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Thank you to dear Natalie for awarding me this dubious distinction...
Thank you SO much Natalie!!! I started a list of who to pass this on to and well, after about 10 names, I gave up. I just love SOOOOOO many blogs!
Oh and speaking of love...I am SO IN LOVE with this video. The music, the drawings, the movement...I can't get enough. I love Joanna Newsom. Her voice is so distinctive and odd but it hits me in such a comfortable place and soothes me.
I sure hope you're having a nice weekend...I sure am! Glen's home from traveling and Miranda's hanging around the house quite a bit since she just got a new toy...
SO proud of this girl! :-)
I'm also feeling pretty happy about our garden. The peas and beans are slowin' down but the tomatoes are kickin' it into gear!!
And right now, I'm sittin' here, totally diggin' on the Yoshida Brothers.
I have a couple of pictures to show you from two charm swaps and some pictures to show you from the BEST.EBAY.PURCHASE.EVER (BEPE)! :-)
The first pix are from a charm swap I mailed out last week. The theme of this one was "Viva Mexico" and it was hosted by Janet.
Here are the charms I made...
And a close-up...
I tried to duplicate a "wrought iron" look -- I used cut up pieces of a fan that I then painted and Diamond Glazed.
The theme of the other charm swap I joined in was "Heavy Metal." This one is hosted by Suzanne and I signed up for it the second I saw it posted! This is SO what I am in to these days.
But before I show you those charms, I HAVE to show you something else!
I started working on these charms yesterday and it just so happened to be the day that I received an item in the mail that I bought off of eBay. An assortment of watch parts. A MAGNIFICENT assortment of watch parts! Oh my stars and stripes, this was a FANTASTIC purchase! Miranda walked in on me while I was opening up all the little boxes and I said, "Take a look at my face. You may NEVER see me happier than I am right now!" Heaven!!!! Here are a few pictures of some of the goodies...this first one is the one that tipped me over. All the bits inside of this one are gorgeous but I'm even loving the old box!
It just seemed to go on and on...
This picture is the kind of thing I dream of ...
This is SO gonna be a Moo card in the future!
There were a few more items in this lot such as some manuals and sheets of clock numerals...like I said, MAGNIFICENT!
So now before I get too distracted...let's get back to the other charm swap. Here are a few of the Heavy Metal charms -- and truth be known, I'm not finished yet! I incorporated some of the gears from the BEPE...
In other non-charm and non-BEPE news, I've been getting back into art journaling lately -- probably because ArtFest registration is right around the corner! These gorgeous pens are SO on my radar! They're spendy but oh how I love 'em!!! I've seen the Copic Sketch pens before but they had the Copic Ciao pens at Kinokuniya, the bookstore inside Uwajimaya, and the colors are amazing! LOTS of gorgeous translucent colors! Sigh...I want!!!
Okay... time to get back to the other people in my life... :-) I have a few house-related things to do and then later this evening, we're headin' over to the neighbors for a firepit party. I should take my ginormous bottle of Bailey's that's still leftover from the Art in Ashland shindig! :-)
Take care and super big hugs to you!!!
Hi…You all really are the best friends a girl could ever hope for. Thank you so much for all your sweet words, compliments, and encouragement about the fatbook pages! You are SO sweet!
And as for the "how do you do so much” thing…well…thank you...but it really doesn't feel that way to me. Creating art is where my heart and passion are these days. And I will always find the energy and make the time to do what makes me happy.
I just have a couple of pictures to share with you today. The first one is of some Sweet Peas from our garden. Sweet Peas are absolutely my most favorite flower in the whole world.
I love the fragrance of a Sweet Pea more than anything else. To smell a Sweet Pea, for me, is soothing and calming. It is sweet, delicate and nostalgic all at once. It just makes me happy and centers me.
Also, here is a picture of our cutie tubbo bubbo kitty cat, Bastian, taking a nap.
