Hens & Roosters and Botanicals

Boy, this making cards is fun, fun, fun. Just the thing on a rainy day. Now, we're going to walk over to the fest and have a corn dog and clam chowder bowl. Yippee!

After the festival, I did these botanicals. Maybe I have one more set in me tonight because then I have to put all the stuff away so that I can get back to making dinner, doing work, etc. in that part of the house (the kitchen island).

Poker Tonight

I went to my friend Brad's and played a great evening of poker with Kristian, Steve L. Steve O., Travis, Dan, Art and Brad. I'm Fred on these nights when I play with the guys. I ended up losing about $40, but its all good. I would have spent that on dinner and a movie, so it is a great evening of entertainment.

Six Sets Done

I know, I've already posted some of these images, but I am so thrilled that I have six sets of these French-themed notecards done tonight.

I'm finding so much relaxation and pleasure in the creating of them. Finding the images and papers, the methodic gluing, the fun of embellishing, and then the beeswax - oh the beeswax.  

They each come with a custom folded envelope with a mailing label affixed and a 4x6 sticker sheet that can be used to write your note then stick to the back. They are suitable for framing by the recipient or just leaving out on the counter so you can enjoy the luscious beeswax coating.

I'm really happy with them. (Click in to see more detail.)

Let me know what you think!

To Make Journals, Warm Up By Making Cards

I love to do things in big batches, and I work better when I'm doing a few things at one time. So, I got started on the cards first today.

Kit It

I decided to make my own "kits" for each set of four cards. That entailed doing the backgrounds, then going through my beautiful papers to find 11 themes - where I had enough material to make four cards. Then I put together coordinating papers and some various little doo-dahs that "go with" the color theme for each set of cards. I finished by choosing the backing cards for each set. These are 5x7 cardstock with nice textures in wonderful bright colors made by Bazzills and available at - where else - Michaels!

So, now I'm ready for the next step which is making the card fronts (44!) which will involve some tearing, arranging, gluing and stitching with the sewing machine. Then, I'll put a nice coat of beeswax on the card, and adhere it to the color card stock. I'll also have to make 44 envelopes. 

That's another kit!

I'm going to create 22 kits for the journals too, and probably a bunch of little kits for door hangers and coaster sets. Haven't quite figured out the coasters just yet.

Later That Day
Okay - I got three sets fully done, except the envelopes. Here's a peek at six of them card from each set (click on the images for more detail). Oooh - yummy beeswax coating on all.

Ready to Make Some Journals?

I'm back from a fabulous art workshop in France with Anna Corba. I came back to a house I've been ignoring for about 3 months in favor of all the house design work and regular work. So, first thing I did was put away bags of art supplies from teaching in June, prints I made in August when I returned from the Minnesota art-cation lovingly designed by my friend Laurie Phillips, and all sorts of paperwork that had accumulated.

I also cleaned the house and got my guest room ready for company coming in a couple of weeks. In the process of all this cleaning, I found pads of paper I've been saving for years (literally, some were from my first job in 1981). So, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to make some journals for holiday gifts. 

I cut up the cardboard backs for the journal fronts/backs and got the paper for the insides all cut and arranged. Here's a photo! Now, on to the decorating.

Stayed tuned for results - journals, cards, whoo hoo! Being creative is fun!

At DeGaulle Airport, On My Way Home From France

I'm happy to be home - arriving late last night (Sat), only to find warnings posted about traveling in Europe in the news this morning.

I saw many police and French military as I rode buses, trains and planes. Waiting to board the train in Toulouse, only ticketed passengers were being allowed down onto the platforms. Ordinarily, the French rail system is quite open. They don't even seem to check your tickets all the time once on the train.

In the Lyon train station where I transferred, several young men were being frisked by the gendarmes. Then at DeGaulle, many military with short, fashionable semi-automatic guns were patrolling. I didn't have the guts to snap a photo of a very tres chic woman soldier. I was tired, but I swear she was wearing fashionable shoes and earrings with her military garb and gun. Definitely eye shadow and a fancy hairdo.

Here are some photos of the last few minutes in Paris before I departed.

Travelling in France

I am so overdue to post here. What a long several weeks it has been with a lot of busyness at work, working on the new house plans and getting ready for another architectural review committee when I come back from this trip and then forcing myself to relax enough so I can do art while in this workshop.

I find taking photographs is a good way to relax and slow down, so here are some of my best in my travel postcards #1 and #2.

My Version of Young Me - Now Me

There's a new trend in photo taking out there that has to do with reenacting a photo taken a long time ago, through the composition, what the person is wearing, gestures and facial expressions, etc. See more about that here.

I just ran across these unintentional Then & Nows of me and a couple of Claire. They are about 10 years apart.

How fun!

Alameda Naval Air Station

Sunday I went to the "once a month" Antique Fair at the Alameda Naval Air Station. It was really hot so the ice cold lemonade tasted really good. The gyro was decent too. But what I loved was wandering around from row to row of "antiques." I say this in quotes because their rule is that things have to be more than 20 years old. That really doesn't qualify as an antique, to me. That is not even really nostalgic in my lifetime.

Still, there's lots of cool stuff to see and it's fun just watching the ga-gillions of people wandering around. I think there are about 400 booths at this faire selling everything from vintage clothes to old books to rusty outdoor furniture masquerading as antiques - not! I think I'll lug my crappy outdoor patio set over there and score some big bucks!

I saw my friends Jenny and Melissa from The Junk Girls and also met Kymberley from Three Fine Grains. I bought a vellum book from Kymberley back in May via her on-line store, so it was nice to put a face with the name. I scored some spool candles made by Jenny K, and three vintage books of ladies items - sewing patterns, advice, etc. I really only wanted two, but they were three for $20 so I lugged them all the long walk back to the car.

Here are the spools, repurposed by Jenny K/The Junk Girls as votive candle holders. They're going to look great somewhere in my new house.

 
And here are some photos of the adjoining and now abandoned Alameda Naval Air Station I passed on the way in/out. What a resource! Seems like it would be good to redevelop this property into something more productive than ratty old buildings with peeling paint. However, the peeling paint is immensely more interesting to photograph.

Bay Bridge - Center of Span