Lake and Mountain Quilt Guild

Last night I had the immense pleasure of visiting the Lake and Mountain Quilt Guild.
That place is filled to the brim with such nice folks
(can't say "ladies" cause there is a couple of male members too)!
They took me out to a nice, relaxing dinner before the meeting (thanks Nancy and Mary!),
keeping my nerves at bay for a little bit.
It doesn't bother me to speak in front of a small group, but yikes! a large group is a little different.
Thank goodness I was able to talk about my work instead of just talking about me.
I find that to be A Lot easier.
I had several questions last night about different links on the Internet.
I pointed people to this blog to find them but I thought it would be easier if I just post them all right here.
So, here goes. If I miss anything, someone send me an email and I'll post it too.
To navigate to any of the web sites, click on the highlighted or underlined link.
It will take you right to that particular web site.

I try to get a lot of my art supplies from my good friend Jane Powell at Random Arts.
She has closed her shop front but still has goodies to sell.
I do believe that she is selling on eBay as well.
I'll post her web site and her email address (randomarts@charter.net).
I know that Jane would love for you to email her and ask about anything that you need.
She is great that way!

I also mentioned Marie Seroskie and her Victorian Applique Designs.
She has a ton of really beautiful patterns and tools also.

I mentioned this awesome fiber art retreat as well.
Believe in Yourself retreat with Kristin Steiner and Susan Edmondson.
These two ladies run a wonderful three day retreat that,
if you liked the type of art mixed media fiber art that I brought, will knock your socks off.
I have learned so much from Kristi and Susan through the couple of years that I have known them.
And they are also two of the most creative spirits that I know.

Now, was that it?
If I forgot to mention anything or anyone, let me know!

Looks like the upstate is going to get more snow today.
I was supposed to teach the "Scraps, Fragments and Artifacts" class today
but we've rescheduled it to May 4. I think there are still a few spots in the class
so sign up before it's full.
I'll be collecting little bits of things to bring and share with everyone in the class.

I just love turning people on to mixed media art!
And their own creativity.
A lot of people have the whisperings of this fantastic creativity deep inside of them...
they just don't know how to caress it out
or how to get started.
Last night I saw a couple of people with that
sparkle in their eyes...they're onto something.
And all I can say is
Watch Out.
When they realize the power of their own dreams, there is going to be an explosion.
They are This Close to finding their tribe...
This Close.

Autograph Book

I don't know if I mentioned this before - about the "Believe In Yourself" Retreat...?
One night they have Student Vendor Tables.
I had a table last year with all my rusty goodness but didn't have one this year -
just too much going on in my life to do it all...
But my friend Sally had one! And a great one at that!
I found this really awesome "Classmate Autograph" book -
It belonged to Edith.
Most of the autograph's were from 1934...
From Cleveland Ohio.
Inside that little book was also a couple of sketches...

Did our Edith do them as well?

There is no signature at the bottom of the face
but there is a faint one on the ship page.
I couldn't tell what it said though.
I hope that you enjoy the drawings that were in Edith's book
as much as I have enjoyed them.



And the little zinger poem that Donald wrote
(I'll type it all as the pencil marks were too faint to scan properly)

"Your teeth are like the
Stars
For they come out
Every night."
Donald
4/13/34

They both had the same last name so they could have been brother and sister...the poem itself would seem to be a sibling zinger.
Amusing at any rate, huh?

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.

Believe

I've got my trades all ready...(that's them - above)

clothes all packed...

Mr. Wonderful has carried it all out to the car...

he filled it up with gas...

even washed it for me...

(he really is wonderful!)

I'm ready to go but now I'm having

those pangs of emotion at leaving my husband at home.

I always hate

this part of traveling without him.
Maybe next year he can plan his work around Blowing Rock
and just go with me.
I have a wonderful roommate Madelyn.
This will be her first year at the retreat.
She's going to love it!
I had a little time yesterday
to work on the artists' paper that I've been layering.
I had used the tip of my paintbrush to write some
secret messages in the paint.
In the next layer or two I applied
a glaze of light raw umber paint
and the messages magically appeared!
Isn't that cool?
I left part of the writing without glaze so
you could see what a difference the color made.

It's time for me to finish getting ready -

hope that you all have a great week.

Be creative!

Field Guide to Your Creativity

Look at this yummy project!
Last year I went to the "Believe in Yourself Retreat".
It was truly a life changing experience for me.
I met so many great women - the kind that foster your creativity,
they encourage you,
they "get" who you are,
accept all that you are
and hold your hand (OK -deliver swift kicks when necessary) while you
find yourself.
What I just described is My Tribe.
My Kind of Peeps.
Tomorrow (squeal!) I'm gathering back with My Tribe.
We will spend three whole days painting, cutting, gluing, stamping, sewing, laughing, consuming local grape juice, and who knows what else Kristi and Susan have in store for us.
I'm so sorry for you if you missed it this year
but put it on your calendar for next year -
cause it is a yearly thing, ya know.

