It's Never Too Late

Self-Portrait, 1948

"Anybody who has survived his childhood

has enough information about life

to last him the rest of his days."

~Flannery O'Connor

CREDITS: Background images from Moonlight Journey.

A Witches Life Art Tag

As the bewitching hour of October 31st fast approaches, I stirred up these art Halloween tags using a digital collage I created a while back and placed them into a scanned Mason jar photo I had. I further embellished them with black fun fur yarn and silken black vine ribbon.

CREDITS: WORD AND WITCH IMAGES FROM MOONLIGHT JOURNEY

Mysterious Halloween Cards

My candle was nearly burnt out,

When, by the glimmer of the half-

extinguished light, I saw the dull

yellow eye of the creature open...

~ Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

When the latest collage sheet was posted from Moonlight Journey, I just knew I had to make something special with these. The miniature digital designs are just so detailed, that a person can become mesmerized by their beauty.

Here are a few of my favorite Halloween greeting cards using these beautiful images. They truly can be easily created in an evening. I have included some of my favorite eerie quotes in the inside of each card.

Have fun making these!

Butterfly Tree

Deep in the heart of the countryside,

Two moss maidens look on in awe,

As a miracle of creation takes place.

The spirit of the tree watches,

As her leafy offspring take flight.

Each magical leaf transforms,

Into a beautiful butterfly.

As it is shaken gently from the boughs,

Woodland fairies seize the moment,

To soar gracefully over the meadow,

Nestled safely in the delicate wings.

~Ramath Rajaram

Edited by Nancy Van Hoose

This butterfly tree has been a work in progress for my niece's wedding. It will be a decoration beside the cards for seating at her reception. I even have it done way ahead of time! And, of course, these wonderful little butterfly images are available through Moonlight Journey.

Let There Be Wings

The moment you doubt whether you can fly,

You cease for ever to be able to do it.

The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply

That they have perfect faith,

For to have faith,

Is to have wings.

J. M. Barrie

~ Peter Pan ~

I started a collaborative art journal entitled "Let There Be Wings." At the end of the year, I hopefully will get my book back with exciting entries to share. I love all things winged, so what could be more fun than this! Naturally, I turn to the images from Moonlight Journey. Their winged butterflies and gorgeous women never disappoint me.

Pocket with tag on inside cover.

"Winged Queen" with doorway skirt and flowered wheels on inside cover.

Reverse side of tag on inside cover.

Beautiful woman tag in large pocket on back cover.

Inside back cover pocket.

Thank you for dropping by today!

Heart Whispers

I just needed to say this more than ever today. "I appreciate you." Without you, I would have less reason to create. Your encouraging words always give me reason to continue making art to share.

Here are some photos taken of the most amazing gift from my dear friend, Becky Loyall of Whymsical Musings. Since I have been recovering from some arthroscopy surgery on my right knee, she sent this to me. She definitely lifted my weary spirit with this chunkie book she calls "Heart Whispers."

It truly contains my favorite colors, vintage soft sepia colored ladies, with a hint of The Renaissance Age, coats of arms, birds, tiaras, horse drawn coaches, and nests. I love the way it subtly sparkles, and shines with crisp images of beautiful women of the past. Thank you so much my sweet friend.

Then on Saturday, another "Angel of Kindness," arrived bearing gifts of food, dessert, and an assortment of DVD's. Deb Abel is another special lady in my life. I don't know how she does all that she does. She is remarkable, artistic, and always there to listen. Thank you, Deb, for the homemade lasagna and cherry pie. Hopefully, I will be back to my normal self within the next couple of weeks.

And, not to be forgotten, I was pleasantly surprised to receive this lovely bouquet to wish for a speedy recovery. Thank you for your well-wishes, gals. I am so humbled by everyone's concern.

"Get Well Soon" Bouquet

from my artistic friends,

Deb Abel, Terri Gauthier, Kim Baslock, and Vikki Light.

I just never realized how much of an impact blogging would have in my life. Thank you all for your wonderful comments, the new friends I have met, and for all the inspiration that I see every day.

Fairy Bridal Shower Tags

"From this day forward" are words of promise. Weddings to me are wondrous because they are so filled with tomorrows. I savor these beautiful moments.

Next month my niece Laura is having her bridal shower. I love her spirit and her reverence for the past. I am so excited to see her wedding invitation (she designed it herself). It was such an honor to be included in the process of creating these bridal shower favor tags.

