Old West Coasters

Jeri is hosting a swap over at Paper Traders using those paperboard drink coasters you get at restaurants.  I snagged a big stack of them from the manager at our local Islands to make these.  The theme for this swap is Old West and I used images from vintage postcards.  The backgrounds were done using the decayed paper technique with an extra top coat of clear crackle and Distress Ink rubbed into the cracks.  The coasters from all the participating artists will go into little books for each person.

Blast from the Past

Several of my friends (especially the long-distance ones) have commented that even though they enjoy seeing my art on the blog, they would like to hear more about what is happening in my life.  The truth of the matter is... not much.  I work full-time (and then some!) and spend most of my spare time working on my art and moderating our Paper Traders group.

The art group is continuing to grow and expand and we created a blog this year - which is terrific, but also a lot of work.  I think we get a pretty decent level of participation in our group swaps but it's often hard to get people to host projects so that task generally falls to us moderators.  Not that hosting is difficult, but when you do it regularly, it doesn't leave much time to fit in other things.

One of the "other things" I keep telling myself I need to do is to participate in more Single Adult activities with my church.  I am perfectly happy staying in and doing the art thing but I'm never going to meet anybody at home in my pj's  =)   I did recently break out my old gypsy costume and put in an appearance at the annual Halloween dance.  It was nice to see a few old friends but I didn't really meet anybody new (it's hard to interact with people in a dark room with loud music) so my goal this next year is to get out of the house a little more before I turn into a complete recluse!

This past week, I actually did get out of the house to spend time with an old friend who was here for business.  Tim was my very best friend in high school and I haven't seen him since before graduation - 25 years ago!  Sometimes when you reconnect with old acquaintances, it's nice but a bit awkward; but this was not like that at all... instead, we were immediately able to start up a conversation almost as if no time had passed at all.  It was great to catch up and rediscover our friendship again.  Below is a picture we took when we were in high school... the other photo is (a grainy cell phone picture taken in the dark) from our meet-up this week:

It's hard to believe I've been back in San Diego for more than a year now.  Time has really flown.  I recently added more shelves to my art studio but it's STILL not clean and organized enough to unveil to the rest of the world.  I went "home" to Wyoming this summer and got to see my oldest nephew graduate from high school.  I am so proud of him and excited to see him starting college now.  I'm planning another trip for Thanksgiving this year and am really looking forward to seeing my family again.  I love being in San Diego but it's awfully far from them.

So, that should get me caught up for awhile... I promise to try to be better about keeping everyone updated  =)

Check out KC Willis...

KC Willis Studio offers on-line workshops where she teaches the basics of her techniques and inspires you to new creative heights: www.collagecamp.ning.com

There's also Mixed Media Mania where you take what you learned at Collage Camp and in these workshops KC teaches Altars and Shrines, Altered Books, and Works on Paper: www.mixedmediamania.ning.com

And for those of you already making art and wanting to know how you take it to the next level and get yourself a regional or national audience, she also has the super exciting Marketing Mindset: www.marketingmindset.ning.com

And if video workshops aren't your thing, how about KC Willis Live! You can take a multi-day class with KC in her very sweet Victorian studio house in Longmont, Colorado. Check it out at www.studioretreats.ning.com. (I'd really love to go there!)

(Okay, so if you've checked out KC's site, you'll see that this shameless little promo is my way of getting my hands on one of her FABULOUS hand-crafted creations... but I really am a fan of this gal's work =) Check out her blog, Lipstick Ranch, here: http://www.kcwillis.blogspot.com/

Blue Christmas & Red Hot Thanksgiving

This week, my parents came to visit for Thanksgiving. I was so excited to have them come here! My mom is by very best friend and usually I only get to see her once or twice a year. My dad is a cool guy too and I love doing things with him. When I go home, we often go fishing together. This weekend, we took a drive up to the Florissant Fossil Beds and took a short hike - although the melting snow made the trail alternately slick and muddy. We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and did some Black Friday shopping too.

My mom shares my artistic interests and we do a lot of projects together, often participating in online swaps through Paper Traders or other groups. As I posted earlier, our Paper Traders group puts together a CafePress calendar each year. We had to come up with one more spread for December so mom and I watched a few of Teesha Moore's tutorials and then put our heads together for this collaborative creation using magazine ads:


I had so much fun with this! It is unlike anything I've ever done and was very freeing... I think I'll try doing an ATC this afternoon in the same style. Take some time to watch Teesha's how-to videos... she's so easy going with her art - I love it!


