Painted Fabric

(Or Fainted Pabric as I started to type)

Decided I felt like doing some painted fabric on Saturday.  So I grabbed a fat quarter and got busy with my acrylic paints and all my wonderful stencils.  I think I'll use this to cover my next journal. 

Fog

It’s been very foggy the last few mornings.  I love fog.  So mysterious.  Reminds me of the old film noir movies of the 40’s and 50’s. 

And add in the mountains and trees and it becomes so romantic.  **sigh**

FOG

The fog comes 

on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.


Carl Sandburg



You're Beautiful

truth found on a bathroom door

A Beautiful Fall Day

This is what I see as I look out my back door today.  It's an absolutely beautiful day with clear skies, comfortable temps, and gorgeous fall leaves.  What a great day!

Cavallini Birds

My art group and I are fortunate enough to live close to the Cavallini Papers warehouse.  Every year, just before Thanksgiving, they have a huge warehouse sale.  And --really--I mean huge.  People are lined up for an hour waiting on them to open and then we all rush the doors in a mad frenzy.  It's like an old "I Love Lucy" episode.  Anyway, it's that time of year again and before we go, we thought we should use some of the goodies we have left from last year.  I made some cute birds attached to silk ribbon.  My studio is stocked with birds so this will be a nice addition.

New Journal for JournalFest

I’ve finished a new journal today. All 3 of my classes for JournalFest are journaling classes so I decided to make one journal to use for each class. The journal measures 8X10 and has 3 signatures. I painted the book board black and attached the spine using hot pink duct tape.

 Then I just started doodling with my water-based sharpies. With the black book board, some of the colors don’t work so well. But others really seem to pop. It’s done for now…but there’s a good chance there will be more doodles before the book is filled.

 I started several things on the back but wasn’t happy with any of them. There are a lot of layers of black paint covering those experiments. LOL I finally decided on stenciling. I made the heart stencil myself using an old file folder. It’s one of my favorites. There’s also some stenciling using sequin waste…although you can’t really see that in the picture. Again, I’ll probably add to the back at some point. We’ll see.

Once the covers were done, I added my signatures. I’m using 140 lb watercolor paper. Three sheets folded and a piece of Cavallini map paper covers each group of three. I cut the edges of some of the papers in a wavy or diamond pattern just to add some fun and interest.

I bound the pages into the book using a funky binding. I don’t know if it’s even a formal “binding”. I just wanted a lot of strings hanging off. I’ll add some beads of course. I was going to use a couple of different colors of binding thread but couldn’t find the other color I wanted….of course. I’m not crazy about it a this point but maybe once I add the beads….

Chocolate, Wine, Henna and Friends

What a great combo!! One of my Art Sisters threw herself a birthday party last night. Isn’t that a great idea? I’ve got to do that! She had desserts and wine to spoil us all. And a henna artist and a tarot card reader to entertain us. Several of our Art Sisters were there as well as other fabulous women. What a great time we had!!

Doors

I've got this thing about doors.

Our Sea Plane

Sunday 10/2/11


MotoMan spent a couple of months last spring researching and shopping for a float plane—or a plane he could convert to a float plane. His search took us to Memphis which was loads of fun. The plane he saw there wasn’t what he was looking for –but we got to go to Memphis so that’s OK. A few weeks later he found what he was looking for, flew it home and worked on it for a few months. It’s been done for a few weeks now and I finally got to see it on the water this weekend. It’s a beauty, isn’t it?

Art is You Petaluma--Sunday

Today I took Stephanie Lee’s Pipe Dreams class.  She makes manipulating the pipe in the solder look so easy.  I kept worrying about rolling that hot thing off into my lap.  LOL!!  The class was great.  She’s so much fun.  I finished two focal pieces.  Now I just need to finish them into fabulous necklaces.  I just love playing with fire!!

Art Is You Petaluma--Saturday Class

I’m up in Petaluma this weekend attending the Art is You retreat. The retreat is held at the Sheraton in Petaluma at what looks like their yacht harbor. Unfortunately I booked late so I’m at the Quality Inn. 


The class I took today was with Thomas Ashman. We made a tiny journal using plumbers tape, hardware and glass. I had seen him demo a similar journal on Craft Lab and just loved it. That episode was on my TIVO for quite some time. The class was great and the best part is we finished the entire journal during class. I love when that happens.

Here is the journal in progress. Nothing but hardware store items.

And here is the finished journal with the glass in place full of paper. I love this little journal!!!

A Girl and Her Tools

I love my tools.  And these are just a few of my hammers.  You should see all the other fun stuff!!

Some Pics of Ireland

Dublin

A beautiful city.  We took the Hop On Hop Off bus which gave us a great overview of the city and it's history.  We used that to get to most of the places we wanted to visit. 

