A Window Seat...

Life just gets better...

It’s been a whirlwind of fun for me for the past few days.  I celebrated my 60^th birthday on Saturday.  Actually I began celebrating on Friday with a dinner party at my friends David and Lee’s house.  There was lots of food, drink and many friends to help me celebrate the big 60.  It was an evening of incredible weather and we stayed outside in the backyard until after midnight! I love parties!  I had a great time with everyone!  Then on Saturday Amy had another ‘play day’ at Friends and Company for me and more of my friends.  More food, more fun, loads of art and just another great time!  I am a spoiled girl!  I can’t thank them enough for making both parties so special.

Then it was off to TKU on Sunday morning at 5am!  Ack!  Doris and I headed south to Vancouver for the event.  Teri Bangart is a rep for a large number of major manufacturers and she puts on TKU each year, bringing in the companies she represents for workshops and a vendor show.  This is the third year I have attended this great event.  We did 8 classes in 8 hours!  One class right after the other, we stay in one room and the classes come to us!  I will take pictures of the projects I completed and get them up here in the next few days.  Such a great time talking with everyone about what’s new and what’s going on in their stores.

I spent Sunday night with an old friend while in Vancouver.  So, as you can imagine I stayed up too late and did a bit more celebrating!  It was fun to catch up though and as always we promise not to let so much time go by in the future without checking in on one another!

Home on Monday evening and then up at 5am to work at the polls for the primary elections.  That was a 15.5 hour day and I was a bit dead to the world by the time I got home on Tuesday night.  I think I am back on track now! 

Last time I wrote about some of the books that Claire Hampton and I made while she was here on vacation.  I did finally take the pictures and I’ve made a little slide show for you to enjoy.  I loved the piano hinge book that I made, with all the dark red paper and the black distressing.  I hope you enjoy it also.  The other book is the crown book that was made by a number of us at Friends on another play day.  I can’t wait to see the others again.  We all concentrated on what we were doing in our own books that I doubt we remember what the others looked like.  I continued to add buttons and buttons and more buttons to mine until I finally figured I had enough buttons!  Really I stopped because I would have had to make ‘special’ rings to close my book if I didn’t!  It was a very fun book to make and it might show up in a class soon.  The third book is made of envelopes and loads of papers.  Look for it soon!

My other news is just great also. I applied and was accepted to Ranger U for the October class.  It is a juried application and there are only 24 seats.  I feel fortunate to have been selected to attend.  It’s three intense days of training on all of the products from Ranger, taught by Tim Holtz, Suze Weinberg and Claudine Helmuth.  It is the first weekend in October at Ranger in Tinton FallsNew Jersey.  I am going to try to see if I can get a day or two on either side to maybe get to NYC.  We shall see.  In the meantime sit back relax and enjoy the view from your window seat.

 

Art and Laughter...

What a whirlwind I’ve enjoyed for the past two weeks.  My friend Claire Hampton came to Seattle for a holiday following CHA.  Originally it was to be a working holiday, with Claire teaching at several stores in the area.  Schedules changed and the classes didn’t happen on this trip, so it turned into a complete holiday for her and me.

We spent nearly all of the time together creating books and cards, laughing and singing.  We often sat around the table in my living room until very late into the night.  We did make it to my studio a couple ot times, where we could have worked!  What we did instead was haul materials to my place where we didn’t have to get out of our pajamas if that was our choice.  Believe it or not that happened on several days.  Today I will take it all back to my studio!  It was worth it though.

 

We made more than 150 cards, with Claire making nearly two to one of mine.  I generally make cards quite fast but I was no match for her speed.  I enjoyed creating cards with her.  It is just fun to sit with friends and create new art.  I like to see what happens when each of you is working with the same materials yet the results are very different.  It is what I love about teaching.  I get to watch the students work grow and evolve.  I encourage them to follow their muse and not mine if that is their choice.  I will try to photo the cards we made and get them in the slide show later.

 

I had given Claire a piano hinge book when I went to CHA in January.  She made me promise to teach her how to make this book when she came in the summer.  She not only made one but three piano hinge books.  Time ran short and I did not take pictures of her books and have asked her to take them for me so I can post them here.  Her books were spectacular, each of them. 

