Sign in page for RR

This is a page I made for the RR I'm in and very excited about seeing all the ladies this weekend. It's the page to the right of the sign in page - maybe I'll show you that later, it's not nearly as exciting.

I couldn't resist this image and went slightly background crazy with this one. I've really enjoyed playing with my paint and charcoal. I started out on this one with a pretty french blue but decided it was a little too pretty so I added some black, a tiny bit of white and some glazing liquid so it wasn't too thick and would let the words bleed through a little. Even then it was still too tidy and called out for some charcoal. I happily obliged with some scribbles and shadowing on the edge. Then I knew I wanted some text but couldn't stop there when I had the perfect opportunity to add my crazy cat lady photo (don't you love her?!) and then I could rest. Well, after I outlined the box with a thick charcoal line and sealed the page. After that, it was definitely rest.

Morning Quickie

Okay, just a quick note about a couple of awesome new blogs I found that are written by one woman. This one is all about her life on a working cattle ranch with gorgeous photos and tips on how to take said photos. She also writes a blog about food and cooking which is here. Since Food TV, this book and this one are considered must haves (well, by me!), I love it and had to share with other foodies out there!

I'm Published!

A piece I had sent in to Somerset a while back has been published in the Winter 2008 Gallery! Woo hoo! I know lots of people are regular publishers in magazines, books, etc but I have to say, this is my first and I'm absurdly excited about it. Mine is the Bettie necklace. :)

Edie & Ivan, a tragic love story

This is a page I created in my RR book that I'm participating in with my North Texas art group. Those ladies are awesome and know how to rock the RR! Anyway, this page tells the tragic story of Edie and Ivan who were engaged but Ivan was tragically killed in WWI before they were married. Of course it's all fictional but I saw these two photos and new there had to be a great story there.

The theme for my book is "Loss" so this page is all about lost love. I'm kind of excited with how it turned out and I got to use my new numbers stamps and letter stamps I got at Michaels today. 50% of all stamp sets, now I know I have nearly every stamp imaginable but I don't have too many letters or numbers so it was a sale I couldn't pass up. :)

Okay, I need to head to bed since there's no more vacation for me for a while and it's back to the mines!

Metal Goodies Galore

We went to the monthly flea market in Canton today and I hit the metal motherload! We found this great vendor with tons of metal findings, prisms and doorknobs. Oh my! He was terrific as he helped me find some wonderful treasures and there were lots of stories for several of the pieces. He and my husband had a long talk about a few things but I was in art frenzy with all the goodies to pick from! Here's a pic of what I got and the best part is that he comes to the monthly flea market in McKinney so I can travel only a few blocks to get stock up.

My desk is covered in pieces drying after coats of gesso and absorbent ground. There should be some art happening this week with all these backgrounds drying and new fun pieces needing a good home.

Resolution Inspiration

If you guys haven't had a chance to check out Sally Jean's latest post, run there now! It's awesome. There's a list of things she suggests you check out. Thought provoking, inspirational, whimsical - it's got it all! Definitely much better than a typical resolutions list.

Snow, snow, snow

Well, that's how I feel when I look at this lovely snowflake my friend Mark's wife, Robyn, made for me. It's hanging off a piece I made a while back and I think it's perfect there. I can easily see it from my desk, and since I think it should be snowing 300 days of the year, it's a wonderful reminder of winter time - plus, it's pink! Thanks guys, I really love it!

I'm getting ready to start my book for a RR I'm participating in with my North Texas group. I've got my theme and have jotted down several ideas for pages I want to incorporate into the book. Hopefully now that I can get to my desk again, I'll be able to start on it this week and make great progress before the 12th get together where we hand them off.

The other exciting news is that I bought my plane ticket for The Art Nest retreat so I must really be going! I've been gathering up art supplies here and there when I'm out so I won't have to do a mad dash to the art store, or Dick Blick, right before I leave. No last minute shopping here, well, so far.

I know it's only 8:20 but we haven't adjusted to our non-vacation schedule so I think I'm going to read a little before my especially early bedtime. 5 am seems to come even earlier than it did before the vacation!

Happy New Year!

This is the piece I've been working on most of my vacation and I really love it. It's central image is a photo of a statue from the British Museum's "Enlightenment" room. I think that sort of sums up one of the reasons I love that museum - an entire room on enlightenment! It's been hard to know when to stop since it's my personality to just keeping adding more and maybe some sparkles plus just this one other thing, etc. But, I think this one doesn't need it and it really sums up what I hope to have and wish all of you for the New Year: peace, good fortune and maybe something a little pink! :)

In process

I've got a few things in process but no photos as yet. I'm trying to rust a few things (process seems slightly sketchy) and need to get some more liquid nails for heavy duty gluing. So far, I'm happy with how my "house" collage is coming along. Tomorrow, I think we're going to hang the chandelier over the tub so I need to get on my bling for that! I'm very excited about how that's going to come out.

One of my Christmas presents from the husband was a new flip video camera, in pink of course! So far, I've taken some puppy video but have yet to get it from the camera to the 'puter. I'm going to work on it tomorrow. Tomorrow is shaping up to be a busy day! Today was relatively quiet after we hit a few errands and the used book store to stock up on books for altering. Love the clearance rack with the foreign language dictionaries. I also picked up some supplies for The Art Nest really excited and can't wait.

I've also been able to watch season 1 of Doctor Who in order so now it makes way more sense and I get the whole Torchwood thing. Yes, yes, I'm a big geek but I embrace it. Plus, these BBC America rocks! With the writer's strike and nothing on TV, give them a shot.

Ok, it's way past my bed time and clearly, tomorrow is going to be busy, busy, busy!