7th Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

Finished the Avon Breast Cancer Walk Junly 9th and 10th.  The weather was perfect and the route was beautiful.  Came home with  a few blisters, sore muscles and a full heart.  I've signed up for next year....

I Can't See The Road...

My windshield is so dirty I can't see the road in front of me.  Sometimes I feel like that in my life too.  I've got so many things right in front of me that I can't look past them.  Things like work, what to cook for dinner, getting the house cleaned, the laundry done, on and on and on.  All those little tasks fill my days and I can't see past them to fit in time for art, exercise, plans for the future.  It's easy to clean the windshield of my car.  I've got to get all this other stuff clean too.  How to do that???  hmmmmmm

Play, Sing, Dance

I made a new bracelet this weekend.  The discs say Play, Sing, Dance.  What more do you need?

One Year Anniversary

Well, look at that.  This is my one year Blog-O Versary.  And they said it would never last....

Training Walks

I'm training for the Avon  Breast Cancer Walk.  I usually walk in my neighborhood.  It's fun to see the changes in the neighborhood during the year.  The different flowers blooming.  Landscaping changes.  Aren't these great?  These are artichokes.   Beautiful and yummy, too.

Girl Crush

I love Flora Bowley's art.  I really, really, really, want to take a class with her.  She just taught in Berkley ath the TeaHouse Studio but somehow I missed that.  Hopefully she'll teach there again.  My fingers are crossed.

Clouds

“You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds."
   Henry David Thoreau

I love studying the sky.  Especially the clouds.  They speak to me...and sometimes I speak back.

Rain, Wind and Trees

We had a spring storm roll through this weekend.  We got up Sunday morning to find that it had taken out one of our trees.  We have quite a few trees in our backyard which gives us a nice barrier between us and the neighbors--but this was my favorite tree.  Beautiful color.  I don't know if it will come back.  You never know.

Scary...

So I took a  STEP today toward one of my goals for this year.  I don't want to say what it is yet.  I don't want to jinx it.  But my fingers are crossed!!

Weekend Fun

We took the trailer out for the first time this year.  We went up to Hogan's Reservoir near Angel's Camp.  Our spot was right on the lake in a spot where the boats and jet skis had to go slow and quiet.  Not too far from us they were able to pick up speed--so we didn't have all the noise but could watch them speed across the water.

We had a beautiful view and wonderful weather for Saturday.  I was enjoying the sun so much that I stayed out too long and came home with a sunburn. 

And look at the ducks floating by.  So many babies!!

Wine Blending

We recently went to one of my favorite winerys, Cinnabar, for a Wine Blending class.  They provided instruction from George, their hear winemaker, gave us 3 different types of wine and let us loose to make our own wine blend.  They had beakers and flasks set up for us to use.  It was a little like science class...with a buzz.  We had loads of fun...learned a lot and came home with a bottle of our very own blend.

Blossom

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

—Anais Nin

This is my time to Blossom

Wildflowers

Aren't these the sweetest flowers?  I love wandering the local hills in the spring.  The wildflowers peeking up out of the ground.  Of course, my allergies aren't happy about it all ...but I just can't resist the colors of spring.

Deep Breath

Whew...things have been crazy here.  But next week it's time for Artfest.  Time for creating, seeing old friends, making new friends and laughing.  I can't wait!

Memphis

We just got back from a last minute trip to Memphis.  WOW...what a great time we had---stayed out late, listened to lots of music and ate yummy B-B-Q.

We stayed at a little hotel about 4 blocks from Beale Street and 2 blocks from the Mississippi River.  They block off about 4 blocks of  Beale Street in the evenings.  The air is full of fabulous smells and wonderful sounds.  All the clubs have live bands, there are bands playing on the street or in alcoves next to outdoor bars.  You just walk from one place to another checking out the music.  Several times people just started  dancing in the street.  One big, fun party.

We went to Graceland one day.  What an amazing place.  I couldn't believe all the memorabilia they have there. 

We also took a riverboat ride up the Mississippi.  I took a trip up the southern part of the river when I was in New Orleans, now I've done the middle of the river.  I just need to go up the northern part and I'll have done it all  :-)



Steps

"Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision."
  Ayn Rand

Sketchbook Project tour

The tour starts this month.  It will reach SF on 6/18/11.  Can't wait to get to check out my book.

Elegant Corner

We've closed Elegant Corner this week.  An end to a chapter in my life.  I certainly learned a lot about business and people.

One word for 2011

I've chosen the word STEP as my word for 2011. This year i want to take some steps outside my confort zone. I want to take steps that will lead to my dreams, not just stand still-in this spot I've been in for so long. I also want to physically step more. Get more exercise..be more active, take better care of myself.

Do you have a word for 2011?