This fuzzy bunny is such a sweetheart! He's one of those cats that is always presenting his big, fluffy belly for you to pet. But you gotta watch out...he loves to grab and bite! But we’ve learned that’s just his way of showing affection. It’s never really aggressive. It’s like he’s just trying to get us a little closer to him.
I hope you have a MARVELOUS weekend! I have NO plans whatsoever…other than to spend time with Glen and Miranda. And that makes me very happy.
I had TWO going on this past month and whew! that was a lot of work! I sure love getting that sweet big chunky book in the end but MAN!
The first one I finished up was a post-ArtFest fatbook! This one was hosted by the very fun and cool, Kristie, whom I met at ArtFest this past April. And if my memory serves me correctly, I do believe we bonded over Amaretto and Sprite? :-)
Mess of pages...the front...
...and the back.
Detail of front...
This is a gel medium transfer of a picture I took of myself the last morning of ArtFest. I LOVE this technique! I learned it in Misty Mawn's class at ArtFest. It has that same scratchy look similar to the pictures I made in a Polaroid transfer class I took a few years back.
Detail of back...
All the pages stood up on end...
Wouldn't this make a fabulous Moo card? Maybe for next year's ArtFest! :-)
Next fatbook I finished and mailed off just today was for Art and Soul. The theme of this book is Romancing the Sea - The Vintage Edition and it's being hosted by the super elegant Marian McBryde. I hesitated in joining in this swap because I didn't want to overload myself but Romancing the Sea? C'mon! How could I possibly pass up a gorgeous theme like that? And then when I saw Leslie's pages that she made for the Hampton Art and Soul, I was just so inspired -- Gosh! that girl is SO talented!!!! -- so I decided to join in!
This one needed 60 pages! I think that's a record! And I must be some kind of freak because for the fronts, I still made originals!
Here's a close up...
For the back, I did make color photocopies. Mainly because I liked the look of having my info in an old timey label and I didn't have 60 of these babies!
And a close up...
I also finished up my Viva Mexico charms so I'll show those to you in a few days. Only two more charm swaps to go and then I'm hanging up my "gotta join everything" days for awhile.
It's time to shift my focus back on me and rediscover what it feels like to create art just for me! I've forgotten what it is I do! :-)
So getting back to sharing with you all about my Art in Ashland adventures. Have you been around blogland and seen all the FUN FUN photos from this amazing event? Anahata, Pam, Amy, Natalie, Kari, Romy, Rebecca, Christine, Pamela, and Liesel all have pictures up! Anyone else?
I'm feeling a bit emotional right now just reminiscing about this amazing event and the fabulous people I know and met. I'm SUCH a lucky girl! Also, listening to this song which makes me think of this video puts me in a emotional state too. Oh and have you seen Matt's latest video??? Jana sent it to me awhile ago. Not sure why, but it makes me weep. It's a happy weep, though. Matt dancing in Gurgaon, India is MY FAVORITE!
Whoops...look how I got sidetracked? It doesn't really take much.
Okay...so on Monday night, after Amy's Rejuvenated Jewels class, we were shuttled to PaPaYa! warehouse via this double decker bus! We were quite the spectacle travelin' down the road!
Kari and I on the bus. Okay...not sure about the maniacal look on my face but this is SUCH a cute picture of Kari, I had to post it. She's SO photogenic! :-) Oh and I took this photo just MOMENTS before Andrea called me! Andrea - this is why I got such a kick out of our conversation!!! LOL!!!
A few pictures from the warehouse...
Anahata and company prepared an amazing adventure for us complete with margaritas and the best guacamole I've ever tasted. She also gave us the go ahead to do some wholesale shopping in the warehouse. Can you believe that??? Oh we were all OVER the moon! To be in her warehouse surrounded by all the color and positive energy, not to mention like-minded people was just incredible!
Kari and Hope...
The inspiration board in Kathleen's workspace. Jealous...!
Random beauty, also in Kathleen's workspace...
Me and sweet Rebecca...
