Artfest Here I Come!!!!

i've been such a bad little blogger lately, but there have been so many changes afoot, that i've had trouble keeping up with them myself. most of them really good and exciting, a bit unknown about how it will all turn out, but i guess that's all part of the excitement, right? i feel like i'm in for a really big transition in my life, a major turning point, and i'm really welcoming it and looking forward to all the possibilities it may bring.
i've also been frantically getting ready for my trip to washington to go to artfest 2008, yay! if you don't know about artfest, google artfest 2008 and check out the site...it's this fantastic 4 day retreat full of art making, workshops by fabulous instructors, and lots of friend making too....i'm a bit nervous, as i'm going into it not really knowing a soul, but i think it's going to be amazing and i'm sure i'll meet all sorts of wonderfully creative people....i've been trying to really push myself this past year to do/try things that scare me...things that i fear...and a year ago, i would never have been able to do this...a year ago this would have been a sweet little pipe dream in my brain, something i would dream about, fantastize about, "wish" i could do, "wish" i could be the type of fearless person that would pick up and travel across the country to spend 4 days with 600 strangers in pursuit of something they loved, always wishing to be that person...hoping to be that person, but never really able to envision how i would become that person....and now, about a year later...i am that person. still with fears, anxiety, and a bit of trepidation, but not the type that keeps you frozen in place, stagnant, unchanging, stilted, a concubine of your own mental/emotional fears , no, not that kind of fear...just a normal healthy dose of everday fear, the kind that gives you butterflies in your stomach and quickens your heartbeat for a moment or so, the kind that makes your palms a bit sweaty and your mouth a tad dry...that's usually the kind of fear i experience these days. so off i will go to artfest on tuesday, with butterflies in my stomach, a quick beat to my heart, a slick palm, and a dry mouth...off to do the undoable and be the person i never thought i would become. ♥

Once I Was A Bird

Once I Was A Bird
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

Large 19 x 24 inch original mixed media collage created upon 100 lb. Strathmore Bristol Paper. Created in shades of warm sepia, creamy vanilla, antique lace, and snowy white, with hints of cool blue and pale pink, this collage has a very soft, surreal, dream-like quality to it. It features the rather curious connection between humans and birds and the avian fascination many of us posess. Truly a mixed media piece, this collage was created with a melange of techniques and materials, including image transfers, found paper, vintage seam binding, a variety of antique papers, and a vintage photograph. All of these delicate snips and scraps work together to create a beautifully muted palette with loads of texture and dimension.

Once I Was A Bird ~ detail 1

Once I Was A Bird ~ detail 1
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

Once I Was A Bird ~ detail 2

Once I Was A Bird ~ detail 2
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

Dollface Design feature on Cuteable!

Dollface Design feature on Cuteable!
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

my fawn-tastic collage is featured on cuteable today, yay!!! thank you so much cuteable♥ cuteable always has the most amazing finds, so i'm super excited to be part of that, here's the link to check it out:
www.cuteable.com
and be sure to check out cuteable's fantastic etsy shop, http://www.swirlyarts.etsy.com, for tons of super cute handcrafted items!
Yay of Cuteable!!! ♥

The Geometry of Birds - Original Mixed Media Collage

The Geometry of Birds - Original Mixed Media Collage
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

available in my etsy shop♥

Original mixed media collage created upon a gallery wrapped 5 x 4 inch canvas, featuring a delightful little bird, in shades of lime green and tangerine dream. Perched ever so daintily against a backdrop of sepia toned, antique newspaper clippings from the late 1800's. The muted shades of the newspaper scraps really make the little bird's vibrant spring coat POP! This little piece is full of happiness and cheer and all the good things spring will bring! petite & sweet, this piece is the perfect size to prop upon a shelf, or hang on the wall, sure to bring a little ray of sunshine wherever it goes♥

hope everyone is having a bearable monday!
xoxo
layla

available in my etsy shop♥

i've been such a busy bee all weekend, staying up to the wee hours of the morn, collaging my little brains out, working my nimble fingers to the bone, so i could add some new things to the shop. spring is coming and i wanted to add some easy, breezy pieces to honor all the good things spring will bring ♥

This is a 9x12 inch original mixed media collage created upon 140 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper. Created in shades of creamy vanilla, antique lace, snowy white, and wispy pink this collage has a very soft, dream-like quality to it. It features a delightfully dainty, frolicking fawn, dancing and prancing through the woods while the pussywillows sway in the breeze. The fawn is a block print that was hand carved by moi and printed upon an antique piece of pale pink wallpaper. There's also lots of snips and scraps of sepia toned antique papers, including vintage book pages, an antique ledger page from 1871, and snippets from an antique french to english dictionary, giving this piece loads of texture and dimension. The edges are also frayed and tattered and a bit asymetrical, giving a wonderfully organic feel.

hope everyone's had a restful weekend full of crafty goodness!
nighty night my peeps!

Mental Photography

Mental Photography
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

9x12 inch mixed media collage created upon 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. It tells a story of rebirth, awakening, and opening your mind up to the possibility of the impossible. The central image is a wintergreen oil transfer created upon antique ledger paper dated November 1871. The wintergreen oil gives the piece a very soft, dream-like appearance, which lends itself well to the surreal nature of the collage. Additional bits of antique papers, including snippets from an antique french dictionary and vintage book text, were also added and give this collage a wonderful textural feel, as well as a beautifully muted palette of worn sepia tones.

