For Gramps

In loving memory of
Kenneth George Chick
October 31, 1921-
January 25, 2004

Happy birthday Gramps.
This one's for you.

Love Is...

Saturday, October 27th, my sweet husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. He had secretly made reservations at The Boathouse Restaurant in Port Moody. The restaurant is housed in a beautiful new post and beam building on the waterfront at Rocky Point. We were seated alongside the windows that look out onto the inlet.

Dinner was wonderful-steak and Alaskan king crab legs and we shared a tiramisu for dessert. I had the most incredible tea with dessert from Mighty Leaf Teas. They make 100% organic tea and I have to say it was the most fragrant and delicious tea I have ever had.

Part way through dinner, the waitress bought over a beautifully wrapped box and a card and told me it was a gift from my husband. I opened it up and it was this dainty eternity pendant necklace, pictured above. ( I took pictures, but can't find my camera cord right now.) He is a sweet, sweet man.

That was my weekend, but today is Monday so it's back to work for me! I have lots of projects piling up on my desk. As a brief aside, there is some of my artwork on display in the entry way over at Place des Arts. My mixed media bracelet workshop is coming up November 18th so if you were thinking about registering, you might want to do it soon! Time has a way of slipping away when you're not looking.

Good Things

So today I am the Guest Star over at the Rare Bird Finds blog. I just love this blog-it's like a daily dose of eye candy, kitsch and window shopping (or real shopping if you can't resist) all rolled into one! What more could a girl ask for? I subscribe through an RSS feed, but you can also just bookmark their blog if you like. Click the pic to see my Fab 5 Friday picks. I posted about some of my favourite artists and the wonderful things that you can buy for your very own. Thanks for having me Mei-Lynn & Sharla!



In other news, I am excited that some of my work will be published in the new year. Can't say what or where yet, but it makes me incredibly happy. It's something that is very near and dear to me.





Today's magic mail box yielded a whole package of Paper Artsy rubber. In addition to this plate, I also got a whole pile of the minis. I see lots of designing in my future...if I can just unearth my stamp pads from the chaos. Somewhere there is a box full of them hiding....

What's Happening

Hey everyone, it's that time of year again! We have kicked off the parade of wrapped presents over at the 12 Days of Xmas blog! I have posted the very first gift and there will be 25 more where that came from!

This exchange is one of my favourite to host. All of the ladies are from my circle of friends and they work so hard to make such personal and meaningful gifts for one another. The laughter and camaraderie leading up to and during the 12 days is just wonderful. It reminds me what a loving and supportive community I belong to. Someone in our exchange last year said that she was so excited about making and sending her gifts and full of anticipation for when everyone opened them that she had totally forgotten that she would also be receiving 12 gifts until they started arriving one by one in her mailbox. That about says it all right there-these incredible women get what it means to give from the heart, which is what makes this exchange so special.

So, if you would like to follow along with us and watch the magic unfold, please visit the 12 Days of Xmas blog. You can bookmark it or there is a link on the sidebar to the left.

In other news, I am busy writing proposals for a variety of workshops for the new year and into the spring. Yes, the lead time really is that long! I am also working on a proposal for an article and yesterday I took a box of my art down to Place des Arts for a display. I will take pictures when it's up and share them with you. Alot of exciting things are happening right now. It's funny how everything always seems to happen all at once!

Yesterday was an absolutely glorious fall day-warm and sunny and clear blue skies. I am hopeful that Saturday might be the same as my husband and I will be celebrating our 17th anniversary and I desperately want to spend part of it enjoying Stanley Park. I haven't had a chance to go there this month with all this moving nonsense going on and I really just want to walk in the deep pile of leaves, gaze up at the trees, smell the ocean and hear the waves lapping. *bliss* There's just something about being in the park, drinking in the natural beauty that clears my head and puts my soul at ease. Really, that is my perfect day in a nutshell.

Worth the Money

I was going through some files yesterday and came across some writing I did for an article for a zine that never ended up happening. I thought it might be interesting and/or helpful to someone so I decided I would share it here. Why not? The article was supposed to be about favourite art supplies. Here's what I had to say:

When it comes to making art, my philosophy is that “less is more”. I think it’s important to keep things simple. If you get all caught up in a mountain of supplies and tools, you can get overwhelmed and lose the fun and spontaneity of creating. Here are a few things that I love to work with:


I first discovered German Glass Glitter the summer that I joined Paper Valise as an Artist in Residence. As a welcome gift to design team members, I received this wonderful kit of goodies, which included a bag of the silver glitter. At first I didn’t really pay much attention to it, but one day, a piece I was working on needed “something” to give it a little punch and I remembered the silver glitter. I added a dash of it and it was perfect!

