Alexander Valley Wine Country

I am posting more of my photos on Facebook now. Here are soem from our "local tourist" outing to an Alexander Valley Summer Open House Wine event. these were taken Saturday before my ribs went haywire again....

Visions from Mendocino, Little River

We had a great time this past weekend in Mendocino. The weather was HOT inland, so the coast was beautiful! Mendocino is a very artsy town; lots of fun things to photograph!

The little hummingbird shot was taken through the window at the Cafe Beaujolais restaurant. He would land on the branch and rest, fly away and come back again and again. Hubby couldn't see him, so I took this photo. When the little bird turned his head or ruffled his featers, they were a bright ornagey-red underneath. Lovely!

Sarah's Shower

After having an uncle pass away this past week and dealing with all of his arrangements, etc., I wanted to go back and visit the photos taken on June 13 for my niece Sarah's bridal shower. My sister Nancy and I had such a fun time decorating this table. Nancy makes the absoulutely BEST cupcakes I have ever tasted!! We gave out the lavendar wands to each guest. Lavendar means "love and devotion" and Lane is certainly devoted and in love with my niece Sarah! Just one plant of lavendar gives you at least 20-30 lavendar wands. I found easy instructions online, of course!

Framed Image Journal page

Here is another sample of one of the journal pages we made during the 32 Flavors class at Art & Soul, Asilomar. I love this photo taken of a very cool nest found in a gallery on Canyon Road in santa Fe, NM, in spring of 2008. The text surrounded the photo is taken from an antique poetry book and is suited to the photo. This was a fun exercise.

A Journal Page from Misty Mawn 32 Flavors Workshop

This magazine photo was of a woman kneeling with short hair from an old Victoria magazine. We were to change a magazine image up a bit using paint, stamps, whatever. This page isn't really finished, but, wanted to capture it as is for right now.

Transfer journal page

I did a transfer using a photo of a really cool door I saw in Santa Fe, NM, in spring of 2008. Loved the red chile peppers hanging on the green door. This page was fun to do in Misty Mawn's 32 Flavors Workshop. We did gel medium transfers. Worked pretty well this time!

Collage Page form Misty Mawn Class "32 Flavors"

Finally getting a collage on here from the "32 Flavors" class I took with Misty Mawn at Asilomar Art & Soul. The one problem is that I liked this magazine collage so much that I don't want to cover it with white paint and just highlight an item or two. Oh well, it was fun to make anyway! I can always print it out and then try the painting additions. We were to choose one color as dominant and then add a few splashes of another color for accent.

Here is a sample painted piece of white art tissue paper ala Anne Bagby. I just watched her DVD on collage and decided to use some of my hand-carved stamps to make some white on black pages. I am also going to do some black on white pages. These papers can then be printed out in different sizes on a laser printer plus getting to use the original paper as well. A fun project to do when you want to just paint without any stress.

SNEAK PEEK AT OUR NEW JEWELRY BOOK COVER!!

We are very pleased to be unveiling the cover of our newest book, scheduled to be released Summer 2009. This book is published by some wonderfully talented ladies: 3 Authors & 9 Contributing Jewelry Designers have created unique projects exclusively for this book! An amazing variety of styles with over 40 projects from the very simple (Quick N' Easy) to the very elaborate, all in one book! Easy to follow instructions with lots of step by step photos!

First Thoughts of Asilomar

Just returned home yesterday afternoon after spending 4 delightful days at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, CA, for the Art & Soul retreat. Getting to spend all day watching demos and playing with paint, paper and canvas was a true joy! Also getting to spend it with a dear creative friend from WA was even better! Although most of the days were foggy, it was sunshine in our souls as we created art and met new friends. I will post some pictures in a day or so. Still catching up, and you know how it goes- reality hits with a vengeance once home!
Roberta Schmidt told me about an Antiques Mall in Monterey (Cannery Row). Mary Beth and I stopped there yesterday on our way back to Santa Rosa. Wow! What a find!! I could have poked around there all day! Great antiques! My favorite find was a large photo from 1918 showing a group of young girls all holding embroidery samplers. They were part of a class taught by the Salvation Army in Chicago to slum girls. Can't wait to scan it and reproduce it in smaller form to be used for projects.
I took Misty Mawn's "32 Flavors" class- lots of fun journal techniques were shown to us. Although I didn't have time to actually complete any of the demo ideas, I will be able to incorporate the ideas into other projects and journals.
I also took Stephanie Lee's "Crack It" class. What messy fun!! Really loved this class a lot. I will be writing an article for the Latest Trends July newsletter and go into more detail.

ASILOMAR ART & SOUL!

Heading to Asilomar for Art & Soul on Sunday. My first art retreat! I get to attend with a good friend who lives in Washington state; one I don't get to see too often and so it will be wonderful to catch up on our friendship and enjoy the arty experience!
My computer is slowly getting back into sync. Just got it back last week; that's why no new scans of art work. Will post about my retreat expereince when I return! And hopefully have some projects to show!