Tin Man - The Early Months

*EDITED* (I've added to this piece since I had posted it here, since this baby appears to be about the age of my granddaughter, I put an old tarnished number 8 on the funnel hat - the age that Jorden will be in another week, 8 months old).

Here's my finished tin man baby (Tin Man - 8 Months Old)... I used an old baby doll that my friend Randy passed on to me. It was one of the toys in his mom's house that the children and grandchildren played with. Randy's mom died recently, and he was cleaning out her home and passed this doll on to me.

The eyes were broken and clouded, so I removed them, gessoed the baby, decoupaged it with silver tissue paper, stained it, put a few coats of polycrylic on, added the heart, oil can and funnel hat, and on the back is a thermometer...and Voila!

Update on Work Bench Projects - UNDER CONSTRUCTION...

Here's an update on the torso I've been slowly working on... some of the different elements that will be incorporated into it are alongside. I finally have the torso the color I want to match the clock frame box in front of it. I need to attach the small doll arms to the box, add a face insert, the branch of timely elements (not shown in this post), the wings... and we'll see what else. Still waiting on the torso to dry more so I can polycrylic it.


This is what I've been doing while I wait for the torso to dry... gessoing and decoupaging the "tin baby" with silver tissue paper... shown here are some of what will go with it too.
I plan on putting a stain over the silver tissue paper to age the piece and hopefully make it match the funnel hat more ... and possibly some kind of insert in the chest area? Still thinking on that.

But for now, I better get busy with my reports I need to finish for tonight's Vestry meeting.....more to come...

French Fry Lesson

This was another visual message we had at our church on Stewardship Sunday, I'd made this box of fries for a Youth Group lesson about 4 years ago, we keep the yellow noodles (fries) in the box to play with for games from time to time, but pulled it out to provide a fun lesson on Stewardship Sunday ... the large box of french fries was sitting in the narthex as people entered. A "French Fry Lesson" was an insert in the bulletin for people to ponder on:

A French Fry Lesson
There was a father who took his son to his favorite fast food restaurant. He bought the child a kid's meal with french fries. His son could not wait to unpack the meal and see what toy was hidden inside. After the food was laid out on the table, the father reached for a french fry. At first the boy did not notice, he was enjoying the new toy that he had just opened. Then his son noticed his father's hand reaching for a second fry. The boy scowled and reached for the bag of fries to take off the table. "Those are my fries," he shouted.

His father thought, "how ungrateful". "Why is he being so selfish? Doesn't he realize that I just gave him the fries in the first place? If only he realized that I could bury him in french fries if I wanted to!

Who Owns Your French Fries?
When you think about it, do we sometimes act just like this small child when it comes to giving back to our Heavenly Father who provides everything?
"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Psalms 24:1

For Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be Also

I woke up VERY early this morning with this idea... I've been doing a lot of things for our upcoming Stewardship Sunday at Church, and I believe God was putting this on my heart... as a message for me to take heed of as well as a way to share with others.

I have two scenarios this assemblage can take...two different messages, based on the passage in the title of this post and also from the promise that God gives us all, in Jesus, whereby He has broken the chains that bind us and set us free to be able to give our thanks back to Him, to give my heart to God in gratefulness to my Savior, my Redeemer.

In the scenario from Matthew 6:21, instead of my heart being given back to God, there are 2 cents, a pittance,(a sad reflection on the lack of thankfulness to my Savior). Behind me is a treasure chest, filled with the things that take the place of God in my heart..and my heart is there also..."For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
I'd like to say that I am not really the person in the second scenario, but the truth is, I often AM... something I hope isn't as much as it was previously, but something that I still am working on in some aspects of my life.

The second scene will be used on Sunday at our Church, it will be placed near the entrance on a stand, we will place our pledge cards on the wooden tray the assemblage stands on, giving out of thankfulness at what God has given us. Hopefully our thankfulness will be manifest in what the first scenario of this assemblage shows, and not the pittance offering.

Assemblage Torso in Progress....

The latest project on my workbench is taking some time... and I suppose that is quite apropos since the title of this one will have the word time, or concept of time in it. Still thinking on the title...

But here is a sneak peak of just some of the elements...