(As you will see, I'm a big fan of the self-portrait!)
Okay so then Tuesday was our last class, Symbolic Icons with Anahata. I reluctantly am sharing my creation with you. I'm just not terribly happy with it. I think the reason is because I knew I had taken it too far. I loved the class, loved the techniques, loved the lessons learned but I think I was fadin' and just lost my ability to say when.
I saw a picture of this piece on someone's blog in an early stage and I LOVED where it was at that point! Ugh! Lesson learned. Set a timer!!! Okay...movin' on...
Here are pictures of the other art works and artists...
A picture of lovely Romy and her piece...
And the incredibly talented ArtsyMama, Kari, with her piece...
And another wildly talented girl, Sally Jean...
Tuesday night was the closing event, *sniff*. A Cupcake Soiree was held at a VERY lovely shop called Prize. I REALLY should have taken more pictures because on other visits when I've asked for permission to take pictures, I was told no. On this ocassion, when I asked they said yes. However, I really just concentrated on taking pictures of the fabulous peoples. I think you'll still get a feel for how lovely of a shop Prize is.
Me and the very dear Genevieve (Hi!!!)...
My buddies and roommates...Cassondra and Kari...
My peep Hope, me, and dear Natalie...
Me and the fab Romy...
The talented Pamela and me...
CRAZY talented Sally Jean, me and the brilliant Anahata...
Me and two very fun women, Pam and Amy...
I look at the gorgeous smiles of these two and it reminds me of WHY I wanted braces. Just gorgeous smiles, gorgeous souls inside and out. Truly.
Very talented Liesel. Check out her necklace! She is going to be teaching her techniques in a class at ArtFest 2009!
Last Art in Ashland picture...our last night in the hotel. I think every night we made Bailey Shivers and just hung out. One night we made our silver charms (thanks again Natalie!) but the other nights, we just lounged and soaked up each other's company. The whole Art in Ashland event was ridiculously amazing; however, it will be the quiet evenings spent with Natalie, Cassondra and Kari that I'll go to time and time again in my mind for some of my sweetest Art in Ashland memories. You girls are the best! Thank you so much for your generous friendship.
Okay, so before I get all teary, I have just a few last bits to show you. On the drive home from Ashland, Miranda, Josh and I stopped off at the Oregon Vortex.
Ah jeez! this place was as corny as we had hoped for! Silly, silly fun!
As we made our way home, we also stopped in Cottage Grove and saw this AMAZING mural of Opal Whiteley. LOVE this woman!!!! you can read more about this beautiful mural here. It looks so much more lovely at this site...I had to crop because of all the construction going on around it!!!!
And then just one last photo of my sweet girlie who made the trip to Ashland with me. She and Josh made the trips to and from Ashland just as fun and memorable as the event. Stopping at random places, listening to Lead Belly and listening to them play cards in the back seat...just made my heart happy. Miranda is taking the summer off from school and work. She's lookin' for a job now and she has an appointment with a counselor at the local college next week. But for now, she's spending lots of time with herself, friends and the 'rents (Glen and I). I'm happy for her. And she seems completely happy too, which makes my life whole. :-)
Take care and see you soon.
Another fabulous 12th day of the month so in between my Art in Ashland sharing, I'm gonna squeeze in a 12 of 12 post. This is a project created by Chad Darnell. To visit more 12 of 12ers from all over the world, go here.
So here's my day in 12 views...
Grouchy bunny waiting to be fed...
Stopped at the bushes by the creek on our street to check out all the berries. We know for a fact that our neighbors have been picking and sharing and then Glen went down and picked a big bowl on Saturday. What marvelous abundance!
I slept just a bit too long this morning and so I had to drive in to work (instead of catching the bus) since I had an 8:30 am meeting. This is the view of Portland I see just as I'm coming out of the tunnel.
My sad, pathetic food for the day. Still on softish food since it still hurts to chew (from braces installed last Friday). The little container is full of mashed potatoes.
