Laura, have you figured out that the blog faerie has paid a visit to you today? I loved this new image we have to play with. Happy (early) Fall! Its not really fall-ish here yet. its been in the upper 90's including a pretty balmy high 90's yesterday for the wee B's 4th birthday party! It was a lot of fun but man was I hot and sticky. Today wasn't much better but we got to hang out inside in the AC.

Yes, the wee one got a big girl bike. She is so excited and and we have been having some walks to get her going. Its is so cute how she gears up and tries so hard to pedal and ride straight. Its a big week for her as school starts on Wednesday! I have to bake cupcakes tomorrow.

In other news, I have been working on my dresses for the paper dress swap. I took some pix and posted them in my flickr but they aren't very good. I will re-shoot them tomorrow or so to show off but here is a sneak peek at one of my favorites. They are really quite a bit of fun to make and a great place to use up bits and pieces of trims and broken jewelry. You can see all of the swap dresses in the Flickr group.

Last but not least is the Halloween blog banner I made for Kasse of Miss Duffy. It looks like we are still fighting with Wordpress but it will get posted eventually. It really was a lot of fun to make and she sure has some wonderful Halloween treasures in her shop!!

eat, drink, stink...

I have spent the last 2 days at the Gilroy Garlic Festival working in my family business' booth. I am pooped and sore and looking forward to tomorrow night at 7 pm when we are packed up and heading back to the warehouse. I just wanted to pop in and share a couple things..
1. That my Mac baby is now back home and Dr Dad was able to clean her out and make her behave better. I love my computer so much. I had a PC for a few years and didn't realize how much I missed MACs until my super hubster got me my MacBook last year. I am in LOVE and will NEVER go back to a PC. Never... anyway, thanks for the words of support and well wished for her speedy recovery. So far they have worked and I am happy that she is back in my lap and ready for more digital projects, which brings me to #2.. Monica finally approved the design for her new blog banner and its ready to be loaded onto her blog. She has been super busy so we have yet to get it up but I can share it here:
I have several new projects lined up for the upcoming week so I will be excited to share the new things I am working on. I am off to bed and will check in soon. Happy Sunday.
I

One World, One HeART..... finally.

Ok, I am FINALLY getting around to blogging that I am indeed participating in the One HeART give-away started by Lisa who was inspired by Sandy. Please visit Lisa's blog to get the complete list of fabulous blog-artists hosting drawings to give away their amazing handmade goods!

Anyway, I fretted and fiddled and couldn't decide or finish what I wanted to give way, so I decided to give away THREE sets of 10 of my vintage birdie postcards:
and in addition I will throw in extra goodies of which I do not have any pictures. I love to add treats and extras to my orders and swaps so I guarantee that if you win you will get a package of fun!! As with all the others, I will be drawing names on March 21 and mailing off before I leave to ArtFest. To enter you must comment on THIS POST and you MUST include a valid email address so I can get a hold of you! I will draw three names and contact the winners who must contact me ASAP with their mailing addresses or else they will have to wait!!!
Good luck!

look out relaxation...

here I come! Well, I hope.
Joleen buzzed me Wednesday night to see if I wanted to make a quick trip to San Francisco for the weekend. As it worked out I was free so we're going. She should be on her way up here now. Tomorrow morning we'll grab some coffee and hit the road to wander aimlessly about the city, take pictures and art journal while we eat yummy food and sip on coffee. It will be nice to have a quick 36 hours away from home and the little and to not have to stick to any schedule.

On the home front I have been working on digital stuff for clients:









and a few swaps. Unfortunately I have no pictures yet as my camera is still in the shop. I had to mail several things off already but I have a fabric ATC banner that I will get Joleen to shoot when she is here.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Next week I will have more pictures to share!

website update!

Its been a good and productive day ( well after Hannah tried to cut her own hair.. groan!)

