JOURNALFEST and halloween and rainbows!

i can't believe journalfest and halloween have come and gone. but they were so much fun and a much needed break from the hum-drum of daily life. so, i'm much too tired to go into a detailed account, so i'll just post some photos and say that if you love journaling and/or making art in general, you've GOT to get up to the fort fort at least ONE of the 'fests that teesha and tracy put on every year. c'mon! what are you waiting for? or, if you live too far, check out if there are any local groups that get together for some kind of artsy gathering. and if not, start your own! :) (and be sure to let me know...i'll come and play!)

so journalfest...

this year i shared the cost of a rental car with some fellow journalfesters instead of riding the shuttle. it was cheaper AND we got to ride the ferry! i've never been on a ferry before. what a great way to start a magical journey.

bye, bye seattle!

i stayed in the officer's housing which is so different than the dorms. the houses are cozy and quaint and you really get to know your housemates. each night after classes and dinner, we'd gather in the dining room and spread out our projects and supplies and show and tell what we made that day and then continue making art late into the night.

house number 11. yes, it's as spooky as it looks! :)

view of the grassy field in front of our house.

i took classes with roxanne padgett, orly avineri and indgrid dijkers. i'll let the photos speak for themselves! it was tons of fun. i can't even begin to express how wonderful it is to make art all day, break for food and fun and then make more art into the wee hours of the night. it was so nice to have a break from, "mommy! i need this! i need that!" and just do art AAAALLLLL day.

colorful, messy table evidence of a fun class with roxanne padgett

a peek into one of indgrid dijkers' tunnel book journals

i barely had enough time to decompress from journalfest when i returned sunday afternoon because it was halloween! but it was fun. the kids dressed up, my gal pal and her little munchkin came over and we walked the little ones down the street for their first halloween as trick-or-treaters. i think they were still too little to really "get" what was going on, but it was still fun. sureya had the most fun giving out candy and knocking on doors (something she does anyway when we go out on walks around the neighborhood).

little strawberry princess all ready to go

climbing around outside, waiting for it to get dark

strawberry's friend, "chupi" dressed up as a cute little nerd!

mamas and their little "treats" on halloween

and i finally got around to photographing the lovely items i received from my swap partner, marilyn. such a gorgeous and eclectic array of goodies! you can view more of the rainbow goodies on our flickr group.

my favorite color, blue! this bag was packed full of goodies!

thank you marilyn! :) so i think i'm caught up for now! sorry for such a packed post...blogger is only letting me upload one photo at a time and now i've kind of lost steam. i still have so much more to say about journalfest and my new adventures in homeschooling my 8-year-old daughter. more on that later.

our days have been in the upper 80s, really unusual for autumn. glad i can still get a little more wear out of my summer skirts and flip flops, though. as much as i love the changing seasons, i really do love running around outdoors in the sunshine. more on that later, too!

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...

Spring is in full bloom...

...and it's about time! we've had the most lovely, springy, warm, blossom-and-birds-filled couple of days this week and it's such a welcome relief from the gloomy, rainy days of this very LOOOONG winter. not that i have anything against winter...i love ALL the seasons...but i am a nature-sunshine-outdoorsy-barefoot type person and i can get kind of depressed and unmotivated pretty quick if i'm cooped up for too long.


so me and maya and sureya have been enjoying the sunshine. taking trips to the park, eating drippy popsicles, and hanging out on the front lawn (much like last spring/summer when sureya was first born!) i think it's time to break out the art journal bag-o-fun! i did quite a bit of art journaling this summer out on the lawn while sureya was just a pup. (i blogged about it here.)

sureya sees a sweet treat!

and i've been getting out more in the morning. even though i've had almost ZERO sleep these days, it helps to start the day out and about (keeps my mind off of how tired i am!) then i try to nap in the afternoon with the baby before picking up maya. it helps to get me and sureya out of the house. she's less whiny/needy (i know, she's just a baby, but i swear she's so much happier when we're out and about. much like her mama--she needs to explore and be outdoors and see people and places and have endless adventures!) and i'm less grumpy/sad (bad mama mix!).

gimme the popsicle and no one gets hurt!

big sister shares a little bit of mom's sweet treat!

i've been adding bits and pieces to my "remains of the day" art journal. it's for the online class i'm taking with mary ann moss.


i'm LOVING this class, by the way. and it's PERFECT for moms who have very limited time to work on art or have only those weird times like when the baby is napping or when the whole house is fast asleep at 1 in the morning!


the videos are up for a LONG time and i can watch them as many times as i like. there's a flickr group and when you sign up for the class, you get access to a separate website with the videos and PDF downloads (printable instructions with photos plus fun things to print and add to your pages)


what else...i'm totally into estate sales right now! i've been shopping on etsy for a long time and it can get a little pricey (all those "little" purchases add up!) i keep seeing everyone in blogland find all these cute and curious goods at estate sales for a fraction of the cost so i thought i'd give it a try.


i just went on craigslist and typed in "estate sale" for my area (sf bay area--south bay). i love these little collection of old birthday candles. one of them is marked .27 cents!


it's kind of weird, though, the thought that you are rummaging through someone else's belongings...someone who most likely has recently departed this world. i try to be mindful and respectful as i wander through someone's home.


i try to imagine who they were and what they did from what clues are left behind. and i think that i wouldn't mind people take my belongings once i was gone. as the saying goes, you can't take it with you! i mostly look for vintage supplies that i can use in my artwork and crafty/home decor projects.


i picked up a whole bunch of vintage ric rac today along with vintage sewing patterns, spools of thread, a box of little teeny tiny glass xmas ornaments plus, a very special find: two hand embroidery pieces. these pieces were stuffed into an envelope and found among the sewing patterns. they are made with such love and care and i am so curious about their story. i wonder why they weren't framed and hanging on the wall like they so deserve. i will cherish these and take care of them. i'd like to scan them to use parts in my artwork but the originals will be framed and admired.


OH! i'm off to JOURNALFEST in october!! (i know, it's still months away, but i am so EXCITED!) my mom is flying out to help take care of the baby while i'm gone. she'll be 17 months by then...i wonder how she'll do without me for 4 days! (i wonder how i'll do? i couldn't leave maya for more than a few hours when she was that age. i think it's different with the second child. i'm sure i'll miss her but i think i'll still be able to enjoy myself and my little break!)


i'm registering for classes with roxanne padgett and ingrid dijkers. there were so so many lovely classes to choose from, it was a tough decision! there is still time to register. check it out! journalfest is much like artfest except it's smaller and not as intense. to quote a fellow art sister who was lucky enough to go last year, "if artfest is like espresso, journalfest is a cup of herbal tea." ohhh, i like the sound of that. i could use a nice, relaxing art-filled weekend! :)

ok, that's all for now. can't believe i found the time to do a blog entry! but i did. i guess this kind of counts for my weekly "check in" for the artistic mothers group! i still need to work on the first project: gessoing, painting and stamping my art pages. i think i will do that tonite! :)

mine! all mine! :)