Seasons Greetings!

Sending you wishes of peace and calm during the holiday season.

I find tranquility by going outside and taking in nature's beauty. This is my "CHRISTMAS ROSE." I discovered it's full bloom on Christmas morning.

Mother Nature brought me a splash of orange in the form of a lily against my weathered fence on Christmas morning.

Mother Nature knows what a California girl I am and how I enjoy my sunshine so she brought me some on Christmas day. And because you can't have everything, I still had to deal with cold air. But I'm not complaining cause I've seen what some of my blogger friends are going through and this is nothing compared to those freezing temps!

Christmas in Los Angeles came and went quickly. How about where you live? Hope you all had a good day spent it doing whatever brings you happiness. Peace to all.

Artventurous Xmas Tags

Stamps were carefully selected for my Xmas cards, er, Xmas tags attempt.

BLACK CHRISTMAS TAG? Sure, why not? I was thinking jewel tones, grunge, different. The blue tag looks lighter in this picture. It was actually a dark blue tone. I later painted a dark hunter green tag. I wanted the darkest green possible so I mixed Ebony and Christmas green together.

With a little extra color and stamped images, another look developed. Now what do you think of that black tag?

Fortunately, I had some left over art doll kits from previously held workshops. With a little glue and patience my tags were complete and ready for the post office.

I know what you must be thinking. "Those are Christmas cards?" Well, no but yes. They're Christmas cards ala Stampmaiden. I'm a lost soul when it comes to card making. Put a blank folded card in front of me and I don't know where to begin. I get a little further with a piece of cardstock because at least I know how to fold it in half. Sadly, that's as far as I get. I need direction when it comes to creating a card of any kind. BUT put a blank tag or blank ATC card in front of me and I get right down to business. Paint is something I feel very comfortable with and with little effort on my part, Christmas tags were created. A little stamping and embellishing was all that was needed to finish them off. Yes a little time consuming and different, but well worth the extra effort.

Artventurous Spirito

This very cool art box belongs to Artventurous Spirito, Roxy. She found this treasure in an alley! Isn't that where most treasures are found? She added the collaged images and dangling bottle - my favorite element of all!

Oh wow! Would you look at the fantastic backgrounds created on these tags by Artventurous Spirito, Roxanne! She's Roxy's niece, you know, the alley treasure hunter. LOL! She plans of assembling her sassy chicas later. Can you see them in little bags next to their tags? Click on the pictures to take in the cool details and wonderful colors.

Artventurous Spiritos making art.

My completed workshop sample board made it to the store on time. Coming up with background colors is not as difficult as designing outfits. It sometimes takes up to 3 trial runs before it finally feels right. I was very happy and relieved with the results.

In between work overload, aging parents, holiday parties and hectic schedules, I was caught making art! Don't ask me how it happened; let's just say it was out of necessity. Samples were needed in the shop and there I was running late as usual and pulling all nighters. How many times have I told myself to stay ahead of the game when it comes to my workshop samples? Too many. I just don't listen to myself - shame on me. After the first sample, I got caught up in this crazy mood which I'm calling Artventurous Spirito. There was no stopping me and I was lost in the world of colorful backgrounds splashed with stamped images and sassy looking chics.

Today I led a workshop at Stampin' From the Heart in Los Angeles where a few more souls caught the Artventurous Spirito bug. It was great to be surrounded by a group of like-minded women. All went well and they left with a new stash of tags to keep or give away and, most importantly, a happy heart. Not much more a workshop leader could ask for.

Happy "Scrappy" Book

For years my work desk had a tiny stash of collected images, doodles and drawings. Then a year ago I decided to start putting them together to create a little "scrap book." Some of the imagery I used came from salvaged pages of library book catalogs, discarded catalog cards, bits of wall borders, note cards, and magazine inserts. These became the "meat" of my little book. Sometimes while "on hold" listening to b-o-r-i-n-g muzak, I'd doodle away or draw odd looking things. Well, these were worked into my scrap book too. I feel the name I chose, scrap book, is appropriate considering that I used, well, scraps to put it together. A rubber band keeps all the pages in place. Enjoy and click on the pages to read some of the silly passages in my Happy Scrappy Book. Below is the cover and the little dainty fingers you see keeping the pages open are not mine but my daughter's. LOL!

