Be a Star


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/29/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a 5 x 7 collage using a face from flickr's Suzee Que, a body from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, wings from Itkupilli.etsy.com, shoes scanned from a catalog and altered, and a hat from the Library of Congress. These pieces were reprinted, hand trimmed with scissors, and hand colored. The sign was made with a frame from designer Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com and the letters were taken from various scanned ephemera. The checked border is from Crowabout.etsy.com and the floor, the corrugated trims and striped curtains are from designer Lauren Bavin of Digital Scrapbook Place. The rest of the background is from flickr's SkeletalMess. Designer pieces were used with a commercial license.

Here's a cool place to visit often . . . Just Something I Made
(click on Just Something I Made to go to the site) Here's an image from her work. If you click the image you can see it in action! I thought it was appropriate to celebrate my new vacuum. I actually like vacuuming and seeing all the stuff I pick up now. Kinda went from grossed out to "wow, what else is in there?". I think I might vacuum like a hundred times as I am obsessed with it. I've told you before, such an exciting life I lead. I really WOULD rather be and should be blogging though. I'm working on it tonight - flickr commenting first. I'll be by soon!

No Tacos this Tuesday . . .

We are throwing routine, tradition, and comfortable habit out the window and caution to the wind and going to Islands for dinner this Tuesday. Today is daughter's actual birthday but she had a soccer game tonight so Tuesday we are eating out and it's her choice. One never knows how much one might appreciate Tuesday tacos unless they avoid them now and then.

Started back to work today, sort of. Had lots of odds and ends to take care of after a long week last week and long weekend. Vacuum blew up today - that was exciting. Actually, it was a bit more like a fizzle than a blow up. It's all of the lbs. of Husky hair we've been vacuuming and the machine finally admitted defeat today. Is there anything more un-fun to buy than a vacuum? I do have to admit, though, it was kind of fun to vacuum with the new one. I hated to leave my bag vacuum to these new fangled bagless ones but it seems to work better than I expected. I just don't like seeing what I was living with before it got sucked up. Bags kept the yuck out of site as it was emptied. Okay, 'nough of that. I did finish one piece today - started it days ago.

Pensive in Flippers


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/28/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a 5 x 7 collage using a face from flickr's Suzee Que, a body from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, wings and crown made from wings from greatmusings.com, and flippers scanned from an old catalog and altered. All of these pieces were reprinted, hand trimmed, and hand colored. The main background and gold border is from Itkupilli.etsy.com, and the checked border is form Crowabout.etsy.com. The rock wall and waves are from designer Nicole Young at Digital Scrapbook Place. The words were made from lots of digital scans of vintage ephemera and taken from something my husband has always said to me and the kids.

I have a doctor appointment tomorrow and then really plan to roll up the sleeves and dive back into art work and all that that entails - full swing and full speed this week.

Hi everybody!

We're having my daughter's 16th birthday party this weekend with a lot of family and friends and it has made me want to take on some extra house projects to get it party ready. So, I'm taking some time off until Sunday or Monday. I'll be keeping an eye on Etsy but other than that not around much. (I don't think, you never know) Now, this is not going to be a Super Sweet 16 caliber party (like the TV show) but thought I would do some extra cleaning, yard work, and tidying up.

Already started some new pieces I'll share next week and maybe some other surprises for you! I really think after this week my life will settle down. (I really hope!) Had a pelvic MRI and ultrasound yesterday and will be glad to know it is all clear in a few days I hope (I hate waiting for test results) and had my toe x-rayed (finally) today. It is not a bone spur that is hurting me so much but that means I have the dreaded nail fungus! YIKES! So have to figure out how we are going to attack it. Getting older stinks. I have old lady problems and I'm only 43! But in general, life is settling down and I'm ready! Have a good week and weekend!

Blogversary Prize Drawing

Thank you for celebrating my first year blogging and making art. YOU have made it an incredible experience and I cannot thank you enough for all of your support, inspiration and friendship! The winners of the prizes are listed later in this post. Prize winners you need to email me at marsha@tumblefishstudio.com with your full name and mailing address. I will be contacting the winners in the next two days if I haven't heard from them.

