In with the New.. and out with the new to you..

I can't believe its almost 2010! Tomorrow is the last day of 2009 and it sure flew by.

As part of my ringing in the new year celebration I have been taking Mary Ann's journal class as I have mentioned in my previous posts. It has been so fun and inspiring to go thru my stash of papers and treasured scraps and use them. I am up to 3 journal covers now, not including Hannah's and have been stitching papers together to make pages to fill them. Unfortunately, I find that I am running low on my larger pieces as I guess I tend to gather smaller bits and pieces. Also, I find that looking at the same old thing is getting a bit monotonous and would like to mix it up a bit so I have an offer for anyone who is interested.

I am looking for some new journal fodder... ledger pages, decorative paper, photos, interesting book pages, transparencies, etc., particularly larger cuts of things. In trade I am offering up a copy of issue #6 of Portals Zine. (edit: I messed up, I am out of vol. #7, I will send the HOME issue, vol. #6) This is printed professionally in full color and is a $20 value. I happen to have several left over. If you are interested, please email me and we can swap addresses to trade a baggie of paper goodness for an issue.

Wishing you a fun New Year's Eve and all the best in 2010!!

flying..

I have still been on my polymer clay mosaic kick and making tiles like a mad woman. Its been inspiring and addicting and I feel free. My muse is flying.. I have been producing lots of frames and have been invited to place them in a gallery shop in San Juan Bautista which features the artwork of woman! In addition, some of my frames will be flying to OH to grace the lovely little shop Alice Adair which is owned by my good friend. Yay ( I need to get those in the mail!)
Another exciting development this week is that Sadie surprised me by making me the featured seller on Lollishops for the week. I had to hustle and get some things loaded in my shop because I had been procrastinating but I have added some new cards and mosaic pieces. I am really excited about the possibility of doing some custom pieces for people but I love all the things I have created already too! I hope you will hop on over and check out my shop as I will continue to add new items throughout the week.

Also, Friday my gal pal and co-publisher of Portals Zine, Joleen will be flying up for the weekend. We will be visiting, planning issue #8 and she will be shooting a 3 generations session of me, my Mom and Hannah. Be sure to visit the Portals Zine blog over the weekend where we will be posting a special giveaway!

working...

I'll admit it, I am pretty burned out on design work but I have some stuff piling up that I can't continue to ignore it. I figure once I fire up Photoshop I will probably get back in the swing of things. ArtFest ruined me by letting me unplug for 5 days which was so awesome. I had to laugh at those people constantly checking their emails and twitters and other stuff..

I HAVE been super busy lately.. here is a peek at my desk currently..


and the other thing that you CAN'T see is the pile of yearbook pages that I SHOULD be tackling right now. I need to completely clear off our big table so I can spread everything out and get collating. I so wish I could share the pages but since they are little kids, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that here.

Anyway, I am off... I have some work to do for Sadie at LolliShops and preparing shipping labels for Portals. Back soon!

journaling

As promised, here are a few of the spreads I have created from prompts in Kelly Kilmer's "A prompt A Day" online journaling class. I had kind of a rough start but I have jumped in and am having a ton of fun. All of a sudden this past weekend, I got the kick start I really needed to get going. I am not sure if it was the class or having an art play day but my muse has been going like crazy. There are art projects strewn all over our big table and in the studio. I am bouncing between mosaic pieces, painting, journal pages and working on the school yearbook (which I really should be spending more time on.)
Anyway, I need to run this batch of pages to the printer. I am waiting for Portals to arrive and get shipping.. woo hoo! Busy week..

what happened to spring?

Holy smokes, it was in the 90's yesterday and the forecast is calling for another hot day. It seems like we hopped from winter right on over to summer. Should we really be contemplating setting up the pool in April?

I dodged the high heat and just mowed the front lawn. I can smell the fresh cut grass wafting in my window with some early morning cool air right now. Its pretty invigorating for a Monday morning.

I managed to get over my post ArtFest slump fairly quickly this year and have been back in the studio using some of my new techniques with polymer clay to make some fun pieces. I LOVED Laurie Mika's class and was so excited to come home and make tiles. Its a great project to work on with Hannah too because the clay is so much fun.

