It has been awhile!

It has been awhile since I have posted. Life has come around full force suprising me and challenging my every fiber. On May 21st I had a fire that started in my garage and ended up destroying my entire home. It is not with a light heart that I say we were lucky to have made it out alive. We lost all of our material posessions, but we are alive and I am happier than I have been in a long time.
I am slowly returning to the scope of life and I could not be happier!

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y boys first first haircut!!! Gone are the girlish locks!
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In progress, in flight

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Mmm..

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Summer Pasts Faire

Getting ready for the Faire April 17th can't wait! Summer Past Farms is a beautiful open working flower farm. They make soaps, lavender satchets and have a good selection of ornamental garden accessories. You'll find biird houses, iron cages, mini fountains, gazing balls, topiaries and so much more. They have a cafe that makes scrumptious smoothies, sandwiches and mango iced tea. They host an annual craft and antiques faire with over 50 vendors. A great size and crowd. I will have a booth with my friend and fellow artist Celeste Roberts who paints amazing pet portraiture and mexican art. I wil be selling cards for all occasions, journals, gift tags, paintings and more.
This is a super close up of a card that I finished, it has a nice crackle and gem in the heart which is barely noticeable. I hand painted the word Love on the banner with Interference Iron Oxide (by Golden) which I just love and am using like crazy. Staining your vintage papers with a wash of this is great too.
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Nicolas is getting sooo big! We were at the park and he was loving that day. It takes very little to make him happy, a cupcake, a trip to the park, dinosaurs...
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The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
I love this quote, my dad e-mailed it to me and it has so much truth to it.

18 March Journal page

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After sketching it to death and planning and plotting I am finally painting my imaginary casitas on a 12x36 museum wrapped canvas.This is the first of two that I will make. I am going to "let go" while I am painting and let things happen naturally. I will not force all my pre-preparation on to it. To manifest it is good to just let it flow.

A gift of Frida

I received this beautiful fabric from some friends of mine. I absolutely love it and cannot wait to use it (or not).
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Ideas are brewing for a series of mini houses....
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Pages and pages

Sharing another journal page. Frida was coming through again.

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Bracelet from Wyanne

I purchased this colorful bracelet from Wyanne's Etsy shop as a gift to myself for my birthday. I love it and it fits perfectly. The flowers are charming and remind me of my desire for summer to get here!!
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Layers

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This page is starting to take some shape, the depth is coming through. Journaling is a process that I love for its availiblity, you can just open a page and start working. I like to let the page evolve. The freedom to do whatever I want without trying to make a "finished piece". I can express myself with words and images. Words are not enough sometimes to tap into what I may want to express I just gotta have the visuals.
I was so lucky to have worked at PaperSource this past year, I learned much about paper quality and how make my own hard covered journals. I am teaching myself how to make a book using a Coptic stitch technique, its tricky and I keep trying to make it easier by creating my own version but it did not work so well. That is what I love about making and experimenting you can't lose, you just learn and grow.

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I am working on some journal pages and have completed about 5 pages. I love to work in my journals, total freedom, no rules fun. Charcoal is a great technique that I love to use. It really finishes the collaged pieces.
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I need a Cupcake that won't make me fat...

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working on my colors. I primed the panels first with gesso, and acrylic ground for pastels. After that dried I scrubbed in some titan buff then painted the background in various tones of green and turquoise. I decided to add something sweet to the base color(I have been craving cupcakes from the Lemon Grove bakery), something that does not require a lot of thought or heavy feeling- just pure enjoyment.Like the empty calories in a cupcake.
Speaking of small cakes my 43rd birthday is approaching. On that day I will not only have cupcakes but a glass of wine. I have been very strict with fat, sugar, caffeine and alcohol in my diet since I discovered that I have gallstones in my gallbladder. They have conveniently settled in a sensitive area and anytime I eat anything with too much fat or sugar etc.. I end up feeling terrible. It's just not worth it. I have been eating non irritating foods and for now am controlling the problem through diet. As a result I am losing weight which is something I have been yoyo'ing since Nicolas was born two years ago. I wont complain.

I had a class yesterday with Nadia. I am teaching her some basics on how to draw and paint. We will also do some mixed-media. She is eight years old and adorable. Last year for Halloween she was Amelia Earhart complete with plane. Her mother hand made the entire costume using card board, paint and cut up water jugs.She painted it a shiny red, It truly looked like a vintage Lockheed Vega that Amelia flew in. I will have to get a copy of the picture and post it later. SO creative.

Long Tall Skinny Journal

I completed the LTS and what fun it was to make. I used some corrugated card board for the covers, glued down vintage French grammar pages and painted over them with Golden's Fluid acrylics. I will add text, some images and more paint to the covers next but I am enjoying it plain. It measures 14" x 5" and has 20 pages of heavy watercolor paper inside.

Jenny Doh the former editor at Somerset Studios has been spreading the words "Art Saves" on her blog, Cresendoh (http://jennydoh.typepad.com/crescendo/)I love this message and its multi-layered meaning. I think of the millions of times that I have said to myself: just get through the workday and you can get back to that painting or just get the baby to bed and you can go to the studio and make those cards with the new stamps you just bought. Art has brought balance into my life and a place where I can be myself and express my viewpoint. It saves me daily.
On another level Art not only saves, but heals those who have suffered from trauma or sickness. Colorful expression, journaling, drawing, collaging helps patients recovering from cancer see the light in the midst of their darkness. Although their bodies are sick their minds are strong and coping with their illness. Art helps this process.
Jenny Doh raised 250K at CHA with the help of fellow Artists who donated their time, money and work. I want to be apart of saving people through Art.
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Bind Away

This is the cover of a long tall skinny (LTS) journal that I am making using some new techniques I've learned in Color Beyond the Basics. I love how its turning out so far.
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Life is good!!