German glass glitter is really beautiful and not anything like the traditional glitter you used as a kid. This glitter is made from real glass so it has a beautiful antique-like glimmer to it. You might be interested to know that not all glitters are created equal. The German glass glitter Papier Valise carries comes from one of only three real glass glitter manufacturers in Germany and the only factory that does not "cut in” cheaper white glitter with the other colors, which makes the glitter cheaper to produce. That said, you’re probably wondering just how expensive German Glass glitter is. Surprisingly, it’s really inexpensive-under $5 CDN for a 5 oz. package. Let me assure you, a 1 oz. package goes an awfully long way! It comes in a variety of delicious colours: silver, pink, orange, black, chartreuse, red, shell pink, green, clear and my current personal favourite, pale blue. I believe there will be other colours available eventually!

My little trick to working with it is to use a Q-tip, which I dip into the bag. The fuzz of the Q-tip “grabs” the glass and then I just tap it over the glue where I want it on my art. The reason I use a Q-tip is because the glitter is made from real glass and it’s the easiest way to keep it off your hands so you don’t inadvertently get it in your eyes. (If you have worked with any kind of glitter before, you know how easy it is to have it all over you!) Add just a little bit of glass glitter to your work and enjoy the magic!

The second art supply I swear by is a simple charcoal pencil. A couple of summers ago, I took a class with Sally Jean Alexander and she mentioned that she uses charcoal pencils. After class, I went to my local office supply store and bought a few for myself. They are very inexpensive-I bought a pack of 6 for under $5 CDN.

Charcoal pencils are wonderful for adding depth to a piece by outlining an image and then smudging it with your fingers. It also creates a nice finished edge to a collage and can instantly age ephemera. When I am using charcoal pencils, I never draw a solid line, but rather “rough sketch” it in. This helps it look more natural and less contrived. It’s also easier to darken an area if necessary. If it’s too light, you can just go over it, but if you get too much darkness from too heavy a line, it’s harder to remove that, so start out conservatively. It also helps to have a wet wipe at the ready to clean your fingers as you work so you can avoid smudging it anywhere you don’t want it!

The third thing I love using is Staedtler markers. I have the triplus fineliner set of 10. What I like about these pens is that they come in this really great hard plastic case that is only about 1/4 inch thick and snaps shut, This means they are wonderful for travelling. When I went to Artfest, I took them everywhere with me so I could work on my journal here and there. The pens last a long time and if by chance you forget to cap them tightly, they won’t dry out right away. The set of ten includes pink, red, orange, yellow, light and dark blue, light and dark green, brown and black-enough colours to keep me happy, but I know they also come in larger sets. Staedtler pens are made in Germany but again, this is something I found in my local office supply store and they were about $12 CDN, which isn’t bad considering how long they last and how travel friendly they are.

So there you have it, three things I think are not only worth the money, but also help me add the “magic” to my art. I don’t think art tools and supplies need to be expensive to be good, but I do take care in choosing things that are a good quality and will last when it comes to things I use every day.

A Charming Book

Hi Everyone! Keeping on the topic of books this week, the most recent book my art will be appearing in is A Charming Exchange, due out August 2008 and it's just become available for pre-order on Amazon.

What's the book about? Well the description from Amazon sums it up nicely. It reads:

"Readers will be introduced to techniques and inspiration for creating mixed-media charms and other jewelry items from a selection of twenty-five talented contributing artists. Together, these artists have collaborated to create a stunning charm bracelet that demonstrates techniques such as working with wire, beads, solder, fabric, found objects and more which can be applied to other crafts. In addition to reading about each individual artist's inspiration and creative thought process, readers will learn how to organize art swaps or collaborations of their own."

I can tell you I had the best time creating pieces for this book. There were some very interesting themes and the finished pieces I have seen so far are gorgeous. If you love unique, mixed media jewellery, then this book's for you. It's going to be a keeper!

