Here we go again...

Well I am going to try my hand at this again! Sorry I have been missing in action but it's been a crazy few months around here with all kind of time consuming crap happening in my life. I really didn't have much good news to share. The only good thing is that I also moved into a period of new directions with my artwork, I'll share something about that at the bottom of this post. I want to thank all my friends for encouraging me to take this up again, especially Pat Q. and Ursula. 

This is my cat Bailey who lays across me each night as we relax at the end of the day. He is so sweet!

As you can see, we have all been in a funk around here. This is Miss Beezie.

Unfortunately Miss Beezie passed away last week after a long battle with Thyroid disease and Cancer. We miss her.

This is our Super Cat Spencer, able to climb tall cabinets in a single bound. You just never know where you'll find him.

Here is Cutie Pie (this is not his real name, he has a past so he has asked us to use an alias) sleeping away in the lap of his favorite guy.

As promised, here is the first of a new series of collages I am working on. Currently this piece and another one in this series is hanging in a art show called "New Directions" at the Townsend Library. This series depicts scenes from women's lives in the 1950's and 1960's. It is a mixed media collage using vintage wall papers, vintage magazine clippings, old Sears and Roebuck catalogs, and one of my mothers recipes in the background. I have a lot of ideas for this series.

I have started my first e-course this week with Kelly Rae Roberts in an effort to get my creative business up off the ground and start selling some of my art. It is only the beginning but I am enjoying it as well as really enjoying the camaraderie and all the wonderful support that the members are giving. I think there may be some long distance friendships born here. 

My mantra through these last few trying months is: Just keep moving forward. That's all I can do right now.

Next up: My visit to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Chihuly exhibit.

Getting Back to Some Kind of Normal

Does this look familiar to any of you? This picture of my studio workspace was taken just a few days before Christmas. Especially at Christmas time, my studio gets really trashed. All surfaces, including the floor are covered in last minute projects and unwrapped Christmas presents. Glitter is found everywhere (you don't want to know where - you know what I mean). Drawers left open with contents spilling out, not to mention some small pieces of furniture that must be moved out of our living room to make way for the Christmas tree. I really don't enjoy my space when it gets like this, and even worse is the post-Christmas clean up!

It was an especially hectic holiday season this year as our youngest son got married on New Years Eve. Here are photos of some of the projects that were created for that special event:

This was the rehearsal dinner invite that I created using a Memory Box snowflake rubber stamp (you may remember this image was also used on the wedding invite I did). I lined the envelopes with my new favorite paper: Glitter Wrapping Paper by Paper Source. It is a paper weight instead of a card stock weight, therefore it is less bulky, especially for lining envelopes. I wanted a real "wow factor" when the recipient opened their invitation. I also punched out some glitter-paper snowflakes and glued them as a seal on the back of the envelope with my trusty zebra-stripe Xyron sticker machine.

I also created some die cut snowflake place cards with my Cricut machine, and snowflake-topped favor boxes for the rehearsal dinner table.

Here's a photo of the rehearsal dinner:

I also made menus for each person with more embossed snowflakes, and the edges of the menu pages punched with a Martha Stewart snowflake "Punch Around The Page" punch set. 

I was also able to finish a family cookbook project for my sons that I have been working on for the last 2 1/2 years. I have been scrapbooking photos with favorite family recipes and stories and I was able to finish covering the album just days before Christmas. 

Because I was so busy with the wedding plans and the holidays, I was not able to squeeze in some blogging time. Here are some favorite photos from this past holiday season that I would like to share with you now:

The path to heaven on earth.....

I look forward each year to visit the West Family Tree Farm to tag our Christmas tree.

Here's where we put a $2.00 deposit and mark our name with a crayon to register. Mr. and Mrs. West come out of their quaint farmhouse upon our arrival, to chat about the year we have had. 

Remember when the ground was this color?

We found a beautiful tree to tag. While walking the property looking for the perfect tree, we saw a tree that was not only tagged by it's family, but decorated by the child of the family. We thought this was such a charming idea that we returned the following weekend with an ornament to put on our tree.

We also left a note on the tree that so inspired us....

Our cutie pie is anxiously waiting for Santa to come.

While visions of field mice danced in their heads...

Santa stuffed our stockings...

...and brought us new toys! Boy, do I love to party with my family! 

Yippee!!!

December 26, 2010

Now that the holidays are past, and a new year has begun without the pressures of long term projects ahead of me, I find my attention turning to some new exciting projects.

I started a small quilting project

I made some altered art emergency kits for my Altered Art Group. They were made from toilet tissue cardboard rolls and were inspired from a project in a past issue of "Green Craft" magazine.

I altered a plain white plaster angel Christmas ornament into a Frida ornament for our Altered Ornament Swap.

Kyle and Jason

Recently I met Sue Bleiweiss who hosts "The Sketchbook Challenge" blog at a Jane Davies workshop at Ink About It and was interested in pushing myself to pick up my pencils and draw again. The first theme for the challenge was "Highly Prized". I couldn't think of a more prized subject matter than my two sons. I must admit, I am a little rusty to say the least;  my apologies to my more handsomer sons. 

I have set a goal for 2011 to push my limits, and do the artwork I was born to do. This is a good start for January. But I can do better.