Happy Garden

Hi I've been playing this week with a new toy Bienfang Watercolor Brush Pens. I love getting new art supplies and trying them out. It feels like you become an 8 year old kid again.

Trying new things under pressure

I'm taking the Creative Thursday e-course on creativity and making things and I love it. This is what I made in our first week. I've never done this before and made a lot of mistakes before it finally worked out.

We were talking about deadlines in our class. How a deadline motivates and puts pressure, even a certain amount of stress on you to achieve. My brother once told me that we need pressure or we would not get anything done. I am from the publishing industry and meeting a deadline is a must. So a deadline definitely motivates me, but I hate to think that I need a deadline to get something done. I think that a deadline makes me prioritize my project, and in this case, artwork and make it a priority in my day simply because it's due. But what I really need to learn is how to make artwork a priority in my daily life so that I consistently create. I think the deadlines of this e-course are training me to make art a priority in my life.

Warm Fuzzies for Grace

I made this card for Grace to brighten her day. On the inside it say's "Grace we're sending warm fuzzies your way to brighten your day". I was working in Painter on Stephanie Fizer's sketch challenge "Happy Monsters" and these happy little warm fuzzies came about. I did not know it then, but they came about for Grace. Then I was on Amber Dusick's blog and she said she was looking for a sign, so she made one. I commented that I need a sign too, one that said "It's all going to be ok" I made one too, little did I know then that I was saying this to sweet little Grace. Then on Facebook I found this link for making cards for Grace, and it all came together. If you get a chance check it out. This card challenge is going on until the end of July. My hope is that these little guys will make Grace smile.

Flying/Celebration

I just finished taking Kelly Rae Roberts e-course Flying. You can also get an autographed copy of this book "Taking Flight" on her website. I have not even started to process all the information that was in this course. But, will take time to go over it again in the next two weeks. It was a very positive experience. Some people in the class called it a life changing experience. One thought that I wanted to ponder with you, is celebration. Celebration of how far we have all come. I'm going to take some time to think about that today and celebrate it in some way? Maybe you can too, and please let me know so I can celebrate with you. Then don't forget to do a happy dance, or something equally fun.

Ripples

This is my very first artist trading card that I made for the ripple project. A small sketch donation to help the animal victims of the oil spill. I hope to make more. This is such a feel good project to get involved in. I feel honored to participate.

Inspiration in Chicago

I went to the Old Town Art Fair this weekend. It did not disappoint, but the rain did. It started to downpour as soon as we got there. All the artist's closed their tents. And we had to wait it out. It was worth the wait because the artist's that participate in this art fair are amazing. It's only my second year attending, but both years the quality of work blew me away. You should check it out next year if you get a chance. Then we were off to the Printers Row Lit Fest. where there are always treasure to be found. My favorite find was this children's book Tess's Tree Illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators Peter H. Reynolds. So all and all it was a very inspiring weekend and I hope to do some artwork this week while I'm still riding the wave of inspiration. I'll post it when I do. Have a great week. Happy Monday.

Macys Fashion Director

Macys Fashion Director: "

Since I've been laid off from my graphic design job this Macy's fashion challenge has gotten me back into my love of colors and layouts. I am so thankful for that. It is so fun to put things together. This is my outfit for the month of June. The challenge is: Surprise! Your being whisked away for the weekend-what will you throw in your bag? My layout is ranked 15th so far. Give it a try and see if you like doing it as much as I do!