pamgarrison

can't. stop. painting.

I started with one painting and a few paints and kept bringing more boards and paints into the kitchen and now I've lost all control. It's been over a week. My poor family, gotta put it away before the weekend begins. Lost myself in it and was loving every minute of it. Must set up a real painting studio for myself in the garage for the time being. I crave room to be able to be set up to paint with all my supplies whenever the mood strikes and time permits. Add that to the list of must do-s this year. The one above is finished, the ones below are still in progress. I've been working on some smaller ones for the etsy shop too so that the are more reasonably priced to both buy and ship. Fun. Fun. Fun. Feeling very influenced by my friend Syd, who's coming to stay here a couple nights next week. Looking forward to painting with her over at Jenny's new space while taking this class. We'll see what direction I take after that fun, I like the not knowing where I'm going. I love the feel of the paintbrush loaded with paint on the wood,and the feel of  pencil doodling on the paint on the wood, and the mixing of colors and seeing the colors combined, capturing light...the process. Just love getting lost while creating, no matter what the medium.






Hope you get lost in something fun this weekend! xop

new samplers stocked on etsy!

I can't believe it's taken me so long to list these new samplers. I was so giddy when I designed them and recieved the printed fabric, but then, in a desire to stitch a complete sample first, before listing, time got away from me, and a million other projects came in between. Thanks to those of you who have been requesting more samplers, I have gotten them up and listed, and I'll post the finished versions of mine when I complete them. I'm not even letting the poor photos stop me!(I tend to overwhelm myself into "stuck" a lot of the time. As if I'm telling you something you haven't already figured out if you're a blog reader of mine). Anyway, I hope you like them as much as  I do! You can find them over at my etsy shop, pamg.etsy.com

          

You can see I didn't get too far on this one yet, but I'm loving the color scheme I chose of greys, yellows and purples. But of course, you may choose an entirely different set of colors and stitches for an entirely different look.

My friend Heather suggested that I make some letterpress stationary and I think that the orange and purple samplers would make great cards. Anyone have a letterpress printing company that they use and love? I'd like to add it to my list of things to look into. I love anything with a hand drawn font, so maybe others would too. - And yes, still working on the posters...making progess s l o w l y, but surely. xo

queen for the day

As I mentioned on the last post, I'm heading up to the Remnants of the Past Sale to help Amy in her booth this weekend. I've made the painful decision to let go of a few of my special pieces that I've made over the years, in order to reinvest in my art, and am planning on bringing them along to the show. But then I thought I should let you know, in case any of you are interested, as you're my peeps after all, and therefore, you should get first dibs. These crowns were published in Crowns and Tiaras. They're for decorative use only. The beaded beauty above took me about 1,000 hours haha. Ok, not that many, but it sure seemed like it. She's wonky, but that adds to her charm for me. I love the details:

               

And this French Brocante crown below was on the cover of the book it was made for.

I remember being wildly inspired by a recent trip to Wendy Addison's  Theatre of Dreams when I made it, and even used a precious piece of antique burnt orange velvet on the inside (hard to see on the orange pillow, but it's there) that I bought from her. This crown has a little bit of magic weaved into her wire. And all the blood I shed from the chicken wire has been bleached off (just kidding, but man, that chicken wire is hard to work with!) Here's the back:

            
Then for a queen of a different sort, I was involved in another fun project based on Marie Antoinette. I was inspired to create a dress board, imagining Marie approving her gown before the making. This art piece graced the cover of Somerset Studio long ago.

All these pieces hold a special place in my heart, but I'm commited to making some of my new dreams come true, and the truth of the matter is, lots of the things in my way take money, whether it be hiring a serivce, or required technology, or materials, so if I have to let them go to earn it, I will. Doesn't most big growth include a good deal discomfort? It's good for me, I think. And speaking of letting go and growth, I'll get to see my college girl this weekend. Amy didn't have to twish my arm into joining her when I knew I'd be able to see my girl! Hope to see some of you there too, and to those I won't: hope you have a great weekend!

wip paintings and journal pages

                 

            

 

 

More soon, much to report, but just had to get some new eye candy up for those of you kind enough to stop by- I do appreciate you so!

Off to the dentist and then Amy's for the day to help her get ready for her big sale at Judy Watkins'    Remnants of the Past this weekend. I'm going to be her helper, come by and see us if you are in the area!

