Kat's Arbitrary Thought Processes

I’m sure many of you know by now that Altered Art is the latest craze in Scrapbooking. I must admit, I’ve been bit! You see, I have this awesome Baker’s rack and matching Soda rack that we got during our tour in Italy. Yes, I said soda rack. We don’t drink wine, so we had the rack specially made to fit 2 liter soda bottles. *S* Mario of Mario’s Iron Works in Motta, Sicily, Italy (whose website is currently unavailable) did a great job with our request. We picked a standard Baker’s Rack from his store, and had him custom make the soda rack to match. and of course we got the Mount Etna tiles for the baker’s rack! *S*

So there I am, this great set, but nothing really to go with it… Meanwhile all my scrappin’ buds keep talking about altering this, and altering that…. then it happened. I found this wall hang in Target. It’s technically made for gardens, but I saw all the little swirlys, and thought, that would match my baker’s rack! I just need to sand the tips and add a little gold paint and it’d be perfect! Awesome!

Well…. It would look lonely on the bare walls in the dining room. I know. I’ve been here three years, got less then a year left, and I’m just now getting around to decorating the dining room! awful! But anyway. I found these kute little plaques in Michaels. Only problem was, they had french wine labels. yeach! But hey… Altering is big now… and I’ve been considering giving it a try, so I pick up three of these things… Plus mod podge, sealer, sponge brushes… you get the idea… *S* So here’s the before…

Then I used my digiscrappin’ skillz to make some montages to put in place of the wine labels. Removed the labels with rubbing alcohol, roughed up the metal with sandpaper, scuffed the tips of the swirlys. Then printed, and sealed the three montages, and mod podged it all together. Come to find out, “Altered Art” is a fancy way of saying arts & Crafts! *S* And there is nothing scary about that! *S* Anyway, here are photos of the three finished pieces.

Sicilia

From the Top left, clockwise – Camportondo (that white building in the middle of the town was our apt complex!) – Castel Mola – Elephant Square (I didn’t take this picture, I found it online, but I did visit the big lava elephant!) – the statue in the middle is from the Siracusa Catacombs, where our church held Easter Service every year – Bottom Right is a WWII bunker as seen on the road to Siracusa – Motta castle (again, I didn’t take *this* photo. I had one just like it, and I couldn’t find it. so I found one online) – and the Mediterranean Sea, as seen from our Apartment, pretty kuel huh?? *S*

Il Vatican ROMA Maggio 1996(The Vatican Rome May 1996)

All the photos were taken by my DH during his trip to the Vatican durning his first tour in Italy. The only exception is the pic of the Sistine Chapel. I found that one online, taken by a guy who snapped the photo, then got told by the preists no photos were allowed. Oops! *S* I think this one is my DH’s favorite. He seems blown away that photos taken before he even knew I exsisted are now art, hanging on our wall. *S* Luv ya too babe!

Vulcano Etna (Mount Etna)

Europe’s most active volcano. And I lived on the side of it for three years! Pretty awesome! *S* Anyway, digicameras being what they were just a few short years ago, the only picture I took of the mountian that was worth even attempting to clean up and use was the one that wound up in the top left position. the rest are photos I snagged from the internet. the top center explosion occurred in October 2001, and yes, I was there! Watching it closely to see if I would need to evacuate. The photos top right are of some of the damage done during the October-November 2002 eruption. That little house at the extreme top right used to be clearly seen from the road, but these days, I’m not so sure if you will be able to see it anymore. The “Ristorante” that is all burnt out… We were there in July 2002. It was a big tourist location. then 3 short months later it was burnt up by lava from a fresh eruption! pretty wild! The eruption photos in the center were taken by a professional during the Oct-Nov 2002 Eruption. I remember that I was trying to get a flight back to the states at that time, because I was pregnant with DD, and needed to be stateside in case of complications. Ash was coating the runway, and the airport was shut down for weeks. then the eruption suddenly stopped about 3 days before I was scheduled to fly out. just enough time for them to clear the runway and get the airport running again… As the plane took off and banked past Etna we could see the ash and lava belching out again. We had gotten out just in time. a few more hours, and the ash would have been too think to fly through! God has his Hand in it for sure, because I later had some pretty serious complications with my pregnancy, and it was a good thing I went stateside when I did!

Anyway, a little decorating, and a whole lot of memories. *S* and my dining room looks great now! *S* Just had to share!