For all of you that didn't win, here's a collage sheet I made with images from the Library of Congress. As far as I know, there are no restrictions on their use. Click on the image so it opens larger in another window and then you can right click it to save it. Enjoy! (Free to use in your own artwork. Please don't sell these images in your own collage sheet or on a CD of images - I spent many, many hours looking for them. Thank you!)



If you get a chance, let me know how the collage sheet works/prints for you. I am going to try and finally get some sheets made for my Etsy and want to know if this quality/size works for folks.

Now for the other prizes. I printed out all of the contestant names and drew them out of a jar. I had 62 entries as of this morning.



And the winners are . . .

Sharon of Livewire Jewelry won the Paper Sky original Collage


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2009. All rights reserved. You may not print, copy, download or reuse this image in any way without my permission. Image credits listed with original blog publication of this image here.

Stacey of Primarily Primitives won the Pandora's Keeper Limited Edition Print


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2009. All rights reserved. You may not print, copy, download or reuse this image in any way without my permission. Image credits listed with original blog publication of this image here.



Lorraine of Creative Daily won the Vintage Ephemera Package



Julia of Black Door Studio won the Experiment No. 3 Limited Edition Print


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2009. All rights reserved. You may not print, copy, download or reuse this image in any way without my permission. Image credits listed with original blog publication of this image here.

Brenda Grace of My Divine Time won the Dreamporium Limited Edition Print


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2009. All rights reserved. You may not print, copy, download or reuse this image in any way without my permission. Image credits listed with original blog publication of this image here.

I will be having other drawings this fall so be sure to check in regularly! Thanks again everybody for EVERYTHING you've given me!

Miscellany

Blogversary week continues! Don't forget to leave a comment at this post (click on the words "this post" to get to the post where you need to leave a comment) if you'd like to be entered to win one of several prizes celebrating my one year mark of blogging and making collages. So far, to mark the celebration, the prizes you might win include an original collage (at the original Blogversary post where you need to leave your comment), a limited edition print of Pandora's Keeper, a bag of vintage ephemera, and now I'm adding a limited edition print of the 2 new collages below! You have 5 chances to win! This will be my last post until Sunday, so be sure to check back Sunday night to see if you won something!

Dreamporium


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a large 8 x 10 collage using a face from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, a body from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, legs and boots scanned and altered from a magazine/catalog, wings from greatmusings.com, and a crown from the Library of Congress. All of these pieces were reprinted, hand cut with scissors, and hand colored. The checked border was created from pieces from Crowabout.etsy.com, altered digitally, reprinted and trimmed with scissors. The roof pipes are from grannyart.blogspot.com. The visa/mastercard sign was also scanned from a magazine picture. The rest of the pieces are from designers and were purchased and used with a commercial license. The house and sidewalks were created from pieces by designer Lorie Davison of Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com. These pieces include the window, sidewalks, door, and buildings. The clouds in the door are from flickr's dogtired and the night sky in the window is from designer Lauren Bavin of Digital Scrapbook Place. Other pieces from Lauren Bavin include the marquee (text added digitally). The street, steps, OPEN sign, bubbles, and main background are from designer Nicole Young of Digital Scrapbook Place. The grass is from designer Jan Ulasiewicz of Scrapbookgraphics.com, and the flat ground is from flickr's JoesSistah though it is highly altered. The scalloped border is from designer Sande Krieger of Two Peas in a Bucket. Everything but the bubbles, OPEN sign, window backgrounds, and grass was hand trimmed and glued. The bubbles, grass, and window backgrounds were added digitally. Whooh! That was a lot!

(detail view)


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission. Image credits included with main image.

(detail view)


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission. Image credits included with main image.

