loving this sunny color currently...makes me happy

You should definitely check out the happy chair website...I love the fact that she's not afraid of taking risks... shawna robinson designer...

I've also been collecting a few pins of favorite things for future design inspirations via pinterest

my current guilty pleasure

so...what makes you happy?

happy hugs xxoo!

She is a friend of mine...and getting waxed

Sometimes I know, after building someone up in your mind after only having an internet friendship and then finally getting to meet face to face is slightly strange or unexpected.

Their voice is unfamiliar...well, what were you expecting, you question yourself? I don't know, I guess the same voice in my head that reads all of the online script and text...silly , I know.

And when you finally get to meet in person,what do they look like?...a little taller?thinner? I suppose...in online photos you only get pieces of people like a jigsaw, and your mind puts them together how it wants...You recognize the smile but in a face to face meeting you get the added benefit of  a hug!

Sue Simpson, myself and Crystal Neubaur

 So without further ado, I had the incredible pleasure of meeting some beautiful and talented artists at the Encaustic camp recently and Crystal Neubauer...she was who I, in particular, traveled from Central Oregon to Salem, Oregon to meet in person....she is a friend of mine...

When I heard  Crystal was going to be here in Oregon from her usual dwellings on the shores of Illinois, I jumped at the chance of meeting this very special friend face to face, after knowing her through my internet art groups...

It was a wonderful meeting her and spending time...and as a bonus I got to meet Sue Simpson as well, who was also in the same art group from many years ago...

And although this year I wasn't able to be at the Encaustic Camp it looked so inviting and full of creative energy I will be planning on being there next year...Crystal was one of the teachers and has a nice write up about it here.

I also got to meet these delightful and talented ladies...

Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch

...as well as a few more I didn't get snaps of! Quite a treat for me to say the least! 

I even got to try my hand at encaustics and I I think I'm hooked...I

 love layering, colors and textures so I am thinking encaustics is an art form that is here to stay with me!

Mary Beth Shaw

Lucky me...

I've been a really lucky girl...I don't usually win anything but I recently won something that's really fantastic and something I had been wanting!

I was the lucky winner of the newly released book  by artist Kerin Gale ...Oh yeah!

In her book, Kerin takes a relative "new-comer" called epoxy clay, to the mixed-media sandbox and introduces all of us artists to this incredible, versatile medium to sculpt and create with. 

I for one can't wait to get my hands on some and start having fun!

Here's what the website says about the clay "Apoxie^_® Clay is the ultimate permanent, self-hardening, synthetic clay. that combines the features & benefits of sculpting clay with those of epoxies. This product offers enhanced detail properties, plasticity, accuracy and handling features make this clay very user friendly." ...

Sounds pretty good right? Just wait until you see what Kerin does with this product in her book...amazing!

Immediately, my mind started filling up with ideas that I want to try it out on!!

Thank you so much Kerin for all the wonderful inspiration and I will be posting more as I create it...

A beautiful Summer day awaits! Hope you all enjoy it 8)

personal thoughts...

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~ Marcel Proust

                                                                                         via

I never stop being amazed...

I never stop being inspired by all the talented bloggers and artists in the blogosphere...it just amazes me...

You stumble upon artists like Susanna Bauer and I know I will never look at rocks or leaves the same again...

Then you have the blog Upon a Fold that recently featured the beautiful sport-coat tulip...uh, that's a big Wow to the design fairies!!!Spectacular presentation...




...and last but not least was inspired and amazed this week by Christisn Faur...This will blow your socks off, well it did mine anyway...

Words

Since childhood, Christian Faur found pleasure in opening a new box of crayons, all neatly stacked with their colourful tips and the distinct smell of wax. Unlike most other children, Faure never got over crayons.

Today this artist from Granville, Tennessee copies photos by stacking different coloured crayons in sequence and enclosing them in a wooden frame. He starts by scanning a photo and breaking the image down into smaller colour blocks.

From close up, you only see the seemingly random crayons, but from farther away the result is truly awe inspiring.

I hope this inspires you to look at things from different design perspectives and find potential even in the familiar and often overlooked items! Have a creative day XXOO

Thursday already? Fun stuff for you...