Happy Monday! xop

p.s.wow, that's a lot of exclamation points. i'm thinking it's going to be a great week :}

in the works

              
Thanks so much for all the love, support and understanding. I savor each and every comment, and gain perspective from them too. I thought it only fair to show you some happy photos of the transition as well as the painful ones from the last post. Above, we were just heading out from home. I said it was the "Prius as clown car" moving method. They look happy here, but started complaining a bit a few hours in of leg cramps haha.

Here is a happy shot of my babies (no matter how old they get, I can call them that, no?)  in her dorm room, pre lunch and ensuing departure.          (She bought her bedding online from Target )

Here I am with my girl as well. Just wanted to show you that the day wasn't all heartache and tears. We are very excited for her, and she is so happy. She worked very hard her whole life to get this opportunity, and we couldn't be more proud and excited (and a wee bit jealous, truth be told) for her and her college experience. {See the poster in the top left corner? It's the one I was working on here. - more on that in a minute} All reports from college are happy happy. She even sent me a first day of school photo as this was the first time in her life I wasn't there to document the moment. (sniffle) We are all adjusting to the change around here. So lucky to live in this age of technology, Skyping makes it easier.

Before she left, I made a plan to recommit to my art making, and to making a business of it, and to getting organized as a focus and direction to grow in when we got home from the move. I had to postpone the immediate jump into it because a couple more pressing extended family issues came up that took all my attention, but now that those have settled, I am excited to really focus on some dreams I've had for years. And the first one came as a result of requests. That's where the snippet of the poster in the above shot comes in. I made the poster and someone pinned it, and from the blog and pinterest, I've gotten so many requests for prints. I am grateful for the interest, and am diligently working on making that happen. I am super excited about it, and have so much enthusiasm that ideas keep popping into my head for many different designs. I have been spending many hours lost in the creating. Want some peeks?

This one makes me think of Kelly Rae and her sweet baby True. {Love that name, love the word, love the meaning.} I've had tons of learning to do in this making prints out of these. Tons. Still learning, still researching. Still trying to find the best, smartest way to end up with the highest quality product. My friend Tammy has been quite generous with her knowledge, this forum on etsy, and I also have found Kelly Rae's info in this particular book very helpful. This post of Kelly Rae's is how I feel right now. Over the years I've learned lots of things, one of which is how much I do not know :). At times I am overwhlemed and find it daunting, but I have promised myself that now is the time to tend to those needs. For me. And hopefully for you, so that finally, I'll have something to offer for those that are interested. Everyone else figures it out and gets it done, there is no reason I can't too, I tell myself. During a phone conversation about art/business with Jenny this week, she said she was recently told by her accountant when she asked if she was the worst client as far as cluelessness, "oh no! there are way worse out there than you" hahahahahha. That cracked me up! That's a new motto for me; when feeling like I know nothing with a capital N, I will remember that I am never as bad as the worst! I'm still laughing at that concept of cheerleading even as I type it! I may suck, but someone sucks worse than me, hahahahhahahaha. Not exactly what I'm going for!

So far, I've taken a few things to a printers to see what the result woud be, both look and cost, and am still waiting on that. But all the research I've done and all the sellers on etsy alone seem to indicate that buying a printer like this one here, is the way to go. Which then means figuring out the scanning; have profesionally done at a printer? photograph? buy a large scanner (super super expensive)?, photoshop? etc. And then there's the buying of all the different papers to see which I like best. They do sell sample packs, but I wish there were somewhere I could go, in person, to feel and see the papers. I hate spending money on researching, seems wasteful.

Next up, how to package. To mat, or no mat, protective bags, mailing tubes or envelopes, sizes to offer, etc. etc. And all my heart yearns to do is go draw and color, so I sneak that in here and there. My reward for sticking to the work.
            

So that's where I've been, and where I'm going right now. Thanks for checking in. xo

such sweet sorrow

We had to let go of our girl this weekend when she moved her into her college dorm...

              
              


                    
                   

                   
                   
                   

                    Dad watches her walk away as I call out one last, "We love you!"

                    I was rewarded with a final  look back and wave:                 
                   

                    Wait!Wasn't she just 1, 5, 10, a minute ago, looking at me just like that?

                     I was there for all of it, but somehow it feels as if I missed much of it.

                     Motherhood. Love. Life. No country for the weak of heart.

          
                   

                       She's wiping her tears here, but kept going...
                  

                     ...and just like that, my first born had flown from the nest.

