Wow!!! May!!! Can you believe it??? How the hell did four months already go by? Amazing. Yesterday made 4 months my father passed. FOUR MONTHS. I guess it's because I am staring 50 in the face (come December), but I am so much more conscious of time than I used to be. It seems to be slipping by so much faster. There is so much I want to do .... Anyway, just random thoughts for this morning!
On another note, if my daughter has not gone into labor by Tuesday, they are putting her in the hospital Tuesday to induce labor on Wednesday. So one way or the other, I will be meeting my second grand-daughter Madelynn, by no later than May 5th! I can't wait! I am so excited to meet her! It seems like Kristina has been pregnant with this baby 4Ever! Kaitlynn is very excited about meeting her baby sister too! I will keep you all posted.
Still patiently (well, ok, not really) waiting for my iPad to arrive! Received the docking station and keyboard yesterday.... love new toys!
I wish you all a wonderful THURSDAY! I don't work on Friday's so you KNOW I am loving today!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
ZENTANGLE DIVA
Okay, so as you know, I have been practicing faces for a bit. Stopped for about a month and now I'm back. However, they are, quite frankly, starting to bore me so I decided to try something different - combining Zentangles with my faces. I LOVE zentangles - they put you into a "zen" state!!! And I love drawing faces too so there you go!!!
This is my first Zentangle Diva. I think I am going to name her Rose... don't know why really.... she just LOOKS like her name should be Rose. I am going to put her into one of the RR journals I have here at the house... don't know whose journal yet but it will go in one of them!
She is still a work in progress and needs a lot of the details yet but what do you think??? She was a lot of fun to make!
This is my first Zentangle Diva. I think I am going to name her Rose... don't know why really.... she just LOOKS like her name should be Rose. I am going to put her into one of the RR journals I have here at the house... don't know whose journal yet but it will go in one of them!
She is still a work in progress and needs a lot of the details yet but what do you think??? She was a lot of fun to make!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
PAM CARRIKER'S JOURNAL 365
I absolutey love Pam Carriker. Her art is different and exciting and she is an incredible teacher.
Her latest class, JOURNAL 365, I believe, will be absolutely fantastic. She is a very "simple" yet dynamic artist. I made a journal out of Fabirano Paper just for this class and am so excited about it!
These are the first two pages for the class:
The page looks a little blurred but that's the scanning! It's actually really pretty.
I have tons of completed pages in my journal. I use up every spare bit of paint from other projects to color in pages and then go back and work on them. These pages have several layers of acrylic, charcoal pencil, stamps, images. I used the word BEGIN (from a magazine) because it's the first pages in this journal and the beginning of the 365 day journey with Pam.
The day that I feel like writing/journaling I never have to start by covering up the "white"! I am quite pleased with these pages.
Have a great week everyone!
Her latest class, JOURNAL 365, I believe, will be absolutely fantastic. She is a very "simple" yet dynamic artist. I made a journal out of Fabirano Paper just for this class and am so excited about it!
These are the first two pages for the class:
The page looks a little blurred but that's the scanning! It's actually really pretty.
I have tons of completed pages in my journal. I use up every spare bit of paint from other projects to color in pages and then go back and work on them. These pages have several layers of acrylic, charcoal pencil, stamps, images. I used the word BEGIN (from a magazine) because it's the first pages in this journal and the beginning of the 365 day journey with Pam.
The day that I feel like writing/journaling I never have to start by covering up the "white"! I am quite pleased with these pages.
Have a great week everyone!
Friday, April 23, 2010
HELLO EVERYONE.... THANKS FOR VISITING!
I've gotten so many wonderful emails from everyone! I am glad you are enjoying the blogging about our retreat!
Well, I got an email today that my iPad will be shipped on the 5th!! Woo HOO!!! Can't wait to get my new toy! Do I NEED an iPad considering I have every other gadget in the world? Of course not! But NEED has nothing - absolutely nothing - to do with it! I WANT it!!! Anyway, I'm hoping it lives up to the hype!! I love anything Apple so I expect that it will.
Where were we regarding the retreat? Oh yea, Day 3.
Well I'm going to give you a very condensed version of day 3 (Friday) and 4 (Saturday) because if I were to tell you all that we did, all the wonderful experiences we had, everything we learned from each other you would get sick of reading it! So here goes.
Friday we all got up early (not as early as Eileen and Val!!!!). Jacquie brought us TONS of wonderful Cuban pastries from Miami (guava, cheese, guava and cheese, coconut, meat) tons of "croquetas"and "papa rellenas" and we STUFFED OUR FACES with them all morning! The sugar from the pastries and the caffeine from both the pots of American and Cuban coffee circulating all day had us bouncing off walls!
