Artful Adventures

I won!!

 
There's a reason for showing these pitiful blank journals, all journals that I've nmade with visions of me filling them up faster than I could make them.  Journals with "stuff" hanging outside the edges, bulging with the tidbits of my life and lots of art.  Well, it didn't quite work that way:)  I try, I really do, but nothing ever really clicked with it, and I never made it a habit to actually sit down & journal on a regular basis.  That's all changing now-finally-read on, it'll all make sene:)  Whenever there's a drawing or raffle or anything, I give it a shot, but seldom, if ever, do I win.  Well, I just broke that streak!  Remember a short time ago, I posted about a drawing being held over at MMCA?  The prize that was being given away was a month of an LK Ludwig's online journaling class, round 2 of her Point & Shoot journaling class!!  I participated in the October round, and wrote about it here, loved it, learned a lot, and was planning on taking the next class anyway so it was perfect.  Now I'm learning tips & tricks, no special equipment needed, just some time, and that I can do.  Here's my poor journal that I've been working on for several years, that's one sad looking journal!  But soon, I'll be posting those filled to the brim kind of journals that I've loved for so long!  There's still plenty of time to join in, just go back up & cick your way over there:)  And a huge thank you to Debbie Overton for coming up with the idea of the drawing and for digging into your own pocket to pay for it!
 

Another Celebration!

Turns out that my birthday last week end, was shared not only by my "birthday sistah", the one & only Annie Lockhart ,if you ever meet her, you'll love her, but be prepared for her practical jokes-I still owe her one!  The date also marked the 5th anniversary of MMCA, which started out as, and continues to be, a group of artists brought together to share their collective knowledge, exchange ideas and techniques, as well as mentor each other.  The group has grown over the years and branched out a bit, quite a bit!  It now offers a Marketplace so that anyone can set up shop to sell their art, and a blog that offers interviews for us to read, free images to use in our art, and everything in between.  The most recent interview was by Sheri Gaynor, it's a great interview, as they all are.  I've got Sheri's book, and recently posted about it, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her interview-made  it a good day for me:)  Now that I think about it, I should let you know that if you care to join us in the Marketplace, there's been some changes-the best one is that you have the option (there's several payment plans to choose from) of not spending any money up front!  Just apply (all the info is on the front page of the Marketplace), let Debbie build your shop page while you create, and not pay anything until you sell something-good deal with Christmas looming ahead!  The MMCA group itself, like any group, you can participate in as much or as little as you'd like-my favorite kind of group, life gets busy sometimes!  But pop in, check us out, meet some new friends, say "HI" to some old ones, and you just never know what's going on-like right now there's a drawing for a month long class, LK Ludwig's Point & Shoot Journaling class.  I'm in the class this month (and LOVE & it!) recently posted about it, you can find it here.  Hmmm, I got a lot chattier than planned, and threw out a lot of "linkie love"-so click away and enjoy:)

Another October Event-Journaling Class

 

One day not that long ago, I was looking around at blogs and landed on LK Ludwig's blog which is always a pleasure to visit.  But this time, she had a post about a class she's teaching online starting Oct. 1, called Point & Shoot Journaling, saying the class would show us how to use the tons of photos we all have stashed all over the place-at least I do!  Well, she said a lot more than that, but you'll have to go over there & read it all yourself:)  But I've got photos stashed in camera software, some on Flickr, some on CD's, but not much organization so I can seldom find what I want anyway, and I'm not really using them except when I blog.  Now I'll have a reason to sort my photos, put them to good use, and finally, finally, learn to journal, and to make it even sweeter, the class is very affordable.  Can't ask for much more than that!  Now I have visions of books that are overflowing & containing our photos, our memories, our life!  Can you tell I'm excited about this?  I am, I really am!  Wish me luck, I've never been successful in the journaling department, but I have a good feeling about this one!
 

More Show Report

Several of you have asked for more of what's become known as "the Show Report", so here goes:)  The show runs until Aug. 22, at Off the Wheel Pottery in Egg Harbor, up in Door County.  The gallery itself is one end of an old barn that's been converted for gallery use, but not in the traditional sense of the word.  There's this one white wall that's been installed to section off the gallery space from the rest of the barn.  The other walls are still the old barn boards, complete with the open spaces between the barnboards that let the natural light come streaming in.  I was in such a panic getting ready, that I remembered that wall being endless, and was worried I'd never have enough to fill it, and actually ended up bringing too much!  Bet that'll never happen again:) 

When you walk in the door to the gallery, "The Girls" are straight ahead, front & center!  Those are each 2'x3' , just to give you an idea of the size of the walls, and they're hung quite high  with displays of Renee's pottery beneath them-worked out perfectly. 

It's hard to see on here, but Gary built a jewelry display case that's hanging just to the left of the door.  He made it out of an old window that he hinged for the front and built a box type structure on the back to attach it to.  Not the best description, but you get the idea.  There's more jewelry in Renee's studio, and if you happen to get up there, make sure to go into her studio to see her work-you'll fall in love with it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides wall art & jewelry (now why is this text all underlined?) I brought along some journals that I made out of the pages of nature prints that I did last year after reading LK Ludwig's book, Mixed Media Nature Journals.  If you don't already own this book, treat yourself and get a copy, it's a great one!  No blank white pages in these books-these 6"x12" books are loaded with color & various leaf prints from foliage around the yard.  Time consuming, but well worth it!  Try it, you'll be hooked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the opening (and apparently the underling is here to stay also!) it went just fine!  A steady flow of people that were all so nice, and I was a nervous wreck for no reason! I knew I had done work that I felt good about, so it was all fine, really.  Funny part though, I had ordered some clothes to wear from Oh My Guaze, wanting something to wear that was a little funkier.  I waited til the last minute to order, and as a result I got them at the last minute-just a few hours before we left for the show!  Someone was looking over me on that one-they fit, were comfortable, and was just the look that I wanted-whew!  There's actually more to this story about the show and how it all came about, but that'll be for another day.  Starting tomorrow there's another blog event you won't want to miss out on!  Seth Apter of The Altered Page is hosting an event that he's calling Buried Treasure.  All participants are asked to repost at least one of their favorite posts from their blogs, a way for bloggers to get to know each other better, and read something special in the process.  Something you won't want to miss!  Since I'll be participating, I'll see you all tomorrow!