My On-the-Scene Report from Colfax, CA: Check out Miss Vicky's Cut-It-Up

While in California recently for the first-ever ZNE Convenzione, I had the pleasure of staying with blog friend Miss Vicky of Cut-it-Up and scrapbooking fame. A published author and artist, Miss Vicky has an incredible shop in historic Colfax, CA. Check out my article on Vintage Indie. There's tons more pics, also. Thanks to Miss Vicky for the hospitality and to Vintage Indie publisher Gabreial Wyatt for running my random musings from time to time!

It IS Better to Give than Receive, But Receiving is Pretty Great in this Case!

I have several spots in my home and studio where I display art from friends: art that I've bought, swapped for, received as a gift, won, you name it. It is so inspiring to look at these treasures every day. And although the hutch over my art desk is only one spot, I wanted to show it off for now, because there's some pretty fantastic stuff right there. The "Artist" canvas I received Saturday in a swap with Cindy DeLuz http://apurpledaisy.com/. I blogged about meeting her at ZNE 2008 here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/08/zne-does-not-rhyme-with-halloween.html. We worked out a swap, but she worked overtime! Not only did I receive her painting, but she sent me a darling necklace and notecards to match. She is as sweet in person as this gesture, and she wrote me a very special card and message on the back of the painting. I think I'll only have to remember what she said to find my muse.

The darling poppet box with the pointy hat is by Mica Garbarino of Garboodles Soup http://garboodles.blogspot.com/. She used a tiny porcelain doll head, which she is practically famous for, and the box she sent me says "through the open door." I think I'll go. You can find her work on etsy, and she has a totally separate store for incredible Sock Monkeys, too. She'll also be teaching how to make these darling boxes, including sewn crepe paper skirt, at the ZNE Convenzione 2009 in April-May http://www.znecon.com/, so I'll get to meet her then. The box I sent her is here https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRysjo3PKDPtVMeUZzzPD4FTcS0O4vMnvQw-oLxdGSehwjzLhdDLzDSBSW-XzjR7haiQTGPejsTfIcPjw7EWwjs7Xp7DWU5QkhpT10xyhPpkaVrx3cDJJzCRJw3CamUZLD0w0LzntU3wh/s1600-h/moremariesmica+001.jpg.

The black and white box by Iva Wilcox http://www.ivascreations.com/ I have posted before, but in the dolly-headed-box theme spirit, I just wanted to show it again by itself because it is so darling. Iva and Gina Gabriell http://www.elevenmorning.com/ will be selling their wares Sept. 13 at a fantastic show at Tinsel and Treasures in Danville, CA. If you're on that side of the world, GO!

The bottom picture is the view over my art desk in my basement studio. I have more work from friends upstairs in my "real" office, where I have not one, but two more desks! If you look closely in the picture, you'll find artwork from Debrina Pratt http://whimsicalworldoffairies.blogspot.com/, Carla Naron http://www.collagecat.typepad.com/, Elaine Thomas http://artful-spirit.blogspot.com/, Sally Jean Alexander http://www.sallyjean.typepad.com/and more, along with my newest goodies in their new home spot. For now. I like to rearrange, too, for more inspiration!

The top photos are some paper clay figures/sculptures I made this weekend, trying to use the skills I thought I'd learned in Gina Gabriell's class at ZNECon last month. It's a lot easier to make something when someone is telling you what to do each step of the way. And while these might not look too bad in pictures, I can't decide how I feel about them in real life! I know how much glue and goop I used to hold everything together. I know I tried to rush the drying and put them in the oven, forgetting that styrofoam melts, expands and will eventually explode...but apparently that takes longer than 30 minutes, thank goodness! I've already blown out my oven element once this year! Dishwasher has been out 16 days now, but that's another story.

But I digress. These paperclay peeps were fun to imagine and create, but I think I do better at decorating their papier mache or balsa wood box bases. The Halloween witch might be my favorite. I used a very old porcelain head from my new dear IRL friends Shoshannah Jennings and her husband Mike who run Hannah Grey http://www.hannahgrey.com/. They have tons of cool old doll parts, dug up from factories in Germany. Email them if you don't see the parts on their Web site. I "work" for Shosh and Mike as a member of the Hannah Grey Design Team and was lucky enough to meet them in person recently, along with a darling team member, Julee Herman. She's so pretty you want to claw her eyes out, after you find a way to steal her gorgeous hair. That's supposed to be humorous, dear reader (and Julee), because she's a doll.

