Lesley Venable (and Mr. Lesley)

Lesley and Tom arrived early Friday evening. They got stuck in a little bit of traffic, so they were happy to finally get here. After drinks, dinner and chit chat, we got them settled into the camper (now dubbed "the nest" by Tom). Tom gifted Jeff this t-shirt that says Mr. Lemoncholy art husband. how cool is that? both of the guys wore their tshirts the next morning to help us set up for Handmade Faire.

We got up quite early to make the hour drive to Medford and begin setting up for the show. Right out of the gate it was a hot one. After getting set up, Jeff headed back home for Tucker duty. Lesley's booth was very close to me, so we did a lot of visiting, as unfortunately, the weather did not encourage many people to come on out! it was just way too hot. but we made the most of it, lots of laughing, visiting, walking around and eating. we spent a lot of time watching the male psychic. he was quite interesting to watch.







after the show, we headed back towards my neck of the woods to have dinner at a yummy seafood restaurant. we took a leisurely stroll around the marina and watched the boats for a few. we were all still a bit "warm" from the day!

On Sunday, Lesley taught her angel class. we had a great time. Lesley is a wonderful teacher and shared a lot of tips, resources and materials with us. we worked with a couple of products that i wasn't familiar with, so that was cool to learn how to use them.


On Monday, I decided to show Lesley how to do some of my snippet sewing (a class i taught last year at Art-is). so we spent the day sewing while Tom cooked us a delicious dinner of homemade focaccia bread, beef stroganoff and chocolate mousse.




(some pages i sewed)

this was a little dress that Lesley bought at Handmade Faire and i asked her if could alter it with some of my sewing.

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after dinner, we went for a walk along the dog beach. it was a beautiful evening with a lovely breeze. very peaceful and quiet.





we finished off the evening with Lesley teaching me how to do some molding and creating some bezels using an epoxy putty.
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here is my angel that i made in class.

thank you Lesley and Tom for a wonderful weekend and all you shared with us.

new painting

today was rainy (again), dark and dreary. the only enjoyable part was the LOUD thunder that shook the house. no lightening though. dillon had his first driving lesson today and he had to drive around in that kind of weather. talk about your quick intro to foul weather driving. i decided i wanted to paint today after spending all day yesterday sewing mini little snippet journals to sell at Artnsoul in May. i've been wanting to paint for quite some time, but tend to put it off since it takes me awhile to paint (versus other things like sewing and jewelry that doesn't take as long for me). i was channeling my inner Misty Mawn today. misty does her hands like that and she can draw, but i am here to tell you that i tried to draw a hand today and it went badly! so i opted for this easy techique to save myself from the madness! i haven't decided if this is a keeper or for sale. (that's another problem i have with paintings, i have a hard time parting with them). i will be scanning it and using the image in more work though (like a treasure box for beginners....) i also have a few more things i want to do on it. on the back of the girl, i'm going to be adding a real pair of butterfly wings that Jeff saved for me when he found a butterfly in our garden. and then i wanted to add some sort of text, but need to think about what it will say. i wanted it to be something like a common bond between the girl with her wings and the butterfly. maybe something like "as different as we seem, one common bond brings us together" or something like that.

first class at Art is, "Cherished Snippets"

Here are pictures from the first class i will be teaching at

Art is. we will be using snippets of leftover material, fabric, tapestry, tulle, lace, hankies, deconstructed material, etc. plus and image to create a fabric collage that we will use to create our own personal journal cover. i love creating these as they are very simple and a great way to upcycle pieces that your would normally just toss out.

altered vintage purses

these vintage handbags were collaged and then hand painted. cute aren't they?

day #9, hippity hop swap

Day 9 i got to open this adorable Easter frame made by Sandy Camarda,http://sandy-sandyscreations.blogspot.com/ . she collaged some vintage images, some eggs and a darling plastic bunny onto the front of the frame. she used some really cool papers under neath for her background - love the polka dots and checks! Thanks, Sandy!

here's what i worked on today

the first picture is a flower shrine assemblage. it was another project i did using items gleened from my work desk! the second picture is a canvas icon collage (8x10) i added fibers around the edge of the canvas. i liked to think of the two women fresh from their Easter bonnet win, ready to take on the night! both items can be found in my etsy shoppe, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5072419.

icon of the day

she's pretty intense with that dark Bob and those ruby red lips

another icon, Marie- Antoinette wanna be

i have a bunch of these frames, so i guess i'll be having fun making icons and putting them in my shoppe or sell at my upcoming show in May.

update: sold!

