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.

Thinking About Home

I am not at all sure what kind of wacky person "works" during vacation, but then again, I don't consider my art "work" - even though I have deadlines. So, it was with great pleasure bordering on wild abandon (okay maybe that's a tidge overstated) that I spread out all my art supplies that I had packed and set about making my dozen houses for Jeri's House Row Swap. Once I got going, it was a lot of fun, and I couldn't stop, didn't stop, until about 3 a.m. yesterday, today, whatever that is. I even packed them up and mailed them off from here, so I wouldn't have to drag them home. Some of my houses are titled "Green House," "Blue Beach House," "Secret Memories" and "Indian Fun House." I am satisfied with them and can't wait to see the swap returns. Ms. Laurie Blau-Marshall posted an exquisite one on her blog Living Out Loud http://loudlife-laurieblaumarshall.blogspot.com. I'm telephathically requesting it in my swap package. Laurie also paid me a very nice compliment, as did Heidi http://mermaidsdowry.blogspot.com which I need to post and pass on soon.

Something Old, Something New

North Myrtle Beach sort of looks the same, I guess. Or maybe I should say my pictures always look the same. New on the scene, though, is the Hard Rock Amusement park, opening April 15 with The Eagles' Life in the Fast Lane Coaster, Led Zeppellin gift shop and more. The Eagles and The Moody Blues (are they even alive?) will play for the grand opening. We will miss both, but I did learn there is now a free "backstage tour" offered at the new theme park. So, why not? There is even a "paying" hard hat tour. Not sure that will be necessary. Too many other things to do. Like shop. Sunbathe. Eat shrimp until I grow a tail. Will not be posting photos of any of these things.

On the art front, as opposed to ocean-front, I completed my first of 12 houses for Jeri Aaron's http://artfulgathering.typepad.com/ House Row Swap. I needed to make a haunted house anyway for an ARTchix contest http://www.artchixstudio.com/ and Stampington & Co is seeking vintage Halloween images until April 15 for publication, so I decided to do triple duty. My house is pictured here. That's handmade holey paper standing in for cobwebs in case you're wondering. Some of the elements used were required for the ARTchix part. I was thrilled that Jeri not only asked me to be in this swap but also in a "side deal," she cut my houses for me in trade for some ephemera. The houses are mat board, which is pretty heavy, and I usually can draw blood just using an ink pen. So I was appreciative of her cutting efforts! If you want to see some really cool finished houses, check out Kathy Wasilewski's at http://alteredantiquity.typepad.com/. They are really great!

And it is such a small art world, really. My dear new Blythe friend Angela, herself an accomplished and published artist http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/, invited me to join Altered Art Divas Reliquary on Yahoo, which I promptly did, and ran in to Jeri there! I have yet to look up 'reliquary' to remind myself what it means, but I'm pretty sure it means "bunch of broads with one foot in grave doing art." Don't tell Angela I said that. But our Blythes keep us young. Or, maybe it is just the scouring of vintage stores for valuable doll clothes that keeps us that way.

Back to art.

First Day in North Myrtle Beach

Fifteen hours of driving were rewarded with lots of clouds and rain, so after a brief nap and laying in of supplies, we decided to venture out to see what has changed in six months. The Hard Rock Amusement Park is supposed to open in May, but it hardly looks ready. The park is located behind the now-defunct Waccamaw Park Outlet Mall, which was my first haunt 23 years ago. The mall featured two buildings and a third was built in the late 80's/early 90s. Now, it still stands in front of this new mammoth park. So one assumes it will soon be torn down.

Opening today, however, is the Market Commons- upscale shopping and dining- another amazing addition, considering Myrtle Beach just welcomed the state's largest indoor mall only about three or so years ago. Market Commons looks a lot like the outdoor mega-malls I see in the Midwest like Easton Town Square in Columbus, OH or Clay Terrace in Indianapolis, IN. I believe Charleston, SC also has one of these just two hours up the road. PF Chang's is calling my name for this week, for sure.

Tonight, however, was a pizza-in night, in light of the weather, driving and Final Four. I did manage to squeeze in a couple of art supply stores today: AC Moore ( a big box store), Artful Legacy, a great rubber stamp and altered arts store I saw for the first time, and Moonstone Beads, in the same plaza as Artful Legacy. How convenient is that? I hope to head there again later in the week.

