The Postman Bringeth

This past week has been hectic. It included providing a part-time living arrangement for my son, which included putting a bed in the office and rearranging just about every other room in the house to accommodate the stuff that had been where the bed is now. It's chaotic right now.
Obviously, not a planned-for event.

I was oh, so happy when I went to the mailbox and retrieved some goodies that are perfect fodder for collage and other artsy projects. A much needed distraction.

First, a thank you note from a birthday girl became:

Spring Fashion (1963)
Greeting card, gift wrap,
Duck tape (in glitter!) and a
Rhinestone

It's a bit more "girlie" than my usual, but I think it has just the right edginess to it to not stray into "cute" territory. Besides, the woman's expression just glares at you as if to say, "You can't afford me."

An invitation from the Phoenix zoo had the perfect collection of images to attempt a mosaic for the next TwobyTwo twinchie challenge. Coming up next is, "Nine-patch." Cutting perfect squares was, ahem, tedious, then trying to arrange them?! 

Whose idea was this? Oh, yeah, mine! 

Tigers
Nine-patch mosaic and
Hodge-podge

I don't know if I'll try the perfectly square mosaic thing again. Like, maybe never!.I'll stick to my more typical throw stuff down and see what works methodology, which I also did. I still have a bunch of pretty pictures to play with another time. 

I may go see the beautiful tigers, but I'm not joining the zoo for $179; that I'm fairly certain of.

Lastly, the same mailman left a postbox out in the pouring rain and we found it about three hours later. His job may be to deliver the mail in the rain, but mine is not to go schlepping to find it! The box was soaked and the corrugated paper peeling apart. Luckily the paper scrapbooking supplies inside did not get wet!

But the box provided plenty of fodder for little artworks! Besides, corrugated paper is my favorite (and I still owe you all my story as to WHY!)!
So, I collected some goodies.

The teenie paper has a note from my daughter asking to play with a friend--actually, more of a demand. I remember she had finished her chores, made an accounting thereof and slipped the note to me in the bathroom!

So I glued some of this up after applying some paint and trying to get 400 grit sandpaper to stick (it wanted very badly to curl!). I don't consider it a big success, but it includes my offering for the EIM, "texture."

Texture Inchie in a
Twinchie

You win some and you lose some! I'm going to try working on some more Nine-Patch thingies. Don't you want to join the fun?

Peacock Feathers

As I wander the internet and blogosphere, I meet some wonderful people and some crazy awesome talented people. A couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon Tina/Aqua-Art new tangle pattern that she calls "Yuma." I like Tina's style and I was intrigued by the Yuma pattern, as I am Arizonan, after all.

Yuma gets a bad rap for being just an overblown trailer park for snowbirds. It's hot, it's sandy. It's everything that people think of when Arizona is mentioned. I've not spent much time there, usually stop for a bite en route to California. Supposedly, it's the lettuce capital of the USofA. If you have a head of Fox lettuce in your fridge, it most likely came from Yuma. But none of that comes to mind when you see her new pattern.

I also participate in Adele Bruno's weekly challenge, and sometimes I actually submit my response by the Saturday deadline. She also came up with a new pattern she dubbed, "Uncorked." There may have been wine involved. I immediately thought the two patterns could do a duotangle tango. Again, there may have been some wine involved. (Usually). Her challenge this week is to use her Uncorked, with or without another choice.

I also participate in the Diva's weekly challenge by Laura Harms and this week the challenge is to use the tangle Yuma. (Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, BTW). She is quite talented and manages a huge community of tangle artists from around the globe.

So, Lo! and Behold! Twist all of these together and I got this:

Oh! and full disclosure: I had to get Photoshop involved and I know, that's a big NO-NO! But in order to fully realize that artistic vision in my head, that's where I had to go. (That and the Morgue Files to see what peacock feathers look like!)

Other tangly people drag out their Copics and Sakuras. I use a Sharpie, plain paper and voila! So many blessings for a brilliant, sunny Arizona day to all the viewers of this blog entry! Be sure to check out the multitude of talent across the planet for the two challenges from this week.