UPDATE: Our extra calendar page wasn't needed after all but there are still many lovely pieces of art to display, including my pear mosaic. If you're interested in a calendar, you can order one here: http://www.cafepress.com/PaperTraders.324251835

Is it only Wednesday?

I have had a rough week... or a couple of rough weeks, really. Things have been so busy at the office that I can't keep up and then, to add to the stress, I have clients who insist on making my job even more difficult. I am so ready for the weekend to get here... but it's only Wednesday (sigh)!

On a lighter note, I tried to work out my stress with some retail therapy =) This evening, I hit the clearance aisle at Jo-Ann's, swung by the BOGO sale at Payless, and treated myself to dinner at Jack-in-the-Box... I have sure missed eating there! When I lived in San Diego, there was one near my office and I went there often... then I moved to Colorado and they didn't have them here at all until just recently. Now if we could only get an In-N-Out Burger... Mmmmm....

So, obviously I am really looking forward to the weekend, just two more days... I'm planning to go to a church singles activity, excited for Broncos pre-season football, and I'm sure I'll manage to find a few hours to spend in my art studio - I'm hosting a map-themed ATC swap on Paper Traders so I need to get busy on that project, as well as do a little pre-planning for some round robin journals that are heading my way soon.

Now, art is true therapy for me - it allows the detailed, organized, perfectionist in me to loosen up and be more free and easy going... I just wish I had more time to play - weekends should be longer than just two days, don't you agree? =)

Howdy from Western Wyoming

Okay, so Cody isn't THAT much farther west than Colorado... but it sure feels like it! Lots of cowboys and pickup trucks, rodeo every night, open plains and tall mountains all around, no really big cities anywhere near here.

After driving up to South Dakota for a family reunion last week, I traveled west to Wyoming to take care of my mom for a couple weeks while she is recovering from surgery. She is doing well, healing nicely, but will still be laid up for some time due to the size of her incision. I don't think my boss was too happy about me maxing out my vacation time all at once, but family is my priority. The hard part will not being able to take any more time off for the rest of the year - LOL!

Today I am going to take my nieces to the movies... we're going to go see the new Ice Age movie - should be fun =) I've managed to get a little bit of art done while I'm here but mostly have been doing work around the house (Mom & Dad's place is a lot bigger than my little apartment!) and I've become addicted to a new online video game: Bubble Town - what a time-waster but so much fun!

Well, that's a quick update on me. I'll post photos of my recent art as soon as it's all finished.

The Singles Conference

This weekend, I attended a church-sponsored Singles Conference up in the Denver area. When I first heard about the event, I wrote out a check for my pre-registration and mailed it in before I could talk myself out of going. I rarely attend the singles activities here because, well, I never meet anyone that I connect with... I'm not just talking about men, but women too. I feel so disconnected from the others - there aren't many people close to me in age and no one that I have found anything in common with (besides being single, of course). The really ironic thing about all this is that, in San Diego, I was the Stake Single Adult Representative for five years and was responsible for organizing the entire program, meetings, activities, newsletter, etc. As such, I understand the challenges with getting the support and attendance necessary to make everything a success.

So, anyway, I drove the hour-long trip up on Friday night to attend the temple with some other singles. Then, afterward, we met up with some other singles for board games and refreshments. On Saturday morning, I had to get up extra early to get ready in time to drive back up to Denver for the day. We had a short opening meeting (for which I was asked to give the invocation - opening prayer - on the spur of the moment), followed by several really good workshops, lunch, and then off to the temple again - this time to do service work on the grounds. Some of us did mulching, weeding, and planting; others, myself included, repainted some of the iron fencing around the perimeter of the grounds. I wasn't dressed for painting and, despite all cautions, managed to get it on both of my blouses AND the only pair of jeans I own that still fit decently. So, if anyone has a good idea for getting paint out of clothing, please let me know! After working at the temple, we were supposed to play lawn games but the rain had other ideas so we moved everything inside for more board games, followed by dinner, and a dance.

All in all, it was a fun yet busy weekend. I had an enjoyable time and met some nice people (but not my eternal companion). Apparently, I didn't drink enough water during the day and, especially after working outdoors, found myself quite tired and dehydrated this morning. I'm feeling better this evening but am not thrilled that the weekend is almost over and I have to go back to work in the morning. There's just never enough time, is there?

Thank you, Officer Hill!

