Resolutions for the New Year

For the first time in years I have some New Years resolutions. Not just a few, 14! Some are more difficult than others but I truly plan to accomplish them all in 2009. I'm a real box checker so I'm anxious to get started. I can check #3 off my list, get Gracie in her own bed. Last night was the first night and she was really afraid. I sat on the floor by her bed and held her hand for 40 minutes until her eyes finally fluttered closed. Tonight was Daddy's night and it only took 30 minutes with a lot less fussing. It's bittersweet, I wanted my bed back after 8 years of having kids in with us but I realized last night as I faced Roy that she's probably my last one. I guess we'll see, I'm famous for changing my mind.

January 8th Class at ScrapbookU "My Girl"

I've got a few more flowers to add and this album is ready. I worked on it this weekend. I've been sick and it's been rainy so it was the perfect time to work at my art table and get this class sample done. I love doing books with Grace as my subject, she's just so fun to scrap! I can't believe this is Christmas week, wow it got here quickly! Have a great holiday and a happy New Year!!

My Blog Is Getting A Face Lift!

So my blog is under a little construction. I enlisted my friend Gabe to help me jazz it up a bit. I tried the banner on and I really like it so he's going to resize it and hook me up with a few extra fun things. Gotta run, the kids are fighting over...wait for it...an A's foam finger. The true mark of over tired children.

Getting Ready For Christmas...

We're getting ready for Christmas around the Super house. I've gotten as far as the dining room. Like my lil trees from Michaels? Got them on Black Friday. I bought "Wish" from Tinsel Trading in NY.

We're waiting on some butter to soften and then we're making Cherries Jubilee cookies. The picture looks great but they call for Chinese 5 spice seasoning...weird but ok. I stopped by the Asian market on my way home to pick some up. If they're wonderful I'll post the recipe in the next few days.

Vintage X-Mas Album at Scrapbook Island 11/13

I'll be teaching this vintage Christmas album at Scrapbook Island on Thursday, November 13th at 6:30pm. Come see me if you're in the area. It's a GREAT store and SO fully stocked. Laurie and her ladies are so wonderful!

Prima Build A Book

This was my first ever acrylic book. I used the Prima Build A Book. It was so fun to make, tricky because you have to be mindful of what is seen on the back of each "page" but I love the look of all the different shapes together. There is a pic of the cover and one of the interior.

Have a great weekend, if you're local and free tomorrow come by and see me at My Daughters Wish for the Spooktacular Scraptacular.

A New Album, Soldered Charms & Antique Finds

This is a picture of my newest album. It features all things Hambly. I realized I'm quite the collector but I haven't actually made much with it. I will be teaching this class on November 15th at MDW.

A Few Fun Things

Here's a few fun pics. The first two are of a Christmas album I'll be teaching. The third is a ginormous pair of scissors I found at Target and they really open. I love them! The last is a pretty crocheted light fixture I bought at the Shabby Chic store in SF. I finally had an electrician come out and hardwire it last night. It's bigger than it appears in the picture and really pretty. Sunday I'm off to a Sally Jean class in Portland, I can't wait!!

Travel Album Class

This is a picture of the travel album class I'll be teaching soon. "NY" won't be on the cover if you're taking the class, that will be blank for whatever you want to put there. The hub and I are going to NY in December sans kids and I'm SO looking forward to it!!! How cool am I? I have the album done before the trip?? All I need now are the pics.

I have to give a shout out to the ladies that took my class at Scrapbook Island last Saturday. What a great bunch of girls! It was alot of fun and it was my largest class to date. We actually only ran over by 15 minutes so you know they rocked it!

"Slipping Through My Fingers" Shadowbox

Originally I was going to teach this class titled, "Slipping Through My Fingers" but decided later to save these shadow boxes for something else. This project was inspired by a new collage sheet of dresses and the never ending pile of dresses Grace seems to outgrow everyday. Around the edges of the box I wrote a verse from one of my favorite Abba songs. Check out the teeny tiny books, they are so cute!!

10 Things I Love Most About Me Class

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Here are a few sneak peeks of the class I'll be teaching at Scrapbook Island on September 13th. It's going to have a funky vintage vibe and the theme is "10 Things I Love Most About Me". I'm using vintage celluloid roses from 1940 and I tea stained some new lace to give it an aged look and feel. Come check it out if you're in the area!

DSC_0004, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

Yeah! I'm a Primadonna!

SO...I made the book below to send to Prima in hopes of being selected to be one of their Primadonnas. I have heard back from them and they have welcomed me to the team!! Anyone who knows me knows that I love their paper, flowers, bling...I'm really excited to schedule my first "official" class. I've been teaching classes for awhile now with their products, it seems like everything I do has some of their Iron Orchid Design papers in it or on it!