So that's it. Hope you enjoyed viewing the pages. I have plans to get another one going because unfortunately, I keep throwing stuff in that drawer. ACK!

TGIF! Sort of.

Lately I've been a fan of smokey blue tones. While at the rubber stamp convention last weekend I spotted a Tim Holtz tag with blue background tones. I know for a fact that he uses ink to create his backgrounds. I tried it but quickly found out what I already knew. Acrylic paint is my favorite medium. I love it's fluid flow and the way I can mix colors to get just the right shade. And if I mess up, I can add more paint over it until it comes together.

If you've taken my classes in the past, I encourage you to use some or all of those color schemes to create new tags, cards, etc. Add new images to give it a fresh look. For the Frida tag I chose a light blue shade of paint to which I added bits of yellow. I darkened it up by rubbing black ink along the edges and over parts of the tag. I then tapped on bits of ivory paint to bring about the misty look I was after. Leftover scraps and a Frida image from previous projects finished the look. I liked it so much I'm thinking of making a few Christmas cards in this color scheme. And to think I created this similar painted background for a Halloween tag a few years ago!

ATC artventures

This is my "Y" as in Yuletide card and it was created for the ABC swap I'm in. I can't believe we're at the end of it. I can't believe I got it done!

This is my "Z" is for Zen-i-fied card. Last ATC for the ABC swap.

I've been away a little too long. Life has become complicated. I didn't ask for it; IT just happened. So in between tears, headaches, stomach pains and worries, I created a little art. Little art as in ATCs. Enjoy!

Spectacular Saturday!

This is a glimpse of what Ellie and I co-taught at our local stamp store's Extravaganza event. Each participant left with 4 projects which they completed at 4 separate tables. We called our project an Art Folio. Each student transformed a plain file folder using paint, stamps and ink.

I managed to get lots of pics of Ellie in action but it was impossible for me to get shots of myself. Here our students are applying clear embossing powder to an image that was stamped using acrylic paint! No time to wait with this due to the quick drying time of paint on paper.

Although each person used the same ink colors and technique, each folio had it's own personality. Some folios had a heavier application of color while others were lighter. Both styles looked great!

Smiles like Marjorie's are what you hope for at the end of the day. I love the touches of blue she dabbed in between her images. They became little islands. Click on the image to enlarge and see what I mean.

This was our first team of players. We had a total of 4 groups. Whew!

Look at Karen stamp away!

I like how Ellie is trying to make a point at the head of the table. And look at Gail apply ink onto her plain tag. The tags took on an ethereal appearance with the technique Ellie taught.

Here we are close to the end of the day. It was great team-teaching with Ellie. We'll be going another round in April '10! I can't even believe we're entering double digits! 2010?!

The above photos show a Spectacular Saturday from 2 weekends ago called "Extravaganza." It's held twice a year at Stampin' From the Heart in Los Angeles. Due to family illnesses and work overload I've been unable to keep up with my blogging. I refuse to shut down my little speck of the corner though and will post as often as I can.

Many thanks to those who left comments on my past two posts regarding my one year blog anniversary. Guess what? Each one of you who posted back then are winners in my giveaway!!! So BT, Bea, Jolene, Soul, Lisa, Marianne and Sherry will all be receiving a little piece of art and other little goodies. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Foggy Artventure

Meet my little foggy artventure. How'd you like to walk across this in the woods at night? I've been stuck in a little fog lately which kind of explains where I've been.



Oprah calls them "A-HA" moments. Christina calls it "Full Circle."
I thought too soon. Just when I thought I'd pretty much reached full circle, there was a break. How naive to think that I was there already. Oh well, I still like the poem. Read on.........

Full Circle

In the end we have to accept

what we are

and where we dwell,

a life of our own making.

There is no precise moment

when we realize this,

it just comes into us

pushing and ebbing

in our blood,

like a primal ocean

bathing our very center

a naked moment of acceptance.

