My Color Adventure

What do pigs, cotton candy, a panther and a singer have in common?

Yes, you guessed it.....the color PINK!

A more apt title for this post would be "Patty´s Playground of Perfect Pinkness" .... of Magpie´s Nest.....let me explain why.

This tag is for you Patty,,, thanks for turning me on to a color I never really took notice to until you posted these beauties below.

It all happened one cold day last February. Patty posted this beautiful foto of these pink tulips on her blog, Magpie´s Nest. That same day I had been talking to a painting buddy about colors we never seem to use
and then I even read a blogger that was saying "pink stinks".......

When I saw the second foto of Patty´s I thought to myself....well, heck,,,this pink does not look the least bit "stinky" at all. I was actually being drawn to the color pink!

Patty´s fotos so inspired me that I even went out and bought some pink tulips and ended up painting them in watercolor.


One of several versions of my pink tulips in ink and watercolor.


I painted yet another small grouping of pink tulips in watercolor. I was beginning to like a color I always seemed to ignore.

All thanks to Patty´s wonderful fotos.

Patty and I then began to email each other about the color Pink and eventually we decided we would send each other PINK things as a color swap ......

Before we knew it we were collecting every pink thing we saw.
I could not believe how much pink I saw in advertising, magazine covers,,,,even all over the inside of my local phone book. Pink was found everywhere and before I could turn around I had a box brimming over with pure, perfect
PINKNESS.It began to get so full I thought I might have to hire Bekins to ship it to the USA!


Here is what Patty sent to me as part of our exchange.
Some of her art collage cards. I love her work!


A closer look..............



She even made me one of her birds nest charms out of pearls and copper wire. Isn´t it gorgeous.
It looks great hanging from a chain. Thanks Patty, I love this!

Patty sent me all sorts of paper for my collage stash. Different textures and weights and some vintage pages. Many have already been put to good use.

A lovely pink lantern and fan to cool myself off during these hot summer months.

Some pink energy tea,,,,cut outs, buttons and lovely small embellishments.

Another look.............

A wonderful pink illustration and still more paper.

More cut outs and interesting papers.

Don´t you just love all this pinkness!

A pink advertisement for a market in her area.

Here is a "pink freebie" for you Patty and all who come here to see our fun swap. Thanks again for making me stand up and take notice to the color Pink ,,,in all it´s beauty.

Wishing you all,,,,, and especially you Patty,,,,a perfectly fun,,,pink kind of day................

If you want to see what I sent to Patty ,,,go over to her blog the

Magpie´s Nest and have a look.

Book Salad

A lovely "Book Salad".....

Foto taken by Franca at Woven Letters. These are the books

I sent to her for one of our art exchanges.

Here ,,,a closer look at the Longstitch mini-journal with leather spine.

The cover is painted with watercolors and then rubbed with a thin coating of waterproofing wax.

A Matchbook style notebook.

When the pages are all used up,,,,no problem, just open the metal brads and refill with more paper.

A Pamphlet Stich landscape format notebook.







A great little book for jotting down notes or sketching a quick landscape.

Easy to assemble....punch the holes for the eyelets and add string or ribbon as a closure.

Windows and Doors

Windows and doors.....

the openings ......

a means of letting yourself in or keeping others out.

Windows and doors.....

can be left open or closed.

Windows and doors.....
can be adorned for all to see.

Windows and doors......

can be rundown or well kept.

Windows and doors.....

can be ornamental or simple.

Windows and doors.....

can be antique or modern.

Windows and doors....
can be looked into
or seen out of.

Windows and doors.....

can be decorated or plain.

All these windows and doors can be found in Oberammergau, Germany.

Grand Finale

No fashion show is complete without a parade of all the pieces.

The Grand Finale....all that is missing is the Wedding Dress!

Anneke´s creation comes as close as I can get....go have a look at her stunning piece.

"Carry on"

In an Instant

As I created this last piece, I knew,,,in an instant,,,

that it would be perfect for Heidi Klum.

Trends come and go so quickly and from one day to the next,,,,,,

you´re either in or you´re out.

Considering that fact,,,and that somebody has to run the vacum and my frig is empty,,,,

now is as good a time as any to say, "Auf Wiedersehen" and get back to the business of living.

Project Runway can be seen in Germany on Viva.

This torso, as well as the last 3 torsos, were created with watercolor and ink.

They originated from a watercolor painting of trees and I carried that theme into the ink doodles.

Ginger Snap wants to see paint and Crazy Amigo has an open theme.. have a look and go create.

A Lot of Look

I know this is a lot of look but after reading

Tim Gunn´s, A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style,

I knew I could make it work.

The belt worries me but then again, it fits right in with

Michael Kors´Buckle Up Collection.

Creating so many pieces in such a short time is no easy task and in Tim´s own words I can just hear him say,

"I can´t want you to succeed more than you do"

and I know he´d encourage me to carry on.

Stay tuned for the final piece in the World of Haute Couture and some tips from Tim´s Boss.

Project Runway Calling

Everytime you dress, you assert your identity. We all need to find our own fashion voice.

Nina Garcia from Project Runway sent me "The Little Black Book of Style" ...how sweet of her.

Nina gives tips on how and when to wear what outfit. For example, she warned me against wearing this little number to a job interview....ahhh heck, I thought this is what is called...

"Dressing for Success." I am so glad she filled me in before I committed a deadly fashion

"faux pas"...

To sum it all up....Nina told me to try to find my signature look, learn how to experiment and most of all......PLAY......... and have fun with fashion.

I did just that.

Go discover yourself through the colorful palette that is fashion.

Tune in this weekend for Michael Kors and Tim Gunn.

Haute Couture

Haute Couture,,,,"high sewing".....a creation of exclusive custom fitted clothing.

A Haute Couture creation is made to order and made from high
quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail by the most

experienced seamstress using hand-executed techniques.

My little tag was cut out by hand,,,from high quality watercolor paper which was first painted

and stamped. Holes were punched for the lacing of gold thread. A little "collar" was added

at the neckline and a triple bow was tied for added flair.

The piece was then sprayed and edged with the finest of gold ink .

The creation will be seen next week on the runways of Paris.

Au revoir mes amis. A bientôt.

Thanks Louise.... at Tag Tuesday,,,,,for inspiring this little creation.

Handbound Book in Red, Yellow and Turquoise

One of my many handbound books using some of my handpainted paper.....or as some refer

to as paste paper.

The book block is edged with speckles of gold ink and two ribbons are attached to the spine

to use as bookmarks.

The spine´s bookcloth was cut in a wave pattern ...I tend to use the wave quite often.
I like the shape it gives to the cover.