4 Simple Goals

Back in August, I posted my 4 simple goals to accomplish by the end of the year.  Here's how I'm doing so far:

1. Attend Art and Soul in Portland.  This one may be cheating because I have it set up already!  Done!

2. Learn to be a better photographer for my Etsy shop and my blog. This is ongoing but I think I'm making progress! I'm getting some good feedback and encouragement from those around me.

3. Continue to ride my bike even when the weather gets cold. I just re-discovered bike riding through a bike that was given to me. This is a way to stay healthy and to connect with my kids. I feel so free when I'm riding! It's amazing.  So far so good on this one! We'll see how it shapes up when the weather gets really cold around here. I even got a basket for it to make it more functional. Let's face it, it's cute, too!

4. Blog twice a week. I need to keep accountable with this! I know some weeks will be more and some less but if I can average out to twice a week, that would be great! Ummmm....well.....let's not talk about that one.  I am recommitting myself to this so hopefully I can pull it off going forward.

Art and Soul

Wow! What an amzing experience! I had several people tell me "You need to go to Art and Soul" which I took as a sign.  I signed up for 3 classes and I was awed by all of them.

The first two pictures are from my 2nd class that I took on Sunday. 

Here I am with Alma de Melena Cox who I orignally met in my little town. This was my 3rd class from her and the most inclusive.  She has a technique called "Telemadera Fusion" that she uses in her art and teaches to others.  It involves woodburning, paint and fabric which is then varnished to give the finished piece amazing depth and contrast. In her classes, she offers her original drawings to be used as a template in which your piece is based off of.  I chose to use one of them in this piece.

(Alma is on the left I'm on the right)

Here is the finished picture after 7(!) coats of varnish!

The first class that I took was "Repurposeful Stamping and Printing" with Traci Bunkers.  She takes found and household objects and turns them into stamps!! Amazing!  Then, after playing and stamping and stenciling a good chunk of the day, we made our own book out of the papers and 5x7 canvases.  So cool! I'd been interested in bookmaking so this was like a 2 in 1 class for me.

(the cover of my book)

(the inside front cover)

(my favorite page)

The last class that I took was on how to use your Sizzix for embossing everything! I don't have any pictures of this one unfortunately! I did learn how to use alcohol inks, emboss metal sheets, and emboss cards and envelope flaps to make some pretty cool customized stationery.  I also plan on using these techniques in my upcoming mixed media pieces!


Have a beautiful day!

I'm Still Here!!

After some computer issues, school starting up and going to Art and Soul in Portland recently I'm ready to get back to business! I have so much to share! I'll be here more frequently as my goal is to post at least twice a week. 

4 Simple Goals

I just read about 4 simple goals to accomplish by 2011at  Style Crush. I LOVE this! This was originated at A Beautiful Mess in this post. 

1. Attend Art and Soul in Portland.  This one may be cheating because I have it set up already!

2. Learn to be a better photographer for my Etsy shop and my blog.

3. Continue to ride my bike even when the weather gets cold. I just re-discovered bike riding through a bike that was given to me. This is a way to stay healthy and to connect with my kids. I feel so free when I'm riding! It's amazing.

4. Blog twice a week. I need to keep accountable with this! I know some weeks will be more and some less but if I can average out to twice a week, that would be great!

I hope you can keep me accountable to this!

Creative Experiment Part 1

I decided to attempt "♥ Practice hand printing the alphabet using fonts as source material". I didn't actually use a font as source material but I did practice my hand printing! In art journaling this is one of the things that I find so beautiful in others and lacking in myself. So I decided I just needed more practice! Here are my results:

In the bottom picture I used a couple of quotes. "The art is on the loose!" is from one of my kids favorite shows, the Backyardigans. I heard it and knew I had to use it! "The rain falls..." is from a Michael Franti song called "Have a Little Faith" which is really touching a chord with me right now.

Etsy Shop Update!

We just listed some BEAUTIFUL jewelry that my Mom made in our shop! Please check us out!

Adventures in Gardening

This year we have attempted many things in our garden. We have learned alot.
1. Don't try to grow other vegetables with kohlrabi.
2. You CAN grow tomatoes in Central Oregon when you do everything juuussssstttt riiiiigggghht. I think I might know the tricks. Maybe. We'll see next year.

3. Kohlrabi, although it is a root vegetable, actually grows it's edible part above ground. This answers our questions of "how do we know when it's ready to eat". You can actually SEE it which makes it alot easier to know these things
4. Even if the strawberry plant looks dead, it might not be! You may be surprised one day to see a blossom.

Since this picture was taken, we have several more blossoms and maybe, possibly, even a strawberry! Yeah for us!