestyle.*grins* Then I am participating in some round robins, a deco swap and a monthly ATC swap. The above photo is from the latest ATC swap I am in, and I love the way they came out.
Now the next project is a Fairy Altered Book page tip in. I need to make 26 original pages, send those in and get a bound book back! I am very excited about this because I have been bitten by the fairy bug bad! A friend was selling a Lot of some brand new stamps of all these fairies in different poses, I got 10 of them. I can't wait to play with these! I especially like to use my twinkling h2o's (I have every color). I also just bought the Bind it all Machine from Bonnie's Best,(love that store) it's a desktop binding machine like the one at Office Max, but smaller, and you can cut through chipboard!!! Waiting for that to come in the mail! Take care everyone. xxoo Astrid

Just click your mouse anywhere on the black space,
or click and drag your mouse, it's even better!

http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Thanks to my friend Ruthy for sending me this, xxoo Astrid

Today is the First day of the Rest of your Life!

My first CHARM SWAP!

Good Morning! My muse visits late again! Sheesh can I get some sleep! These have been waiting to be created for a month now, and they are due to be swapped! So I am glad to have been able to catch a creative wave! Here they are, aren't they kewl! They are made with clay faces, a watch face, wings, airplane panel switch covers, word beads and hearts. This will be my first charm swap and I am excited. Well off to bed, xxooo Astrid

Asia Blue-True Colors Deco Swap

I did this set of pages for a Deco Swap I am in entitled True Colors. We all pick a color and create pages using that color. Also I think Connie (owner of True Colors Deco I was working in) wanted our true colors to shine through. I received it a couple of days ago and didn't have any plans on working on it so soon, because I have other projects that are due sooner.
My muse decided to visit last night around 8 pm. Usually I am winding down things and preparing for bed. As I was cleaning up, I came upon a couple of cards that I bought the other day. They were done in a Monochromatic Blue. I looked at the chart of colors that Connie provided and Blue was available! So I started gathering all things blue, I wasn't going to work on the deco, just gather, but I started getting excited about the items I had gathered and had a pile of two different styles. One was Pre-Rafaelite and the other Asian. I didn't have a plan but let my design evolve and it took a while to adjust things on the page and I kept going and before I knew it I was in a full blown art zone, you know when you look up at the clock and hours have gone by! I started to see an Asian theme emerge, and my true colors did come out because I am an Asian lover and there is a lot of my favorite things on this page, like butterflies, dragonflies, Japanese people and calligraphy. Well the above spread is what I came up with, and I wish you could feel the textures and see the real blue hues, the scan doesn't show the "true color". I hope you like it Connie! xxxooo Astrid

Seize the Day!

I hate housework, ok I said it! I am pretty neat and organized in my household and love a clean house, I just hate to clean it myself! Let me rephrase that, I don't hate to clean, I just hate to stop what I am doing in my art studio to go and clean. And then there's the obsessive side of me that has to stick with a project until it gets done, which is good in some ways but not when it comes to taking care of kids and DH. I mean Dinner is at 6 and it usually happens right when I'm on a roll with something I am doing with my ebay store or a project that has a deadline! And the dust bunnies will come and visit if I turn my back!! And as much as I love my dog, she has thick black hair that just falls off everywhere!
So I tried something different today and I think it might be my answer! I started by setting my timer for 15 minutes. I checked my emails and ebay business , answered questions and visited my online groups. When the timer went off, I stopped and did the laundry and changed all the sheets. timer went off and went back and photographed new items for ebay, played with my doggie and timer went off and swept and mopped floors, hey I like this! And I have a loud timer, that makes sure I hear the tick tock and motivates me to get the job done! I am amazed at what I was able to do in 15 mins ! So if you're like me and hate housework, try the timer, let me know how it works! xxoo Astrid

Bee Happy

I have been sick for days with the dreaded pollen headache. It's seasonal but its seems like a very long season.I was taking OTC medicine every day and it was working up until the beginning of the week when I started feeling a dull ache in my sinus area. I looked online at pollen.com and read the high pollen counts for my area, oh that's why I feel like crap!! Up until recently I didn't even know I had allergies, just thought I was stressed, pms, or had menopause! I was in South Florida for a year and didn't have one episode, but as soon as I moved back to Gainesville within 2 days I had all the symptoms, I finally put two and two together. I went to the doctor because after three days I wasn't getting any better and I wasn't getting any work done! Now I have some prescription medicine and it's not cheap! so we'll see. I am still grateful for the pollen because I love greenery, and I love trees! Gainesville is known for being a city full of trees. The above ATC reminds me to Bee Happy under any circumstance! xxxooo Astrid

Path

I love paths and have a few pictures of paths in my photo collection. I have recently joined the digital age and I am taking pictures of everything now! This is a path that my husband and I took on Easter Sunday. It's called Payne's Prairie. It's a local state preserve and although I have lived near Gainesville, FL for more than a decade, we've only been twice. It was a relaxing walk, with birds calling out to each other and you can hear the wind through the trees. Being both workaholics, we relished getting away from computers and phones for the day and enjoyed the view and each other's company.

Another Page

Here's another page from the same Vintage Animal Deco. I used a technique that I love to do. I glue a thick image to another paper and then when dry I peel it off and end up with a torn image. That's how I did the background. Instant aging! I then glue this to another decorative paper.

Deco I am working on

This is a Deco I am working on for Hope, it has a neat wasp nest that I found on Thanksgiving Day while I was vacationing in North Carolina. It's hard to see the dimension it adds to this piece. I used some packaging to safeguard the delicate nest from any handling.

Welcome to my little Corner!

Welcome! I am working on some great projects and can't wait to share them with you, just as soon as I figure this blogging thing out! xxxoooo Astrid