Take it in Stride and Let it Ride!

Take it in Stride and Let it Ride!
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

Sometimes you just need to let it go..."Let it Ride" is part of my new dolly affirmation series, loosely inspired by Stuart Smalley of Saturday Night Live fame and alcoholic's anonymous bumper stickers. It features hand drawn lettering against a backdrop of super 70's flower power madness, in deliciously vibrant shades of lime green and tangerine dream!
Directions for dolly affirmations are as follows:
1) hang in prominent place
2) repeat dolly affirmation several times while wearing
"free to be me" sweatshirt
3) have fabulous day chock full of self-esteem
4) repeat as necessary♥

Dollface Design T-Shirt

Dollface Design T-Shirt
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

this is my new t-shirt design, yay! it features my illustrious little, pipe smoking, bird/woman hybird, along with my hand drawn font. i just posted it on alchemy on etsy. for those of you not familiar, alchemy is a section on etsy where buyers & sellers can post specific custom requests, allowing sellers to "bid" on requests and buyers to choose the seller whose ideas most closely coincide with their vision, it's a pretty interesting concept. i'm looking for someone to silkscreen it onto a t-shirt for me, preferably something heather gray, super soft, thin, and vintage-y with a bit of distressing for good measure. i figure it will be good advertising and i think it's pretty cute to boot ♥ i think i'm going to have my etsy shop's web address on the back too, nothing too big or obnoxious, just kind of small and dainty under the neck.
i'd love to learn how to silkscreen myself (add that to my ever growing list of crafty endeavors i aspire to master!). that way i'd be able to offer lots of my designs on t-shirts and hoodies and pretty much take over the universe. i think several of my designs would lend themselves well to a t-shirt, and it would be another way that buyers could enjoy my stuff, other than simply displaying it on a wall. i think people really like the idea of "wearable" art, at least i do ♥ that's why i need to get back into making my soldered charm pendants with my artwork encased inside, so stay tuned because i'll be offering those in the shop again very soon! my dream of dreams, is to one day be able to offer my designs on t-shirts, hoodies, journals, totebags, pendants, cards, and prints...i'm pretty sure that it will happen eventually...i never thought i'd be where i am now, but strangely enough once you stop "thinking" about how you're going to do something and simply start "doing" something, amazing things start to happen. and things you never thought possible seem to manifest, falling into place with grace and ease, and suddenly the things of your dreams start to become your reality and the lines become blurred, the doubts become less and the hopes become more, and suddenly you start to really believe in yourself...it's a good feeling.

Fashion Plate - Patchwork Paper Collage

Fashion Plate - Patchwork Paper Collage
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

As featured in Somerset Digital Studio, yay! ♥

Available in my etsy shop today!
This is a 5x7 mixed media collage art print featuring a beautiful bevy of patchwork papers, both vintage and new, in the most deliciously happy spring time colors! Bursting with aqua blue, sunshine yellow, and mossy green, in the most delightful patchwork pattern, this little lady is like a sweet breath of spring for your wall! Inspired by my obsessive love for "fashion plates" as a child. For those of you not familiar, "fashion plates" were the coolest thing ever! They were textured plastic plates of various outfits, tops, pants, skirts, etc., along with various women's heads, you would then pick a coordinating head, top, and bottom, arrange them on the special "fashion plates" base, place your blank piece of paper on top, and color over it with colored pencils, creating your own unique, one of a kind, outfit, or fashion plate! Mere words are not doing this toy justice, if you have a minute, google it or search for it on ebay, trust me it is super cool and waaaaaay cooler than any of the toys you see today, it will not disappoint! Yet another reason, along with hair metal and skinny jeans, that living through the 80's (and being old enough to remember the highlights) was pretty much awesome.

THE LEGEND OF SILVER THROAT

THE LEGEND OF SILVER THROAT
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

available today in my etsy shop♥

8x10 collage featuring the artist otherwise known as "Silver Throat". Silver Throat is a legend around these parts, and one can often spot her ghost wandering through the hills at night, by the light of the silvery moon, a shimmery wood sylph, strumming her guitar, yodeling a haunting melody...legend has it that she will entrance you with her sweet siren song, cursing you into an eternal hell that will only allow you to communicate by quoting the Sound of Music. So beware, as you're frolicking through the hills at night, by the light of the silvery moon....the hills are alive with the sound of...SILVER THROAT!

Thank You for Calling the Opium Den...

available in my etsy shop today! ♥

"Thank You for Calling the Opium Den"
(this is Viv speaking, how may I direct your call?)

I just started a new moleskine to use as a springboard for new collage ideas...this piece started out as a page in my book, using traditional cut & paste collage and then continued to morph and grow digitally, into the psychedlic spectacular you see here.

This is an 11 x 8.5 inch collage featuring a voyeuristic view into Viv's Opium Den. It's truly a psychedelic feast for the eyes, featuring mushrooms, rainbows, shooting stars in candy colors, and a bevy of swirling, twirling flowers, meandering to and fro. And perched atop a rather large toadstool, just as dainty as can be, is Viv! Sporting her jaunty purple cap with a fluffly little magenta feather, serving up Opium hot and fresh every day with a dollop of sass, a wink and a smile! She's the go to gal for all your Opiate needs...now put that in your pipe and smoke it!