The Beauty of Sharing Ideas

So I have been trying to come up with a way to store my unmounted rubber and the other day I just happened to come across a great idea. Lisa Vollrath suggests storing them in CD cases. Most of the stamp companies send these nice print-offs of the images with the stamps you buy which you can tuck in the front of the CD cases so you can see at a glance which plates are in each box. (Paper Artsy is especially good about this!) Lisa V. is utterly brilliant!

I went in search of CD cases lying around the house and managed to scare up 4. The shallow ones (the ultra thin ones) don't work if you have larger images-there's just not enough room. If you just have teeny words or something they would be okay though. I am going to hit the dollar store on Saturday and see if I can get a 10 pack of cases so I can get all my stamps housed.

Then the beauty part is that all the cases fit in the nice neat little CD holders. (Of course!) Isn't that just a great way to get organized?!?! I am so excited about this! (Okay so it takes very little to make me happy!)

While I was down in Bellingham over the weekend, I learned how to use resist inks. I have been playing with them today with mixed results. Some of the images are fading as they dry to the point I can't really see them anymore. Others like this one are working out really well. I am not sure why this is, but I think I will email the person who taught me and ask a few questions! 

Snail Mail

I have to say one of the perks to being involved in the altered art community is the wonderful windfall of beautiful mail that comes to my house. Everything from art supplies to RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) to artwork to zines. I love it all and let me tell you, the arrival of our postal carrier has become a daily event which I wait for with great anticipation. Hardly a week goes by that something great does not arrive.

Todays offerings were some pages pulled from a Spanish book from an artist friend. I was looking for some, so I put the word out and a week later, here they are! (I am trading for some French dictionary, Asian text and German sheet music pages.) Ask and ye shall receive!

My latest order from Papier Valise -gears, metal alphabets and teeny filagree wings also arrived today. Janice packs things so carefully (much appreciated!) and always tucks in a little something extra. YAY! I find myself checking the "What's New" page constantly, not wanting to miss a thing. *grin*

I also did some real life shopping this morning with a friend and managed to find a really cool rubber stamp. It's a triangle with an eye in it-kind of like the all seeing eye on the back of the American dollar bill. Very Da Vinci Code, so I had to have it. (I am a DaVinci Code addict! Dan Brown rocks!)

So...it was a good day all the way round. Lots of new toys to play with.
*does a happy dance*

Art Amidst the Chaos

It's the long weekend here in Canada, Victoria Day, so the guys are home and driving me nutso. I have come to the conclusion that they are in collusion with one another. It's like tag-team pestering here. I sit down to do art and 10 minutes later someone is asking me for something. I get that handled, just settle back into my groove and then the other one is asking for something else. My kingdom for a studio where I could go in, close the door, crank the music and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob. Don't get me wrong, I love them. I just wish they could leave me alone for 2 seconds!

Anyway, despite the handicap of interruptions, I managed to get some art work made today and uploaded it to Gallery #5. I am quite pleased with today's work. For the first time I used some family photos and it was just so personal and inspiring. I have a good collection of old photos so now I am thinking about scanning them all so I can use them.

Hope everyone is having an artful weekend!

Updates In Progress

Slowly but surely I am adding some new art to the galleries. I got a few things done this evening, but my eyes are tired so I won't get it all finished tonight. The gallery that got new artwork tonight is #5 if you are wanting to take a peek.

This has been an enormously busy week with working the election and several commitments and having to run down to the tire guys to get my wheels torked. (Don't ask!) In order to actually get art done, I got up at o'dark thirty. It's amazing what comes out of my head at that hour. Some people can stay up into the wee hours to work-not me. I would probably fall asleep in my paint pallet and it would not be pretty! No, my brain turns into a pumpkin after 11 p.m. but get me up early and I am good to go!

This weekend is a long weekend in Canada-Monday is Victoria Day so it's a stat. On Sunday my gal pal that I have known since Kindergarten is coming over and she and I and my guys are going to see the new Star Wars movie. We grew up on the original ones-we were 6 when the first one came out and I began my life-long love affair with Harrison Ford. (Who by the way was filming here last week at the airport. My gal pal was working as an extra in his new movie and actually got to talk to him!! *swoon*)

Anyhow, I am not sure how much art time I will have this weekend, but I should find some time to finish the updates. Stay tuned!

This is the cover of my True Colours Journal. I am doing this project with 5 other artist friends and it kicks off today with the first mailing. I am so excited to be able to host this. When I read the True Colors book, I was just pea green with envy and knew I had to do something like this. I just know I am going to learn so much and the ladies I am working with are such incredible artists. These journals are going to be fantastic!! 

"Faith to the Power of 1" is one of the spreads I made to set the tone in my journal. 

Mail Call!

My upstairs neighbour just knocked on my door and handed me an armload of mail. I think our postman had 5 lbs. just for ME! (No word of a lie!!)

So the bounty of postal love came from:

Carla, who sent me a pile of wonderful Zines. I am working the provincial election tomorrow from 7:30 a.m. till about 8:30 p.m. and now I have delighful reading materials to keep me happy for the long haul.

