GOTHIC ARCH #10

GOTHIC ARCH #10
Originally uploaded by luvs2create2

GOTHIC ARCH #11

GOTHIC ARCH #11
Originally uploaded by luvs2create2

GOTHIC ARCH #12

GOTHIC ARCH #12
Originally uploaded by luvs2create2

GOTHIC ARCH #13

GOTHIC ARCH #13
Originally uploaded by luvs2create2

So much to do and so little time!!! It is now 11:30 PM DST and I will be leaving for Phoenix and Art Unraveled in three days!! I am posting some of my current finished art and finishing art projects that have deadlines in the next 2-1/2 weeks. I will be glad to be finished with all projects---then I can start to pack. I have all that I need to bring with (clothes, art supplies, etc.), so I just need to gather it together and pack wisely. Last year I was 16 pounds over the airlines weight limit and needed to re-do my luggage out on the curb before checking it in. The extra weight was going to cost $50.00 and I decided that it would be way more fun to have those extra dollars to spend at Art Unraveled!!! More pix to come....

My #1 favorite thing...fireworks!!!!

I didn't take any pix of the fireworks on 4th of July, so I borrowed this beautiful image from Zesmerelda's Flickr site. Thanks Zesmerelda!

Fireworks at the Taste of Chicago Originally uploaded by Zesmerelda

I'VE HAD A GREAT JULY...SO FAR!

I have done quite a few fun things this month---I just haven't taken the time to blog about them! July is one of my favorite months. I love summer, 4th of July (especially the fireworks---just LOVE FIREWORKS!!), my friend Sandy's annual BBQ, my birthday and going to Art Unraveled (not until August---but still summer!!).

My friend Sandy is a generous and clever hostess. She always makes her BBQ's fun and something to look forward to. There are always activities to keep everyone busy when they are not eating (or drinking Lynchburg Lemonade---the house specialty!). Her plan this year was to have a "photo booth" so everybody could get their pix taken (for fun and to be used in a craft that was planned for later in the evening). She found that renting a photo booth was out of the question at $3,000+, so she designed one of her own in a downstairs closet. It was a blast and the pix turned out to be great fun!!! Here are a few....
4th of July we did our family annual event at Arlington Park Race Track. It was a great time as usual, although we missed having Mikey with us (he is still in Spain having the time of his life!!). We went early, but not early enough---it was hard to find good seating. Danny saved the day (as usual) by finding us 2 benches in the front row. We brought our usual (but smaller version) of our picnic. We had a great family sitting behind us who had two small children. Joey and the other kids had a very fun time. Joey picked a horse and won $10.00!! I brought art supplies with and the kids did art projects during the down time between the races. We hung out after the last race to await the fireworks. It is always a big plus to have our spot staked out! The people who come just for fireworks find it really difficult to find a place to watch. The fireworks were STUPENDOUS!!! I am never disappointed with the show there.

My birthday was also a fabulous and very busy day! Steve, Joey and I had brunch at the Clubhouse Restaurant in Oakbrook, IL. They have a delightful and overwhelming array of food. We ate and I drank Champagne until we were way too overstuffed. Joey enjoyed the Chocolate Fountain, but Steve and I are watching our weight and passed on dessert. We then went home to relax (or I thought to relax) and get my PRESENTS! I love presents!!! Joey gave me a $50.00 gift card for Starbucks (yeah!! I will put it to good use in Phoenix since there is a Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel at Art Unraveled!!). And Steve (my adorable husband) gave me a card with a Rain Check from our local grocery store....hmmmm. The Rain Check was for Blackberries and I didn't get it at first (I often don't get Steve's sense of humor). I finally realized that he was buying me my very own Blackberry and we went to the Verizon store to pick it out and set up service. I am now connected to the world and the internet 24/7!!! A new addiction! After that we went back out to dinner with my adult children, there significant others and of course Joey. It was a VERY GOOD DAY!!!

And now I am looking forward to attending Art Unraveled in Phoenix with my good friends Harriet, Sandy and Belinda in just 3 weeks! I also will get to spend an additional week there to visit with my dear friend Janet who I have been friends with since our 24 year old children were in the first grade. I have missed her since she moved to Phoenix last year.

So that is my July---my summer so far. The time is flying and before we know it, it will be Fall!!

New Art...created in Christy Grant's Calendar Journal

The Calendar Journal Round Robin that I am participating in has now passed the half way mark. In June (the 6 month point) I was working in Christy Grant's Calendar and she was working in mine. Here are the pics of my contribution to her calendar journal.


*Little girl on left hand side from laurelemur's flickr site. You can view this and all of her wonderful vintage images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauralemur/582728160/in/set-72157600110342564/

The "charm craze" seems to continue...what I've done with some of my charms

I recently finished teaching a six week (one night a week) class on making mixed media charms to a group of fabulous women who are members of the "Women's Wisdom" group in Wheaton, Illinois. We made metal, polymer clay and found object charms. Everybody had fun and the creativity and energy these women possess is phenomenal!!! They are now creating charms to be sold at a fundraiser for the People's Resource Center of Dupage County called "Goddess in the Garden ~ Mangoes, Margarita's & Moonlight". The event will be held Friday, July 20, 2007 at 6:30 PM. If you live in the Chicagoland area and would like information about attending the event, the Women's Wisdom group or the People's Resource Center of Dupage County, please email me at luvs2design@aol.com. Click on images for a more detailed view of charms.

