The Land of Lost Luggage

Yes, there will be prizes...and a garage sale!

Not my tile....but I wish it was.

It's time to call it a day here. We're moving in 6 days. I'm sick to my stomach that things won't be finished. I was listening to the people who insist on using the instersection immediately outisde the apartment as the starting line to their illegal drag racing last night and I can safely say that I pretty much don't care what condition the house is in next Saturday. At last it will be quiet! (Until the pool jackhammering starts...)

So stay tuned my friends. Put the Land of Lost Luggage in your feed list.. When I come back, there will be a blog giveaway (one of the prizes will be a brand new set of these beauties!) and for all you rubber stampers...a HUGE stamp garage sale! How does 10 wood mounted stamps for $20 sound? I am pretty sure that I will be setting up the stamps in lots of 10 and putting them in my etsy shop. No auctions...first come first serve.

I'll miss you all while I am gone...and I am not sure when I will be back..I also don't want to set a date and have to rush myself crazy into getting the contest up. So...set up the feed- here is a tutorial on how to do it if you have been waiting for the right moment.

See you on the other side! Stay cool, San Diego.

 

Hey hey summer!

Taking a small break this afternoon to check our weather report...I like the weather. I read it all the time. It's exciting to see the National Weather Service make a bold red "Special Statement" in our area (exciting to me anyway...)

VERY HOT WEATHER TO CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY...
STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE HOT WEATHER WITH NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES THROUGH SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE 10 TO 15 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE IN THE VALLEYS... MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. COASTAL ZONES WILL BE SPARED THE MOST INTENSE HEAT DUE TO THE COOL OCEAN BREEZES EACH AFTERNOON.

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT SATURDAY FOR THE INLAND VALLEYS AND THE LOWER DESERTS. A WEAK LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER WEATHER EARLY NEXT WEEK.

HIGH TEMPERATURE FORECASTS FOR SATURDAY...
BEACHES 70 TO 80.

COASTAL ZONES 80 TO 95.

INLAND VALLEYS 95 TO 110. (I am here)

MOUNTAINS 80 TO 95.

HIGH DESERTS 100 TO 105.

LOWER DESERTS 112 TO 120.

PEOPLE PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE HOT WEATHER AND ADJUST ACTIVITIES ACCORDINGLY. AVOID PHYSICAL EXERTION DURING THE HOTTEST PART OF THE DAY. WEAR LOOSE FITTING LIGHT WEIGHT CLOTHING AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SHADE AND AIR CONDITIONING IF AVAILABLE. NEVER LEAVE PEOPLE OR PETS IN ENCLOSED AUTOMOBILES.

Caramba....excellent weather for heavy labor in the house. Hope you're having a good weekend!

Here I am...

Blog break...I've thought about shutting 'er down until September, but I don't think I can stay away that long. House remodeling has drained my creative muse at the moment. We've been spending so much time driving to appointments and meeting with people that the apartment is a mess. I can't find anything, let alone set up a paint area. Still trying to get my back to heal....the more I blurf and surf, the more it hurts. So I'll be around with little updates along the way. Hope to see you again soon!

It's a book.

There was a lot of "blatter" (my new coined phrase for 'blog chatter'; follows "blurfing", the recognized term for 'blog surfing') recently for this book. Me oh my; I am going to read it tonight, but the illustrations alone are mesmerizing! So happy I ordered it! People who know me well know that I don't normally read books. I recently came across a dilemma that changed everything though....what to buy for treats when you already own everything from every art supply store within a 70 mile radius? Books. I ordered two this month. (Stop laughing....it's a start...and when I told you I did not know how to read, I was only kidding.) The second book I ordered is here. I can't wait for it to show up on the porch!

So, what else....oh- tile, paint and furniture shopping is exhausting. Escrow is exhausting...I need a vacation, but now the work has begun! I'll rest in a couple of months I guess. Thanks for the emails about my back..it's still sore, but no where near as painful as it was at the start of this escapade.

I have been journaling...here's the cover of the new 6x6 book and a recent page:

">

The onion will make you cry. The Lost Luggage first page without acrylic paint! I like it! Hope you all have a nice weekend; I'll see you again soon!

Holiday Weekend Buzz Kill

I strained some sort of muscle in my lower back last Monday and went to Urgent Care yesterday..I'll be fine in a few days, but it sure is a buzz kill having a hurt back on a holiday weekend...

We're busy making demands with our contractor, getting samples of this and that and pushing the numbers many hours of the day now. I managed to get some pages painted in my new journal, so I should be able to post some new art this week... We're moving into our new house first of July.

It's a little challenging to respond to emails and post on the blog these days...but I'll be back strong soon! Thanks for coming by! Have a great weekend!