Jennifer Rogers-Daniels who makes these gorgeous faces I ADORE gave a class in drawing these faces. I HAVE to practice!!! Jen was just amazing and I am so glad I got to meet her personally!
This is a painting that Jen brought for me as a gift!!! I LOVE it!
Then we did a class with polymer clay... LOVE THE STUFF!!! Picked up some cool tricks I didn't know and some tips that will make for some wonderful polymer projects. Sue Young - a beautiful person inside and out - brought us each this beautiful polymer clay tile that says Sisters of the HeART that she made with the polymer clay that is wonderful.
Here it is. Isn't it beautiful?
We ordered Cubanito sandwich platters which were wonderful and between that, the pastries and the exciting day, we decided not to go out that night. Too darned tired!!! Jen and Juliet did go with my daughter in law to a party that we were all invited to and got thrown in the pool! I WARNED THEM!!! Parties in the Keys are... well.... parties in the Keys!
So we all went to bed relatively early Friday night (about 11!!) as everyone was really REALLY exhausted! We woke up Saturday morning to... you guessed it!..... more coffee!!! Cuban ... American.... caffeine was the important thing! Had some bagels and fruit and started cranking again on our projects. The girls wanted to learn a very easy VERY easy technique to bind journals. Because I had bought enough rosin paper to wall paper the city we decided to make them out of rosin paper. That way we can use these journals to play with Eileen's technique. Everyone made a journal and were really excited at the results and how easy they are to put together.
Now it was time to take a break from the art and play. Lillian, Patty and Linda decided to stay in the house to continue with what they were doing; Jacquie was back in Miami because it was her birthday on Sunday and she wanted to spend time with her baby and her husband (don't you hate it when life gets in the way of art????). The rest of us all wore our beautiful t-shirts with the Keys 4 Art logo (looked like a strange elderly girl scout troop!!!) and went back to Marlin's for a "snack". We also took one of Manny's (the owner) key lime pies home for later!!!!
My husband grills baby back ribs at the Marlin on Saturdays and the girls all enjoyed a "snack"!!!
Manny (owner of the Marlin), my husband Bernie and I.
Gina, yours truly and Jen.
Our "SNACK".
Juliet and Sue.
Gina got to dancing cumbia at Marlins' with the waitress!! You go girl!
From there we went to a local outside bar called MARLEY'S and had a few drinks while we were there. Marley's is always busy, has live music and a great view!
We spent a little time at Marley's and from there went to the Big Chill. A restaurant on the water with a very cool outside bar. We spent a while there having our MANGO MOJITOS (which are AMAZING), conch fritters, calamari and dip and just talking and relaxing after a very busy few days. My husband joined us later in the evening and we just sat around and chatted. Eileen picked up the tab for us!!! THANK YOU EILEEN!!!
These are some pictures taken at The Big Chill:
Relaxing and drinking our Mango Mojitos!
My husband and I exhausted at the end of the evening.
I wanted everyone to see our beautiful sunset but the weather would not cooperate!
Lounging and feeling relaxed.... Gina, Jen and I.
A "Miss America" wave from Juliet!
Just relaxing!
Marita and Sue
As the sun went down in Key Largo, I think everyone was a little sad to see it end. Yes we were tired (exhausted actually), yes, we all had real lives to go home to... but the friendships that had already existed were solidified and strengthened by our time together and I for one will miss all my new BFFs!
:
Well, I got an email today that my iPad will be shipped on the 5th!! Woo HOO!!! Can't wait to get my new toy! Do I NEED an iPad considering I have every other gadget in the world? Of course not! But NEED has nothing - absolutely nothing - to do with it! I WANT it!!! Anyway, I'm hoping it lives up to the hype!! I love anything Apple so I expect that it will.
Where were we regarding the retreat? Oh yea, Day 3.
Well I'm going to give you a very condensed version of day 3 (Friday) and 4 (Saturday) because if I were to tell you all that we did, all the wonderful experiences we had, everything we learned from each other you would get sick of reading it! So here goes.
Friday we all got up early (not as early as Eileen and Val!!!!). Jacquie brought us TONS of wonderful Cuban pastries from Miami (guava, cheese, guava and cheese, coconut, meat) tons of "croquetas"and "papa rellenas" and we STUFFED OUR FACES with them all morning! The sugar from the pastries and the caffeine from both the pots of American and Cuban coffee circulating all day had us bouncing off walls!
Jennifer Rogers-Daniels who makes these gorgeous faces I ADORE gave a class in drawing these faces. I HAVE to practice!!! Jen was just amazing and I am so glad I got to meet her personally!