Experiment No. 3 is a Surprise


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/16/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a 5 x 7 collage using a large man image from flickr's junebuggs, smaller man face image from flickr's wackystuff, smaller man body from collagevisions.etsy.com, wings from Itkupilli.etsy.com, and checked border from Crowabout.etsy.com. These were all printed, hand trimmed, and hand colored. The stage and striped background are from designer Lauren Bavin of Digital Scrapbook Place and purchased with a commercial license. The boxes, number 3, and pixie dust (in jars) are from designer Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com and purchased with a commercial license. The book is from designer Jan Ulasiewicz at Studio Jan at Scrapbookgraphics.com and purchased with a commercial license. The jars are from designer Chelsea Parsons at Two Peas in a Bucket and purchased with a commercial license. Everything but the pixie dust was printed, hand trimmed, most were hand colored to some degree, and attached manually with glue. The pixie dust was added to the jars digitally.

(detail view)


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/16/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission. Image credits included with main image.

Friday I'm cleaning, waiting for furniture to be delivered and then used car shopping for my daughter who is about to be 16. In between I plan to finally get some blog visiting done. No art making for a couple of days. I've been blurking blogs a bit but not commenting this week. I seem to be living in a time warp and cannot work fast enough this week. Saturday I am going geocaching with some of my best friends. More about that on another post. Have a good weekend everybody!

Remember to say prayers for Tina as she begins her fight against colon cancer. Include her family and friends too.

Cathy (pinkbirdgirl), I'm so sorry I am so durn slow to write back with what you wanted! I flickrmailed you tonight. I'm such a flake lately!

Happpy Wednesday . . .

Journey


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/16/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a large 8 x 10 collage using a face from kumareboo.etsy.com, a body from the Library of Congress, wings from greatmusings.com, and headpiece made from digitally layering a compass from designer Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com. The blue frame, the text box frame, the suitcases, round boxes, and background are also from Lorie Davison. The background was made cutting apart by hand two copies of one background and gluing them together, with the sun and compass added digitally. The sun is from designer Lauren Bavin of Digital Scrapbook Place and the compass is from Lorie Davison. The jar is from designer Chelsea Parsons of Two Peas in a Bucket but was filled with hearts from designer Nicole Young of Digital Scrapbook Place. The other hearts are also from Nicole Young. All designer pieces were purchased with a commercial license. The checked border is from Crowabout.etsy.com and was hand colored. Everything, including the borders and jar, were printed, hand trimmed, and most were hand colored to some degree with ink and pastel.

(close up veiws)







Don't forget about the Blogversary celebration we're havin' here! Comment this post (click on the words "this post") and you could win one of several prizes. So far the prize list includes the print on the original Blogversary post (the one you should comment) and a print of Pandora's Keeper. Today, I'm adding to the prize pile a bag of vintage ephemera!

Guess what day it is . . .

I won't tell you what day it is because if you've read this blog long, you should know it is _ _ _ _ Tuesday. I plan to eat them tonight and then we're going to go look for a new couch for the "work room". Mailing and cleaning today. My life is so exciting isn't it?

Remember to keep my friends who have been struggling, especially Tina as she begins her fight against cancer, in your prayers. This piece is about standing tall in your life. The text below her feet is my form of digital "journaling" I guess. I don't do hand drawn letters - they make me so nervous! But, that will change, I am sure when I take Nancy Baumiller's Class next month. For now, my infrequent journaling is digital. The text isn't meant to be an important part of this collage, just a space filler and a kind of blessing with the piece. It reads "Stand tall in the life you create for yourself and always consider that the tiniest moments and actions sometimes create the most significant effects on the rest of your life and the people around us. Be humble in your accomplishments and proud of your potential. Be generous with your heart and frugal in your expectations of others. Stand up to what challenges you and stand back to see another perspective. We live the life we choose to live."

Stand Tall


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/15/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without permission.
This is a 5 x 7 collage using a face and body from kumareeboo.etsy.com, legs and shoes scanned from catalogs and magazines and altered digitally and by hand, wings from greatmusings.com, card border from designer Sande Krieger, and checked border from Crowabout.etsy.com that was merged with a text image from designer Jan Ulasiewicz and hand colored. The crown was clipped and alterd from a picture from flickr's Deluxx. The buildings are from the Library of Congress. The main background including polka dots is from designer Nicole Young. Designer pieces were purchased with a commercial license. The face, body, legs, shoes, crown, wings, and border were hand trimmed and hand colored with ink and pastel.