Sooo... on my way to work this morning, I was stopped by one of Colorado Springs' finest. It's awful to look up in your rearview mirror and see those flashing blue and red lights! I knew he saw me push through the yellow light at that intersection but I honestly thought it was better to hurry through rather than slam on my brakes (and risk being rearended). The totally handsome and smiling officer was nice enough to let me off with a warning - whew! I can't afford to pay the fine but I wouldn't mind running into the gorgeous Officer Hill again under better circumstances =)

I live for weekends

I'm probably just like everyone else - dragging my way through the week, anticipating having two whole days off to do the stuff that I want to do. They always seem to go by too fast. For me, working on art is almost always on the top of my list... I even squeeze my other errands in during the workweek just so I can stay home in my jammies and do art.

This weekend, I altered a wooden box for a swap on Paper Traders. My camera batteries are dead so I can't post a photo just yet but will get one up soon. I started it on Friday night and stayed up to the early morning hours because I was on a roll! Eventually, I forced myself to go to bed but, after not enough hours of sleep, I was up again finishing the box. I also worked on some domino charms for my RAK project... that was a funny adventure because I managed - not one, not twice, but THREE times - to superglue my fingers together (and once to the table - LOL!)

Yesterday, I did manage to leave the house for a few hours... I met my friend Stephanie and her daughter for some ice cream (I had sorbet - I'm lactose intolerant) at Cold Stone. Her birthday was last week and it was a fun treat for all of us =) I had planned to go to an ATC swap downtown but didn't really have enough time to get down there before they were supposed to close - hopefully they'll do another one soon. I haven't met many local artists but maybe I can connect with some others soon.

Earlier this week, one of my clients and I got to talking about art and he mentioned a store up in Fort Collins that he thought I would really like. I haven't made it up there yet but am hoping to stop by next month when I will be driving home from visiting my family. I checked out the store's website and it looks like it's just the sort of place I've been searching for - a store actually tailored to the mixed-media/altered art genre - too bad it's so far away! http://www.theartistsnook.net/

The Great Escape by Holly Hinkle

On my way home from work today, I stopped by a downtown boutique that was displaying art by a local mixed media artist, Holly Hinkle. I thought her work was absolutely lovely! It's on display all month at Terra Verde on Tejon, if you live in the area and want to stop by:
http://edificegallery.com/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=32&year=2009&month=06&day=05&Itemid=48&catids=24

Barn Swallows

It is Spring here in Colorado and the birds have arrived! They're up very early every morning, singing their songs and making sure no one oversleeps. They tend to congregate on my patio, shuffling and fighting over the best spot on the ledge over my sliding glass door. Needless to say, the subsequent mess on the concrete below is a pain to clean up!

I have been contemplating what to do to keep them from assembling there... until today. It seems that a pair has taken over the space and chased off all the other interlopers. I believe they are barn swallows - very colorful with bright red (male) and bright yellowish-orange (female) bellies with black wings and long split tails... they're really quite beautiful. I hope they honor me with a nest of chicks to make up for the inevitable mess they'll leave behind.

They're very LOUD! If you want to hear what they sound like, I found a clip here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/sounds

Soul Journal Inchies

Continuing on with Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts... Going back to yesterday's page, I trimmed out my soul armor with a gold foiling pen - it's a lot of bling, but I'm worth it =)

The next exercise was to search magazines for specific images... some were generic items, like "a bird" or "a flower" whereas others were more personal, such as "eyes the same color as yours" or "something you want (which is NOT the picture of money - LOL)"
Actually, one of the prompts was "something comfortable" which I couldn't really find any picture for... so I picked the money as "something I need to be comfortable" because, well, don't we all?

First, I made a wash of some dark purple acrylic paint (which turned out pretty light once I watered it down), then I spread it around and blotted with paper towels. When that was dry, I pasted on the inchies and applied another wash of a lighter colored paint (ochre). Lastly, Sarah had us add some words and draw around some of the inchies.

A few personal things here? Well, the "40 September" was my last birthday, the beautiful mountain scene is from right here in Colorado where I live now, the snowy branches are my "something you have" since I really appreciate having winter seasons again after living in California for twenty years. The banana bread is one of my favorites and reminds me of my grandmother; the hand represents my current round robin journal which is still winging it's way around the world; the aspen leaves are another Colorado specialty; and the purple swirl represents my favorite color (hence the purple background, too!)

Spring Snow?

I don't want to jinx it... but they're predicting over a foot of snow here tomorrow. That would be so awesome! We desperately need the moisture and our winter has been very warm and dry. Oooooh, I am keeping my fingers crossed!

