If you believe it, make it jewelry!

I worked on this one off and on while watching tv last week. It was kind of fun and I really like the message on this one since I'm very pro-reading of the banned books! :) The back has a list of books that have been banned so I like how it turned out.

The pics are a little fuzzy but the beads are purple with alternating crystals with silver chain. It's actually very pretty. I may have to make a few more and maybe just continue the list of books.

I'm going to get a jump on next year's Christmas gifts!

Happy Christmas!

Fuzzy pics of studio trees!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Trying to get back in to the swing of things here which has been hard but pushing forward . We're getting ready to build a fire and I have a little work to do and Rolland's going upstairs to try and switch over to DSL (last time we had a bad modem) so we're hoping for better luck. I'm going to settle in to watch more episodes of Dharma & Greg, latest DVD purchase, since he'll be upstairs and away from my excellent holiday selection. He'll be watching Die Hard since nothing says Happy Holidays like Bruce Willis. :)

I think I'm going to venture out later to Michael's and get a few supplies and play around with decoupaging a few Christmas plates. This was actually the first type of art projects I was interested in back in junior high. I've always loved the Victorian time period and used to save up my allowance and buy Victoria magazine and go through it over and over... the answer is yes, I've always been slightly off. Anyway, I saw this artist in a magazine a few weeks ago and thought her work was brilliant and got re-inspired so if I finish up the real work I brought home with me I figure I'll reward myself and go play this afternoon. I may also venture out an a quest to find homemade marshmallows at Whole Foods (I realize that's a slight contradiction but anyway!).

These are ornaments I made for my sis-in-law and mom-in-law. The cutie in the fridge is my Sis and the two beauties heading for town are Mom and her Mom. They were a big hit, but it's hard to take the credit when the pics were wonderful - they made great pieces.

Have a great Christmas Eve!

Don't wait

My Grandma passed away this afternoon. For the last few years, I didn't see her, or talk to her, very often since we live so far away and it's difficult to make time to get together, we're really busy, and so on and so on but you never think you're really going to run out of time until you do. If you've got loved runs you're thinking about calling or visiting just call or visit and quit thinking about it because one day it is too late.

Bye Grandma, I Love you.

Busy!

I've been crazy busy since getting back but I wanted to give you a quick update on a few of the presents I've received in the 12 Days swap. The gorgeous canvas piece entitled "The Messenger" is from Katie and I love it! The next piece is from Liz and it's fabulous. I love the colors and dimensions. I promise to dig my camera out tonight and take pics of the other pieces that I can't just scan in! :)

I'm meeting some friends for dinner and tomorrow night work is having a screening for "Night at the Museum" and then I'm on vacation for the holidays! Yay! It's definitely becoming festive at our house!

Have a great Wednesday guys!

Back from Missouri

Sorry about the long absence, we've been in Missouri since Wednesday but I don't always like to post that we're going out of town and I didn't really have a lot of time or access to the 'puter! :) Now that I'm home, I finally had a chance to catch up on a few things. Here are a few items from the 12 Days exchange. The collage piece is from Edina and the book is from Deb and I love them! They've done a fantastic job! I've got more goodies to show but I was lazy and didn't want to try and dig out my camera. :O

I hope you keep checking out the blog of the daily goodies on the 12 Days blog because I'm telling you, these ladies are talented. They are shocking me everyday with the talent in this group and the imagination and work that went into each piece. I'm thrilled to be among them.

I've got some more to show and tell about our trip but I'm wiped out and tomorrow's a work day so I'm off to bed.

My great friend Gwen is too talented!

My friend Gwen made these sets for me for my sisters and they are gorgeous! She's just getting up and running with her knits but she does fabulous work and she's still reasonable since she's just starting out but I'm not sure how long that will last since I'm telling you, she's fabulous! Gwen's made me a few scarves and a gorgeous lap blanket along with a scarf/wrap that I wore all last winter because it was that cozy. Anyway, keep an eye on her blog to see her new stuff or get in touch with her if you need something warm and fluffy to get through the winter... and really, who doesn't! :)

Don't forget to keep watching the 12 Days of Christmas countdown. We started today - woo hoo!