Fun with friends and a new technique...

I had a wonderful day yesterday! I spent it with my art friends Harriet, Sandy, Belinda and Sarah. We were invited to Belinda's home for lunch and creative time. Joey was included in my invite and he had a blast playing with Belinda's two children and Sarah's daughter. Belinda has a fabulous, humongous house with lots of space for doing art. Her studio is large and fully stocked with almost every supply you could want to play with!!! We were open to doing any technique, so I suggested that we try a new one (a yummy textured background using deli paper) that I found a tutorial for on Dani's Site (The Stamping Witch). I actually saw a sample of the technique first on Hermine's Blog and fell in love with her version of the background so I follwed the link to Dani's Site to get the instructions. I found that the instructions were in German and even though there are terrific photos' included I was unable to figure the technique out. I emailed Hermine and asked if she could translate for me and she very kindly did a translation (which is now included on Dani's site). So, thank you Dani for the technique and thank you Hermine for the translation. My friends and I had a really fun time creating beautiful backgrounds with the technique (sample above). We made a few substitutions since we didn't have all the materials required in the instructions, but they seemed to turn out just fine. We didn't have deli paper or PVA, so we used tissue paper and Sobo glue. Again thanks girls and thanks to my local friends for an absolutely fantastic day!

In case you were wondering...

The back of my Moo Cards look like this!!!!

Oooops....haven't been posting much lately

I've been slacking off in the posting department again and I haven't completed any new art recently. I do have a few projects in the works---I will post pix as soon as I finish them. I ordered and received my "Moo Cards" from Flickr! They are so fun! I was really pleased with the way they turned out and the quality is fabulous! If you've been thinking about ordering some, JUST DO IT!!! You'll love them! Here are mine....

A few more things that I have worked on recently...

These are ATC's that I completed as part of an exchange on the Art Unraveled Yahoo group. I am looking forward to attending Art Unraveled again this year---only two months away!!!

AND...finally some new art!!!

These are the May Calendar Journal pages that I created in Karen Owen's Journal as part of the Round Robin that I am participating in on the CalenderGirlz Yahoo group. It felt really good to finish these. I am very happy with the way they turned out.

Pictures from the graduation...

Hmmmm....could it be 79 days later and my 101st post???

So much to say---I don't even know where to start. It has been so long since my last post. Much has happened (and not happened). Probably no one will even read this---I'm sure my devoted blog fans have crossed me off their list and moved on to more active blogs by now! If you haven't given up on me and are still out there, please comment so I will know that you are out there.

My husband Steve had a heart attack on March 16th (3 days after my last post). He is doing fine now and things are back to normal in my household, but this event in our lives took quite a toll on me as well as Steve. I fell into a funk (even after I knew that he was going to be OK) and have been in that state until just recently. I spent very little time online and my desire and ability to create was totally gone. This was the worst creative drought that I have ever experienced and I am very happy that Steve is now well and the funk has finally passed. I have been doing some art the last few weeks and I will upload pix in my next post. Some good news is that my son Dan graduated (undergrad) from Northern Illinois University earlier this month and my son Mike is getting ready to go to Spain to complete his Master's degree (in Spanish). I am very proud of both of them. They are smart, good looking and nice to their mama---AND they both worked hard (in school and at work) to pay ALL of their college expenses. They are very special young men.

A "PAPER WHIMSEY" CHALLENGE COMPLETED...

I belong to the Paper Whimsey Yahoo Group dedicated to using Gail Blair's Paper Whimsey
images and the art that can be created using her fabulous collage sheets (check out her website to purchase collage sheets---no affiliation, I just love them!!). Every month Gail offers a challenge. If you take her up on the challenge and send her a SASE she will send you back a few goodies to be used in a 5x5 piece. The rules are pretty simple---use all the pieces she sends and follow the chosen theme. You can use other things in your collage as long as you use all of the items that were sent to you. At the end of the challenge one of the pieces is selected as the favorite (I'm not sure who chooses) and the artist who created the selected piece receives 3 collage sheets of her choice as a prize!! This is the first time I have entered the challenge and the theme this month was "Memories". Above is a pix of the collage goodies I received and my finished collage. I'd love to win those collage sheets!!!

~~UPDATE~~ Calendar Journal Round Robin

Terry Ross's February 2007 Pages
Late but finally finished

THE RED GLOVE GIRL

This is another example of the Magaine/Gesso Technque. This one is a bit bigger (6X6 on matboard---frame is just for fun from Flickr Toys not really part of the real piece!). The original image was from a magazine ad for Paloma Picaso cosmetics and fragrance. I am having way too much fun!!! Have a happy and creative day!

About my other addiction....