This week truly got away from me...and I really don't have much to show for it. Ever have weeks like that? I guess my excuse is I'm still trying to adjust our schedules for Summer... but sheesh!

via

found this cool website...the music reminds me of the original old b&w cartoons...
click for fun music...
vintage jukebox


Click for full art article...awesome inspiration with newspaper stacks

                                                                              via 


and last but not least...you know me... anything to manipulate patterns and color... I am all over it...I stumbled on this link and thought you might like to play around with it...

 http://wanokoto.net/japonizes

@my USA readers, Happy 4th of July weekend!

@ All my readers XXOO!!!

The opera and altered books... Thursday:the senses -hearing and seeing

I took my Hubby to the Opera for his 50th Birthday last night to see
DON PASQUALE...

and it was fabulous!
It was an encore presentation live broadcast in a theater setting and it was Fantistic-o!

I would highly recommend that this is the way to go if you are even slightly hesitant about your first experience with the opera. I have gone to the Opera before and I will say that personally I enjoyed it far better in this setting because there were sub-titles to refer to and I was able to follow what was being said/sung about!
Not to mention you get a close up on the beautiful costumes and set designs!

 It was fun and different and not being sure if my Hubby would be happy with his present, it turned out to be a memorable night...

This is the coolest video about Brian Dettmer and his love for books as art...click on this link and see what I mean...

He is an  altered book  and mixed-media artist who literally slices into vintage books and creates masterpieces out of the layers...

Hoping you find happy thoughts sprinkled throughout your day!

find more books  here

from 4th grade to young man before my eyes

 I can't even believe that my two boys are out of school for the Summer already!
My youngest has been growing taller, stronger and wiser right before my eyes...those are sure signs of growing into a young man I would say.

But he's my baby, I argue to myself...' I am supposed to let him grow up and find his own way in the world', I argue back.

But It's my job to protect him, I worry...'but he will never learn unless he is allowed to make choices while he is young and while I am close to guide him and help him if he fails' I reason...

He is my last child~ my baby and as hard as I try to hang tight I feel my concerns ease as he watches the evening news and understands what is happening in the World...

I feel my concerns ease as we talked about the birds and bees and he didn't giggle at the names of  body parts {I did though, oops}...

I feel my concerns ease as he was picked to be in the TAG (talented and gifted) program at school and received superior test results throughout the year...OK I'm bragging here but I am proud of this guy!...

I know he only graduated the 4th grade but his teacher wrote in his yearbook that she expected to see his name again someday attached to something great...he's just that kind of kid!

For the above photo I used two of Kim's textures "silence" and "grannys cupboard"...

Hope you are enjoying your first day of Summer!XXOO

Colors of all kinds, please come out to play...

I have been seeing these beautiful color pallets all around the web lately 

and have been intrigued and even a little jealous...

so I decided to go in search of how to whip some 

up myself and found these amazing sites to help with the task at hand...

http://www.design-seeds.com/p/palette-search.html

http://color-collective.blogspot.com/search/label/Fabric%20%2B%20Paper





http://www.colourlovers.com/browse

I just happened to find this great article that I feel is worth reading...It gives a clear example what can be done after you have been inspired by perusing all the fabulous colors! http://www.createmixedmedia.com/editors-picks/introducing-colourlovers

If you know of more color palette sites out there to share, please share the link with me...

I am hoping your week is starting out in a colorful way...8)

...the power of the unexpected

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
Saint Augustine

This week for Texture Tuesday I used a photo {last photo below} of downtown Bend, OR and of the historic Tower Theater sign...
The vantage point I shot from was awesome and I can't remember the original reason for snapping the pix other than I probably thought the 'birds-eye-view' might be kind of cool...

I cropped and re-worked the original photo to my liking,
then finished it by layering Kim Klassen's 'celebrate'  texture over the top...

I think it turned out very antique-y looking...kind of retro-cool! What do you think?

[above]

I remembered that I had the Tower sign from the back entrance in my photo file from last year and used Kim's texture 'dustyrose' over the photo below and LOVE it!
I didn't expect it to turn out so cute!
I love it when that happens!

[below]

Our challenge this week was called the WORD edition...we had to use a word in the photo somewhere...Thanks Kim for the challenge, it was a lot of fun...

Here's hoping you can do something unexpected and fun 

with something that's least expected!...

See you next time 8)