                     It was as it should be. Life kept going with no matter given to how

                     hard my heart was pounding or how it felt like it was breaking.

                     I know it is the way of life: transitions, growth, letting go, but...

It was a long ride home for the (now) three Garrisons that live there, and a long week as well.  All reports from our Ali girl have been very positive. They are keeping the freshmen very very busy with fun activities. A meltdown might be imminent, as it is a big change and she's getting exhausted. I forewarned her and told her if it does occur, to go straight to sleep; I'm sure it will be badly needed. Now if only her brother's transition to her absence could be solved the same way, Skyping has helped. The process of letting her go reinforced how much we all love her, and she us, in return.  And I'm grateful that no one is afraid to express it. I learned how strong she is; to be wiping away the tears and forcing herself to put a smile on her face and keep walking forward to her bright, shiny future.  She's a brave girl, and I love her and miss her in the nest, but I know it's her time. It just came faster than I ever dreamt it could.

 

But wait, there's more.....

As a reward for those of you who patiently indulged me this long, non creating-related post:

I found this hi-lar-i-ous photo when looking for the old ones above. In it I'm 2 weeks over due with my now 12 year old son. Wahhhaaahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahha. That looks painful, doesn't it? Can you see the stranger waiting behind my husband's back? (click on it, it gets bigger) I'd love to know what she was thinking, probably wondering what in the world I was doing miniature golfing in that condition. I can't say I blame her!

journaling, august 2011

Often times, when I go to photograph recent journaling to share here on the blog, my favorite photos are those that show bits of the pages. I don't love the way I capture full pages or spreads; they lose something in translation. I know this is true, because people who page through my journals in person tell me so as well. It's a good challenge, as there are many journal artists that do photograph their pages and spreads and are able to express the soul in them. I'll keep working on it and in the meantime, I'll indulge my desire to hone in on favorites parts.

 

(above- if you click on the photo, it will become almost full screen, that seems to help)

I love these pages right now, as is, and may choose not to add to them any further. Then again, maybe I will...

More close ups. Many of these pages began as class demos.

This page below left was done by my nephew Jack. When I was teaching I spent the night at his house in between class days, and begged him to draw in my book. The left page is self explanatory, the right page is with me adding to it. He drew a very geometric shape, and when I asked him to tell me about it, he said, "I just felt like it". Perfect answer. But I didn't love it, so permitted myself to paint on top and turn his geometric design into a flower. A joint effort, and I love it for that very reason.

These three close ups belong to the spread below them.

Above it is in progress. It started it's life as a class demo of many different techniques, and later, at home, turned into this:

             
 
I snuck in a lot of journaling time this past month. Teaching forces me to allow the time, just like it does everyone else. And I am always happier for the time spent playing, even if I don't love the result. I can always find a pleasing close up to focus on after all :). It really is about the journey, the process, the discovery.

me? so lucky

(How funny is this old tintype lady? She is currently residing in a big old pocket watch case.)

As you probably know by now, Amy Hanna and I are good pals. But, even though we live only 30 minutes apart and share a love for all things creative, we rarely have a chance to get together, especially for some art. But last week we finally made some time to get together and work on some of my jewelry. She came over months and months ago and we picked through my jewelry box of treasures collected over the years; many when I've been with her at flea markets, even flea markets in Paris, but I've never followed through with the jewelry making. Months went by and we finally squeezed in a little playtime again. Look at all the treasures I ended up with after a day turned into night turned into the next day (1:30am!): 7 new necklaces and one bracelet. I am thrilled to say the least.

Here's a photo of the aftermath above, taken the day after . Below are some yummy bits I've collected over the years. Amy is a jewelry genius, everything she makes is stunning, but I believe her true gift, other than her appreciation for the items, is her unique way of seeing them and figuring out how to use unusual items and what to combine them with. Even though I had the love for the items and collected them, I was lost when it came to putting them together.

What was a challenge to me, was exciting and stimulating for Amy. Oh how I love creative brains and how differently they all work!

If you're jealous of my hours of fun creating with Amy, having her look through my jewelry box and tell me how she sees the pieces coming together, no need. You too can spend the day with her making jewelry. She's teaching at Gina's Artinfusio in Malibu, info here.  If you take the class, ask her for my made up term for having the guts to wear really big, or different pieces :). We were a little punchy by 1 in the morning!

seriously?