These might be gifties going to fellow art friends in some upcoming swaps. You know who you are, so don't look too closely, and skip over the part where I said these might not be 100% perfect. Handmade is supposed to be heart-made, right?

ZNE Does NOT Rhyme with Halloween

I don't know which is crazier: that I am still blogging about the ZNE Convention (that's 'Z,' 'N,' 'E," not 'zeen') or that I am already blogging about Halloween.

The darling house canvas says 'Home is where the heart is' (so true) and 'There's no place like home' (true too). I bought it from Cindy DeLuz of http://www.apurpledaisy.com in California. Her work just makes me swoon. I love the colors and the richness and the messages. We really hit it off. Anyone who knows me knows I like the whimsy style anyway, but Cindy is so sweet you can't help but adore her. Check out her Web site for more of her work. I can hardly wait to receive the canvas she is sending me in exchange for one of my bracelets from etsy http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com. I definitely got the best end of the deal, but of course I hope she feels otherwise! Don't worry, I'll be blogging more about her art.

The Halloween pages are 25 five-inch by five-inch double-sided pages I made last night for The Faerie Zine Halloween Opera fat book page swap. How great it will be to get this finished book back with pages from 24 other artists and an amazing cover from Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com. As it is, I cannot wait to get my circus, bird and dollhouse books back from her. She's crazy; she hosted all of those swaps.

I got the Halloween crepe paper at American Harvest in Pleasanton, CA. The entire store was jam-packed with Halloween stuff during the ZNE convention. I'm already making plans to attend next year, which will be April 29-May 3. http://www.znecon.com. The instructor lineup is incredible and includes both new and old art friends. I'll get to meet Lisa Kettell in person there if not before.

The orange Halloween ribbon with pumpkin faces is vintage, and I got it at the ZNE vendor fair "Pleasantries and Paperie" from a booth that sold nothing but vintage ephemera. Some of the other collage images I used are from Lisa's Altered Art (different Lisa) http://www.lisasalteredart.com, Teesha Moore http://www.teeshamoore.com, Retro Cafe Art http://www.retrocafeart.com, Paper Relics via Hannah Grey http://www.hannahgrey.com and Artchix Studio http://www.artchixstudio.com. Nothing like plugging people and virtual places I love!

Speaking of plugging, with all the ZNE love going around, I was excited to find that I was mentioned on three fantabulous blogs: Dawn DeVries Sokol, editor of 1000 Artist Journal Pages, gave me a mention at http://dblogala.typepad.com/dblogala/2008/08/ajf-the-big-sho-oe-an-ed-sullivan-ref.html, and Kris Hubick pictured 'us' here http://krishubick.blogspot.com/2008/08/longest-post-ever-zne-convenzione-2008.html. Also, the very talented Mica of Garboodles, who will be teaching at ZNE in 2009 blogged about the china head/paper doll box I swapped with her here http://garboodles.blogspot.com/2008/08/private-poppet-swap.html, and it looks like she has pictured what she is sending me. I may just have to tackle the mail person; it is adorable. Artists really are good people.

Seeing Stars at ZNE

I am sort of ho-hum impressed by 'famous' people (read: celebrities), but show me a published artist or author, and I go ga-ga. So the ZNE book signings at Convenzione 2008 http://znecon.com were quite a thrill. I purchased the book Crowns and Tiaras so I could have Pam Garrison http://pamelagarrison.typepad.com sign it for me, which she did, top right, with Lisa Kaus http://www.lisakaus.com, top left, who was also signing her feature in Lynne Perella's new book, along with JoAnnA Pierroti or 'Mossy' of Moss Hill Studios http://www.mosshillblogs.com. Although I didn't take my hardcover copy of that because I was flying, I was lucky enough to get to know Lisa a little bit and have her sign her "Birdy" canvas I bought. She's just as sweet as she looks, and so is Pam. I also got my 1000 Artists' Journals signed by editor Dawn DeVries Sokol and Pretty Little Things, signed by author Sally Jean Alexander.