Yay! Off to My Beach.....Again

Return visitors may be excused for yawning about now. You may recall my excessive posting of last October: that was my first time in 23 years at North Myrtle Beach after starting this blog, acquiring my first digital camera and also discovering free wireless in our condo. So post I did. Waves? Check. Sun? Check. Seagulls? Check. Thunderstorm? Check? Pretty much anything that moved? Check.

So, I promise to be a little more discriminating this year, and I believe I have learned more about my camera, also a plus. I'm just so crazy excited to get out of the Midwest and to see some blues and greens and pinks and purples. This has been an extremely long winter in varying shades of gray, and I need a color infusion, STAT.

I'm looking forward to the little respite. I've packed all the things I've been wanting to do, like making charms for Art & Soul and Castle in the Meadow (see blog badges at right), a couple hard-backs: John Grisham and Tim Dorsey, the latest magazines, one Blythe with props and a tote of art supplies. Last year I overpacked so much that one large laundry basket filled to the brim with art supplies was just the tip of the iceberg. Not smart. But I learned. This year, only a relative dab, so I can really spend some time relaxing.

I am looking forward to getting re-charged! Jimmy Buffett may call his beach "my beach" because likely he owns the frontage, but I'm calling North Myrtle "my beach"- squatters' rights.

Happy April!

Want to See Where I Live?

So, you DO want to see where I live, huh? Well, you'll just have to buy the book! Okay, so perhaps I am getting ahead of things here; let me explain. The Seven Shabby Sisters (plus or minus one) of the Shabby Cottage Studio Design Team http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=7 have combined to create our own little shabby abode to submit for possible publication in a compilation of group art efforts by L.K. Ludwig http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/gryphons_feather_studio/call-for-art.html.

The rooms were randomly assigned and are about four inches by four inches. No square footage here! You just try decorating a room on that scale and no budget to boot! Anyway, here is my room. Stay tuned to Shabby Cottage Studio http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com for the unveiling of the entire house. And cross your fingers for us that we get it published. I can't wait to see the whole thing either, and thanks to SCS owner and house manager Gail Schmidt http://shabbycottagestudio.blogspot.com/, formerly of Indiana, too!

By the way, my room is the nursery with the Three Little Kittens and their mittens on the line, better to see in person. The people are actually from a vintage family photograph, although I have never known what relatives they are. Background paper from SCS, German scrap kitties from Blythe-lover Moline on etsy http://www.moline.etsy.com/ and blocks image from http://sandraevertson.blogspot.com/ Sandra Evertson's Instant Memories Babies, which allows free non-commercial use without permission.

A is for Asparagus and ATCs, B is for Banners, Boxes, BSU and Burt's Bees, V is for Vegas and Vacation, W is for Winter and Whining

Hello....I am typing this post with gloves on, so I will try to catch all the typos ahead of time! Why gloves? Two reasons: (multi-tasking as usual) I bought some cotton gloves and hand cream from Burt's Bees to work on my dry cuticles (it works!) and due to the slow spring and snow in Indiana and the loose storm window over my desk, it is freezing in my home office. It is also freezing in my basement studio. Yes, we have indoor plumbing and heating, but I refuse to set the thermostat ridiculously high in March! I'd rather whine!!

So enough of that! First off, thanks to Kris L. Hurst of Blissfull (sic) Elements http://krislhurst.blogspot.com/ on etsy and her website, for my beautiful new spring banner. The blog needed a facelift! So cheery! And, she is so talented; you'll see her work on many blogs.

Now, on to last weekend's art fest here (in said cold basement). I finished up two sets of artist trading cards for the ATC World swaps, and I randomly made another mermaid theme charm bracelet for etsy http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com/.

Plus, managed to squeeze in a traditional Easter dinner with ham, asparagus, et. al., two! naps, a couple of new articles written, magazines read, Blythes dressed and photographed and some thought given to what to pack for vacation (10 day countdown) and what to take to Art & Soul (36 day countdown). My co-workers are in Las Vegas this week but not me (zero day countdown); so I am grouchy.

I also got an email from my alma mater BSU about sending final exam goody boxes to students, and it made me cry. Why? When I lived in the dorm (back in the day and long enough ago so as not to cry), a dorm of four halls and hundreds of girls, the staff sent letters home seeking boxes of candy and gifts for all the students to open the night before Finals' Week. I was the only one who did not get one at the frenzied opening. I guess my letter got lost. It was traumatic to say the least. But, I'm sure I aced my finals for spite. That's how I rolled. I need to go send a box to someone....