3 weeks since I've posted? Seriously? What is wrong with me?!?! Sometimes I haven't posted for so long that I get overwhlemed at the thought of "catching up" and put it off another day, and that can go on for days and days.  It's so silly because what I should do is just jump in. It's this weird "start at the beginning and do it from begining to end to do it correctly" thinking trap I fall into. It's hard to explain it, but it seems to be an effective way of overwhelming myself into inaction. (Add it to the list of things to work on. And no, I don't even know where the beginning of that list is!) So today, I'm just letting that go and jumping back in.

For one of the weeks I was teaching journaling at Gina's Artinfusio, which was a great weekend filled with another set of great artists. I have Gina to thank for the hosting and sharing her photos:

Thank you Gina!!

We had so much fun we decided to plan a holiday themed day of fun in December in her beautiful room with a view of the Pacific.  I'll be teaching along with Amy Hanna, and Gina will be hosting again with a luncheon and giveaways and a trunk show by all...but more on that another day. If I don't press publish now, this post may never get done! xo

 

we found sea shells

We found seashells on the South Carolina sea shore. Here's what we found right on the beach where we were staying. Fun, because it's pretty rare that we find shells on our Southern California beaches. It's also usually illegal to collect them on the beaches that do have them here (like all the beaches in Laguna). We didn't have many chances to go looking, and we didn't find many whole shells, but that didn't stop us. My favorites are the plaid pieces outside the jar, they are so smooth and silky feeling, and the plaid is so pretty. We didn't find any shark's teeth, and seeing a fellow searcher's three she found that morning explained why; they were minuscule.

My friend Sally and I did make it to Fox & Hound and B&B Antiques, (thank you Paulette for the research and comment), and I came home with this tiny mum tin for my air sickness patches, and a cute hanky to add to some embroidery samplers. And this funky little handmade piggy bank box shown below.

And my favorite finds were these art books.  At $2.00 a piece they will be fantastic journal collage fodder.

And that was it, all for under $20.00. I'm home, they are unpacked, and I'm digging to cut into the art books, but laundry first, creating later.

As always, I'm happy to be home, and it looks like we brought some of the weather with us; we woke up to rain today!

greetings from the road

I got caught out in the rain yesterday and loved every minute of it. We're on the other side of the country and for us Californians, thunder and lightning and giant rainstorms that arise out of the blue are just plain fun. Of course, you know, the storm lost a little bit of it's luster when certain scheduled events were cancelled, but only a little bit. I started the morning searching for shark's teeth on the beach (no luck, ...yet) and finished it watching our gang of boys play baseball. A very different, yet surprisingly fun, vacation for us all.

So, anyone know any places we should be sure to shell hunt, sea glass/pottery chard hunt, junk shop, antique, eat, etc. in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina? Just in case any games get rained out due to unexpected lightning storms? ( That is when I'm not trying to catch the storm on video for pet/house sitter that hasn't seen lightning in years- I'm finding it really hard to capture the excitement of the storms. I won't even bore you with the video here. I guess there's no substitute for experiencing things for yourself, no matter how good technology gets; and there's something very comforting about that!)

journal love

Had myself a whole bunch of fun last night until 2am and more today...making a brand new journal. Oh how I LOVE a new journal!

This one is huge and full of all white fabriano uno hot press 140lb water color paper. A little bit of heaven in the form of a journal. I remembered to take a photo in progress:

For this journal I used a painting on an artist canvas pannel for the back and cut a piece of chipboard from the back of my giftwrap set produced by Papayaart.com. I will definitely be using that board again for a few journals, I love how thick and sturdy it is. Here I am getting ready to sew in the four signatures. It's my least favorite part, truth be told, but so worth all the hard work when done!

I had to take it outside to get a good shot, the daylight was waning.

I don't think this gives you a sense for the size, so I took this photo...pretty much goes from my hip to my collarbone.

          

{Definitely no daylight when shooting this inside; amazing what digital editing can do with an underexposed photo.} It's huge if you can't tell- 11x14. Here's a shot of the spine, nice and thick at 2".

I took a friend's advice and used my Uppercase magazines as collage fodder. I love that magazine. (It might be the only magazine I subscribe to, actually, that's how much I love it, but more on that another day.) That is where the "The recipe: genius + madness" came from among other things. The cute spring chicken card was a birthday card from Target.

If you will be in Malibu next month for my journaling classes, I'll have this baby with me. We'll be making journals on Saturday and playing in them all day Sunday. There are a couple of spaces open on Saturday, and one on Sunday, so it's not too late to join in the fun!

