letter of recommendation

as i wrote this letter of recommendation about the high school student that i worked with this past spring i found it slightly ironic because, although i was the teacher, and considered "professional" because i sell my art work in galleries.....i still very much feel like an art student myself.

 i remember worrying that i would not have enough information or knowledge to share with her- but, that was not a problem. in fact, i found that i wanted to try and share all that i knew...and probably talked the whole time (the poor thing....). so, one maybe with a little more experience under her belt, but,......still a student.

 with this all said, this art student is ready for the exciting things that are being planned for 2014. i cannot wait to share with you the many things i am hoping to make.... 

i am very thankful for each and every follower that stops, even for just a moment, to see what i have been up to- thank you very much! happy new year to you!

inspiration and alteration

have you ever seen something and been so inspired? i happened to stop by our insurance agent on friday and while i was waiting for a moment, noticed the small calendar that he was giving away for 2014.....

it only took my mind a moment to see the great potential of this small calendar with its' bound paper edges and stiff back cover to be something so much better than a desk calendar with a little alteration.

i snagged a calendar full of potential and am hoping to altered this small cutie.....

have you spied some ordinary everything item and thought- holy cow this could be so cool if....... what inspires you?

looking ahead- Documented Life Project

After seeing Roben-Marie's altered moleskin journal for "The Documented Life Project"- I had to go and purchase my own from Lorraine Bell. Are you going to play? Those creative ladies are cooking up good things for this project and the project is all FREE!! Anyone can play....and did I tell you it was FREE? The project is set to start in January.

 When my journal arrived  I was so excited- check out the cool tag that was attached....the journal looks amazing! I cannot wait to see what they have up their sleeves for us to do with these journals for 2014. So excited....

weekends work

we had a busy weekend preparing for the holiday this week. we made cookies and goodies until they were coming out of our ears.....but, my husband and i had a great time.

although, have you ever had a time when you thought you had picked up everything from the store? saturday it was almost getting ridiculous.....i must have gone to our grocery store 3 times.....the last time i was hoping that staff had changed shifts so no one would know i had already been there....but, low and behold, there was one older gentleman who was still there- busted!

on sunday, i did manage to sneak down to the studio for just a bit.....i cleaned for a bit so i can actually see my counter- which had not seen light in a while; but, slowly putting things away, my fingers and brain could not simply put stuff away- i had to make something and i did need a thank you card.....and i could just whip one up.

i also wrapped the last of the gifts that were waiting. and almost had forgotten, that when i had purchased an art supply gift for my mom, the journals were on sale....and since i was already ordering and shipping- i thought i should add those on to the order.

i am getting ready for 2014.....i bought a couple different sizes and one has black paper.....

TGIF

#projectlife #cantwait #2014

It takes a village

On Monday I played hooky from work because I was invited to play at a friends studio. We had a wonderful brunch and then headed to the studio. Her studio was filled with unusual and interesting things. As I looked around trying to determine what I was going to do for the day I spied a box of wooden parts and pieces. I knew immediately what I was going to do.....make a house. Or several houses- a little village.

I used acrylics and nails and hammered the wooden pieces to create character. Here is my village.....

One little word- magic

Our word this month was magic....check out our post here: http://rondapalazzari.typepad.com/one_little_word/2013/12/word-up-78-magic.html

I used some of Roben-Marie's Artpops in my project and then painted and added my own details to my canvas. I had showed you a couple of sneak peeks earlier and here is my final version. Stop by the link above to what the other team members had made -there is some magic things there!

Procrastination

Here is the current view in my studio..... I have been sewing up a storm with the occasional painting/ mixed media session fit in between sewing sessions. But with all this working going on in my studio- I have not been putting anything away.

And when I say I have not put anything away- I mean it. There are layers of stuff. You can almost tell what I was doing by the layers of stuff piled on the counter. Holiday magazines for inspiration, fabric, art journals, paper scraps, gelli plate, stencils, and more fabric...

I am playing hooky tomorrow from work- So I should be cleaning up my studio tomorrow with a day off, but I was invited to go play at another artist's studio for the day. And who am I to pass up an invite like that? This girl will be ready to go in the morning with bells on! No cleaning tomorrow!

TGIF

#cigarboxpainting #tgif #homemadestencil #gelliplate

Son of a beehive....

 

Hi mom. .. This is the message I got after giving my I-pad to my youngest son. He graciously figured out how to post and pull pics on my ipad in less time than it takes me to brush my teeth. Yestereday I used his computer to post to my blog- which he was NOT excited about; so he wanted to make sure I had another option....bless his heart!

So my lesson learned here, is if there is any doubt about my technological skills- I seriously need to check with my kids....it is crazy how I can hand them any device and it is so intuitive to them. But for now.... I am just so happy to be able to post to my blog again! On my own device!

This is one more sneak peek at my mixed media painting for one little word. Happy Thursday!

a bribe and a sneak peak

i have had some technical difficulties lately, but, managed to bribe our youngest son to allow me to use his computer this morning! i was given very strict instructions "not to go to anywhere weird...." because he thinks i have the black kiss of death for electronics....

so, without any further delay and before he decides i have been on the computer too long here is my sneak peek for one little word....i used some of the scraps from Roben-Marie's Artpops that i had left over. very good to the absolute last scrap!