a bit more ArtUnraveled

I took part in an inchie swap. Jane hosted it!

These were my inchies for the swap:

 I loved making these! and I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

There are the ones I got back!

I'm going to mount them on canvas and hang them as a memory of ArtUnraveled 2012. I''m not sure if I'm going to ArtUnraveled 2013. I would miss my friends terribly AND I need the creative outlet... but I'd also like to go to Nova Scotia for a greater amount of time. Decisions, decisions......

I also made some special gifts for some friends. Small purses -- inspiration via grrl+dog..

Art Unraveled Wrap Up

Once again -- I had a GREAT time in Phoenix.Maija and Ruth were my roommates again this year -- and we added Earlene into the mix too ! (Earlene doesn't have a blog -- so many people are using facebook to connect now).

Maija has moved to Colorado from Phoenix -- and she took this opportunity to connect with some friends while she was there.  Michele Legler makes some awesome mosaic work. I wish that she had some with her for my to buy! Check out these Dia de Los Muertos cupcakes!

Source: mosaicqueen.typepad.com via Martha on Pinterest

I wasn't so frugal in Phoenix though.... I bought some clothes there (supporting artists!) (oh, and to fully disclose... supporting independent stores :) and I bought some journals from Jane. (again -- supporting artists!)

You can buy one of Jane's Number notebooks here!

Source: etsy.com via Martha on Pinterest

JoAnna Pierotti has moved to Phoneix. She took Ruth and I to a favourite store -- Saints and Sirens, which also houses Frilly Frocks. thanks JoAnna! We all spent too much :) Joanne makes fabulous mixed media dolls. She brought us back to her home and we saw her workspace. Sigh. I really need to make mine more inspiring ...

JoAnna teaches around the country -- take a class from her if you can! If you can't get to where she is teaching, take an online class! I'm going to take this one:

Source: mosshill.blogs.com via Martha on Pinterest

Bench Scraps (Richard Salley)

(Still posting about Art Unraveled in August)

I took this class from Richard because I thought that I should take some more classes from the big jewelry teachers :). You know, so my techniques could be better. I pretty much knew all of the basics... but Richard taught us how to set a bezel -- I haven't set either of mine yet (I'm a sloooooowww worker). I'm getting really good at sawing and setting rivets though!

We used our own scraps -- and also shared our scraps with others in the class. I liked the sharing part. I picked up a cool etched scrap that I used as a background in this piece (that, of course, isn't finished yet. But is close :) I want to "finish" the holes with tube rivets (after I drill them). I mde the resin element in Susan Lenart Kazmer's class 2 years ago, and the etched "truth" in Diane Cook's class last year. See! I eventually use everything I make :)

Richard is featured in the current "Art Jewelry" Magazine. I was lucky again in his class -- I won a copy! Don had previously given me a copy of it -- so Don and I conferred, and gave the copy to Geri -- who I see at AU every year, but I didn't know very well. I know her much better now -- she made some awesome jewelry this year!

I also made this heart pendant in Richard's class. I gave it to Maija at ArtUnraveled for her birthday. Her new tattoo says "hope" and I know that it is a word very close to her heart......

Coffee Tea and Onion Skins with Lorri Scott

I loved this class! I wish that I had take Lorri's day and a half class too!

I brought all of my leftover silk ribbon (from a class that I took last year), so I was able to dye a lot. I wish that the silk would hold the red of the onion skins though. When you unwrap the silk it is a beautiful burgundy -- but when you rinse and wash it the next day, it comes out a yellow/grey. I will still be using it all up on some embellished re-made clothing this year. I have been engrossed in India Flint's Eco Dye book this year, so taking this class from Lorri was just what I needed!

 

I also found out that Lorri used to live in Nova Scotia -- on the LaHave Islands. Such a small world. Her husband was a boat builder there (Covey Boatworks). When I traveled out to NS a few years ago, the Covey building burned down. So I knew exactly where she was..... (more on my most recent trip to NS later)

The Verdict
Would I take a class from Lorri again? Yes Please! (oh, I hope for an altered clothing class)
Will I dye using natural materials again? Yes!

A Cut Above (Pam Carriker)

(Still posting about Art Unraveled in August)
I didn't come to the class completely prepared. We were supposed to come with a photocopy of a piece of our own art that we wanted to cut (from lino). I deliberated for months over this... and finally showed up with nothing :) Pam was prepared for this :) So I cut an image of HER art. The amusing thing was that I won one of her doorprizes... and it was a rubber stamp of the exact image that I was cutting. Someone offered to trade my stamp for the one that thy has won... but I chose to keep it... I like to have multiple sizes of the same stamp.