This is a piece I am just finishing up. I need to seal in and add the hanging apparatus. I have a few wooden house shapes that my hubby cut out for me and I used one as the base. Its super hard to catch the cool colors in these pieces and all the tiles really blend better than it looks here. I have to touch up some paint on another project I am finishing too which is a little box using the same mosaic techniques. What I really love is even though I took Laurie's class, my stuff looks so different from her. So fun.

Yesterday, I had a fun art play date with Shosh and we worked on journal pages from Kelly Kilmer's online class "A Prompt a Day" which is really inspiring and fun. Shosh was giving me a hard time because while she was diligently working on her pages, in order, by the prompts, I was just going to town doing whatever I wanted. What can i say? I am not a rules kind of gal. Pictures coming!!

I am expecting my Portals v 7 proof to arrive today and then the final order will be placed and they will start shipping this week I expect. Thanks so much to those of you who continue to support our endeavors in creating the Zine.

Portals #7 off to print

Portals 7 went off to the printer today so we will begin shipping next week. I am so excited and relieved to have that taken care of. I have so many little dangley bits of projects unfinished that I am happy to tie up another one.

Also, for you Facebook members. Sign up to be a fan of Portals Zine on Facebook and you will be entered to win a free issue!!

HOME

As you can see, the pages are rolling on for the upcoming issue of Portals. We're really excited. We feel this publication just gets better and better. (if we do say so ourselves, LOL) Once again its chock full of great ideas, gorgeous eye candy and inspiration from friends and fellow artists such as Robin Dudley- Howes, Lelainia Lloyd, Mike Jennings and Adair Amodio of AliceAdair.com in addition to a special surprise from Danielle of Kitschy Digitals.

We have decided to start the pre-order process though we won't be shipping til I get back from ArtFest in mid April. You can be one of the forst to get it HERE.

• professionally printed in full color
• includes shipping in Continental US

This and That..

I have been busily humming along on projects of all sorts. Today I have the windows open and the warm (almost) Spring breeze is blowing in. I found the cat curled up in a planter enjoying the warm weather as well. The kids at school have been in rare form.. Spring Fever? I'm not sure what it is but I like the boost of energy I have been feeling during the day. It had enabled to REALLY make progress on the Great Purge and to work on tons of projects.

Joleen and I are hard at work on issue #7 of Portals Zine. Its coming together nicely and we are trying some new things. I am happy to have some new contributors on board. It will once again be chock full of fun articles, great tutorials and tons of Eye Candy. My wish is that it would be done in time for ArtFest but I don't think there is any way that is going to happen.

Speaking of ArtFest.. its only 2 weeks away! I am so excited to see take classes and to house with Martha and Ruth. So much laughter and fun to be shared. I am looking forward to seeing my "retreat friends" and just being away.

One person I am super looking forward to hanging out with is Liz. We were able to spend a nice amount of time together last year at ArtFiberFest which brought us closer and yesterday a "quick 5 minute call" turned into a pleasant 1/2 hour +. Can't wait to see her. Looking forward to a fun dinner out with her and her MIL who is bravely going to ArtFest as her FIRST ever artsy retreat :) Oh and speaking of retreats.. Liz is planning some up in her neck of the woods (PacNW) that look charming. Much different than ArtFest or Art Unraveled, Liz's "Be Present" retreats are designed more to promote a meditative and nurturing experience in a more intimate environment. I hope to get to one soon!

Oh, another thing I am doing too. I signed up to do the Pay It Forward "swap" thingie on Dawn's blog. So now I need to find the people I am going to send art to. Here are the rules in case you haven't seen this:

The first 3 people who leave me a comment on this post only saying you want to play by "paying it forward" will receive a handmade item from me sometime in the next 3 months. Just one day, out of the blue, at no cost to you, a special something will arrive in your mailbox.

FOR FREE!!!

The turnabout is that you must choose to participate in this round robin of giving... by giving yourself and posting the "Pay It Forward Challenge" on your blog. (But, make sure to leave some type of contact info-email so I can get a hold of you for the address...) I love this concept, that you can be a blog reader who reads a beloved blog, or even stumbles upon a blog, decide you like it, and by (quickly) commenting on the post, can be selected to receive a lovely handmade item for absolutely free. How great is that?