Sheer Curiosity

So as I have mentioned a time or two before, I have been submitting requests for my library to purchase books I feel will be helpful for mixed media artists. When I first looked in my library for books on this subject, all there were were a few sad antiquated collage books. Nothing to light the fire of inspiration which is why you would look for art books in the first place. So little by little I have *secretly* been building the mixed media shelf, one book request at a time. It gives me great satisfaction to know there is now a nice collection growing back there on "my" shelf.

My latest request was Jane Wynn's Altered Curiosities. I was so excited to peek inside and see what all of Jane's hard work had come to. I want to tell you about it, but where do I start? This book is not only visually delicious but the insight into Jane's personal creative process is fantastic. I love hearing how someone's process works and the stories behind the art. Jane tells it in such a way that you feel like she's right there, filling you in over a cup of tea.

And the how-tos! Amazing! The photos and instruction are clear as can be and I marvel at how clever she is. She's thought of doing the most wondrous things with every day objects. Have you ever heard of "controlled" glass breaking? I never knew there even was such a thing, but now I am dying to try it!

I think when you read a good art book, it should allow you to learn something new and open your eyes to a whole world of possibilities for your own creativity. I think Jane has achieved that in spades. Altered Curiosity will make you want to go into your own studio, pull out those special one-of-a-kind art bits you've been hoarding and create something wondrous.

Speaking of creativity, tomorrow I go out to North Vancouver to present my workshop at the conference. We have had quite the rain storm going on here all day today and I am hoping it will have blown over by the morning. It was raining sideways when I went out this afternoon-I sure don't want to deal with that!

Tomorrow is also my darling husband's birthday. (Happy birthday my sweet, sweet man!) My son and I gave him a new iPod with more memory than the one he had (He is obsessed with getting every song he's ever liked on his iPod.*rolls eyes*) and it will play videos like our son's. That means I get his hand-me-down which is only a year old. (It was last year's birthday gift.) More music for me! My guys are gizmo obsessed. If I wait patiently, I will have another hand-me-down soon. Works for me! I love having my music on while I work. It's one of those "must haves" for me.

Okay I am off to pack up the last bits for tomorrow's workshop. I will tell you all about it when I get back. Wish me luck and in the meantime, go check out Jane's book!

¿Que pasa?

Copyright Tattered Edge 2007

This week's snapshot:


Reading: I just got an email from my library that the book I requested they buy, (see my post about asking the library to buy books here) Jane Wynn's Altered Curiosities is in. I am picking it up this afternoon!!

Watching: Need you ask? It's Tuesday so it's Tommy night at our house-Rescue Me is on! Gotta love a flawed hero.

Listening: James Morrison's Undiscovered, sent to me by Liz who is my music soul mate. One of us will hear someone new and think the other would like it and then music shows up in the mail. It's funny too because we're always bang on. I just love that!

Drinking: Nestea's ice tea mix that you put into bottle water and shake.

Anticipating: Friday's workshop at the Art2Go 2007 conference. I am almost ready, which is nothing short of a miracle if you could see the condition of my workspace right now!

Dreaming: About my new studio to be and all the things I want to do to make it comfortable and functional. Never has so much thought gone into one room!

Doing: Trying to cope with the organized chaos that is our home at the moment. I can't wait for phase 2 of our move to be over. (Have I said that before?!?)
I am also working on a *secret* project with friends and if it works out how I hope it will, I will have something exciting to share with you at a later date! *fingers crossed*

Creating: I am working towards several deadlines, including making my gifts for the 12 Days of Xmas exchange I am hosting again this year. You'll want to bookmark the blog to see all the magic unfold! Teaser photos of our gifts are coming soon!

Art Supplies I am diggin' right now: Basic Grey's new line of Recess papers. I especially love Equation, Principal and Test Sheet. I am a paper junkie. It really is an addiction!

Colour Inspiration

Greetings all! We have landed at our new place so phase one of our move is complete. We will be doing phase two, wherein we move upstairs here in about 3 weeks or so. Crazy, I know, but worth it when we consider the space and the fact that I will have a new studio. I can't wait!

