Hold Dear

go by air...

I sure hope you all had a wonderful  l - o - n - g  holiday weekend! I don't know about you, but it really felt like the weekend went by slowly. It was wonderful but it sure made me want more time off because I was truly feeling like I was on vacation.

The original plan for the weekend was to go airplane camping after work late Thursday afternoon. Airplane camping is when we load up the plane with a tent, sleeping bags, air mattress, a cool chest full of sodas (for me!) and vitamin waters, a few power bars and other personal essentials and then head off to a camp site with a landing strip.

I've only gone airplane camping once before several years ago and after some discussion and bribery, Glen talked me into making another trip with him. :-) 

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, it was so danged hot on Thursday that we had to put the ol' kabosh on our plans. I was surprised that I was actually disappointed that we couldn't go. I had mentally prepared myself for it and not going just felt like such a let down. So I suggested that we get up Friday morning and go for a flight! And so that is what we did!

We tried to fly out to the coast but it was pretty foggy in the morning and so we made a detour and headed south to Independence for lunch. It was a fabulous day and we made it back to the hangar (around 1:30 pm) just when it was starting to heat up.

Here are a few pix from the day...

You know all too well that I am a fan of the shadow self-portrait. Well, here is the ULTIMATE shadow self-portrait! Can you see the airplane shaped shadow in the lower middle portion of this picture? That's us! :-)

         

Some scenery...

 

The view as we were landing at Twin Oaks to gas up...

 

Henry Hagg Lake...

 

Our view of the coast...

 

Where those clouds are down along the tops of the mountains is where you can usually see the breakers. Or so I am told. Glen has tried to take me to the coast on three separate occasions and it's always foggy! Oregon coast? Whoda thunk!

The Gellers in the air...

 

Glen's beloved airplane...

 

Willamette River...

 

The view in front of Glen's hangar. I loved how foamy the flowering grass looked...

 

Glen shares his hangar with a few other guys and while Glen was cleaning his plane, I snooped around and spied a few things that were beautiful to me. I love these old boxes full of nuts and bolts!

 

And I COVET this gorgeous old drawer! (I wouldn't mind the having those drill bits either!)

 

Glen knockin' down the bugs...

 

On the way home, we spied a doe and her fawn in some brush along side of the road...

Okay...gonna go park it on the couch with Glen and watch The Simpsons. Tonight's episode is "Stark Raving Dad," an episode from 1991 where Homer goes to a mental institution and meets a guy who thinks he's Michael Jackson. :-)

Wishing you have a marvelous week!

happy independence day...

Just wanted to do a quick post to wish everyone a very Happy Independence Day!  Hope you have some fun stuff planned.

I, for one, am grateful to be living in the United States of America and to have the freedoms I have. Thank you to the servicemen and women, past and present, for the sacrifices made/are making all for our great country!

Oh and so cool...I just heard on the radio that the crown of The Statue of Liberty is open for tours today. Oh man! Can you even imagine how glorious that would be?! Not only to be part of such a historic event but oh that view....!

feathered nest...

Quite some time ago, my friend Elise put out the call for artists to join her for a round robin. She had just returned from an Art Nest retreat (maybe the first one?) and, I'm sure, was feeling inspired and creative! This round robin took quite awhile to find it's way home to me (just a little over a year) but oh my sweet Mother of Pearl, it was SO worth the wai!.

Each participant got to choose her own them. My theme was "Feathered Nest." When Elise mentioned this round robin, it was the first time I had heard of Art Nest and the whole nest thing sounded so inspiring so I went with that! Pop here to see what my little book looked like before I sent it off into the world.

Here is what my book looks like now...all colorful and chunky, just the way I love it!

 

Incredible...

 

 

This is a clear envelope that had little treat packets for each of the participants. I LOVE how now that the packs are gone, there's just remnants of feathers...

 

And then the pages...no words are necessary...enjoy!

 

Artist: Melissa Merrill

 

 

Artist:  Elise Buskey

 

 

 

Artist: Angel Chiasson

 

 

Artist:  Rebecca Brooks

 

Artist: Kate Robertson

 

Artist: Sue Burton

 

 

 

Artist: Rena Peterson

 

Artist:  Sherry McKell

 

 

 

Artist: Deb Beeton

 

Artist: Malou Medina-Bolus

Every time I look through this book, I am in awe. There is just so much beauty. So many different artists with different styles using so many incredible techniques.

Thank you to all of the artists who contributed to this work of art. This is the book I will be picking up for inspiration, time and time again.

updates...

Hi friends...

Lots and lots of goings on so I'm just gonna jump right to it!

