MollyCoddle ...

My Blythe ... a long, sad story

Well ...I am back at school ...tomorrow starting the first FULL week ..... and I think this Quarter will be very exciting and lots to learn .... I am taking Digital Photography 1, (which I do need) Fundamentals of Design and Fundamentals of Color .... (as all of you that know me know I love my Sepia's ... so this is great for me) and Advertising 1 ... Because I am taking Photography and I thought this too would give me great practice. I wanted to start the Project 365, that Deann sent us a link to ... and by the way visit Deann's site for her great textured art and wonderful vision .... but of course this is already the 6th and yesterday was the 1st picture of the new year .... so I am already failing Project 365 .... but I will still upload a couple picture of my Blythe Doll that I purchased last year. To tell a little background.... Kenner came out with this original doll in 1972  ...I was newly married with a tiny baby boy .... but I always loved dolls and had to buy an original Blythe for myself. Mine was a winsome, huge eyed blond, with a out-sized head and eyes that when you pulled a switch ...changed to 4 colors! I loved her! ..... but as the years went by, she first went in a cupboard ...then she was relegated to a box ...and a few years back she was sold (by me)(sadly) at a garage sale .... I was trying to downsize ...BUT THEN! .... last year I received a notice from another group that they were starting up a Blythe Group .... and I am thinking ...this cannot be the same Blythe ...(but honestly ...how many Blythe's can there be?) ...so over I go ...and yes indeed .... Kenner produced the original for one year ....(me) ...and in 1999 sold the rights to Japan to produce a new edition Blythe ... and when I went to E-bay to buy a new one .... after searching thru boxes in my closet and determining how STUPID I had been ..... and there they are ....beautiful new Blythes ...and Original Blythes selling for 1000.00 to 2000.00 dollars ...I know ....I know ...I am sick also ...sick ...stupid ...sick me .... So all I could find of my Original Blythe is a horrible Polaroid ... which I will share ..... She is sitting with another doll that my mother got me when I was quite young ...Poor Pitiful Pearl ..

But ...I did purchase a new one ...because Blythe actually makes a beautiful photographers model ....The Photographer Gina Garan has even published  whole books, the first which is titled "This Is Blythe" which I really should buy. So I got out my NEW Blythe doll yesterday ...and took a few pictures here in my home ....which has terrible lighting ...and the rainy outdoor weather made the inside even worse .... and I feel really bad ...because she is stunning with her lovely red hair ... and this is the first attention I have paid to her ....and I have not even given her her own name  ... Bad ...Bad .... So here she is ... and I am sure with my soon to be new learned knowledge she will even be better ..... and I also even used the black and white on my digital camera ...that I have never used!

THIS IS BLYTHE!

a little family matter ....

I do not usually post pictures of my family ...only the dog of course ...but I took this picture at Christmas of my two sons and my oldest grandson ...who has actually outgrown his dad and uncle ..... so my grandson is the tallest of the 3 at 6'4" ...and only 16 ...but I thought when they all came to Christmas in their red sweaters that they needed a team picture ....(or was that me?) (and Oh YeaH .... we are the Buckeyes! ...we do have bragging rights ! Number 1# rated team in the US ...Bowl Bound!) ...OK .... and I do have one more grandson who is only 5 .... and and one granddaughter .....who is 8 .... but they where busy playing with new Nintendo's .... and just not interested in picture taking.

OK .... Enough .... sorry the Santy's are growing out of their heads ....

New banner ...!

I am so excited .... so much has happened while I have been on school break ..... my new computer arrived .... I have a new Adode Photoshop/Illustrator Program .... that I have been needing since I started school in the fall .... My new banner is the first thing that I have designed in my home program .... so I am tickled .... !

School and Art ....

I am almost finished with my first Quarter as my new status as "student", it has been stressful, terrifying, but oh so gratifiying. I have already learned so much ....now I am just hoping that I do remember most .... if not all of it...HA!

I have one more final tomorrow morning .... in my Graphic History Class .... a class that I thought that I would hate ... because of that "history" word .... but I have found fascinating ... and I have also found that I really knew so little at my age ....

In between my studying for finals and worrying about finals .... I felt the art spirit strike me the other day ..... I was so thrilled ....how wonderful to know it had not abandoned me .....but now I have many things posted on e-bay that will end this week-end ..... I will share a few pictures with you  .... go here to check them all out ... http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZpollydion

images of Deco Girls ....

and more deco girls ....

Images from Paper Whimsy ...

and Angels ...which will be posted tonite about 10:00

so enjoy looking .... and I hope to be able to participate more often in all my groups this December!

Winter Arrives!