 

We spent a day at my friend Robin’s house making another book.  This one was made with a plastic envelope. This book was really quite fun,we liked it so much we went to the office supply store on the way home and bought some other plastic envelopes, with a different configuration and made two more books.  There were two ‘play days’ also, hosted by another friend.  Amy hosted one day at Lasting Memories in Lynnwood, where we made yet another book, this one with envelopes and papers from October Afternoon. She hosted another day at Friends where we were all treated to a ‘book’ kit.  Everyone who wanted got to make a crown book.  Mine is nearly done and I will post it later.  We had loads of fun that day, thanks to Amy.

 

We had a bbq with my friends here at home on the day Claire arrived.  They cooked steaks and made salads and desserts.  We drank wine and sat around and laughed for hours.  We did a lot of dining out during her stay and most of it was ‘up the hill’ at one of the local sushi restaurants.  Claire loves sushi!  I think we had it on nearly 9 occasions.  Good thing I also like it!    She even got sushi as a birthday gift from two people!   Oh yes and then there were the many trips to the french bakery for olive bread, but that''s another story!

 

Oh yes, Claire had her birthday on the last day with me.  So, we had another party.  Kelly Anable graciously hosted the party on her beautiful deck.  We had a pot luck, loads of food and a ‘green dragon’ cake for the birthday girl.  No it was not a new type of sushi, but a novelty cake she wanted for her dessert.  I’ve made a little slide show of the birthday party.  We did make a ‘flat Jamie’, Claire’s new beau and brought him to the party.  He is just everywhere.  You will see… 

 

The time went much too fast for me.  I so enjoyed having Claire in my home.  It is very quiet now after days of laughter.  I will see her again soon as she will be back in January to teach classes before we are off to CHA again.  Look for her classes at Friends, Art ‘n Soul and at Lasting Memories.  In the meantime, sit back, relax and enjoy the view …

 

Another Art Walk...

Westfest began with set-up on Thursday night right along side the West Seattle’s monthly Art Walk.  For those of you who don’t know what Westfest is, it is one of many annual neighborhood events and part of Seattle’s Seafair celebration.  It was really great to see so many people out for the Art Walk this month.  There was some concern about attendance with the streets being completely closed off for three blocks.  It didn’t seem to deter anyone, turned out to be a great night.

 

I was fortunate once again to find a great artist to hang at Shoofly Pie Company for the month of July.  My friend Jason Olcott is exhibiting his wonderful photographs, now until August 13^th.  Jason is the owner of A Thousand Words Photography. Take a moment and stop at Shoofly, grab something fabulous to eat and take a look of Jason’s work.

 

Jason’s been taking pictures since high school when he enrolled in a photography class.  You will see in is photographs a great deal of his passion for the out of doors.  It shows both in the subjects he chooses and the frames that he crafts. Growing up in eastern Washington the scenery afforded great opportunities for Jason and you will see that he has found a way to share his visions in ways that you would like to hang on your own walls. 

 

I love the frames that he builds using ‘found’ wood.  Jason uses old fences, barn wood or just anything that is suitable for building frames.  Not only does he take the photo, develop and make his own prints he does custom frame work for others also.  His only exception is having his matting done by Tom Sweeny at U Frame It in West Seattle.  Jason tells me it’s his attention to detail that keeps him with Tom.

 

I took a few photos of Jason’s reception on Thursday night.  I can tell you that I can not do his work justice but you can certainly see the fun everyone was having at Shoofly Pie Company.  Take time to stop in and see Jason’s photographs.

 

I’ve been busy in the studio tying to make class samples for the next classes coming up.  Take a moment to look at my calendar on Special Editions Studio and hopefully sign up for a class or two over the coming months.  I think there are some exciting classes you may choose from.  Grab a friend and make it a party!

 

I am also looking forward to my friend Claire Hampton arriving.  She is the senior educator for Hampton Art and lives in England.   She is here for CHA summer and will be taking a holiday and staying at my house for 10 days.  It’s going to be loads of laughs and lots of art.  In the meantime why not sit back and relax while enjoying the view from your window seat.

A little bit of Asia...

Asian influence was the theme of the day at Friends and Company. Four workshops, four instructors and four different ‘Asian” projects.  I really enjoy these ‘fests’ that Doris has created for her customers. The participants get to choose from one of two workshops in the morning and again in the afternoon. Everyone gets a ‘goody’ bag, a fabulous lunch and then door prizes to boot!  

I had a great time with my workshop this morning.  My project was an Asian screen.  I used a wood hanging album from Kaiser Craft and non-traditional papers from Cherry Arte in creating this project.  Lots of embossing, cutting, layering and a great deal of ‘bling’ made for some great screens today. 

