Just puttin' up a couple of swap pieces . . .

. . . before they get too old to post at the rate I've been doing that lately!

This first one was for a postcard swap I'm in. Originally, it was a 4 x 6 collage, but I liked it so much I resized it a bit digitally and added it to my Etsy as a 5 x 7 limited edition print. I like it because it reminded me of how a good friend used to say to me "Get down with your bad self Mamafish", which is hysterical if you know what a dork and old ordinary "mom" I am. But the fish are part of that nickname I have and the duck feet remind me of my dad (he was a waterfowl and fish biologist)

Love Your Freaky Self


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 4/6/10. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, print, download or use without permission.

This is a 4 x 6 postcard for a swap. The face is from LandofEnchantment.etsy.com, the body is from Itkupilli.etsy.com, and the duck legs are from Artchix.com. The border pieces were used from scraps from previous collages and come from Crowabout.etsy.com, Holliewood Studios, and my own collage sheets. Everything was hand trimmed and edged with ink and/or hand colored with ink and pastel.

These are my first two envelopes for swaps. I am an envie virgin! So, hope to get better at these . . .
Transportation theme (back)


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 3/2010. All rights reserved.
Image credits: designer Kim Liddiard of Digital Scrapbook Place for the rockets, siefert2.etsy.com for the flying pig, designer Sande Krieger of Two Peas in a Bucket for some of the trims, DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com, Christina Renee of Christina Renee Designs for some of the trims, and Holliewood Studios for the grass.

Coffee theme (front)



(back)


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 4/2010. All rights reserved.
Image credits: Almost everything from the French Cafe kit by Christina Renee Designs, except for the numbered coffee strip from flickr's sassyarts, and the spoon from Holliewood Studios.

These magnets are for another swap I'm in for a row of house magnets. I reused most of the pieces from the house tags I made recently. Nothing new and exciting, really.


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 4/2010. All rights reserved.
Image credits for magnets: Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com, Studio Jen U and Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com, siefert2.etsy.com, lisasalteredart.etsy.com, Christine Honsinger at Scrapartist.com, Sande Krieger at Two Peas in a Bucket, keeperofthenest.etsy.com, LandofEnchantment.etsy.com, indigochyld.etsy.com, crowabout.etsy.com, Lauren Bavin at digitalscrapbookplace.com, Christina Renee Designs, Crowabout,etsy.com and DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com. All images were used with a commercial license when required.

Hello? Are you there?

I'm here . . . finally. Lots of irons in the fire take lots of tending I guess. It should all settle down soon but a few more crazy days of random projects. Exciting things coming soon!

Here's just a bit of art I've managed to make lately . . .

Portrait of Somebody's Somebody


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 4/5/2010. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, download, print or use without permission.
This is a small 5 x 7 collage using a lady from FrenchKissed.etsy.com, wings from Itkupilli.etsy.com, and scrolls from Fidlette Designs. The lady was hand colored. All other elements are from Holliewood Studios and used with a commercial license. Kits used were Old School, Love and War, and What's Up Tiger Lilly. All pieces were reprinted and hand trimmed with scissors, edged with ink and highlighted with pastel.

Fairy of the Nite, Strictly Business


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 3/24/10. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, download, print or use this image in any way without permission.
This is a large 8 x 10 mixed media collage using a face from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com and body from Graby Braun of gaby cajubrasil.blogspot.com. The wings are from Itkupilli.etsy.com. All other elements are from the The Thing Finder Kit from Holliewood Studios. These 30 plus pieces were reprinted, hand cut with scissors, and recolored by hand before attaching to the background.

I get the best mail! Here's a skinny from my pal Lorraine of Creative Daily blog. You'll see that not only did she send me this scrumptious fabric skinny, but an equally lovely fabric envelope that wrapped it. And, she sent me fabric pieces too as I had told her that I am going to try some fabric pieces soon. Oh, I have been so late in posting this, but I have delighted in having it on my desk to see and feel everyday.



And I got a lovely bookmark from my guardian angel, Roc of What's Up Roc blog. She has just about the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met and her art always tickles my soul. She is one of my most favorite people in the world so every piece I manage to weasel out of her is very special to me.



For a lovely blog post that will make you take pause, visit my friend Trudi at Two Dresses Studio. Here's the link . . . http://twodressesstudio.blogspot.com/2010/04/something-to-think-about.html

Have a great week everyone!