First, I have to mention that Glen and I had the most LOVELY visit with my dear friend,Ilene, this past weekend. She and her husband, Dave, were in town while Ilene attended a class at the Focus on Books Arts event. We met up for dinner and a visit and it was so perfect! So fun to catch up with Ilene and it was just so interesting to see how our two boys just hit it off.

I have a couple of charm swaps that I'm currently working on. Not sure why I still do these things since I have no more room to display them. Here are the bracelets I have so far...

 

This last swap was a Text Charm swap with the Charmsters group I'm in. This swap was hosted by the ever brilliant Maureen Baranov and the idea was based on the work of Deryn Mentock that was published in this summer's issue of Belle Armoire.

I haven't assembled a charm bracelet out of these beauties yet, but here are all of the charms.

 

My charm is in there...I blogged about it and created a quick little tutorial on how I made it here.

Other things going on...I am participating in a Wreck This Journal round robin and received my first journal. It's Lore's and oh what a brave one she is. She taped it closed and then mailed it without an envelope!  Here's the front and back...

 

 

Pretty cool, eh? Can't wait to dig in and wreck it!

I've also made a few fun purchases on my Goodwilling/Garage Sale adventures.

A few of the fun items secured and in my possession...

Awesome plastic cake plate...

 

Beautiful pieces I salvaged from an otherwise hideous necklace...

Game tiles in the shape of a house... :-)

 

And a collection of "sea pottery."

Sort of like sea glass but shard of pottery instead of glass. I bought this from a man at a garage sale. He was selling off a few of his collections. He had ton of those glass insulator things, tools, fishing gear and then there were these boxes that, at first glance, appeared to be full of sea shells and driftwood. I almost didn't give it a second look because, well, I've got enough sea shells. But then, something shiny caught my eye. Is that...? Could it be...? Sea glass? Then I gasped...and oh Mother of Pearl...that's when I realized there were bags and bags of sea glass in one of the boxes! And then I saw sea pottery! Oh my...I began to hyperventilate and went into full frontal bargaining mode. Glen walked away because he didn't want to be witness to what was about to transpire. He knew I had money in my pocket and knows how much I love sea glass. So after some bargaining, these bags came home with me...

 

That large one in the upper right hand corner is a gallon bag, people. Sigh. Seriously happy. Oh and I also learned afterwards while talking to the guy that the glass had been collected during vacations from spots such as the Carribbean, Mexico, and Jamaica. Um, yeah, kinda cool. 

Okay...I'm gonna go take some Tylenol and rest for a bit. I had an orthodontist appointment today and I graduated to steel wires! Not horrible but there's definitely more ache and my mouth feels so small because I can hardly open my mouth! Do you realize that it's almost been a year since I got my braces? 8-8-08 was the date. I'm trying to be a very good patient because even though I've gotten used to them, I'm PRAYING that I don't have to go too far beyond the targeted 18 months of wearing them!!!

a few bits ...

Hello there, dear friends. I know it's been awhile. Another unintended little break from all things bloggy.

Thursday, June 19 was my last night of school for this term and well, Spanish 102 really took a lot out of me (I ended up with an "A"...WOW!!!). I've deliberately slowed things down to let myself catch up and recover. As a result, I'm spending less time on the computer so I can spend my precious time and energy taking care of myself, my family, and my house. Also, I've stepped things up in getting on a regular schedule with Billy. So happy about that; however, the whole exercise thing tires me out and so then I have to get to bed earlier. Still waiting for the big energy boost to kick in that exercise is supposed to give you! :-)

I've also been spending some time considering other directions to take in my artistic life. Since being accepted as a vendor for Silver Bella, I have been putting a lot of thought into that and have decided to move forward in setting up a full-fledged online shop! I even got my business license! Huge work in progress, folks! :-)

In addition to this, I just started working on a fun project with my local art pals Denise, Dawn, and Melissa. This project is still in development but as it start to come to life, you can be sure I'll be sharing the details with you! 

There's some artsy things I've been working on and I'd show you if I had pictures. Got to get caught up on that! For now, here are a couple of quick pictures I took last time I was over Miranda's new little house for a visit. Love that crafty girl.

Wall of Polaroids...

 

An entire wall in one of their livingrooms (smile) dedicated to serving as the house community calendar. Tacks and string and a few scraps of paper...be sure to click to open the picture and then click again to make it even larger...

 

One last picture...guerilla art on a paper towel dispenser in a public bathroom...I LOVE this!

 

Also, dear friends, I'm really really sorry if you've sent me an email or left me a comment and I haven't responded. I used to be so good about keeping up with that! I still love you and am so grateful for your sweet and encouraging words but I've just become so embarassingly behind, I don't even know where to begin!  Still love me???