I haven't used regular (hard) linoleum for a long time -- I got blisters! But I was quite happy with my results.

 

(the bottom photo is Pam's Stamp --- called Beatrice)

Verdict:
Would I take a class from Pam again? Definitely!
Will I cut lino again? I already have :)

Romantic Buckle Bracelet

I should know better than to take a full day class and then add another one at night. But I had to. This one was Ruth's Buckle Bracelet class!
I stumbled through the bracelets, feeling uncreative (I'm not a night person). BUT I got on a roll making nests. I've turned into the nest girl. Copper, steel, silver... love them.

I made so many more than this, but I keep giving them away. Ruth made the middle one for me many years ago (7, I think)


Ruth is the most patient teacher ever....
uhh,,,, can't show you the buckle bracelets because they aren't even close to being finished.... or started.....

Oops! I'm really behind! Back to August and ArtUnraveled :)

My summer went form cottaging, to making art in Phoenix, to a road trip to Nova Scotia, then to preparing for back to school. I am just now finding the time to lift my head up to breathe.

AND I misplaced my camera sometime/somewhere while I was in / or on the way home from Nova Scotia. I don't really think that it is LOST... just in a bag somewhere. I hope. My iphone doesn't interface well with my new computer (darn Microsoft, or Apple, or whoever is involved in that catastrophe), so I rely on my pocket camera. I have a big Nikon, but I don't often travel with it.....

OH, I JUST FOUND IT! HURRAY!

Where was I? When I left off (in July!) I was in Phoenix, taking a class from the lovely Jane Lafazio.... the next day I took a fabulour copper enameling class from Melissa Manley. Those of you who know me really well, might know that I used to TEACH copper enameling (at a summer camp... a really long time ago -- just before the lovely Miss L was born). So, it has been a while since I've made anything. And, when I used to enamel, I did it in a kiln. Melissa taught us to use a torch. A creme brule torch (other people told me that I had to have a "real" torch -- propane or MAP -- but apparently they were wrong :)


See Melissa's Jewelery Lab book here. I own it. I love it. 

 I made some really pretty little flower beads (copper)... but of course I still haven't strung them. Soon. Maybe :). Here is what it will look like (the flowers are just lying on top of the chain. I still have to rivet the flowers to their bases. That's why I'm not finished. Too lazy to rivet.

I also was able to repair an enameled heart that I made in a class a few years ago. I banged it into something and the enamel chipped off. The repair was much easier that I thought.

The verdict on Melissa's class? Perfect!
Will I enamel again? Definitely.
(Hello? Santa? Enamel powders please?)

ArtUnraveled

Once again, it's summer and I'm in Phoenix! Today was Day 1 of ArtUnraveled. my class was Jane LaFazio's " 10 Objects, 10 Ways" . This was a great class -- Jane never disappoints!
This class was drawing and watercolour, using a variety of pencils, black ink (pens), coloured ink and watercolours.
















this feather was my favourite of the day:




















Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:ArtUnraveled

Our Royal Week

This year, at the cottage, our theme is "Queens"

I chose to be Queen Elizabeth II  -- the queen who I have actually seen in real life. Don't I look like her?

 I took this photo before I left -- you will have to wait for more until I return -- because there is no cell phone and internet at this cottage (what's with that??? Mr. B said that I sounded like a teenager when I found out, lol). So it's Pinterest detox for a week.

I'll leave you with some of my favourite Royal pins.

I wish that I had time to decorate like this:

Source: justbaustralia.com.au via Martha on Pinterest

How to make crowns from lace (my friend Meep tried this -- I'll let you know how it worked)

Source: thisismeinspired.blogspot.com via Martha on Pinterest

Then I'm off to Phoenix for ArtUnraveled. WooHoo! (more on that soon)

Aaahhhh, summer....

I'm finally doing that cottage thing. Relaxing with friends.

Cross your fingers that we have great weather, okay? Although, it has never happened before, so if you live in the North-of-Toronto area, be prepared for a week of cool weather and rain :)

Mixed Minded

I'm a bit behind on the postings :)
In May I traveled to Kitchener to attend a Donna Downey class at Mixed Minded. I love Donna -- she is so funny! The class was called 40 by 40. Forty background techniques. Yikes! I didn't actually finish them all. My favourite technique was using pan pastels -- but I likely won't be using that again because of the fixatives involved (and, really, do I need a new obsession?). I love using stencils though.....

