ArtFest Bound. 112 Mini Collages. 50 Charms!

i took a few photos of my trades before putting them all in their individual baggies. some of my learning about the camera backfired a bit, lost the photos. 112 of these mini collages (double sided). 50 charms too.

getting more and more privacy! and soon the grapevine globes will look great at night again too.

i wish i was driving to artfest. i want to bring so many things with me. so many photos to copy, so many papers, so much paint. since i was wicked sick, i didn't have the organizational skills functioning well...so i didn't ship anything and i'm afraid i might get my artist paints taken from me at the airport, so i'm bringing just a few of those, and more bottles of craft paint. a big part of artfest is process, right? i don't have to produce this week, right? it's about exploring and playing. when i return to my studio, i can play with the "big" paints. i mean $6 a tube, i don't want to lose those. next year, i'm really hoping to drive with papers, paints, a box of wine...

the camera learning is coming a little slowly too. gonna spend some time on the plane reading a little more about it's tremendous specialities.

granny-a-long cozy

after a long and fruitless search for a bigger memory card for my camera, i bought a new camera. necessary because i'm going to ArtFest. i know i'll need to have the ability to take more than 30 photos (the capacity of my old camera's card). the new camera (which took this posts photos) came without a case. so, an evening watching The Holiday later, I have these three cases. I love 'em all. I'll be writing up the pattern to be made available on my blog sometime later. (after ArtFest and the weeks of frenzied art that is sure to take place afterwards). In the meantime, I can't stop making them, so they are listed here. I think I'll be making bigger bags too. Ah crochet, I have missed you.

anyone else anxious about artfest?

i could watch these leaves grow, they are bursting forth so quickly.

yes. i am going to artfest. i'm excited and terrified (it's my first, *much* anticipated time). i'm busily making swaps. should i post images before i go?

'busy making stuff'

some new (though mostly blurry- sorry) images of yesterday's fit of creativity. some crazy times, i put all the angst in my morning pages and somewhat clearer headed, went on to paint and pencil and crayons and markers to make all of these 4x4 squares and more. (she reads: 'busy making stuff')

i read through the online directions for my scanner (HP Officejet 63100xi All-in-One, in case anyone reading this knows of this machine and can offer tips) trying to figure out how to make super quality scans to then take to a shop for professional level prints of my work. no success. i tried a few more searchs on the HP website and then gave up (i tend to be really low on patience when i have to turn my attention to the lit candles in the studio to pray for more patience -- stare at candle and pray, grant me the wisdom to see that there are grand things on the horizon)

i love this - fabric like. i just started doodling on the gesso background and then coloured it all in.

i've been prepping collage a day cards lately. (my own project, my own rules - i just have to doing something on them each day).

lots more of these too. lounged on the couch with c last night, with a pile of blank cards, these backgrounds and a pencil and sharpie (tm) marker to do some quick drawings on some for filling in today with more paint. delicious.

heading to the beach again today. hoping for more whispers....

yard art

blissing out in the backyard with these views. the first is of the soon to be back canopy of fig leaves directly above my head when I am sitting outside on the deck. Such a gorgeous shade of bright green.

i love this vibrant deeply shaded orange and the greens...must dye sock yarns again! i also want to represent the apricot blossom tree.

ooo....gotta play with this image! i love the twisties and the apricot blossoms!

on the art front...i painted, drew and prepped backgrounds for a big weekend project. will take some photos in the daylight tomorrow.

daylight savings time - you betcha

We took every advantage of the extra light today. Being an early riser, I got up in the relative darkness again. I was really enjoying my world getting lighter early every day -- I guess that will continue, but with a little step backwards for now. So, after various morning rituals (including my morning pages), this was my view from the espresso machine this morning. It's hard to tell from this mini photo, but the dark under the sunrise are the hills of the East Bay.

A couple of shots of our backyard and all the crazy growth going on. After church we went to Half Moon Bay (the beach being a popular destination for roughly 6200 other cars). We put sunscreen on (yeah us) and got a healthy sunburn. Loads of people of our walk, some fun party group had taken over one of the many oceanview benches for all their food and wine - great idea. I'll let y'all know when we decide to do this, if you are in the area, we'd love to have you join the fun. Just look for the bench with a couple of helium balloons, lots of laughter and the various wines and cheeses. I forgot my camera today, so this is an older image. I did bring my at the moment favorite book - Finding Water. I do love Julia Cameron, though am a little curious about what she looks like today, since the photo in this new book is at least 15 years old, I mean it's been a while since my last glamour shot (er, wait a minute, I've never done a glamor shot -- but then again, I have no international bestsellers either).

i made art. i listened to KCRW's Good Food while I organized the right half of the garage (and a tiny bit of the right side). i've committed myself to a half an hour each day that i don't drive to work.
i give Roshambo Winery a 10. it's always so fun to go there when we are in wine country. our favorite wines there - Reverend (of course) and Justice (yes, of course).

More collages. Sold another couple of pieces from my little bit of the web. (which is good, because our washing machine has decided it doesn't like to let the teeniest bit of cold water in, so it's very nearly useless and we need to buy a new one).

where our office went for a day-long retreat - very peace-full. There was at least one resident cat, which I got to lavish attention on while waiting for the rest of the office to appear.

for the love of toe up

I just love this pendant! I love the old advertisements, and of course - I love my coffee. C gave me a espresso tamper for Christmas and it makes a remarkable difference in the espresso...the pressed in finely ground espresso makes the water drip through slower, making a homemade latte so much the better.

Mom gifted me with this swift. My mom is a weaver. When our family began the process of designing the home to go on the acreage my parents bought in Oregon, my mom planned for her very own weaving studio. I remember being so excited for her to have this glorious space all her own. it was an alcove really, but it was all hers, and it had built in cubbyholes for all of her yarns, and was big enough (just) for her floor loom and sewing cabinet and an inkle loom. And two other things I loved about my mom's studio - 1. it was right outside of my room 2. it was also the place for the laundry shoot. We all thought the laundry shoot was one of the coolest things. That was a great house! The kitchen! walk in pantry with a flour bin, the island with JennAir grill, the appliance cupboards, the cookbook nook, and the views! Of course, mom's current house is great too...still wonderful views, the best spot for the 4th of July fireworks, and much more town convenient, but still country feeling. *anyway* the swift is from her studio...anytime you need it back mom, i'll send on back to you!

results of our last hand dyeing day. (this is everyone's, the next shot is of just mine).

collage a day images. this series are really mixed media more than collage I suppose. still daily though.

since i still haven't opened up my new sewing machine, i thought i'd draw and paint my plushies.

two of my favorites - cat and bird. we need to get a cat someday.

love the textured background - crumpled wax paper (saved from cereal boxes) onto wet acrylic paint, press with something heavy - any random things nearby in the studio. lift off the next day.

personally, i like the sketch better than the painted second version.

had to come back to edit. these last two images have come about since I started really trying to wear my glasses again. Every day, just a little bit more.

the new knitty is out! so far the tahoe sweater is my most likely to knit item. i was shocked to see that all of the sock patterns were top down! what! the knitting world doesn't revolve around me - everyone isn't thrilled and compelled to only knit toe up?