Glinda Collage

I made this one for my little sister for Christmas. It's a 3-d collage under glass on one side and a regular collage under glass on the other. The box is just a regular cardboard jewelry box from the Container Store that I painted on the 3-d side. The flat side is water color paper I painted to get the perfect shade of yellow brick road yellow. I printed the lyrics directly on to the paper, added Dorothy and the German scrap border and the back was exactly how I wanted it. The front however was not so easy. It was tricky to get that crown glued in to place but 4 hours later and half a tube of liquid nails later, it's good to go! I used some pink glittery jewels from Papier Valise to prop up the crown.

Just a tip here, it kept beading up with moisture under glass when I was finished soldering so I ripped the finished solder off. TWICE - because I was that freaked out about it but tonight I finally just did it one more time and let it cool (my husband also talked me down from the ledge after another freak out) and the moisture evaporates after it cools down and it's fine so don't worry about that part if you decide to tackle this project and have a similar experience.

I was inspired my the mini-Hallmark ornaments we saw at the mall shopping so I put them to good use here. The idea is the Glinda the good witch left her goodies in a hurry to meet the wizard but not without leaving a note! I may have a few left over for some fun pieces later.

Initial Necklace

I'm still working on Christmas gifts but I took a break to play around with some pieces I've been trying to arrange into a necklace for weeks. I bought the large smokey quartz beads yesterday and they were exactly what I needed. They worked great with the golden and smokey swarovski beads so all the pieces finally fell into place. It turned out even better than I expected... although my expectations were fairly low since the pieces were just stacked on my desk with me adding, subtracting and re-arranging for weeks!

Today was crazy since it started at 4 am and has yet to stop. I've been working on projects to finish up, stocking the freezer with baked goods and now I need to really think about wrapping some of the goodies... I'm not sure I'm ready to face the paper cuts yet! :)

Anyway, the project for my sister has turned out unbelievably super cute and I hope she loves it. I'll post pics as soon as it's totally finished - she doesn't read the blog so it's safe. Also, my sister-in-law's will probably be in the pic stages tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope everyone's getting into the Christmas/Holiday/Festive/Even if it's not your holiday you get a break any way mood - the cold front's breaking and the high will be 70 tomorrow which, honestly, still feels like December in Texas and I've decided I've finally been bitten by the Christmas bug and have been driving my husband crazy. The alternative was I was driving him crazy because he was worried I hadn't started in about the holidays yet, now, all's right with the world.

Shopping

Today was spent with the last of the Christmas shopping. I think we've got most everything for everyone in our families and our all set. We also worked in a movie, The Holiday, which was really good and I highly recommend it. After spending the entire day out shopping, we finished up with dinner at Cafe Brazil and I think we're heading to bed early... we deserve a rest after fighting the crowds!

Tomorrow will be spent on making the rest of the presents, cookies and cakes for the freezer, wrapping all the presents, decorating the tree and making Christmas cards... yep, I'm definitely ready for bed! :)

Hope your having a great weekend.

Snow Days

I made this pic last week for the December Challenge for Mixed Media Artists. This one was a lot of fun since it was mostly coloring, playing with glitter and glue! I had a little bit of difficulty on the background since I knew the exact shade of blue I wanted but getting it was a little bit harder than I imagined. In the end, I beat the canvas down with a lot of water and paper towels.

The basic idea was to create a piece that evoked a childhood memory and this one is sort of a culmination of a lot of memories for me. I made it last week when we were hit with the flurry of slight ice and snowflakes but very cold weather and it really reminded me of those extremely rare times when we got 2 snow days from school. 1 was not all that unusual, but 2 was almost unthinkable.

Oddly, the most striking thing about this image for me though is the house. It's the house that evokes the most memories for me. My grandparents house was pink and growing up, that was where almost all of the family gatherings were regardless of seasons or occassions. When I really think about where we were for most of my childhood memories with my extended family we were in a pink house on the Kansas prairie. :)

Last one arrived today!

I'm participating in a 12 Days of Christmas Swap and my last package arrived today. It's been a ton of fun exchanging stories, gifts and ideas with such a great group of artists. They are amazing and talented and have been an inspiration. I can't believe how much fun it's been and we haven't even opened our goodies yet!

