It's been a while!...plus GIVE AWAY!

wow, the last time i had time to blog was over a month ago??? time flies...especially in the summer and most certainly with a little baby in the house! as she grows, i'm able to get a LITTLE bit of art in here and there. so over the course of the last two months, i've been slowly adding to a traveling art journal i started which will be passed among friends. i can't wait to see what becomes of it in the end.


so, i've been arting up two journals that will be passed along and documented on the 1001 journals site. it's so easy to start a traveling art journal. you can have strangers sign up and pass it along or close the group to close friends. i chose the latter so that i can keep track of it and be guaranteed its return.


summer is half over and i'm super bummed. but we've still managed to have maya's pool party (she turned 7!) and we've been out and about around the neighborhood for strolls and picnics in the park. i really do wish summer was twice as long. :(


my girls are growing fast! and our family is about to double with the arrival of my step son and step daughter at the beginning of august! we will be a full house again and we're all super excited to be reunited again.


hope your summer days feel twice as long from now until september! soak up that sun and make the most of these warm, beautiful days.

(collage images courtesy of Teesha Moore and Paper Imagery Designs...below is a page yet to be journaled on, inspired by Pam Carriker from the premier issue of Art Journaling magazine):


also, i thought i'd treat ya'll to a little GIVE AWAY. i used to be (well, still am, technically until July 31) a Stampin' Up demonstrator and i have some extra 2009-2010 catalogs. so, leave a comment and i will draw names by next weekend. someone will win the current catalog plus i will throw in some random SU goodies (ribbon, scrap book paper, cards, etc). heck, let's have two winners! winner #2 will get a random sampling of my studio goods (scrap book paper, vintage ephemera, collage goodies!). be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in your comment.

Right Now

This is in response to Catherine's tag...she posted a fun prompt on her blog and asked us to respond. The question is: What are you all about right now? Here is my free flow, starting...NOW:

being a mom

online art classes
facebook (gotta stay connected and share)
youtube (artsy videos, art technique tutorials)
finding 5 minutes a day for art (sometimes less!)
day trips
intense dreams
wanting to DECLUTTER my house, my life
wishing for a new space to live in
expanding family
connecting with other artists

yearning for sleep!

baby steps
bold, bright colors
travel
outdoors
sunshine
love
joy
peace
the ocean
the sky

half done projects

art journaling
collage
finding my own unique style, voice
being ok with mess
good food
pearl tea
girlfriends
family
home

Thanks, Catherine, for the chance to play. ;) I'm blogging and arting a lot less these days...got a sleeping baby on my lap as I type this. It's all about balance and baby steps. ;) I'm fighting the urge to want to do art when she sleeps, cuz I know I need sleep, too! I scribble and glue a little in my art journal here and there (feels good!) and I'm still trying to find time to write a little. That will come with time. Having a baby actually helps with that whole "spontaneous" art and life thing. I don't have time to ponder and second guess my art, if I have time at all! It's just scribble and play and paste...bzzz! Time's up! So that is good. I'm also lucky she is a good traveling baby. Been out of the house a LOT this week. Half Moon Bay (relaxing day on the beach!), water park yesterday (Maya ran through the sprinklers and played on the playground while we chilled in the shade), visits with girlfriends...Life is good! Slightly sleep deprived, but feeling good. ;)

She's Here!

Welcome to the world, Sureya!
Born on Mother's Day, May 10
7 lbs 5 oz, 19 3/4" long
Sweet little Angel!

Sureya cuddles with big sister Maya
(few days old)

Taking a little nap
(1 week old)

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!

Playing Catch-up

Artfest came and went with the blink of an eye this year! I had a blast and this time around, I had my Bay Area Art Sisters to pal around with (we ended up in a lot of classes together!). I met some new friends and some new sisters joined our lil' group, too! I took three amazing classes from three wonderful, talented teachers...

Day one, I took a class with Nina Bagley. We learned all kinds of fun and funky ways to make a keepsake book (mine is still in-the-making...but here's a shot of the cover):


Misty Mawn's class, "A White Out" taught me all about how to distress backgrounds and make my canvas look old, worn and grungy (very fun and addictive!), and to paint all in ghostly, peaceful shades of white.


Day three was with LK Ludwig and we learned all about metal mesh and how to make resists with patina and commonly found objects (feathers, leaves, alphabet stickers, magazine cut-outs, stamps, etc):


This weekend we spent with Raul's family up in Modesto. We had a great time lounging in the sun at Lola's and today we went over to his brother's house to partake in an Easter gathering with family and friends.

Maya played with snails (making them race, makign the big ones give the little ones "snail back" rides...odd girl!) ;) And she made friends with the sweetest neighborhood cat. We wanted to take him home!

And I even got some art done! Worked on some more pages for the 1001 Journals project. It's ready to be sent to the next person (sorry for being a journal hog and taking so long!)



And that's all for now! We start the final count-down for our baby girl...next Thursday I hit the 36 week mark and I think that means that the baby could technically arrive any time now... yikes!