Christina Trevino

Remember that give-away I was going to have for my blog anniversary? Well, now's your chance to get in. Just drop me a comment letting me know if you've come full circle. AND because it's taken me a while to update my blog, all those who left comments on my last post are also in the game. I've already placed your names in the drawing. I'll be drawing 5 names and I'll post them on Thursday! The give-aways will include art pieces I've worked on, ephemera bits, stamps and or paper. Don't just sit there staring at the monitor, go leave a comment!

Creepy and Fun Artventures

Don't be 'fraid. Come on out and help me celebrate my blog's first birthday in a couple days! I can't believe it either. Some of you have been with me since day one. Some of you followed me through other's blogs. Big THANK YOU for taking time to check in on me and dropping me comments throughout the year.

The days are shorter and finally it seems that the weather MAY be getting cooler as well. Another calendar page gets turned - PRESTO, it's October! What happened to September? Who cares! October celebrates Halloween, one of my favorite times of the year. AAAND, October celebrates my blog's first birthday! I can't believe it. It'll be "One" in a couple days. Stay tuned for a Stampmaiden giveaway!

Recent Journal Pages

Sometimes when I get in a "journaling rut," I go back to the past where lots of interesting memories are stuck in my brain cells. This memory came alive when I found this great pic from a rock music magazine. Great phrases, words and pics can always be found in these types of magazines which I used to get handed down from my daughter.

I'm grateful to have a job especially in these tough times but even the grateful get gloomy. Can you see it? Yes, visual journaling is my thing!

I still don't have a budget for the library which is a first. By this time of the year I've already ordered stacks of books and a few library supplies. Rather than give up hope or gripe that there's no money, I try to focus on what we have and what our kids still find exciting enough to borrow.

Here's a page that I "scribbled" on. It felt good to get it all out and I even turned the offender into a monkey! LOL!!!

Hope you enjoyed viewing some of my recent journal pages. Did you know I once hosted a Journal ATC swap? Yes I did. The rule was to art up the front and journal on the back. Each artist was to sign their name, date and series number somewhere. It was fun and the participation level filled up. I did leave some players wondering about some of the things I wrote because it was like leaving cliff hangers. Well, there's only so much you can journal about on such a small space. I'll put it like this, it's a fun challenge!

Journaling ARTventures!

Journaling is a journey for me.

Colorful backgrounds are a must for my journals. By now you MUST know the important role of color in my life.

I usually don't have qualms about what I enter in my journals.

There are those moments when I have to do the "scribble" in my journal! This is reserved for those rare moments when I DON'T want to make a horribly awkward situation public knowledge. I like to throw in phrases that I've cut out of magazines to add punch to my pages.

Sometimes all you need are a few phrases and a great pic to say it all! I created this page when I went a little overboard at the stamping convention. I know I'm not the only one who's been there, done that!

Sometimes I know what I want to say and other times I don't. Sometimes it doesn't matter to me that someday someone will read it and other times I do. You can probably tell which pages go with my do's and don'ts. I'm a great scribbler which works perfectly for my "I don't want anyone to ever read what this says" entries. I also have a great stash of phrases for those days when I know what I feel, but don't want to write about it. Teamed with a great pic is all I need to make this kind of entry complete. And of course, colorful washes of color always help to make an interesting page.

Old Pages, Same Message

My thoughts on journaling have not changed much. This was my message to a group of players in a Journal Round Robin.

Even back then I had a special stash of phrases and pics saved for my visual journaling artventures.

While going through my old journals I discovered one connecting thread. My love of color! Another message that still has deep meaning for me is to make time for art.

It always becomes a little challenging for me to balance my creative side with my job. I come home tired, sometimes dead beat. But somewhere during the week or weekend I'm getting my fingers painted, inky or glued. LOL!! I HAVE to do something creative. Swaps have pushed me to continue, workshops I've led or taken have done the same and when I didn't have either, I could always be found altering a page in my journal.

I've gone back in time to show you some pages from past journals. Today I bring you two pages from a Journal Round Robin that I once participated in.