Today's the Day. . .

We are heading out this afternoon for sunny (but cool - only 66 degrees) California! That's right all 8 of us will be vacationing together on the beach at Newport. This will be the first time I have gotten to go with Bug to the beach. I've been there a few times with Monkey, but never with my Bug. We are doing nothing "touristy" on this trip, just relaxing.  No theme parks or zoo's just the beach and the guys will be playing golf, and us girls will do a little shopping too. So I will be away for a few days. But when I get back I hope to have lots of fun stories and pictures to share with you.

Enjoy your weekend.

Till we meet again. . . .

FRIENDS Version II

That's right - I got the new "Friends" canvas done today. It is pretty close to the one I posted the other day, but this will be the official class sample.

 Class date is Saturday, July 21st from 9am - 2pm and the fee will be $35

I know 3 people signed up yesterday after class and there are only 5 spaces left.
Call The Occasional Artist to sign up.

 You will learn some fun techniques in this class and get really messy! No manicures before class!

Some of the techniques you will learn are transfer techniques, how to add texture and build layers with those textures, metal stamping and painting.

You can click on any of the photos to see the image bigger

I hope to see you there! Have a great week!

Till we meet again. . . .

What a Day!!!!

I was teaching my "Olde Curiosity Shoppe Curio Box and Minis" class today I over slept (just a little) and with too much on my mind, an empty stomach and an 8 hour class in front of me I did the dumbest thing. As I was pulling out of the garage I ran smack into my poor Mother's car!!! I was sooo mad at myself! I ran in and asked my hubby to call the Ins co. and I quickly let my Mom (who has been sick in bed for 3 days) know what I had done. I was so upset during my whole 45 minute drive to class. "How could I be that careless, that preoccupied? I am almost 50 years old and have NEVER had to submit a claim for something that was MY FAULT! I was just sick over it.

But I arrived at the store determined to have a good day. When I was greeted on the sidewalk in front of the store by Hannah who informs me I have a gal here for class that they had no record of! I have no extra kits with me and no way I can add her to the class. Again I felt sick! I really like this gal and hated to turn her away. I had to step outside for a moment and ask God to get me through this day with grace and poise and a sense of joy. Bless her heart, this gal was so sweet as I told her and she left with a smile on her face.

I was thrilled to have one of the best classes I had had in ages! I had some new faces, some faces I hadn't seen in a while and a face I won't see again for a l-o-n-g time. My friend that I made the canvas for was in my class today. We had a little "going away" shin-dig for her during class today and I gave her the canvas I had made - she loved it and I was thrilled. In fact they ALL loved it and now it has been added to the schedule as a class in July!

When I got home it was time to unpack the class stuff, and straighten up the studio. But first there was a dishwasher to unload and dinner to cook and that mess to clean up. So it was a busy day and even though it started out a bit rocky it turned out to be a GREAT day!!!!

I wish for all of you a great day tomorrow!

Till we meet again

Can You Stand Another Canvas???

If you can't. . .

 LOOK AWAY NOW!!!

I warned you. Here it is - yet another one. This one is not for me. It's not even for a class. This one is a gift for a dear friend that is moving away. I wanted her to have something "of me" to take with her.

 It's 12x9 and I used a new technique on this one (a photo transfer technique). I wish I could have gotten a better photo of it, but you get the idea.

The quote says "True friends are never apart, maybe in distance, but not in heart" .
I used 2 different colors of typewriter keys, some G-45 flowers & postage stamps. I also added some drywall tape for texture.

 Above you can see the black typewriter keys & G-45 flower

I even used my new metal aplha stamp set on the Tim Holtz Spinners.

I hope she will like it. And I  hope she doesn't check my blog before Saturday!

So what are you up to this week - I hope you are having FUN & doing something creative!!!

Till we meet again

Another Canvas & Another Class

Well, you spoke and I listened - not that it was all that hard to do.

You know I have been loving making these canvases lately, and I have gotten a few  emails and requests at the store to do one as a class so here it is. . .

My Home Sweet Home canvas will be taught at The Occasional Artist on August 11th at 2pm

I think it is super cute - it is an 11x14 canvas. We will be using paints, old book pages, stamps,household items and patterned papers. We will also be using our fingers a lot, so get your manicures AFTER class not before!

 Here are some close ups of some of the details for you. I love the teeny tiny button for the door knob. (just wait till you have to sew through those tiny holes!) And the sun just looks so "happy" to me.

The actual canvas will be in the store next weekend if you want to see it in real life .

Have a GREAT weekend Friends!

Till we meet again. . .

California Here I Come!

Hey Friends I just wanted to share with you my new travel journal - just finished it tonight. We (all 8 of us) are heading out to Newport Beach in a couple of weeks and of course I need a travel journal to take along with me. I knew what style of journal I would be making - I have made this a couple of times before and it serves me very well while I am traveling. I even taught this style of travel journal last summer at the store. Anyhoo - I knew what I wanted to make and I knew the color scheme I wanted to use. I wanted to use all light neutrals and a little bit of blue. I am trying very hard to challenge myself to use more whites and creams and less blacks. As you can see that didn't happen here. I actually tried very hard and sadly I made one using those light neutrals - I hated it, it ended up in the trash. But even though this is not what I set out to make I am very happy with it!