The Land of the Lost

Do you remember "The Land of the Lost"? It premiered in 1975. I remember it because it scared the hell out of me... anyway, I've been eating a lot of strawberries lately and they are HUGE! Look at the size of this one! That's my hand. No trick photography either. I have big hands. I didn't measure it, but I'd bet that is a 3" berry-easily. They are even grown right here in San Diego and boy are they delicious!

(My blog title has nothing to do with this television show...if you remember, Will and Holly ran around harvesting really huge produce. The show frequently featured really really big strawberries.)

Girlie Girl Card Parade

May is a busy month for me...the majority of people I know have birthday's during this month...including myself...which I always have found a little fascinating. Throw in Mother's Day and I am making way more cards than I would like to.

These are all collaged and then covered with a coat of gel medium. I covered them with the medium to allow the paint pens on top to remain opaque. Without the gel medium, the paint seeps into the paper. 

I'm off to a lunch party with my friends today and I can't wait! See you tomorrow and as always, Stay classy, San Diego! (Alright....just kidding...I meant to say: As always, thank you for your visits!)   

The Secret of 67

It hit me Saturday at Anna PH and Steve-O's house-warming. The best part about making art is not how I feel while I make it, but how happy it makes people.

Anna and Steve-O had a house-warming party last weekend and I was late because I booked a Chris Cozen painting class that day. Chris is awesome, you already know I love her, so I won't gush...during this class we made 3 12x12 paintings on gallery canvas. The basis of the paintings was that they used black as the base coat. Black underneath the paint creates the most amazing richness...Chris explains the process in her recently published book-which I have read 23 times. If you don't have a copy, you should. You can order it here. Don't be fooled by the low page count- the information is well written, without unnecessary jibber-jabber: pure, valuable, technique.

I wasn't planning to give this canvas to the happy couple while I made it. But on the official house-warming tour, I realized how awesome it matched their decor and I rushed to the car to get it. (yes, I rushed, paint-covered, straight from the class to the party- man, my friends are cool!) Initially I thought to add additional embellishment to the painting, but I really love it at this stage, and I was so happy that Steve-O and Anna hung it while I watched!

Oh, see that little canvas on the wall in the background? I made that one too. Thanks Anna and Steve-O: You guys are the best!

PS- ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...a canvas! Boy it felt good to be working outside of my journal for a change!

Reality check.

I had a really nice, low-key birthday yesterday!   I started off the day with a 50 minute power walk around the lake to prepare myself to eat this later that night.

My husband told me I could have whatever I wanted, but if you know me, you know I love this local restaurant. Nothing special...just relaxing dinner in a low lit mexican restaurant. The three of us. Fabulous. I had a slice of chocolate cake in the afternoon at my parent's house, but that's about it!

I managed to make you a free background...hope you like it!

And I managed the second to last page in the "Living Room". The rest of the day was pretty great! My friends Olivia and Manny sent me a really great tote bag and some gift certificates to Paper Source...Laura sent me a handmade card and cool little notebook to practice lettering in...I also got a big box of flea market treasures from my friend Michael, a couple of books off Amazon and a house. No biggie.

A HOUSE!! YEEEEHHHHAAAWWWW! I am moving into the neighborhood I grew up in. I have been under so much stress for the last 100 days or so waiting for this deal to become a reality and now it is happening! We'll have a quick escrow (as quick as they can process our paperwork) followed with a pretty extensive remodel...I'll be designing my new studio from the ground up. I can't wait! We think we'll probably move in around July 4th....we have not had an inspection yet, so keep your fingers crossed that we didn't buy the money-pit.

So now the fun whirlwinds of Mother's Day and Day of Julie are over and it's back to nomal around here. Thanks for all your birthday wishes yesterday! It was really fun to read all of your emails and I appreciate them so much!!

Just give me a free day.

My second journal "The Living Room" is practically finished. I've painted and collaged every page and I only have about three pages left to add a few layers and pen to. I used spray paint and a few stencils on this page...do you like my new zebra skin stencil? Wonder what it would be like if there were pink zebras running around.

A couple of my regular reads mentioned some pretty interesting topics within the last few days. I just want to mention how refreshing it is to see opinions other than the "norm" float through blog land. I usually don't have a problem speaking my mind...but what makes me anxiety ridden is what people will think if my opinions don't match their own.

I think the same sentiment pretty much applies to art as well. I feel relieved when I see a new idea or project float around the web...invigorating. It makes me happy to see people push the limits of their art supplies to make something great.

But lately, I have been feeling a bit "flat". I am finding less exciting material to read, look at, absorb.

I'm curious to know your thoughts. Whats the buzz? Is art changing? The trends? Maybe my own personal alignment is off and I'll rebound in a couple of weeks. Ha! Let's hear it..I can take it- if you think I'm crazy, let me know.