Sweetness, or maybe cuteness is the proper term, certainly is evident in the second photo, with the Traveling Princess of Scrapbook Royalty, Elena Etcheverry, http://www.elena.travelingprincess.com, left, and the inimitable Miss Vicky Breslin http://www.cut-it-up.com, right. Elena is just so cute one could eat her up, what with her adorable outfits, tiaras and equally adorable aprons. I kept waiting for Elena and Diva Danielle of Diva Craft Lounge http://www.divacraftlounge.com to get into a tiara tussle, but apparently there is plenty of fabulousness to go around. Everyone really likes each other. Miss Vicky, a scrapping veteran, still retains her excitement about crafting and is so generous and nurturing of all artists in her midst.

And finally, just a teeny tiny bit of fame for moi. In the bottom photo you can see my framed mixed media collage "Let Them Eat Crow" being shown in the Worthington Gallery West in Pleasanton, CA, where it will be part of a month-long ZNE mixed media installation, which opened Aug. 22, 2008. So, I'm "gallery hung!" Off to update the resume!

What's a Convenzione without a little Shopping and Swapping and Selling?

The ZNE Convenzione http://www.znecon.com/ last weekend had so much eye candy that I don't think my glasses fit anymore! Naturally, I had to come home with a "few" treasures. Few is a relative term when your suitcase gets weighed. In the top photo is a little nestie I got at Miss Vicky's Cut-it-Up store in Colfax, CA. It is by blog friend Karyn Gartel, so that is even cooler. The batty girl is by Lori Mitchell, and I got it at American Harvest, an unbelievable store in Pleasanton, CA., where you can buy works from Lisa Kaus, Ingrid Pomeroy, Iva Wilcox, Colleen Moody, Sally Jean Alexander and many more artists from our little circle. The dolly box is by Iva, and I got it at the ZNE vendor fair. The bracelet is by Miss Vicky herself-talk about eye candy-her bracelets are good enough to eat. More about her store later. The birdy is a Lisa Kaus original and is a 6 x 6 chunky canvas, which she signed for me.

Next up are darling ATCs I got in our swaps. Pictured are cards by Gina Gabriell, Nadine Johnson, Gina Halle, Jackie Baxted, and Lani Kent. The cards I made are here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/08/on-zne-convenzione-countdown.html. Finally, we also did a chunky or 'zaftig' book swap. I made the cake pages here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/06/sunday-storms-sweets-siblings-and-swaps.html and in return, received this book chock-full of 4 x 4 pages by other artists. The cover is by Donna Cook, but each book was entirely different. It was fun to get a page by Nadine Johnson that nearly matched the ATC she gave me! It was also fun to see pages from friends who were not there like Mary Ann http://firstborn.wordpress.com/ and her sister Jo http://labouroflovex3.blogspot.com/. Extra books were sold as a fundraiser by ZNE We Care Coordinator Elena Etcheverry of Scrapbook Royalty http://www.elena.travelingprincess.com/ and proceeds benefitted Bernie Berlin's A Place to Bark http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/ and the Pink Sky project http://chelise.typepad.com/stevie_brianna/

Sugar and spice and everything nice!

Yep, that's what all these little girls are made of, including the instructor and students. Especially the instructor. And her girls. I had the privilege of learning how to make one of these adorable paper clay music box figurines at the ZNE Convenzione last weekend in Pleasanton, CA. My class was taught by the so-sweet Gina Gabriell in her newly-renovated and soon-to-be-opened shop Tangerine in Dublin, CA. Gina http://www.elevenmorning.com/ is such a kind, supportive and generous instructor. Within eight hours every student had a darling girl all done, and each and every one was unique and sweet and well done, as demonstrated in the second photo. There's a lot of sweetness in the student photo too, and thanks to Deena, aka scrappydeena and roomie, for the finger tiara for me!

The next photo are our little girls, formed out of paper clay and styrofoam, drying in the heat box while we went out for Chinese at lunch. The last photo, immediately above, is of Gina Gabriell's materpieces, which she had out on Sunday at the ZNE vendor fair. Gina also had mixed media packets, ATCs, other dolls and the book "Pink Sky," which she wrote and illustrated and of which copies are being donated by ZNE to children's hospitals and hospices around the country. You can read more about Gina and another classmate, Pink Sky graphic artist and watercolorist Iva Wilcox and the book here http://chelise.typepad.com/stevie_brianna/.