Well .... winter arrived here in Ohio in full force ... such beauty  ....to bad that driving in the snow is a tramatic event for me! You would think that being born in Ohio ... and having driven all my adult life in the snow would not terrify me so much ...but ....it does ...that is probably a snow-a-phobia or some complicated term that just means I respect mother nature enough to fear her.

I am going to add a couple pictures of the glorious snow show we have here this morning ...

this one shows our little log cabin in the background .... beautiful ....beautiful!

an abandoned nest .....

see ..... a snow laden frasier fir ..... and

one ornery terrier named Keebler!

I hope your winter will be as specatular as ours here is so far ....but safety and love to all ....

Close to Break ..

• Well ... we are coming upon our Winter break ... and this first quarter of school has moved along fast and furious .... I think I have finally settled in to this new way of life for me. My biggest regret is that I seem to have no time for art .... which I do hate .... I am hoping to have some extra time next week over Thanksgiving break to accomplish lots! I am again excited to participate in a show for Heather's Speckled Egg Holiday Show, this is a link to her blog and this to website ... Speckled Egg.com

Now ...I had better get busy ! and there are lots of great artists selling beautiful and unique altered items ....

• Barb Burkhard
• Melissa Lobdell
• Connie Senyitko
• Michelle Witchell
• Donna Layton
• Lori Karla
• Sadie Lou

School ... School ... School

School .... it has been a challenge for me ..... but I am enjoying it ... I really like all my Instructors and the other students ... mainly a real young population ... but everyone has been accepting of me (or they seem to be) and I must admit that I am even older than all my Instructors, which really does feel quite eerie to me ....

Anyway .... I am even farther behind than ususal in updating my poor little blog .... and in keeping in contact with all my groups ...  but the good thing is I do intend to be much smarter in 2 years!

The Works museum where we have most of our Digital Media Design classes, is 2 refurbished manufacturing buildings, that are connected by a beautiful gardened grounds, complete with a lovely fountain and copper statuettes. They are currently building a new addition to the main building that look as if it will be in keeping with the original style and lines of the existing building.

                        

Christmas News ...already?

I am so thrilled ...! Helga Strauss at Artchix Studio asked me early summer to make her some Christmas ATC's so she could design Christmas Cards and Image Sheets for Christmas Collage Artists, and of course I was delighted to accommodate because I love ArtChix, and I love the fact that Helga puts out only quality items for sale. her site is also jammed full of on-line classes, swaps and the Featured Art of some of my favorite Artists and friends.

So ....today she placed the Christmas Cards and Images that I had created for her, for sale on the ArtChix site and she did an amazing job of altering my altered art for you to buy ... see my cards and image sheets, (not all the images in this kit are mine). Below is the Card sheet ...

and this is a close up of a few of the ATC's that I made to send to her ....

I truly am thrilled with what Helga has done with them !

A Big Change ...

I have been really busy lately as I am going to return to school. Now I find this very exciting, but I am also very nervous and scared to be returning at my age ....I will not tell you my age except to say that I was born in 1952 (See?) ...Scary .....!

and why am I returning to school? ...well I have been a reluctant factory worker for almost 20 years in an UAW plant ...(United Auto Worker) ...and because they have taken many ...many of our jobs to Mexico, I am out of the job. And because I did stay in a "comfortable" job ...I have no current skills for today's job market, and manufacturing is just not a place to look for a steady job. Thank goodness ... I have had 5 hand surgeries in the last 10 years, so I do need to change my career!

So ...I have decided to attend school full-time, and I will be taking a two year course in Digital Media Design .... I really am very excited to start .... I am going to be attending a school about 25 miles from my home for most of my classes, actually some of them I can take at a branch here in my own hometown ...

The building where I will take most of my classes is called "The Works", it is a really beautiful restored building in downtown Newark, Ohio .... it is an Art Gallery that also has Art Instruction for Adults and Children. It is really amazing. It also houses a restaurant and a gallery shop. Our classes will be held upstairs over all this excitement .... we are actually COTC (Central Ohio Technical College) students ...but what a perfect place to learn; and hopefully at my age I will be able to retain what I learn.

So if I seem to disappear for long periods at a time, it is just that I have homework...homework ...and homework! I do hope that I will still have time to make the art that I love ...i just have to pay the bills till I can retire ... as this is familiar to all of us ...

So ... I am going on a new adventure ....A little leery, but wanting to learn !

I was in the mood last evening to begin some Halloween ATC's .... we have had a long, hot, dry summer ....here in Ohio ....but the last two days has been rainy and blegh......... so I sense fall in the air ..... and I do love fall so much ....if it were not for the fact that Winter follows behind it so close ....

