Hold Dear

art and soul and sabbatical...

Hello there...

It's been awhile since I've done any blogging or blog reading. Life has just been so busy (all good wonderful artsy things!) and then I had the flu (not such a good wonderful thing) plus my day job has really switched to high gear. Super busy. ESPECIALLY with all the Silver Bella prep I'm needing to do! I am hosting a fabric fatbook (the artwork coming in for this swap is SPECTACULAR!) and I signed up to be a vendor. Gulp! I've been stocking up on tons of goodies like crazy these past few months but now I need to put things in cute little packages!!! DOUBLE GULP! (Uh oh...now I want to go to 7-11!)

So I've decided that I am going to officially declare a blogging sabbatical for myself for these next few weeks. I'm declaring it as opposed to just disappearing off the face of the blogging planet. :-)

BUT before I take off, I have one last thing that I've been meaning to blog about!

I had the very lovely pleasure of taking a class with Deryn Mentock in the beginning of October at Portland Art and Soul. The class was called Wingkeeper. It was fabulous! Two days of jewelry-making and techniques! Happy! Here are a few pictures...

Lovely Deryn and I...she is SUCH a fabulous teacher!

Here is the first piece I made...

 
(totally need to re-do those coils...first time with this technique...ugh!)

I made the little soldered "box" in a class with Stephanie Lee at last year's Art and Soul. I just loved it but I could never figure out what to do with it. I brought it to class with me just in case I would be inspired. I was. And I SO love this little piece of vintage lace that's just been hanging around waiting patiently to be used.

Here's the large piece from the class...

 

To make this picture larger, click on it and then click again...I had such trouble getting a good shot of this!

I LOVED learning how to make tassels!

 

Butterfly wing sandwiched in mica.

Sweet spot alert! :-)

That filigree dangly is something I picked up at a junk store in the "single earring" bin absolutely years ago. I think it totally makes this piece!

Okay...so with that, my dear people, I'm outta here for a few weeks! Take care! 

Weekend fun...

I'm telling you, I am SUCH a lucky girl! I get to bop around here and there having some pretty amazing adventures (still need to finish catching up on Artistic Affaire blogging!) but then there are times when I don't even have to leave town to have some equally terrific adventures!

Take this weekend, for example. Last night I had a unique adventure and then since this weekend is Art and Soul, I am also meeting up with a great friend for a day of shopping, eating, shopping, etc. And tomorrow and Monday, I am taking a two-day class with Deryn Mentock. I consider myself very lucky to know Deryn and now to be taking a class with her is OVER THE MOON happy-making! I love her style!!!! 

So last night, my former-online-friend-now-friend-in-real-life, Sue Reaney, was in town with her adorable husband, Jud. I got to meet up with them for a quick trip to Cupcake Jones (two words - red velvet!!) and then collage. After this, Glen joined us for a marvelous dinner at La Petite Provence. It was such a great time!

Our trip into collage, as usual, was a treat. Here's Sue and I with Suki...we adored meeting her!!!

Okay...off I go...so much more to share so I'll be back soon!

 

artistic affaire l'automne...

Oh there's so much wonderful Artistic Affaire goodness in blogland...and I'm feeling quite behind since I haven't posted any pix and have hardly been around to chit chat about it!

Right when I got home, I got a bug and it was all I could do to get myself to work. There wasn't a whole lot of blogging or it took me almost a week to even get around to loading my pictures!

So, if you'll indulge me, I'd love to spend a few minutes and share with you some loveliness that blessed my soul and eyeballs over the weekend of this event. It may take a few posts, but that's just because this was a jam-packed weekend!

I flew down to Orange County on Thursday evening (Sept 17) and the fabulous Cheryl picked me up from the airport. And how lucky am I that I then got to stay in her home for the weekend! It was just absolustely gorgeous and so comfortable! Check it out...this was the wonderful (and generous!) gift basket that Cheryl had waiting from me in the guest room...

 

On Friday, we headed out to do a bit of shopping. Cheryl took me to one of her favorite shops called Country Roads.

 

 

 

For lunch, we went to Watson's Drug Store and Soda Fountain and then bopped around to a few other shops in the area. SO fun!

 

 

 

Friday evening was then the opening event of the Vendor Fair at Kim's event. I'll just let the pictures of the fabulous decor be the star here...

 

 

 

Cute make and take from Laura McCollough...

 

And then some of the most amazing gals were there selling some of the BEST stuff. I confess, I indulged myself and actually bought a few trinkets. I usually just buy "supplies" but on this night, I came home with this lovely necklace from Ruth Rae...

Oh how I love this! And absolutely every time I wear it out, I get compliments!

Okay so much more to share but must run...I promise more more more very very soon! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

266...

