Wow...

OK. I've got all of my clothes unpacked (yeah, I know - that was the easy part!)
but the art supplies will take a little longer...
especially since I keep stopping and doing things with the supplies
as I take them from their case...
I decided to go ahead and load up some of the pictures that I took.
The first few are pics of other folks projects.
We did the "Field Guide to Creativity" theme.
We took wooden cigar boxes and altered them.
Then made a canvas Field Guide to place inside.
Enjoy the photos of some very amazing art work!
Above is Donna Williamson's project. I loved her color palate!

This is the front of Jane Bradley's beautiful Field Guide (above). Notice the heavy crackling she got on the background piece!
My buddy Tonya Peters. I love how she altered the Altoid tin and

placed it in an arrangement on the altered cigar box.

Nothing is safe in the artist's world...

My buddy Crystal Chappell. I love the teeny tiny glass jar

with even teenier tiny glass beads in it! Awesome!

And look at what my friend Mary Ann Schuler did!
She used vintage rulers to make the birdhouse. And then added some of those
teeny tiny green glass beads to the lower right hand corner...
can you see how wonderfully they cascade down the arrangement?
Love it!

This is Nancy Isom's tribute to the Smokey Mountains. Great job Nancy!

And look at Sally Casper's little teaspoon fairy! How cute is that?!

Here's a picture of Sally's altered box. Love it!

Sally had a miniature table saw that we all used.

It was SO cute and quite functional.

The next couple of photos are from the

"Farewell Tea" that we have every year.

This year the Retreat was at a different place

and they really handled it well.

The food was great, rooms were very , well, roomy and

great air conditioning!

All of you menopausal women out there will appreciate that!

Thank goodness my room mate liked the room cold also.

Now here I've added some pictures of my project. I almost completed the box itself at the retreat.

I only have a few beads and things to add on the inside.

I wanted to work on the actual Field Guide at home.

I did get a couple of the pages started though.

So no pics of that for you right now...

When I was a little girl, my family called me "The Bag Lady"

because I always carried a paper bag with me.

You can look at pictures of me as a child and I've always got that bag clutched in my hands.

And it was full of all kinds of treasures...bird feathers, rocks, leaves, twigs...

the same kind of things that I collect now.

So, when we were told to bring items from nature -

all I had to do was walk into my studio and

*wa-la*

I had an abundance of related items on hand.

Driftwood from kayaking

rocks from the river

Indian pottery from Keowee

bird legs from back yard

twigs from the apple tree

rust items from who knows where

my growing collection of heart shaped rocks

animal bones

Well...you get the picture.

I am an avid watcher, collector and lover of Mother Nature.

She rocks my world.

And just where do YOU get your Inspiration from?

Does "love" make you see the world in a different light?

Are you trying to Be Bold in your creativity?

Maybe "play" is important to you. It is to me.

Perhaps you need to "foster" your creative spirit.

I love the tree that was made from a twig from our apple tree.

We wrapped it with this and that, wound a little bit of magic around it

as we added few beads, baubles and affirmations.

Here are some of my heart shaped rocks.

Oh, and the little bone too - notice the hole is heart shaped also.

We all have to Be Brave, don't we?
That key?

The Key to my creativity.

I'm going to hang a tiny copper tag

with that on it as well as a couple of beads and things.

The little tea bag tag reads "Enjoy the Experience".

Bird legs, dried cranberries and background collage all by little ol' me.

A reminder to myself...
This next picture shows the front of the altered cigar box.

I used bark from a tree in our yard, dried flower from my garden,

vintage ruler pieces, shells beads from Hawaii, seeds from our magnolia tree, seeds from canna lily in yard,

wooden button for the moon, Indian pottery (lower left hand corner), driftwood and a little coyote that my son gave me.

It represents my own tendency to howl at the moon from time to time...

I hope that you enjoyed the visit.

Maybe next year you'll join me and 50 of my good friends in Blowing Rock.

Dates are set already...Sept. 9 - Sept. 12, 2010.

Believe in Yourself.