I found some vintage postcards from Newport Beach online and used them in a few places in my journal, including the front cover. I used several different paper lines in this book (Prima, G-45, 7 Gypsies, even some very old Karen Foster from my stash). I was able to complete the whole thing without buying anything! I had everything I needed in my HUGE stash.

 When you open it up you see a journaling pad on the back of the front cover. I made the lined paper on my computer. There are 16 pages in the pad for me to write on while we are away.  On the right, you see the multi fold-out pages. Wait till you see how many fold out there are in here!

Below you see pages 2 & 3 - these pages are great for saving all of that trip memorabilia

 Next you see page 2, the center and page 4. More room for memorabilia and the center opens up to a flip album for photos

 Here are pages 5 & 6 the center and page 4 again. Page 6 has a fun pocket for more goodies to go in.

 Now you see pages 5 & 6 the center and pages 7 & 8

 Here is a close-up of the center. You can see some of the vintage postcards here on the flaps

 This is the photo flip album that sits behind the flaps on the center page

 This is the journal standing up. This is a big book but it folds up nice and compact for traveling. The closed book measures 8"x9.25". It stays closed with a chain closure.

 This is a close-up of all of the embellishments on the front cover. Vintage postcard downloads, G-45 postage, Lace trim and old buttons, Prima pearl swirl, Tim Holtz ornate bookplate and hitch. The chain closure hooks onto the hitch and I hung lots of charms and a few pearls on the chain.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my journal with me. I also hope you will be encouraged to make yourself a journal of some sort for your next trip. It is a fun and relaxing thing to do each night before bed in the hotel room. And it is very rewarding to have your whole trip "scrapbooked" by the time you get home! Well, all except for your photos. I don't know about you but I have boxes of trip memorabilia from past trips that I collected and saved through the years, expecting to scrap them and never did. Five years ago when I started making journals for my trips I find that collecting and saving the trip stuff is so much more meaningful. I take simple supplies with me when I travel (a pen, a 3x5 travel office kit, a Tombow tape runner and some clear adhesive hinges) so that I can attach everything each evening in my hotel room. It is such a joy to look back at these journals, to read and see the story of each day while it was fresh in my memory.

Can you tell I love a travel journal? Can you tell I am trying to talk you into loving them too?

If you are interested in knowing how I made this you an check the tab at the top for Kits and Instructions for sale. I have the instructions for 2 similar journals there for sale (the Disney Journal & the Look What I did on my Summer Vacation Journal).

Well that's all for tonight - Till we meet again. . .  

New Class Sample

Hey friends, I thought I'd share my newest class sample with you all today. It is a fun journal with a twist on the "sewing over tapes" binding. I am calling it the "Shabby Journal". This class will be taught at The Occasional Artist on Saturday, July 14th at 1pm.

 Lots of buttons and pearls on this one - in fact there are 45 pearls sewn into the binding it's self!

 The inside has great bristol paper pages. These are perfect for sketching/drawing or writing. Heck, you could even fill it up with photos if you like! These pages are nice and sturdy. And it lays so nice and flat for you while you work in it.

 Each signature is double wrapped in 2 different Prima papers - so pretty!

The edges of the pages are all torn and "burned" - no ink here - they are burned (without fire - that would be dangerous in a classroom setting). I hope you will consider treating yourself to a day out the summer heat to come join us.

Speaking of "summer heat". . . .those of you that live in the Phoenix area, could you believe the weather today???? It is Memorial Day weekend - time to be hot & sweaty and wearing your swim suit right? I guess the Mother Nature did not get that memo - it was a beautiful day that never got over 80 degrees!!!! That is just unheard of this time of year. But I'm not complaining, it was a lovely day. I spent most of my afternoon teaching my Creativity Wall Hanging class. It was a small class today - I guess everyone was out of town. But it was a fun class and they all seemed to like their finished project. I had a new gal in class today from New Mexico - she was a delight. I hope she will come visit us again.

Gary will be golfing all day tomorrow, My daughter and her family are in Northern Cal this weekend, Mom is house sitting for them and Lizzy and Richard are busy so I guess I will have to find some creative endeavor to keep myself busy with tomorrow. Lord knows I could be doing some cleaning or something else important. . . .nah. . .that's not gonna happen! I need to get my travel journal made, we leave for our family vacation in less than 3 weeks. I am super excited to go. We will be taking the kids and the grand kids with us. We are not doing any theme parks this trip - just relaxing and going to the beach etc. I plan on doing some drawing and lots of photography. Gary and the guys will probably golf one day and the girls want to check out Fashion Island. But it just wouldn't be right for me not to have a travel journal to take with me - I make one for every trip we go on. I love looking back at them. Here is the one I made for our trip last year to Disneyland. I made the same style journal for another trip we took last year (just Gary & I) and I just love this style - it works so well for me. I do all of my nightly journaling in there and I also attach all of the memorabilia to the big pages each night. Then  when we get home and get my photos printed I can add them to the little flip book inside. This way I have scrapped my entire vacation withing a week of coming home. Nothing is lost or forgotten and it's all in one place. This also gives me something to do at night in the hotel room since I am a night owl and Gary is an early to bed kinda guy.

Well, I guess I have rambled on long enough. . . .

I hope you all have an AWESOME holiday weekend!!!

Till we meet again. . .