I felt that most people would be able to finish this project in less than the three hour length of the workshop.  So, I created a ‘bonus’ project, a little explosion box.  I called it a ‘chaos’ box.  A great company I discovered in my wonderings called Everlasting Keepsakes had these wonderful little chipboard Asian words, among many other wonderful chipboard items.  I used the Asian character for ‘chaos’ at the top of the box and the negative of the tile piece on the inside bottom of the box.  The students were again given the Cherry Arte papers and away they went decorating their own ‘chaos’ box!  They added more bling and rub-ons to complete it.  My sincere thanks to each of these companies for helping make this workshop a success.  Their wonderful products made creating these projects a joy for me.  Look for them at a store near you!

 

I’ve created a little video of the workshop for you to enjoy.  The projects turned out beautifully each and every one of them.  I hope you enjoy the view from your window seat.  Maybe next time there’s a ‘fest’ at Friends and Company I’ll see you there!

 

A studio in progress...

When I last posted here I talked about my new studio.  I was in the process of moving and trying to get it all in order.  Well, it is not quite in order completely, but it is a great new working space.  Here are some pictures of what the studio looks like, a project in progress all its own. 

I still have some things to bring from home including another table that is 90” long.  It will go lengthwise in the room and allow loads of space for friends who want to come and spend some time with me in the studio.  I have art to bring for the east wall and I am out looking for a great old chair.  I am going to make a nice area to sit and relax if that is all I want to do that day. 

Beyond that I am gearing up for the big Asian Workshop this weekend at Friends and Company.  If you haven’t yet registered there are still a few seats available.  I am attaching the video that shows the projects in case that helps make up your mind. 

For my project I wanted to do something different and I believe I accomplished that with the screen I created.  I went even further by using a non-traditional paper for this Asian theme.  I found these great papers from a company called Cherry Arte.  The papers fit nicely to the theme as I suspected they would when I discovered them.  This company also has the best rub ons I’ve used to date.  There is embossing and loads of ‘bling’ on the screen.  A little different piece of art for you to enjoy.

The second project I decided to do is an explosion box.  They are really fun to do and they have endless creative possibilities.  I again used the Cherry Arte papers and more ‘bling’.  The ‘bling’ are rhinestones from Kaiser Craft out of Australia.

Kaiser Craft is just one of the best new companies in the market place.  They have rhinestones and flat back pearls in nearly 20 different colors, including black!  Their wood products are a must!  I used a 5 piece wood hanging from Kaiser Craft  to create my Asian screen.  It is fun to color outside the lines and making this screen I’m sure was not in the minds of Kaiser Craft when they designed the product.  I hope they like what I did with it!

I’m off to the studio to paint the wood pieces for Saturday and finish putting the class packets together.  I also have donations to be picked up for a charity in Tacoma. When I moved I also sorted and purged!  So there is a great deal of art material going to some deserving kids in Tacoma and about 350 cards for them to sell to make some much needed money. 

 In the meantime, sit back, relax and enjoy the view from your window seat.

A new studio...

The last few days have been busy for me.  I’ve moved to a new studio space at the art center.  It was just a little over a year ago that I acquired a real art studio away from my home.  It’s been the best thing ever.  The art center used to be a schoolhouse, so it was always a place of creativity.  It’s a great place to work.  When I first moved in it was to the old principles office (how fitting), a room about 8.5'x11’.  Enough room to work I was certain.  Boy was I wrong.  It took me no time at all to outgrow that great space, and I became more and more cramped in my work area. 
We all know no matter how much space we have to work in, suddenly we find that a two foot square area is what is left.  Everything else is just clutter and materials!  Well that’s what happened with my great space.  All of sudden I had more materials that I had room and my area became smaller and smaller each day.

About a month ago one of the other artists decided to leave the art center and as a resident we have first chance to move about.  I had my name on the ‘waiting’ list for months and was so happy to find out that I was getting to move next door.  The new space is 11'x20', nearly three times the space I had before.  The room is long and allows me to have a work table at the far end of the space.  I will soon bring my other work table from home and put it in the middle of the room.  Hooray, more things out of my home and into the studio.

When it is all finished being organized I will post some pictures.  There is carpet to be laid, a gift from some friends who were remodeling.  I will have room for a large chair, a small table and a lamp, to make a little sitting area.  There is cable in the room, left over from the school and I have a television so I can work for hours with a little movie playing if I wish.

