fun MAIL and art journaling class

i love it when i get good fun stuff in the mail!! along with the usual boring bills and catalogs i found my JOURNALFEST registration booklet! yeehaw! it came inside a hand-sewn folder which was mailed in a clear plastic envelope (sooo cool!)

on the cover of the folder is the word "suenos" which means dreams in spanish. this is certainly a dream of mine, to go to Journalafest and be among other like-minded artsy types, taking classes for three days and journaling all night! :) (and the little vacation from the kids isn't so bad, either! i'm almost more excited about getting a FULL nights' sleep for FOUR nights!)

and speaking of journals...i made another journal for my daughter maya. she wanted one JUST like mine (same paper for the cover and everything!). she picked out the papers she wanted inside and i made it a little smaller so we wouldn't get our journals mixed up. (the envelope is for size comparison.)

she's already started writing and drawing in it! i can't wait for the day i can take her to artfest or journalfest with me. i know she'd have a blast.

i'm art journal crazy right now! i am taking an online art journal class called "nostalgic musings" and it is so much fun. it is taught by hope wallace karney of paper relics. each week she posts a new prompt and a video going over her journaling process.

somer journaling from our recent vacation in phoenix (above). i got a lot of journaling done while the baby was hanging out with grandma and grandpa (thanks, mom!).

below is an example of a "sub page" inserted between a spread. the lady is a photocopy of an illustration from an old book glued onto cardstock and cut out and taped to the middle.

when you turn the sub-page, you can see writing on the back and some "hidden" elements on the second page.

here is a page waiting to be journaled on...

ok, it is just too beautiful outside to be indoors on the computer. time for a blanket and some art supplies. hopefully baby will comply and not try to wander off TOO far...

Convenzione 2009!

I took some amazing classes this week at Convenzione in Pleasanton, CA! The first was a beeswax collage class with Anna Corba. I had a great time rummaging through my stash of paper and ephemera to come up with the collage above. Anna was also very generous and shared a whole heaping pile of vintage music sheets, books, reciepts, handwritten notes, photos, postcards, Cavalini papers...all kinds of artsy goodness!

She also showed us a fun technique of applying a colorful wash over antique paper with fluid acrylics (or watered down acrylics) and then stamping over it to create our own unique paper.

The next day I took an amazing class with Brandie Butcher Isley. She taught us how to give an indoor/outdoor appearance to our backgrounds when working with vintage photos. Collecting vintage photos of my family was half the fun. This project was very personal to me because I felt a connection to the people in the photo.


The first is an example using a collage image from Paper Whimsy. If you click on the photo, you can see the great crackle texture she showed us how to do. The "hardwood floor" was painted with walnut crystyls and the "planks" were scrached in with a straight pin.

Below is the "outdoor" piece we made. I used paint and paper to create the bark and branches and Brandie showed us another amazing technique for painting in the smaller, whispy branches with a straight pin (my new favorite painting tool!) Brandie showed us so many amazing techniques and was very generous with her vintage supplies!


The photo is of my great grandma, Tami Kato, and the little baby with the bowl cut (cutie!) is my grandma Linda (born Kinue Osabe).


Today was the Art, Paperie & Pleasantries Fair. There was an amazing assortment of vendors selling vintage supplies, stamps, ephemera, jewelry, and orignial art. There were make-and-takes throughout the day. Today I did a make-and-take with Pam Carriker.


She showed us some great techniques like adding texture with stamps, shading with charcoal and how to do a transfer using hand sanitizer! Very fun.

And today, Julee Herrmann showed us how to make cute ATC shrines!

This was just the dose of creativity I needed before the baby arrives...which could be any day now! I am now 38 weeks. I'm hoping (selfishly)! to make it past my due date so I can attend Teesha and Tracy Moore's journaling workshop at A Work of Heart. I told the baby if she wants to come early, she can arrive on the 5th or 6th. Otherwise, she'll have to wait until the 17th! ;) Either way, we are very excited and can't wait to add another little cutie to our growing brood!

1001 Journals and more...

Finally completed some pages in the journal I got a few weeks ago from the 1001 journals project. I think I'll play around with it a little more over the weekend and then send it off to the next person in line...I've been a bit of a journal hog, keeping it way longer than 2 weeks! But I wanted to complete at least several pages before sending it off. I love this project! I love the idea of a journal changing hands across the country or the world, from stranger to stranger. Awesome.

Below is the start of the third series...I'll add some collage and then scribbles and finally journal some random thoughts.

Been working on more trades for Artfest, too! Below is one of a series of tags I've made...not sure how into mermaids I am, but since the theme is sea monsters this year, I'm just going with the whole ocean/sea/sea creature thing.

I've also made envelopes and stuffed them full of octopus and sea creature images and stickers. And I still want to put together packs of 3-D goodies like shells, starfish and a message-in-a-teeny-tiny-bottle charm. That is in addition to the 25+ charms I have yet to complete! I can't stop, it's too much fun!


