Saturday's Child

As soon as you enter the front door and turn to your right, this light switch is the first thing you see. Frida does not look purple to the naked child eye (or adult eye) but it appears that way with the camera's flash. Must be the blue paint underneath her image.



As soon as "little Linda" went around the corner this is what she saw. A giant bookcase that held not only books but dolls!

The doll sits way back. Not an easy reach for a child but still an exciting thing to see!

Trying to tippy-toe made it easier to see but still out of reach. sigh.

We had company today and I got a late start on the short journey from my front door to the back of the house. It's small over here, OK?! Small but just right for a child. As soon as our company left, I began to shoot some pics but I had to stop because some of the images were dark due to the lack of sunlight. Even with the camera flash, the dark shadows would not go away. So I'll show you a little of what Saturday's Child's eyes saw. Hope you enjoy the short journey and find it as exciting as little Linda did! To be continued.......

Artventurous Children

My daughter Gina and I were sad to hear that Sally's, the fabric store, is closing. It's been a part of the Fox Hills community for about 30 years. It survived competition with House of Fabrics when it was in the same mall and it managed to stand tall amidst trendy clothing shops. Like-minded people were always gathered together in Sally's either sitting down pouring through the latest Simplicity, McCall's, Vogue, Butterick, New Look, etc. catalogs, rummaging the clearance bins of buttons, walking in between bolts of fabric taking in the beautiful colorful patterns, textures and solids. Then the postcard arrived yesterday announcing that it is closing and having a 40% sale off everything in the shop. This is not a huge JoAnns type store. It's small and carries fabric, notions, patterns and yarn. Kind of like the basement fabric dept of Newberry's back in the day. We decided to see what we could get and also avoid the crazy crowds that have a habit of gathering on weekends despite the bad economy.

As soon as we entered Sally's we each grabbed a little plastic shopping bin and began searching for that special something that was awaiting us. I planned on hitting the yarn area but someone else had already been there leaving just the fluffy yarn and a few plain ones. Nothing wrong with either one they just didn't call me over to touch them. I headed toward the table with all the large swatches of upholstery fabric. SCORE! It's as though they were waiting for a good home and I could not beat the price. I went through the bin and managed to pull out 7 wonderful squares of fabric. Two are alike and I'm making a runner for a small side table we have. The rest will probably become something like the cover of a book or a tote. Not sure yet but I am sure about being very happy!

After we got home, Gina began to beat eggs, cream cheese, batter and more for her very first pot luck at work tomorrow. She signed up for cupcakes. LOL! BUT, these are not your average cupcakes. Nope. These are the kind that have a cream cheese filling and then topped with cherries and finally dusted with confectioners sugar. Like a child, I looked at them with great anticipation and I was tempted to take one while she wasn't looking but then she mentioned that she'd put one aside for me so I grabbed it and some milk. LOL!! It's like being a kid all over again I tell ya cause I'm sure I was using my child eyes while eye-balling those cupcakes!

The Child

If you've been following my blog, you know about the challenge of seeing things through the eyes of a child. Well, the child came home to a dark and rainy house today and had a hard time looking at things indoors. It just didn't feel right and she couldn't get moving. Or was that the adult? Hmm. I guess a child would have run outside looking for puddles, huh? I suppose trying to BE a child is a little harder than I thought. I've been an adult for such a long time.

The picture of my back to the front door was taken one day during fall as you probably guessed from the orange foliage hanging to the side. It's been waiting for just the right moment to be used and that became TODAY. My next challenge is for me to turn around, enter the door and start seeing the inside of the house as a child would. What would a child notice that an adult takes for granted? Stay tuned. You just never know what a child will get into!

Altered Vision!

My friend Bea over at http://dog-in-the-hole-studio.blogspot.com/ challenged readers to see things through the eyes of a child. You know, notice those things we adults pass by as we hurry through our days. Since I was at my mom and dad's visiting on Sunday and I grew up there from day one, I took my camera and shot a couple areas that would have appealed to me as a child. I have to go back and take some more because my favorite of all places now has a gate with a lock! LOL! A sign of the times I suppose. I'm only posting two pics for now but more will be on there way as time allows. I get a little too involved with my visual journaling!