March Madness

Things have been hoppin' around here! First, besides refrigerator on back porch quitting and food spoiling and shopping for new fridge for kitchen so old kitchen fridge can be on the porch, I have also gone through 2 hard drive crashes in two weeks. First, the hard drive crashed in my desk top. Son got a new one and saved all of my files somehow (I hadn't put everything on to the external drive). Then big external hard drive that had EVERYTHING crashed yesterday. I had all of my family pix and every single image I have ever purchased or made for art on it. I about came unglued. But, brilliant son, got a new one again and by very cleverly freezing (yes, in the freezer of the new refrigerator in the kitchen), freezing the crashed drive was able to keep it cool enough to keep it working just long enough to pull all the files off onto the new one. Evidently, Seagate hard drives have a tendency to overheat and quit working - both of mine were about a year old. One came with my Dell computer and the other we bought to keep my images safe. Uhuh - that worked well. Oh my . . .

But, good news too. I'm so excited. I was just asked to be on the Creative Team for a brand new image shop that will be opening soon that will cater to altered artists as much as scrapbook artists! Woohoo! I've been working on a couple of pieces for it and can't wait 'til it's open so I can share everything with you. I think you're gonna love, love, love this shop!

I finished another piece in my little faux scrapbook series (not for the shop - just for me). I left it unlinked so you can see it a little closer (thus, the watermark).

April


copyright Marsha Jorgensen 3/19/2010. All rights reserved.

This is an 8 x 10 mixed media collage using a face and a separate body from flickr's picassoswoman, an umbrella and rain from designer Nicole Young at DigitalScrapbookPlace.com, wings are from Itkupilli.etsy.com, doc martens scanned an altered from a catalog, bucket and most border pieces from designer Christina at ChristinaReneeDesigns.com, blue wall and texture over lined background from Distressed Textures, floor from flickr's rubyblossom, cloud from designer Jeanette Bolinger. All designer pieces were used with commercial licenses.

(detail)





Speaking of linking pictures. Had a few ask how to do that. If you just upload your picture and do nothing else, people can click on it and copy and paste and print and download your nice big crisp image in another window. If you link it back to your blog, they can't open it larger. So, all you have to do is . . . after you upload it and before you publish your post, just click on the picture, a box/frame will appear around it. Once that box/frame appears hit the link button in your tool bar (the earth with the chain link on it) and type in your blog's url/address. That's it! Easy as pie.

Other Links to share . . .
I have a friend going skydiving for the second time soon. I was there when he went for the first time last year. I wanted to go but didn't have the guts - still really afraid of flying at the time. I'm almost more afraid of flying than falling out of the plane. So, he's going again and I really thought hard about going too this time. That made me think of my own "bucket list". I have one. I've had it going a few years now, even before the movie came out. I have things marked off but it keeps growing too. Anyway, I was looking up the concept of a bucket list (which is going to be the subject of an art piece for me soon) and found two great links to share.

This site has a ton of suggestions for things you should think about doing before you die . . . I was really inspired by it. It added a few things to my list I hadn't though of.
http://www.squidoo.com/100things

And this site, is from an incredibly sharp life coaching/inspiration site. I agree with this list of things women should do . . .
http://abundance-blog.marelisa-online.com/2008/05/15/75-skills-every-woman-should-master-the-first-25/

I was tagged! This is a fun game. You just go to your 10th picture in your picture file and post it and tag 5 other people! I was tagged by Theresa of http://msartisttheresahuse.blogspot.com/

So, the tenth picture in my art picture file was this. It's one of my first collage attmepts. I think it was the second, actually. I called it Coping Queen at the time. Oh, it makes you really see things differently when you go wwwaaaayyyy back to an old piece.



And, I tag . . .
Sarah Haslam aka Muckypup
Tracey of Glitterbug Studios
Melissa of Honey Girl Studio
Pam of Yoborobo
Susi of SusiCreates
You're It!

I'm not doing what I should be doing . . .

. . . again. What else is new? But I did get a couple of pieces done over the last few days.

I watermarked this first one so you can click on it and see it a bit larger. I usually link pictures so lurkers can't click and download a nice big copy.

The Lesson Remembered


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 3/15/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, download, print, or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is a large 8 x 10 collage that is not digital but but includes 23 hand cut pieces and the characters were hand colored from grayscale images. This piece uses a woman's face from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com and used with a commercial license. The man's face came from flickr's catnipstudio. The main bodies come from flickr's takeabreak and the shoes were scanned and altered from magazine and catalog pictures. The blue background is made of two textures from flickr's JoesSistah and used with commercial fees. The grass is from Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com and used with a commercial license. The wings and most other elements are from Christina at ChristinaReneeDesigns.com and used with a commercial license.