I've been keeping mine in the dining room in the trifle bowl. This seems appropriate somehow. :)

Weekend Update

I've been working on this chain while watching season one of Weeds. It took most of Friday and Saturday night but it was a nice way to start the weekend. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the locket when it came in. I ordered it with a few other goodies from Papier Valise a couple of weeks ago and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Yesterday was spent catching up on sleep since I had a migraine in the morning and I slept until 3! I hate that sine it means most of my Sat was a bust. We spent last night finalizing Christmas shopping so we're almost finished. Now I just have to finish the gifts I need to make!

Have a great Sunday!

New items on Etsy

Today was a rough day at work but we're due for sleet and a serious cold front so I'm hoping for a snow day... Maya has a bad infection and we need to up her allergy shots so my husband is trying to sweet talk her into taking her antibiotics and steroids. It's not working but it's kinda funny to watch. She's the sweetest dog on the planet but not a good pill taker. On the human front, I'm due for allergy testing Monday so Maya should be happy that I'll have to do it to although it should be slightly less traumatic for me since I won't have to be knocked out for it, although my husband might prefer it!

Anyway, I'm working on a couple of new projects that I should have pics to post tomorrow and I've added a couple of new pendants to my ETSY store. One of which is this one. She's one of my favorites since I picture her as one of the really sassy WWII women that I think helped keep America running, and extremely interesting, during an unbelievably difficult time.

I love my des chiens!

... and my Google home page. We're in the process of switching internet providers since Comcast was purchased by Time Warner (and I've come to loathe Time Warner since they seem to have a serious issue with actually being able to keep internet connectivity) so I'm just making the jump over to gmail.

I set up my google home page with my horoscope - my husband warned me about the horoscope and that it was not a happy go lucky little horoscope but in fact was very "heavy" but sheesh! I've also a few other fun little items including: the date/time, the moon phases, word of the day, movie times, headlines, gmail, weather in my area (and London, England - just 'cause) and tips I should know. It's sort of like my own personally daily Farmer's Almanac... maybe that's just a Midwestern thing! :)

This is a fun little pendant I made using some optometrist's lenses I got from eBay. The middle is clear but the sides are frosted so the "chien" text was off center so it could be read in the clear part, turns out when I applied the diamond glaze the frosted glass edges disappeared so now I'm calling the off-center text artistic choice for added interest. The piece is to keep a little piece of my puppies close to me when I'm at work all day...

Speaking of which, tomorrow we have to take Maya (the Akita) back to the dermatologist because her allergies are back and out of control. We'd finally gotten her off the steroids and antibiotics and on the allergy shots but she's had a bad flare up. I'm hoping he can do something to help her. I feel like she's miserable but this might be worse on us than her but I hate to think she's miserable and can't tell us. I'll keep you posted.

Art Days

I had a great time on Friday with my friend Kate and can't wait to see how the vase experiment turns out next week. Mostly, I practiced cutting glass which can be tricky given the different types of glass, variations by color, etc so I appreciated the practice with Kate around. I've also spent most of today working on a fairly substantial Christmas art gift, sorry no pics yet!

Thursday night we did manage to see The Queen. The theater was packed but it was worth it, my husband might not agree! We also managed to make it to the square but the crowds kept us from staying very long but I found a great pack of dominoes that I can't wait to put to good use.
My husband also took me on a spending spree at the book store since he got a $100 gift certificate for filling out a survey - he swears it took 2 minutes- he's got way more patience for that kind of thing than I do but I stocked up!

No big plans for our final day of holiday freedom - maybe we'll venture out to the grocery store, I think that's the most holiday shopping I'm willing to risk!

Happy Saturday guys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a quiet Thanksgiving in our house. We took the easy way out and got a smoked turkey from a bbq place ... it was very tasty and didn't take all day to make! I think we're going to head out in a little while and see The Queen. It's gotten some pretty good reviews and I love Helen Mirren. If we can stay awake long enough, I may even make my husband buy some new house shoes at the Eddie Bauer Outlet at midnight, mostly just because we could. :)

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to my friend Kate's to make a vase. She's got the super cool glass kilns and tools so we're going to play in her studio for a few hours. Tomorrow afternoon we're heading to the square for the "Dickens of a Christmas". We've lived here for 6 years and have never managed to do it but tomorrow's the day - well, that's the plan any way!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone ... if you're not in the US, well, it's probably the weekend and that's a good reason to be thankful too!

