Soul Humming

More CHA, Cha, Cha...

So I ended up spending only one long day on the floor at CHA. And during that day I did demos for Streuter and our book, A Charming Exchange, at F&W.

Streuter is a company local to me. I discovered them through this wonderful girl...

Bernie Berlin, artist extraordinaire
and animal rescuer beyond imagination

Bernie was working with Streuter making awesome ATCs with their super cool glue foil and adhesive film. And, they needed another artist so I joined in the fun.

Here's a photo Bernie got of me at my easel...

I worked on a mixed media portrait on a big piece of wood for about six hours that day. Streuter makes the most excellent glue sheet. It comes in packs of two 12" x 12" sheets and is heat activated. It looks sort of like a rubbery sheet of wax paper. You can cut it, punch it, run it through a cutting machine to get just the shape of glue you want. Then heat it with your craft iron or heat gun to liquify it. I was tearing cutting it into the shapes of different papers I wanted to include as I built my piece. I would sandwich the adhesive sheet between the painting substrate and the paper I wanted to adhere. Then I took a craft iron and ironed the paper which would melt the glue underneath and adhere the adhere.

There were two things I really loved about this product. First, there was no down time while waiting for it to dry like there is with gel medium. You heat it, it cools right away, and that's it. All done. Also, I like to use a lot of old papers in my work. I find that when I use old papers and gel medium the papers sort of suck of the medium causing faulty adherence. If I am trying to glue down a whole page from a book, for instance, with gel medium, I have to glue in sections. Otherwise, I end up with bubbles underneath that are not adhered.

But with Streuter's adhesive film I just ironed the pages completely flat to my substrate in seconds. It really rocked! Seriously. I'll be using it again.

The other product I worked with was their glue foil. It is a sheet of metal foil that has the adhesive film on the back. So you can cut your shapes out of foil, iron them one, and you are done. In the above photo I used aluminum over cardboard to create the blocks along both sides of the piece.

And, in this detail photo, you can see that I used black foil to create her hair. In person it really looks cool. It looks like patent leather. The piece is far from finished. I think I will bust out some embossing tools and put a story in her hair. We'll see where she takes me.

Over at the F&W booth Ruth and I made jewelry for an hour.

We also mugged for the camera quite a bit.
Sweet Kristen took these wacky pictures of us.



We brought some of the jewelry from the book.



And did demos of some of the projects. We met some awesome jewelry enthusiasts from Germany, Australia, and the US. It was lovely to meet them all.


And here we are trying to behave ourselves with all these fabulous F&W authors.
L to R: Me (Kelly) Tonia Davenport, Alisa Burke, Traci Bautista, and Ruth

Everyone is shouting to me to get off here and get in the car. We going out with our family for dinner. I hope you have a beautiful time wherever you are.

Six

my beautiful boy turns six today...

happy, happy, birthday sweetie!

my house noise

whooo-whooo wippedy whooo!

(droning voice)

fish sticks...

corn dogs...

spaghetti...

me! me! me!

myah, myah, myah...kiss, kiss....kitty, kitty!

oh! cooper! see cooper!

books! where are my books?!

dad, dad, dad, dad!

what, what, what, what?

what snake? what about a snake?!

it's your lucky day if you do that!

is he a different kind of evil? what kind of evil is he?

EVERYBODY DANCE NOW! DOO-DOO-DOO-DA-DOO!

---    ---     ---    ---

seriously, these are the sounds in my house as i sit here and listen. children running. the man of the house making the sorts of foods that the man makes (the woman doesn't like those sorts of foods given out to the little people. only the man gets away with it). the cat is being loved, toys are being found. it is the most wonderful jumble of noise.

what are you listening to tonight?

CHA

This weekend I will be attending the Craft and Hobby Association trade show in Anaheim, otherwise known as CHA. Until I wrote A Charming Exchange, I didn't really know what CHA was all about, although I had heard the name batted around. Basically, any company (big or small) that has anything to do with arts and crafts converges on the Anaheim Convention Center to display and demonstrate their products to retailers. Some of my favorite supplies and the companies that make them will be on hand. Golden Paints, ArtBin, The Bead Smith, DaVinci Brushes, and so many more! Even Thomas Mann has a booth this year. I can't wait to see his products.

And guess who will be signing copies of their book? These two toothy girls.

 

this photo was taken in 2007 when we were at F&W in Cincinnati shooting the photos for our book. i think we were pretty slap happy by this point. and yes, i'm wearing wings.

Ruth and I will be signing copies of A Charming Exchange and making jewelry from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the F&W Publishing Booth. And we will probably be laughing very loudly and eating candy. We usually are. Please stop by and say hello! 

Most companies show their entire product line in wildly creative spaces. You can see all your favorite crafters live and in person. And the booths are run by people who are very knowledgeable of the products. It is a great time to check out all that is new for the upcoming year. Most booths have catalogs about their products and many have samples, make and take projects, and artists doing live demos.

This year, I'll be one of those artists. I am very excited to be working with Rebecca Peck and my friend Bernie Berlin for Streuter Technologies. I'll be doing demos with a couple of their cool products throughout the day on Sunday. You can check out Rebecca here, as she demos one of the products we will be making transfers with (among other fun techniques). And, here you can see Rebecca using an adhesive backed metal foil that comes in stainless steel, copper, and aluminum. I can't wait to play with it. Rebecca is also teaching a workshop on Saturday for CHA attendees making this fun bag with Streuter products.

Please let me know if you are attending the show. I'd love to see some Soul Humming readers there.

new girls

still working on the valentine puzzles...



i've been using Golden's mediums
with glass beads and fiber paste.




they create great texture.

a few new bits

there are a few new pieces in my etsy store.

i hope you'll stop by and buy them all! isn't that completely vulgar of me? heee...if that is as wicked as i am today than i am a very good girl.

and be sure to visit the blog for my jewelry book for two more chances to win some jewelry.