Prima Album

Here are pictures of an album I made with mainly Prima products. I went crazy with the flowers and I love it!

Cover of Prima album, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

Page 1, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

Page 2 & 3, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

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Pocket Watch Collaged Necklace Class

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I had some time to think about what I wanted to put inside the old pocket watch I picked up at the Alameda Flea Market. I had to tamp down the urge to fill it full of stuff as is my way most of the time. I'm new to beading and it's fun and frustrating at the same time. I think the key is finding jump rings that you can open and close easily. Making the loops with the head pins is something you get the hang of at the tail end of the project! I was worried that the necklace would be too heavy to hang around your neck but it's not thankfully.

I ordered some Shiva paintstiks and they came yesterday. I'm so excited to begin working with them. They look like frosty ice cream to me.

I took my birthday, Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday off. It's been SO nice. My husband took the days off too and every morning we've shipped the kids off to their day cares/camps and done some things we don't normally get to do and caught up on some things we've been needing to do. Tonight we're taking the kids to the circus and today I'm off to have lunch at Left Bank with my friend Valerie at Santana Row. I'm looking forward to both!!

If you're local and free on Saturday come see me at MDW for the Little Black Dress Altered Book class.

Have a great weekend!

Isn't She Beautiful?!

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I went to the Alameda Pointe Flea Market today with my friend Valerie with the task of finding an antique dress form for my art area. I've been wanting one as an inspiration piece. To drape and pin ideas and unfinished projects to. I really wanted one with the caged bottom but didn't expect to find one in my price range. I was thrilled when two rows into the flea I found it!! I was so excited. I also found the old fittings chest of drawers. It was funny because I'd already bought something for odds and ends when I saw this one. I was so disappointed because I LOVED this one. Valerie talked me into going back to the people I bought it from to ask if they'd take it back. She said the worst they could do was say no. As it turns out they were very nice and gave me the money back so I bought the one I really wanted. It was thrilling to pick up both things in one day. I also got an old pocket watch that I'm going to make into a shadowbox necklace. If all goes well I might do a class in the upcoming months. The last photo is of an old Neiman Marcus trunk I got last month. I wanted a huge 5 on it and my name so my Dad added them for me. I slapped on some vintage stickers here and there and it's my new trunk show suitcase. I'm so happy with it. Last night I added about 6 classes to the MDW class calender. Check out my future hoopla!!

Fairy Charm Class

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I'm so excited about the Fairy Charm class I'm going to be teaching next quarter. I finished the sample this week. My little model wouldn't cooperate so I didn't get a sweet smile like I'd hoped but I'm still really happy with the way it turned out.

I'm working on four different classes right now. They're all in different stages of completion. I get an idea for one and I switch gears. I'm having such a great time developing classes I think people will really enjoy and everyone that's been coming to my recent (and sold out!) classes has been so wonderful to work with.

Lisa

P.S. That's not my hairy hand in the pictures in case you were wondering!!

Love, Love, Love These!!

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I bought a bunch of the Melissa Frances resin appliques for a class I'll be teaching next month. I had some oil pastels out at a crop I was at on Saturday night and thought it might be fun to color them instead of using them in the white color they came in. Um, yeah? I like them plain but scribbling some color on and then blending them with a little water on a paint brush changed them from like to love!!

Lisa

Another Great Weekend...

What a great weekend! Saturday morning my friend Valerie and I went to a stamp show for a couple of hours. There was alot of great stuff. We couldn't stay long because we both had classes to teach at 1:30pm. I had 11 sign ups for my class and it was hectic and oh so fun! The papers for the mini album were the Angelique by Prima (Iron Orchid). I just love them! That evening my husband and I met up with my sister at Great America who'd taken my kids earlier in the day. It was a BUSY day!

Sunday Valerie picked me up at 6am and we were off for our monthly field trip to Alameda Pointe Flea Market. I got a bunch of things, some personal and some for future classes. One of my personal splurges was a big linen down filled bolster pillow for my bed. Old linen, it's my new love.

I've got great things cookin for upcoming classes. I need to get to work on putting them together.

Cross your fingers for me, I finally took the plunge and sent a piece of my work to Somerset. I hope they like it!!

Lisa

Story of A Girl Album

Story of A Girl Album, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

I can't wait to get started on a new class I'm developing called "Story of A Girl". These vintage inspired products are gorgeous! I'm going to see about having it added to the July calender at My Daughter's Wish. I recently scanned in pictures of myself as a baby and little girl and decided to create my own baby album as a keepsake for myself. Kind of like my life in reverse. If you're free Saturday I have some open seats for the vintage dress form class. It's going to be a fun one, sign up if you're free!!

