STILL TRYING TO GET THIS ORGANIZED!

My GOD!!! I had no IDEA how much STUFF was in my studio!!! My cabinets were installed on Tuesday and they are FANTABULOUS!!! The putting everything back is proving to be an exchausting challenge! But at the same time, it's been fun! I have come across things I had forgotten I had and am making sure that everything is being sorted and put away in a way that makes sense! All the paints in one place, all the mediums in one place, all the watercolors (liquid, pencil...) in one place... well you know what I mean! I should have my scanner installed this weekend and will post pictures!

The Keys Retreat is getting closer and closer and the plans are more and more wonderful! So much to do.... so little time!

HELLO EVERYONE!

Happy Monday to everyone! Saturday we celebrated a baby shower for my daughter Kristina. Madelynn is expected at the end of April/early May. Can't wait!!

I have emptied out my studio! It actually ECHOES in here!! LOL!!! I have pictures but can't upload them because everything is disconnected! I can't BELIEVE how much STUFF was in this room!!! My entire family room is crammed with stuff! I will post pictures of it when I can.

TOMORROW THEY INSTALL MY CABINETS!!! Woo HOO!!! Can't wait! It is daunting to think of putting all that stuff back in here but at the same time it's exciting to know that everything will be in its place!

April 14 is drawing nearer and nearer! The FIRST annual Keys Retreat! Don't you love it!!! My buddy Valerie Brincheck created a logo for our reunion! I am still putting it together but it should be a lot of fun!!! There are 12 ladies attending this retreat at my house for 3 days of art and fun! I will be personally meeting 9 of them for the first time! They are coming from Canada, New York, California, Michigan.... so very cool! I have lots of little surprises planned! I hope to make this a yearly event. We'll see how it goes!

Another Kreative Blogger Award!!!!

Okay, now I'm truly humbled! Kim Owens , a wonderful lady and owner/moderator one of my favorite online groups, Blissfully Art Journaling gave me another Kreativ Blog Award!

Thank you Kim!! I am so flattered that you would do so!!! I owe both you and Rita answers and will be back to give them!

NEW BLOG AWARD!

My friend Rita awarded me this Blog Award this weekend. I always love to get these because it is so great to have someone acknowledge you out of the zillions of blogs we all visit!!!

Thank you Rita!!!!

I have to do seven things as part of the award:
1. Post the image of the award.
2. Thank the person who gave it to me.
3. Link to the person who gave it to me.
4. Tell you seven things about myself that you wouldn't know.
5. Choose seven great bloggers to give this award to.
6. Give a link to their blogs.
7. Leave them a message on their blog.

Parts 1-3 are done! Have to come back for parts 4-7! LOL!!! I HATE it when work gets in the way of the more important things in life don't you?

MARIE JOURNAL ON ITS WAY!!!

Our 4th and most ambitious cooperative journal yet has started it's journey! This fourth journal is about Marie Antoinette and it promises to be fabulous!

There are all kinds of themes for these journals. For example, Sex and the CIty (In Versailles)! I will leave that to everyone's imagination! The theme for my journal is Dearest Diary: one page for art and one for journaling. This will of course require some research but the idea is for it to be challenging right?

Other themes are: Marie's Closet (clothes, shoes, etc.); a Marie Antoinette Scrapbook; Fashionista Coutre Marie; the Loves of Marie; The Abundance of Versailles... there are 15 artists with 15 amazing journals!!

The pictures here are some of the journal covers for the journals! If these are just the covers... can you imagine the art that will be coming our way? I'm so excited about this project!

The artists are: Sue Young, Sarah Walker, Marita Kovalik, Lori Otto, Lillian Mederak, Lee Hynes, Jennifer Rogers-Daniels, Jacquie Valdespino, Tracy Kaufman, Daisy Cooper, Dianna Marquardson, Eileeen Bellomo, Inge Bekaert, Valerie Brincheck and yours truly.

I AM AN ARTIST!

In one of my groups there has been an ongoing discussion about calling yourself an artist. Many of us don't see ourselves as artists and certainly would not tell anyone else we are an artist! It comes from thinking that people will make fun of you. That people believe an "artist" is someone who sells art for a living!

These pages are in my "practice journal", the one where I practice new background techniques. Both pages have layers of gesso, stamps, paint, you name it - it's there! This is my interpretation of the I AM AN ARTIST prompt! The gesso technique was taught by Monica Zuniga in her new class, Inspire Me Workshop.