Sorry about the down time!

I've taken a little unexpected down time this week! It's been hectic but definitely improving. My doctor's appointment went well and I've got a new migraine medication that I take daily - Weds I double the dosage so I'm hoping it doesn't make me loopy. My husband assures me I have very little wiggle room in this area! The good news is that the new medication is working and I've only had to take the bad migraine medicine once so that's very exciting. There was no blood taken this visit either, although she mentioned that I should visit an allergist and there would be lab potential next month. I'm just excited that I think I might be able to eek out of November without needles so woo hoo!

I've been working on some art projects but since they're mostly gifts there's not a lot I can post in terms of photos. As soon as the holidays are over there will be lots of goodies to be seen. I'm also working on a few things just for me but they're a little time consuming but I'm very excited about the upcoming holidays to do nothing but eat turkey, play in the art room and watch movies.

On the movie front, we saw Casino Royale yesterday and it was fabulous!!! I've been a Daniel Craig fan for a long time and Layer Cake is quickly becoming one of my husband's favorite movies and Casino Royale offered a little something for both of us since we're huge James Bond fans. Definitely a must see for Bond fans.

Since I don't have any new photos of art, I thought I would pull out another Europe photo. I went with one from London of Harrod's in honor of James Bond and the beginning of the shopping frenzy - it seemed appropriate.

It's been a year since our trip and I'm starting to seriously bug the hubby about our next adventure. So far we're in talks about the Czech Republic, the Christmas Markets as a group Tour and Italy. I'm taking votes and comments. :)

Tired and blah...

This has been a long couple of days with zero art happening. I've got tons of ideas but not enough time or energy. (I should warn you that this could be a slightly whiny post but I feel better having given you notice.)

The basic gist of it is that we get up at 5am and don't get home until 12/13 hours later. With dinner, dishes, etc it's pretty much late evening before I'm walking into the studio but we've both been feeling icky so mostly it's just being plopped down in front of the tv which drives me crazy because it takes up all my free evening time... but, I'm addicted to alot of shows so while TIVO helps me out, I've got a serious tv addict monkey on my back. I can't give up The Amazing Race or CSI/CSI:NY (I can't even begin to talk about my reality tv addictions - like Project Runway, Top Chef and Survivor) and the group at work has ganged up on me and forced me under their spell with their love of Heroes... seriously, it's a problem.

When not plopped down in front of the tv, I'm taking my fairly serious migraine medicine and curled up in a ball in bed asleep - or hoping for sleep. I see the doctor again tomorrow - 3rd dr's appt in 6 weeks each requiring blood to be drawn. My arms look like I've got a problem worse than a TIVO obsession; the lab techs and I are starting to be on a first name basis!

Also, we have yet to talk about the most crazy addiction of all - the book monkey. I have stacks and stacks of books waiting to be read. I've managed to squeak out extra reading time to and from work - I carpool with the hubby (so don't worry about me being a road hazard!) - at least an hour each way so that's some pretty good book time. But, I have to read before bed, otherwise I can't sleep, admittedly I sometimes lose track of time and realize it's midnight and I'm now in trouble 'cause of the 5am wake up call. ... Maybe I should be including that in my migraine journal!

OY! Where does it all end? My friend, Gwen, and I kid because for a while I was riding the train back and forth and kept talking about how I was a hamster running in the wheel but getting no where (seriously, the train is strictly North & South so there weren't even hills or curves to break up the ride!) but let's be clear - my route may be boring but my wheel is pink and sparkley!

Ok, I appreciate you guys listening to me rant. I'm sorry for wallowing in what is clearly, self-indulgent whining about too much TV and too many books - I'm starting to feel pretty seriously embarrassed given that there are actual problems in the world besides too many tv shows in their season pass manager. I'm going to bed and will try to wake up with a better attitude - at least the dr's appointment means I get to sleep until 7am! :)

Bluegrass in Missouri!