Happy Friday, well Saturday!

Final pics of the Christmas Commissions

These were the last of the necklaces a friend of mine asked me to make for his family as gifts. I really hope everyone liked them as much as I liked putting them together. It was awesome to listen to the stories about everyone and find out who each person was and what makes them fabulous and then try to translate a tiny piece of that into the finished project.

I've got a few ideas for some new pieces and some chandelier bling for over my bathtub that might get done while I'm still on Christmas vacation. I think this is the first time since high school when I've been off for the holidays with no work, no school, nothing and it's wonderful! Today we got up at 3 am to head to San Marcos to the outlet mall for shopping (it's about a 4 to 4.5 hour drive). It was totally worth it for 50% off Pottery Barn outlet furniture and rugs. We got a lovely rug for the new den area and a filing cabinet that needs a new top but it's also awesome. Another project to add to the hubby's list. :) I've taken it fairly easy on him since he's on vacation too but there are a few things that will get done on the break. See chandelier above. :)

Okay, that's about it for tonight. We're heading to bed early (3 am was a long time ago!) and going to watch Ghost Rider from bed. On the movie front National Treasure 2 was great and the perfect holiday/family film. Friday we're going to see Charlie Wilson's War and hit the bookstore.

Happy holidays everyone, I hope Santa was good to you and you're having a terrific holiday. I know mine rocks so far and I'm planning on enjoying it through the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

There wasn't a white Christmas here in the Lone Star state but last weekend in Kansas we definitely saw snow and ice! Here are some pics of the fam and the snow. There's also one of me modeling a fabulous necklace my Mom made and I got to take home. :)

Back from Kansas and lots of goodies - woo hoo!

We visited my family in Kansas over the weekend and didn't get a chance to post all the goodies I received. Here's 7-12 and if you haven't had a chance to take a look, head over to the 12 Days blog to see all the goodies in the exchange. Here's the photos of the great gifts I received from Ruth, Deb, -Dawn, Caren, Erika and Kelly.

Ruth gave me the gorgeous book mark with the lovely colors that I envy! Deb sent the amazing necklace that reminded my husband and I of an octopus - it made me love it even more! Dawn's ATC is truly lovely and I love it! Caren created the wonderful little book and I was blown away by the knitted bag, seriously, I have unbelievable knit envy. It's the one art I know I shouldn't even try. Erika sent the uber-cool stationery that will be making it's way to only the luckiest of recipients. And lastly, the fantastic necklace is by Kelly. I think everyone knows how much I love her work and her spirit. She's always willing to share some of that spirit with her fellow artists so it's awesome to have a piece of her work.

I feel truly blessed to have been a part of this swap and the talent of all these women is truly spectacular. Thank you ladies for a glorious December filled with art, giggles and friendship.

Day 6 and a studio helper

Here is my lovely Day 6 pressie, minus the cool vintage paper that was tucked inside - I have big plans for it! This was gifted to me by the very talented Linda so stop by and check out her blog.

The other charms are commission pieces from an amazing designer I work with and she's also a really good friend! I love her aesthetic. It's really clean and charming with that great urban edge that's all her. I was beyond flattered when she asked me to make a couple of pieces for her nieces.

The puppy photos are off Maya, who was quite the little helper tonight, she definitely wanted lots of pets and love but never for very long. She'd run in and then head back out - she really prefers to have all her people and puppies in one room. Usually she can get Abby and I together in here but Daddy's not having it! It's much too girly in here for him, plus he'd then have to pretend to show interest in what I'm doing and get stuck listening to back episodes of Doctor Who. Nope, not happening.

Another little pressie that arrived today was one I ordered for myself. It's this terrific book I've had on my wish list at Amazon ever since I heard her give an interview on NPR and then I saw her on TV and fell in love with her charms. This book would make a lovely gift for a charm lover (with a little charm on the ribbon of the box) or for yourself, if you love charms or just a charming book (it's late and I couldn't resist!). I needed the little pick me up since I'm way behind on my "to do" list. Oh well, it'll get done and I'm on vacation next week so I can sleep then!

Lucky Girl!

This was what I opened tonight for day #5! This was made by the amazing Maija Lepore who is an amazing artist and completely generous with sharing her tips, great shopping haunts and how to be lovely in general. I love the colors and the sparkles - it's pink, the perfect french blue and it's got sparkly magnets how could this not be perfect for me? I've already got it hanging next to my computer just waiting for the addition of those perfect inspiration pieces.

Now, I'm off to make some charms! Happy Monday everyone.

Day #4 and some flea market goodies

I can't post yesterday's pressie since it was my day, I opened #13 from Penn which was fabulous! I can't say enough good things about it! I've somehow lost the photo of all the goodies I made but you can check it out here. These ladies are all beyond talented and I can't believe how lucky I am that I get to play with them.

Yesterday, we went and did some Christmas shopping and then had an evening out with our friends Mark and Robyn. We had dinner at a tapas restaurant and the dishes were very hit or miss but I did have a potato gratin that was amazing! It had Serrano ham and manchego cheese between the potato layers - very tasty! We were going to the Christmas Carol show so we unfortunately ran out of dessert time but I had my eye on the hot chocolate with churros. Will have to go back and give it a try, we're also going to try the paella since I make a shortened fake version, it would be nice to taste their version.

The Christmas shopping continued today and started with a visit to the monthly flea market where I loaded up on finds for the Art Nest Retreat . They had some terrific stuff and I was sorry I couldn't take it all home with me! My husband found several cool things but my favorite finds were this old Dallas piece and the tiny ram (I'm an Aries so it's fitting) that I can't wait to figure out how to get it under glass.

I should be heading to bed since it's a school night and already passed my bed time!