I will probably post these on E-bay tonight, I think I have a total of 8 .... so i will just post a couple of pictures here ... I really like the ones that i used an image in the background and transferred it with the Gel Image method ....

3x3's

I am in a group that is doing a swap of Itty Bitty 3x3's ....each person does 12 according to the other people's whims .... and ships them off ...so in the end each participant has 12 pieces of art to display in a frame or some better imaginative way ... I have been working on the first series and I also joined another Holiday swap of itties that i have not started ... I think these are a really fun size to work on ....a little more challenging after doing hundred's of ATC's ...if only i really knew how many i have made over the last few years ....I really probably would be shocked ...any way ...i am going to post a few ....just to show that i really have been arting !

EVIL DICK ...

OK ... now i normally do not air my TV habits in public ...but ...do i have any Big Brother Fans out there ? ....and what is wrong with the people in that house? ...I used to be a Evil Dick fan ...but he is just going to far ....i think some of those people need to gang up and tell him to Chill !

Enough Already !

Kelly and Ruth ....

I was so excited to finally meet Kelly Snelling! We have been in a couple Yahoo groups for at least two years and I have not yet gotten to California but she did get to come to Ohio ...WHY? ...well her and Ruth Rae have put together a beautiful new Jewelry book ... see her blog! She has a picture of the book front ....well anyway they were here in Ohio at their publishers for the studio sessions ...

I was able to go down to Cincinnati to spend one evening with them at their hotel, then we went to eat, and shop a tiny bit ....but i got to spend the evening with Kelly in her room ...where we talked and laughed ...and i really found her to be just as endearing in real life as she is on-line ...she is full of energy, smart, witty, fun and oh so talented ...as is Miss Ruth Rae ....the book is going to be so fantastic ...a must have for everyone ... the jewelry was a Artist Collaboration ...and the pieces are so unique and GORGEOUS !! again ...see Kelly's blog ... I know it is out sometime next year ...just cannot remember when ...DUH !

Here are pictures of Kelly and Kelly and Ruth in the studio...recreating the pieces for the photographer ... Oh ...I did get to spend the morning with them at the publisher's ...which i found to be so fascinating  ...and ...pictures !!

behind ...AGAIN ...

Again I have been lax .... with so much going on, I have no time to tell  .... I was excited to be included in the current Somerset "Art Doll Quarterly" magazine .... i had sent my dolls to the "Nature" submissions call for art .... and the girls from Art Doll Quarterly stole them to put in the Art Doll publications ...I was very thrilled about this ...but if you have ever seen the Dolls in this beautiful magazine you would see why I felt unworthy ... I had taken the doll heads off of my boys wanna-be Cabbage Patch dolls that i had made for them back in the 80's (when you could not find a Cabbage Patch Doll in the Stores) ..anyway ...i grunged the heads up with gesso, paint, gesso, paint, gel, etc.  Then I added crowns to their heads with objects that i gather and collect ...which really is just about anything that can be collected or gathered and saved! I used my own homegrown gourds for the crowns on two of them .... and used shells from vacations in South Carolina for the other ....i mounted the heads on Altered Cigar Box bodies ...hung hearts made from gathered items inside their little tummies and of course added wings .... anyway ...they included the article that i sent with the "Fairy, Nix and Sprite" ....they did add some of their own information from a telephone conversation with the Editor ....so you can really sense the change in the tone of the article .... so i am sharing my pictures .... but the magazine is really a quality, beautiful, well-published magazine, and of course their photographer is awesome.

 

 

a Lady of the River

my sister and her husband came up to Ohio from South Carolina a few weeks ago for thier Class Reunion (no ...i am not telling) .... anyway it was being held at one of the class members property ....down by the river ....which they used for a fishing/camping place ....

I went out to look at the property with my sister, to help her decide what last  minute decorations she would need, and there was this beautiful Lady of the River! ...When my sister's friends purchased this place and were cleaning it up ...they found her in the weeds ....so they cleaned her up ....and there she still stands ...a lovely mystery ....

selling my overflow ...

It is Saturday ...and i am trying to clean up my art room a little ...and i see that i have an over abundance of my own art ...that i just do not have room for ...so i listing a few of them on E-bay ...they will not start until tonight at 6:00 and end at 7:00 ....i do not remember, but i think i have two art dolls ...and 3 assemblages ...

A couple of them are the pieces that were in the may/June Issue of Somerset Studio ...the "Blue" pieces ... and one is a piece I started a few weeks ago and did not get finished ...till this morning ...and the one Art Doll "Cherry Fherry" is another piece i finished this morning too ...I will post a couple pictures of the new pieces ...then my husband is calling ...or i should say his stomach is calling ...

more news later ... bye !

and then there are Mermaids ...