Art & Soul Fat Book, "By the Sea," Here I Come

Suddenly my blog seems to have become "what I did on my weekend." It's not supposed to be just that, although when you eliminate politics, religion, co-workers, family and personal issues, it's either blog about my arting adventures, or tell you what non-food object Larry the Cat has recently consumed.
So, obviously this post concerns the most recent weekend and the approximate 23 hours total I spent on 40 fat book or 4 x 4 original pages front and back. These will be mailed off to a hostess who will create covers, sort pages from other artists, bind the books and return to me at Art and Soul May 1 a fabulous finished book.
I decided to go with a Zetti theme for half my pages and a nautical alphabet for the other half. All the pages were first cut from watercolor sheets and then painted with acrylics, gel medium or gesso in shades of blue. After each side dried, I rubber stamped nautical images with distress ink on one or both sides.
Next came drawing and collaging my Zetti mermaids a la Teesha Moore http://www.teeshamoore.com/, then watercolor painting, glitter, gel pens and other accents. The pages you see here are not done yet, but are waiting for embellishments of beads, charms and fibers to be added before they are mailed. All these additions help make the fat book fat!


Besides this, I kicked off my weekend by finishing 32 handmade Mermaid Ballerina charms pictured further below, which were mailed off today for another Art & Soul swap. Now I am down to my miscellaneous charms and swaps I will take with me to trade with the other artists there, a highlight of Art & Soul for sure.

And, to prove I have more to talk about than just my weekends, I have to say Yay! to Alex who made the high school varsity baseball team, which we kicked off tonight at a team and parent dinner. (We have a scrimmage planned for tomorrow in the rain and sleet). I also have to say Whew! to me for surviving today: a 6 a.m. drive out of state for a day of meetings, a rush home to take two dozen homemade lemon bars to said baseball dinner, and living through a 90-minute radio interview on blogtalkradio.com for my ZNE art group. Finally, I have to say Happy Birthday (the 18th) to my childhood friend Jeaniene: you're older than I am once again!! Yay!

Good night, Gracie!

Tune In 3/17 for Art Doll Chatter

I have the privilege of chatting with the Queen of ZNE, Chelise Stroud-Hery, the founder of VariaZioNE on jolly 'ole St. Patrick's Day at 9:30 p.m. EST on Blog Talk Radio . Tune in to hear us discuss all things art and dolls, and our mutual love of Blythe. The air waves may never be the same.

What I Did on my Work Vacation a.k.a. 'The Weekend'

Did I do all this this weekend? Yup. Did I eat and sleep? Yes. Did I go out to eat, do some laundry, lose Larry the Cat in the coat closet for three hours? Check. One of my always-inspiring Art and Poetry on-line friends said it looks like I cram a month into my weekends. And I guess I do. That's because I love love love doing all this stuff so much, and there is never enough time. Whoever heard of working 5 days and having a two-day weekend? Someone needs to re-write that book! Let's put on our lawyer pants and walk down that road (fave new line from a stupid commercial).

So what have we here? A canvas for The ZNE Book Club, studying Traci Bautista's Collage Unleashed ("See Rock City"), an altered nicho or dream box from ARTChix Studios for The Faerie Zine's 3-D Fairytale box swap ("I hope you dance: In emergency, break glass for pixie dust"), 32 charms (Mermaid Ballerinas) for Art & Soul swap, Tulip earrings for Cottage Style Street Team (CSST) on Etsy, listing 3/15/08, Barbie and Cancelled Stamps (Love is the center of the Universe) for Artists' Trading Card (ATC) World Yahoo! group swaps, and nautical and purple mother-of-pearl charm bracelet I made over the weekend, listed on etsy and promptly sold. I think I may miss this one! Send caffeine!

The Sugar Skulls are Back

I had fun messing around with some more sugar skull artist trading cards (ATCs) for etsy http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com and for Artist Trading Card World http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATC_world/. Four will go to a swap, and four will be for sale in a minute. I used water color paper, watercolors, gel pens, rhinestones, glitter, Stickles glitter glue, micro beads and silver and gold leaf. I think the idea behind The Day of the Dead and baking and decorating sugar skulls is a really positive thing- a nice way to celebrate the lives of those who are gone. I don't know why people get creeped out by skulls; we all have one.

I nearly broke mine just now though, as I was carrying a cookie sheet of these (that's how I dry them) down the basement stairs to my studio when I tripped in my too long jeans and high-heeled boots which I failed to take off earlier. I almost always work in my pajamas or sweats, and now I know why. Besides that, I always get dirty with ink, glue, paint, glitter, etc. Back to work after I list these and change.