Halloween Blog Party!

COME TO MY HALLOWEEN PARTY ON OCTOBER 26TH!

I will have vintage-style Halloween art & decorations to share, and maybe some spooky things as well...if you want to be a part of the Halloween fun, visit Collagediva.com to get the details, or click on the spooky red Blog Party logo in the right margin.I have not done a blog party before, but I understand that a list of participating blogs will be posted, and then on Oct. 26, you are invited to visit the participating blogs to enjoy the fun! I am looking forward to seeing everyone's decorating ideas and autumn art. Also, I am going to have a GIVEAWAY --I will create some Halloween art to be given to someone who leaves a comment, a random drawing...So visit my blog, Art Beneath the Cottonwoods, on Oct. 26 to see Art Journal pages, ATC's, vintage Halloween paper dolls, decorations, recipes and other treats. This will be so much fun! I hope you will join me...Have an artful day,Dianne

Pumpkin Man

My taste in Fall decorations has turned to vintage style pumpkins, as shown on the black round box (center). The country angel was made a few years ago with twig angel wings and a raffia garland of wooden stars and a heart. The Halloween ATC's from a previous post can be seen in the foreground. The "Pumpkin Man" was created because I couldn't afford to spend the $65 or so on the one I saw in a shop...mine turned out differently, of course, but I like him. I used panels of golden yellow and rust/orange fabric for the pumpkin, and painted his eyes and mouth in artist's acrylic paint. His nose is 3-dimensional, stuffed with poly fill and darker green paint for shading. I love the look of the skinny legs and feet, but they were terrible to turn right side out! (I know there are gizmos for turning tubes of fabric easily, but I don't have one)As my paper arts projects, paintings and art journals have been consuming more of my time and interest, the sewing projects are less frequent. The fairly large fabric stash that most sewers and quilters accumulate is still lurking in closets, bags, and bins however...so fabric is turning up in my collages. With the trend of small "art quiltlets" gaining popularity, I may have to try one, but I wonder if my experience with traditional quilting methods may interfere with the art and experimental aspect.. raw edges showing is not a problem for artists, but traditional sewing doesn't go for that. And did you know that Fabric tends to be like art supplies, you are forever seeing one more item you just have to have...?!

Mail Art

This is a Halloween postcard sent to a friend in Artgang Ohio. We've had a great time sending art to each other in the mail, in many different forms. This Ohio artist's group gets together once a month to try out new techniques, and share what we've been working on with each other. On-line groups are great, but there's nothing like cementing a friendship face-to-face! We've had so much fun together and it's wonderful to be with people who actually "get it"--the mixed media art that we do! I knew Diana likes vintage Halloween, so I had a blast making this.