I forgot !! Helga Strauss at www.artchixstudio.com had asked me to create 20 Mermaids for her to publish a collage sheet of them for everyone to use in their art ... I thoroughly enjoyed making them and she has recently posted them at the site ... they can be seen at this link ...

a copy of them I made are

I also have some published on the Mermaid Faux Poste she has created from members in the Yahoo Artchix Group .... I adore Mermaids ...perhaps I was one in a previous life?

GO see them !! Artchix has tons of Ocean themed goodies ... and some new beautiful Turquoise German Scrap ..

Summer ... summer ...

I really am in love with summer .... I just wish that it could be longer and less hectic .... I want to visit all my art friends blogs and oooohhhhhhhhh...and aaaahhhhhhh over all the gorgeous art and see what they have been doing that makes them happy .... but ....I am not getting any of that accomplished ...

We have had visits from my sister and her husband  ...who came to Ohio from South Carolina for reunions and a week long visit ...that was great to spend time with her ...then we had a short visit from my Husband's brother who lives in North Carolina ... and I have taken time (one Day) to spend with two of my 3 grandchildren ....and we went to see the Fabulous "Ratatouille" ...  I am not a big Animated Movie fan ...and I thought that it was a sweet and funny movie ...

so anyway the summer is rushing by ...and I really have accomplished lots ...and stayed really super busy ...but I would still rather be at the beach ...with my feet digging in the sand ...and the feel of the earth moving gently beneath me ...and the warmth of the summer sun upon my face ...

so in honor of that dream I entered a contest at www.tophatdesignworks.com (love her images) ...and created a cigar box entry with the glory of a summer beach day in mind ...hope you enjoy ...because it really is the closest I will get to a beach this summer ....

Front View ....the lid is closed

open view ...lots of starfish ...

Hope you all are enjoying your Summer .... and if you go to the beach ....take an extra minute of SUN for me ...

unbelievable

I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have visited my own blog .....I still have a banner that i do not like, and it has been a month since I have posted ....I do believe that blogs are for me at least, a winter project. I did want to post a link to the Amber Lotus Site that has some really quality, beautiful calendars, cards, journals, etc. for sale. I must post this because I have a piece of art in the new "Collage for Your Creative Spirit" , 2008 calendar. I feel really honored because I am with some really talented artists ...

Plus my piece titled "Her Majesty" has also been included in a box set of greeting cards ...

If you visit the site ...do enjoy it ....

another ...

I did have time to make another piece lately .... this one i entered in the ArtChix Nature Contest .... I love this piece ...i grow lots of gourds and dry them out over the winter ....I love to create using them, but i do not do so often enough.

Spring ...

    Beautiful and Vibrant Spring is finally here ... which means so much to do out in the yard, and I do love the garden and the labor and the satisfaction of tending such wonder ....but my blog is suffering. And there seems hardly anytime for art. I am going to post some of the items I made and sold at Heather's Speckled Egg site ...she did such a marvelous job with the show ... and all the art is beautiful ...I do hope you had the time to visit ... I want to change my banner ...but for now you will have to look at Millie's face just a little longer.

   

New Blue Pieces and a reminder ...

I am posting a couple of pictues of my "Blue" pieces that are in the current Somerset Studio's magazine ... I was really afraid to do blue ...I had thought it would be hard to make a piece with this color that would have impact. Once I started making these pieces I found it to be a calming and even mournful color at times. These are really not very good pictures of the pieces. But I wanted to share them anyway.

I also wanted to remind everyone of Heather's Mother's Day Gift Show ...see the information below ... She will be posting the LUSCIOUS art on Monday ...with lots of door prizes and great gifts!

Art from the Nest ...

Heather at The Speckled Egg is having an Online Trunk show for Mother's Day  ...with creations of jewelry, assemblages, nests, collages and all things lovely... Artists that are creating and selling are Barbara Burkard, Beth Moran, Connie Senyitko, Melissa Lobdell, Michelle Dressler and Me ...! All the artists will also contribute a door prize that Heather will choose.

Check Heather's Speckled Egg blog for details ...

I'm still here ...

I have not really disappeared .....it was really nice here for a couple weeks ...so we have been trying to do a few "springy" chores ....like getting the mower, weed-wacker, tiller, etc ..etc ...ready for use. I have been doing some art pieces ...but I seem to be stuck on a phase of Robin's Egg (kinda) blue and wings and eggs ....so I have several pieces started and a couple finished, and when I try to work on them, more ideas keep popping in my head ...so I start another piece and off I go .... and I really never finish much. One of the pieces that I really like is this one titled "A Good and Kind Mother", it also has a small tag book that hangs on the chair back ....

