Oh, Mary.....

Heats book theme is "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" . This is the last spread that I'm doing in the current "Color me Silly" Round Robin. I'll show my finished book as soon as I bind it (for this RR we sent individual pages).
This page was one of those pieces that you work on, painting and collaging and then all of a sudden, it's dull and muddy. It has at least 4 layers of paint and 3 of paper.
I found so many different versions of this rhyme. When I think of Mary Mary, I always think of Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden (one of my favourite books). But in that book -- it never mentioned the maids in a row -- it said "marigolds".

One World One Heart

I'm finally posting my giveaway for the One World One Heart Event. This is such a wonderful event! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, until 8:55 pm February 11 (bedtime is at 9, LOL), then on February 12, I'll pick a name to win one of the pieces of art shown below. You need to be an active blogger to participate in my giveaway! thank you, Lisa (A Whimsical Bohemian) for organizing this!
Hundreds of bloggers are participating -- go to the OWOH site to see the list, and then start visiting everyone -- maybe you'll find some new favourites to revisit. I know that I have!

I've decided to give away one of my cuffs -- this one is blues and greens -- vintage fabrics, trims and buttons.and I'm going to have a second drawing for this pin:

Toronto Readers!

There are lots of copies of Somerset in Love, Journaling, Artist Cafe, Sew Somerset and Where Women Create at the Press International at 622 College Street at Grace (416-535-9666). Most are in the Craft Section and Artist Cafe is in the Art section (if you're calling to have one held)

I also got a copy of "Stuffed"at the World's Biggest Bookstore. It was in the children's section if you can't find it -- as of yesterday there were at least 2 copies!


(edit -- does anyone know where there is a copy of Somerset Life (Winter) in Toronto? Sandy is looking for one)

Walking after you....

Someone suggested on their blog (who WAS it???) that we should each choose a word that we embrace for this year. I have thought long and hard about this.

My first thought was "walk" -- but it didn't quite seem right..... but close.

So I looked up some synonyms:
"advance, amble, go, hit the road, hoof it, knock about, lumber, march, meander, parade, patrol, perambulate, plod, prance, promenade, race, roam, rove, run, saunter, scuff, shamble, shuffle, slog, stalk, step, stride, stroll, strut, toddle, tour, traipse, tramp, traverse, tread, trek, trudge, wander, wend one’s way.
I narrowed it down to
advance (shouldn't I be advancing???) (it sounds too "advanced")
meander (that's pretty much how I make it to a destination)
roam (I just love the song by the B52s)
wander (All who wander are not lost)

I've decided on meander -- it sounds less flaky.....
So, here I am, meandering through 2009.


me·an·der

intr.v. me·an·dered, me·an·der·ing, me·an·ders To follow a winding and turning course: Streams tend to meander through level land. To move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction: vagabonds meandering through life. n. meanders Circuitous windings or sinuosities, as of a stream or path. A circuitous journey or excursion; ramble. Often used in the plural. An ornamental pattern of winding or intertwining lines, used in art and architecture. [From Latin maeander, circuitous windings, from Greek maiandros, after Maiandros, the Maeander River in Phrygia, noted for its windings.] me·an'der·er n., me·an'der·ing·ly adv., me·an'drous (-drəs) adj.

That's my mommy and I in the photo. Happy Birthday Mom! See you soon!

Art Journey Rubber Stamps

Does anyone know where I can find Rubber Stamps from the company Art Journey (I think it's from the Netherlands). Is there an online source anywhere in Canada or the US? From what I can tell on their website, they will be at CHA... Maybe the rubber will show up here...... I quite like them...... Maybe some of my Dutch friends out there can help translate the site? Please email me, or leave a comment, and I'll get back to you.

Portals

Heather and Joleen have a new issue out -- It's all about ART JOURNALING!!! Yay! -- you can see the Portals blog here. The blog is great too! You can purchase an issue from their etsy shop here.
Art journaling has totally infiltrated my life. I am taking Kelly Kilmer's Prompt a Day online Art Journaling class this month, and I am just loving Somerset's Art Journaling issue. AND for Christmas I bought myself LK Ludwigs's book, True Vision. Ray and I have a Journal date every Monday. We were going through Keri Smith's How to Be an Explorer of the World -- but that takes a bit of prep work, so now we choose a prompt from our Journal Jar. We'll try one of Keri's once a month.

Bird page for Jo

This is my final page for our Fabricgirlz RR -- Hidden Treasures. The bird goes into a pocket that Jo had provided in her book. The bird is a pocket itself and has some treasures inside. The book is flying home to Jo. I'll miss this RR -- the work was spectacular and I loved having each book in my hands for a few weeks. I can't wait for my book to come home! I'll show you it in all of its splendor as soon as it arrives.

Happy Birthday Robin

Tonight I am hosting a cocktail party in honour of Robin's 50th birthday. I did one for her 40th too. I made her this mixed media piece, using many scraps of fabric that she had given me (plus some of my own) and on it I sewed 50 buttons into the shape of a heart. I gave it to her a few weeks ago on her actual birthday. I hope that she liked it.....