Blogversary celebration continues! Read and comment this post (click the words "this post" for link to the post you need to comment) and you'll be entered to win one of several giveaways to celebrate my first year in blogland and my first full year of making art after a very long hiatus. If your name is drawn you might win the original collage featured in the first Blogversary post or you might win this Limited Edition Print, signed and numbered on the back! Be sure to comment this post to be entered!

Pandora's Keeper Limited Edition Print


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/15/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without permission. Credits listed here in the original posting of this work.

Blogversary and a wee bit about my process

Update Sunday 9/20 8:30 a.m. - Comments are closed for the prize drawing about to take place. Check the latest post for results!

Only 5 days until my Blogversary! I started this blog on Sept. 18 last year and I am amazed at the way it has changed my life. Not only has it been incredible to be able to "journal" my journey into making my own art for the first time in many, many years it has given me so many extraordinary and unexpected perks! I have made hundreds of friends all around the world that have brought more to me and my life and this experience of making art than I could have ever imagined. So, thank you blog friends, new and old, for sharing this last year with me! Post a comment on this post and you will be entered to win this original collage or another prize! I'll be drawing names on the 20th! Look for other goodies throughout the week but you only need to comment this post!

Paper Sky


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/13/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a 5 x 7 collage using a face from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, a body from flickr's Suzee Que, and wings from greatmusings.com that were digitally place over a scan of vintage paper. The clouds, crown, moon, and stars were created and cut from either my own vintage paper or scans of my vintage paper. The background was made by merging a sky purchased with a commerical license from designer Nicole Young with text from designer Jen Ulasiewicz. The border was made with pieces from Crowabout.etsy.com digitally altered with text from designer Jen Ulasiewicz also.

Warning! Busy week ahead - something scheduled every single day and night. The school year and soccer season have definitely arrived!

I've had several people ask me about the way I work again the last couple of weeks and I am way behind in answering those emails. So, if you're a frequent visitor you can skip this part! Thought it easier to type it all once and direct people here instead of writing 6 or 7 separate emails. Well, most of you that have asked are just arriving to the mixed media world and congratulations! You will undoubtedly have a blast! I graduated with a BFA in graphic design nearly 20 years ago and after many jobs in the art world and teaching elementary art, I have to say I have had more fun in the last year than all those years combined. I arrived to this medium not long ago myself - almost exactly a year now. I had never worked in collage or mixed media in this respect. I don't mean to be ornary, but I haven't shared parts of my process with anyone yet, so you might find these points a bit disappointing. I am still perfecting things I do and what things I use to do what I do - maybe someday I'll feel ready to share. I am not an expert, don't teach classes or write articles either - I just explore how to get what's in my head onto paper. So here are my best unsecret tips and suggestions . . .

• When I started out with this art form I also entered blogland for the first time. I was far too shy to ask anyone how they did things so I bought a lot of books and magazines, spent thousands, and I do mean thousands, of hours on the internet looking at what other people made and how they did it if they happened to be sharing. Now I am rather thankful I didn't ask - I would never have discovered my style or my weird way of working had I not done the exploration myself. The failures or processes that didn't work led me to the ones that did. I truly believe experimentation takes you to places you will never find if you try to follow someone else's step by step.
  
• If you look below my artwork, no matter where you see it (here, flickr, etsy, etc.) you can always find exactly where I get my images. Next to making art, I spend more time looking for images than anything else. There are lots of places to find free images too - flickr groups like this one http://www.flickr.com/groups/collageimages/, the library of congress (just be sure to check copyright restrictions in the picture's bibliography, and sites like The Graphics Fairy. Check people's sidebars in their blogs and you will find lots of places for images.
• If you buy images be sure to check and see if you need a commercial license or other permission to use images you are buying that you intend to use in your artwork for sale. Some scrapbook sites do not allow you to profit from their images in any way. Some simply require you get permission and many require that you pay extra licensing fees.
• If it were me, I would not invest in any images you see that are from contemporary pop culture/movies/TV shows. Anything produced after 1923 is probably still copyright protected. I've been seeing lots of collage sheets with Twilight and Alice in Wonderland images from the new movie, for instance, and these images are not legal to use. For a great nutshell of fair use guidelines, you can check out this website Ask Harriete.
  