Mini Canvas Collage Class

Here are the samples of the 3 mini canvas collages that I'm going to be teaching at MDW on June 21st. The bottom right one was done with beeswax. If you're local come see me!

Lisa

Dress Form Class

Dress Form Class, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

Oops! I accidentally deleted the post of the dress form class that I'll be teaching on May 17th at MDW!

ATC for NSD at My Daughter's Wish

ATC for NSD at My Daughter's Wish, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

Tonight I decided on the ATC I'll be doing at MDW on National Scrapbook weekend. I wanted to use a china doll somehow and this is what I came up with. Really simple. I couldn't find a china doll image I liked so I took a picture of one of my actual Charlottes, reduced it and cut it out. I'm thinking of taking this image and going further with it for one of the canvases for my canvas collage class.

If you're attending NSD at MDW stop by my table and make a card and say hi!

Lisa

Vintage Dress Form Class

Vintage Dress Form Class, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

I'm so excited! I have a bunch of classes coming up at My Daughter's Wish in Pleasant Hill. Among them is the vintage dress form class that I've been wanting to teach for some time. As you can see from the picture I've barely gotten started on it. Also coming up this quarter is a canvas collage class where we'll work on three 4x4 collages (one of which will be mermaid inspired), an album titled "Those That I Love" and an ATC class that I will be teaching with the talented Valerie Myers. I will also be teaching the abbreviated version of my canvas collage class during National Scrapbook Day on Saturday night where we'll be collaging one canvas.

I've been in the process of finding and gathering enough of an illustrated childrens poetry book to teach another altered book class in the fall. The book was published in 1963 and it's pretty and inspiring. Keep an eye out for this one later in the year, it's going to be a great keepsake for the special child or children in your life. Best of all - it's purple!

Thanks for reading, have a great week!

Lisa

Cute Canvas

I've had some canvases in all different sizes from Blick's that I've been wanting to do something with. I literally have them as small as a cracker and as big as a mirror! I pulled a couple out and made some gifts for friends. I made this particular one for my friend Valerie because she liked the doll head image and she likes birds. It was fun to make so I made one for another friend Kathie. Tomorrow we're heading to Pt. Richmond to take an advanced altered book class that we've been looking forward to. I've been wrapping up year end at work so I'm in desperate need of a creative escape from all those numbers. Have a great weekend!!

She Might Love Lipstick Even MORE Than Me!

Gracelyn, originally uploaded by anartsygirl.

I had to blog this pic I took of Grace tonight. She never misses an opportunity to rip off one of my lipsticks when she has the chance. She will NOT hand it over no matter how many times I ask her to, and in the end she ends up throwing it instead as if to say "if I can't have it neither can you". It's hard to look at that face and not laugh. Have a great week!!

Beach Memories Class at MDW on March 22nd

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Here is a sneak peek at the Beach Memories book I'll be teaching at My Daughter's Wish on March 22nd. The front has a gigantic authentic starfish that's been given a HEAVY dose of glitter. It was fun to make and I can't wait for this rain to stop so we can head to the beach for some fun and photos to go in it.

I'm working on my projects for next quarter that will hopefully include a mermaid collage, a dressform with a collage inside of the hollowed out torso and possibly a mixed media found objects shrine. I went to a flea market with the fam this past Saturday and we found LOTS of great finds that could inspire future classes so check back. Have a great week!!

He Said/She Said Class at MDW on March 1st

Here is a sneak peek of the class I'll be teaching at My Daughter's Wish on March 1st. You can't see it from the picture but the back cover is the male sign upside down. The book is half "she said" then you flip it over to view it as "he said". I chose lots of yummy paper and goodies for the inside and lots of journalling spots. I'm going to finish it up and have it at the store this Thursday. If you're in the area and you're free Thursday don't miss the ATC and grand opening night at MDW. It's going to be alot of fun! Hope to see you there!

Yeah! My First Class Was Today!

Today was my first class at My Daughter's Wish in Pleasant Hill. I taught the altered book with a drawer and a niche. Everybody in attendance was a joy to work with. I loved how everyone's book had the same theme but each one was different in it's own way. It was such an enjoyable experience and I look forward to my next class! If you're reading this and you were in the class today, thank you and you rock!

Do You Know What Your Mermaid Name Is?

I've always loved mermaids and I've been collecting some vintage mermaid ephemera because I hope to teach a mermaid collage shadowbox at My Daughter's Wish this summer. I stumbled on this fun site that will give you your "mermaid" name. It's fun, check it out!

Emraldia Wishwater is off to bed, have a great weekend!!

http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/7657/