This one is kinda simple. I had saved pieces to participate in Art Creations Friday and left them undone so I combined them to use them up and finish a little ditty here.

I Heart Fish


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 3/15/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, download, print, or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is a small 5 x 7 collage using a face and upper body from the gals at Art Creations Friday blog. The fish is from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com and used with a commercial license as was the grass from Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com. The water and upper background are from flickr's rubyblossom and the boat is from siefert2.etsy.com. The wings are from AsunderEphemera.etsy.com and the hat is made from a 100 year old dictionary. The pants are from my own vintage picture and the shoes were scanned and altered from a catalog. The striped border is from Crowabout.etsy.com.

Mailing stuff tomorrow. I had a big Etsy week last week (28 pieces - I think - sold! woohoo!) and still have a few things left to mail. Then chore stuff to do. Hope to do lots of blog and flickr visiting this week as I got almost all caught up last week and don't want to get behind again.

Busy, busy, busy . . .

Well, it has been a busy last few days. Nothing incredibly exciting, just busy. I did get my Etsy reopened and new stuff listed today and that was something I've meant to do for days.

Thank you for all of your encouraging words about journaling! You all are so good to me and so kind. I haven't had a chance to work on it anymore but I'll keep giving it a try. Am thinking of actually taking another class soon.

The first group of pix I'll show you are from something new I've tried for a swap group I'm in. We had two different swaps for little tag books and 8 tags each for each of the two themes. We get to keep our books, send in our tags and get 8 tags back in each theme. Never made a book, never made a tag until this project, so it was great fun.

House Tag Book



House Tag Book (open to show a couple of pages)



House tags (the first one shows that the doors open to reveal a little surprise message or image - each one is different)







Bird with Hats Tag Book



Birds with Hats Tag Book (open to show a couple of pages)



Birds with Hats Tags




All tags and artwork here, copyright Marsha Jorgensen 3/2010. All rights reserved.
Image credits for tags: Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com, Studio Jen U and Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com, siefert2.etsy.com, lisasalteredart.etsy.com, Christine Honsinger at Scrapartist.com, Sande Krieger at Two Peas in a Bucket, keeperofthenest.etsy.com, LandofEnchantment.etsy.com, indigochyld.etsy.com, crowabout.etsy.com, Lauren Bavin at digitalscrapbookplace.com, and DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com. All images were used with a commercial license when required.

Mail Call! Wow, how I've gotten good mail lately. The two skinnies are from another swap group I'm in. This first ATC and skinny is from Viola of Viola blog. Aren't they gorgeous? I have had them since I got home from my dad's but they have been sitting here on my desk to admire everyday. Finally got them scanned to share.



In the picture below . . . The skinny on the right is from the same group but this one was made by Marion of Bockel24. Again, just another gorgeous skinny to own. I particularly loved the words to this one and they continue on the back to say "but my mind holds the key I'm standing on a stage of fear and self doubt though the fear keeps me moving still my heart beats so slow" *sigh* Such lovely words and now a lovely image to savor from a lovely person.

The round inchies are from my first swap group (the one doing the tag books). These inchies are from (top to bottom) Mary aka PaperScraps (only have her flickr linked), Cathy Parmelee, Verna of Bird, Bee, and Bloom, Sharon of Livewire Jewelry, Michelle of Lost Coast Post , and my dear friend, Roc of What's Up Roc.



And there's more . . . This piece is from Karin of Karin Winter Arts blog. I had hosted a "Dreamers" swap that took place while I was gone and so this was waiting for me when I got home also. It is so textural and rich. I wish you could feel it with it's stitching and layers. I just adore it.



And lastly, also waiting for me were these. I will try and fight back tears to see to write this. You may remember reading about my friend Tina Wright who passed away from cancer in early January. Back in September, just before she found out about her cancer, she had asked if would do a swap with her. She would do the pendant making and soldering if I made a little collage for each of us. So I made two little collages and sent them off. I didn't know for sure that Tina ever had a chance to finish them, but she did. She had mine ready to mail and even had a thank you note written with another piece I wasn't expecting attached. Tina's daughter Nicole sent these onto me. I cannot tell you what it means to me to have not only our finished piece but her hand written notes and the extra piece she made just for me. I will treasure them always as I will the memory of her and her spectacular spirit.