...what is holding me up right now is the oil based stain I added to the torso...it's been 20 hours and it's almost as tacky as it was at the beginning... the directions said to allow 24 hours to dry, but I think I may have to allow 2 - 3 days and what's worse, as I sit here looking at it, I think I may want to put another coat of the dark stain on it (which means more days of drying time - and I'm not feeling much patience here to wait)...but then I'll have to add the many coats of polycrylic ..not to mention the attaching of wings, a branch of timely elements... a head of sorts, and arms attached to the head, as well as an insert in the "head" itself (which I am still not sure about)...But, I hope it turns out as well as it is showing in my mind's eye.

I'll be needing to put it aside for a day or two as well to get my treasurer's reports & bookkeeping done here... I hate that work interferes with my creativity!

Stay tuned for more in a day or two or three....

Stendhal Syndrome

I was surfing, looking for an old vintage photo of a face I might use for my latest torso assemblage here... and I came across this ailment... gee, I might have a form of this syndrome myself!!...either that or the fumes from the stain, gesso, modpodge and amazing goop are all getting to me..*L*


Stendhal syndrome or Stendhal's syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is conclusion exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly 'beautiful' or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when shopping.

It is named after the famous 19th Century French Author Stendal (pseudonym of Henri-Marie Beyle), who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence, Italy in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio.

Although there are many descriptions of people becoming dizzy and fainting while taking in Florentine art, especially at the Uffizi, dating from the early 19th Century on, the syndrome was only named in 1979, when it was described by Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors in Florence. The syndrome was first diagnosed in 1982.


The Stendhal syndrome was named after Henri-Marie Beyle (January 23, 1783 – March 23, 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal.

....off to try to find more vintage Florentine type photos/art....*swoons all faint like*

Does This Tape Measure Make My Butt Look Big??

I'm probably showing my age here, but waaaay back, many years ago, Art Linkletter had a cute program called, "Kids Say The Darndest Things", I think later on it was hosted by Bill Cosby too. It was cute to hear and see the things that kids came up with. My grandson is no exception in that department. Today, being Friday, it was Grandson Day!

So when Jeff arrived, and before Grampa John left for work, Jeff noticed his tape measure hanging off his belt and asked to see it. Jeff immediately went around pulling out the tape and measuring things around the house...one of them being a torso I had sitting out (a recent purchase from Good Will to be altered).
When Grampa John told him he needed the tape measure back because he had to go to work, Jeff was going to run off with it ..*L* I told him I would take him to the Dollar Store later and we'd get him his very OWN tape measure.... and so, we did.

As we were standing in line at the check-out, waiting for a woman in front of us, Jeff took his new tape measure, pulled it out sideways, and proceeded to measure the back side, rear end of the lady in line... heck what else was he suppose to do, eh? *L* That was what was immediately in his line of sight, sooooo....

It was all I could do to keep from laughing, but when I heard the snickers of the other people in line behind me as Jeff said, "Gramma, that's BIG!!" , I immediately diverted Jeff's attention away from measuring that particular item and onto measuring the cart I was pushing instead....whew! Glad the woman in front of us didn't see it or hear it... but it WAS funny!
I wish I would have had a camera at that moment... what a great photo THAT would have been! Ha!

ALL SAINTS SUNDAY ...sinners & saints...

Yesterday was All Saint's Sunday, (All Saints Day was actually Nov. 1st), and at our Church we invite adults and youth to come dressed as a saint of their choosing, join in the processional into Church, and then during the sermon time, we are invited up to tell a brief story about our saint.

Here are some of us, which included St. Francis, St. Bill the Deacon, St. John Leonardi, Saints of the Medical Professions, St. Miriam, and St. Ruth.

I represented Miriam, older sister of Moses & Aaron, who at age 10, helped save her brother Moses when he was a baby, and his mother had set him adrift in the Nile, it was Miriam who went to Pharaoh's daughter after she had found the baby in the basket, and told her she could get a nursemaid to help care for the baby. When Pharaoh's daughter agreed to that, Miriam went and got her mother to then care for the baby, thereby saving Moses' life and allowing her mother to care for her own son.

Later Miriam developed her leadership qualities as a prophetess and leader of songs - "Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her,with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them, "Sing to The Lord, for He is highly exalted. The horse and its rider, He has hurled into the sea." (Exodus 15:20-21)

Some people thought I was trying to represent some flower child hippie of the 60's..*L* Far out, eh? PEACE!