When I went to go put my sad food in the refrigerator at work, I saw the mural painted on the wall adjacent to the break room and took a pic...
Later in the day, I took a break and worked on some charms for a Viva Mexico charm swap...
Random picture of the elevators in my office building...
Gorgeous day in Portland, OR...
After work, I wanted to go to Dava Beads so I offered my sweet friend Heidi a ride home since she lives real close to Dava.
Like candy I tells ya...
The drive back home wasn't very fun...
About 3:00 pm today, Miranda called me and asked if I wanted to go see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. We'd been talking about going since we both loved the first movie and loved the books so I jumped at this! The movie was super cute. Corny and all that, but I loved it! :-)
Lastly, I'm settling in for the night so I pulled out my bag of dental acruments for taking care of ye olde braces. My mouth is SO achey! Ugh. No wonder young kids start drinking earlier and earlier. If they wear braces, they are IN PAIN, people!!!! Thank you to my friends for their empathy and good thoughts...and thanks to Gina for mentioning Baby Oragel! I went and bought some gum pain reliever and it helps! Thanks Sweet Cheeks!
Okay...thanks so much for the visit! Take care and see you next time!!!
Hi there friends. I have LOTS to share with you from my trip down to Ashland for Art in Ashland. This trip was SO friggin' unbelievable! From start to finish...just amazing! So let's get started!
To start my vacation off right, the evening before I left, I treated myself to a mani-pedi. :-)
This was a very nice way to catch my breath and transition into the fabulousness I knew was ahead of me.
To add to the fun, Miranda and her boyfriend, Josh, decided to make the trek south with me so that they could do some camping in the Ashland area. Now if you know my daughter, you know she is a non-conformist, independent, unique thinking kind of girl. Her style of "camping" was to have me drive her to the middle of nowhere, dump her off, and leave. There was no agenda. She had knowledge of where "free" camping was available, but that was it. But I fully support this kid making adventures for herself and creating stories she'll have to tell her grandchildren, so I put aside my personal fears and played my role. I am very happy to report that Miranda did find the adventure she was looking for and she and Josh had a great time. The happy (and friggin' cute) campers...
So once the kids were on their own, although I was feeling a bit unnerved, it wasn't too difficult getting into the full swing of Art in Ashland. My roomies for the week were Kari and Cassondra. We had an adjoining room with Natalie. I sure do adore these girls. Such kindred spirits and just so kind, generous, and fun. Even before we even made our way into town for the opening event, I was completely happy.
The opening festivities included refreshments, gift bags, shopping, crafting, seeing friends I've met before, and meeting lots of new friends. Here are a few pictures...
I look at these pictures and SO miss these people already. I wish there had been more time to visit. That's the downside to these events...you spend the first few days getting to know who's who and just when you start making connections, it's time to go! I'm so thankful that I got to spend the time that I did with these beautiful artists and that we exchanged information. I'll be looking forward to the next time our paths cross.
So here are the FABULOUS instructors for the event, Anahata Katkin, Amy Hanna, and Pam Garrison.
The opening event was at the Ashland Community Center. Lovely little spot in the middle of Lithia Park. The classes were then held at the Ashland Springs Hotel.
The first class was with the fab Pam Garrison. Such a talented and gifted artist. This was a day I took lots pictures of some of the amazing artists I got to spend time with...
Jennifer and Cassondra...
Here is a picture of the journal I altered in Pam's class...still a work in progress but mostly done...
I didn't do much to alter the inside since I loved the original paper. I did add a French word card that Natalie shared (the generousity was amazing!)
Le mot which translates to "word."
The evening after the first day's class was our free night. Kari, Cassondra, Natalie and I went out for a nice meal at an Italian restaurant, then went for a walk through Lithia Park and then went back to the hotel. We made Bailey's Shivers and then Natalie, who is a Lilly Ollo consultant, VERY generously brought supplies, including a kiln!, and showed us how to make some Silver Clay charms. Here are mine...