 

thanks ladies!

I had lots of fun teaching at Jenny's last weekend. Here are shots of the whole gang both Saturday and Sunday.

Many friends from previous classes, and lots of new ones too. I always love to spend time with artists. Each person is unique and to see all the different styles/thoughts/ideas show up in their work is so fun. As with most events, I didn't take one photo (thank you Jenny for sharing these)...I just feel like I forget to document, I'm so into the creating. Anyway, I wanted to thank each and every one of you that came to play. And a special thank you to Jenny and her family too, who were most generous to share their time and home with us so that we could play the day away. If you were there and posted your work anywhere we can see online, please leave a link in the comments. xop

helllloooo!

Please pardon my long absence! We've been very busy around here with all the events before during and after the celebration of our graduate! What a fun whirlwind it has been.

Turning the tassles....and then...tossing the caps into the air  Some of my shots aren't in focus, I was far, far away in the stands, but I love this shot just the same. Can you see my girl? She has a light blue sash on. The shot of her tossing her cap reminds of the Mary Tyler Moore show opening. I know, many of you never saw that show, it was before your time. Don't remind me of my age, having a daughter graduate high school is reminder enough ;).

 
She is posing for someone else's parents, I'm still too far away.

Yay! Captured her excitement pretty well as we found her right after.

Finding Daddy as she came off the field.

 

Aunt and cousin come from afar to celebrate.

Even Mom and brother feel like celebrating. Graduating felt like a family accomplishment. All for one and one for all, right?

Finding her friends. "We did it!"

   

More friends came to show their support (having already graduated last year).

Honorary Aunt and Uncle make the trek too.

I am so proud of our girl, she is such an amazing person.

We arrived home to dear friends bringing a feast for all. How kind is that?!? I must remember to do that for friends whose kids graduate! Seriously thoughtful. We were all starving too, and there was no time for dinner out before she had to rush out for grad night.

Another honorary Aunt shares the love.

Proud Papa.

A great time was had by all celebrating our girl. She is so lucky to have so much love in her life!

And shortly after this photo, (it was pitch black, edited so you can see their faces) Mom went to bed, too pooped to pip, but with the alarm set to pick her up from grad night bus at 5:30am...um, why? why can't they return back from their big night of fun at say, 7am? Oh well, one last parental act to conclude those years of education I suppose.

 

etsy restocked with happy day samplers

pamg.etsy.com

another group of albums and supplies

One more round of letting go all that I have been  saving for that ellusive "someday". Available over at pamg.etsy.com.

getting ready

         

Full Tilt Boogie Sneak Peek! from MAM on Vimeo.

 Mary Ann Moss is at it again. She's developed a new class that went on sale today. Love it. Above you see her promo video. If you plan to partake and haven't gotten your Victorian cabinet card album yet, I've just listed some on etsy.

I went searching for the one I am going to use in the class, and realized I have too many books that I have "plans" for. As I'm doing a clean out, a friend said, "don't save things that you want to use someday." That's my big problem; I see potential in far too many things! Well, I acknowledge I have taken this envisioning way too far. Too much to feel organized, and I am tired tired tired of feeling disorganized. Baby steps.

samplers restocked and journal pages

           

This page looks very different than my usual style, because I was doing an excercise I learned while in Theo Ellsworth's class at Artfest one year. I wrote about it here (scroll down a bit) . I find it to be a really fun exercise. When I'd filled in all the scratch marks it looked to me like a sun, a sad girl, a happy dog and a man. I would have never drawn these characters without doing this exercise and "finding them", love that.

         

And finally, the "happy day" samplers are back in stock over at my etsy. Thanks for waiting if you had wanted one. If there's demand, I can always do another order. :)

{Ed: Thanks again for purchasing. More have been reordered! Should be in late June}

giant book of big dreams cont.

   

Here's where the cover is today...still playing around with it. I'm thinking that I"m going to cover it in doodles and then protect it by covering those with clear packing tape...but maybe not. Since it's my private book, maybe I won't put tape on it for protection. 

Here's a peek at the inside:

While I was working on it, my daughter commented, "that's cool mom"...{whaaaaattt? is she coming around to appreciating my doodles?} Then she really surprised me by asking for one for her dorm room. Nothing would make me happier! She just wants a small poster, not a book to put in dreams, so I made two, and let her choose before I personalized it. Here's the one she picked:

   
And here's the other one (I'm still working on both):

   

    
I'm really enjoying doodling on such a large scale. I'm thinking about making a few more and then having some prints made for the etsy shop. Anyone have a printing method they recommend (if it's not top secret, of course)? I don't know if it'd be reasonable cost wise, but I want to look into it.