These romantic fairy tags are perfect in representing Laura's personal style. She has always loved winged little fairies. That's why I feel these are a perfect expression of her hope for the wedding of her dreams.

These special images, "Adorned Fairies, " "Faerie Floral Frolic," and "Pastel Faerie Children" are available through Moonlight Journey.

Vintage Photo Image ATC Group Swap

I am very excited to say that I have the honor to be included in the Vintage Photo Image ATC Group. On May 1st, I sent in my first set of cards to be traded with six very talented ladies from across the country. The theme of these cards were from the Wizard of Oz "And ToTo Too."

Creating ATC's are an easy way to create a little something to satiate your hunger for creativity, yet not too time consuming. These cards are just way too cool. Now I can't wait to "sign up" for more swaps!!

From top left to right:

Artwork by Jan Larson,

April Dudko,

and my sweet friend Becky Loyall

Second row;

Lynn Stevens,

Gina Allen,

Julia Ziemann,

and lastly myself.

Thank you very much for devoting the time to make these little masterpieces. They are great!

Hugs, Nancy

Handmade "Moo" Cards

Want a different and fabulous way to share or promote your blog? I discovered this wonderful way called Moo (www.moo.com). You can easily make a card using snippets of your artwork. The company has an easy interface that allows you to upload your art to their template. You can choose any portion of an image and have it printed.

I, on the other hand, am always looking for ways to be economical lately, and thought that I could do this within minutes by using this awesome collage sheet designed by Becky Loyall and the group Moonlight Journey, entitled "Beautiful Women Microscope Slides." Each handmade "Moo" card measures 1-1/8" by 2-3/4". I added some reflective holographic stickers to some of these.

Because of their small size, these cards can be used as business cards, invitations to special events, gift tags, and so on. I even thought I could make third generation art from them. By that I mean, what if you began with a piece of art and made a "Moo" card from it, and then go one step further and make art from your "Moo" cards. You can even use these tiny cards as embellishment.

You can even go in another direction by creating a "Moo" box, to hold a nice stack of "Moos," ready for sharing. I have been thinking it would even be cool to make little photo cards and then combine them in a unique photo collage. And how about a "Moo" card swap? There are a host of possibilities. Just let your imagination soar!

Magical Halloween Celebration is Today!

I am probably one of the biggest fans of Outsider Artists. As a tribute to their talent and generosity in sharing their amazing images, I have lovingly created these "Twilight Journals" to share during Vanessa's "Hauntingly Magical Halloween Celebration" today.

The stunning blue "Bella Vision" portrait was created by Becky Loyall of Whymsical Musings. She has generously shared this 300 dpi picture on her blog. The other three brilliant images were digitally created by Deborah Bohm of Outsider Artists and can be purchased through Deborah Dare Art by email.

I printed all of these images on matte photo paper for sturdiness, a sharper image, and then covered my composition book. I was imagining all the wonderful things I could create with these special photos. Thank you so much, Becky and Deborah. I have become quite attached to the Twilight saga, and am visualizing other magical projects using them.

Tomorrow Never Knows

Turn off your mind relax and float

down-stream.

It is not dying, it is not dying,

lay down all thought surrender to the void,

It is shining, it is shining.

That you may see the meaning of within,

It is speaking, it is speaking,

that love is all and love is everyone,

It is knowing, it is knowing.

When ignorance and haste may mourn

the dead,

It is believing, it is believing.

But listen to the color of your dreams,

It is not living, it is not living.

Or play the game existence to the end.

Of the beginning, of the beginning.

Of the beginning, of the beginning.

~The Beatles "Songbook"

1969

Thank you, Vanessa, for hosting this simply amazing Halloween extravaganza!!

Happy Haunting,
Nance

Life Is Art

"Art is the one form of communication with which you can not argue...ever. No matter what the medium, art just is. You might not like a piece, you might not agree with what a piece stands for, but the work of art itself doesn't care how you feel...it simply exists in all its glory broadcasting its own personal message to everyone who sees it." words by Georgiann Carlson

"Art can help us find our way, if we choose to look...because the one thing that art does extremely well is expand our vision...to open our minds...give us hope and show us very clearly just what it is that we have to lose."

Check out this artistic video. It is just too beautiful not to share!