Yesterday Maya and I played hooky and I took her to the Children's Discovery Museum and then we had pizza for lunch. It was nice spending the day together just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Most of the time we spend together is in the same room but we're doing different things (she's playing, I'm on the computer) or the car running errands. It's still fun, but it's not that kind of Quality Time with the capital Q. I was so emotional the other night just thinking about where in the heck did the last 6 years go??? She's not my little baby anymore!

It makes me happy to see her grow and change, but I miss that little baby I used to hold or the little 2 year old that used to poke around in the garden and bring me snails. Ok, she still does that, and probably still will for a few more years. But I often wonder/worry if I've spent enough time with her, if she feels loved enough, if we did enough captial Q quality kinds of things together. It's just what a mother worries about, I guess. I know the answer is YES, I'm doing fine and she feels loved. But when in doubt, call your kid in sick and take them out to frolic in the park or just draw on the sidewalk with chalk or collect bugs in the backyard.

Today we made sun prints in the front yard with special sun print paper and things from nature (and a few bath toys!). Maya climbed the plum tree and then we went for a walk around the block, picking flowers from neighbors' gardens (shhh!). We stumbled across this little guy along they way (Maya said, "oh, look mom! it totally goes with your theme this week!" she knows I'm preparing for Artfest!):


I think it's a good sign. ;)

Artfest is in the Air!

These are some of the trades for Artfest I've been working on...little shrink plastic charms mixed with beads and funky fiber in an array of ocean colors. (I was originally inspired by an article on shrink plastic charms in Somerset Workshop by Lisa Guerin). The theme this year is sea monsters! I've adapted it slightly to include mermaids and the faces I think look a lot like jelly fish with long tendrils flowing down.

This little one has a curly seahorse tail and butterfly wings. A sweet little monster!

This is a closeup of the face that reminds me of a jellyfish...you gotta see the flowy tendrils for the full effect. ;)

Only 23 more days until ARTFEST!!! :)

Artfest 2009, Here I Come!!!

I got my registration packet today and I am so thrilled at the thought of another Artfest! I was going to post a picture of the beautiful cover art but then I realized that not everyone has received their packets yet and I didn't want to spoil any part of the surprise! So I took a photo of one of Maya's little octopus toys (which, coincidentally, the same toy appears in the inside of the registration packet!) And here's this year's logo:

Maya asked if she could go to Artfest this year and I told her I'd take her when she was a teenager--to which she replied, "Awww! No fair!" ;) She is a little Artfester at heart and I can't wait for the day she is old enough and we can go together as mom and daughter! This event is something I hold so dear to me and with so little "rites of passages" these days, I am excited at the thought of being able to take Maya one day. I think if I would've known about Artfest as a teen or college freshman, I would've knocked away all the worries and "what-ifs" and just been an art major or gone off to some funky art school somewhere instead of majoring in something "practical" and struggling to make every job I had more "artsy". ;) Oh well, you live and learn! And that's just all part of the fun of life.

I've got flowers on my mind and striking color combos. I kept passing this fire-bright flower every day this summer on the way back and forth to Maya's swim lesson, and I always thought, "I should bring my camera next time." I remembered to bring my camera yesterday on a little walk and I snapped the above photo. I also like those two colors together: a bright crimson and a darkish tealish blue. Might just have to use that somewhere again...

And I've got Mandalas on the brain, too...I'm preparing for Anahata Katkin's Mixed Media Mandalas class which I will be attending next weekend in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. I saw this cactus-like plant full of these Mandala blooms and had to snap a photo. It is also strangely reminiscent of a sea creature, too, with tentacle-looking tendrils flowing from behind. A coincidence that Sea Creatures is this year's Artfest theme? Hmmmm....I don't believe in coincidence. Everything seems to be connected in one lovely way or another.

Art Life...New Beginnings

I took this amazing class at Convenzione called "Gridlocked" with Lisa Kaus last weekend. We worked with fluid acrylics, water soluble oil pastels, found objects and other fun stuff. I just wanted to share my work-in-progress. The final step is to coat it with a yummy smelling layer of beeswax. It never appealed to me to work on a wood substrate before this class. I think it's the best surface to adhere big, chunky found objects to--another thing I didn't quite get to finish yet; the chunky bits will get some tiny nails and wire attachments to keep 'em on there for good. ;)


What else is goin' on? Maya stared First Grade last week. She came home from the first day proclaiming that it was just too long of a day and that I could pick her up around lunch time. ;) I hear ya' little one. I didn't like how much school cut into my free time--how much time it took from me in general! I don't do too well with structured, scheduled blobs of time.


I think that's part of the reason I did something really scary and wild last week: I quit my job. I do enjoy teaching art to kids, but it's not my passion. It is my "security net" job. What I really want to do is be an artist full time. It's no coincidence that this decision was made soon after I received Kelly Rae Roberts' new book, "Taking Flight" last week! I have also embarked on a new adventure with Kelsi where I will be facilitating art experiences with new and expectant moms. It was perfect timing. The new venture is called "Expressive Arts Play" (or "Mama Love"). The blog is up and running, we've got three exciting, nurturing classes planned...now we're hunting for the right space. ;) Updates soon! We expect our first classes to start in October.

