Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Challenges





Created by Hand is black and white this week, and 4x4 Friday is open, so I played around with B&W for both. Wow! It's really hard for me to stick with black and white. I'm starting the mixed media art class for the middle schoolers tomorrow, so I was playing with pretty basic collage and stamping to use as examples. The children in the 4x4 are my Opa and his sister. It amazes me how much Max looks like him. He definitely takes after my side. It was an interesting experiment, but I can't wait to pick up the paints tomorrow!
Stamp credits: 4x4 - Quietfire (Inspire) and Stampington

Monday, January 28, 2008

Inchies


I'd never done an inchie before (a far cry from the almost six foot painting in my living room!), but as I was cleaning off my desk the other night, I remembered the Created by Hand challenge and thought it would be a nice diversion. This is my year of color, and I had some Hambly transparency scraps on the desk, so I played with bold, graphic pieces. I have to admit, I got hooked. I thought I would do one and go to bed. An hour later I was still playing, until Max woke up and wanted me to put him back to sleep. I think they have a bit of an Elsie quality to them. I think an inchie binge may come at the end of each project! (or when I actually decide to clean my desk)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008


Thursday, january 24 is the Open House for My Daughter's Wish, so come join us from 6 -9 for art and prizes! All of the design team members will be hosting free make-n-take ATCs (mine is above), there will be food, drinks, and even raffles! It should be a great event, so don't miss it if you're in the Pleasant Hill area!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

A Worthy Cause

Here's a chance to make a difference with just ten dollars and a click.  Bernie Berlin is a mixed media artist who runs an animal rescue.  Just as Ali did with Austism Speaks, Bernie is raising money through badge donations to build a shelter. Ali raised an incredible amount of money, and I hope Bernie can do the same. As you may know from reading my blog, we rescued our dog Molly from the Stockton pound, and Bernie also rescues mainly dogs from high kill pounds, pays for any necessary medical treatments, and then sends most of her dogs to Humane Society shelters for adoption. Tim and Bernie are both raffling off artwork to donors, so be sure to put your contact information down if you donate, and write "cooper" in the dedication line to be entered in Tim's drawing. It's only $10 - less then three lattes at Starbucks, but it will help save the lives of hundreds of dogs. The badge that has the most donors (not amount) will have the amount matched up to $25,000!




Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Believe


That's my one word for this year.  Ali Edwards, (hail to the guru), started the idea of choosing a personal word for the year.  I've always loved this word at Christmas, why not all through the year? After all, belief in the magic is what creates the happiness in life. What's your word? Come on, try it. It's easier then a resolution, and a great personal mantra.  She compiled a list of words from her comments, so take a look if you need an idea (her link is on the right). A nice little Believe sign will go up in my NEW workspace (lots of new things this year), but more about that in a later post; it's not finished yet.

Speaking of new, I will have a piece in the February/March issue of Stampers' Sampler. I actually found out when I saw my card (the white rabbit) in the ad for the next issue! I'm thrilled because the crown cards are some of my all time favorites.

Another "new" this year - NEW CLASSES for My Daughter's Wish! Man, the ladies I have the privilege of designing with are sooooo talented! I just loved looking through their books and projects last weekend.The classes are really outstanding! I will be teaching a perpetual birthday calendar class Saturday, March 1 at 1:30 and a card class on March 27. The calendar is a desktop model that can be used every year, and has a place to store cards. At the card class, we'll be making LOTS of great birthday and occasion cards to fill the calendar with. It's an idea I had more than  a year ago, and kept meaning to make for myself but never got around to. I actually have a birthday calendar, but I still get cards off late, or scramble at the last minute to make one, so I figured that if I had a year's worth stored with the calendar (and stamps and address labels), I might get them off on time! Ironic - I've had cards published, but I never have a birthday card on hand.