This fits in my recent trend of sending RAKs out to my friends. Its always exciting to get mail and I love sending it off too. A close friend got a package from me in the mail yesterday and called me all excited. It felt great. I sent off a little something to her doggie too and she was barking on the phone when we spoke. Cracked me right up. Anyway, think about it and if you want to Pay It Forward too, let me know!

oooh, contests!!

Joleen has begun revamping the Portals blog this weekend. Its looking pretty awesome. We really want to make it a stand alone blog with all kinds features, tutorials and contests in addition to Portals news, instead of just a place where we post the newest issue.

To kick it off right for the new year we are having a contest where you can win issue #7, the HOME issue which we're planning for March of this year. If you haven't checked the current issue out yet you can see that it is full color, professionally printed and bound and just brimming with fabulous, COLORFUL and inspiring art.

We hope you will visit us often to see whats going on and maybe even jump in by offering up your own artwork or a tutorial for a future issue!

In other contest news, Joleen is ALSO hosting a give away on her blog where you can win something cool that she hasn't shared yet.

And finally, I am jumping on the band wagon and offering up my OWN give away. I will be giving away one of my JUNQUE packs which are simply brimming with stuff for creating. There are snippets of all kinds of papers, fabric, trims, shapes, failed art projects, stickers, Dresdens, fibers, charms, beads, buttons.. I can't even LIST all the things I stuff into these packs. They are super inspiring and useful to launch projects from ATCs to journal pages, collages and mixed media projects. What I want you to do is to leave a comment telling me an idea you'd like to see in a future issue of Portals. I will choose a winner on Friday the 16th and announce it here. Be sure you leave me a way to contact you! Have a great and creative day!

Portals in da house

woohooo, the first printing of Portals v6 Zine is HERE!! I am so over the moon excited. They are beautiful and will knock your socks off. This issue is full of goodness, 44 pages to be exact!
I will be addressing and mailing off all the pre-orders this week to arrive in time for Christmas (at least in the US). There are still plenty available to order, they'd make great stocking stuffers or a sweet treat for yourself. Imagine kicking back, relaxing with cup of cocoa and diving into 44 full color pages of artsy goodness!!

OMG

Whew, exciting morning. I got my Portals issue #6 proof in the mail today. Joleen & I decided to try a new printer instead of printing ourselves and OMG!! it is amazing. Not only is this issue just full of eye candy but now it is in FULL, vibrant color! The Museé is going to know your socks off!!
Also, since we had to go to back and edit a couple of pages we added two more so we are now up to 44 pages!! and 2 of them are yummy eye candy from a special guest!!
If you have ordered already, the issues should arrive to you just in time for Christmas and if you haven't, then what re you waiting for?!!

You can reserve your copy by purchasing it here.
Its just $20 including domestic shipping!!

inspiration for sale....

We have been busily working away on Portals and have finally gotten to the point where we are offering is for PRESALE!! We expect it to ship around December 1. We don't even have a page count at this point because we keep cramming more stuff in!!! It will be easily 30 pages and probably more!! PLUS this issue comes with a free handmade alphabet font download! Yay!

Portals #6

Portals Zine
"Issue #6..." Art Journals" is filled with the things we love right now. We have included many inspirational journal pages from some of our favorite art journalers along with tutorials and sparks to help you delve into your journal. In addition we have TWO featured artists and the usual favorites... Q/A, Artist's Challenge, book reviews, and more. PLUS all issues of Portals Zine will come with a free font download created JUST for Portals readers!!"

Interested in advertising in this issue? Go here for specifics.

Last Call.......

Just a reminder that today is the last day to get your art journal pages in for the gallery! This is going to be my favorite issue to date and I hope you'll be a part of it! :) Artwork submission guidelines can be found here.

art journaling..