Oh, and today was the first day to send out Artfest registrations for next year's gathering in Port Townsend, Washington. I am SO excited. I can't wait to see what classes I get this year. I'm also considering driving out this time. AND I just signed up today for Anahata Katkin's weekend workshop in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Ca! I get to take two classes of hers that she taught at Artfest last year--Mixed Media Mandalas and Funky Wallpaper People. I couldn't be more thrilled! Hooray for the creative, fearless, artful life!

Convenzione 2008!

I am super excited to be attending Convenzione 2008, August 22-24! I am registered for a full day class, "Gridlocked," with Lisa Kaus. I am totally looking forward to the class plus all of the other exciting events. On the first day, I'll lunch with other participants and teachers and after we'll attend the Bella Galleria, a gallery and botique walk in downtown Pleasanton (includes goodies and gift certificates!). That night, we'll attend The Convenzione Show where we'll get a chance to meet the evening's hostess, special guest
Michele Beschen of HGTV/DIY Channel's "B Original". The Convenzione Show includes songs, special presentations and a screening of the documentary 1,000 Journals (everyone registered for the event will receive a free journal! cool!) The next day starts off with breakfast and then a full-day or two half-day classes! After classes, everyone will meet for dinner at the Blue Agave in downtown Pleasanton. The event ends on Sunday with Art Paperie and Pleasantries, a vendor event of over 30 artists, craftspersons, and "purveyors of vintage goodies and fine arts supplies." For more info, visit: www.ZNEcon.com

Artfest 2008

I've been back for about a week now and I think that's been enough time for me to reflect on the four days I spent in Port Townsend, Washington making art and frolicking in the woods and meeting other artsy folks. I've had time to decompress, and get back to "real life." But that thought made me kind of sad because Artfest was so real and so fun...I spent a good portion of each day learning new art techniques and making cool, funky stuff and meeting cool, funky artists...I want every day to be like that!
Just imagine four days full of art, laughter, good food, fun, nature...Artfest just can't be summed up in such little words. I hope the pictures paint a little more of what it was like. The first photo was of a stuffed creation sticking out of someone's backpack on the last day. It just looked so happy sitting in that pack all alone I just had to have that image with me always. The photo above is of this super cool car that someone had decorated with all kinds of toys and doodads.
I took some awesome classes with three fabulous teachers. Above was one of the three paper shrines I made in Melissa Manley's "Paper Ruins" class. We made our own molds with shells and plastic toys and anything with a funky texture then filled the molds in with paper clay. The pieces were then used to cover or enclose a matchbox...I'm not quite finished with it, but it's getting there...Below is a project from my first class that week. It was with Michael DeMeng and it was called "Creative Outlets." There is an actual electric outlet buried under all that metal and plastic. We learned how to make stuff look old and rusty with acrylic washes. Very very cool!
I actually had some time to stroll along the beach on the last day during Bee Shay's class, "Handful of Curiosity." It was a perfect way to end the whole experience. Making art all day for three days straight sounds like a luxury (it is!) and a lot of fun (it really really is!) but it is also very draining! In a good way. On that third day, I felt like I was hot and glowing like I had just been out all day under the warm sun. You know that feeling: cooked and cozy! That's what my brain felt like after exercising that long dormant "creative" side. So I snapped some pictures and collected some round stones and then we completed our project after lunch.


Funky sea textures:
This arrangements of pebbles in the sand as the tide rolled out reminded me of an alien cave drawing or something...Kinda like a crop circle or one of those ancient land drawings that were once thought to be messages to aliens or gods:
View from my dorm as I walked down the second story stairs on my way to breakfast and classes each morning. Never quite figured out what a "castle" was doing on an old Military Base turned State Park, but I thought it was romantic and fanciful anyhow:

Gotta have a picture of that beautiful blue-gray ocean...

And Artfest wouldn't be quite so special without the great artists that help organize and run the whole deal (Thank you Teesha and Tracy Moore and family and friends!), and who attend each year to take classes and teach! I met some great folks and I will never forget this experience as long as I live! I'm already looking forward to next year. Below is a picture of me, and two wonderful, friendly, creative and talented artists I befriended on my first Artfest adventure:

Hi, Kathy and Layla! Artfest was just made a million times more special because of you two! Less than a year to go before Artfest 2009! I can hardly wait.

My Art Was Chosen!

Blue wings from Artxchix Studio, Winter Faux Post by Renee Stockfleth, crown image courtesy of Paper Whimsy

This itty bitty I entered into an Artchix Studio swap was chosen to be included on an itty bitty collage sheet. I'm totally honored and excited! :) I also found out today that I will be a participating artist in the Hands on the Arts festival in Sunnyvale, California on May 17. The festival is for kids age 3+ and they get to roam around trying different visual and preforming arts activities all day. I will be teaching a felt doll project inspired by the Alpha Stamps felt doll swap I participated in. The kids will be decorating felt dolls and turning them into pins or stick puppets. I am very happy to say that it is possible to be a working artist! Anyone out there who wants to major in Art should just do it and not think, "What can I do with this degree?" Or if you are an accountant by day but an artist at heart, just do what you love!