GETTING ARTSTY

I thought I'd spend some time catching you up on my latest artistic project - well the one I can talk about anyway.  This is a 52 card deck that I've gessoed the faces on in preparation for an Altered Playing Card Challenge at Claudine's Art Corner.

I also gessoed the back with a homemade mixture of white gesso and black acrylic paint. I'm very OCD in that I can not begin a project until I know where I'm going and have all the pieces in place. So although we were only asked to gesso the one side during the first week in prep for the artsy stuff to come, I decided taking care of the backs BEFORE the embellishments were put in place on the front would be easier. As you can tell by the card on the left, this was probably a wise decision. 

Next, I've taken an extra card from the deck (this one had a torn corner so I swapped it out for a joker) and trimmed 1/4" off on all four sides to help create a template so I could do this:

I'm using a gold metallic paint pen and going around the outside edge of all the cards. For the final step, I will stencil a gold pentagram in the center of each one. THEN I can flip them over and get caught up on the challenges. 

Tomorrow I'll talk about the common thread that will tie this deck together when all the cards are finished. 

Creative Blessings

~ Rain

MABON

As I write this, there are three hours and nineteen minutes left of summer. I am so ready for fall.  Autumn is my favorite time of year. Mabon - the second harvest - is right on time. For the past couple of weeks I've been picking the last of the tomatoes - all green. Most are Celebrity Girl... the perfect size for slicing and putting into pint jars.

Thanks to simple canning, I'll be enjoying fried green tomatoes through to the next complete turn of the wheel.

I figure I have one more picking this week then the vines will be pulled and added to the compost pile to begin their own cycle of life.

There are some changes in the works here in our little haven. I keep hoping to be blogging more regular then life throws me something. But I am determined that with Samhain just around the corner, things will be different because of the changes.

Blessings
~Rain