What to do, what to do . . .

. . . when one is cut off from their computer that they spend more time with than anything else in the world, sad as it is. My hard drive in my one year old computer crashed a few days ago and expert computer whiz 18 year old son has me all fixed up with a new one and all of my work salvaged. All of that computer gaming that encouraged all of that computer building (like my generation's boys souped up their cars) has paid off.

While waiting for said new hard drive to arrive, I have done a bit of blog hopping, written a few thank you notes, gone bowling (of all things), spent some time with my very goodest friends (yeah, I know, not a word), cleaned house, did laundry and thought very hard about doing my taxes for several days and then actually did them.

More importantly (epic, actually, in my little life), I started an actual little journal since my computer and printer were not available. And little it is, a small mokeskin journal, 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches. My first journal since design class in college. But let me just say now, for the record, that I cannot currently journal. I lack the gene that allows oneself to journal. I think you have to be more expressive, more carefree, more impulsive, more gestural than I am. I am okay at collage, my little style of collage that is. Remember my background and training is in graphic design and typesetting. So very controlled, planned, neat and tidy lay-outs are my thing, my nature. This doesn't lend itself well to what is currently understood to be journaling. But I am taking baby steps to teach myself. I only allowed myself to use scraps so far - no printing stuff up to use. Must make what I already have in my scrap drawers work. And, I must hand write something every few pages.

pages 2 & 3 (I left these so you can click on them for a better view - I usually link pix back to my blog but thought I'd let it go this time - see? a little more carefree)



pages 4 & 5



Cover and inside cover aren't done yet. I'll post when they are and keep sharing this uncomfortable little experiment with you as it progresses.

Five new pieces . . .

I am on an art making marathon of sorts. Just can't get my muse to settle down the last few days. She is all over the place.

Jiggity Jig


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/28/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission. Thank you.

This is a larger 8 x 10 collage using many elements from Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com: sky, hills, letters, birds, flowers, main house, and roof. These pieces were used with a commercial license. The door and window are from Studio Jen U and the inside of the window is from Studio Maya, both from Scrapbookgraphics.com and were also used with a commercial license. The scalloped and red and yellow borders are from Christine Honsinger (Fidlette) at ScrapArtist.com and were used with a commercial license. The end stripe pieces are from designer Lauren Bavin and the newsprint borders are from designer Nicole Young, both of DigitalScrapbookPlace.com. and were also used with a commercial license. The face is from LandofEnchantment.etsy.com. The hair, legs, and boots were scanned and altered from a magazine. The body is from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com and used with a commercial license. The crown is from keeperofthenest.etsy.com. The chimney pipe is from grannyart.blogspot.com. The wings are from AsunderEphemera.etsy.com. All pieces were reprinted and hand trimmed with scissors, edged with ink, and attached to the assembled background. The face, crown, legs, and body were hand colored black and white photos and the birds and flowers were also recolored by hand.


I'm Slow


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/28/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission. Thank you.

This is a 5 x y collage using many elements from Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com: road, sky, bird, sign, and hills. These pieces were used with a commercial license. The car and trees are from clipart.com. The body is from Gaby Braun of gaby cajubrasil.blogspot.com. The face is from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com and was used with a commercial license. The wings are from AsunderEphemera.etsy.com. All pieces were reprinted and hand trimmed with scissors before attaching to the assembled background. The face and body were also hand colored from black and white reprinted pictures.

Commision piece. I was asked to do a piece for an artist friend (who is blogless and flickrless no less) back in early December, maybe late November and I kept putting her off until after Christmas and then I had to leave and you know the rest. Anyway, finally finished a piece for her today. Her long white hair was fun to work with but hard to do justice in a piece. Hope she likes this . . .

The Entrance (for Leslie)


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/28/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission. Thank you.

This is a larger 8 x 10 collage using an outer frame and wallpaper from Studio Lorrie at Scrapbookgraphics.com by Lorrie Davison and the stone entrance is from Studio Jen U also from Scrapbookgraphics.com, both used with a commercial license. The floor is from flickr's 'Playingwithbrushes' and the blue inner doorway is from AsunderEphemera.etsy.com. The striped border at the top is from designer Lauren Bavin of Digital Scrapbook Place and used with a commercial license. The face is from a picture sent by the subject. The body is from lisasalteredart.etsy.com and the legs are Itkupilli.etsy.com. The crown is from clipart.com. The wings and tulips are from Holliewood Studios at Oscraps.com and were used with a commercial license. All pieces were reprinted and hand trimmed with scissors and attached to the assembled background. The body, face, and legs were hand colored and all pieces were edged with ink.

