Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours, a very Merry Christmas!

And from our furry brats kits, a very Meowy Xmas!

My wish for you (especially today) is to be filled with peace and a full tummy. 

TGIF

Thank God it's Frida!  There's been a flurry of artventurous activities over here in stampmaindenland. 

 

Too much activity means I'm behind in mailing out cards. 

The artventurous spirit that got a hold of me had me recycling gum packaging by turning them into gift card holders.  I'm pleased with the outcome.  There were some interesting patterns which I wanted to leave exposed.  I just added small touches in red to give them a Christmas feel.

The weather was perfect for staying indoors and that's really what sent me into a creative frenzy. 

I'm not promoting Target, but their plastic bags are a perfect and festive (color-wise) way to use in gift bags.  It looks like I threw in a bunch of peppermint candies.  

I only had a couple of gum packages to recycle and I was in need of a couple more gift card holders.  These Chinese New Year money envies turned out to be just the thing.  

I'm tired but it's a happy tired.  Merry Everything, Happy Always.  I think that's how it goes.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sunday Skies

The sky is grey and the air is windy and wet. 

Even Fifty (50/50 named after the creamsicle ice cream bar) has been indoors for the past two days.  He hates getting wet.

The other day while watching the movie "Frida," I sat down to sample the juicy-ness of markers from a bucket of markers I found in the back of my closet.  Instant graffiti art background paper was born!

Now for the burning questions.  What to create with with these pages AND when am I going to address those Christmas cards??????!

Hoping the skies in your neighborhood are friendly.  Happy Sunday!

Artventurous Mail

OMG!  I was totally surprised when I received this package from my artist friend Roxy.  I've always admired her visual journals and artworks.  Now I own one of her original pieces.  Amazing.  So much detail and goodness all rolled into one.  It has that vintage retro look, doesn't it?  Thanks Roxy! 

Oh and check out this zippered pouch.  All I could do was sit there and stare at all those images.  So colorful.  So cool.  Click on the pictures to get a closer look.  

How ironic that just yesterday I posted about my recycling artventures and then today I get some cool art made from recycled materials.  Very, very cool.  This pouch is created by the people over at http://www.blueq.com/ 
WOW.  Recycled art.  Definitely a good thing.

Recycling Artventures

I love it when I don't have yard duty.  It means I have  free recess and lunch periods without having to roam the school yard distressing the lives of the young and restless.  You know, the tweens/teens with raging hormones or out of control youngsters whose parents are in denial that something is horribly wrong with their child.  But enough of them and on to the subject of today's post.  
Recycling artventures.  Look at what I made today during my "free time."  It all came about when I decided to turn a used and full library borrower's card (yes we still use them!) into one inch squares.  I chose to use the dated section.  All those stamped dates look much cooler than penciled-in names.

I always keep an old catalog available for interesting images and words.  I like the simplicity of these inchies.  These are not part of the every inchie Monday project btw.  That starts in January and there's still time to sign-up.  Just click on the icon on my sidebar to get there.
See how boring these once looked?  Although they'd probably work great as is.      

OK, how many of you out there used to hear your mothers say "Don't play with your food?"  Well my mother never told us that cause we were starving by the time dinner finally rolled around.  BUT had my mother seen me doing what I did to the above inchie, she would have definitely told me not to play with my food.  See that crumbly background?  Now look at the words.  HOT TOPIC.  If you saw chili flakes,  you are so right on!!!  I had a small packet of chili pepper flakes and I decided to sprinkle a hefty amount onto a heavily glued-up inchie.  A gentle pat insured that they'd stay put.  After a minute or two I found the perfect words.  Don't you think this would make a fun magnet?  
Have you ever played with your food and if so, what did you make?  
 

FalalalalaL.A.lala

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.  Oh how I love this Christmas wrap.  Yes, it's wrapping paper!  I found it years ago in a Los Angeles
supermarket called "Boys."  Boys isn't around anymore and sadly neither is this paper.   

Frosty would have definitely met an untimely death today as the temps reached 85 degrees in Los Angeles.  The seasons seem a little mixed up over here.  Look at my gum tree.  It looks like autumn.  Look at that sky.  It  looks like summer. 