The reality is that as woman we are all artists. What can be a greater masterpiece than bringing a child into the world? Preparing a wonderful meal... setting a beautiful table... decorating your home with knick knacks, curtains, furniture... all of that is art! So next time you feel shy about calling yourself an artist DON'T!!! YOU ARE AN ARTIST!!!

Now I have to go do the pages in my Marie Journal which has to fly to Europe on the 10th of March!

PLAYING WITH SUZI BLU FACES

I love Suzi Blu's Class a Goddess and a Poet. This is Suzi's "face" or the way she teaches them. Monica Zuniga is more a "reality" artist I think. Suzi is more stylized. I have to say I like her faces more than any others I have seen. If you get the chance take her class... It's totally worth it.

I am determined to make faces so i am trying to do at least one face a day. Practice is the important thing I guess so here goes! I think I should have placed the eyes a little closer together. It's only a pencil sketch. I will cut out this face and put in my journal with gel medium. Once it is try I am instructed to cover it with clear gesso. No idea what comes next but I will let you know!

I may end up doing the face again. Not happy with the separation between the eyes. Yeah... need a new face.

BLISS JOURNAL

My friend Tracy and I are members of an online group which is called Blissfully Journaling. It's a fun group filled with great ladies. They started a project last month which consisted of two people partnering for a year long journal project. Tracy and I are partners. I send her my journal and she sends me hers, we work in each other's journals and then the next month we work in our own and keep switching off and on. We are using really big Moleskine journals (11 1/4 x 8 3/4) and I love it! But then I really love Moleskines!

This is the first month. I just finished working in Tracy's Journal. We decided we were going to give each other prompts every month to make it more interesting. Tracy got to choose first and her prompt is LIFE. These are my two pages for Tracy with that prompt. It goes out in tomorrow's mail Trac!


This is one of my very favorite quotes.

MY ANGEL TURNED 3!!!

My granddaughter, better known as Princess Kaitlynn, turned 3 on the 20th of February! I can't believe how big she is already! And she is sooooooo much fun! Although I have to admit that calling her an "angel" right now is a bit of a stretch!

I love this picture of my husband and Kaitlynn! He was trying to put her down for a nap! Too cute! He adores her and she him. She has him wrapped around her little finger! But don't tell HIM that!!! LOL!!!

PER REQUEST FROM MY FRIEND LILLIAN!

Lillian suggested I upload pictures of my "as is" studio so that we can compare it to the new one!! Well, you asked for it! Here it is in all it's glory!! Believe or not I really do know where everything is -- there is just TOO MUCH of just about EVERYTHING! I feel so blessed!!! LOL!!!

Anyway, this is it - the kingdom - my haven - my little space in the world! And of course my six little ones to keep me company! Dixie (the afghan) can't come in here! First of all she TAKES whatever strikes her fancy and 2nd, she is so big that it's like an elephant in a china shop!

Poor baby! I will put her picture up too!

A NEW STUDIO!!!

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited! I am having my studio professionally built out! My studio is what used to be my youngest daughter's bedroom. It's pretty big and I'm pretty organized but there is just so MUCH STUFF in that room!!! I have book shelves all long one wall, tons and tons of containers, of rolling spaces, well.... you know what I mean! What most of us have!

Well, today I approved plans for my fancy-schmanzy new studio and have to share them with you!!! Isn't this awesome? The long drawers (30 of them!!!!) are the exact size for my stamps! I can put all my stamps in these drawers and just label the drawers and know what's there!! Can you IMAGINE! I looked through tons and tons of magazines before figuring out what I wanted but this is it.

So what do you think?

Blog Award!

I received this wonderful blog award from Valerie Brincheck! (click on her name to visit her blog!)

It's not the just the award but the wonderful comment Val made that made my day!


" This first one is a no brainer because this women always has a good attitude no matter what is going on in her life. I also like her because she lets you know what she thinks with a smile. (Even though I 've only talked on the phone with her I can still "hear" the smile.) http://www.elenaismyname.blogspot.com/"


I try very hard to stay positive ... although in the past few months it's been tough. I am blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life that it really isn't so hard to do even in the most trying moments.

I get to meet Val and the others she gave an award to (except, unfortunately, Ali who lives in England) in April when they come to stay at my house for a few days of art and fun and I can't TELL you how excited I am!!!

Thanks Val! Love you kiddo!

Now I guess I am supposed to give it to six more people? Okay... gotta think on that one! Will be back!