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ETA:  I just have to say, SO TRAGIC about Michael Jackson! I'm in shock!

wrecked in the mail...

My super fun friend, Lore, asked a group of us if we'd like to join her in a round robin version of "Wreck This Journal." Of course I had to play!

The plan was to start with just a plain ol' composition book and wreck it ala Keri Smith! I'm happy to say that all of the materials I used to create my journal were things I had already had laying around. I cannot pass up buying an unused composition book or journal whenever I come across them at Goodwill.

So here's my journal, in all it's wrecked glory...the cover with gessoed and then with crayons (also  purchased at Goodwill), I colored and then ran over it with a craft iron.

 

Intro page...

The "flight plan" meaning the path the journal will take to ensure it gets into everyone's hands!

 

And then a few of the prompts...some were ones that I saw in Keri Smith's "Wreck This Journal" and others were prompts that floated by in my brain...

 

I glued the pages together with gel medium and then gessoed them. Perfect canvas for anything and everything!

 

 

 

It was SO much fun creating this journal! I hear one is in the mail on it's way to me and I can't wait to get my hands on it! Mine will go in the post tomorrow, on it's way to Barb, to start it's journey. Yeee-haw!

As I receive each journal and work on it, I'll be sure to share pictures!

Take care...

sweet day...

Hello there! How's things? Great I hope! :-) 

I spent this fine and glorious day with my sweet hubbs. I finished up my Spanish class this week and so this morning, I slept in a bit and then got up, happy and ready to enjoy my first Saturday of summer vacation! :-)

Glen and I had a few errands to run...we took a load of big ticket items to a city-sponsored "hard to recycle items" event and then we went to the Farmer's Market for some lunch and fresh veg. 

And then, a miracle occured. Glen took me to Goodwill! He usually does not enjoy this kind of thing so we rarely go together. Well, today a little blessed light shined on us because check out what we found and bought...

We've got something very fun planned for this beauty! It's a 1946 RCA Victor Victrola "Golden Throat" radio cabinet. It originally had an AM/FM/SW (shortwave) radio and phonograph with storage for LP's in the side cabinets (Glen did some homework!) The one we bought has no electronics inside of it whatsoever. It's completely empty so we are thinking of converting it to a little "bar." The barware will go in the middle section and the cabinets are tall enough to store the booze!

 

 

It needs a lot of cleaning and some TLC but what a fun project, don't ya think?! :-)

After settling down from this adventure, I got out in the garden and took a few pics. I am just in love with our peonies...I need to plant lots more!

 

 

 

Last Thursday, after it had been raining all night, I went out and took a few pictures before work.

In addition the peonies winning my heart, there's the rose campion in our garden. It is going bonkers and if I let this stuff have it's way, I don't think it would hesitate taking over the whole garden! I really love it but it self seeds like crazy and needs to be kept in check.

 

 

I love this picture because you can see my sweet little Atti-man trying to sneak into the picture (upper left corner).

 

Okay...that's all for now. Wishing you a happy day...nothing much more to do this weekend except hang out with the family, do lots of artsy projects and eat lots of strawberries!

comeplayeugene...

...was fun fun fun on a bun! Thank you so much to Jill and Emily for hosting ComePlayEugene and taking such great care of us!

The event was scheduled to go from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm and the plan was to ride down to Eugene with fabulous Amy. But to do this, I had to be at her house at 6:45 am. Whoa! It was a bit startling to be out and about that early, but, hey, a girl does what a girl has to do to hang out with her pals!

We made great time getting down to Eugene, even being the first to arrive at Jill's house at 9:03 am. However, after hugs and greetings and a quick twirl around Jill's beautiful home, I realized I had forgotten the memory card for my camera! Amy, being the fabulous gal that she is, instantly recognized that this was an emergency situation and quickly whisked me off to the nearest Bi-Mart so I could buy a new one for the day! Bless you, Amy! Crisis narrowly averted! :-)

So Amy wrote a post on her blog about the event and boy, she sure captured it. Yesterday was so so so much more than just a day of art. There was some incredible vintage shopping at the Creative Boutique and I got started on a souvenir book from The Art Nest but it turned out to be a day that just filled me up with happiness and gratitude.

Emily and Jill had a lot of little special treats planned for us throughout the day such as a scrapping challenge, games with prizes, a scavenger hunt, and all the M&Ms a girl could ever hope to eat in her lifetime. At dinner time; however, something else happened. They opened up a game called Table Topics and while we ate the homemade calzone that Emily made for us (complete with dough made from scratch...girl!!!) we responded to a few of the prompts from the game. Wow. Unbelievely deep and powerful. First there were shared tears as we discussed "what has happened to you that has made you strong," and learned many of us had experienced unimaginable losses and heartache. And then when we shared "what makes us laugh," we swung the full length of the spectrum and laughed until we cried again! It was just precious quality time with some very precious friends.