I’ve been in a bit of a creative mood the last week or so, with this new space and have been making samples for classes.  I just finished another piano hinge book and some great cards with a number of new stamps from Inkadinkadoo.  These stamps are just fabulous.  If you haven’t got them yet, you’ll want them soon.  Here’s a little video of the new work.

I’ll be back at the studio early in the morning; I have lots more to do, both in continued organizing and class sample work.  In the mean time, sit back, relax and enjoy the view from your window seat.

How time flies...

It’s been a while since I’ve been in my window seat…somehow life just gets busy and we lose track of things. 

The Spring Fest was a great day.  I know that I had loads of fun!  The project was called Beautiful Dreamer, a journal inside an accordion folder, all done in black and white papers by Creative Imaginations.  A special thanks to Creative Imaginations for ‘partnering’ with me to make this book such a success.  I was honored.  The stamps were by Sandra Evertson at Stampington and Company, as well as a beautiful flourish stamp from Memory Box. And, I used numerous die cuts from Accucut throughout There was lots of intricate little cuts to be made, baubles to be added and pages to stamp.  Everyone who wanted to was able to complete their project in the three hour workshop.  Many of the participants have brought their journals into the shop since the class to show me their continue embellishing.  I need to send my finished books off to Creative Imaginations, Stampington and to Accucut. 

I purchased from Memory Box several of the flourish stamps that were used in the project, having one for each four people.  I auctioned these off at the end of the class and donated the money to The Sweet Willie Family Support.  I’d like to thank Dave and Memory Box for helping me raise just a few more dollars for such a worthy cause.

Where did the time go since then?  I’m just not sure…but it’s gone.  I am now working on another great workshop for Friends and Company.  It’s an Asian Fest and is going to be held on June 21^st.  If you are a fan of Asian art you are not going to want to miss this day.  The same premise is used here; there will be four classes throughout the day.  You will choose one class in the morning and one class in the afternoon.  There is a goody bag for all, lunch is included and door prizes at the end.  What more can you ask for than a day like this to create and play with a group of like minded folks.  The samples are arriving at Friends as I write this, be sure to stop in and check them out, choose your classes and plan ahead for a day of fun.

I’ve gotten to move from my small studio into the one next door.  I’ve gone from a small 8.5x11 room to one that is 11x20.  I am still in the process of getting it all arranged.  I’ve changed my storage a bit and added some great wooden rolling carts for my stamps.  Once they are assembled it will change nearly everything.  I will post some pictures as soon as I am finished, which I am hoping will be next Monday.  I will have enough room in my studio for friends to come and play, and for a nice little sitting area.  I am on the look out for a nice comfy chair, a small table and a lamp. 

Here’s a little slide show of the Spring Fest, in case you missed it! 

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That’s it for now, sit back relax and enjoy the view from your window seat.

"How Do I Look?"

If you didn’t know Stephanie Norris or her art prior to the last West Seattle Art Walk I’m hoping you do now.  Stephanie is holding the first public showing of her work as part of the Art Walk.  Her work hangs at Shoofly Pie Company, one of the many venues throughout West Seattle that participate in the monthly event.

Stephanie studied art privately since she was a young girl.  Her art teacher, Teri Laffan proudly attended the event.  Teri said to me, “I was her art teacher since she was eight years old.  It was always about bright colors and bright designs.  They were always with her.  She loved Andy Warhol and Matisse.”

It shows in the work she chose to hang for this show.  The show itself is titled, “How do I look?” Acrylic, watercolor and mixed media paintings inspired by the ideal woman of the 50’s and 60’s.  I fell in love with these paintings immediately.  Stephanie and I both have art studios at Ginomai Center and I saw this show come to life one painting at a time.  I asked if she would be interested in being part of the Art Walk? Since I am the curator at Shoofly Pie there was a place for her to exhibit right away.

Stephanie’s show was a smashing success.  The work very well received and the sales brisk.  I remember the first time anyone bought something from me that I had made, it was incredible. I know that she was exhilarated when someone said 'may I buy this"? Stephanie sold several pieces that night as well as prints and cards that she had made especially for the show.

The short slide show tells much about that night.  It was a great deal of fun.  The paintings made people smile.  They made me smile from the start because the women and their hairdos reminded me of a time when I was creating those hairdos for a living.  I can remember the beehives and the flips and oh so full hair.  It was fun to see someone Stephanie’s age bringing them back to life. They make me think of lots of old music when I look at these paintings.  So here I sit writing this, listening to Bobbysfm on my computer, dreaming of working in a salon so very long ago.