...that's how many pictures I took over the weekend at Kim's Artistic Affaire L'Automne event. And it would have been more had I not left my camera at the event on Saturday night so I didn't have it to take pix at the Long Beach Antique Market on Sunday morning! The whole weekend from start to finish was incredible and I was so fortunate to be in the company of some of the most amazing women!

I have lots to share with you but please bear with me, it's been a tough transition back to the routine of life.

Work has been extra busy plus I picked up a bug while traveling. This has me going to bed while the sun's still out and here it is Thursday and I've only just now loaded my pictures. Sigh...I'm trying to keep the weekend clear to rest and catch up! 

I did want to do a quick shout out to my dear friend Cheryl for letting me stay at her (beautiful!) home and for doing all that driving! Can't wait to reciprocate with a tour of Portland! :-)

another adventure...

Hi ho...I will be away for a few days. Heading down to SoCal to hang out with some of the funnest girls I know!

I am going to Kim Caldwell's Artistic Affaire L'Automne this weekend. I am so thrilled to FINALLY get to go to one of her events! Can't wait! Super de duper added bonus for me...I'll be staying with sweet Cheryl... LOVE that girl! :-)

There were some super fun swaps for this event and I joined two of them. One is a soul-inspired canvas swap hosted by Jenny Morgan and the other is a thankfulness fabric fatbook hosted by Sherry Bamsey.

Here's the canvas piece...

  

I have to admit, I was really pleased with how this turned out. I'm gonna have to try to recreate one now for me to keep!

And here are the pages...

 

 

weekend of happiness...

Hello Friends...

As you may know, this past weekend I traveled to Eugene, OR (two hour drive) to teach my very first class on Saturday. Just about every quarter, Jill and Emily host the OH-SO-LOVERLY ComePlay:Eugene event and they invited me to be a part of it!

Well, in hindsight, I can honestly say the whole weekend was FABULOUS! Of course the teaching gig was fun fun fun but the experience of spending some quality time with such wonderful women was just priceless! The trip on Sunday to the Coburg Antique Fair sure didn't hurt to make this a memorable weekend either! That event will now forever be on my radar. Marvelous! I'll share pix of my treatly treats later!

So about the teaching...I had SUCH a great time. And it wasn't that I did such a great job teaching (learned a few things, let's just leave it at that) but now I know why people love to teach. It feeds the soul! Even though I was the one doing most of the instruction and leading the class, I got SO much positive energy in return. After teaching the two classes, I actually didn't feel tired. Amazing!

I've often wondered how I would be in front of a class, teaching something I was very passionate and cared about. Now I know. And I wasn't nervous AT ALL and felt like I was able to think on my feet, which was kinda important since I made a few boo boos. I was a bit anxious because I really didn't get a chance to do a mock "run through" of the class but I quickly learned a few things in the first class and so was able to make some adjustments immediately for the second class. That was an ideal scenario, kind of like Cirque du Soleil. If a performer makes a mistake, he/she has to do the trick again during the performance. I always thought that was so cool. 

Oh and I want to mention that if any of the girlies who were in the class are visiting me here, starting next week, I will be posting some tutorials on my blog of the little miscellaneous projects I intended to teach in the class. Big hugs to each and every one of you...so happy you were there!

The greatest thing I enjoyed about this teaching gig was absolutely the people. Both groups were full of the most supremely patient, talented and encouraging women. I quickly felt very close to everyone because they were so warm and kind. That helped a lot. There were no whiners, no haters, no meanies. I can't say that I'm surprised since the women that attended this event were drawn to it because of Jill, Emily, Tricia and Ali, whom are all just pure lovely and good, good people. 

Adored seeing Kim again too!

I'll just leave you with a few pictures...this is the first class (one person left already)...

 

This is the second class...

 

I took this pic while we were gathering to go to the antique fair. It's 6:00 am which is why it is SOOOO dark and just about everyone's holding a cup of coffee!!!! :-)

 

Some pix from the fair...

 

 

 

 

A couple of sweet girlies...Amy and Sandy...these two girls were an absolute delight and they're next door neighbors! What fun!!!

And LOVED spending lots of time with Kelleigh...

and Jill!

Both pix snagged from Emily's blog! Thanks! :-)

Okay...gotta scoot...I have to go finish getting ready for the next big thing...a trip to SoCal to attend Kim Caldwell's Artistic Affaire L'Automne! I'll be staying with the incredile Cheryl and there are gonna be some fabulous girlies there! Can't wait can't wait!

comeplay:eugene

Oh my! How fun is this...I will be in Eugene this weekend teaching a class! I'm still floating on a cloud of happiness that Jill and Emily even invited me to teach! It will be at the fabulous ComePlay:Eugene event that these two lovelies host several times a year. Saturday is the class (there's two sessions) and then Sunday we'll be heading to the Coburg Antique Fair! I've been cashing in my cans and saving my coupon money for this one! :-)

I showed some sneak peeks a bit ago of the journal we will be making in the class while it was in progress but now that I've finished the official "class sample," I get to show you the full thing...

