Hold Dear

art and soul.

Yesterday was my first Art and Soul class. Sigh. I am so happy today! I still have two more, maybe three classes, coming up but I definitely just have this pleased, content feeling. Still don't know if I can get into DJ Pettitt's class. I'm hopin'!!!

The whole environment of Art and Soul, being with fellow artists, surrounded by talented people, is so supremely satisfying. Sitting here today with the knowledge that that I still have more classes and the vendor night to look forward to, my heart is smiling!

Upon check-in at the event, we were given some presents...

They sure know how to get a girl smilin'! Jam packed full of goodies including an issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and the premier "issue" of a DVD magazine, Indie Arts, created by local artist Karen Landey and Gloria Page.

So my first class...Fused Chain Charm Bracelet taught by Lisa Call. What a terrific class and what a great lady! Funny, sassy, and super talented!!! Super knowledgeable and so willing to share! Not to mention she is just gorgeous! I got a picture of the two of us...not my best but since it's a great picture of Lisa, I'm sharing...

The other women in the class were fabulous!!! SO much talent and so much enthusiasm and positive energy! We did a fair amount of sharing and laughing! I had lunch with three women from the class, Lori from New York, Laura from California, and Debra from Vancouver, BC. What a treat!!! Wonderful conversation and our lunch hour absolutely flew by!!! In those situations I always have to remind myself to not monopolize the conversation. I just get so excited to be surrounded by souls that love art probably MORE than I do as evident by the fact that they all traveled great distances to be there!!!

So without further ado, here is my fabulous, wonderful, gorgeous charm bracelet and earrings I got to make! I am SO in love with the process of fusing fine silver! I defnitely have to look into hookin' myself up with the gear to re-create this stuff...someday...

Oh and I got a few "trades" but I will wait until the weekend is over to share those with you. One of them I got from a woman while I was standing in line in the Art and Soul "craft store" set up in the Embassy Suites lobby. In the middle of all this hub-bub, this woman just calls out, "Does anyone have any trades?!" I LOVED this!!! The first thing that popped into my was, "this is exactly the spirit of Art and Soul!!!" By virtue of being at this event, it is just a given that we are already "friends" and just haven't met each other yet! I gladly exchanged trades with her! :-)

Happy day to you and yours!

happy birthday.

Happy Birthday to my great niece, Rylie Simone, born 10-03-06 at 10:03 pm. My sister is a GRANDMA and my Mom is a GREAT-GRANDMA!!! That just makes me happy!!!

To celebrate, Miranda baked a German Chocolate Cake!

Okay, it wasn't really for Rylie but it seemed appropriate to tie the two together!

:-)

Truth is Miranda said she just had a hankerin' for some cake!!! Lucky us!

Art and Soul was marvelous! I'll post pix of my projects tomorrow!!!

Happy Days!

a little somethin'.

Thought I'd share with you a picture of my recently retired Ella Posie purse. Remember when I first got her? Ah. Amazingly gorgeous. Well, after carrying this sweetness EVERYDAY for a little over three months ---and getting caught in the rain---, this is what she looks like now...

The flower fell off about two weeks ago. She's lived a good life but it's time to let her rest. THANKFULLY, when Alicia's shop was closing, I managed to get a few minutes to get in there and I bounce in to buy a replacement. Here...

She's a beauty, ain't she! And guess what? She's going to make her debut tomorrow at Art and Soul! :-) I'm a nerd, I know.

Okay...so the camera's on charge, my bag is packed, snacks prepared, and I have my clothes picked out. I'm all ready for tomorrow! I am planning on getting to the event early because I want to try to get into DJ Pettitt's "To Have and To Hold" class on Sunday. I've just been so on the fence about it since I'm already taking three classes. But what's a girl to do? All this phenomenal talent in my town? I HAVE to GO FOR IT!!! DJ's class was actually one of the classes I wanted to take BEFORE I got so crazy nutso into jewelry-making. It's kind of been haunting me and then, Sharon posted a picture of a crazy gorgeous purse she made on her website and that just pushed me over. It was fate calling me...take the class! And who am I to argue with italics? :-) Bummer is the on-line registration has closed so I have to register at the event. Keep your fingers crossed that I get in!

Oh and I just noticed on the Art and Soul website, the dates for Art and Soul 2007 have been announced. October 3 through 8. Oh boy!!!!

Okay, pals, see ya tomorrow!!! Thanks for coming out to play!

baby blanket #2.

I'm so happy! I finished the blanket I wanted to make for my next door neighbor. Jackie's baby shower is NEXT Saturday and I finished this LAST night! That is so amazing for me! I put off doing this kind of thing until the night before! Guess this old girl's learnin' a thing or two about time management! LOL!

Here's the finished product. I turned the ends over a few times so you could see the reverse side. I'm happy with this except I struggled with that dang rick rack trim! It's so cute but I'm concerned that when it gets washed, the little edges will turn up. I actually started to stitch the edges but I realized that would have taken WAY TOO LONG. I'm a patient crafter but I do have my limits! Oh well, I went with a wide zig zag and can just hope for the best! 

See ya!

busy day.

Okay, to make up for not having any pictures yesterday, I have a few fun things to show you today!

Last night while I was watching "10 Thing I Hate About You" with Miranda, I cut and glued an old Scrabble box and turned it into a supply box that I'll use for my drawing class. Yeah, it's silly, but I wanted to have something unique. The teacher recommended just using Ziploc bags to keep our stuff in because tool boxes or anything you had to buy was overrated. Yeah, right. Can you imagine ME carrying my gear around in a Ziploc bag? I don't think so!

This is how I roll...my Scrabble "cigar box"....

And speaking of my drawing class, I wanted to share with you our first assignment! We did this in class yesterday but I forgot to show you!

We drew it from an image the teacher provided. It was really fun! Everyone drew the same thing and it was so cool to see the subtle differences in each person's drawing.

All in all, it was a very productive day for Glen and I. We got some yard work done, cleaned out the garage a bit, took in some recycling, laundry, and played with the kitties. We were both beat by dinner time so since Miranda was off runnin' around, Glen and I went out for a nice dinner, just the two of us. We went to one of our favorite's, La Prima Trattoria. I a great pasta dish (although it could have used MORE garlic) and to drink, I had a Lemoncella Martini. It was pretty dang tasty! A touch on the "too sweet" side but I managed! :-)

I'm looking forward to this week...TWO-DAY work week and then Art and Soul! YEAH BABY!

See ya on the flip flop!