I also finished two journal pages that I did for Sandee, an artist in a Round Robin group I am in, Her colors are purple and orange, and even though I love these two colors together I really had a hard time coming up with a theme ...I suppose because it is so opposite that Robin's Egg Blue ....but i do like the finished pages ....because there is nothing quite as fantastical as mermaids ...

Thanks for checking in ....I hope everyone has a beautiful Easter weekend, full of love, food, relaxation and celebration.

My Poor Husband

I was reading my just posted blog about my soap making ....and i realized that my poor husband did not get his credit where credit is due ...so here i go ....because I had a operation on my trigger finger and just got the sutures out yesterday ....i made my poor sweet husband ....stand with me for 3 hours and stir the soap batches as i added the ingredients .. and to add insult to injury ....I took all the credit ... bad me ....i did measure ...and add colorant and fragrance oils and oils and milks etc. SORRY HONEY !!

Making Summer Soaps

We have a beautiful Spring day here finally ...and i spent most of the morning making soap for a new shop that is opening in Port Royal, South Carolina .... the shop www.lilsproutstudio.com. will be opening on April the 10th .... I was asked to make Sea theme soaps ...so my house smells wonderfully like a mix of coconut, lime, ylang-ylang, ocean, sea-kelp and sun ....a wonderful smell to make up for the muddy brown yards and brown trees we have HERE now. The soaps are just setting up ...so i still have to put a shell stamp on the blue ones ...and package them up. I keep thinking I will make some beautiful labels (collage) ...and print them off ....a different one for each soap type ...but i always use my Printshop and make adorable sepia and beige tags with sepia photo prints ....but these soaps ...need sunny blue colors ... there are also a few bars of Easter Bunny soap in there ....just so you wonder about me ( I do know Easter Bunnies do not go well at Sea) ...those go to a friend a few states away ... Well I should go and see if i can make some mermaid, shell, sand and sea labels ...

Those Limey green things that look like ghost tails are actually a Coconut-Lime-Verbena Mermaid ...much lovlier in person.

a late Happy St. Patricks Day

Hi all ...A late Happy Saint Patricks Day to all who celebrated. I awoke with a killer headache yesterday and had it all day and nite ...you would have thought i had celebrated early ...but no celebration for me. I had wanted to post this postcard yesterday ...but ...still wanted to share it ...

as you can see I am still struggling and trying to figure out why all my posts are not quite right.

any pointers ...? I will welcome them ..

I need practice

I need practice posting pictures ...so please bear with me ...

Several years ago I asked my brother-in-law to cut blocks from 4 x 4 lumber. I intended to make block sets for my grandchildren with their names, birthdates, etc. on them ...but  ...unbelievably ...HA! ... I never finished them, well actually ...never started them. SO anyway ....i found them in my shed a few weeks ago ....(20 to 30 of them) ...and decided to alter them ...after all my oldest grandson is 15.

So I am going to attempt to practice uploading the pictures here in a way that pleases me ....unlike my first post... 

This piece is titled "Painted Ladies", as you can see I love the retro girls. I will make an album to show all the views of the blocks if you would like to see them.

Another block titled "Party of Three". This one has the Paper Whimsey images, which are just adorable.

Yesterday we had yummy, gorgeous 70 degree weather here in Ohio, but today I awoke to freezing rain hitting the roof and windows. Even though we have a metal roof and the sound is comforting, the daffodils could really do without the yucky ice this storm produced. How does that song go? Be-a-u-ti-ful Ohio .... yea ...well ... not in March!

Ok ...I think I am getting this down to a better semblance of prettiness ...

finally !

I have had an unpublished blog for several months now. I have viewed with envy all the blogs of my fellow artists and i finally decided I better get mine published, and because of my indecisiveness it has taken me forever ...

I am off work for a few weeks because of hand surgery so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make this real. Then there is the possibility of Spring in our Ohioan air ....so it will soon be time to bring out the garden items and the mower ....and although i am ready for for the gorgeous display of flowers ... it is very time consuming....but so much beauty.

I am also thrilled that I am again a published artist in Somerset Studio's. It has been a while since I had submitted anything to them, but when they had a Respond to the Call for Jar Scenes prompted by Danielle's lovely Jar Faires i did indeed have to try . This is the piece that was published in the current, March/April Edition of Somerset Studios.

   

I am learning so much in putting together my blog ..... I am hoping to greatly improve ...as I venture on.