• I use Microsoft Publisher as a sketchbook for my work. Occassionally I will take pieces to Gimp or Photoshop (which I barely know how to use) to alter them digitally if needed - usually do this to layer images. I lay out my ideas in Publisher to get an idea for size and to pull all the elements together. Then I separate all of the images again and print my own collage sheet of sorts that I cut with scissors to construct the piece. It is not unusual for me to be gluing 10-15 pieces together to form a character.
• I use Quickie Glue pinpoint roller pen to glue my pieces. It might not stand up to a hurricane but it is the easiest for me to use without getting glue smears everywhere. I recheck all of my edges just before shipping in case something pops up, but this glue holds pretty tight. I know I can't take my pieces a part with destroying them! (And I know that from trying to fix and rework things)
  
• I don't seal my work. Since I use Pan Pastels and inks that don't smear, I don't really need to seal it.
• I work to a mat size. Well, actually I work to the opening in a standard mat. I have found that people really appreciate it when you work in standard sizes so that it doesn't cost a fortune to frame.
• I used to use liquid watercolor to make my own backgrounds but I have since started using almost all digitally created backgrounds. They are easier to maniuplate and use in different ways, faster to make and lot less messier. However, I do find myself very impressed by other people's acrylic and watercolor backgrounds so I'm not saying never. I may revisit this way or working again soon. I am finding my own way through Gimp and Photoshop and it's taking forever but I make out okay to do what I am ready to do. It's all about the process and perfecting and learning more for me.
  

Well, that's all I can think of to share right now. Hope it helps! Have fun!

Feeling better . . .

Today, I layed on the couch and watched Sense and Sensibility twice. I don't know why. It was on and I love that movie - good escape. Tonight, for the first time in a long time I made art for me . . . no order, no commission, no trade, just something in my head. What a relief and release! I think, now that I am all caught up, I won't be trading or doing commission work for a little while. Just make the stuff I have in my head. Orders and commission pieces kinda stress me, I feel so careful and try to be so spectacular and sometimes I just want to work simple, or weird, or quieter or smaller. Anyway, given the last few days, I made this piece to help harness the chaos I've been seeing around me. This little muse will keep the lid on things.

Pandora's Keeper


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/11/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a 5 x 7 collage using a face from flickr's Suzee Que, a body from kumareeboo.etsy.com, wings and crown from designer Nicole Young. The box is from designer Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com. The card border is from designer Sande Krieger and the black and white border from Crowabout.etsy.com. The circles in the background and the sidewalk are also from Nicole Young. The main background is from flickr's moosebite. Everything but the circles were reprinted and hand trimmed. The circles were added digitally. The face, body, wings and crown were hand colored with ink and pastel. Designer pieces were used with a commercial license.

I am a horrible person. A few weeks ago I got the loveliest card in the mail and had every intention of sharing it with you and making something to send in return. But, I misfiled it and put it in my box of finished work. Since then, I haven't been in the box because I've been making so many pieces for orders and trades that I, in turn, sent right out and they never got to my finished box so I kept missing it. So, poor Monique of A new leaf blog. She sent me such a gorgeous card and I don't even think I thanked her until today. So, here is Monique's lovely work . . .



Yesterday I got this very cool, fun, beautiful piece from Sharon of Livewirejewelry. We traded work also and this is what I got in return. I think Sharon got the short end of the stick. I'm sure you understand what I like so much about this piece, which I requested . . . the fish! Thank you, Sharon! It's perfect and I adore it!



Tomorrow I have a bridal shower to go to and another Memorial service. After that I am just going to take things easy and quiet this weekend. Please keep my friends in your prayers and thoughts. Send 'em all power and relief. Thank you!

