This Makes Me So Sad :(

got an email today from a fellow etsy seller/flickr friend that someone who sells on ebay UK (Seller name Patina-Blue to be exact) is selling notebooks with my artwork on them, currently she/he is using two of my designs....so sad....she/he is also selling notebooks with the artwork of another etsy seller, who i've notified as well...i contacted the seller and asked her/him to immediately remove the listings, but i haven't gotten a response and the listings are still there...i've also contacted ebay and am waiting for their response and hopefully some guidance as to how i should proceed....i'm pretty angry about this...the nerve of people never ceases to amaze me...i usually am a firm believer in the goodness of others, but stuff like this just makes me think that sometimes people really do SUCK! sorry for the rant :( and sorry for the absence too...things have been a wee bit crazy as of late...i'll be back...i promise...until then, hope everyone is enjoying some sunshine and feelin' fine! miss you guys ♥

Me - Plotting against the evils of time!

Plotting & Scheming
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

I've been away from my little ol' blog for about a month now...feels like just yesterday I was posting about my big adventure to Artfest...time has a way of slipping away from me...I have this wierd sense of timelessness in my life, which is sometimes wonderful and other times frightening...I think it's kind of a like a self-imposed oblivion, created sheerly for the purpose of self-preservation because the idea of time passing is so scary to me...It's wonderful in the sense that I rarely feel that sense of urgency that things need to be done NOW! It allows me to buoyantly float through life with my own gentle rhythym...taking as much or as little time to simply do as I please...You may be thinking it sounds like a fancy pants way of saying I'm a procrastinator...well, I'm that too, but this is different somehow...this is almost like a denial of time itself...denouncing it's very passage by refusing to move at it's frighteningly quick speed...time has no consideration for the moment whatsoever, regardless of how magical, poignant, or important...each moment is just like any other and time shows no favoritism, quickly moving from one moment to the next...this denouncement of time can be a bit peculiar and scary as well...my sense of time is so often skewed and warped that sometimes I will find myself in situations or relationships that I tend to languish in...long after I should, later lamenting why I didn't move on sooner...this fact is sometimes just the jolt of fear that I need to start taking time a bit more seriously...I never want to be that person that wakes up twenty years from now wondering where the last twenty years went...that, to me, would be something unforgivable...I struggle with finding that balance between timelessness and a sense of time's passing...balance is something I struggle with in general, but that's a different post for a different time...I guess I'll continue to buoyantly float, occasionally reminding myself to pick up the pace at least to a dog paddle, in an effort to both deny and embrace time...and find that balance I so desperately crave...

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.