My "child eyes" went into my journal where I had a little fun with them. I'm going to continue this challenge for a week or more. It really is interesting to "notice" the unseen we adults take for granted. Why don't you join me and Bea on this journey while "seeing" things around your home and post about it.

Artventurous Day in L.A.!

I had a great time today teaching a workshop at Stampin' From the Heart in L.A. It was great seeing Pam, Carolee, Nina and Laura again! Just as the class was over Geri dropped in and tried to talk me into teaching an altered photo style class. A few months back she treated me to a Somerset Workshop issue that featured an article with a certain technique she'd like to do in a workshop. Little did I know at the time she was planting the seed. LOL!! I also saw my roomie Ellie! We were roommates last year during the Arts de Mer cruise. We had plans to do the Art Unraveled event this summer but both of us have elderly parents that we don't feel comfortable leaving for a bit. We made plans to have an artventurous weekend instead and I'm looking forward to that!

I did a little damage purchasing stamps that I wanted. Read WANTED, not NEEDED. And then I purchased a couple tickets for the Stamping Convention coming in a couple weeks. OH HOW I LOVE GOING TO THE CONVENTION!!!!!!!! I missed going in November but I've been saving my nickles and dimes for the March event and I will be there rain or shine! I know there are a few bloggers living in nearby areas. Any of you planning on going? Let me know so we can meet up!

A-Muse-ing Artventures!

Which muse stirs your emotions or guides you through your daily artventures? Together we will assemble a simple but striking book to safe-keep the muses close to your heart.

We will create 6 artsy tags with colorful acrylic painted backgrounds which will feature the muses of our lives (5 are pictured). I have a collection of names with stories that I have created for you that ties in with each tag. Each participant will also leave with a handout for future reference.

You will leave the class with a lovely "A-muse-ing" Tag Book which you can display at your art space for inspiration or to "A-muse" those around you!

Students should bring sharp scissors for simple trims, and a glue stick. A small picture to place on front of your book is optional. A snack for good energy is recommended.

All materials are supplied by me and a fun time is guaranteed!

Class is Sat., Feb. 28th from 10:30 - 4:00 at Stampin' From the Heart in Culver City area (310-391-0466). Cost is $55. Please call the store to sign up and hope to see you!

Visual Artventures

It seems that I've become addicted to color and images from magazines that pop out at me - words in particular, and I find that I can't journal without them. Is it because I'm trying to separate the "Diary Girl" from the "Journal Woman?" The Diary Girl wrote in a purchased little book with a lock and lots and lots of lines. Journal Woman uses lots of color and creates her own lines. She doesn't use a lock either cause she doesn't care who peeks in it. Truth be told, blame it on Kelly Kilmer. She started it. All I did was sign up for a journaling class several years ago. I thought we were just going to put a book together. Then out came a huge duffel bag and in it were tubes and bottles of acrylic paints! And in colors I never thought I'd play with. But it wasn't over although I would have been happy with that. It was like pulling a rabbit out of hat when she brought out these huge plastic zip lock type bags filled with oodles and I mean FILLED WITH OODLES of images. Words. Faces. Hands. Phrases. I won't even start with the rubber stamps. I'm trying to keep this blog short and sweet. LOL! Anyway, I was hooked. And I've never looked back. And I signed up for more journaling classes with Kelly because each one was new and even more colorful than the last and I was developing natural highs from the now "other bag" she was bringing to classes. It was overflowing with the most decorative paper I've ever seen!!!! I'm beginning to hyperventilate just thinking about it. Seriously. Deep breath......OK. Which brings me to the type of journaler (is that a word?) I've become. One with colorful paints, rubber stamps, cut-up words from magazines, images and whatever else catches my eyeballs. Yeah, I've never looked at paint, magazines or scraps the same way ever. Thanks, Kelly ;)