The Craft + Hobby Association

I meant to share this earlier, but I changed my password and couldn't remember what I changed it to! Oh the joys of growing old. I've been going to the Craft + Hobby Association Meetings for about 10 years now. Originally there were 3 various meetings a year associated with crafts but now it's whittled down to 1 where most manufacturers go and a 2nd where some go.

I always LOVE to see what the manufacturers come up with, this year the Lion Brand Yarn Booth had this super cool HUGE iPhone. I think it's the iPhone 47 -- cause by the time that one comes around I'll be about blind and need it. This one even has a lovely yarn cozy. LOL

I was at the show this year with Art-C and they were giving out these sweet bags. I incorporated them into my demo to make them a little more colorful.

My colleague and friend Mandy Collins from Pearl Maple spent many hours hatching great plans for future issues of Mixed Media. The 5th will be coming out at the end of March so stay tuned!

One of my favorite things to do in Anaheim is go to PF Changs. They let you take the chopsticks home and the food is so good.

I even got my picture taken with the Duck Dynasty people!

All in all, it was a great week of connecting with old friends, making new ones and seeing the new products that are in the pipeline!

Have a great weekend and thank you so much for stopping by.

The Positivity Project

I finally had a minute to photograph and put together a little video slide show of pages from my Positivity Project Journal using my stamps from Art Gone Wild.

You can see a tutorial for some backgrounds here, on the Ranger blog, you'll recognize some of the pages. I'll be posting some detailed instructions for some of the uncolored pages as soon as I find a minute or two to add some color (plus I'm waiting on some cool new paints to play with!) so you can see how I do that.

You can easily pause the video if you want to spend more time looking at the images or need the stamp set information!

And finally, if you are interested; you can purchase stamps from my Etsy shop.

And, if you're interested, here's a fun video I created at the Craft and Hobby Association meeting last week in California!

THANKS for dropping by, have a great day!

Positivity -- My #OLW!

The first week of January I spent every moment working on my grid pages for my Artful Life Planner, I really wanted to seal the word positivity into my brain and heart. You know, activate that muscle memory.

Honestly though, I need to get back on the wagon. With all the travel and work I haven't done much for a week. As each day passes it feels easy to fall into the trap of negativity, and honestly; I don't want to go there.

I think I'll spend the rest of the week playing as much as I can on some new pages, in my planner and my new journal to renew and revive my dedication to positivity for 2015.

One of the things I've been doing, because I haven't been able to dedicate any time to drawing and quotes -- to try and keep the positivity alive and well is, when a person asks me how I am I reply, I am awesome, thanks for asking. How about you. Even when I don't feel awesome, I really think it works and the conversation that starts is usually pretty uplifting.

Honestly though, these days I've been feeling pretty awesome, but the additional reminder brings to mind some pretty awesome things I have in the works. So many people try to drag you down, for no reason other than the fact that they are miserable, or jealous -  and having positive mantras and quotes to look at and recite helps keep a positive mind and get rid of those turkeys.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by, I hope you have a positive week!

My Artful Life Planner

I haven't had as much time to work on My Artful Life planner as I like in the last week or so, but thought I'd share some of the pages I've  colored -- in the effort to try to get a bit caught up. I always use a mix of watercolor paints, markers, colored pencils and Gelly pens. They all look so lovely together!

To purchase a completed planner, visit my Etsy Shop, link to the left. To purchase the download and free class, visit my on-line class website, Merrymeeting Art House. 

Enjoy your weekend, thanks for dropping by!

Not a Fan of Waiting...

I'm not very patient, and waiting in the ER for our turn to be seen when it's busy isn't my idea of a fun time.

Bringing my positivity journal and some markers really helps pass the time! Thankfully there were no broken bones and we only had to wait a few hours to find out.

Have a great day -- and be prepared for anything with a travel kit always at the ready!