We've been unbelievably busy this weekend trying to play catch up on all the things we haven't been doing. We finally got all of the Halloween decorations down and have just moved on to a little bit of Christmas cheer. We decided not to go all out this year and just do a few things and 1 tree instead of the usual two with 15 baby trees all through out the house... we're giving someone else a chance to take on the winter wonderland challenge this year!

I do have some big art/jewelry plans so I'm hoping now that the house is finally straightened, cleaned, mopped, etc I can spend so significant time in the studio and workshop getting some Christmas presents done. I can't wait for Thanksgiving and time off to sleep in and goof off!

On a musical note, if you find yourself in the Springfield, Missouri area on Dec 15th, you should check out my brother's band Doc Brown's Odyssey . They're really good and bluegrass offers fun for the whole family! ;)

Happy Birthday Mom!

This is a piece that I made for my Mom for her b-day. It's a pic of my Dad with my Grandmother when he was only 4 years old. I had to send it in the mail to Missouri and was a little nervous about the shipping but it arrived safe and sound. :)

Happy Birthday MOM!

On the non-birthday front (but definitely applicable to the upcoming winter holidays), I bought a bunch of glass today at lunch and have big plans, I'll keep you posted on the progress! I do have to say that my local, well fairly local since there really is no such thing as local in Dallas, glass shop is fabulous. Every time I go in they are unbelievably helpful and much nicer than I have come to expect when making a retail purchase. Also, if you go back a few times they start to recognize you and throw in a couple of extra pieces of spare glass or "forget" to ring up the patina. It's fantastic service that I always find shockingly enjoyable so if you're in the Dallas area and in the market for stained glass supplies or want to see some gorgeous glass pieces then stop in here. I definitely advocate shopping the smaller local stores when you can... also, make nice with them and they will seriously take care of you!

Happy Thursday guys!

Vote!!!

Okay, most people have probably voted, or not voted, by now but just in case. I'm urging everyone to get out there and perform your civic duty. I always think of the Northern Exposure episode where Chris went to the polling place dressed in a suit - he's was more than a little attractive but I digress - just to watch the democratic process at work (he couldn't vote because he was a convicted felon). I mean seriously, that used to be one of the worst punishments inflicted upon people, losing their right to vote - not losing cable or internet access, or their FREEDOM but the privilege of voting.

So get out their and cast your ballot!

This blog was paid for and supported by no one but me! :)

New Commission Collage

This is a piece a friend of mine commissioned for a housewarming/Christmas gift. Both of their names start with an "M" so that explains the back. :)

I had fun making the background and playing with the layers but got a little bit stuck on linking it all together. I decided to have fun with the words, added a little glitter and viola... finished piece. I hope my friend likes it!

I'm heading out to the garage/workshop for a long soldering session. My husband had to go to a visitation and funeral for his great-aunt tonight so I'm hoping to make some serious head way on my art list! As always, I'll keep you posted.

Dia De Los Muertos

I always think of my friend Yuri today, he's from Mexico, and today is the 2nd day of the Dia De Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. It's a beautiful tradition that is celebrated in Mexico and that Yuri really loves. It is not his partner's favorite holiday, the skulls can be a little overwhelming if you aren't used to them!

Anyway, it's a great day to remember those who have passed and to tell the people who are still with you that you love them. I also use it as an excuse to eat Mexican food 3 meals a day! You can find out more about this gorgeous tradition here.

Happy Halloween!

It's been a nut house around here tonight. We've had 106 trick or treaters... less than last year's record, but still high enough! Abby, the shepherd mix, has been going crazy and finally had to be put in the bedroom with a bone because she got more and more anxious (and slightly more growly) so it was off to a time out for her. Maya, the Akita, just wanted to say hi and see the costumes... mostly she laid down outside enjoying the weather - 50's in Texas is not something to take for granted! The ghosts and ghouls have worn us out so we're calling it a night.

Happy Halloween!

