wasting time

Happy Birthday Dad!

So, it's been awhile since I posted last.  I've just been busy with life, nothing too exciting or earth shattering.   

Here are a couple of things I made this weekend for Gee Gee's.

And speaking of Gee Gee's, I'll be teaching my coptic stitch book there once again.  It's on June 20th at 10:30.  If you are interested, give them a call at 760-729-1779.

Here is something that I worked on last month. My monthly art quilt group played with fish printing.  Here is my fish ...

 

I meant to take a picture of it before I cut it out.

And here is what I've done with it so far ...

 

It is covered with free motion stitching all over it.  I still need to add some hand embroidery and do a little bit of beading to it.

So that's about it for now.  Oh before I forget ...

GO LAKERS!!

Back to the beginning!

I started my crafting adventures back in the early 1990's as a rubber stamper.  Those were the days ... Carson Stamp Convention, RubberStampMadness, Stampa Barbara, taking classes with Dee Gruenig and Suze Weinberg with my buddy Kathy.  Good Times!  I haven't really done much stamping in the past couple of years.  I kind of stored away most of my stamps.  So ... look what I made this week ... cards using the new Hero Arts stamp set "Sending Happy Thoughts"!  I made these sample cards for display at Gee Gee Stamps n' Stuff.

(Thanks to my Betty friend for showing me how to make nice corners with the Fiskars punch!)

The last one is a combination of two cards I saw on the Hero Arts website.

I also taught my 4-needle coptic stitch at Gee Gee's this past Saturday.  It was a great class and everyone's book came out great!  I am thinking up some new classes to teach in the future! Stay tuned.

It's March 15th which means ...

Time for a new post!

Guess what?!  I am no longer a Sprinkles virgin.  I had my FIRST Sprinkles cupcake this weekend and it was so YUMMY!!  Loved it!  Now, I just wish there was one closer, on second thought ... maybe it's better that there is NOT one close by! :)


I had the one with the green dots on them ... Green Velvet!  I highly recommend them!

I also went to a cool little scrapbook store last week, Paper Tales.  It's a small, but packed store with the neatest vintage decor.  And it is very easy for me to get there on my lunch hour! Oh, that could spell trouble! LOL!

I bought a new mixed media book today ... Creative Awakenings.

The blurb on Amazon says,
Utilize your creativity to manifest your personal intention. Work in the spirit of the laws of attraction to visualize the life of your dreams. Follow the journey of twelve artists, each who will set a personal dream or intention. Witness the process that each artist takes, as they create a mixed-media piece that sows the seeds of their intention. Step-by-step techniques for a variety of mixed-media processes accompany each piece of finished art. Read about how their lives changed as a result and learn how to set intentions of your own using the bonus tear-out “dream-prompt” cards.

The artwork included is made by some of the big names in the mixed media industry ... Claudine Hellmuth, Juliana Coles, Anahata Katkin, Lesley Riley, Linda Woods and Karen Dinino to name a few.

I have a layout to share ...

This is my first layout in about 2 months.  I used the Color Me Miki March add-on kit, Ruby, with some embellishments from the March main kit, Scarlet.  I love this new Prima stuff, and the Chatterbox chipboard shapes are just too cute!

And I shall close with an update on my lace scarf.  As you can see, I have not progressed very far since last month.  It is now double in length from February, can you tell?! ;) LOL!

See you all soon!

My "once a month" post!

LOL!  I am getting bad at keeping my blog updated.  My last update was just about one month ago.  Maybe I should mark that date in my planner ... the 15th - post on blog!

Let's see, what happened in January.  I went to CHA in Anaheim on Jan. 25th and 26th.  It was so much fun!  I got to hang with friends, ran into some old friends and saw a lot of pretty new products.  I actually did not take too many pictures this time, so I don't have any to share. 

I am also starting to pick up some of my old crafts.  The last three years or so, I got sucked into the scrapbooking world and I pretty much gave up a lot of the crafts I used to do.  I still enjoy scrapbooking, but I am slowly trying to balance it all out.  In September I took my first mixed media class in years, and then I started to teach book binding and art journaling classes last year.  In January, one door of opportunity closed so I am finding more time to dive back into my first loves.  So, you'll be seeing a lot more different types of my art posted here in the future!  And yes, I am still scrapbooking and having a lot of fun with Color Me Miki!

