pamgarrison

summer's here!!!

Finally, school is out for summer!!! Yippee! He looks just a little happy at the class pool party,no?
Big grins, swimming pools, bloodshot eyes, waterlogged hands, watermelons and 4th of July cookies. Summer has finally arrived.  We're off on a quick family trip...see you next week!

do what you love

Been working on a new "assignment" of sorts. I happened to look down and realized that "having" to do this, having a job that requires the use of special pens and making color charts, is pure heaven.  As I told the friend that's part of the task, I've wanted to play with pens since I was a little girl. When I was in college I had a job watering and maintaining indoor plants at the offices of big companies. I remember so clearly when I would get to the creative department of one particular company I always thought, "these people are so lucky". In one particular office there was an entire set of Chartpak AD Markers. It was like a display at an art supply store. "Oh my! I wish!" is what I always thought. Which brings me to my title. Why in the world didn't I just buy some of those pens and play with them just because? I know it was because of the cost, that I thought I didn't really need them, couldn't justify spending that money. How silly. I should have bought them years and years ago and done what I loved. Played with paper and pens and see where it all went. What is it you've always longed to play with? What art supplies have always pulled on your heart strings? Let me tell you, doing it now has been worth every penny to me. I'm sure it would be for you as well. Have fun doing what you love.

appreciation

Look at this sweet note I received from Kate!(scroll down once you click that link to see her) It is in the running for best note received ever, that's for sure. "A medel"...could she be cuter? Don't think so.

It is sooo nice to be appreciated. And I want to tell you how much I appreciate you, for enjoying my art. Your enthusiasm for creativity is so energizing.  It's so fun to share something that I love, that I think is special, like the Marie Antoinette zine project, and have you find it special too. Thank you, thank you. You should "get a medel" too!

There is talk of finding a way to share the Marie Zine project with all of you in the air...will let you know what comes of it. Thanks to those of you who want to purchase my project. I just don't think I can part with it yet. I am however, thinking about doing small series of the same type of dress storyboards for sale in the future. Of course, as always, you'll be the first to know.

Back to more pressing deadlines...

xoxp

"opulent visual escapade"

Finally able to share more about the Marie Antoinette project I hinted at long ago. I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in a collaboration hosted by Lynne Perella and Anahata Katkin. They titled it "Marie Antoinette Extravagant Liasons, An Opulent Visual Escapade". Each participant sent in a submittal, and then received this in the mail! This is what I saw when I first opened the box. Yum. It's a zine chock full of all the submittals and some goodies donated by the players and hosts. With wrapping like that and a cover like this you just know you're in for a treat. It is indeed an opulent visual escapade and an extravagant liason both. Thank you Lynne and Anahata for making this happen and including me!

Here's my page. Anahata took the photo I sent of my project and added a bit of a photo from my journal and other graphics to the top. Clever girl.

and here's another page she added of my journal pages about the project:

Here's Amy's page. (See, she does lots of other things besides her jewelry.)

Many of the other players are posting things on their websites and blogs now, I encourage you to go and check them out. The participants were: Anne Bagby, Mindy Carpenter, Amy Hanna, Lisa Hoffman, Lisa Kaus, Anahata Katkin, Melissa McCobb Hubbel, Teesha Moore, Lynne Perella, Judi Riesch, Lesley Riley, Beryl Taylor, Tara Walsch, Michelle Ward, and Linda Warlyn and myself.

Here's my project at home. It's a paper dress done on an old game board. In the zine, my project comments read:

I began with journal pages where I planned to make a doll inspired by artists Christine Crocker and Nicol Sayre. As art does, it took a different path when I sat down to play. I saw a photo of a paper dress by the artist missclara.com and that set my wheels spinning in that direction. I imagined a fancy dressmaker submitting a storyboard of sorts to the young queen for approval. In my journal, I hatched the idea of seeing under her dress to the hoops, the structure, the underpinnings which were loosely hidden. I hung words that seemed to me to sum up the life of Marie, her life's structure and underpinnings.

Here are corners of my journal page close-ups that I didn't show you in February.

And here are some close ups of my project:

 

Here is Amy's project:

Amy's comments in the zine:

I originally made two crowns for the project using vintage millinery flowers, French portrait broaches, rhinestones and other lovelies. I actually bought a Marie Antoinette wig and dressed my seven year old daughter up and had her model the crowns. I was not happy with the way this turned out, so I went to my thoughts. I loved the idea of Marie visiting her country home and bird-watching. I have a collection of old pin cushion dolls that look like they are from that era. So I handmade a Marie Antoinette pin cushion doll and placed her on top of a bird cage music box. I used crepe paper for a dress and sewed a trim to it adding vintage millinery flowers to give it detail. I hung a vintage pair of silver binoculars from her neck that contain pictures from France. I know some women had bird cages put in their hairdo and I thought it would be fun to stick one in her skirt.

Here is a (blurry) picture of Amy's inspiration:

and some close-ups of her gorgeous project:

and here are Amy's crowns that she spoke of in her comments. I love everything she made!

And there you have it, a bit of a visual feast for today, (if I do say so myself)!

more storage box love

I also bought an old hat box at the flea market. I just loved that it was a square and had a window space in the front. I tried to get a price discount because of the missing window plastic (see below), but the seller said that she had just bought it on ebay and didn't really even want to sell it because she planned to use it for carting and storing her stuff. Makes it kind of hard to get a discount when they don't even want to sell it. Here it is, as I bought it. I also show a free bakery box I got at Pavillions grocery store when buying my son's birthday cupcakes. Can't really resist pink bakery boxes, especially those that have windows. Still loving Martha's.

I wanted to put something in the opening, so I used an old transparency from Artchix Studio that I had lying around. Transparencies are so nice and sturdy. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite big enough, so I sewed some ledger paper around each side of the transparency. Then I just taped it in. That way, I can see what's inside, but  don't have to worry about the plastic being too sheer, like the originals often are.

And, of course, the fun part, filling up the boxes!

it's been a long time

After many, many, many months of abstinence, I went to the flea market this weekend! This trip was all about gathering supplies for Silver Bella. I know it's hard to savor everything in this photo, so here are some close ups.

silver bella class peeks

The Silver Bella class peeks are up for viewing. Just head on over there to get all the info and read the class descriptions. Registration begins tomorrow, so if your planning on attending, get your registration in right away. Above is a peek of one of my classes, Bella Banner, Soft and Shabby. I'll also be teaching the same Bella Banner in a Merry and Bright color palette. Here's a peek at that one:

This is the 2 hour, no-sew version of my traditional banners.
I'm also teaching a class called Jack on the Box. He's a cheery little treasure box fellow.

Head over to the Silver Bella blog for class descriptions and to check out all the other  great classes offered. There's sure to be sugarplums dancing in your head tonight!