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.

True Love

Sistah Love that is...
I love it that we can help folks out even though they may not be in our hometown. KC Willis (you know from Lip Stick Ranch) is helping out her sistah, Joanna Pierotti.
Joanna's husband, Ron, has had a brain tumor removed recently. We can only imagine the costs involved with this surgery and recovery. No insurance, not a lot of money but a whole lotta love for these special people!
KC is donating HALF of her on line class fees and HALF of the money received from the sale of her art work to the fund to help Joanna and Ron.
HALF!
Let's show some e-love here, let's help a fellow artist and her wonderful husband. Buy some KC art, take a class -
show some LOVE.

Words, words, words...

I've seen several blogs and newsletters lately

that have encouraged everyone to Pick A Word for 2009.

I started a list...(see my photos)

Being a little anal, I began looking the words up in the dictionary...

just to make sure that I really, really liked the things that

The Word encompassed.

Just to make sure that there wasn't some Hidden Meaning somewhere...

Well, one thing led to another and I ended up with four pages of Really Good Words!

Part of it was that I like to write words...

go ahead and laugh, I know it sounds funny

but those of you out there who enjoy it too

will understand how I got carried away.

I actually like the arrangement of all

those great Words...

that would be a great mixed media piece, now wouldn't it?

OK, on to the actual post...

A few of my Most Favorite Words were

Cultivate

Foster

Intent

Purpose

I do have some very specific goals this year.

I started a new journal last year,

a neat handmade one, at the beginning of the year.

Fabric, of course, with hand painted pages.

Spiral bound with my cool Bind It All.

I wrote a little bit and then listed three goals

for that year.

I won't go into the specifics but I am glad/proud/pleased

to say that I met my goals.

I must be honest and say this as well...

I didn't make them TOO difficult, well...hmmmm...

Maybe it is in hind sight that I say that.
When I wrote them, I knew that they would require work.

I personally don't mind hard work at all.

I like it actually. It's good for people.

But what I'm trying to say is that I feel like I

could have done so much more than what I DID accomplish last year.

Part of the goal setting, the planning was based on Fear.

How, you say?

I was afraid that I wouldn't reach my goal,

so I set the bar a little lower than I should have...

That is Fearful Planning.

So I decided that THIS year,

I will set my goals without the burden of Fear.

I will set a few goals based totally on my sense of

adventure...that wild abandonment that I have been known for.

I'm going to reach so far that my arm might stretch a bit.

You know why?

Because I can.

Seriously...I mean that

I am Capable of Dreaming, of Seeking More,

of a Firm Determination.

Or we could call it "A Firmness of Purpose".

When I first began looking at the definitions

of all those yummy words that I wrote down,

there was a couple of words that were repeated in several definitions...

If you look closely at the journal pages

you will see that Promote is written several times.

Cherish, Care, Purpose...all repeated several times.

Aren't those wonderful words?

Look them up in the dictionary.

Then begin following the thread of words...

look up the words that are in the definition that you just looked up.

I especially loved the definition of

FOSTER

PURPOSE

CULTIVATE

Read these definitions...

THINK about what they mean to YOU.

Leave me a message, email me but let me know

how these words make you feel.

I'm going to say it again (even at the risk of repeating myself)

2009 is going to be a wonderfully Uplifting Year.

I will have a "Firmness of Purpose" this year.

I will reach out in Love.

I will believe that my fellow man

is as precious as a new born babe.

And in practicing just that one thing,

my life will change.

My heart will grow.

My smile will be bigger.

I will love my neighbor as myself.

And this year, I will love myself,

warts and all.