Yesterday I took a few brief moments for myself and ran down to the scrapbooking store to pick up some papers for my 12 Days of Xmas exchange gifts. While I was there, serendipity struck and I found the paper pictured above. I was so excited! I have been thinking about which colour to paint my new studio. Initially my first instinct was to paint it vintage aqua, which I love however two things made me decide against it. One is that all my accessories are barn red and I didn't think that particular shade and aqua would work together and the other is that I was afraid it would look too much like a child's nursery colour. Colour is a funny thing-done poorly it can look hideous. I had settled on painting it sage/basil green instead.

Anyway, when I spotted this paper, I was immediately drawn to it. The red in it is the exact shade that my accessories are and it proves that I can have aqua with this shade of red and have it look wonderful. I can also envision a room in this colour being very relaxing and peaceful, which is the feeling I am hoping to evoke in my studio. So I bought this piece of paper (Which is from Bohemia, by the way.) and I am going to take it to the paint store and say "I want this!" I cannot wait! I am also going to buy a small can of the red and paint around the wooden frame of my bulletin board and also a small table to tie everything together. I can already see in my mind's eye how this is going to look.

Getting back to our move, it was exhausting, but I am glad to be done this part. Now I just have to unearth the things I need for Friday's workshop presentation at the BCATA conference. I am looking forward to it. It will be nice to switch gears back to something artistic after 3 solid weeks of packing and cleaning. (Yuck!)

I have set up a temporary workspace. It's quite comical really. I have my teeny desk tucked at the foot of our bed in our bedroom, with just the barest necessities of supplies unpacked and set up there-enough to work towards the deadlines I have going right now. My computer is in another room at the other end of the house, which is a hardship because normally, it's right next to my desk. I play my Itunes through the computer while I work and check on email or generate small bits of things on the printer as needed. For now, I have to zip back and forth if I want or need to do anything. Oh well-more exercise for me! Soon it will all be housed in one dedicated space. I have visions of my guys slipping notes under the studio door, begging me to come out. LOL!

Okay, I'm off to delve into some art! I need a break from the boxes.

Moo, Edition Two

Copyright Tattered Edge 2007

So remember those handmade Moos I was making for a swap? Well I got kind of attached to them so I scanned them before I sent them off and made some real Moos out of them. They arrived today and I love them!! I can't wait to hand some out at the conference!

Copyright Alana Holmberg 2007

I also traded one of my first edition Moos a couple weeks ago for this one by Alana Holmberg. She took this photo in Pienza, Italy. When I saw it, I had to trade for it-I have a soft spot for old guys. She does beuatiful photography. Once I get unpacked, perhaps I will share my Moo collection with you. I have some great cards.

I spotted this at the check out the other day and snatched it up. Always one who wants to see how people decorate, I thought this would be interesting. Notice it says "instant art" on the cover. It has some really cool ideas.

I have been mulling over what colour I want to paint my studio and I think I have settled on sage/basil green. I want it to be a calm and soothing place so that when you walk into the room, you exhale and think "Ahhh...." I want my new studio to be an oasis of tranquility where my mind can relax and the ideas and creativity will just present themselves.

Some people like bright colours and lots of visual stimulation in their workspace. I don't. I prefer to have my things organized and tidy and have the things that are meaningful (gifts of art from my friends and my favourite pieces of my own work) around me. I guess my space is kind of nest of sorts. I think sage/basil green will lend itself perfectly to the feeling I want to create.

I have been playing around with the Behr paint workbook to see how the colours might look on the walls. What fun! I have to say, choosing paint colours is the only fun part of moving.

This Is Just To Say...

Well gang, we have had our fill of turkey and are now down to the nitty gritty of packing up and getting out of here. I am having serious art withdrawals with all my art stuff boxed up and ready to go. I will likely be scarce for the remainder of the week while I deal with the chaos, but hopefully I can find little snippets of time where I can visit your blogs and see what you are up to. A girl's gotta stay in the know, ya know!

Just a reminder that a week from this Friday (October 19th) I am presenting a workshop at the BC Art Teacher's Conference, Art2Go 2007 so if you are attending please do come by and say hello! Better yet, come join my workshop! I can't wait.

Catcha on the flip side!

Thanksgiving

Copyright Tattered Edge 2007

Okay so I posted this pic out of sheer desperation-I have no idea which box the camera was packed in and even if I did, I have no idea where the cord for the computer might be. I had planned to post a pic of the beautiful autumn leaves around here but you will have to make do with the cover of this journal I made for a friend last year. The ribbon, purple rhinestones and bookplate on it came from the wonderful Papier Valise, who by the way have a delicious selection of Autumn/Hallowe'en themed goodies on their site. I especially love the black foil pumpkin head men and the orange German glass glitter-utterly magical!