Mandy, who sent me rubber love-wonderful stamps from her line at Junque . I am going to have the best time playing with them. She is a doll.

Last but certainly not least, Jessica sent pages for a secret project I am working on. They are just so tranquil and lovely. Their beauty lies in the simplicity. She is so talented!

And to top it all off, I got a $15 rebate cheque from Microsoft for buying an add-on program for XP (games, screen savers & stuff) which was $30 so I ended up getting half my money back. Found money!

Thank you dear, sweet friends for thinking of me and sharing the love. My heart is full and smiling today. You are the best! I am so blessed. XOX
*Wanders off to dab happy tears from her eyes*

Updates!

Good Sunday morning everyone! Hope you're having nicer weather than we are on the wetcoast of Canada. It's overcast and pouring here, which means it's a perfect day to go and swap some ATCs with friends. (Any excuse is a good one, if you ask me! *grins*)

I have uploaded some new odds & ends to a couple of the galleries-new ATCs in Gallery 3 and the final page for the Abecedarium collaborative book I am participating in in Gallery 6. WHEW! That's a couple things off my plate. Now I just have to finish my prep work on my True Colours Journal so it can go into the mail tomorrow.

That's all I've got for you for now, other than to tell you that Papier Valise has just stocked the coolest filigree wings. I had to order some when I saw them-they are simply divine! Go have a peek-they are in the metals section.

**Warning-Papier Valise can be highly addictive!! LOL!**

How Much is Enough?

My walk-in closet is a disaster so I decided to clean it out this morning. I am about 3/4 of the way done. In the course of tidying up, I have come to the conclusion that I just have way too much "stuff". Mainly an overabundance of paper/ephemera that I have no hope of every using up. I just somehow keep accumulating bits. I guess it's from looking at things and thinking "There is no garbage when you do altered art." (At least that's what I keep telling my students.) It's true, of course, but there comes a point when there is a fine line between saving something for future art use and obsessive hoarding. I fear crossing into outright hoarding territory.

So, to that end, I have emailed a couple of friends to see if they would like some of my excess. I am a firm believer that I am merely a steward of my stuff and that by letting something go, I make room for other stuff to come into my life. There is never a time where I have too little that I can't share something. So..I am about to release some of this stuff to other artsy pals who can enjoy it. I know I love it when I get goodies in the mail so that alone is a good reason to parcel it up and mail it off.

That's my project for today-gathering up all the bits that I can part with and getting them ready to go to new homes. The funny part is that I tend to do this about every two months, proving the point that more stuff inevitably comes in. (It's a good thing.) I am beginning to see my home as a weigh station for artsy bits. LOL! At this rate, I am going to become the queen of art RAKs. Maybe at some point, I will see if anyone wants to trade. Surely I can't be the only one who has too much?!

This is a pin I made as a sample for Paper Artsy using one of their rubber stamps and a set of their German scrap wings. 

I bought some really wide wooden beads and have been playing with them this morning. I covered them with papers I had. The yellow ones are covered with a thin layer of napkin and the other two with text papers I marbled. I plan to make them into pendants. 

Happy Mother's Day!

So my plan today was to go to Vancouver with my guys and take photos in the city. Just as we were leaving to go into the city, it started to rain. (Typical!) My husband didn't know what to do so I suggested we go to the aquarium. Everyone thought that would be a good time so we did.

Below I have posted some of the pics I took. The focus is off on my digi for some reason or I would have had more. (Some turned out too blurry.) I need to look at my instruction book and fix it ASAP.

Anyway, after the aquarium, we drove around Stanley Park, taking in the forest and the ocean. From there we went to Mondo Gelato, to have the best gelato in the city. It was delish! We drove back to New Westminster for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I am now sleepy having consumed warm bread with garlic butter, salad and pasta. MMM!

I hope everyone else had a good day. Back to art work tomorrow-so many projects, so little time! I need a 48 hour day. *grins*

Seahorses. These are one of my favourite things at the aquarium. 

A funny orangy-red bird from the Amazon gallery. 

A pretty blue bird in the Amazon gallery. 

A sloth sleeping in a tree. 

Sea anemones. The colours were just spectacular. 

The Salmon art outside by the whale pools. 

Waving From My Little Corner of the World.

Still breathing here. I had to take the week off art-making to deal with some family stuff so I am running behind on some art stuff now. I am just finishing up my design team work for Paper Artsy and getting those off in the mail hopefully on Monday.

Looking forward to Mother's Day if only because it means a day off from everything, even cooking! I think my guys are taking me downtown so I can take photographs with my magical digi cam. They asked what I wanted to do and I said wander the city and take photos and have dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I am easy to please. I want to go to Stanley Park which is one of my favourite places to walk, people watch and take pictures. I think I also said something to them about getting gelato at some point from this great gelato place on Denman. DH had never had it before so I took him and ds there and they were instantly hooked. The place on Denman has about 50 different flavours and they will give you taste testers till you make up your mind. MMM!

Still percolating ideas for my True Colours Journal. I got started and then realized I needed to get paint samples for my journal. I have them now, so Monday I can sit down and bang out the pages.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello. I will upload some new pics after the weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all fellow mothers out there-have a good one!