Contribution to a collaborative book

Sorry about the long delay between posts, I promise I'm working on my time management! This is a page I made for a collaborative book I'm participating in. I used watercolor paper as it's my new favorite surface to work on. I love how I'm able to create really vibrant or subdued colors just by using watercolor crayons, pencils or paint and adding water as needed for the effect I want. I'm also finding it to be very sturdy and holding up to lots of layers!

I'm getting more confident in my collage pieces and trying new things... sometimes it works out better than others! They great thing about the blog is that I can post whichever version I want. ;)

Hope you're having a good weekend guys!

Halloween Cards

These are pics of the Halloween cards I made this year. The little tombstone on the front opens and the little baby skelton is inside... so normally I find skeletons spooky but this one is too cute! The tombstone was inspired by a mystery series, the Sweeney St. George Series, I love by Sarah Stewart Taylor.

I've included a pic of the envelope art for these also. Remember the mail handlers love new stuff to look at. Now I have to clean up my mess! Have a good night guys.

Sorry I was away!

Hey Guys - sorry about the long delay between posts. We went out of town to Missouri over the weekend and have been recovering ever since. I've had bad headaches all week and actually stayed fairly medicated and asleep most of yesterday. I'm hoping to be able to work on Halloween cards tonight... have to go out in the mail!

I'll post pics of the cards, I've got an idea in my head so we'll see how well it translates.

In other news, my brother's band got a write up in the local paper so that was very cool. Yay, Scot!

Otherwise, happy Wednesday!

Headache update

The doctor gave me some fancy, and expensive, migraine medicine that melts in your mouth and works super speedy fast! So far so good, I'm a little nervous about claiming something works great since it's only been one day. I've been home the last two days because my head has just been out of control and I'm wiped out. I was in bed until 10am this morning... I usually get up at 5! After that the puppies and I just veged. Clearly our day was almost as exciting as this post.

I've worked on this piece that's a pic of my Dad and his Mom when he was little... No Mom, this isn't what I couldn't tell you about. You'll see, I promise. :) I'm not sure how clearly the pic will post but the front says "something Timeless" because there really is something timeless about your parents' love.

Tired

I'm kind of wiped out today and have had a migraine all day... it's actually been festering for a month but it's on full force today. Thank goodness I'm heading in to the doctor tomorrow. I've got a few projects going art wise but nothing with photos so I'll post one from a vacation I took with my friend Gwen in 2003. We drove to Colorado Springs, CO from Dallas, Texas over Thanksgiving weekend. It was a wonderful trip and we occupied ourselves by playing Lord of the Rings trivia... I realize I've crossed the geek line and there's no way back!

This photo was taken from our drive up Pike's Peak which I highly recommend. It's beautiful, seriously break your heart beautiful, so I can't say enough about packing up a loved one for a fun road trip. Important side note, not much to see on the drive until you hit New Mexico so have someone you really like to occupy you through West Texas!

Short but Sweet

This is the b-day card I made for my brother. He's kind of a tricky one so I decided to keep it short and sweet using some paper I bought at Art House in Portland. The paper is made by Bam Pop and I really love it. It's fun, funky and cheerful so you can't help but smile when you see it. I also find the tiny robots adorable!

Saturday Market in Portland

One of my favorite things that I did when I was in Portland was to visit the Saturday Market. There were a lot of amazing artists and I saw some fantastic pieces. This was one I loved. I stopped when we were almost ready to head out and I saw his booth. It's odd because these aren't pieces that I would normally be drawn towards but there is something wonderful about his work. It's whimsical and sweet but not in a way that I can clearly articulate. The artist, Theo Ellsworth, can be found at Art Capacity . I met him at the market and he, like his art, was charming and lovely.

I found some great earrings and gorgeous photos that I'll have to add later... can only spotlight one artist at a time!

Speaking artist's spotlights... it's time to visit my ETSY shop again. I've added some great new pieces and the holidays are coming up fast. :)

Hostess ATC for Halloween Swap

I always like to include a little something for a hostess swap when I participate in an exchange of any kind. I think it's my Midwestern/Southern background... you wouldn't dream of going to someone's house without a host/hostess gift!

