Art & Tea Party

~Laura, Shelly, and Barbie enjoying some friend time~

Many people have been asking what happens at my Art & Tea parties. Thanks to my friend Shelly Grim, now I have pictures to show! Generally the whole thing gets started by the guest of honor and I getting together to create the invitations.

~Barbie bravely trying a new technique~

The day of the party, I have everything ready and all supplies laid out and ready to go in the studio. I then demonstrate the project, and the artists begin creating.

~Tea Baskets for lunch, all home-made goodness~

At a good stopping point (usually waiting for something to dry or cure) we head downstairs to the dinning room for a leisurely luncheon.

~Cindy and Shellys mom chatting as they work on their art~

After lunch, it's back up to the studio, and finish up the project. The day finishes up with home-made dessert. It's a great time to hang out and socialize with friends and crank up the creativity!

~ Shelly and her Mom enjoying time spent together~

For those with less time, I offer a pizza party & project, or solely art lessons and craft workshops.

~Some of the day's projects~

Rollercoaster week

Last week was a total rollercoaster for me emotionally. I had the high high high of seeing the completion of a wonderful collaborative project of over 100 different artists from all over. The "Ties That Bind" project to help raise funds for Ovarian Cancer Research has produced a wonderful -full color photograph, high quality book. It is a lovely mix of photographs of the finished Art Doll, and inspirational quotes and stories. Besides the proceeds of the actual Art piece itself, all of the proceeds from the sale of the book go towards the research as well. The 3 organizers Aileen Roberts, Jan Brown and Kris Henderson have done a spectacular job in getting this project to fly high. I was really tickled to see my own pieces show up in several of the photographs. To get a peek at the book here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/lesnkv

Then crashing to the lowest of low, we had to put my precious baby dog Sophie to sleep on Wednesday. My heart still aches and the tears still flow at the drop of a hat. She was the sweetest of sweet dogs, I could never have asked for anything more from her. She was all that was good and sweet on earth all rolled up into a little furry expression of pure and innocent unending love.

Thank goodness I had an upcoming private Art & Tea party to keep me busy. On Saturday, I enjoyed a full day of art and creativity with 5 very creative and talented ladies. It was a pleasure of a day, and I was even able to finish a project of my own. Art always makes any day better!

Thru all of the ups and all of the downs I have several things I am overwhelmingly greatful for.

I have a God that comforts me. I have wonderful husband, family and friends that support me, and I have my art as therapy. When hugs and words won't do it for me, I can escape to a silent world I create for myself. I am truly blessed.

Studio updates

Sorry I've been absent for a couple of weeks. It's the height of berry season, as well as peaches, and Mike and I've been canning and making jellies and jams every spare minute we're home. Also, the zucchini is coming on full force, and I baked over 25 loaves of zucchini bread this past week on top of the canning! One little rain and yowzers! Some of those zucchini were as long and thick as my arm from my wrist to my elbow! I can't give them away fast enough!

In the few minutes I stole away from work and the kitchen, I worked on some organization projects in my studio. A while back I purchased 2 antique frames with heavy carving. I asked Mike to paint them Navajo White, the same color as my walls. Then I cut a piece of rigid pink insulation to fit the back of the frame. I wrapped natural colored heavy cotton twill fabric around the insulation, securing with hot glue. I inserted it, and wired the back of the frame and Voila! A Bulletin Board. I thought it so pretty, I couldn't find any thumbtacks I liked with it, so I hot-glued antique buttons to cover the pins, and liked the results very much.

For the second frame, I asked Mike to cut a piece of tin to fit the back, and we wired it up and hung it over the sink as a magnetic bulletin board. Again I hot-glued antique buttons to magnets for the decorative finish.

The final thing that freed up a lot of shelf space was to hang all my ribbons off of 4 decorative curtain rods. I have sloped ceilings in the studio, and it really has worked perfectly for me to be able to reach all the ribbon easily!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and living life to the fullest! I've enjoyed checking things off of my "to-do" list! (The art up on my bulletin boards: The push pin board: Kathy McElroy's beautiful seated lady and whimsical heart dangle, Lencho's heart series, 2 of Anne Bagby's postcards and the little sea horse rider is my work. On the magnet board, a mermaid from Mexico, a postcard from Belize, and one of my sketches done on vacation this year.)