Regalo Per Me ZNE Convenzione 2009

Brandi Butcher-Isley took my "Regalo Per Me" Make and Take Class at the Zne Convenzione Vendor Fair! How exciting was that. Brandi is an expert at making marks on her collage pieces with unusual items. Do not leave a shot glass, starbucks cup holder, old or new toothbrush, or other unusually textured or shaped item laying about. It will be dipped in acrylic paint and voila! an exciting mark will be added to her work. I had the pleasure of showing her how to do the stampers emboss resist method. She's a very attentive student. ( And a fabulous artist and instructor.)

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Emobss resist is pretty simple really, as with most techniques, basic instructions and the right tools get the job done. Stamp your image on your paper with a watermark or versamark ink. Sprinkle clear embossing power, heat with your embossing tool, allow to cool for a moment. Using a sponge, paper towel or other ink applicator ( your fingers work) apply ink. The embossed image will resist the ink. Continue to apply ink until you get the desired result. It's fun to use a couple of colors. Don't be afraid to apply some serious color on your paper. Or you may like a more pastel effect. You can also stamp some images with ink to your paper, before stamping with the water mark ink and embossing....those images will show through the embossed areas.

One of my shy participants added her own flair to her project. She would only let me photograph the end results.

All of the participants were very creative! And quick studies. I think they have stamped before!

Grandmother and Granddaughter made a Mother's Day Card together. Very nice!

What a wonderful group of participants!

Marcia Harmon's Cottage Jewel : ZNE Convenzione Field Trip

Just when I thought it was safe to put the wallet away, we traveled on down the road to Danville to Marcia Harmon's Cottage Jewel. A wonderful store full of jewels, linens, photos, and goodies, too numerous to list, all from a vintage era past. Sigh...and displayed so delightfully. I couldn't stop taking photos. I'll let them speak for themselves ( the photos). I ended up with some vintage photos, one a souvenir from Fisherman's Wharf, a vintage silver Ethiopian ear ring and a little silver and enameled watering can pin. ( It of course had sunflowers in it and I had to have it.) Marcia was so thoughtful to let me take photos of all her colorful vignettes.

Chel checks out the wares, while I surprise Marcia with a photo.

Pretty in Pink

Symphony in White

Bingo Cards with vintage buttons and baubles.

Marcia hams it up for the photographer, she wants you to have one of her cards.

very cool photo op.

Julee finds something cool and needs to have its photo snapped.

Coiled wire @ ZNE Convenzione with Ruth Rae

Yet another amazing class with an amazing artist, Ruth Rae. We made these delightful necklaces from 16, 18, 20 gauge copper wire. Yes, bare naked straight pieces of wire that we coiled up in secret ways using a drill. POWER TOOLS RULE! And we used sharp metal things to cut with. Ok, lots of pliers and wire cutters. I"m still amazed by how this piece came together. Ruth was so patient with all of us as we did weird things to our jump rings and grimaced at the drill. My first real adventure in jewelery making, beyond stretchy cord and beads. I love it! Ok, now where has my dh hidden the drill? Check out this link to Ruth's blog. That's me seated at the back left of the photo!

The Free Spirit Style of Brandi Butcher-Isley

Who would have thought that dripping paint, making marks with bubble wrap, or painting with a shot glass rim could produce such delightful results. I had the pleasure of taking a class at the ZNE Convenzione with the talented Brandi Butcher-Isley. Those were just a few of the mark making and background techniques that we learned. I was able to create 3 projects. All feature vintage photos of my father. I think they may need to have some further additions, but right now, I am going to let them "rest" and contemplate further action. I like them like they are. But I want to do more, similar work with the same images.

ZNE Convenzione 2009

Wednesday, I'll be heading off for California, to attend the 2nd ZNE Convenzione. I've spent the last 2 months neck deep in BRO and church projects. Writing grants for the BRO, shopping for toys, organizing an Easter Egg Hunt, Spring Fest ( the weekend after I get back), a weekend trip to Oklahoma City with my family to visit my aunt ( 94 years young), BRO Games Party, Jon Troast concert. Whewwwwww.....glad I'm retired, and happy to heading out of town. ( But you know about all the prep it takes to leave town. ) Yikes! I'm glad Rick is staying home with the doggies!



Of course any trip with mixed media artists requires some art work prior to leaving town. My Blue Dawg at the top of the page is my Artist Trading Card (ATC's measure 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches) I'm going to be swapping with other participants at the Convenzione. On down the page are 4 examples of Chunky book pages, that I sent out last month, they meaure 4 by 4 inches and will be put in a book that all the contributors will receive. The last project is a small of a "make and take" mini-workshop that I will present on Saturday and Sunday. It measures 6 by 6 inches and opens up from the middle....like a box.....kinda cool if I do say so myself. The participants will have several stamp designs to choose from. My first endeavor at presenting at this sort of event. Prayers appreciated.

These 4 by 4 pages were fun, the girl is from a stamp from RED LEAD Paperworks in ST. Louis. A great store and website. Type REd Lead St. Louis in your search engine. The butterflies are from some old Current Stationary that we found in my mother's stash of goodies.The polka dotted background was made with bubble wrap and gesso.