Now for a few fun (and spectacular!) pictures from the day and around Jill's beautiful home...

Emily and Jill, two of the most kind-hearted and beautiful women I get to call my friends!

 

Jill's garden and front door...

 

Treats!

 

My work space...

Jill showing the latest shipment for the boutique which arrived just as the day was getting started. The boutique was filled to the brim with vintage finds, hand-crafted items and TONS of scrapbooking supplies!!!!

 

The monogramed calzone Emily made for me!!! Eeeee!!! So cute and so yummy!!

 

On to some pix from around Jill's studio and home...

 

 

 

 

Caught me!

 

As you can tell, Jill's home is beautiful and at every turn, in every room (even the laundry room!), there is so much beauty and some of the most exquisitely and lovingly arranged vignettes I have ever seen. Something cute to mention...the Creative Boutique was open to the public and so during the course of the day, Jill would bring a people through the house to see us crafters in action as she told them about the ComePlayEugene event. I heard more than once someone ask, "Does anyone live here?" to which Jill would reply, "This is my house...I live here."

At then at the end of the day, all that were left in Jill's home were the four of us...and the last photo op of the day, which is absolutely my favorite.

 

Thank you again to Emily and Jill for hosting this fabulous event! I can't wait for the next one!!!

And thank you again to Amy for driving, and for letting me be the Louise to your Thelma! :-)

super-de-duper day and oh boy oh boy!

Howdy! I am SOOO excited! Tomorrow is ComePlayEugene at Jill's house, one of the kindest and loveliest souls you will ever hope to meet. It's gonna be a full day of crafting, shopping, inspiration and hanging out with some super crafty chicks! Can't wait! And if heading out to this fun event wasn't enough, a roadtrip with with the one and truly Amy Hollands is also part of this deal! Amy is just fabulous so I'm super tickled to get to have her as my traveling partner-in-crime!! How did I ever get so lucky!?

It took me awhile to figure out what project I wanted to work on tomorrow. I registered for this event thinking that would motivate me to pull out my scrapbooking stuff and get that kicked into gear. But, um, no, that didn't happen. I started to go through some stuff but that just seemed like such a daunting task. It's weird because I totally consider myself a scrapbooker but it's been about...oh...five years since I've scrapbooked? Sheesh...there was a time when all I did was scrapbook! But somewhere in there, I discovered all these other artsy craftsy adventures and now I'm neck deep in NOT scrapbooking! So after much soul searching, I decided that tomorrow's project is gonna be another little souvenir book. This time it will be forArt Nest. I printed off some pictures to include...hey...now that I think about it, I guess I will be scrapbooking. Sort of. :-) 

I'll leave you with just a few pictures of the things I'm taking tomorrow...supplies, giftie for Jill, and the bag of stuff for Show and Tell, all ready and waiting for the fun!

The pile...I am making myself leave the sewing machine home. I am only heading over to Jill's for the day, not for the week!!! If I brought any more than this, well, that would just be embarassing!

 

A few splashes of the supplies...

 

 

 

And hostess/thank you gift for dear Jill.

Oh also, I am SUPER excited and so proud of my sweet girlie, Miranda. Two poems she wrote were published in Portland Community College's annual publication, Alchemy! Way cool! Congratulations, girlie!!! When I get a chance, I'll type them out so you can read them. They're just gorgeous!

Take care...and hope you have a beautiful day!

silver bella vendor!!!

Hi there...today is a very exciting day in the land of Hold Dear! I just found out that I was accepted to be a vendor at Silver Bella! OHBOY I am just thrilled with this!!!!

I have been collecting things for years. Random things. I'm sure it's some kind of disorder but I just get on these kicks and all of a sudden, I have to have LOTS of something! Sometimes it's just something shiny that catches my eye or sometimes it's something I think I want to use in a project. Doesn't really matter if I ever use it for anything because quite honestly, I actually quite satisfied and get hours of enjoyment just having something and having it out on a shelf just to simply gaze upon it. I'm sure you know what I mean, right? Please tell me do. :-)

So for Silver Bella vendor night, I'll be bringing with me an assortment of some of my collections and treasures to sell. Here are a few pix of some of my collections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also have lots and lots and lots of "kits" in mind that I want to put together especially for Silver Bella. So stay tuned...I'm sure I'll be posting about this as things develop!