Paper Valise

I discovered this blog and its boutique by accident and what a find! They have some very unique curiosities like tiny vintage copper envelope lockets. tiny bird tins, vintage ticket bundles, shell buttons and mica bottles and paper doilies.
http://papiervalise.com/index.html check it out if you haven't already!

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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