pamgarrison

holiday with matthew mead

Holiday news? I know, it seems early, but you know that's how the publishing world works, right? 

So, even though it seems ages away, I'm happy to mention that I will be one of the guest contributors to Holiday with Matthew Mead, a new Holiday "book-a-zine, (not quite a book, but much more than a magazine), that celebrates the Christmas holiday with 144 pages of inspiration, that will be released in October, 2010.

You can order your own copy here, or head over to enter all sorts of different give-aways on their blog. And you'll want to keep checking in, as the team over there has lots of fun things in store.

brown paper packaging

After seeing this video, I wanted to doodle and paint on throw-away paper myself. I was in luck, having just ordered new painting panels that were wrapped in brown paper packaging for safety. A whole bunch of ink doodling with a paintbrush and coloring in with paints and I'm still at it, having fun, just.because.  Thanks to Alisa Burke for the inspiration and absolutely true message; it is all about the journey. You can own a part of what she created on the video, or other things from her prolific artist's hands here. Here are more shots of the fun I've been having in various stages. {Ed: I used different black calligraphy inks, and all different brands of acrylic paints, all different price ranges}

        I hope you have a colorful weekend!

recent journaling

playing with books

I just received a copy of Playing With Books, the latest book by artist Jason Thompson. Just like Jason's other books, which remain among my favorites, it's full of style, wonderful projects, and overall coolness. Congratulations Jason! Here are a few other shots from the book:

 

My little paper mache creatures are in the book too...
 

along with projects and instructions from so many artists:

for some more sneak peeks from the book head on over to Jason's post, or Amazon here. And I see more congratulations are in order for Jason, being featured in Wall Street Journal!

creative therapy

I'm the guest artist over at Creative Therapy today. This journal spread shown above and below is the art I created in response to "tell a random childhood memory". If you hop over there, you can read the written response that goes along with these journal pages. 

journaling backgrounds in progress

 

one more bit of stitching before moving on

Because I can't ever seem to work on one thing at a time, no matter what the medium, I also stitched a bit on this little piece while away last week. It's fun to be at the very beginning stages of a project, not knowing what will come of time spent on it. We'll shall see...

wip stitching

 

While away last week, I worked on this stitching piece in progress. {it's about 16 inches high and 19" wide} Last time I blogged about it, it looked like this. I stitched a little on the plane, and a bit here and there over the days. The label, if you're curious, was ordered from namemaker.com. Here are some favorite spots today:

 

 

 

TA trade

My pal Amy and I decided to do a TA trade. Last week  I went with her to her recent teaching event, Adorn Me. Here's a picture taken at the end of the vendor night. We started getting punchy at this point and kept gathering people as each photo was taken. Unfortunately, this is the only one that I had on my camera, taken by Diane Cook, but someone's camera captured the increasing silliness. From left to right is Ruth Rae, Amy Hanna, Stephanie Rubiano, me, and Diana Frey.  In the photo I'm wearing my latest Amy Hanna acquisition. Here it is up close and personal.

My photo doesn't capture it's true beauty. Each and every bit is gorgeous on it's own. Here it's in a box that Amy gave me for my birthday. She bought it in Paris at the flea market when we were there together. When she gave it to me she had put this picture of the two of us, at the Palace of Versailles. What better box to keep my own Amy Hanna jewelry collection?

 
 

She's brought back a few pieces and the inspiration for new creations, so be sure to check her etsy site later this week for her latest jewels.

And if you're coming to inspired, you'll get to meet Amy yourself, because she'll be there returning the TA favor!