First of all, I would like to thank all my dear blogging friends for religiously stopping by my blog, regardless of the fact that I have not posted for almost THREE MONTHS! I am alive and well....life has just happened and I have not taken the time to share with the blogging world. So....let's catch up!
Where do I start.....well, I've just completed a HUGE two month project at work, which honestly, not only took a lot of extra time and effort, but truly zapped all the energy and creativity out of me. But, its done (YAY!!!) and thankfully, I was able to sneak away a couple of weekend days and take a few art classes. To me, art is my sanity!!
Most recently, I attended a weekend of classes with Lisa Kaus, hostessed by the amazing Kim Caldwell.
It was held at the beautiful, peaceful Belamar Hotel in Manhattan Beach. We met Friday night and had a yummy dinner at Rock.N.Fish near the pier. Here is Kim and Lisa, near the pier.
We were greeted with a cheery room, adorned with bright green tablecloths, gorgeous Hydrangeas and goodie "tins" to die for!
(Photo courtesy of Jenny Doh)
Here's Jenny Doh, Lisa Kaus, Kim Caldwell and myself at the class. Jenny generously donated autographed copies of her latest book, Signature Styles, and I was the lucky winner from my table. Thanks, Jenny! This book is filled with inspiring ideas, stories and pics. I highly recommend it!
We made two projects, one each day. The first day was entitled Gridlock, in which we created a collage using different wooden blocks, paint, vintage images, ephemera, etc. Here's my completed board.
I'm very pleased on how it turned out! The second day we were to create a painting, using layers of acrylic paint, watercolor crayons, graphite crayons and pencils. Now, I am NOT a painter, so I was really nervous about this class. It was actually so VERY relaxing and fun AND, another project COMPLETED IN CLASS! Love it! Anyway, here's my painting...its very basic but I learned SO much about shading, layering, etc and can't wait to try another one!
What else have I been up to? Well, here are a few snippets of my last couple of months.
Here we are, out to dinner in CLaremont, after taking a class with Terri Brush, held at Joy Campbell's home.
I LOVE, love, love this! Can you see the eyelashes on Marianne's car headlights? Aren't those just the cutest ever? Of course, so are Marianne and Joy! Love you girls!
What a fun group of friends here. We went to the Behind the Picket Fence vintage Marketplace and then over to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Andrea's birthday!
Here we all are at The Bath Junkie in Claremont Village. OMG....you can create your own scented bath scrubs, oil, lotion, etc. I made a Lemon Verbena/Honeysuckle blend. I am hooked! I'm already almost out of the body scrub and need to get back up there to buy some more!
(Photo courtesy of Gilding the Lily)
This is the sample from the "Heartstrings" class I took from DIane Cook, through Gilding the Lily. Isn't it breathtaking? I learned SO much and adore mine!
Well, this was a really brief catch up, but, that's life! It you want to see more pictures of these events, visit my Facebook page. Yes, I've gotten really lazy and its just SO easy to upload pics to Facebook instead of taking the time to blog. However, I miss seeing everyone's blog posts and will try to get back in the practice of blogging more often!
Have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July Holiday with your family and friends. We will be joining our dear friends for a BBQ and firewoods on the 4th! TTFN!
It was awesome to catch up with you.....I love seeing what you have created and seeing all the 'girlies'! I miss you!
Hugs~Hope
Posted by: Hope Ellington | July 06, 2011 at 05:23 PM
Aaaahhh...how I love to live vicariously through you!!! Looks like LOTS of creative fun!! Love your Lisa Kaus pieces! I want to see a post soon about your Pam Garrison journal class...I'd love to see how your book turned out! Hope you are enjoying your summer...miss you!
Posted by: Jenny M | July 13, 2011 at 07:27 PM