Rohling Studios

Creative Souls

Visit Creative Souls

My blog friend Izabella has started a wonderful group called "Creative Souls".  I met Izabella when I began my blog two and a half years ago.  I loved her work immediately and asked her if I could feature it.  Now Izabella has gathered over four-hundred creative souls all in one wonderful site!  It is a diverse gathering of people who love creativity, a place she has made where artists can help promote each other.  She says~All creative people welcome~

After Work!

  Did you like cracker jacks…not so much for the tasty treat but for the surprise inside? Is the best part of your Chinese takeout the fortune cookie? Then these books are for you because each one is like opening a new present! No two are alike!!! I was given a handmade journal by someone very special to me. It meant so much to me that I had to sit down and play with the process of making more of them for myself. This month my sister and I spent some time making these one of a kind altered journals especially for PFATT. Now understand that we believe in coloring outside of the lines and that mistakes are a part of life so please know that each book is made with love and care; however, we accept no responsibility for tiny imperfections and will not admit as to whether they were intentional or not. We hope you enjoy our sense of humor. Journals can be used to jot down your day's highlights, write your music, draw your designs, keep your secret thoughts, or store addresses. You might even use your journal as a place to write down your favorite recipes or simply keep your grocery lists and carry them to the store in style.

Cindy made this journal for the creative soul and fun at heart. It’s vamp dancer on the front cover.  It also has Typewriter Keys below her that spell out “DANCE”. The back cover has a long red envelope to hide your innermost secret of dreams. The book is definitely for the person with an off beat sense of humor. It also contains many surprises inside.

And lastly this little pink journal is for a sweet someone special. With its vintage ephemera and feminine touches it would be perfect for anyone’s inner child. Once again we stress that these journals are all one of a kind .  All of them are available through PFATT this month only along with work from numerous other artisan's and crafters.   To see them click HERE

Everytime It Rains..It Rains Pennies From Heaven

I did these about twelve years ago...people either love them or hate them....This one is about putting on a happy face even though you are sad and about the masks we wear.  Today it has a different meaning.  Today I decided to post it because I am trying to smile through the fact that my yard is a mess after this record setting year of snow.  Every time the dogs need to go out I want to cry.  Last night I had to clean them up as best I could before I took them upstairs to bathe both of them.....NOT an easy chore.  Any other time my lab LOVES the water...I put out a pool for her in the summer and she digs in it until it is empty of every drop of water...even her water dish is a source of play....and if I go to a lake....forget it.......she's in the water all the time...BUT...let me get them into the bathtub for a bath she starts to whine, fights getting into the tub and shakes like a leaf throughout her whole process....GO FIGURE!  It IS an ORDEAL!  Generally she doesn't get as dirty as my little black and white, closer to the ground,  mischief seeker.  Last night he got into the fire pit.  Rolling in it and such...mmm hmmm!  Dirt is one thing...ashes are another...wet ashes ground down to his pink little skin are horrendous!  Schmered black ooakie stuff all the way from his toes to his eyes transforms him into a beast...Suddenly I have this stinky black and grey bundle of joy because he is so proud of the fun he had standing there and all I want to do is sit down and take deep cleansing breaths to prepare myself for the ordeal ahead of me.  It sounds easy...get the dogs clean enough to get them upstairs...bathe them...wash the walls they managed to brush against on the way up, wash the carpet and the floor.  And then go to bed with the smell of wet stinky dogs.  HELP!  I need Ty...I need a home makeover...I need a home that is all on one floor with a back door that has a laundry room and mud room with a walk in shower set up.   My bionic hips and back can't keep up with the stairs!  (All this goes through my mind while I am taking my cleansing breaths before I even let the dogs in.)  I need to see my house crumble to the ground and be magically transformed into a wonderful foster home for kids and dogs.  I would make cookies again, take kids to the museum and laugh at all their cuteness.  Their little exhausted dirty bodies could go directly to the shower from the yard and then they would smell so good and look so cute in their jammies with their faithfull puppies by their side.   Yep...I have to go to a happy place at times like these.  One more deep breath before I get all the towels I will need.

One more...very deeeeeeeeep cleansing breath!....And the cleanup is over.  Wheew!  Oh summer...please come fast!  And (Ty...my neighbors are very nice people...they would help you...I know they would :-)  ).

Back Up And Running

I'm glad to say I am up and running again!  Thanks to everyone who let me know that their emails weren't getting to me!