But when the Christmas lights got plugged in this evening, you'd never know it felt like a hot summer day early on.
How I love Christmas.
Hey, did you notice the everyinchiemonday icon on my sidebar?  When I found out about this weekly challenge for the new year my heart began to smile and my inner artist shouted "JOIN! NOW!"  So I did.  And you can too!  It's gonna be so much fun and all you do is make one inchie and show it to the world each Monday.  There are words that describe the type of inchie you are to create for each week.  For instance, the first Monday will be "ecclectic." I have something in mind and it's definitely not tame.  Go to http://everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/ to join.  Come on, it'll be fun!
Before I forget, go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/StudioSouthernValley to get an eyeful of cool images to be used for ATCs or inchies.  You can add glitter, some kind of 3-D element, etc. to these ready-to-use images.  Lots of possibilities here.
As I sign off I have one question.  Where did the weekend go?  Off to choose tomorrow's work clothes.  YAY!!  One week left for winter break!!!!  WooHoo!     

TGIF

At the end of each week I find myself wondering the same thing.  WHERE DID THE WEEK GO?!  And then I smile and think out loud "THANK GOD IT'S FRIDA(Y)!"

I finished working on one set of Christmas post cards and I was itching to start a new set.  I wanted a tree.  But not the traditional kind.  I envisioned tapered strips in winter-like colors forming the shape of a Christmas tree.  I found an appealing shade of seafoam in a magazine and began to cut away.  I incorporated a few strips with words and voila!  My journaling tree was born!  I'm happy with the look but it needs a little silver somewhere.  I used touches of gold on my first set of post cards but I'm not showing those to you until the Friday before Christmas cause they feature my girl FRIDA!!!!!  WOOHOO!

My challenge is to find color and words that make a statement.  Can you picture me with scissors in one hand with a wild look on my face as I turn the pages in a magazine searching for the right color and words?  And isn't it ironic that I'm using the pages of a magazine to make my Christmas trees?

Inch by Inch Artventures

Why?  Why not?  Inch by inch it's a cinch.  That's what my father-in-law always says.  It's a quote from one of those TV preachers.  Sorry I can't give proper credit.

It's been a while since I made these little guys and I challenged myself to see how many I could pump out during recess and lunch.  I always keep an envie full of cut-out inch squares and I had a stack of library book catalogs  waiting to be picked up by the recycling team at at school.  With a pair of scissors and a glue stick, I went into an inchie frenzy.  These will be glued onto the envelopes of my handmade Christmas cards and lucky for me there aren't that many that I send out.  They're very green because they're made with recycled items and they can be removed from whatever surface they get put onto and re-used.
Mid-week recycled art.  It's a good thing. 

Fleeting Weekend Artventures

Can shopping be an artistic adventure?  I think so.  I mean, look at all the colors and textures that surround you as you shop.  While at the supermarket you'll see smooth greens and shiny reds butted up against fuzzy browns and at the department store you'll experience an array of colors and textures happily clashing!  Yes, it can be an artventure.  Still for me, the best place to experience an artventure is at a stamp store.  Sigh.  Being surrounded by walls of art stamps, ink, paper, tons of magazines and ephemera galore make my heart smile.

I dropped in at Stampin' From the Heart in Los Angeles this past Saturday as part of my "Small Business Saturday" plan.  I never made it to the other businesses I had on my agenda.  Not that it took me hours to find what I wanted, that parts easy - EVERYTHING!  I kept bumping into friends I haven't seen in months and you know how it is when it's "catch-up" time!  So the majority of my time was spent talking, laughing, smiling, listening, getting teary-eyed and of course, shopping.  LOL!! 
By the time I decided what to buy, and it wasn't much but it felt good and right to buy them, it was getting dark and I knew I would never make it to the other stores.  I had parental priorities to tend to and I had no regrets.  Everything I could want from a small business met my needs.  Good friends, great stamps and lots and lots of color!
After getting home,  I cleared off my desk and began to draw then color an image that will be part of my Christmas cards that go out soon.  I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable playing with new techniques and there's still a lot more I need to perfect.  If you look at the image to the left, it appears as if Frida's baby is missing a body.  After enlarging the original and adding a little more details, that baby now has one.  LOL!!!  Well, he at least has a swathed body.    