More skinnies made. I really wish mats and frames came in skinny size. I find I really love working in this size. May have to figure out a way to make that happen so I can sell work at this size. I like to sell work ready to hang without the need for custom mats or frames which add to the expense of buying art. There's a business for someone that likes to cut mats and frames.

Haute Fish


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/24/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, downloade, or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is a skinny 4 x 8 mixed media collage using a face, fish, and words from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com (with commercial license), body from FrenchKissed.etsy.com, boots from clipart.com, floor from flickr's 'Playingwithbrushes', blue background, wings, and top inner border pieces from AsunderEpehmera.etsy.com, bottom inner border pieces from LandofEnchantment.etsy.com, and newsprint border from designer Nicole Young from DigitalScrapbookPlace (with commercial license). All pieces were reprinted, hand trimmed with scissors and hand colored with ink and pastel and assembled with adhesive.

Fish Dream


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/23/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without permission.

This is a skinny 4 x 8 collage using a face and fish from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com and used with a commercial license, a body from CalicoCollage.etsy.com, wings from AsunderEphemera.etsy.com, crown from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, floor from flickr's 'Playingwithbrushes', top scalloped border from designer Lauren Bavin of DigitalScrapbookPlace.com and used with a commercial license and bottom scalloped border from designer Sande Krieger of Two Peas in a Bucket, also used with a commercial license. The black and white border comes from Crowabout.etsy.com and the boots were scanned from a magazine picture. The the green tickets and "fish" come from my own vintage ephemera, "dream big" is from lisasalteredart.etsy.com and "2" is from sherriejd.etsy.com. All pieces were reprinted on paper, hand trimmed with scissors, hand colored with ink and pastel, and attached to the assembled background with adhesive.

Many Thank You's Long Overdue . . . I have a pile of cards and artwork on my desk just waiting for me to absorb and some even waiting to be opened. I haven't had the heart. I know many of them are sympathy cards and I know they will bring tears cuz they just do. I will open them, I promise. Just taking things at my slow pace. I do want you to know how much I appreciate them and I will get around to posting the lovely handmade things that have been sent (I can tell by the envelopes, like shaking Christmas presents).

I did open a box that arrived just before I left to take care of my dad. I almost forgot about it as it had been tucked away but I'm glad I remembered. What a box full of lovely surprises my friend Carrie of Pinkadoo blog sent me! I don't know what I did to deserve such a beautiful care package packed with so many scrumptious art pieces, but I'm glad I did it, whatever it was. Here's a peek . . .





My Etsy isn't open yet. I'm still going to take a few days to not have any "have to's" other than regular everyday household "have to's" (like doing the taxes this week - yuk). I will probably reopen toward the end of the week or early next week.

Skinnies, old contest winners, and image sources

I don't trade work often and belong to two groups that trade now and then. I am terribly behind in both. But, I did attempt to get two skinnies done for one group. All went fine until the second piece when I discovered it was almost 2 inches too long and, of course, discovered it after I finished! I knew the measurements, I just got carried away as I was working. So, this first one is an odd sized piece that I will have to figure out something else to do with.

Gonna Fly Now


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/23/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is a 4 x 9 3/4 mixed media collage using a face from FrenchKissed.etsy.com, a body from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, legs from keeperofthenest.etsy.com, wings and main background pieces from AsunderEphemera.etsy.com, shoes from phenomenon1859.etsy.com, carpet from flickr's 'Playingwithbrushes', and numbers and crown from clipart.com. The following pieces were used with commercial licenses: luggage and boxes stacked from designer Lorrie Davison of Studio Lorrie of Scrapbookgraphics.com, permit ticket from DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com, red and white awning from designer Lauren Bavin of DigitalScrapbookPlace.com, and card border from designer Sande Krieger of Two Peas in a Bucket. All pieces were reprinted, hand trimmed with scissors, and hand colored with ink and pastel and attached to the background with adhesive.