Icon

I just LOVED Anahata's icon class. i love collage and have been doing it for years. her icon class was very inspiring in ways to bring texture into a collage using various inks, etc. so i was fiddling around today and made another icon collage.

i used a leftover image from her class and then put it into a frame i picked up at a garage sale. this icon will be going into my etsy shoppe. the frame is plastic, possibly vintage - it is very ornate, but not heavy. the whole piece measures 10x12

My Anahata Katkin collages

here are the collages i made during Anahata's classes. i just loved that class. the rest of my Artnest photos can be found here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemoncholys/sets/72157603983764642/

i'm at the airport waiting to go home!

Well, Artnest has come to a close. it went by so fast! what an incredible weekend. i wish i wasn't so exhausted because i know my enthusiasm probably won't be so apparent as i can barely type! and unfortunately, i can't upload any photos until i get home. We stayed at a beautiful cabin deep in the mountains (elevation 8,000 or so....) of Utah -past Park City and near Hueber (sp?).

the line up for the teachers was unbelievable. it is in my opinion that that line up can not be topped! First day was Anahata Katkin, http://www.anahata.typepad.com/. What an incredible teacher and so sweet. Since i love collage, this was my favorite class. i learned some great techniques and fun ways to make some fabulous new collages. i can't wait to see her again in April at Artfest for her class, called "Wallpaper People".

second day, was Amy Hanna, no blog, but see her jewelry here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=65825. what a crazy day that was! i felt so bad for Amy because as you know, women love jewelry and the students all wanted to buy her stuff right away. So after the buying frenzy was over, we were able to sit down and create a beautiful rejunevated piece of jewelry (i made a necklace). I enjoyed this, but it is very minute, detailed work! it will probably be easier to do at home when i have all my supplies handy (soldering iron, dremel, etc.) i think my piece is absolutely stunning and can't wait to show it off!

the last day, we had class with Pam Garrison, http://pamgarrison.typepad.com/pamgarrison/. Pam does lovely journals (among other things!) using vintage ledgers. again we got to use paper and gel medium - so i was right at home. Pam is so funny and the doodle queen! that girl can make a page come alive and she never runs out of ideas. can't wait to show you my new journal!

during lunch on Saturday, we got to go snow mobiling and sledding. it was really fun! it was nice to get some fresh air. i went sledding with Jennifer, one of my new BFF's and i was so busy taking pictures going downhill that i wasn't a very proper co-pilot. we ended up doing more luging (sp?) than sledding! but it was a blast and i got a darling photo of us. i hate to admit it though, but i am a little sore today from our fun! i found out that Jennifer is also going to Artfest and staying in the same house as me! how awesome is that?

the food was incredible and so were the women. i was so amazed by the talent that i was surrounded by. everyone created gorgeous, beautiful things and everyone had their own unique look. people were so good about sharing things, which was really nice.

I finally got to meet my online friend, Maija and she was even one of my roommates! she is such a sweet, generous person and i was so happy to have spent time with her. There were a couple girls i had met at Artnsoul, Cheryl and Kelly, so it was fun to get to see them again. Then meeting all the other participants, Angela and Amy (more BFF's!), Elise, Laurie, Jane, Michelle (also from NJ!), Ananda, Dede, Lisa, Melinda, Amanda and Marina (gosh, i hope i didn't leave anyone out!)

and many thanks to our hosts, Julie and Candance. It was their dream to bring women together to create art - so their retreat, a little thing called "Artnest", was such an amazing weekend. they worked hard and planned to the detail. I am sure they are exhausted and even though it is sad to say goodbye, they are probably ready for a break! there are still openings for their spring retreat, so stop by and check it out - http://www.theartnest.net/. the teachers for the spring retreat are Stephanie Lee, Carla Sonheim and Alma Stoller. I will get to see these 2 girls again also at Artfest AND they are also staying in the same house as i! my Artnest photos can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemoncholys/sets/72157603983764642/

i did want to thank everyone for their sweet thoughts for my mom's dog, Muppet. i am sad to say that my mom had to put her to sleep that very night. It is hard to say goodbye to our sweet pets that bring so much to our lives. i'm am still quite sad over it.