The ZNE All Heart page was fun too. The giant heart being carried by that little guy is a USPS Stamp cover. You've seen the booklets of 20 or so stamps, with the hearts. Well, that's the front cover. I purchased stamps for the BRO for our newsletter. We send out about 500. I love the American Flag but am really bored with the flag stamps. We mailed them around Valentines Day, so these were perfect and I recycled the stamp image on to my Chunky Book pages.

I hope to post some photos of the trip, and some of the exciting projects and classes and events.

More to follow, of course.

Be An Opener of Doors

Be an opener of doors.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love blue, and I love this blue door. Across the street from Wendy Addison't studio and shop, in Port Costa, California. One of many photos from my time at ZNE CONVENZIONE.

How are you an opener of doors? Literally and figuratively.

Just think about it.

Wendy Addison's Studio

Wendy Addison's shop and studio, was the venue for ZNE Convenzione's special field trip for Monday August 25. Armed with mapquest directions and GPS, this brave midwesterner, plunged into traffic with a car full of mixed media artists from west of the Mississippi and headed to Port Costa, California to The Theatre of Dreams. We shopped for lovely ephemera, vintage silk ribbons, and anything that the gifted Wendy may have touched. Wendy was incredibly gracious, allowing all of us to take photos of every nook and cranny to be had in her shop and studio. You could just breathe in the creativity, it was in everything, from a casual collection of stuff waiting to be altered into art in her studio, to the lovely displays throughout her shop! Stop in some day if you get the chance, and soak in the ambiance, I'm hoping some of it rubbed off on me!

Gridlocked - ZNE Convenzione Workshop

Here it is! My first art retreat project...ever in my entire life! Wheww.....I took a wonderful class with Lisa Kaus and we learned to use her style of "grid" collage..which I'm loving more and more. The finish is beeswax. So....what did I learn. A little structure in layout'design, use and techniques of fluid acrylics...(yes, more supplies needed now) and graphite pencils/crayons, how to attach 3-d embellishments, and beeswax techniques using a heat tool and mini iron. Lisa was delightful, very calming, gracious, generous, encouraging. I loved how she walked around the room offering praise, encouragement and and suggestions. She would "ask" if she could show you something on your art...and then would demonstrate, without intruding on your work. An excellent example of teaching!!!! If you are related to me or among my close friends in St. Louis ( or around the world). Plan on being tormented with a new style of art!!!

We Are Famous Glamorous ZAFTIG Artists

More ZAFTIG Book Pages for the ZNE Convenzione Swap. This is the "WE are Famous Glamorous Artist" Collection. As I have mentioned, I am using the infamous "supplies on hand" stash of stuff! I had coffee/tea stained, these tags for my soldered scrabble tiles for the Charm swap at the Castle in early June, and had a few left. I made several of the page with the old car and the checked background. The photo is of my dad and his sister, mother and step grandfather. I had printed a page full for some special project that would present itself...and here it is. There are several versions of it with different sized photos or different colored ribbon. The checked background is from the vintage playing card stash...what don't I have a stash of in the basement?

The Tea party scene is a ZNE collage sheet image. And the chip board heart is from some Valentine ATCs I made and actually sold on ebay several years ago. The twin girls and girl-y threesome are Dover clip art images that had been hanging around waiting to embellish a project. The background paper with the twins is from my nephew's rehersal dinner invitations that I made two years ago.

The stamp "we are famous glamorous artists" is from Stamp Francisco. The ribbons and fibers are from my ribbon and fiber stash, of course!

There is still time to sign up for the swap and get your pages in the mail, if you can't attend the convenzione!

ZAFTIG - Under Construction

Under construction! Finally time to work on some art. These are chunky book pages. Zaftig Chunky Book Pages. So...the book will be deliciously plump, and carry its extra weight very well! AHHH don't you love that definition!

zaftig : Deliciously plump, or carrying your extra weight very well.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zaftig

Zaftig Chunky Book pages measure 4 by 4 inches. One should allow about 1/4 - 1/2 inch on the left side for binding. I'm suppose to make 30. Here is what has happened so far. I have posted a couple before, but I have since added to them. Some of these are still under construction.

These are going to be sent off to California in a couple of weeks! ( Before July 19, as I am heading out on the mission trip with church that day...we're heading to Gulfport, Mississippi to work with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Wow....that's coming up here pretty quickly, we'll be back July 26.)

I digress...of course. I am trying to make the pages from "supplies on hand". There is an over abundance of "supplies on hand". But if you are an artist/craft person, you know the hazards of a new project and the desire that over comes your common sense and makes you head out to Red Lead or one of those cool on-line stores like Altered Abbey, and you just have to buy something new for the occasion, with some women it's shoes. I can't find shoes to fit, but I can find art supplies .....no problem!

Plus, with the money I save...lol....I'll have that much more to spend at the Art, Paperie & Pleasantries Fair held on Sunday August 24, in Pleasanton, California. ( Yet another ZNE Convenzione Event!)

The Zaftig Book Swap is another exciting feature of the ZNE Convenzione!