I actually made two other charms but I can't show you those since they're going to be gifties for two certain sisters of mine. :-)
The next day's class was with Amy Hanna. Fabulous artist and fabulous soul.
I fashioned the above "hold dear" charm in Amy's class and made these two pieces.
I'm pretty sure I would have been able to make more but I spent A LOT of time in this class just wandering around looking at the loot people brought. I wish I would have thought to just go around and take pictures. Amazing. I did snap a picture of some of Cassondra's stash...
Okay...I think I'm gonna stop here. I still have some pictures from our adventure to PaPaYa's warehouse, Anahata's class, the Cupcake and Champagne Soire, and our trip to the Oregon Vortex. However, Glen leaves for another two week trip tomorrow so I'm gonna go spend some time with my sweet partner.
Love you all and hope you have a fabulous week!!
Okay...I have LOTS to share with you! My trip to Ashland was spectacular BUT I must first share with you the other thing kinda ruling my world right now.
Here is how I spent my 08/08/08...
Me before...
...and me after...
Yep. That's me with braces. Braces. I chose this particular "before" picture because you can see my teeth and the state of crookedness. Mind you, it's not horriifc and you may not have even noticed it but that one front tooth was migrating to the midline. Me no likey. I became very conscientious of it and caught myself starting to smile with my mouth closed. So I made the decision to get braces at age 48. Bad timing on my part because in prep for the braces, I had spacers put in the day before I left for Ashland. Those ached and I couldn't eat any solid food. There were no spots in my mouth where there was tooth to tooth connection. Part of my Ashland adventure was scouring the city looking for the spots that served soup. There was one Italian place that had great gnocchi that mushed up real well. The upside of all that hassle was that I lost three pounds while I was in Ashland.
I don't really have too much to complain about with these braces...so far they are just achey and I have a few sore spots inside my mouth from all the hardware. Laughing hurts a bit - I'm guessing from the wire being pulled. We went to see Wall-E last night (which was adorable BTW!) and my teeth ached a bit by the time we got home. I know it will get much better though. It has to!
So what are all those awful nicknames for people who have braces? I could only think of "brace face" and "metal mouth."
I'll be back soon to show all my Art in Ashland pix. See you later!
...but just for a few days. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I will be heading to Ashland for the FAB Art in Ashland retreat. I can't wait!!!
Getting away and playing with some of the best gals around will be a nice reward...yesterday I got the spacers put on my back molars in preparation for getting braces next week and let me tell you, it is no picnic! I am feeling HIGHLY AGITATED today. It doesn't really hurt but there's constant pressure and it feels like there is a pound of meat stuck in my teeth. Yuck!! I'm feeling very postal today! Good thing I got a LARGE bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream to take on the trip to make nightcaps for the gang!!
I am going to miss Glen terribly...he got home from a business trip late Wednesday night and then when I return from my trip next Wednesday, he'll be leaving for another two weeks (again!) the following Monday! Stinks. But it does keep our almost 25 year marriage exciting and keeps us looking forward to being with each. :-)
So before I roll on outta here, I wanted to share a few pictures with you...
Here is a picture of my goodies I'm taking for Pam Garrison's class.
I read on Julie Collings' blog that she chose a color scheme for a project BEFORE she left her house. I grabbed on to that concept because this way, I didn't feel compelled to bring everything I own!!! LOL!
Below is ONE of the cigar boxes I'm bringing full of treats for Amy Hanna's class.
And then lastly, my trades...if you're going to Art in Ashland and want to be surprised...AVERT your eyeballs! :-)
Little packs of a few paper goodies...
...and then I made charms for everyone, of course!
Each charm will arrive on a little card. The image is a reduction of a vintage map I bought in Ashland last year and then it's embedded in between a piece of mica. He he he...these little things just tickle me with how cute they turned out!!!
Okay, that's it for now, my friends. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and share with you all the details when I return next week!