One of the other Saints who came that day represented women suffragettes, and brought her message to get out and VOTE on Tuesday...very apropos for current times.

Marauding Halloween-Costumed Grandsons came Trick or Treating

Guess what showed up on our doorstep tonite! A Star Wars Boba-Fett type character, a baby monkey, and a banana! *L* The grandsons came a day early so they could enjoy their own town's Halloween activities tomorrow night.





I had found some really cool special candy treats for them too! Something that boys seem to enjoy more-so than girls do... Some gummy bats and roaches, some candy snot, Dracula mouth pops, and eyeball candy! YUMMMMM


The boys had fun sampling some of them while they visited for awhile...and then it was off to visit other relatives in town.

My daughter, Kasey's latest painting.....

Here's a little "Mom bragging" on my daughter's talents...Kasey has been having some inspired painting time lately... this one I really like...called A Moment of Embrace.

Can't wait to see it "in person".

LOVE this one Kasey!!! xoxoxoxo

Membership Privileges (wine cork assemblage)

This is a fun one.... I found some wine corks that were in a frame, some were missing from it... I had found a small sculpture of the Last Supper a year or more ago, and had been collecting some items that would go with it, so when this frame fit the sculpture I knew it HAD to be done... *L*

Membership Privileges is a light-hearted look at the sacrament of Holy Communion, aka Holy Eucharist (Eucharist meaning thanksgiving) and being a part of the Body of Christ - the Church. Of course there is much more to being a Christian, and God's blessings are way too many to try to expound on.



The letters are a bit hard to read because of the glare, they say, "Wine Tasting" on the top, and "All Welcome" on the bottom. At the top is a corkscrew, along side miniature bottles of wine with glass grapes attached.

New & Improved "Step 9 Right Foot Conversion" Assemblage

As I sat and looked at the latest assemblage I had posted here the other day, I decided it needed more.. so, here it is..with added improvements. I think it's done now.



Incase you didn't notice the changes... I added another arm on the side, and the base parts, which look like legs.

Step 9 - the Right Foot - A Conversion

Here is another of those right feet I bought a few weeks ago, which I've put into an assemblage piece.

Also in this piece is a # 7 billard ball (7 is considered to be a holy number in scripture) with a crucifix hanging from it. A key hangs on one wall which says, "Pray one for another" and "Prayer is the answer".

On the opposite wall is a framed Chi Rho Cross, a monogram and symbol for Christ, consisting of the superimposed Greek letters chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ), this particular one uses an anchor at the bottom, which symbolizes Hope, hence Christ is our Hope.

At the top is a head of buddha with a fleur de lis symbol, often associated with The Holy Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit), a hand reaching for God, with a heart/cross held in it denotes Christ's love and sacrifice for all has been grasped and realized, surely a conversion experience.

Jesus, Light of the World Assemblage

Here is something I'm sending in for a Call to Artists at The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts site. There is still time for others to send in an entry...check it out!! Nov. 1st is the deadline for entries.

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Isaiah 9: 2 and Matthew 4:16 have held a special place in my heart. Many years ago, just before Christmas, my husband's step-father took his life. As I mourned his death, and what must have been the agony he had been in, God's words in those passages comforted me. Louie was a Christian, but he was in the dark despair of depression. God seemed to be reminding me that Louie knew Jesus as his Lord, his Savior, as the Light and somehow I knew that I would see Louie again in heaven.

This piece reflects Jesus as The Light, that came into the world, FOR the world ...who came to die, so we can live.... lighting the way for those who reach out to Him, out of our own personal darkness, whatever it may be.

Getting off on the Right Foot....

FINALLY, I have a new assemblage done... I had purchased about 10 - 12 of these right feet a few weeks ago, and have finally finished doing something with ONE of them. I am just calling this one, for now, Right Foot. I have a lot of symbolism in this one, but it's meant for me, my experiences... I'd love to hear what others "see" in it. Please post a comment, tell me what you see. Thanks.

Click on the pictures for a closer view.

ChOmP, ChOmP, ChOmP!!