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!!! :)

Moss

Entry #2 for the Paper Whimsy quotes challenge. The prompts are poems by poet Hilda Conkling (when she was a child). They are very whimsical and dreamy and sweet little poems. I plan to make a book out of all of the collages and give it to Maya. We'll see what next week's challenge brings!

Rain drops, Blue Girl and Middle of the Night Musings...

Not much to say today...just listening the the pitter patter of rain rolling off my roof and crackle splattering onto the ground below. Something about falling rain that also kind of sounds like bacon frying. Every notice? Ok, maybe it's just me. ;) Just wanted to share a little blue girl I collaged for a challenge on the Paper Whimsy forum. I like to join in on swaps and challenges every so often just to keep those creative sparks going.

I know I need to do more free-flow "no expectations or goals" kind of creating. I know then and only then will I find my true art voice. But in the meantime, it is still fun to be prompted and given homework to jump start my art. (Oh, bad 80s song is coming to mind...be gone!)

I cannot believe that Artfest is only a month away. And then Convenzione. And then Teesha and Tracy Moore's journaling weekend (on my due date!! I'm totally tempting fate here...I envision going into labor just as the last stitch is made in my journal and the last little bits have been collage onto the pages!) And then the little one will be here. (!) Anxiety and denial has officially turned into joy and anticipation! I'm ready (or as ready as I can be). It will be different, for sure. How will I make art and breastfeed and change diapers and get Maya to school on time and...? It will all come together.

Jewelry: the zine

I just received my copy of Jewelry: the zine by Catherine Witherell and Deryn Mentock. It is filled to the gills with gorgeous photos of jewelry, inspiration and articles by 42 different artists! I am honored to say that I am one of the lucky artists invited to participate in this lovely project!


I played with recycled sari silk yarn and this was the result. ;) I am so in love with funky fibers right now. And a "sea theme" was on my mind with Artfest just around the corner. Hence the octopus necklace and the floaty mermaid fairy, and lots of BLUE.

The zine is for sale on Catherine's site and copies will be available at Artfest (if they don't sell out first)! You can by your copy HERE. It is truly a feast for the eyes and creative spirit. I am so impressed with Catherine and Deryn's hard work and determination to put this gorgeous collection together. And I am also awestruck at the immense and diverse talent of all of the artists featured in the pages of this amazing zine!

Studio Recovery

Ok, I let my studio get into a total state of chaos!! For weeks, I just let it sit there...piles of random supplies strewn about the floor. Projects started and unfinished...supplies haphazardly stuffed into paper bags all around the room. Ugh! It got so bad, I was dragging supplies into the dining room and taking over one corner of the table. I know we've all been there.

Inspired by Chrysti Hydeck's video tour of her studio and organizational tips (thank you!), I decided something had to be done! I don't know if it's the nesting instinct finally kicking in or the fact that we were housebound due to the rain. But I finally mustered the courage and energy to dig my way out of the mess! It all starts with baby steps. If you've found that your studio is starting to look like a rat's nest or a tornado swept through it, just sit down in the middle of the chaos and start making little piles of things that go together.

I started with whatever was on the floor and went from there. I sorted things into like piles and then began to store them from there. I also put two grocery bags nearby: one for trash and the other for recycle.

After about two days of digging and sorting...voila! I could see the floor and I could locate any item in my studio without grumbling or frantically searching through endless piles of chaos! Maya helped celebrate the "new" studio with a little mosaic project while I flitted about the room, putting every last little thing where it belonged. (It helped that I already had somewhat of an organizational system in place)

Baskets and drawers for little things all grouped in some kind of theme (adhesives, inks and other misc stuff in the baskets...brads, eyelets, small punches, etc in the drawers)

I picked up this wire rack at a thrift store and used my pretty Cavalini folders to store my collage sheets and clip art. I labeled them by their source (ex: Artchix, Paper Whimsy, Crafty Individuals, etc) so I can always go back and order more.

I love these magazine holders...most of them were purchased real cheap at IKEA. Some come from Target (on clearance ONLY...don't pay more than $5 each for these!) I use them to store magazines and craft books.

My table could use a little work still...(looks cluttered, but there is still plenty of room to work. Right now, my daughter's mosaic frames are drying in the middle there). I keep some pretty ceramic latte bowls full of colorful things just for inspiration. (You can pick these up in all sorts of colors for just $4 at Anthropologie) I've got empty spice jars filled with buttons, ribbon scraps, colorful staples, etc.

My wallpaper lady can breathe again! She is my muse and watches over me while I create. (I made her last September at a 2-day class with Anahata Katkin).

So don't lose hope if your creative space has turned from inspirational to intimidating. It is possible to dig your way out! And it's not as bad as it looks. I thought for sure I'd be shoveling through crap for DAYS before I saw any progress, but I could see the floor within minutes. So if you're in the same boat, just jump in, crank up some of your favorite tunes and go for it! It's worth it in the end. Now I can't wait to get back into my studio and start making more messes! This time, I might learn to put things back when I'm finished and try to clean up at the end of the day (hard lesson to learn...even at my age!) ;)

I would love to see photos of your studio in a state of chaos, in-between, or totally fabulous! Please feel free to share.