This is a painting that Jen brought for me as a gift!!! I LOVE it!
Then we did a class with polymer clay... LOVE THE STUFF!!! Picked up some cool tricks I didn't know and some tips that will make for some wonderful polymer projects. Sue Young - a beautiful person inside and out - brought us each this beautiful polymer clay tile that says Sisters of the HeART that she made with the polymer clay that is wonderful.
Here it is. Isn't it beautiful?
We ordered Cubanito sandwich platters which were wonderful and between that, the pastries and the exciting day, we decided not to go out that night. Too darned tired!!! Jen and Juliet did go with my daughter in law to a party that we were all invited to and got thrown in the pool! I WARNED THEM!!! Parties in the Keys are... well.... parties in the Keys!
So we all went to bed relatively early Friday night (about 11!!) as everyone was really REALLY exhausted! We woke up Saturday morning to... you guessed it!..... more coffee!!! Cuban ... American.... caffeine was the important thing! Had some bagels and fruit and started cranking again on our projects. The girls wanted to learn a very easy VERY easy technique to bind journals. Because I had bought enough rosin paper to wall paper the city we decided to make them out of rosin paper. That way we can use these journals to play with Eileen's technique. Everyone made a journal and were really excited at the results and how easy they are to put together.
Now it was time to take a break from the art and play. Lillian, Patty and Linda decided to stay in the house to continue with what they were doing; Jacquie was back in Miami because it was her birthday on Sunday and she wanted to spend time with her baby and her husband (don't you hate it when life gets in the way of art????). The rest of us all wore our beautiful t-shirts with the Keys 4 Art logo (looked like a strange elderly girl scout troop!!!) and went back to Marlin's for a "snack". We also took one of Manny's (the owner) key lime pies home for later!!!!
My husband grills baby back ribs at the Marlin on Saturdays and the girls all enjoyed a "snack"!!!
Manny (owner of the Marlin), my husband Bernie and I.
Gina, yours truly and Jen.
Our "SNACK".
Juliet and Sue.
Gina got to dancing cumbia at Marlins' with the waitress!! You go girl!
From there we went to a local outside bar called MARLEY'S and had a few drinks while we were there. Marley's is always busy, has live music and a great view!
We spent a little time at Marley's and from there went to the Big Chill. A restaurant on the water with a very cool outside bar. We spent a while there having our MANGO MOJITOS (which are AMAZING), conch fritters, calamari and dip and just talking and relaxing after a very busy few days. My husband joined us later in the evening and we just sat around and chatted. Eileen picked up the tab for us!!! THANK YOU EILEEN!!!
These are some pictures taken at The Big Chill:
Relaxing and drinking our Mango Mojitos!
My husband and I exhausted at the end of the evening.
I wanted everyone to see our beautiful sunset but the weather would not cooperate!
Lounging and feeling relaxed.... Gina, Jen and I.
A "Miss America" wave from Juliet!
Just relaxing!
Marita and Sue
As the sun went down in Key Largo, I think everyone was a little sad to see it end. Yes we were tired (exhausted actually), yes, we all had real lives to go home to... but the friendships that had already existed were solidified and strengthened by our time together and I for one will miss all my new BFFs!
:
Thursday, April 22, 2010
LONG LONG DAY TODAY!
TOO TIRED TO POST ANYTHING, BUT EILEEN - ONE OF THE LADIES I ABSOLUTELY ADORE - HAS A VERY DETAILED ACCOUNT OF DAY 2 ON HER BLOG.
DON'T MISS IT!!! SHE'S A HOOT!!! LOVE YOU EILEEN!!!
DON'T MISS IT!!! SHE'S A HOOT!!! LOVE YOU EILEEN!!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
KEYS 4 ART DAY TWO!! (Thursday)
Sorry about missing a day yesterday.... it was Lillian's last day here (she stayed an extra 2 days) and there was lots of shopping and playing to do!
So where was I.... oh yea... after that wonderful meal on Wednesday night, we came to my house here in Key Largo. There was alot of hugging and talk and laughter. Everyone was given a place to sleep and the house finally quieted down about 1:30 or so. The next morning everyone was up early! Can you believe it???? I am soooooo not a morning person but I was so excited I jumped out of bed at 8:00 am and everyone was already having coffee and bagels and waiting to start the day.
This is proof that everything was nice and neat when my buddies got here!
The morning began with our prepping paper for Eileen's class that afternoon. Eileen taught us a technique she learned from Lynn Perella and is my favorite technique at the moment!!! I will show you our pictures in a minute.....