It's Friday and that means it's grandson day!! I have just one of the grandsons today, Jeff, since the others are in school now. After breakfast we headed to church so I could drop off some work, pick up mail, check messages...and then we headed to "the scary Good Will store". This time of year the Good Will is all decorated with Halloween stuff..the one in our town has spiders as the theme, and Jeff loves to look at all the spooky stuff hanging in the entry...although he sticks close to me too incase one of those spiders "jumps down and bites him"..*L*

Today's great find was a shark tent ... one of the games my kids, and now my grandkids love to play is to pretend that the floor is the ocean, and all the chairs, footstools and rugs are either islands or boats, and are safe spots. When they want to go from one area to the other, if they hear the "shark is near" warning music... usually chanted by me... you know the chant...Daaaaah Daaa...Daaah Da...DaaDa-DaaDa...dada-dada-dada-dada...CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!!! When they hear that, they run like crazy to get to the safe spot before they hear "Chomp!", because when they hear that, it means a part of their leg or foot or hand has just been biten off by that imaginary shark! hee hee. My oldest grandson, when he was little would start to cry if I just hummed that chant..*L*...mean gramma Berta! ha!

This shark tent is pretty cool... the older boys would love to have their safe spot be INSIDE of a shark..*L* Jeff just thinks it's fun to scramble in and out of it's mouth as fast as he can before it may bite him, or else throw in a token monkey or other toy for the shark to feed on!
Ahh yes, yet another fun toy to spoil the grandkids with...*G*

Dali-ish Finds....

I found this child's desk/table, already decorated with some pictures from one of Salvadore Dali's paintings on it. I have also had "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory" picture for a few months... other things I found at Good Will too...old clock, eyeball, fish... Now to actually USE these in an art piece...that will be the feat!

Sunday wasn't a day of rest....

Today I worshipped, then celebrated a wedding feast with my Sunday School kids, picked up other ladies who were doing the CROP WALK representing our church and helping that worthy cause,
after a delayed time of getting back from that (another story for real time telling), I was suppose to make apple crisp for a dinner party we were going to at a friends home, but since there was only 30 minutes before we were to be there, by the time I returned home, it was pumpkin bars from the local grocery bakery. But we DID have a good time eating ribs, prawns and enjoying our friends before heading home and crashing on the couch! It was a good day!

Diocesan Convention....

Friday and Saturday was our Diocesan Convention... since I had screwed up my back, I missed Friday's workshops and banquet... heard that it was a good day from others however, and I was sorry to miss it.
Saturday was the continuation of Convention, which I DID make it to. The business end of Convention are things that need to be taken care of... I suppose... however for the most part, it seemed to be a lesson on "Rules of Order", and in some aspects it's good to have order...but at times it seems to me, to get a bit ridiculous. Maybe other churches need to have such strict rules, I'm glad our church members at Christ Church, can get along and are able to rely on caring for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, and good manners, rather than strict rules to "keep us in line".

It seemed we debated, voted and discussed some issues ad nauseam... and others that I thought would have some debate zipped through passage immediately....go figure?

I can't recall exactly how many Conventions I've been a part of, but I think it's been about 25... and to the best of my memory, this one ended earlier than any of the previous ones... I was on the road by 2 p.m. Thanks be to God!

Another Trip Upnorth to the Son's Apartment...

I spent the afternoon and evening at my son's place today. I had been looking and found some great deals on things for Kaine's apartment. A very sturdy wood coffee table, which needed a bit of refinishing on the top, which I did and it looks good as new! Also a brand new sofa I got for only $52.50, it was damaged, the side board was cracked and bent in with an inch rip in the bottom of the material. I bought it anyway, brought it home and John fixed it in less than an hour. I also got some material to use as a cover over the top, it's a pretty light colored sofa, and if it were in my daughter's apartment, I'm sure she'd like it just as it is, but for a young man's apartment, the covering looks good and will protect it more when he comes home from work and flops on the couch before changing out of his work clothes.





I also found a nice new round rug for his kitchen, and a shelf thing I spray painted tan for his bathroom.

Kaine and I also spent some time hanging some of the curtains that he hadn't gotten around to doing yet, and some of his wall decorations, which involved many signs he's collected or I've found at a sale.
He still needs a bed (right now he has a mattress on the floor), and he could use a chair as well in his bedroom, and he needs to finish setting up his spare bedroom, but it's looking really GREAT!


While I was there I also got to see Jorden and Erin for a little while, which was a wonderful treat as well!! Jorden wasn't too happy about leaving and being in her infant seat in this pic.