You may remember a few months back I was hot and heavy into my art journal and proud to have completed Rhonna Farrer's 21 Day Challenge. I took a break from journaling but lately, I have been so inspired by all of the journal pages I have been seeing around. Then Joleen asked me if I'd be willing to do another issue Portals issue on the topic of art journals and I agreed because it was just what my soul had been needing and I hadn't recognized it. So we have been plotting and outlining and contacting artists. Our top choice for "feautured artist" agreed for us to feature him and we are just beyond excited. After many discussions I decided we needed to do an artist journal RR during the process of creating the new issue so we ran into our respective studios and started playing...

My journal, seen here, will be heading out to Joleen tomorrow and hers will be on the way to me. We both chose the theme "quotes" as the prompts for our pages so I am anxious to find some good ones to inspire more art. What are some of your favorites??

Here is my first page. I am eager to do more. If you have been journaling, please send some of your pages to share to our call for art on the newly updated Portals website.

Portals is back...

After a year long hiatus and much deliberation, we have decided to produce another issue of Portals Zine. We are currently seeking artwork for the upcoming issue. You can find all of the details here.

WANTED!!

WANTED: I am looking for a guest columnist to review "In This House" for the upcoming issue of Portals Zine. You must own the book (or check it out from your library) and be able to provide a well written review to fill one page. If you are interested, please email me: heather@portals-zine.com. The columnist will receive a complimentary issue of Portals v 6.

Cheers!!

PS There is a giveaway in the next post down...

(Update: I have 2 guest reviewers for this issue. Thank you!)

PORTALS BACK ISSUES

For those of you Portals readers who were interested in Back Issues of PORTALS and EYE CANDY. The time has finally come. I know I promised this about a month ago but I. HAVE. BEEN. BUSY!! Wow.. school, work, Portals, life.. it sure adds up to conspire against your free time doesn't it?
Anyway, since PayPal doesn't appear to have any way to manage the quantity of items available and I can't get into the site fast enough to update I will be listing the Zines on MY PERSONAL ETSY shop. They will go live on the evening of Wednesday, September 19 to be fair to all. Quantities are extremely limited and I have no plans to reprint anything at this point so if you are missing something, do not delay.
As far as issue 6 goes, yes, I am way behind my "non-deadline". I am still in need of HOME related art, tutorials, articles, ideas!!! Help!!! PLEASE send stuff in so I can fill 'er up.

what I did today...

In addition to mowing, weeding, vacuuming, mopping, dishes and a couple loads of laundry this is what I did today!!
I also finished up (mostly) my charms for Amber's Black and White charm swap but my camera battery died before I could snap pix so those will have to wait. The people at the post office are going to HATE me tomorrow but at least all of you who have been waiting so patiently won't hate me any longer... LOL. Watch your mailboxes!!

full speed ahead

June is just the most insane month I can ever remember and I have had many, many insane times in my life. Portals is printing and I hope to be mailing next week. I have been working like a mad woman on the swaps and RR's that I owe, while planning a birthday party for my Mom who is turning 60! Gasp! Now tell me, does THIS look like a woman who is turning 60??

I think not.. and not only does she LOOK young but she has the energy of a woman half her age. She thinks "I'm BORED" is a really bad word because she has so many ideas and complains she will never have enough time to do all the things she wants to do in her life. She is a great Mom, super fun and artistic and she is an amazing grandma. Hannah is named after her ;) Tomorrow is her actual birthday.. Happy Birthday Mom!!

Anyway, in addition to all this craziness we have company coming tomorrow to stay for a week. Greg's best friend and his girl are driving out from Minnesota. The gang (not me) will take off camping for a couple of nights while I get the party ready but I still need to get them packed and ready to go...

Here are a few sneak peeks of my "Bits n Pieces" swap piece for Jeanne. I am all done except I need to find a ribbon or something so she can hang it.

If you want to see more you can click on over to my Flickr. I have not posted the finished piece yet because I want Jeanne to be surprised. Aim to get this in the mail by Friday! I will have shots of my crown for the tiara swap soon. Risa and I are both running late so we agreed to mail sometime next week. I finally got started and its so fun I can't stop adding bits!!

Finally, I want to share a luscious bit of eye candy. My new friend Martha, that I met at ArtFest, sent me this AMAZING cuff bracelet! I LOVE it so much.. you can read more about her process on her blog >here<.

THANK YOU!! dear Martha I am still swooning over it!!