The class was just a charmed day and a perfect gathering of like-minded souls that doesn't happen all that often. There was a lot of love in the room on Saturday.

I posted a picture of one of Gina's girls in the post below this one to announce I was heading off to class, and now that I look at my girl above, I know I learned something I will use again. I am pretty proud of my music box (though don't ask about all our striped stockings), and I definitely love her and hope to play with paper clay again soon.

ZNE Convenzione http://www.znecon.com/ was almost a once-in-a-lifetime event since it was the first-ever convention. But since it will be offered again in 2009, everyone gets a second chance. I highly recommend it, and I will be posting more pics soon.

On the ZNE Convenzione Countdown

Since I need to wake up before 4 a.m. Thursday to drive myself to the airport for the ZNE Convenzione http://www.znecon.com/, my internal clock must have been practicing this morning when I woke up at 2 a.m. After 90 minutes of tossing and turning and feeding the cat and getting a drink and all the usual stuff, I finally gave up at 3:30 and started making artist trading cards to take to California.

As is tradition at art workshops and conventions, attendees bring small pieces of art, such as ATCs or charms, or little packets of goodies and supplies to trade. I had been procrastinating, thinking I just wouldn't mess with it. But, I woke up thinking how much I love to get other people's stuff, so I figured I'd better do my part. New stuff is always inspiration for new art.

Since I will be meeting Kris Hubick of Retro Cafe Art http://krishubick.blogspot.com/ for the first time and since she bought my very first ever ATC "Free Bird," I was inspired to go all retro (by a year) on myself and make some cards with my own bird and cat doodles on Bingo card backgrounds. Even though Kris is in my state, it has taken us more than a year and 2,000 miles to actually meet! She is one of the ZNE http://www.zneart.com/ original moderators. I guess that makes me a ZNE un-original moderator!

Kris was one of the first people tabbed, and rightly so, by ZNE creator and founder Chelise Stroud-Hery http://www.chelise.typepad.com/, the smiling face above with the famous ZNE tattoo. It couldn't be more perfect that this HUGE first-ever ZNE Convenzione falls on Chel's birthday week. She has worked tirelessly to grow ZNE for more than three years, and now she is not only bringing the convention to culmination with artists and instructors from around the country, but is also working on the 2009 convention!

Now that my trades are done, all I have to do is pack and get myself there. Chel, meanwhile, will probably have to have several small cows between now and Friday. Hopefully, she will be flying high from Tuesday's birthday celebration. I'll be flying high, for real, on Thursday to get picked up by Miss Vicky http://www.cut-it-up.com/ and become a Cali girl for a few days. I'm taking a class by the talented California artist Gina Gabriell http://elevenmorning.com/. Gina is opening a studio called Tangerine in Pleasanton, and we will have our class in her studio space and lunch outside at her home. We are making darling paper clay music boxes. I hope mine looks half as cute as hers (shown at top) when I'm done. Glue gun is packed.

Come See the Stars at ZNE Convenzione

The first-ever ZNE Convenzione http://www.znecon.com/ promises to be out of this world, and how can it not be, in a town with the sweet name of Pleasanton? After meeting ZNE founder Chelise Stroud-Hery http://www.chelise.typepad.com/ at the ZNE Castle in the Meadow event last month, I am more excited than ever to see her suceed at putting this together. And succeed she will, because again, how can she not, with an unbelievable lineup, including Michele Beschen http://blog.couragetocreate.com/ of HGTV/DIY Channel's 'B Original,' the artist SARK, musician Jon Troast, and unbelievable teachers like Lisa Kaus http://lisakaus.blogspot.com/, Kari Ramstrom http://artsymama.blogspot.com/, Chrysti Hydeck http://www.artbychrysti.wordpress.com/and more, all descending on Plesanton Aug. 22-24, 2008.
Some of you know I will be taking a class there from Bernie Berlin, she of the no-kill animal rescue and shelter, A Place to Bark http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/. I'll be showing her the auction copy of the fund raiser/book my Yahoo! group Arte du Blythe http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Arte_du_Blythe made to sell for her and asking her to autograph the winner's copy. Bernie's also the same "she" of the book, Artist Trading Card Workshop, an eye candy volume and the 'bible' on ATCs.
I am also terribly excited because not only do I get to meet the inimitable Miss Vicky http://www.cut-it-up.com/ of Cut-it-Up store/book/web fame but I get to hang out with her at her home. I'll also be meeting fellow Hoosier artist Kris Hubick http://www.retrocafeart.com/, but we had to travel cross-c0untry to get that accomplished!
There's so much more going on than what I've said here. In fact, and you can be assured I'll be mentioning it again and again and again, but there is also a gallery showing of ZNE member works and I'm in! Yippee. "Let them Eat Crow" is off being framed so that it can be shipped to sunny CA posthaste. There's also a documentary screening of the 1000 Journals project and a private showing of never-before-seen works from Claudine Hellmuth http://www.claudinehellmuth.com/. And the best news? Well, two great things: it is not too late to register and registration is already open for 2009 http://www.znecon.com/. Go. Now!