This is an ATC I made for the hostess of a Halloween ATC swap I'm participating in. I really like this ATC because it includes my new favorite phrenology stamp and I just couldn't resist dressing her up a little. A girl can't go out without the basics - earrings and red lipstick!

Halloween ATC's and a new 'puter

My husband's on vacation this week and he started my new computer while I was in Portland. He finished it up today and I'm not sure how I got by before! Now, it's speedy fast and I can get twice as much done since I don't have to constantly re-boot or wait for something to load.

On the art front, I made these ATC's for a Halloween Swap I'm in. I had a lot of fun working on them since I got to use my new heat tool, my new watercolors and a couple of color techniques I learned from Art & Soul. Now that I've got a lot of new toys, including a glass grinder and strip cutter, I need to buckle down and get some stuff made!

Here's a pic of the ATC's and a fun one of the British Museum... just so you get the full effect. :)

Back from Portland

I took an earlier flight so I got in this morning at 5:30 am. We came home and crashed! It's been a rushed day now that I'm back home and am ready for another vacation. Portland was great but difficult to navigate... I'll post stories over the next week.

My class, Holy Rolling Hot Wheels, was amazing and I learned a lot, unfortunately I was kind of in a funk and feeling more than un-inspired so I really felt bad for Michael DeMeng who was really working hard to make sure I got a lot out of class, I did. I just really missed my studio and the thousands of odds and ends I have here. I tried to pack super light, which I did, and really under-packed in the art area. Ultimately, I think I'm really a homebody and by then I was just unbelievably home sick and wasn't feeling great. The class was fabulous and I learned a massive amount about color theory, metal craft and treating your art as something to treat as a sacred object...not in a pretentious snobby way but just that it's something you created and should be treated with respect.

It was an amazing experience, in part, because we really looked at all the pieces and talked about what was fabulous about them and what was the artist's point of view (trademark Project Runway!) and then we took all of these amazing art pieces and put them on a Hot Wheels track. It was a really lovely and charming combination of reverence and whimsy that really turned around the day for me. If you ever get a chance to take a class at Art & Soul, ArtFest, etc, I highly recommend it.

Lois Lane or Superman? What was your favorite costume?

Inspired by Halloween, I continued with the bottle caps and came up with these little babies. They inspired the question "what was your favorite Halloween costume"? I don't really remember a lot of my costumes. I remember being a clown, with an adorable outfit made by my Grandma (I think that one made the rounds for a few of us). I remember my brother getting painted up and wearing a flannel shirt and going as a werewolf, he was pretty cute. But my most memorable was in junior high heading out to the thrift store with my best friend and buying men's suits for $2.00 and venturing out to the haunted houses as game show hosts.

I hated those haunted houses as being scared is something I hate. My husband even cut-off Carnivale because I couldn't take the creepy factor anymore. But, I wore that suit jacket with a t-shirt and funky jewelry all through high school!

This is probably the last post until Monday when I get back from Art & Soul! I'm really excited and made a special trip to the bookstore to stock up for the plane ride. I got Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris who writes the Southern Vampire series in addition to this one. She's a fabulous writer who can really bring the element of the unexpected to her work. I may have also purchase a slightly cheesy romance novel for the trip as well. :)

Otherwise, I definitely need to get a move on in the packing department. My clothes are clean but definitely still hanging in the closet. I do have directions to most all of the art stores, Sat Market and a great seafood restaurant my friend Lara is dying to visit. Of course no trip to Portland would be complete without a pilgrimage to Powell's. Anyway, the packing's not happening until I turn off the computer!

p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GWEN!!! You're the best!

Boo Season Continues!

I made some fun little bottle cap charms yesterday. These were made from images scanned from my Halloween Tarot deck. It's one of my favorites. I love all of the images and the colors used are gorgeous. Typically I use earth tones and relatively neutral colors so I really admire pieces with bright rich colors and these cards get it right!

One more day and it's time to head to Portland! I'm ready for a break and my friend Lara and I have scoped out some great places to hit for shopping as well as general artiness at the retreat. I'll be away from the blogging while I'm gone ... maybe I can convince the husband to do some stunt blogging but I doubt it! :)

Halloween spirit!