I read this earlier on the Starbuck's Gossip Blog. I just love my coffee....got to love this!!

Get a FREE cup of coffee at Starbucks from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, March 15th

Next Thursday, all company-operated and licensed Starbucks stores in the U.S., Canada, and other countries will give away free Tall (12-ounce) cups of coffee to anyone who drops by for the second annual Starbucks Coffee Break

I've been meaning to post this...

My charms from the Art Unraveled Yahoo group arrived last week. This scan does not do them justice. I love every one of them and I can't wait to meet all of the participants from this swap when I attend Art Unraveled 2007 this summer. I still am expecting to receive charms from another swap I participated in on the International Charm Exchange group---I can't wait for them to arrive. These swaps are so much fun! I love working on the charms (almost as much as I love working on the 1x1's!!). I will post the next group as soon as I receive them!

OK...back to creating art now!

It was very important to me to write the previous post acknowledging and thanking my friends, BUT it took me all evening to complete (scans, uploads, heartfelt wording, etc.) and I need to get back to finishing the several "end of the month" projects that have deadlines tomorrow. I am running behind---again. I have one little ATC (more magazine/gesso technique to add to my FACES series) to upload tonight and I will have more pix tomorrow.

Let me tell you about all of the fun stuff I have received in the mail...and a belated THANK YOU to my generous friends! WARNING: VERY LONG POST!!

I have been the lucky recipient of some really awesome stuff this past week. Let me do some "show & tell" and say thank you to all of the generous artista's that have sent these gifts, RAKS, swaps and prizes to me!! I will personally e-mail each of you later...just in case you miss this post.

1. I received the most amazing package of hand made papers from Kathy Wasilewski. I was the lucky winner of her 4th Freebie Friday drawing!! It was very generous of Kathy to hold these drawings and I really consider myself fortunate to have won this fabulous assortment. Here is a pix---but believe me it is way better in person!!! Thank you very much Kathy.

2. I also received a fabulous ATC from my art/blog friend Belinda Schneider in Luxembourg. I read her blog "Bel's Nook" all the time. She is very talented and she does these absolutely incredible backgrounds---painted, layered, stamped, layered some more etc.. I kept pestering her for a private tutorial and she pointed me to several older posts on her blog with descriptions of her technique. I am the kind of person who needs to see to understand so I was not quite getting the technique and I kept being a pest with a zillion questions. In response to all of my queries and whining, Belinda generously sent me a lovely ATC RAK !!! Now that I have this little beauty in my hands I can see exactly what she does and I will try to create some of my own---at least my own interpretaion of the Belinda Schneider technique!! I will post my results after I do some experimentation. Here is a pix of her ATC. Thank you Belinda. I appreciate your "Random Act of Kindness".



3. I won another prize!!! Are you jealous yet??? My friend Fran Saperstein
(check out her blog "artsyfran") holds "Manic Monday" drawings on her blog. In honor of producing her own glorious vintage collage sheets (available in her etsy shop) she offered a set as the prize for Manic Monday and I WON!!!! Lucky me!! Not only did he send me the collage sheets, she also sent some really fun goodies to use in my art. I so appreciate your generosity Fran and I just love your collage sheets!! For those of you who don't know the story of how I met Fran, here is a short version!!! Last year at Art Unraveled in Phoenix I took a class where the instructions were not too clear and as a complete novice I understood nothing other than I probably needed to invest in about $300 worth of tools/equipment to be able to be able to recreate the project at home. I was about to leave (knowing that I absolutely didn't need to learn and invest in a new and expensive art process) when Fran who was also in the class stopped me, offered to share her tools and knowledge and friendship. It turned out to be one of the best classes I took at AU!!! She told me what I really needed to buy to get started (introducing me to Harbor Freight!!) and showed me step-by-step how to do the project. You ar wonderful Fran---and I am very greatful that I met you! Here are pix of her collage sheets. They are wonderful images and the quality is great! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!



4. And still more....today I received a charm from the talented Angie Haviland (check out her blog "Angie's Art & Full Life"). I have been in several Charm Swaps this past couple of months, but none of them included Angie as a participant. Who knew there were so many Charm Swaps happening?? I read her blog often and saw a pix of the charms she had made for the swap she is paritcipating in. I loved her charms and knew that I had to have one!!! So I commented on her blog and suggested a one on one swap. Today I received this beautiful work of art from Angie to add to my growing charm collection. It is even more beautiful in person than on her blog!!! I have a confession to make---I have not sent Angie my charm in return yet. Doing so is on my lengthy TO DO list Angie. I will try to get it in the mail tomorrow. She also sent me some pretty fibers in the package. What a treat! Here is a pix of her charm.



5. And lastly...a very, very belated acknowledgment to my friend Heather Bluhm.
I have thanked her personally but I have not sent my trade back to her yet (sorry Heather---I'm just a bit behind as usual). She sent me notecards made using her fabulous art, a sample of her flickr Moo Cards, and several wonderful 1X1 mini collages. The 1x1's included the Frida one that I requested from her when we first started making these mini masterpieces. Here's the pix. And thanks again Heather!!!