{Ed: thank you so much for all your interest for prints! !!!  I am working on it and     they will be in my etsy shop sometime in    November. I'll be sure to post a notice on   the blog as well. }   

Prints are finally available in my etsy shop! Thank you so much for all the interest and encouragement!!!

happy memorial day

giant book of big dreams

I started a new project today. Like so many of my projects, it was unplanned. Here's how I ended up where you see it in progress above:

I ordered some new watercolor paper to make some new journals and thought I was ordering 10 pieces of what I always do, Fabriano Artistico 140lb hot press, but mistakenly ordered Fabriano Artistico 300lb hot press.  Such a drag! I'm horrible at returning items; I'd much rather be very very careful when purchasing anything, anywhere, than have to do a return. Ugh, hate returns. Add that to the thought of  how to return the giant package of paper that I'd already opened and the shipping process of it all, and I found myself motivated to find a way turn it into a happy art accident.

           

I cut it in half (too thick for me to tear, I tried), so it was then two sheets of  11x15". I folded each in half width wise and ran a ruler along the edge for a crisp fold. They reminded me of a very large pair of journal pages, and I decided to turn it into a big book of dreams and wishes. I'm having lots of fun. Here's where it was earlier today, placed on a chair so you can get a sense of size.

            

It looks different now, (you know I can't leave well enough alone,) but's too dark to photo, I'll take some more and show you soon. I plan on writing every single wish and dream that I want to manifest in my life in there. We'll see how many pages that takes. As the long weekend approaches, I'm happy to have a new project to play on. Here's to happy accidents! Hope you enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend!

recent journaling pages

 



 

pablo says

inspired birthdays

Amy Powers has a new Inspired Ideas issue available. It's the Birthday Edition. Here's a peek at my project:

 
I hope you enjoy it. Lot's of great birthday party inspiration in Amy's online magazine, all for only $3.30!

artists united with love for japan

Crescendoh is about art saving people, spirits, hope. With that in mind, Jenny Doh, Lynne Perella, and Rebecca Sower  helped Crescendoh put together an auction to raise money for Japan.Go here to see more and bid.
 

For those of you that saw my piece in progress and left such good ideas, thank you! Each ideas was good, which left me wanting to follow each suggestion. In the end, I left the piece as it was; crushed antique red velvet hand sewn onto vintage linen, but put in a beautiful antique frame that Amy had given to me. When it fit so perfectly,  it seemed meant to be. Here it is in it's frame, but know it's much more beautiful in  person, I have such a hard time photographing the color red!

more local teaching news

I'm teaching one more time locally. It's art journaling, for those that  journal or want to start. I'll be at Gina's amazing classroom overlooking the sea, all the info is here. Hope you can join us for both days or one! Since these classes are somewhat local for me, I'll be bringing lots and lots of my journals and you can feel free to look through them and ask me any questions you have. {I'll also bring my stitching and non-journaling things for you to look at, and I'll even have some original things for sale.} I'll be demoing everything I do in my journals, right alongside you, so you can find some new journaling loves while we play the days away.

 
  

  

I think that is it for my teaching this year, so I really hope you can join us!!!

my birthday boy

You've heard me say it 100 times regarding both my babies:

it's gone too fast!!!!

(p.s. photo taken with a Canon Rebel, FILM camera...not only my boy has changed a lot over the years! )

Where is my baby boy? How could he be this big now, officially 12 years old? 

He's a lucky little boy too; at his baseball game last night, he hit his first homerun this year...on his birthday!!!  How fun is that?!? Very, and I have the photos that show it:

 

 

Making the experience even better, his teammates were so excited, and even his friends and parents on the other team were happy for him, knowing it was his birthday. It was very sweet, because we all realize, as far as they are from the baby at the top, they are still just little boys. For a little bit longer...

teaching locally

I'm teaching a journaling class locally for the first time ever. Here's all the info:

Art Journaling with Pam Garrison
An All-Day Workshop

Join artist Pam Garrison at the home studio of Jenny Doh on Saturday, July 9, 2011 or Sunday, July 10, 2011 for a very special all-day workshop. Pam will guide students with her unique style of art journaling and introduce the various materials and techniques she uses to create her unique pages. She'll bring lots of her journals for you to look through and answer any questions you have about how the books or pages were created. Whether you are an avid art journaler or have never begun, this class is for you! She'll also have various hand made creations and supplies available at a private trunk sale, just for attendees.