October is one of my all time favorite months. Fall is my favorite season ... it used to be winter but I live in Texas so I had to give up the dream of snow. Normally, the air is getting crisp and the windows are open letting in the cooler breeze but this year it's in the 90's so not so much with the cool breeze.

I'm not giving up though. The house is decorated for Halloween, inside anyway, need to continue nagging the hubby about outside lights, and I've pulled out the Halloween jewelry. I've got enough that I think I could wear a new piece almost everyday for the month but I do have a few favorites. This pin is one of them. I made it last year when I was still pretty scared of the soldering iron but I risked it for jewelry. Seriously, you've got to have priorities!

The other pics are of what is normally my dining room table but has now been transformed into an Halloween wonderland. My husband helped with the wiring logistics which involved two trips to Fry's (electronics superstore!) for the uber-power strips. We're good to go now.

Only 2 more days until I'm headed to Portland for Art & Soul ... must go nag about outside lights. Have a happy Tuesday!

"Man with Secrets" Charm

"Man with Secrets", that's what I'm calling the new charm I made yesterday. I'm experimenting with charms using colored glass. This one has a yellow tint and has bubbles similar to antique/vintage blown glass. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although I found out that only certain colors will really work with the glass. For instance, yellow hued papers (which I did not expect) really look better than say a cream that becomes tinted yellow.

Also, I've been busy getting the house ready for Halloween. I want it all decked out this weekend since I think it's going to be a rush getting ready for Art and Soul next weekend. I'm really excited about the trip and have found a ton of places I want to visit in Portland... I may need to plan a return trip since I'm only there for a weekend!

I'll post some house Halloween pics when I'm finished spookifying the house.

Smarts... use 'em or lose 'em!

I found myself with 5 minutes to spare today and I decided to make some art. It's not the great project I've been contemplating, it's not time consuming and complicated involving every art utensil known to man (although I did use a watercolor crayon!) but it was relaxing and fun. It was also all I had time for in a rather hectic week. I did stamp a piece of glass in anticipation for tomorrow's art... maybe 15 or 20 minutes will be found tomorrow!

The idea here is that it was fun and enjoyable. I'm spending time in the studio, with Abby puppy, and just played. It's my version of a coloring book. Sometimes I don't think I start anything because I don't have enough time or I'm not sure when I could finish, or 50 other perfectly reasonable excuses for not creating. The truth is, you go stale when you don't create or re-charge and find inspiration. It's been a rough month and it's going to get hectic with the holidays so I have to squeeze in the fun projects when I can. This piece was made using my new favorite stamp and my brand new watercolor crayons.

P.S. Also, I should have more time because I'm a little bit grounded for staying out too late last night with my friend Bo. It was totally worth it! :)

Happy Wednesday guys... the weekend is almost here!

Puppy drama and a pink computer in the making

We had a little puppy drama in our house Friday morning, Maya our Akita, was having some labored breathing and my husband had to be at work so it was just me rushing her to the vet. The thing about Maya is that she can't get in my SUV on her own. Abby, the German shepherd, hops in and is in the back reading a magazine by the time we get Maya in. She's really cute because she just puts her front paws on the seat and waits for you to lift her in. Normally, this is something my husband does but Friday morning it was me... struggling to lift the 110lbs of furry cuteness that is Maya into the backseat of my car which sits at a steep incline in the driveway. It also has stadium type seating in the back so it's very tall. Myself, not so tall. This was something to see.

So, Maya is now in the car and we get to the vet who looks her all over but wants to make sure she's okay with x-rays and blood tests. I have to come back for her a few hours later, turns out she has a urinary tract infection and will be fine with anti-biotics and otherwise she's healthy. But, needs to drop a few pounds. I say, who doesn't but after the SUV ordeal, I'm cutting back on the treats. And yes, we had to repeat the same procedure at the vet's to get her back in the SUV... it's good that she's unbelievably cute and sweet.

In other news, my husband is building me a new computer because the laptop I use for art, blogging, etc is in a death spiral and takes about 15 minutes to come on... I think he got tired of listening to me rant. I jokingly asked if my new computer could be pink and he found one! It's really pink and very cute... for a computer box!