Heavy heart

This blog was supposed to be about art. I am sponsoring a soccer team that may be looking in here for my art business and wondering what the heck is going on here - very little art lately. Life has gotten in the way and so this blog has been about life lately. Last week I thought was rough enough to complain and whine about. Today, last week's little post office ordeal, and toe hurt and arm hurt, and medical tests don't matter a hill of beans - all so trivial. If I could find a way to tell you all of the things that have happened in the last few days without compromising the privacy of others, you still wouldn't believe the heart ache that I have been dealing with the last few days. I will only give you a sketch of the things on my mind and aching in my heart. Tonight was the blow that took my breath away and left my heart very heavy, left me tired and weak and small. For several days in a row I have gotten very bad news about or from people in my life - old friends, complete strangers that I crossed paths with in nothing but a twist of fate, and newer friends. The kinds of significant things that happen that leave you dazed and scared. A couple struggling to keep their life together, both hurting more than I can tell you and looking for strength and reasons to keep working on their life together. Someone I only met by chance, very depressed and hurting and near giving up this life on earth. I am so far away and so useless in helping the person. So far, people focused on themselves and what they can handle and what they can't and wanting to give up . . . making this last blow all the more upsetting and ironic. Tonight I found out that someone I've just started to get to know, who I have traded work with, who I just wrote the other day, whose message to me is still in my inbox, who I truly care about, who was perfectly fine yesterday and had no idea what was about to happen, discovered (either by divine intervention or another twist of fate) that she has cancer today. Bet she will fight to stay alive, fight to keep her relationships in focus - how ironic life can be. I'll bet you too that her first thoughts are not about herself, her suffering, her needs, her ordeal with the post office, her pain, her tests, her anything . . . I bet her first thoughts are about her children and husband and family instead. How out of perspective some of us allow things to get - me more than anyone. This is not about me, but shame on me for feeling sorry for myself in my little easy world. I probably shouldn't be writing any of this, but if you pray, pray for these people I mention. I don't feel big enough to say big enough prayers for all they are suffering. I feel helpless. I feel angry and scared and frustrated and I am not the one suffering any of these things the others I mentioned are suffering. I can't imagine what they are going through.

Update - the announcement has been made so I can let you know that it is Tina Wright of {glue on my fingertips} that discovered she has cancer and it was yesterday, not today. I believe in being specific in your prayers and thoughts and meditations, so please lift her name up in your prayers and healing voices. Include her family and friends as this was discovered completely by accident (or divine intervention as I suspect) and I imagine everyone is in great shock. She had an emergency appendectomy that revealed the cancer in her body. She is a strong person with strong faith that I truly believe can lick this thing. If you visit her blog, you will see we were just in the midst of a sharing project and she just emailed me, cheerful and happy as could be on Tuesday, making me feel better of course. I am so determined to send every possible prayer her way.

I didn't have tacos tonight

but I took the night off and went to Taco Tuesday. I just had chips and salsa. Just wasn't hungry but it was good to get out of the house where I have been planted for days.

One more "need to do" piece done. I think this one is spoken for (if it works for the customer) but we'll see. I've been working larger lately and it takes me so much longer. This is an 8 x 10 and it took two full days from start to finish - about 20 hours. One "need to do" piece left and then I will be all caught up! Then I can catch up on my Etsy making and blog visiting and flickr visiting.

Sea Stroll


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/8/09. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a large 8 x 10 collage using a face from kumareeboo.etsy.com, a body from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, wings from Itkupilli.etsy.com, fish from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, legs from flickr's Alice Fox, and shoes scanned from a magazine picture. These were all reprinted, trimmed with scissors, and all hand colored to some degree. The red and white borders and metal borders are from Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie and Scrapbookgraphics.com purchased with a commercial license agreement, reprinted and hand trimmed. The waves, crown and sidewalk were purchased with a commercial license from designer Nicole Young, reprinted and hand trimmed. The scalloped border was purchased with a commercial license from designer Sande Krieger reprinted and hand trimmed. The black and white border is from Crowabout.etsy.com. also reprinted and hand trimmed. The sky is from flickr's SkeletalMess. The clouds were made from a 100 year old encyclopedia page. And the words were adapted from a quote by George William Curtis.