Brrrrrrrrr

It's cold here in the North!
Last night there was a big power outage here in Toronto -- our power was out for about 12 hours -- it just came on around 10am. That might not seem like much, but last night it went down to -20C (that's about-4 F). The inside of my house went to below 10C -- (that's about 50F). We were worried about our pipes freezing, and our little dog freezing, so I stayed home from school today. I've gotten so much work done (school planning!!)-- because we had no electricity -- I had no computer! Now that our furnace is back on, the heat is rising by about 2 degrees an hour, so I still have my winter coat on and my hat. Hopefully I'll be able to do some art soon -- it's like a snow day! The little dog has burrowed under the covers on the bed. What a wussy. Although I'm one to talk -- this is what I'm wearing today -- my flannel jammies, running shoes and my down filled winter coat....

Somerset Studio

I've been published in the January/February of Somerset Studio! The issues theme is Black and White. My "Paris Schoolgirl" piece is on page 114 (top right). I wish that I had more time -- I love working in black and white.....

I've been tagged!

Heather tagged me! here are the rules:
* go to your 4th picture folder
* go to the 4th picture in the folder
* tell everyone 4 things about that picture
* tag 4 more people
The 4 more people are: Sandee, Sandy, Beth and Catherine

This made me laugh -- this was my picture:
1. It was taken on our road trip to Nova Scotia this past summer
2. It is our mascot, Bucky
3. The out of focus red thing in the background is the plaque that says USA/CANADA on the bridge going from Canada (at Cornwall Ontario) into the USA in New York State.
4. Poor Bucky got to play a bit on the way to Nova Scotia, then he got lost at the bottom of my purse and resurfaced when we got home. Now he is sitting in the basement waiting for another trip. Sorry Bucky!!!

Here are a few more pictures of Bucky:
(first a shot of the boundary line)(I actually got out of the car to take this one -- we were stuck in the border line up anyway)

More Journal pages

What I'm learning:
1. It's hard to journal on cold pressed watercolour paper. I'm trying to use up a large stack of cold pressed watercolour paper, so I cut it up to journal on. It's too bumpy. And I have LOTS. So I'm off to buy some hot pressed :) I'll use the cold pressed for Round Robin book pages -- I don't journal on those (not with a pen anyway)
2. I don't like Paynes grey paint. Well, not yet anyway. Too dark. Maybe I'll like it for shading, someday. When the page is finished, and journaled on, I don't mind the paynes too much, but as I'm working on the page I hate it and it brings me down.
3. I like the idea of making a whole pile of background pages. Even with images already on them. Then picking one to journal on. That's why I prefer to journal on pages, and then "bind" them into a book later.
4. I have a new favourite pen!! It's the Pitt sepia pen in fine. It's not as harsh as black, and just glides over paint. Yay!
5. I really need to learn how to write in a straight line. Maybe I should draw some lines :)
6. My preferred method for paint application? My hands -- or a rag. I hate brush marks.
7. I like to do single pages -- I REALLY dislike doing spreads. Hmmmmmmm......
8. I hate doodling. I have a gazillion gel pens, but don't like to make little doodles on my page. I occasionally like to make dotted borders, but that's it.
9. I like journaling. Who knew? I like making art pages, and I like journaling. Hey, I like Art Journalling.
10. I used to dislike yellow. Now I like it. Especially mixed with magenta to make orange!
11. Ink smears. But if you zap it with the heat gun, it dries really fast.Kelly's Prompt a Day class is a great online class. If you can, join for February -- it's only $25 and she gives you a prompt every day -- not just the journaling prompt, but a step by step "how to" for the background and image placement. You can do the prompts at your leisure. I won't be able to keep up, but I'll do my best.

January

I made this for Debby's book -- each participant did a month of the year. I chose whites and children to celebrate the"new beginnings" of the year. Here in Toronto, the New Year usually begins all nice and snowy and pretty. And yes it has this year!.

Beautiful Crissy

I made this journal page in response to a prompt for the online class that I'm taking (Kelly Kilmer's). The page will look more balanced when it is in the book, opposite another page. Next time, I'll start journaling closer to the gutter. I struggled with the pens! My black Pigma marker was dried up (dang!) and I could only find my Fine Pitt Pen, not the medium that I really need. So I had to go over the ink in sharpie (because it was too light). Then the sharpie was having some trouble so I switched to a Faber Castel fine permanent marker. Too much work.I loved Beautiful Crissy. She was a beautiful 18" redhead with black pupil less eyes. Her hair could flow all the way down to her ankles, or with a twist of a knob on her back, her tresses would magically "feed" into her head. this is what Crissy looked like -- and this is Cinnamon -- who I thought was Crissy's baby sister. But actually she was Crissy's best friend Velvet's sister. I loved my red headed dolls. I think that they are in a box in my parent's shed. I'm pretty sure that I have the original clothes for both....

Ringing in the New Year

What I'm hoping for in 2009

1. Health -- can I have a year of good health? please? pretty please?
2. Balance -- finding a better balance between school (work), home (family and friends), and art (includes blogging and surfing). It's all so important to me, and I'm feeling that it's all slipping a bit.....Ray and I have set aside Monday nights for journaling nights (we're working through some prompts by Keri Smith). I'd like to visit my parents more often too. ... I need to find a way to make art in the car.....
3. Organization -- I need to get this house organized! I can't use the "I just moved in" line anymore. Everything needs a home..... I've abandoned my studio and I work at my kitchen table now.....

Wow -- Have you seen Tamara's blog??? I just want to say that what I wish for for the new year is what she said. Go over and see for yourself! I think I'll just give up on my list now, since I've seen hers.... although I think that the world DOES need more cupcakes, LOL.

Happy New Year Everyone!