Scrapbook class...

I keep forgetting to mention that my awesome friend Rebecca is going to be teaching some scrapbooking classes at a couple local Michael's.

Starting July 27th, she's going to be teaching the core classes of "Scrapbook Design & You" at two local Michael's stores. Here's a little blurb from her blog about the classes:

SDU is a four week curriculum designed to teach the basics of scrapbooking including tools, photo organization, color theory, line, shape, writing techniques, and page enhancements.

Go check out her post about the classes and, if you're local... SIGN UP! You won't regret it!



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We have a winner!

My lovely assistant, Dwayne, pulled NatashaMay's name from the pile. Check out her lovely artwork on her blog.  NatashaMay, I'll mail it as soon as I have your address.














Honorable mentions go to the other lovely ladies who replied:

Rebecca
Rachel
Kimberly

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Giveaway...

I've gone and purchased a magazine twice (not the first time this has happened) and didn't make it back to the store in time to return it. Guess I'll just have to give it away. It's the spring issue of Somerset Memories. Just leave a comment that you'd like it and Friday, July 23rd I'll draw a name and mail it out.




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The floor saga

I must be the slowest renovator ever! That being said it does take a while when you have this huge table that has to be rolled back and forth and you have to wait for one side of the room to dry so you can roll it out of the way. I have the floors looking pretty good now except for this annoying glue squiggle going down the middle.

Yesterday I pulled out my little sander and determined I didn't have the right grit for the Jon so this morning hit it again. Working better but so slow. I may have to resort to renting a floor sander. Something to research this week. Anyone have experience sanding concrete?

Here are some pics of the progress.

This is called girlie sanding. My arm was getting sore and found I could more easily use the weight of my leg. And yes, I do my best work in my pajamas. ;-)








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Bare bones

Well, I thougt I'd have some pictures already from the classes I took at Donna Downey's Inspired getaway but I've been working on packing up my craft room, clearing out all the furniture and ripping out the carpeting. Let me tell you I was a wee bit sore from all that bit in a good way.

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to prep the concrete for stain. There's a bit of paint to get off around the perimeter. Tried some paint remover but looks like I'm going to have to get more aggressive. Word of advice though, wear gloves. Gave the palms of my hands a nice little chemical peel just from washing the brush out. My brother in law advised a good scrubbing as the next stage to see what else comes up. My ultimate goal is to get a variegated or marble look with an Eco friendly stain for easy cleanup. Worse case I'll hate it and will resort to laying a bamboo floor.

Any advice and lessons learned are welcome!





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Confessions...

Well, it's been a while since I posted and I have to admit I've lost my creative mojo. And I hate to post without having something to show even if it's just a photo I took (my camera is sitting somewhere in the house collecting dust at the moment). With my new position at work I've been putting in long days and by the weekend I've been useless. Unfortunately I'm a not so secret workaholic and trying to get back on the road to recovery. My paints are calling out to me and I still have ideas swirling in my head. It's the actual sitting down and getting to it that is the problem.

I think I am starting to get the itch again but I'm also in the process of packing up all my supplies so I can rip out the carpeting. My house is 12 years old now and sadly in need of a flooring makeover. I don't have the money right now but just can't take it any longer so testing the option of utilizing the concrete floor at least on the first level. I actually like the look which is more contemporary so trying to figure out if I need to use stain or paint and what color to go with. I have found a couple places that carry eco friendly materials so going that route as soon as I get the color thing figured out. It also has the advantage of being easy to clean up if I spill paint. My grand plan is to put down bamboo flooring one day throughout the house. Well, I digress.

I do want to say thank you to those who keep checking in on me to be sure I'm still alive. Your persistence is a great encouragement to me.

Next week one of my best friends, Rebecca, and I are going to Inspired Artist Workshops so hopefully I will post things from the fun classes we take. I have to say I'm really excited to get away and spend several days devoted to fun and creativity.

Again, thanks for not giving up on me. ;-)

OWOH Winner...

We have a winner! Gina Luna is lucky number 47.

One World One Heart

I almost missed it this year. It is time for the One World One Heart giveaway. It's a wonderful event that encourages you to visit new blogs and make new friends. This year I am giving away an unframed 8x8 mixed media piece I call 'Eye Of The Beholder'. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog and how I can contact you. You have until midnight on February 14th to post and on the morning of February 15th I will select a random winner using one of those randomizer sites. Don't forget to click on the picture above to see a list of other blogs with giveaways. Happy hunting.

Baby steps...

It has been too long since my last post. I think I mentioned that last September I became a manager in my department and the focus of my work has changed a lot and it is requiring a lot of extra time. My day consists of leaving the house at 5:30 am and getting home about 8:00 pm with a whole lot of trying to stay on top of projects, people and processes. Unfortunately lunch time consists of sitting at my desk and playing some mindless Facebook games while munching on a sandwich. I do need to learn to work a little more effectively and to get out of the office earlier so I can add exercising to my daily schedule.

So besides work I have not managed to be very creative. My last endeavor was Christmas cards but I sure did have fun making them. I didn't do a very good with the pictures below but you can see a good bit of the layering. I started with sheets of heavy watercolor paper that I covered with crinkled tissue paper. I then painted them with black gesso and went to town with layers of metallic paints and used various sizes of circle items and also splattered some. I really had a lot of fun with the process. I cut down the sheets to the size I needed and did a little more layering with metallic ribbon. It is a little challenging photographing shiny metallic surfaces. Probably should have pulled out the tripod.

So today is about baby steps. I had a really long list of things to do and I've only completed a few items but what I've checked off is posting on my blog, cleaning my crap off the breakfast table and exercising. Just before Christmas I bought a Wii and the balance board with the intent of using it to exercise regularly. I figured it would be better than any other equipment because if I fail in the exercise plan it will still get used for entertainment for family and friends. A couple weekends ago I did manage to do three whole yoga poses before bailing but today I started a 30 day challenge and did a 30 minute startup and even played a round of tennis. So now my goal is to keep that up and to get back into the creative flow.

We shall see how I do but I'm going to continue with the baby steps theme for the moment. My next step for the evening is to visit some of my favorite blogs that I have been neglecting.

Hope everyone is having a blessed and happy new year!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is having a blessed and wonderful Christmas.

Yesterday was a wonderful time of family, friends and fun. Of course there was also massive amounts of food, ribeye roast, baked potatoes, asparagus, bacon wrapped oysters, cookies, chocolate cake and probably something else I'm forgetting.

Today was my traditional pajama day full of watching movies. Watched Julie Julia and if I weren't in such a bum mood I would have had to start cooking up a storm. It was definitely inspiring. Well back to my couch potatoedness.