Preparing for ArtFest (pant pant)

The clock is ticking. ArtFest starts tomorrow and I'm not ready . . . but my trades are! I finished them up yesterday - they are bagged and tagged and ready to be handed out. If you're not familiar with trades at an art retreat, it basically involves each artist making a batch of something (it could be an Artist Trading Card, a small piece of art, or even a package of ephemera or fibers) and then sharing it with other traders. I decided I would make bottle cap magnets; I took cork-lined bottle caps, inserted an image (the theme for ArtFest this year is fairy tales, that's why some of my images are sorta creepy, that and the fact that I like creepy images), added a ring of glitter, filled the cap with DG3 (a resin like glue), then slapped a magnet on the back. Presto - a mini piece of art. 63 of them.







I'm pretty sure 63 magnets should be enough, but just to be safe, I also bagged some pre-assembled Scrabble words (34 bags of words). I had purchased these last year from my friend Jami and decided this would be a perfect use for them. I can even let people decide if they want a magnet or a word.


Because I didn't have time (or the energy) to make up a batch of business cards -- my usual card involves a mini collage and paint -- I printed up what I needed and stamped a vibrant red bird on a branch.


Now I only need to finish a swap project, pull together my art supplies, and pack my personal stuff. Plenty of time . . . ha! I leave at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Tory, I promise I'll be ready.

You Have To Feel It

Last night was the monthly gathering of the Orange Dream Monkeys, a select group of women who get together once a month to play in their visual journals. Dawn (K) was our hostess and facilitator and she brought a great spread of food and gifts (I guess gifts have become a requirement! Thanks, Bobbie, for getting that little trend started!). Our gifts were wrapped in adorable little monkey matchboxes and were a beautiful pair of handmade earrings.



After a round of show and tell of what we'd done in our journals since our last session, we got down making pages. Our theme for March: Spiritual Lime Trees!








Our theme for April? Light Orange Heart. That could sure go a lot of different ways . . .

The Artist's Way: A New Session Begins

A new round of Artist's Way classes started on Tuesday night. Because I've posted about every Artist's Way class over the past couple of years, I'm undecided if I will continue to post summaries of each week's session. Ummmmm, it's kind of a nice record, but because most of the creative activities are the same as we've done in previous classes, I'm wondering if these weekly posts are redundant? Relevant? Interesting? Entertaining? I'll make my decision next week.

Aurora Colony: Authorized Only

The Portland Art Collective met this morning and had a great meeting, especially all of the Show 'n Tell that was passed around and discussed. After lunch, I hooked up with Tory and Steph for what seems to be our new tradition: junking and thrifting (with a bit of antique shopping thrown in). Our destination today was Aurora Colony, a mecca for antique hounds. Our first stop was Aurora Mills, an architectural salvage store. I hadn't been in quite some time, but was sorta hyperventilating at all of the wonderful goodness. And, a young woman who worked there took the three of us on a little tour into the bowels of the store (some of which was off limits to the general public); she also took us out back to the barn! We were all hyperventilating just a bit.




























We next visited several antique stores, but only one caught our attention: Main Street Mercantile Antiques and Collectibles. Oh, Baby!








I'm already excited for our April meeting so we can go out junking together!