 

 

Full disclosure! While I was there, I had to BUY some things at Karen's onsite store.
I bought:
Some stamps --  2 suzi blu, a decorative Christy Tomlinson and a bla bla bla stampotique stamp....

So I've totally cheated on my frugal year, but I'm still doing well, I think!

Sadly, some of my stamps that I brought with me got mixed up with someone else's materials and they didn't make it home (my favourite paisley foam stamp!) I hope that they make it home some day!

Summer of Salad

I've decided that I will eat salad every day for lunch all summer. Which is a big thing for me. I normally say that salad isn't a meal. Salad is something that you eat WITH a meal. But my body is kind of looking like some soft, ripe brie lately, so I'm trying to be proactive about the situation. Eating less carbs.  Salads and Zuzana Light's workouts should do the trick.... I'm already down almost 10 pounds!

Today I'm having some quinoa salad with lime, cilantro and curry.. and dried cranberries.
I forgot to take a photo of mine. Click on this one to link to my pin and then go to the recipe :)

Source: allrecipes.com via Martha on Pinterest

I'll also be having some salads with some fantastic gourmet tofu that I picked up at Dufferin Grove Farmers Market yesterday.

Thank you

I'd like to thank everyone for helping me to have such an awesome school year. I left Kindergarten kicking and screaming (literally), but Grade 1/2 was fine. So fine that I'm doing it again next year!

I took some time last weekend to make some simple thank you cards to thank my students for the year end gifts that they gave me. And to thank my amazing 2nd floor caretaker, Helen, who keeps my classroom in tip top shape. She happily leaves my teacher-cave (that would be my desk area) alone. Today is my first official day of summer vacation. I finished cleaning up my classroom and putting everything away yesterday. I'm still in school mode though. I'm psyched about next year and I want to start planning right away! I'm forcing myself to take a break. Well, for today, anyway.....

Here's today's Pinterest pick. Isn't it pretty?

Source: toryburch.tumblr.com via Martha on Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest has been sucking up all of my time. My school year is almost over, so I'm sure that I'll have a lot more brilliant and scintillating diatribes here soon.

Source: someecards.com via Martha on Pinterest

Garden Flags

I have been so busy getting ready for the end of school! It is taking up almost every waking minute! Even when I watch tv (True Blood) I'm still doing school work (cutting out laminating).
I finally made some time for some art. Barb hosted a Garden Flag swap, so I thought I'd join in (I'll join any swap that involves stitching -- even if I have no time :) The few stipulations included durability for outdoor use, size ( 8x6 inches to 8x8 inches) and colour (brights). I don't usually enjoy working in brights, but I thought I'd have a go....
Here's what I came up with . Hope you all like them!

(click on the photos to see them a bit bigger)

I'm having extreme difficulty with this new blogger set up.It just seems to fight each and every photo I add.

This is such a cute book!


I can't wait until it comes to my library (or should I spend one of my coveted gift cards on it.... hmmmmm.....

In the spirit of full disclosure, I actually spent some money last weekend! (if you haven't read my blog lately -- I'm living a year of frugal. No purchases unless absolutely necessary)I was visiting my mom on Mothers Day (and my dad too) and my mom and I went to Hygglit -- a super fabulous fabric store in London, Ontario. It is THE source for Liberty Fabrics in Southwestern Ontario. Well, perhaps all of Ontario. Maybe even all of Canada. ANYWAY, I didn't buy any fabric, but I bought 3 patterns because I REALLY NEED to use up my fabric scraps. That's the new goal. Use up the scraps. And the hundreds of beeeeaauuuutiful fat quarters that I have. Sigh....

summer

This weekend is the unofficial start to the summer season. Mr. B and I spent the day on the Toronto Islands.


We went to the Centreville Zoo:





Now I'm tired and very likely a little bit sunburned while we're waiting for the ferry ride back to the city...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Bayview Ave,Centre Island,Canada

Macaron for Moms

Mmmmmm






Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What will lift your wolfish mood?

I posted this on my teaching blog, but I think that there are a lot of people here who would enjoy this trailer (yes! a trailer for a book! they make these now....)

This makes me happy :)



This book, Virginia Wolf, is a children's picture book loosely based on the relationship between writer Virginia Woolf and her sister, painter Vanessa Bell. When someone else is in a wolfish mood, what do you do to make them happy?

What I'm coveting today :)

Have you seen Mimi Kirchner's dolls?

Source: mimikirchner.com via Martha on Pinterest

Fabulousness!