It's been amazing to me how many good ideas have popped into my head since I have packed up all my art supplies. (Murphy's Law!) I have been dutifully jotting them down in my Moleskine for future reference. Once my new studio is all set up, I will have lots of fun things to do!

I want to wish all my fellow Canadians a very happy (and safe, if you are travelling) Thanksgiving. I will be cooking on Monday and our family will be sharing the holiday with my best friend and her husband. They agreed to brave our boxes and chaos and this will be the last holiday celebrated here. Maybe I should make that wonderful banana dish? *evil grin*

In closing, I wanted to re-post this piece. It's amazing how it's as relevant now as it was centuries ago. Wisdom is timeless.

Harvest Prayer

(Anonymous 17th Century Sermon)

Please be gentle with yourself and others.
We are all children of chance,
And none can say why some fields blossom
While others lay brown beneath the harvest sun.
Take hope that your season will come.
Share the joy of those whose season is at hand.
Care for those around you.
Look past your differences.
Their dreams are no less than yours,
Their choices in life no more easily made.
And give.
Give in any way you can.
Give in every way you can.
Give whatever you possess.
Give from your heart.
To give is to love.
To withhold is to wither.
Care less for the size of your harvest
than for how it is shared,
And your life will have meaning
And your heart will have peace.

It's All A Matter Of Taste

Yesterday afternoon as I was packing up my cookbooks, I came across this one from 1958. I don't know when I got it, but it came from my Gram and I must have just added it to the pile without looking. First of all, check out the cover. Who in the right mind ever dreamt that this display would be appetizing enough to entice someone to actually buy the book? (Which still bears the original price tag of 25c.) I especially love that it promises 500 tasty snacks. Bear with me here as I share with you why I find this amusing.

Recipe #1:

Right off the bat this caught my eye. Can you imagine someone serving you this?! Just the idea of dipping a knife back into the peanut butter jar with raw bacon grease on it...salmonella anyone?!

Recipe #2

Nothing says "party time" like greasy sausages inside a burnt banana. Sausages tend to splatter when they are cooking and if they were stuffed inside a banana with no place for the grease to go, I am thinking this would create an oven fire. I can just imagine the fire department finding this tidbit in your smoke filled kitchen. It's disturbing to me that bananas figured so prominently in this cook book. But wait, there's more:

Recipe #3:

This one is the topper. If you weren't impressed before, check this out: They want you to take ham and put mustard on it. Then take the ham and wrap it around....you guessed it, a banana. Then if that wasn't enough to get your mouth watering, pour cheese sauce over the whole thing and bake it in the oven. MMMM tasty!! Don't they look delicious?!? Oh and if you don't want to use ham, they suggest trying smoked tongue.

Seriously, there's zero chance that I will ever use this cookbook for culinary reference as was intended. However, I may just slip bits and pieces of it into my art. I could see that being alot of fun!

Okay, back to packing those boxes!

Lil Bit O'Art

Copyright Tattered Edge 2007

I managed to find a smidgen of time yesterday to finish up some more handmade Moo Cards for the swap I am in. I want to get them in the mail today before I forget, since this month is going to be sheer insanity! (By the way, Happy October everyone!)

I find that I am rather attached to some of the first cards I made and having a hard time parting with them. I found a solution though-I just scanned them and made them into real Moo Cards! There is a brand new box of 100 being printed right this very moment which will soon be on it's way. I can't wait! I freely confess that I am addicted to these little beauties-I prefer to work small and working on the pieces for this swap was really relaxing. I ended up making a dozen. It will be interesting to see the returns.

I have decided when it comes to moving, I hate packing. Really, after two weeks of doing it and getting this wicked cold right in the middle, I have had my fill. I don't mind unpacking though-I am super quick at that and the organizer in me enjoys finding a place for everything. I just wish it weren't right now. It makes it hard to enjoy preparing for Thanksgiving this weekend, which is one of my favourite holidays. (Hallowe'en being the other.) At least there will be homemade turkey soup at the end of it all!

I'd better run-there are boxes to be packed and papers to be shredded! It's been storming here the last 48 hours, so I am just as happy to have something to do inside today.