Tomorrow is the first day of school for us. I'm glad and sad. I think I will actually miss having the kids around. Even this afternoon as my son helped me move shelves and organize piled art supplies, my daughter came in and we watched and made fun of Twilight yet again (as I paid bills). My kids have such a great sense of humor - they make me laugh so hard and are my favorite entertainment. My daughter is a Twilight freak but she has shown me many spoofs on the movie and it made the real movie so funny today. And then there are the reinactments by the two of them . . . I am still giggling at them. But my son will be a senior and he is so excited and starting to really get into the idea of college which a few months ago was not that interesting. He's talking about picking up fencing again because he'd like to go to CalTech eventually and they have a fencing team. And my daughter is excited about 3 different soccer seasons coming up - AYSO first (first game tomorrow night - she's playing U-18 even though she is 15), then the high school season, then the club season. She'll be a junior this year and is already aggressively checking out colleges and career plans.

Okay, I have to get up early tomorrow so I'm off to bed. Before I go I have two last things for you. First, I just want to highly recommend Lisa's Altered Art (lisasalteredart.etsy.com or lisasalteredart.com) for her great collage images. I don't know if Lisa's real name is a secret or not so I'll just call her Lisa. Let me tell you, if you haven't noticed, I use Lisa's images for my bodies and faces all of the time. They are unique and wonderful and she goes out of her way to take care of her customers. She has done me favors more than once and I so appreciate her willingness to go the extra mile. She did something for me over the weekend and I just want to send a great big thank you to her.

And lastly, I made this custom piece for Elena of The Life of a Traveling Princess. What a gorgeous princess she really is! It was a pleasure to do this for her and thank you, Elena, for your business! You are such a sweetheart and do so much good for the world with your remarkable charity!

Princess Elena

copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/4/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, download, print or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is a 5 x 7 collage using a face from Elena, a body, crown, and wand from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, wings from greatmusings.com, legs from moonfaires.etsy.com, and boots from a magazine. The background was made using black and white pieces from Crowabout.etsy.com, and all other background pieces used with a commercial license from Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com. All but the sky, flowers, and grass were reprinted and hand trimmed. The body, face, wings, legs, and wand were hand colored with ink and pastel.

I'm back . . .

. . . slowly but surely, I am easing back into work after a bit of an art break this last week. I've got lots of emails about my doctor visits. As far as I know, all is well and so far so good. A sore toe that I have tried to ignore for over a year has gotten worse and needs some attention and probably surgery. To have the surgery I had to have a physical. My doctor is either extremely thorough or I have something to worry about as she is putting me through quite the pace of tests. I still have to have more blood work done, a pelvic ultrasound, a chest xray, a foot xray, a mammogram and a chest MRI. Since I feel fine other than a sore toe, I am assuming she is just being very thorough. One of two main discomforts this last week was a first time reaction to a tetanus shot that made my arm swell and hurt a great deal. I've had several of these shots in my lifetime, but this one, for some reason really caused a reaction. My arm was so swollen that trying to sleep on it, as I normally would, cut off the circulation to the rest of my arm. It hurt just sitting doing nothing and hurt worse when I moved and my shirt would touch it. Anyway, that is much better now. The other huge discomfort was having a great deal of my toe nail removed which might not sound that bad but on an already very tender toe, it was almost, not quite, but almost excruciating. They think I have a bone spur on the end of my big toe that has caused my nail to curve and grow back into and around the bone. Kinda icky, huh? Anyway, that's the story - nothing serious going on yet. So no need to worry - just routine stuff and I'll keep you posted. Thank you for all of your well wishes and for your sweet concern and I'm sorry to have worried you!

It's been a long strange week with lots of weird stressful things going on - some too strange or too hard to explain (including a two day ordeal with the my local post office that turned out find in the end - long story, but there were 3-4 other significant and stressful strange things going on). My family thinks my planets must be out of alignment and I need to just wrap myself in bubble wrap, dig a cave, and hide until the planets put themselves back where they belong. I'm considering it. I certainly have been drawing lots of negative happenings lately. But today, I wanted to make something positive and happy, finally! I wish you could see this one in person. It looks much better right in front of you and in its mat. You can't really tell in this picture but she is sitting on a swing over water that is reflecting the stars above. Since it is an 8 x 10 piece the largest size of picture on blogspot makes it look so far away and small!