I took down and packed up ALL of our Christmas stuff, sewed a bit and mailed the last of the Portals pre-orders. I got all my charms for the two swaps I am in done and packaged up, my bird page done for the Sanctuary fat book at Chubbyville AND I have spent this evening finishing up the much anticipated Banner Fairy pages so you can order blog/ Etsy banners!!

This piece over here is my sanctuary page and I was so proud of it that it is not the front page for my website (temporary) as well. It worked out so well that I could use the eggs as roll over buttons.

Wow, writing this all down makes me see why I am so pooped! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

a visit from the blog fairy

My alter ego has been at it again. I have gotten some of m,y files moved over, installed fonts and PS brushes and made the new blog banner that Laura wanted for winter. I snuck it into her blog so she will have a big surprise when she checks in tomorrow. Surprise! Heehee

As you can see, I also gave myself a new look with this pink and yellow banner. I loved my "holiday" banner but I figured that due to the text I was due for a change. Additionally, I often feel like I am in a funk after the holidays and I thought this cheery color combo would help stave off the winter doldrums.

I should be launching my temporary website soon so I will have information on my custom digital and blog work there.

Speaking of blogs, I wanted to share a new one for me. I stumbled across this blog yesterday and it turned out to belong to Michelle Ensminger who contributed a lovely creative piece to the current issue of Portals. Anyway, not only is Michelle a gifted writer but she is a mom to a three year old as well and I can TOTALLY relate to what she has to say about that. This post really just hit me between the eyes. Check her out and if you need her link again you can check my sidebar because I am adding her now!

random bits

I just wanted to touch on a few random bits before I head off to bed...

1. Portals v 4 is printed and I am currently binding. I expect they will start mailing next week, but I am doing it by myself so I may be a few days off. Please be patient! They are coming. BTW, it is our largest issue yet, at 44 pages and look great!! If you haven't already you can order here!

2. I have been approached by a couple of people regarding blog banners. I WILL be doing custom blog work after New Year's. Currently my priority is Portals and tying up various loose ends with swaps and things I have committed to in 2006. If you are interested in working with me please feel free to email me and I will put you in my queue but I will need a bit of time to get to them. I do have some standing orders for graphic work already.

3. As you know, I am now on a new computer and its GREAT! I have been working on transferring pertinent files and backing up my old system each day as time and the wee one allow. I need these files to be able to work on items 1 & 2, so please grant me a little patience if I do not get back to you immediately. In addition, I have been working on my rates and portfolio pages for my graphic work. I hope to have these available to you all soon soon.

4. Tomorrow (or later today) I should have some eye candy to share.

Good night.

mo bloggin...

I have finished up the very last of my commissioned blog banners for the year. Happy Birthday to Kristal, now sporting a brand new blog banner featuring an old photo of her grandmother Grace.

In the new year I will have a rates schedule posted on my under construction but coming soon I hope (Hope!) website. I really enjoy creating these banners for my friends and fellow artists but it was pointed out to me by more than one person that I am not meetingmy goals by giving my art away. I will therefore be accepting commisions for blog and etsy banners and buttons for reasonable rates and trades even.

I hope this post finds everyone ready for the holidaze. I shipped a BUNCH of stuff off to MN today to all the various inlaws which was a HUGE weight off of my back. I also took care of the baskets for Greg's partner and employees so that is done too. I want to get to my machine and do a bit of sewing for last minute pressies for some of my dear friends. Tomorrow is baking day!! I smell lots and lots of cookies.. LOL Oh, and I have some RR things to mail out.. a beaded art dollie and the Alphabetica journal I have been fighting with for a month. I will get a picture of that before it goes in the mail... for now, I am back to the last few pages of Portals v 4 before it heads off for the printer. In case you haven't ordered it yet, its available for preorder on www.Portals-Zine.com

I'm here...

Yes, I am still alive. I have spent much of the last several days SLEEPING!! 3 cheers for cough syrup with codeine and its sleepy effects. We had a nice, low key Thanksgiving with plenty of yummy food. I hope everyone else had nice Thanksgivings as well.

