All Together Now!

Hello, party-hoppers!  My name is Julia.  Welcome to my blog.  Pull up a pillow and be comfortable.  Sip some tea or a glass of wine, depending on your mood.  Feel free to snoop around.  (I love snooping - don't you?)

Amy insists that we speak glowingly about ourselves and I've been pondering what to say ever since I signed up for this party.  I guess what I like best about myself is that I'm never bored.  Really.  Never.  I'm one of those people who can't wait to retire (5 more years!) because I have so many things to do besides work.  Two things I do consistently are play in my garden and play in my art room. Every day.  Sometimes for hours and hours.  Like I'll still be in my pajamas and it's 6 o'clock at night and all I've been doing is painting and collaging and making a mess.  Some things I do for a little while (Kung Fu - I have a second degree brown belt, playing in the SCA, making and selling baskets).  Some things I keep coming back to (belly dancing, knitting, drumming - frame drum and doumbek).  I love taking classes just to learn new things (Italian, jewelry making, dance).  It's important to me that I keep finding my boundaries and walking along those edges.  Of course, all this adventuresome learning and experimentation have left me with many more unfinished projects than I'd like to admit.  And sometimes the unpleasant thought crosses my mind that this behavior is not admirable - that it is the sign of adult ADD.  (Good gods, am I really suffering from "Shiny Chicken Syndrome"??? I think I'll choose to call it "bohemian" and leave it at that...)

Well, one project that I did finish was my giveaway for this party. (Yes, I can finish a project when I really put my mind to it!)  It's an altered board book.  Here are a couple of pictures:

the cover

one of the spreads

 Elsewhere in my blog I've posted a picture of another spread.  And there are two more pages, plus a surprise, but I'm not going to post those pictures because then it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?  If you'd like a chance to have this book for your very own and find out what the surprise is, leave me a comment telling me where you'd go if you had a time machine.  I'll choose the winner through random.org on May 21, so be sure to check back here.

Thanks again for visiting.  Now I'm off to visit you!  Party on...

Yesterday...

was what every single day should be like.  I got up early and had coffee in the morning room with the husband.

the morning room

 After a bit, Murnie the dog decided she'd like to go for a walk in the park, so into the car and off we went.

3D Murn

When we got back, I needed to get some things out of their pots and into the ground, so Murn hung out while I puttered around and the husband worked on his latest story.  I finally got a climbing rose and planted it along the front fence.  It doesn't look like much now, but I am dreaming of it taking over the ENTIRE front fence.

I am also envisioning the lavender growing to great heights, along with the bee balm, rosemary, and lemon balm I planted.  Grow, grow, grow!!!  Once everything was happily situated, I thought I'd go in and knit.  On my way in, I discovered Murnie the dog sitting in the middle of the strawberry patch, blissfully munching the nice, ripe berries.  It was so funny, I didn't have the heart to fuss at her.  She's such a fruit bat!  And we've got tons of berries from the co-op anyway.

Oh, this new knitting WIP -- I went to my local yarn shop on Saturday (I haven't touched yarn in sooooo long, and there were so many new things.  I just wanted to pull it all off the shelves and roll around in it...).  I settled on two skeins of outrageously expensive Turkish novelty yarn (green and purple) that actually has a bunch of different yarns worked into a skein (viscose, silk, cotton, linen, and combinations thereof).  I decided on a scarf (the world's most expensive, and like I really need another scarf???).  As I said, it's been forever since I touched yarn and I must have started this stupid thing a half dozen times.  I'm so out of practice and I just couldn't keep my mind focused on a simple feather and fan pattern.  Yes, ridiculous.  I mean, feather and fan?  The easiest pattern since garter stitch.  OK, so I finally got it together, and here is the beginning:

Turkish lavender mint scarf

Imagine it much longer and with luxurious fringe of many greens & purples...

Went swimming and did 60 laps in 45 minutes.  I must get off the sugar train and lose at least 15 pounds, preferably 20.  Back pain is no fun.

Finished off the afternoon by beginning an altered board book that will be a prize in Amy's All Together Now online art party.  Do you know Amy?  I love her blog, and her site Flutterbye.  To find out about the art party, click on the button on the right.  I've never done an online party, but it sounds like fun.  So here is the first page of my giveaway book:

altered board book giveaway

And now I'm done nattering.  That's what's up with me.  What's up with you?

Gypsy Spread

Here is the latest in the altered book I'm working on:

This was a lot of fun, but not without its problems.  I had originally made a gel transfer where the woman's image is, but the transfer was too dark for the background and didn't show.  I pulled it off and was left with an ugly spot, which I covered with gesso and the picture.  Then I covered it with more blue paint and wiped off the excess so she'd show through.

The cards are taken from an assortment of old Tarot decks and Loteria cards - crinkled, crumpled, smeared and smudged for age.

Dragon Spread

Here is a start-to-finish of the dragon spread in the altered book I'm currently working on:

The dragon skin in the pocket is made from Tyvek, the stuff that priority mail envelopes is made of. 
More fun stuff to come...

Altered Book Class

I had seven students attend my first Altered Book class yesterday!  We got a really good start on our books.  The first step is sanding down all the pages -- a messy, not terribly fun activity.  Then we applied gesso to prime the pages.  While the gesso was drying, we made tape transfers.  Then we spongepainted the pages.  Our final activity was to make plastic wrap webbing embellishments.  As usual, I forgot to take pictures until we were well into the process.  I did manage to get these:

The afternoon was filled with laughter, creativity, and munching (thanks for bringing the goodies, Julie!  The hummus was delicious :)  Those three hours just flew by.  I hope everyone had as good a time as I did.  Next Sunday we'll continue the process.  And I'll try to remember to take more pictures...

New Classes for January

I thought I'd post my new schedule of classes, just in case any of you are in the neighborhood this month!

Sunday 1/8:  Altered Books - Puzzle Board Books, part 1
Using a variety of mixed media, students will alter board books which contain puzzles.  All materials supplied, however, if you have ephemera you would like to use, by all means bring it.  1-4 p.m. $35 

Sunday 1/15: Altered Books - Puzzle Board Books, part 2Using a variety of mixed media, students will continue/finish altering board books which contain puzzles.  All materials supplied, however, if you have ephemera you would like to use, by all means bring it.  1-4 p.m. $35

Sunday 1/22: Upcycled Art JournalHave you ever wanted to create an art journal, but felt intimidated by the blank page?  Fear no more, because we'll be making   these journals from old magazines.  This is the first in a series of workshops where you'll learn a variety of techniques using mixed media to create your own visual art journal.  All materials are supplied.  1-3 p.m. $25

Sunday 1/29:  Mixed Media Valentine
Use paper, paint, fiber and a variety of embellishments to create a one-of-a-kind tag card and slipcover "envelope".  All materials supplied.  1-3p.m. $25

Tuesday 1/17:  Mail Art:  Envelopes
Learn to make several kinds of envelopes of different shapes and sizes using a variety of media.  All materials supplied.  5:30-8:30 p.m.  $35

Tuesday 1/24:  Mail Art:  Postcards
Use a variety of mixed media techniques to make several different postcards.  All materials supplied.  5:30-8:30 p.m.  $35

Tuesday 1/31:  Mail Art:  Tiny Treasures - Inchies, ATCs, Tags and Bookmarks
Use a variety of mixed media techniques to make miniature works of art that you can send through the mail.  All materials supplied.  5:30-8:30 p.m.  $35