 

When I originally made this book, I made it for just me and used a lot of elements and souvenirs from my ArtNest adventure. I needed to modify this so as not so use original art from sweet Julie and Candice. So in addition to having to make my own art for this project...

 

...I had to made some new pages! Fortunately, Tricia was sweet enough to send me the September Cocoa Daisy kit. Attendees to my class will be getting September's kit and it is gorgeous!!! Ali Edwards is the guest designer this month for Cocoa Daisy and has been doing a lot of pages and projects with the kit as well. It's a fun one!!!

So here are a few pages...

 

(pardon the blurriness :-)

 

 

As you might have gathered, the pages consist of a lot of pockets, envelopes and journaling spots. That's so when you go on your own adventure (art or otherwise!), you can create a Souvenir Journal. 

In addition to the glorious scrapbooking kit from Tricia, you will also receive a lot of fun vintage-inspired goodies from Jill. Oh and there will be lots of fun extras in the class kit that I've put together for the attendees too! :-) Eeeee! This is so fun!

If you're still looking' for something GREAT to do in the Eugene, OR area tomorrow, be sure to stop by here and sign up. Let me know if you'll be there!

Take care!!!

next circle journal...

Hello Sweetests...

Last year at ArtFest I had the distinct priviledge of rooming, getting to know and in general, getting in some serious quality hanging out time with some SPECTACULARLY talented artists. In addition to the marvelous classes and the ArtFest event itself, every evening was spent in either the Dorm's common area or someone's room chatting, laughing, sharing art, sharing snacks and, of course, some drinkies! What a blast!

One of roommates last year was Alexandria and she is an incredibly talented artist. I LOVE her style...every last little bit of it! Alex started some discussion about doing a Circle Journal and invited some ArtFest sisters to join her in doing one. Man oh man! How could I miss this?!

So this Circle Journal has officially begun! This a big group and I can just feel it...this is gonna be good!!!!

The participants are:

Adeola

Alex

Amanda

Amy Renae

Andria

Cheryl

Colleen

Emily ruth

Jessica

Jill

Nikki

Senta

Stephanie

Tami

and with me, that puts us at 15!

This is the largest circle journal I've ever done so I'm pretty itchy to see how it all turns out! What an amazing bunch, don't you think?! Oh I'm so happy!

The theme of my book is Birds and Natural Findings. I just couldn't imagine a book with any other theme since my similarly themed circle journal returned home to me a few months back. That book was magical and I felt like I wasn't quite done with this topic. :-)

I started with a ready to go book 8' x 6 1/4" with 7 1/4" x 6". I gessoed, painted, added a ribbon for the closure and then covered the whole front and back with UTEE.

Here's my book...

 

Closer...

and a few of the pages...

 

  

 

 

 

 

Everything all buttoned up and on it's way...first stop...Nikki!

 

 

I just received Jill's (GORGEOUS) journal so I can't wait to get started!

I'm SO looking forward to seeing how all of this one turns out! Thanks girls for letting me play!!!!

have you seen this?

Found this on http://icanhascheezburger.com/. LOVE it! :-)

The original photo was taken by Melissa and Jackson Brandts in Banff in late May. Here's an interview with the couple.

SOOOOO cute!

miscellaneous fun stuff...

Hi there...

Just wanted to share a few fun artsy bits from things in my life.

I don't think I showed you a picture of the completed mosaic I did with my friend, Grace, last month.

 

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and will definitely do some more of this type of work!

Another fun thing...I have in my possession a journal from a "Wreck This Journal" group I'm in right now. One of the prompts was "doodle this entire page." Since I am a fan of doodling, I jumped at the chance to take on this challenge!!

 

Other things going on...I am going to be teaching a class on September 12th in Eugene as part of Jill and Emily's fantastic event ComePlay: Eugene. I'm SO excited for this...I can hardly believe it!

I've been working on my class sample and I created a fun little postcard that will go on the cover.

 

Also, I've been working on a travel journal that I started for my trip to California. I've only had the chance to do a few pages but so far, here are a few sweet spots that I'm loving.

 

 

 

I'm definitely stuck on a specific style of journaling right now, ya think?

Okay my sweets, off to go start a wonderful weekend with Mr. G. Hope you have some fun stuff planned. I'm hoping to get in LOTS of artsy time. I am officially up to my artballs with projects! :-)