Crazy Christmas Packages

 

Now that Christmas is over, I thought I'd share a fun way that I "wrapped" up a money gift for my Dad.  I'm not a fan of giving gift certificates or money, but when someone has everything they need, it kinda makes sense.

This year, to make it interesting I bought a can of beans, cheap ones and used that to wrap the cash we gave my Dad. I used a can opener to open the bottom, the kind that leaves no sharp edges and washed it out.

Then I put some rice in a plastic bag inside the clean can, added the cash and used craft glue to glue the bottom back on.

In order for him to open it, he had to use a can opener.  It was kinda funny because he had a little trouble with the can opener and my Mom had to get involved.

It was a fun way to make opening a boring gift like money a little exciting. Thanks for dropping by, have a great day!

Where ever…

Sharing a quick sketch I did for a friend. Can't wait to see how she colors it.

Where ever we are, it is friends that make our world. 

Have a creative day, thanks for dropping by!

Merrymeeting Art House Winter Camp

Last week I held the first ever kids camp at the studio, and it was an amazing day. The girls arrived ready for a creative and fun day. It really could not have been any more fun or better !

They made necklaces, journals and a painting.

Each one created beautiful art -- and they weren't worried about what any one else created.

It was lovely to see them smile and really get creative with color.

I don't know about them, but I'm looking forward to the next camp day!

Have a great day all, thanks for dropping by!

It's my TURN -- Creative JumpStart 2015!!

If you haven't signed up for Creative JumpStart 2015 yet you should!! Today's my day, so be sure to head on over and see what all the buzz is about! 

My Artful Life Planner

Good morning, and happy 5th of January. Today I wanted to share some of the pages I've been working on in "My Artful Life Planner". (I have a few kits left and available in my etsy shop, you can follow the link to purchase a kit or click on the link to my store on the left side of the page.)

Here's the introduction page -- where I've combined my OLW for 2015 -- "positivity" in the space in the center of the flower. This space could be used for journaling, a photo or whatever. I used Tombow Dual Tip markers, colored pencils, and Gelly Roll Pens to color this page in.

Here's the first page after the 2014-2015 Calender. I used watercolor paint for the background and Sakura Gelly Roll pens for the lettering and other details.

I really love the way some of the Hobonichi Planners look, but didn't want to start ANOTHER book for little drawings. Since My Artful Life planner has plenty of blank space, I decided to make them grid pages where I'd mix little drawings with my OLW 2015 Quotes.

Here's the first in-progress page.

 
And the first completed Grid Page. I used a lot of different things for coloring these little gems in.  

And the second in-progress grid page.

 

There are only 2 kits left in my Etsy shop that include everything you need to create your own planner, and they're on sale. I've decided not to reprint this planner this year, so you should get one while supplies last. 

For more inspiration, check out Tina Walker's blog and 2015 Challenge here: A Dog's Life: A new Monthly Art Journal Planner.  She's off to a great start!! 

Thanks for dropping by, have a lovely day! 

I don't know….

When it rains, 

look for rainbows.
 

When it's dark, 

look for stars.  

When you are happy, 

draw flowers!

Have a great day, thanks for dropping by today!

Creative Jump Start -- starts TODAY!

Happy New Year friends! This year I'm going to make creativity and positivity more of a priority -- and one of those ways is by trying to share more creative projects I'm involved in. Which brings me to Creative Jump Start.

This is the 4th Year that I've been invited to play with Nathalie Kalbach in this fun project -- and you don't want to miss this one! If you haven't signed up yet, it's not to late.  Take a minute to head on over to N*Studio, watch the trailer and sign up today so you don’t miss it – it is going to be awesome and filled with lots of Mixed Media Creative Fun! And did you know that if you signed up for Creative JumpStart 2015 that you can access the welcome page and explore a bit more about it?

CJS starts today -- so head on over and sign up so you don't miss anything! 

Thank you for dropping by, sending the best of wishes to you for a happy and successful 2015.