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

This past winter has been so dry and hot without much of the snow and moisture we really need. I love winter and snow so it's been personally disappointing for me. The recent blizzard we had was awesome and much needed. This morning, when I woke up, I could hear the rain running down the roof and gutters and was so happy that we were getting more moisture. The forecast was for scattered rain and snow showers but no accumulation was expected... Don't you just hate it when the weatherman is wrong? In this case, not me! About 7am, the rain turned to snow - huge, wet flakes fell consistently all morning. On the way to church, the roads were already slushy with about 4 inches of melting snow. By the time I got out of church, three hours later, there was at least 6 inches on the ground and the storm was letting up. The sun didn't make it out today but it was still warm enough that most of the snow has melted off the roads and roofs... just in time to drive to work tomorrow. I'm just so grateful for the snowy surprise and the much need moisture =)

Frostnip

Yesterday we were hit with a spring blizzard... this is what my hands looked like after only two minutes in the bitter cold, wind, and blowing snow - and I was wearing mittens! That's such a lovely shade of purple, don't you think? It took 20 minutes of tucking my hands under my armpits to get the color (and feeling) to come back to the fingertips.

Holiday Wrap Up

So, my holiday road trip was both good and bad - it was wonderful to spend time with my family who I only get to see about once or, if I'm lucky, maybe twice a year; it was disappointing that it went by too fast, though! It was nice to be able to drive there and thereby take as much stuff with me (and not be limited by airline bag restrictions) as well as bring lots of good stuff back, too.

But the drive home was NOT good, by any means... I raced a snowstorm all day long and it finally caught up with me about 30 miles from my home - and then I crawled through the worst traffic I have ever seen for another FOUR HOURS! At times, I wanted to cry from frustration and exhaustion but Mom reminded (via cellphone) that someone up ahead had probably had an accident and was having a much worse day than me! Actually there were several accidents, and stalled vehicles, and slide offs, and snow plows, and it just went on and on.

All told, I spent 12 hours in the car that day - the day after I had been been soooo sick with the stomach flu... so for two days, I ate little more than crackers and 7-Up. Needless to say, going back to work the next day was very difficult - difficulty concentrating, tired, weak - and here it is mid-week and I still can't stomach anything but the most bland food.

So, I guess I had more bad to say about my trip than good but really I don't feel that way about it... it just didn't end well and I guess the ending is what sticks with you. The fun stuff included a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, a mountain drive with my Dad, arting with my mom and sister, making gourmet candy apples, celebrating two family birthdays, playing with my little niece and nephew, taking my nieces to a movie, and of course listening to my Broncos win a terrific football game!

It's hard to accept that it's already December and I have so much to do before Christmas... I don't know where I'm going to find the time to get everything done - Yikes!

SNOW!

It's snowing! It's SNOWING! IT'S SNOWING!!! I am so excited that we are getting our very first snow of the season... Woo Hoo!!! They've had some snow in the mountains already but this is the first to fall at this elevation and they're saying we could possibly get up to 3" by morning. Yippee! (Can you tell I'm excited? =)

Fall Color

This morning, I got up early and headed into the mountains to see the fall color. I love this time of year and many of the leaves will be off the trees in another week so this was my best chance to see them. I drove from Colorado Springs up the back way to Victor and then around to Cripple Creek and back down... for those not familiar with this area, it is near Pikes Peak on the southeastern range of the Rocky Mountains. It was really so beautiful and some of the most breathtaking sites were not in a place where I could pull off the road to take a picture. Regardless, photos don't do justice to the real thing. I have an album on my Flickr with the photos I took today... you can see them all (both the good and the bad shots!) here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elysian68/sets/72157600648611493/

First Snow

This huge thistle plant has been growing next to our office and, even though it's a noxious weed, I thought it was so pretty and I had to take a photo... two days later, the property maintenance tore the plant out. I managed to catch a busy bee harvesting the sweet pollen:

On Friday, we got a very cold storm, bringing some wild thunder and lightning and tons of rain. Last month was the driest July on record so we really needed the moisture. It has been constantly rainy and cloudy since this storm rolled in, but this morning it cleared enough to get a glimpse of the Peak. This is the first snow of the season and means that Autumn is right around the corner - my favorite time of year!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I altered six of these postcards to represent what I love about the place that I live - SNOW! It's hard to tell from the photo, but I used fun flock over the tree, shrubs, and slope to give it a fuzzy, snowy effect. These are for a Paper Traders swap.