Fish Frolic


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/21/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print, download, or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is a 4 x 8 skinny collage using legs from Itkupilli.etsy.com, a face, inner border, and frolic word from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, wings and inner colored border pieces from siefert2.etsy.com, floor from designer Lauren Bavin from Digital Scrapbook Place and used with a commercial license, outer black and white border from Crowabout.etsy.com, and body and fish from keeperofthenest.etsy.com. All pieces were reprinted, hand trimmed with scissors, and recolored or colored by hand with ink and pastel and attached to the assembled background.

Winners, come back! Well, in all of the fuss of the last few weeks and the holidays before that I have near lost my mind along the way. I had a drawing back in October and had 6 winners drawn to win art from me sometime in the next year. Here was the list of winners . . .

Theresa in MS
Jill of Third Age Musings
Janny of Tricolore
Elizabeth of The Last Door Down the Hall
Shannon of SaturdayVille
Michelle of Lost Coast Post

(and you can click here to see the old post http://tumblefishstudio.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-winners-and-more.html)

I know I mailed a piece to Shannon, but beyond that I don't think I've mailed any. I need to know your addresses and if I mailed something and forgot. Aye, aye, aye. Sorry about that. Feel a need to get things wrapped up before I start working full steam again. Thank you!

Image Shopping! I have found some great new image sources to add to my long list of favorites. I indulged and bought myself a lot of new images in the last few days to kinda jumpstart my work again. I really do have a long list of favorites and you can see where I get all of my images in a credits note below each piece I post. But, I wanna give a shout out to just a couple of the new places I found that not only had great images but great customer service as well . . .

FrenchKissed.etsy.com (stunning single scans, well worth the money!)
DigitalCollageSheets.etsy.com (I purchased a commercial license here as well - look for her TOU, tons of images on multiple sites, the license well worth the money as I can tell I will be using a lot from this seller)
CalicoCollage.etsy.com (beautiful sheets, especially loved the burlesque sheets)

Also revisited some of my all time favorite sellers
lisasalteredart.etsy.com (she has some new kits that are truly packed with gorgeousness!)
AsunderEphemera.etsy.com (one of my favorite grungy background sources)

Little Immensities

copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 2/18/10. All rights reserved. You may not copy, download, print, or use this image in any way without my permission.

This is an 8 x 10 collage using a face from flickr's Very Good with Computers, a main body from lisasalteredart.etsy.com, legs from my own vintage postcard, wings from greatmusings.com, shoes scanned and altered from a magazine, hair and headpiece from a found vintage picture in the public domain, and an elephant from the Library of Congress. The background is from flickr's 'Playingwithbrushes', the ruler is from flickr's Ha! Designs - ArtbyHeather, the top scalloped piece is from designer Sande Krieger of Two Peas in a Bucket, and the black and white border is from Crowabout.etsy.com. All pieces were reprinted, hand cut with scissors, and hand colored with ink and pastel.

I have a plan, sort of

Well, I started looking at art and blogs a bit tonight. Have some ideas floating around in my noggin' and have some swaps I had already committed to before my ordeal. I actually even started laying out a background tonight. The next few days require a little more rest and odds and ends to be attended to, but next week, you should see some art here and my swaps will get finished. Tomorrow, I'm going to get myself a new pair of sneakers because that always makes me happy, a hair cut (long overdue), and go to my daughter's play off game. I'm visiting some friends this weekend and the first part of next week I need to answer messages and emails and mail out a few letters to let some of my dad's long time, long distance friends know what has happened. I have a plan . . . life is coming back to me.

I'm home

I got home Sunday afternoon. I need a few more days to get reacquainted with routine but I am working in that direction. Thank you for all of your support and good wishes. I am doing much better, just tired and need to find my footing again. Love you all and I'll be back at work soon!

Moving toward normalcy . . .

Neva, my dad's wife, has been so gracious to let us clean out dad's stuff now so we don't have to make another trip back soon. So that's what we've been doing. Have everything just about taken care of - few more loose ends to tie up. My brother is taking the boat and everything else we want to keep (pictures, etc.). He drove so I could fly home. The estate is near settled and that is amazing to me. I thought it would take months. Anyway, I have felt somewhat normal despite what we've been doing. We've had lots of giggles through the tears. Most of the family has left now except for my brother and our spouses. My brother will leave Friday. We're flying home Sunday afternoon and I cannot wait to get back to my version of everyday life.

Thank you all for your kind comments and all of your prayers and wishes. I used them all very well, I promise. You have meant so much to me.

Further along . . . .

