From the Journal Archives

Here is a quick peak at a journal that I made and kept in 2001 and 2002. It was simply made of cardboard and brown paper bag. I loved it though! It was light, compact, and I loved the sound of the paper. I believe you can click to enlarge the image.

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

OH, and check out LK Ludwig's completely fabulous book True Vision. It is one of my absolute favorites on authentic journaling.

Saturday's Nature Hike

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09

William O'Brien Sat. 11/28/09 copy

Yesterday I was looking through my list of bookmarked blogs. I was reintroduced to The Poetic Eye by LK Ludwig (see sidebar of Blogs that Inspire Me). She has ignited a flame under my tush about how I might use the gazillions of photos that I have stored. She beautifully incorporates her personal photography into her journals. I love how it looks! You must look at her blog to see what I mean. So, today and yesterday, I spent a lot of time trying to organize the thousands of pictures that I have in iPhoto. Man, it takes a lot of time to catch up with organization!!! Anyway, the above pictures are from a wonderful walk I took with my husband yesterday. Some are altered, some are not. I really enjoy altering my photos, but it does take a lot of time. I am learning a lot as I go, so perhaps it will get easier for me. Thanks LK for doing the art that moves you, so that others may do theirs!

Good Morning Birdies!

If you've been reading this blog for any time, you'll remember that one of my favorite local artists is Barbara Gilhooly. I was just on her flickr site and was once again blown away by her recent work.

I love birds, as many of us "nature people" do, and Barbara was killin' me with her awesome bird paintings! Which one is your favorite?

You can view all of Barbara's images via flickr right here.

Happy Thanksgiving Gratitude List top Ten

photo credit here

I am grateful for:

1. love 2. family 3. friends 4. kitties 5. art supplies 6. books 7. creative people 8. beauty in nature 9. music 10. stuff that keeps me warm when I am cold

A Night at the Movies (cont.)

Maybe I am easily impressed, but aren't those walls cool?

As you can see, I really liked the colored panes.

In case you haven't seen the movie Julie and Julia, here is the trailer.

A Night at the Movies

My sister and I went to see the movie Julie and Julia recently. It was FABULOUS! I know I am a little behind the times because the movie was released in August, but hey! I did see it in a theater. I was totally impressed with the theater. I think it is one of the coolest ones around! It is called The Riverview. You can check out the website here.

I'm not sure why, but I don't think I have ever thought to take photos inside a movie theater. It might be because I haven't been to many movies since I got my digital camera. It also might be because I used to feel self-conscious taking pictures out in public. Well, as the old saying goes, the more you do it, the easier it gets. That is an old saying, right?

The Riverview is one of the few theaters that still uses real butter on their popcorn. Remember the beautiful wedding photos I shared here a month or so ago? Well the groom works at the Riverview, so there was Riverview popcorn as an appetizer at the reception. Clever and so cute, don't you think?

This is a shot through one of the colored panes you see in the photo below.

the small object

i forgot to share something with you!

this weekend, actually as of thursday, i became obsessed with the work of an artist who created "the small object" company. i saw these at Dick Blick, but didn't buy them . . . yet. this woman's work just cracks me up! you have to go to her website and see more for yourself!

Tazo

Thank you Tazo Chai and Milk Frother-I LOVE YOU!

State Park Finale

State Park and Cute Guy

Would you like to live in there? I wonder who actually does?

State Park Photos

St. Croix River

Peace, Love, and Happiness to YOU

Thank goodness for state parks!

Look at that cute guy in the state park! See why I like to frequent them?

Altered Books and Scrappy Weekend

Altered Books

The woman in the green shirt made an awesome cloth bag for everyone's altered book. The one she made me is ORANGE! I LOVE it! (See previous post for a better look).

And to celebrate my birthday, I gathered some of the coolest people I know to make art and scrapbooks at one of my favorite local independent scrapbook shops! It was soooo fun. I gave everyone an orange cup of treats when they arrived. I also had plenty of Coke and Sunkist Orange soda on hand!

Scrapping is very serious business!

Oh, and it is also so much fun to see what everyone is working on.

Book Arts and Random Pics

Experiment/accidental flash

My husband and I were walking one night this week. I saw our shadow on this old sign. I thought it looked cool, but the first shot accidentally was used with a flash. I like the second shot a lot better, but it is neat to see the two shots together.

Minnesota Center for the Book Arts lets us use their space for our Visual Journal Collective meetings. Roz Stendahl is the "rad" facilitator for the group. Here are the pictures from our altered book round robin that some us participated in.

Altered Book Round Robin concluded Monday, November 16th, 2009

That night, we also had a guest talk to us about calligraphy. It was really amazing to see how easy she made it look. We got to try a bunch of different calligraphy pens and tools. My favorite was a little piece of balsa wood taped to the eraser end of a pencil! My other favorite was a Pilot Parallel Pen with a big nib (3.8mm).

Guest Calligrapher-Christine

Making ink for calligraphy

Rosemary Riskin's Art

I just love this, don't you? You can see more of this talented artist's work at www.rosemaryriskin.com or on flickr at this address

New Papaya Art catalog

I was thrilled when I went to my mailbox this morning and pulled out this beautiful sales catalog for PapaYa Arts. Anahata Katkin and her mother have been working on their business since 2003. Now they sell their products all over the world. This is the first catalog I have received/seen, so it might be the first one. Go to the website and get completely inspired!

I love Sabrina Ward Harrison. PapaYa has started carrying products with Sabrina's art! They are WONDERFUL!