44

watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama this morning with my five year was a heartwarming, joy-filled experience. we shouted, we clapped, we stood and sang the National Anthem loudly. and all this took place while he was still in his tiny little "ants in your pants" undies and nothing else. so i was mostly holding him while the singing and jumping part of the festivities were taking place. it was especially sweet to share this moment, this momentous occasion, with my little boy.

i don't normally talk politics. i don't talk about them at home and i sure don't talk about them here. but this is an occasion that commands notice. it deserves a bit of foot stomping and chest beating. it is a good day to be an American.

the new president spoke of the work we have ahead and the difficult time it will be. he said, "On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

God Bless America.

 

One World One Heart Give-Away

Today is the Day! I am participating in the One World One Heart Blogger Event again this year. It is a wonderful way to meet new people, make new friends, discover new blogs, new artists, and creative folks of all sort, and possibly win a gorgeous prize or two. Hurrah!

There are so many new bloggers every day with stories to tell, experiences to share, humor to make you laugh, and creativity to inspire you deeply. It is a wild ride and I am so excited to grab my ticket and hop on the Gypsy Caravan with Lisa Oceandreamer Swifka once again.

If you click on the logo or link above, you will be directed to Lisa's OWOH site for the event. There you will find a long list of participants whom you can visit. Not only will you discover a veritable smorgasbord of bloggers but you will be able to enter for a fab prize at each site. It's going to be great fun. Onto the details of my two prizes...

Since today, here in the United States, we are celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and tomorrow is the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, I wanted to give someone a little hope.

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

This necklace features a hammered pendant with the word HOPE. From the pendant dangles a lovely faceted pear shaped moss agate stone.

And if you do not win the necklace, you very well may win a wee original painting on a 3" x 3" wrapped canvas.

 

This character is full of hope but mostly she is hoping she gets to bite you with those teeth of hers. :0)

If you prefer one prize over the other, say so. If your name is drawn first I'll give you your choice.

Now for the small print:

In order to be eligible for these prizes, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. One comment per person, please. And, please do not put advertisements in your comment or it will be deleted.

When posting, be sure to include your email address on the Typepad form or in the body of your comment. If you are the winner but I do not have a way to contact you, then someone else's name will be drawn and the prize goes to that person.

My contest ends on February 11th at 9:00 p.m. Pacific time. All comments will be closed at that time. The winners will be announced on February 12th.

If you would like to participate by adding your blog to the list and giving away a prize, check out the OWOH site for details. You can still join in the fun even if you do not post your prize on the first day.

Thank you for playing along with me. I hope you will check out the rest of my blog while you are here. Shine, shine, shine!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Nelson Mandela

 

thinking

i just realized that tomorrow is the first day of the One World One Heart event give-away! aye, aye, aye! i don't know what i am giving away yet!! so like me to be all revved up and then completely forget something important until the last minute. thankfully i have drawers full of sparkling things and stacks and stacks of colorful things. i hate to part with most everything i make so there is always a treasure (at least to me) nearby.

i am getting ready to paint some more valentines today. as soon as i can remedy this furry problem.

as you can plainly see, my desk is an utter mess and the tiny six inches that aren't covered with piles of nonsense is covered in cat. she loves to sit right there and watch the birds in the trees. she gets very perturbed with me when i want to use my desk.

yesterday we had a wonderful family day out in the great wide open...

this little rosy boa was so docile and sweet.




watching the birds of prey


saddleback mountain

today i am thinking a lot. i am thinking about painting and what goes on inside my head when i am painting. there is something about taking photographs or printing photographs in the darkroom that i call following my bliss. it is that experience when i am working when time completely stands still. i do not actively think but act solely on instinct and experience and it fuels me like nothing else. this same sort of zen power-up happens when i am writing or dancing. but lately it hasn't been the same when i am painting. my mind doesn't want to be quiet. it is busy. it is constantly talking and talking and talking. i believe this is because i'm not painting enough. but that may be a sack of blarney pulled over my head.

for those of you who regularly paint, i am curious about what happens to your head as you paint. i know that during one painting session i may think of everything from the music i am listening to, to what i will eat for lunch, to why the color around a particular area isn't working, to what the hell was i thinking when i told her THAT. and this doesn't even begin to encompass the struggles with my inner critic. for the most part that conversation has been turned off. but if i am working on something that i know i am giving to someone else (rather than just making for myself or to sell which is the same as making for myself in my book) i have to constantly slap back the hands of the critic. she needles me and pulls my hair and flicks paint in my face. but i am pretty darn good at moving through it. i just want to turn it completely off. and that only happens when my arse is in the chair and i am working much more regularly.

off to the chair...

everyday journal

today i am listening to joan as policewoman. i love her song holiday. i couldn't find a decent vid to embed but if you click on the link you will be able to listen to it to your heart's content.

because i've been working valentine's i haven't been able to keep up with my moleskin. i just don't have enough time during the day to do both. sad but true.

so i thought i'd show you my everyday "real" journal. this is where i sketch, take notes about what's happening, write criticism and questions about what i'm reading, jot down thoughts about what i'm listening to, and keep lists of things i want to remember.

on the outside, it looks like this...

it is is lost, you can tell it belongs to me.


a scary picture is important so the finder will not be tempted to keep it.
mission accomplished.

and inside it looks like this...

so that's my everyday journal. i've been reading a lot, too. in the past few weeks i've read the entire southern vampire series by charlaine harris, the human stain by philip roth and am now reading the brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz.

what are you up to?