Now to finish packing...

Believe In Yourself Retreat

Last year I went to this retreat in Blowing Rock NC. It is a small retreat, only 50 creative souls allowed, that caters to my kind of tribe members.
It was the first such venue that I had gone to and was totally blown away. I found 50 other people, all in one place, that were just like me! well, close anyway! My husband was shuddering over that little comment...lol...
You should check it out here.
Here are some pictures from last year...look at that awesome project! The first years project was/is being shown in a special article in one of the popular mixed media art magazines..I'll post a link when it comes out. And I am sure that every year after that will eventually find it's way into the same type of publication.
Kristi Steiner and Susan Edmondson are the brain children of Believe. I totally love these creative women!
Click on the links, check out their art work and
go here.
Sign up - there is only about 10 spots left! This could be the year that you join our tribe.
Then you'll be like me, signing up year after year to go back and spend 3 awesome days in the mountains of Western NC, surrounded by God's country, good food, fine wine and Your Creative Tribe.

Hi everyone!

I haven't had a blog entry lately but I've been very busy...

sewing origami bags, rust backgrounds and painting awesome backgrounds on canvas and Aqua board.

I am really getting into the background techniques that I am learning from Wyanne.

It's so much fun to expand your creative horizons and give yourself a stretch.

I've also started a new journal,
with the prompting of my buddies Kristi Steiner and Susan Edmonson.

It's a Gratitude sort of journal...

I am taking an accounting of my Creativity each day...listing the creative things that I did, thinking about what activities really sparked my creative spirit...

then at the end of each entry I'll be writing a quick sentence of gratitude for the creativity in my life that day.

Kristi and Susan assure me that this activity will be a POTENT way to, a tangible way to give thanks and empower my creative spirit...

the spirit that each of us have within us.

It's so true that if you simply BELIEVE you can...

then you can.

I have experienced this so many times in my life.

Oh, you have to do The Work, to be sure,

but even The Work becomes so much more enjoyable,

so much easier when you BELIEVE that you can.

Speaking of Inspiration,

of Believing in yourself...

have you all taken a peek at Donna Downey's web site?
WOW!

I saw a link on Jane Powell's web site

or maybe her blog

to Donna's site and went there to look around.

What an awesome artist she is!

And the workshops, the videos, the books...

then there is the Retreat in May.

I sent in my registration this morning and I am SO EXCITED to be going!

Paulette Insall will be teaching...

Kelli Rae Roberts will be speaking...Kelli Rae!

And Paolo Liloc will be there speaking, capturing images from the event.

Susan Edmonson, who happens to be my soul sister...

Everyone told us that before we ever met each other.

When we did meet each other,

it was kinda spooky how much we REALLY had in common!

Jennifer Stewart

Carol Wingert

Cheryl Darrow

Tejae Floyde...

and a BUNCH of other artists that will be offering mini workshops everyday!

This is a "Must Go" event!

But you need to sign up NOW because there are only a few seats left...

Katie Kendrick- Artist Extraordinaire

Do you know Katie? Have you seen her art (http://www.katiekendrick.com/) or read her blog (http://www.joyouslybecoming.typepad.com/)? Have you taken her classes? One very smart lady (http://www.praterposte.blogspot.com/) told me to SELL MY SOUL ( I decided selling my body was just easier) to go to Katie's class... Sooo my husband insisted (Who I am to argue with that man?) that I go, and like a good little wife, I did. And I am so very glad that I did! What an awesome time I had! She is so talented, so generous with herself and the knowledge that she has. I met so many talented women, painted a cool picture of a "delightfully frustrated" lady (we will call her Katie Girl from here on out) and just generally Had A Blast!
I met Kristi Steiner. Ohhh and I believe that I am going to go to her Retreat this September (http://www.kristinsteiner.com/). It's called "Believe in Yourself Retreat" and I hope that my good friend Paula will go with me. I'm in the process of begging her right now.
And even though I had "talked to" (via email) Jane Powell, owner/operator of The Best Shop Around (http://www.randomartsnow.com/) I got to meet her face to face. She is just as cool as I felt that she would be. We actually had quite a few things in common and had a really great talk over lunch. And yes, Cheryl, I gave her a hug from you!
There were 12 people there (including me but not Katie) and they were all awesome. And very talented. Oh, wow and you should have seen what Meg Fowler created...I wanted to take it , and her for that matter, home with me. I will post some pictures. I failed to get everyone's name but there were 2 people there from Alabama, some from Georgia, NC, SC...all to see our beautiful Katie. Does everyone that meets her love her or what? A lot of them were staying for the 2nd class but I had to go back down the mountain. I was just pleased to have one day with all of them.
I love, love, love Random Arts. It is the coolest store around. If they had a quilting corner, it would be The Perfect Shop. Oh, and chocolate...but you can get that fairly quickly outside the shop...so we'll let that pass for now!
Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful men that are Dad's.