I am feeling much better over all but my voice is still hoarsey and the cough nags on. I know it will take a while to get over this completely but I am feeling stronger each day and the wheezing is MUCH reduced.

So, while I have been hiding from blog-land I have been working on a bit of this and that. I have been playing blog banner fairy a bit and made new banners for Dotee:

and my dear Laura:

I am going to have to hang up my fairy wings for a while though as I work on issue #4 of Portals. We are already behind schedule due to my illness and Joleen's various stuff. I am hoping we can get the issue to the printer in the next couple of weeks and hit mailing CLOSE to our intended date. As usual we will keep our readers posted though our blogs.

I received some fun stuff in my mailbox lately. I am going to dole them out sparingly so as to have some blog fodder for a few days. I am really excited about this though... I got my returns from the 100 squares swap! So much fun, I can't wait to glue them into a little book. Here is the picture I took of them:


Its so fun to have a little piece of art from each of so many talented artists. Thank You, if you are reading this and participated in this swap.

Tonight I worked on the first step for the 22 charms I am producing for a swap hosted by Amber Dawn. I have changed my plan so many times and now I feel like I am running way behind in light of all the holiday stuff I need to do as well.

So, anyway, that is what I have been up to the last few days. I have lots more to share (including a contest!) so be sure to check back regularly.

moderne

I had forgotten about these pictures in my camera. I shot them at the DeYoung museum earlier in the month. This was an unusual sculpture in their sculpture garden, which was H's favorite part because she could TOUCH them. We had fun exploring this sculpture and it made for some interesting photos.

I have been working on some new blog banners but due to blogger being down earlier I will be waiting to upload them til tomorrow. I will post links until then.

Thanks to those of you who commented on my 100 squares. I made a few more today so I could take pictures of the process and make a little tutorial for you. I will try to get that put together in the next couple of days and post it. I see another swap in out future!!

Good night...

98, 99, 100...

Wohoo! Today I FINISHED my 100 squares for the swap on Altered Art Obsession. These are all 1 x 1" square, mini collages and each had to include an image and a word. I will get them packed up and mailed off to the hostess and then wait eagerly for the returns. It was fun, these are really challenging but oh, so addictive. (to see more detail, clcik on the image and view full size)

In addition to these little guys I have also been doing some digital work.. new banners for blogs...
Laura:

Beth:


I am in process for new looks for Lori, Shari and Holly so stay tuned. Its late here so I am off to bed. More fun pix tomorrow!

Bloggy Banners

Sweet Laura of Maude & Mozart had asked me to update her bloggie header and if I could help out Kim from ArtDogsLife as well. These are both such fun and generous ladies that of course I jumped at the chance. Laura is still searching for a "new" Maude from the banner pictured below but Kim had some art in mind and I created the banner above just for her.



Kim asked for a vintage look using her ATCs and she said her favorite color was purple. Try as I might I just couldn't get purple to work so I took a cue from her blog (and the creative lisence she granted me) and used a greenish tone. After I sent the first ( and final) draft to Kim, she told me that she loved how I also incorporated the Paris element into it because that had special meaning to her and that she also loved green, so I guess I nailed if for her. I am so happy she likes it and I look forward to seeing what Laura has in mind so I can work on that one as well.

Since I am in digi mode again I'd be happy to create a few more bloggie banners for other blog readers. If you are in need, leave a comment and a way to contact you. Cheers and have a great weekend!

Mo BETA

Hey Kids,
I have been out of town for a couple of days with the wee one. I came back and decided to take a leap of faith and upgrade(?) to Blogger beta which will, allegedly, make editing the look, etc of this blog much easier. Of course I have to add back in all sorts of things so please excuse the mess around here until I can get that taken care of. One of the things I am contemplating is a whole new look, so stay tuned!


In other news, I GOT MY NEW SOLDERING IRON!! Man this baby gets HOT! I love it. Still need some practice but much better results than previously. Pix soon. I am pooped so toddling off to bed. Hope everyone has a great weekend!