Depending on how my week goes, I should have more copies and the card making experience will begin.  Hee-hee, I was telling a friend at the stamp store that I had all the components for my Thanksgiving cards sitting on my table.  She knowingly nodded and smiling she added that at least I'll be ready next Thanksgiving.  LOL!!!!  Now those are the words of a true friend.  Thanks Geri. ;) 
  

TGIF

TGIF it's Frida AND a long weekend.  Love it.  Enjoying it.  Hope you are too.

I stayed indoors on this "Black Friday" but tomorrow is a whole different story!  I'll be off to my first ever "Small Business Saturday!!  Woo-Hoo!  Support your local mom and pop shops,  people.  Uniqueness awaits you.

Journaling Frenzy

It seems that lately I've managed to maintain a current journal.  This can only mean one or two things.  One - my day job is calming down or Two - I have more time and energy to pour into my life.  Hmm, notice how the two go hand in hand?
My girl has flown the coop.  She'd been on the look-out for the perfect "first place" and she found it.  AND, it's about six blocks away from my son and daughter-in-law's home!!!  I'd say that's MORE THAN PERFECT!  They've already gotten together for dinner and big brother and wife have been so helpful with little sista's move.  How do I feel about it?  Well, I feel a whole lot better knowing she's in close proximity to big brother's home and in a safe place.

The other night I heard a car pull up in my driveway which is unusual at my house.  I stepped out onto the front porch and saw my mom and dad's car and I was frickin' amazed at what I saw next!  For those of you who've been following my blog for a while, you know that my dad's health is not the best and he needs help with just about everything, except for eating, using the bathroom and bathing, THANK GOD!!  LOL!  Anyway, I see my dad exiting from the car and he's exiting from the DRIVER'S SIDE!!!  Hubbo Jimbo was on the front porch with me and I was in total shock.  My mom finally got out of the car.  Poor thing.  She was in more shock than me.  LOL!  Anyway, let me point this out.  My driveway is long and there's an incline on my front lawn.  My dad didn't have his walker, he's NOT supposed to be driving (plus it was night!) and he was walking with great ease!  He still had the minor limp from a war wound but he was doing great!  I was smiling from ear to ear and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I looked over at Jimbo and said, "OH NO!  I'm dreaming!"  With that I started crying so hard I woke myself up from this horrible joke of a dream.  For a moment it felt great to see an independent father free from any assistance.  Free just to be and do without thinking for a second how to get from point A to B.

 

It seems that all this recent journaling has put me in the mood for a "Handmade" Christmas."  I just now noticed that the word "handmade" doesn't show well on my journal page.  Can I pull it off?  Did I ever mention that I have a large family and that we exchange gifts every year.  Did I mention that I haven't had a raise in three years?  And I don't make much?  LOL!!  There's where my motivation comes from.  I'll keep you posted on the progress of my "Handmade Christmas" journey.  Keep 'em crossed people and make art, not stress!    

Thankful Thursday

How ironic that Veteran's Day would fall on Thankful Thursday.  Today I took time to include the three vets that have been a part of my life, for what seems like an eternity, in my journal. 

Thinking of my three vets today and remembering that there are millions of others who have sacrificed their time and life for us.  Thank you.

Artventurous Halloween

The art bug took a chunk out of me on Halloween.  No doubt.  I went on a journaling marathon working on page after page as a silly little tune played in my head -  The Twelve Days of Halloween.  Here goes.....
I actually showed this page yesterday but I had to include it again to make the set complete.
On the first day of Halloween my ghoul love sent to me a raven in a bare tree.

On the second day of Halloween my ghoul love sent to me two spinning spiders....

On the third day of Halloween my ghoul love sent to me, three jack o' lanterns....

On the fourth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me, four spooky ghosts....

On the fifth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me five scardy cats........

On the sixth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me six pounds I'm gaining....

On the seventh day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me seven trick-or-treaters.....

On the eighth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me eight bats a-flappin'.....

On the ninth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me nine skulls a-bobbin'.....

On the tenth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me ten bones a-leaping.....

On the eleventh day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me eleven cauldrons brewing....

On the twelfth day of Halloween my ghoul love gave to me twelve hearts a-beating......

Did I go overboard?  Maybe.  Did I have a lot of time on my hands.  Maybe.  Did I have fun?  YES!  Hope I didn't bore ya.  I do plan on journaling over the last few pages.  My goal was to finish a complete set of twelve before the clock struck midnight!  I did it!!!!