Speaking of other crafts ... I am knitting a beaded lace scarf.  Now, I have knitted sweaters before, but this lace thing is kicking my butt!  Mixing yarn overs, with slip stitches and knit togethers, and don't forget the bead! But, I think I finally have the hang of it.  Here is what I have so far:

It bugs me that this is taking so long because I am a fast knitter.  It looks all bunchy right now, but when it's finished, I have to stretch it and block it so that the lace pattern shows up.

Maybe by my next blog posting on March 15th, I'll have it finished! LOL!!

Have a great week!

HAPPY NEW YEAR (a little late)!

Hello 2009!  I am a couple of weeks late, but better late than never right?! ;)

I am teaching a couple of classes this month.  Well, one class was actually last night.  It is Art  Journal Your Way Through 2009 over at Pink Pineapple. This class meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 6:30 - 8:30 and it's only $10/class.  We share our journals and learn new mixed media techniques every month. Last night's class we started with the basics (tools, materials) and learned a couple of quick background techniques.  In February, we will be learning a little color theory.

 

My other class is on January 31st at Gee Gee's Stamp n' Stuff.  It is a 4-needle coptic journal class. The class is from 10:30 - 12:30 and is $25.

Here are a couple of other things I've been working on.
I am in a Valentine Swap.  Here is my "page".  We were given the papers, letter and cardboard, and we have to make 10 copies.  When we get back all the other pieces, it will spell out "I Love You."

And here is one layout for Pink Pineapple using some of the Bo Bunny paper:

There is 3-day weekend coming up!  Woo hoo!! So excited.  I have no commitments all weekend long, so I am just going to spend the time catching up on some things, maybe go to the gym (**cough**), and just relax!  And the weather right now is unbelievable!  Whoever heard of 80 degree temperatures in JANUARY?!  It's great, but I wish I could send some of the heat to my friends in the Midwest and East! Stay warm guys!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Look!  It does snow in So. Cal!

OK OK!  So that is fake snow ... but it is still neat! :)
I went to Disneyland last week for Elena's birthday.  Here is the birthday girl (with Carrie):

And a view from behind.

Yes, she is wearing a Tu-Tu!!  I tried to pretend that I didn't know her! LOL!!
What I love best about Disneyland during the holidays ... the Haunted Mansion!  I just love all the decorations done up like Nightmare Before Christmas.  It is so cool!

And even the castle gets a little snow!

Only three more weeks until ...

CHRISTMAS!!  It's hard to believe it is just around the corner! 

Let's see, what have I been up to...
For my altered book club at Gee Gee's, we were playing with Shiva sticks, so I used it on this plain white piece of muslin:

And I made a couple of layouts for the Pink Pineapple Design Team:

Also at Pink, I participated in a 12 Days of Christmas vintage book swap.  We were each assigned one of the 12 days and had to make pages for everyone.  I had the first day and here is what I made:

I had glitter over everything and everywhere!  But, we got our books back last night and everyone's work was amazing!  I'll post pictures of the entire book when I get a chance to take pictures.

Class news!  I'll be teaching a new class at Pink starting in January.  It will be "Art Journal Your Way through 2009".  We will meet once a month, share our pages and learn a new mixed media technique.  It will only be $10/month!  Call the Pink if you are interested!

I'll also be teaching a 4-needle coptic stitch book in January at Gee Gee's.  The date hasn't been set yet.

Have a great week everyone!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Don't let the turkey bite you!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

A Historical Night for America

HAPPY FALL!!

I love fall!  I become more productive in the fall, I think it's the cooler weather and the shorter days.  Yup, I said shorter days.  I am a night owl.  I love to do art at night!  Fall also means college football!!  I still have faith in my UCLA Bruins! LOL!

First off, here are pictures of my next book class at Pink Pineapple.


It is a 2-needle coptic stitch book.  The class will be held on October 5th at 12.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a 3-day class from Traci Bunkers. It has been a long time since I took a mixed-media class.  It was fun to just play and get dirty.  We played with the Gocco machine along with a lot of paint and stamps.  We made a lot of our own stamps.  We then put everything into a book.

And then lastly, here are a couple of new layouts using some Pink Paislee, GCD and KI Memories.

 

AND, the new kits at Color Me Miki go on sale this Sunday, at 4 PM (PDT).