SCHEDULE:

• Arrive & Settle: 8:30 :: Time for students to arrive, settle in, and grab a cup of coffee.
• Class Segment A: 9:00-12:00 :: Class time with Pam Garrison who will demonstrate and guide the first part of class.
• Lunch & optional walk: 12:00 PM :: You can choose to brown bag it or decide on a catered lunch option* and then weather permitting, take a walk in a scenic, historic Santa Ana neighborhood and park.
• Class Segment B: 1:00-4:00 PM :: Class time with Pam Garrison who will demonstrate and guide the second part of class.
• Show & Tell, Clean-Up & Depart: 4:00-5:00 PM

NOTES:

• In order to optimize a quality learning experience, class size is very limited. First come, first served.
• Each student will receive a class kit created by Pam.
• Students are asked to bring the following items to class:
  • Favorite pens, pencils, markers and other journaling supplies
  • Journal - either new or one that you have been working on
  • A few collage materials, (paper scraps, clip art, ephemera, photos)

Please don't buy anything new just for the class! We'll share and work with what you already have.

• If you'd like to purchase a catered lunch, please purchase the class with catered lunch option.
• Pam will have a limited number of original art items on hand for those interested in purchasing her art.
• The class location is in Santa Ana, California. The address will be provided upon purchase of class.
• Due to limited class size, the spot for this class is transferable but payment is non-refundable.

I'm looking forward to spending the day creating, journaling, exploring art journaling with some of you, either Saturday or Sunday, and since it's so close to home, I'm bringing along a lot of supplies and hand made items for sale to boot! The link to sign up is here, or hit the "teaching" tab above my photo at left.

{Edited: both classes SOLD OUT,  thanks for the enthusiasm!}

Good news: Gina has invited me to teach in her Malibu haven, details to come soon.  I'll be there teaching two journaling workshops Saturday and Sunday August 13th and 14th. Lots more spaces at this venue, I'll post here on the blog when the class link is available for purchase.

 

sketchbooks

Remember this post where I showed you some of my Sketchbook Project 2011 pages? Well, ever since participating in it, I've continued to play in the same little Moleskine books. I happen to like the crinkle of the paper once it's been painted and glued on. I know many participants did not love using the books, and I agree the bleeding through from other pages can be annoying, but still, for the price and size I think it makes a great little sketchbook. So, here are some pages from the two Moleskine books I am using now.

I just signed up for The Sketchbook Project 2012, and you can too if it sounds fun. For those of you that didn't like the books of 2011, they say they are changing the book:

• 5.25 W x 7.25 H
• 100% recycled paper
• 70lb text stock
• 32 pages

"Sketchbookers spoke and we listened! This year, Art House created a custom-designed sketchbook in collaboration with Scout Books featuring a host of improvements and a greener footprint. This year's official Sketchbook Project book is made from high quality 100% recycled paper milled in the Pacific Northwest, printed with vegetable-based inks and produced with renewable energy. We've also improved the weight and texture of the paper, enhanced the strength of the cover and selected wire saddle stitching so that each book is easier to rebind if necessary. We're proud to say that these are the best books we've ever been able to offer for the Sketchbook Project – thanks to feedback from hundreds of members of the Art House community."

Off to the baseball game... of course, it's coming with me, it's a great book to pull out and inconspicuously doodle in. Always have to have one black pen and something to doodle on!

i ♥ pinterest

Totally head over heels in love with Pinterest.  It's this idea collector's dream filing system. Like magazine tear sheets I'll actually be able to find when I want to, only they're held out in space, not on my computer, and not piling up somewhere in my house. Have you been yet? You can go here and request an invite. And if you get impatient waiting for one (it's a popular site), I heard that emailing and asking for it to be rushed along can be helpful. Anyway, it's a great virtual "idea file" and such an easily organized one at that. Another great thing? It keeps the link for the original photo with it as it gets shared, so it is so much easier to give credit than other web idea-saving systems that I've seen. You can click on my link at the right to see my files. I've still a lot to learn about the ins and outs of it, but it's not stopping me from building my dream house file etc. Maybe you'll like it too...