Sunday, Storms, Sweets, Siblings and Swaps

You might wonder about this hodge podge of photos. You might ask how I will possibly tie them together. Loosely, is the answer. The terrible weather pretty much all weekend did not dampen my creativity. In fact, I was already in the basement working on pages for the ZNE http://zneart.com/ Zaftig fat book for the annual convention http://znecon.com/, so I didn't even have to stop what I was doing to take shelter, as advised by radio and television. The sky looked quite creepy, as evidenced above, both Saturday and Sunday. But no matter, as I was still smiling from the clear blue skies and fresh air of northern Michigan, having arrived back home Friday night after 600 miles, 18 holes of golf and several hours of meetings, all at the Grand Lodge at Boyne Mountain, near Petosky, MI, at the far end of the lower peninsula.

My very first sight, walking into the house, was Larry (and his twin sibling, Lester), apparently quite happy to see me. I think he is saying, "hi, mom!" Or, he is yawning, which would indicate boredom (surely not) or sleepiness (well, okay, probably).

Art had to wait until Sunday as there was a wedding to attend on Saturday. However, I still managed to get 30 pages done, all originals, using my "sweet treats" kit that had just arrived from http://www.paulaskitclub.com/. The pages are 4" x 4". I'll get a completed book back with 25 different pages when I go to the convention in August.

I also made a few artist trading cards for a swap with a fellow Flickr-ite. 'ATheeC' has the cutest babushka or Russian nesting doll cards on flickr. Here's a link to one that is coming my way http://www.flickr.com/photos/atheec-martine/2587084422/. Posted here are some that I am sending to her.

Could I Be Any More Charming? Probably.

I began to wonder if my pliers would break somewhere in the middle of 71 charms for Art & Soul http://www.artandsoulretreat.com. I made a batch of 32 and then 39 of these little Mermaid Moon Ballerinas. Hard to believe something less than two inches long has at least nine different parts. They ae strung on a two-inch eye pin with a silver spacer at bottom, then a wire-wrapped large bead for the skirt, a square bead for the body and a small round or oval bead for the collar. This is followed by the moon bead. The pin is then cut and wire-wrapped by hand-not my strongest suit. Some blood was shed during this project as well as a few verbal inhibitions. To the wire-wrapped loop I added a jump ring and then a split ring so these can be safely attached on the 32 different charm bracelets they will get swapped out for. I'll receive my finished bracelet of 32 all different charms on May 1 in Hampton, VA. Happy May Day to me!

The second batch- 39- will be taken in individual baggies with Moo cards for random swapping during A&S. I am also taking either artist trading cards (ATCs) or fiber packs. I am told fellow artists stop and swap everywhere~ in class, in the halls, in the bathroom, in taxis, at dinner, etc., and that "about 50-100" random swap packs are needed if one wants to be fully prepared. So I am about halfway there with about 16 days to go. Can't wait!

I can be more charming, though, as approximately 36 more charms are needed for June 8 at the Castle in the Meadow event in Detroit, MI at the Dodge mansion for ZNE, VariaZioNE http://www.zneart.com, a mixed media artists' group whose Midwest meeting and charm swap I will attend then and whose national convention I will attend in August http://www.zneconvenzione.com. Yay! Check it out.