I think we will see much more from Stephanie in the years to come.  If you didn’t get a chance to attend the Art Walk, be sure to stop in at Shoofly Pie Company and check out Stephanie’s work.  It will be on display and for sale through  April 9, 2008

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It's March, already?...

Where has the time gone?  It’s been far too long since I’ve posted here.  Life has been busy, to say they least.  I went to CHA in mid February.  CHA is the trade show for the craft and hobby world.  It happens twice a year and the winter show was again held in Anaheim.  It is so busy; running just four days, there was no real time to go to Disneyland this trip.  And I do mean busy.  I was on the floor all of Sunday afternoon and then all day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

It is difficult to imagine this show.  Every craft and hobby than you can think of is represented at this show.  The directory for the show is the size of a small telephone book.  The show takes up the entire Anaheim Convention Center and is divided by industry.  I do walk the entire show and take a look at everything in the beginning. Just a cursory walk takes an entire afternoon.  After that it is time to get down to real business and concentrate on the paper crafting industry.  I looked to see what was new, what the colors are that we will be using, who had the great new items and so much more.  I am happy to say that ‘light and bright’ colors are everywhere.  While the distressed look is still hot the darkness it fading.  I loved the change in colors.  Acrylic was everywhere!  If you are not playing with it now you soon will be.  Great fun shapes in books from a number of companies.  Look for them in some upcoming classes.

I saved the best for last.  At CHA there is one section downstairs that is just for new exhibitors.  It’s a great place to walk through and see what these ‘newbie’s’ brought to the show.  I play a little game with myself of predicting who I think is going to do very well after their first CHA.  I have been right the last couple of years on a few companies and I’ve picked out two from this year.  They are JenniBowlin and PaperTrunk.  I am going to keep a close eye on these two and see what happens.  I loved their papers! Hopefully you will see them both in the stores near you soon!  It was a good show and I’ll try to write more in another post.

I’ve been working on my classes, descriptions and samples for the last couple of weeks.  It is a daunting task!  I plan my schedule four months in advance for three stores!  I write descriptions, I title the classes and THEN I make the samples.  I am often making samples for something I described only in my own head. It’s an interesting process.  Just the calendar part is exhausting, juggling dates and times between the three stores.  After I’ve done that part I don’t have any usable brain matter left for several days and I sort of just shut down!  I give it a rest and then I start in on all the samples.  And then there are THE samples, all times three!  After the samples are done then the kit’s have to be made.  Whew, I’m tired!  J  But it’s a fun tired really.  Check the website soon and you will see the descriptions and the samples.  I will also have a running video of them on here.  In the mean time, sit back, relax and enjoy the view from a window seat.

You made them smile...

Thanks to all of you who contributed cards to Project Valentine.  I believe it was a great success.  I delivered nearly 70 valentines to Park West, a senior care facility here in West Seattle.  They were very excited to be able to share everyone’s beautiful valentines with the residents on the second and third floors.  The residents on these two floors are unable to participate in activities like others at Park West do.  They don’t often leave their floors or sometimes even their rooms.  The cards were being given to them on their dinner trays last evening.  I hope it brought a little smile to them.

The cards were beautiful and I wished that I had had time to photo some of them and put them on the blog.  That was my original intention.  That got a bit messed up when my flight home from the CHA trade show became a nightmare. I left Orange County Airport to fly via Las Vegas and then on to Seattle.  That didn’t happen as they were having 60 mile an hour winds as we began to land.  So, back to Orange County it was, and all flights were cancelled for the night. Because of weather there is no compensation for any of us.  Those of us who didn’t live in the area got to live in the airport all night.  To make matters worse, the airport shuts down at 10pm and you can’t get so much as a cup of water!  I left yesterday at 6:45am and got to come back to Seattle via Phoenix.  I had a very long day and was simply happy to have time to gather the valentines from my mailbox and studio stop at Friends and Company to pick up more cards and get them delivered.  What a day!

Dave Saylor is the winner of the $50 basket of goodies, some of which I brought home from CHA.  He will get to play with a few items that are just hitting the marketplace as you read this!  Congratulations Dave and thank you so much for your contribution to Project Valentine.

I will write more about my trip to CHA the next time around.  It was five full days of looking at every craft under the sun.  I saw old friends, and made new friends and I believe some great contacts.  There is lots of great new stuff on the horizon.  Some fun new gadgets and loads of new paper.  Until then sit back, relax and enjoy your view…