Once our papers were prepped we began with the project Val Brincheck brought for us. A beautiful little memento journal with our retreat logo. We spent the morning doing this and it was so much fun. Val is unbelievably talented and showed us some really awesome techniques which I will figure out how to link to later!
In the afternoon we all did our Lynn Perella project with Eileen. It was so much fun! The painting is done on rosin paper (the paper that is used for construction! Who knew?!) and everyone really got psyched.
The artwork that came from this project was phenomenal!
THESE ARE FIVE OF THE 11 WONDERFUL ARTISTS I HAD THE HONOR OF HOSTING IN MY HOME:
VALERIE BRINCHECK (Michigan)
LILLIAN MEDERAK (Canada)
JACQUIE VALDESPINO (Coral Gables, Florida)
MARITA KOVALIK (Oregon)
EILEEN BELLOMO (New York)
We were pretty exhausted by dinner time and went to Marlin's Restaurant (a wonderful Cuban restaurant about a mile from my house) for dinner. Manny, the owner and a friend, treated everyone to dinner and brought out platter after platter of all types of Cuban food for everyone to try. (I have already warned them ALL that they can not call and blame me if their clothes shrink!!!).
I can't even START to tell you how much Cuban coffee everyone drank!!!!
We ended the night with Marlin's Key Lime Pie (hands down the best Key Lime Pie I've ever had) and everyone raved about it!!! Now we have a full stomach of heavy Cuban food, a sugar fix with the Key Lime Pie and gasoline with the Cuban coffee!!! We came back to the house and the night ended at around 2:00 am for the last of us up!
STAY TUNED FOR FRIDAY: DAY 3!!!
So where was I.... oh yea... after that wonderful meal on Wednesday night, we came to my house here in Key Largo. There was alot of hugging and talk and laughter. Everyone was given a place to sleep and the house finally quieted down about 1:30 or so. The next morning everyone was up early! Can you believe it???? I am soooooo not a morning person but I was so excited I jumped out of bed at 8:00 am and everyone was already having coffee and bagels and waiting to start the day.
This is proof that everything was nice and neat when my buddies got here!
The morning began with our prepping paper for Eileen's class that afternoon. Eileen taught us a technique she learned from Lynn Perella and is my favorite technique at the moment!!! I will show you our pictures in a minute.....
Once our papers were prepped we began with the project Val Brincheck brought for us. A beautiful little memento journal with our retreat logo. We spent the morning doing this and it was so much fun. Val is unbelievably talented and showed us some really awesome techniques which I will figure out how to link to later!
In the afternoon we all did our Lynn Perella project with Eileen. It was so much fun! The painting is done on rosin paper (the paper that is used for construction! Who knew?!) and everyone really got psyched.
The artwork that came from this project was phenomenal!
THESE ARE FIVE OF THE 11 WONDERFUL ARTISTS I HAD THE HONOR OF HOSTING IN MY HOME:
VALERIE BRINCHECK (Michigan)
LILLIAN MEDERAK (Canada)
JACQUIE VALDESPINO (Coral Gables, Florida)
MARITA KOVALIK (Oregon)
EILEEN BELLOMO (New York)
We were pretty exhausted by dinner time and went to Marlin's Restaurant (a wonderful Cuban restaurant about a mile from my house) for dinner. Manny, the owner and a friend, treated everyone to dinner and brought out platter after platter of all types of Cuban food for everyone to try. (I have already warned them ALL that they can not call and blame me if their clothes shrink!!!).
I can't even START to tell you how much Cuban coffee everyone drank!!!!
We ended the night with Marlin's Key Lime Pie (hands down the best Key Lime Pie I've ever had) and everyone raved about it!!! Now we have a full stomach of heavy Cuban food, a sugar fix with the Key Lime Pie and gasoline with the Cuban coffee!!! We came back to the house and the night ended at around 2:00 am for the last of us up!
STAY TUNED FOR FRIDAY: DAY 3!!!
Monday, April 19, 2010
KEYS 4 ART DAY ONE!!!
Gina posed for Vogue on Miami Beach!!
We had a wonderful meal at Versailles Restaurant, a five start Cuban restaurant in Miami thanks to Jacquie!!!
We were serenaded by Spanish musicians before heading down to Key Largo!
VERSAILLES WAS SO MUCH FUN! THANK YOU JACQUIE!!! I LOVE YOU GIRLFRIEND!
We had a wonderful meal at Versailles Restaurant, a five start Cuban restaurant in Miami thanks to Jacquie!!!
We were serenaded by Spanish musicians before heading down to Key Largo!
VERSAILLES WAS SO MUCH FUN! THANK YOU JACQUIE!!! I LOVE YOU GIRLFRIEND!
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