Soul Stars


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/6/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission.
This is a large 8 x 10 collage using a body from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, a face from flickr's Suzee Que, wings from greatmusings.com, crown from spiceitup.etsy.com, red borders from Anahata Katkin's Spare Parts, black and white border from Crowabout.etsy.com, and a swing from Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com. All of these pieces were reprinted, hand trimmed with scissors, and hand colored with ink and pastel. The blue background is also from Lorie Davison at Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com and the stars are from Maya Studio Maya at Scrapbookgraphics.com. The words are my own.

close up view


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/6/09. All rights reserved. You may NOT copy, print, download or use this image in any way without my permission. Credits listed with image above.

I have been blessed this week with some lovely gifts from some lovely ladies. If this is a result of my planets being out of alignment to reap such rewards, then I will put up with the weird stuff a lot longer! First, Pam of Yoborobo sent me one of her magic dolls. It must be magic because it came just in time to cuddle with after my painful toe appointment! (Sorry for the boring picture of it - I scanned it as my camera is not cooperating tonight). It is adorable in person and just the right size to hold and snuggle. And it felt like it was plum full of warm fuzzy hugs. I love it!



Then, my friend Suzan (aka Zibelline on flickr) sent me a whole huge shipment of ATC's! Oh my goodness, I've never received so many lovely cards at once! Look at these . . .



They are incredible and charming and full of Halloween fun, which I, for one, am so ready for! I am tired of hot old icky dry dusty smokey summer in SoCal. I could almost feel the crispness of fall whoosh by when I opened Suzan's lovely envelope. Thank you Zib! I adore them all!

And that's not all! My friend Renee (aka flickr's Nayski) sent me a Wish Fish! Renee is so talented in so many mediums, she amazes me. Bet you can't guess what this fish was made from!
(again, sorry for the poor picture as I had to scan it - it is so gorgeous in person!)



Did you figure out that this lovely fish was made from an aluminum can? Nayski is famous for her can creations and inventive details. This piece is just so cool! I just am so tickled and proud of this fish, I have not enough words to tell you!

Lastly, tonight, I am so behind in answering emails and comments. If I'm supposed to be getting back to you on something and haven't, please pester me! I feel so out of whack and like I am forgetting stuff I'm supposed to be doing. A few more days and I should be back up to speed! I have to finish a few more pieces before I feel I can relax. My etsy is empty of originals again and I have one more piece I have to do for someone waiting on it. After I get just a bit more made, I am dedicating the week to blog visiting and flickr visiting! And then, all will be right in my world again!

Even still, here!

I have to ask for a bit more patience, though I am so far behind with all of you and making art. It has been an unusual few days. Just lots of kind of heavy stuff going on. Everyone's okay but just in another realm of life at the moment. Lots of company, days to remember those we have lost (yesterday we gathered to remember my father-in-law who passed away two years ago after a long battle with colon cancer), the fire has had us kind of on edge, and painful doctor appointments yesterday and today. I'm okay, as far as I know, but have a bunch of tests going on, more to come, and some of them have caused a lot of discomfort this week. So, I've been taking care of Etsy and that's about all, art wise. I promise I'll be back soon and will get all caught up! Love you all!

Still here!

Took the last couple of days away from the computer and away from art. As you know, we had company over the weekend, attended a lovely all day memorial service/party for our dear friend and kept a close eye on the nearby fires. We are about 5 miles from the biggest fire, the Station fire. We are not in its path or in any danger (mainly because there has been no wind - with wind this could have been very, very disastrous for millions of folks) but the smoke has been thick at times and the high temperatures miserable. The fire is in our neighborhood, so to speak, areas we frequent for shopping and restaurants, drive near several times a week, but we are not in the fire's path. So no worries. We'll just be glad when its over. I'm going to take a couple of more days to get up to speed - I have some doctor's appointments for normal check ups and a very sore toe that has been causing me problems for many months. The kids have to pick up schedules and some new clothes and supplies for school that starts next week so I'm going to take care of the mundane here! Back soon!