Lucie par ici Moodboard

I have been writing this blog for almost a year now. I started on December 6th, 2011 when our PODS arrived at our house in California. We sold the house, got rid of half our stuff and packed the rest in the PODS that we shipped to Washington state. Our goal was to settle down in Port Townsend, Wa, but there was going to be a lot of traveling in between (Canada, France and about 30 different states in the US). Since our friends and family couldn't keep track of where we were, I started this blog so they could follow our adventures. Now that we have settle down a bit in our new home in Port Townsend, I was wondering if I would keep this blog and if so, what direction would it take. I decided to enroll in the online "Blogging Your Way Boot Camp" class that my friend Aimée told me about a while ago. The course is taught by Holly Becker from the decor8. This moodboard is an exercise for the class. It describes the direction I am taking and what I want to talk about, which is art, crafts, travel, fabric and surface pattern design. Nothing different really, but it's nice to have a focus and a little structure. That's why I love to take online classes, and I always learn so much. And it's fun to share your stuff with people around the world! Cheers!

Petite robe verte

I like to rescue old books to use in art and collages, but lately, my collection is getting quite large due to a certain used bookstore in town setting out a box of unwanted books for adoption on the sidewalk. Since I can't resist taking some of the books when I walk by, I now have to come up with more ideas to use them. This rescued "Henri de Montherlant" book made the perfect background for this little green dress (also made out of a rescued sweater). I glued a few folded pages together to make it thicker to create this greeting card. I also made an envelope with this Rifle Paper Co. wrapping paper I got at little store on Granville Island in Vancouver.
That book has 250 more pages, so look for more card ideas in future post...

Altered Altoid Tin

I really miss my San Francisco Art Group.  Even if I don't live there anymore, I still try to be involved in the Round Robin Altered book exchange and last Sunday I decided to do the project they were working on from here at the same time they were meeting, so I was there in spirit and could feel their creative vibes! The theme was halloween and I tried a Myntz and an Altoid tin, turns out it doesn't really make any difference since you cover the whole thing anyway. Somebody told me that if you throw the tins on a grill, it gives them a nice patina. Well, I tried the shortcut of putting them on my gas stove. It worked but I don't recommend it for the toxic fumes that came out from the paint burning off...The color was beautiful but next time I will try them on the BBQ, with a side of sweet potato fries, yum!

Panache l'écureuil

I was browsing the internet the other day and found this book on french ebay. I remember reading this book when I was little so I ordered it and it just showed up this week. The book was originally published in 1934 in Paris in the "Albums du Père Castor" collection. The copy I got is from 1946 and was obviously well loved, as the seller said: "feuilleté par des générations de petites mains". But there is something about vintage children's book illustrations that really speaks to me, I have a whole collection that I will share with you in future blog posts. If you have a favorite childhood book, send me a picture and why you liked it and I'll feature it on my blog as part of my new weekly children's book column.

Neon Colors with Mindy Lacefield

On day 2 at Art and Soul, Portland, I took a class with Mindy Lacefield. I just love the way she uses neon colors in her artwork and have been wanting to take a workshop with her since I saw what came out of her classes at Artfest this year. She is a really fun teacher and makes you connect with your 7 year old self. What did you use to draw all the time when you were a kid? For me it was apple trees and flowers. We worked on recycled cardboard with acrylic, matte medium, collage, stamping, alcohol inks, pencil and oil pastels. We had to use at least one neon color that she provided. The name of the class was: Twirl Girls journal. We filled our handmade journals with patterned papers, watercolor papers, old maps and tied them with ribbons and fibers. Total fun! And the first time I used neon colors. I just bought a few tube just today, I am hooked now!

Art and Soul retreat, Portland

Last week I went to the Art and Soul retreat in Portland, Oregon. My first class was with Jane Davies and it was called: Abstract Landscapes. It was a really fun way to work with collage and paint. We worked on watercolor paper and really fast, trying not to over think and just let it happen! I kind of like the results, I would like to try in on canvas next time.