Yesterday was the family and then the public visitation for dad. It was very difficult. Today was the funeral at the church followed by the graveside service. It too was incredibly hard and I couldn't control my sobs. I am usually very composed but not today. Man, it was so hard. I buried myself into Kent's shoulder and so appreciated his strength today.

It was snowing a big heavy beautiful snow this morning and it was such a peaceful quiet poignant atmosphere. Whenever I have seen someone in an open casket service I am somewhat comforted by how empty they look. Dad looked empty and I realized he was not there, that we just form an attachment to someone's body and face and the way the spirit animates it as the preacher spoke about today. But the body is just a shell that is cast away when the spirit soars to the next life and it helped to see with my own eyes that that is true. He has left us and I am sad and joyful about that at the same time. As we were leaving the graveside this morning a formation of geese flew over and that was very meaningful - my dad spent his career protecting and researching the migration of geese and ducks and many places we have lived were habitats for Canada geese like the ones that flew by today. It made us smile and know that it was a special wink from dad.

Dad passed away

First, I tried to post Wednesday, but it wouldn't let me sign in without a google account. The login page said blogspot had switched from yahoo to google. I was going to sign up for the google account tonight and finally get this done, but tonight I didn't need to. If anyone knows anything about that google account thing, I'd be curious to know.

Well, I have no words to say this eloquently but I was alone with my dad Wednesday morning when he drew his last breath. It had been a horrible couple of days prior to that and yet I still feel no relief, or very little. We brought dad home from the hospital last Thursday and we moved him into the spare room where I could sleep in the twin bed next to his hospital bed. The first couple of days went pretty well. In fact, dad had an unusually good day on Saturday, very clear, very talkative and comfortable. But when I went to bed and gave dad his night time pills Sunday night, I realized he was slipping out of his right mind into a world I could not see or hear. I did not sleep at all Sunday night nor did he. He was very active and delusional but somewhat gentle and dreamy about it until Monday morning. As Monday went on he became belligerent and never was able to sleep more than a few minutes. He would be frustrated when we couldn't hand him the things he saw that weren't really there. He begged me to take him home and couldn't believe that that is where he was. After nearly 20 hours of that, I asked Hospice if he could be sedated so that he could sleep. We began that process Monday night and continued to give him medicine for that every 90 minutes right up until he passed away. Monday night and Tuesday, his breathing continued to worsen and he developed the "rattle" that is often associated with one's last few days or hours. Throughout the early morning hours of Wednesday, I thought his breathing was weaker and his chest congestion worse. Still, I had no idea we were that close. I had been up with him from 2 a.m. Wednesday to 8:30 or so and took a break and went back in to be with him around 11 a.m. It was not long until his breathing just gradually slowed down and stopped and his heart stopped a few minutes later. I did not speak to him or touch him as I did not want to keep a hold of him in this world or disrupt the process. I just wanted him to slip away without interfering.

As soon as one can catch their breath a minute after such an incredible experience (incredible but not in the good sense) the next phase of this experience begins and immediately you are thrust into making arrangements and making phone calls and moving out medical equipment and supplies and getting ready for visitors and there just doesn't seem to be any rest yet. My family will be here tomorrow. Most of my dad's wife's family will be here by then too. Neva, dad's wife, and I made the funeral arrangements ourselves yesterday and I ordered all of the flowers. Food and visitors are showing up at the door throughout the day and final touches are always needing to be made for the visitation Sunday afternoon and the service on Monday morning.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your prayers and good wishes. They saw me through this. I will be here about another week to settle things before returning home.

And harder still . . .

Starting last night around 10 my dad seemed to slip into a world all of his own. I have not slept since yesterday afternoon when I took a nap near him. He is no longer in his right mind and is belligerent and very difficult and saying mean things. He tries to get out of bed and obviously we don't want that. He hasn't been on his feet in nearly 3 weeks. As I write this, two nurses are trying to bathe him and change sheets and he is being so mean to them. They are trying an anti-psychotic med today to see if it will help - we'll know later today. If it doesn't, we may try one other thing and then we are going to insist on sedation if that doesn't work. Sedation is usually a last resort as some people believe it speeds up the process of dying but he is suffering beyond any possible pain he could have. He can't seem to fall asleep (he hasn't slept more than 20 minutes or so in the last 14 hours) and has lost touch with our world. I am asking everyone to pray that this is all over soon. Enough is enough. I thank you for your love and prayers and support.