Halloween Fairy

 

The Halloween Fairy floats on the autumn leaves where ever the wind will blow her.  She is fond of black cats, the smell of fresh pumpkin bread and the taste of apple cider.  The Halloween Fairy flies through pumpkin fields at night and chooses the pumpkins that are ready for Halloween.  With one magic touch of her wand, a pumpkin turns from green to a bright happy halloween orange..... sometimes she will turn a whole field orange in one night! 

              Copyright Claudia Rohling 2007

I Found This Old Truck Yesterday -International L-120 Series

Isn't this the coolest old truck???  Some of you already know that I can not pass up an opportunity to photograph very spiffed up cars and trucks...or very rusty old ones.  Instead of just putting up the photos I used Slide to make a slide show with the old movie filter.  My favorite shot is the rearview mirror that shows the reflection of the trees in the car window!....a reflection of a reflection of a reflection!!!  Is it me... or would you like to take a nice fall day and revisit all the wooded backroads those hubcaps were through?    I hope the engine in my little red truck holds up long enough for me to drive it around when it is this old....for that matter I sure hope I hold up that long!  I LOVE my little red truck!

Stashes O'Stuff

Did you ever notice how some people just don't appreciate your art supplies, (stash of sewing stuff, piles of material, wood, books or metals) in quite the same way you do? 

I get questions like, "Why do you need so much green?".  I'm sure the shock that registers on my face when I am asked a question like that...can not even be read by the person who would even ask it.  I love tubes  and bottles and jars and pens and markers and spools and reams of color!  I even love the dried up palettes after a project is done.  I have to admit that I love a small stack of threads of many colors after snipping the finished edges of something I have sewn.  Yes...I throw it out but I have to tell you that I like it.  I LOVE COLOR!  What do you keep a stash of?  Send your pictures and your url and I will try to post as many as I can...Send me a jpeg of your color collection!  Be sure to tell me a little bit about yourself so I can share you, your work and your stash!

Maybe they are even small stashes....a stash of crayons is always a good thing!

Don't even get me started on material!!!

Illustration Friday~Alphabet

F is for Flower.  This week's Illustration Friday is "Alphabet".  I played around with  few designs.  There are so many unlimited possibilites.  Be sure to check out the site and see all the great ideas everyone has!

Playing with Banners

I have been playing with banners this week.  If you happened to click on this week you may have seen the original (and still favorite..)

or...

 

or even...

I am wondering....do you like change?  I, like most folks have trouble with it, but  I've learned to try to befriend it because it "is the only thing that stays the same".  (What song is that??)  I am still searching for something I like as well as my fairies...what do you think?  Is it fun for you to see blog headers change? 

Illustration Friday~Missing (To Homeland Security

Are you ready for a story????  I don't know quite what to make of it myself!  Last summer I made a series of collage/assemblages.  You can see three people in this one.  I named it X,Y, and Z for the three people in it...my sister, my brother and I...back in the early sixties.  My mother made us wear these stupid hats in the summer when it was really hot and sunny.  We have our bathing suits on and my brother and I are sporting sunglasses.  On the left are three antique typewriter keys..X, Y, and Z.  On the lower right hand side is a music box that plays John Lennon's "Imagine"....one of my favorite songs.  Above and to the side of the music box is an old watch casing and a piece from an old camera.  It is signed by me, Claudia Rohling.  I used acrylic paint and you can turn it around and see the blank back of the canvas.  I tell you all this because it is now MISSING!  My brother came to visit me...his first visit in two years from California.  I gave it to him.  He put it in his carry on luggage.  Homeland security confiscated it from him.  I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!  They pulled it out of his bag and asked him what it was.  He was shocked and answered, "It is a piece of art work my sister made for me.  They told him it looked like a bomb.  He asked how it looked like that!  They pointed to the music box and said, "This". He showed them it was a music box but they stopped him and told him he would have to leave it behind.  He asked them how he could get it back when they were done with it.  They said he couldn't.  They said they would be disposing it!  So......my innocent little piece of art is MISSING!  I'm very upset that something so obviously not malicious was taken.  With all the technology we have, I can't believe homeland security can't tell the difference between a music box and a bomb???!!!!  Do you think they always confiscate music boxes????  Is there a dumpster full of them somewhere in the middle of the dessert being blown up by the government with our tax dollars?  LOL!  If it wasn't so laughable I might have to cry.