My son enjoys going for coffee and a treat just as much as I do!! Bon vivant!!
I am going to a mini workshop tomorrow hosted by Donna Salazar. We are going to play with her new Diztrezz-it-All and some other new items. I hope to get some more insight on how to use the Bind-it-all, which is a bit tricky because it still is unfamiliar to me. I did some practice runs today and it was challenging! But once I get it down I know I am going to use it for everything.


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Peace in the most unexpected places

I have had an issue with my coffemaker for the past few months, it keeps leaking brown liquid from its base well after coffee time is over. This morning when I went to make fresh coffee I found that the leaky mess had formed my favorite sign!!! Give Peace a chance!
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The Boy I Love

I did this page in my journal 2 years ago. I loved it then and I still love it now. The little boy is my husband as a boy. Our son looks just like him. A good journal page is timeless. Not that there are any really bad journal pages. Its a process and sometimes the result is more fulfilling than others.
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Valentines Day!

I made all of these in the month of February. Who can resist the need to create "lovely" things? Of course I love my husband, my children, my family but I am also in love with my Art and the creative satisfaction it fulfills, there is no other.
So I CELEBRATE the LOVE of all things this month but primarily the LOVE of Art~

CRAFT CRITIQUE is hosting a Valentine Blog Carnival Call encouraging bloggers to show off and share Valentine related crafty projects: paper, fabric, yarn, food, jewelry...

Just e-mail CRAFT CRITIIQUE at carnival@craftcritique.com with a link to your blog post (not the blog itself... JUST the post or individual posts). Do this before February 10th, 6pm Central Time. Feel free to send in old posts, new posts or posts from your BFF's blog... anything goes... but it must be Valentine's Day or love-themed, and it must be on a blog. Here's a great tip: if you use tags on your blog, and have a TAG for "Valentine's Day" click on that... send us the link to that TAG.
Limit one link per person!

They will put together one amazing Carnival post of all the wonderful links sent to them and share with their readers YOUR terrific blog! Dont forget to tell your YOUR blog readers about the carnival too! And wham... we are all one big happy, crafty, bloggy family!

Wyanne is an Artist from Amelia Island in Florida and she does some of the most creative and freeing work I have seen in awhile. I love her work! This cheeky owl is so cute and I love the final coat of resin that she applies at the end. She makes it look so easy. Visit her at http://wyartjewels.blogspot.com/

Mis en Place

I'm starting dinner, gathering mi mis en place.
The wine is for me. I am making a roast chicken from my Julia Childs cook book from Knopf publishers in 1970. I love her books I have both volumes that very old. Creating lends itself to so many mediums and cooking is in my top two. Art and cooking. I am driving my husband bananas because I am making cookies every other day. I do admit that I have been on a baking frenzy lately but mainly due how cold it is in our house. Albeit we are in San Diego, it gets cold when you do not have a heating unit in your home. Its like camping!! Our furnace has gone defunct and is pending replacement.

Happy! I made it to the studio today and prepared some pages for painting for my online class through Julie Pritchard's Land of Lost Luggage network. She has paired up with Golden's Chris Cozen for a series of classes on color.
I look forward to it, I have been crafting and I am ready for a bit of a change. I have some ideas brewing.
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Pink door Turquoise trim

Who does'nt like a hot pink door with turquoise trim?
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About stuff that gets stolen.

So we had a minor theft occur from our front porch the night before last. While we were down for the night someone took my husbands tool bag and my son's jogger/stroller. Please! I was in a panic today because as I do not have a car right now the stroller is my main means of getting around with Nico. Anyway I went to my local Veterens thrift store and found one nearly identical to the one that was taken and in some ways nicer. The color is a periwinkle blue and has a very convenient handbrake. Its a little bit larger and her fits better in too. Some things just work out.The funny thing is that I had a strong feeling this morning before setting out to the Thrift that I would find what I needed. My husband however had to pull together tools from his old stock and use a bucket to store them. But my point is that its just stuff and you can almost ALWAYS replace it. Its just stuff!

Check it out!! For dinner I made turkey meatball subs on rosemary rolls with fresh green beans. An odd pairing but we needed a veg in there somewhere. I also made Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip cookies which are delicioso.

While in the studio the other day I was overwhelmed by the amount of supplies and things I have to make art with. I have exotic items and everyday items. I decided that I would review the products and the projects as I go along. I will impart an honest perspective on how they performed. For example Goldens Self leveling Tar Gel. i am fascinated by what it can do. I will post a review once I have worked with its possibilities.

I went to the website at http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicaldata/targel.php
and found this informative video demoing the product.

PAPAYA! BLOG

PAPAYA! BLOG

I have made the giant leap into the land of ETSY. I finally listed a few items that I made today and they look pretty good. Taking good pictures is not as easy as I would like it to be. I cannot seem to get a good clean, crisp close-up shot. I got as close as I could and they look pretty good in the shop. I also worked with a great ETSY seller named "D" at the PhotoSpot for my banner. The Busy Bee Paperie is now open for business!!

Tread lightly

I made this acrylic painting in celebration of Valentines Day. Tread lightly on my heart and my soul. Although you cannot see it too well the reds just glow. I used some of Chris Cozen's technique for building color. The effect is deep and rich. I also used Goldens modeling paste which is easy to apply when fresh. Unfortunately I had an ancient tub that had already turned. I used it anyway by freshing it with a bit of water and working it with my palette knife. I coated the hearts with Self Leveling Clear Tar Gel which gave it a glossy finish. Golden makes amazing products that inspire experimentation.

Potty Train Me Please!!

I am determined to get him trained! He is very aware of the process but is very resistent to change. Just like a male....

Testing

I am super excited at the possibility of blogging from my mobile!!