i’ve just listed some new eyecandy in my etsy store. i hope you like them. i just finished them tonight and couldn’t wait to get them posted!

also… i’m going to be participating in a art show in surrey on december 1. visit this website - creative finds.ca - for more information. i may need some moral-supporters [kinda like an artistic athletic support LOL - someone who’ll tell me, even if no one buys my art, i’m doing a-ok], so if you want to help me out for the day, let me know… i can pay you in product, art, cash or simply the pleasure of my company ;^)

have a great week peeps…
c-out!

here are some pics from our vacay/business trip last week. wish i was in vegas right now, especially since it’s going to be a soggy weekend here in vancouver. [sigh]  oh well… as least i can enjoy these photos until our next trip =)

have a great weekend everyone!

Viva Las Vegas, originally uploaded by studiowerx.

this morning i received etsy emails that 2 of my mixed media collages have sold on etsy. love that!

it’s so cool and really validating to have your artwork purchased by people you’ve never met, who live in another country, thousands of miles from you. it means that you are achieving what you’ve set out to do, make beautiful artwork that people enjoy. it’s not just your friends and family buying your art, supporting your artistic endeavours [although i LOVE them mightily for doing that!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!]. it’s someone you don’t know. someone your artwork has struck a chord with, and that my friends is a great feeling.

but it’s a little sad too. i have loved having these pieces in my studio. i have them positioned in my enormous ikea ‘cubby-style’ wall unit. each looking at me and me looking at them. inspiring my new work and making me want to dig out the paint and paper everytime i pass by them.

i’ll miss them. especially ‘bloomsbury girl’ [shown above]. her eyes and the color of this piece turned out magically. really lovely. i’ll definitely work with this image and palette again. it’s so soft and feminine. 

BUT the whole point of putting the artwork out there on etsy is to sell it. i’m glad she’s finding her way to a new, artfilled home. even if it is across the country in the southern usa [where i’ll never see her again]. at least i have great pics of the original artwork for posterity =)

from vegas. <sigh>

i could retire in the vegas desert quite happily… constant weather [means NO migraines! yay!], sunshine and warm nights in early fall [especially when you return home from lv to vancouver and the 30C difference - 90C to 61C - ack!], airconditioning and lovely pools everywhere and, oh yeah, canadian dollar at PAR! whooo hoooooo! love that.

we actually went to vegas for the memory trends convention [and used it as an excuse for a quickie getaway] to buy for our storefront in vancouver, studiowerx on main. i was really surprised at how small the show was. only 90 booths, and we pretty much whipped through it [including placing orders] in about 2 hours. kinda sad. but kinda glad too… it meant more outlet shopping, gambling and pool time for me and t.

have lots of pics that will be posted later tonight. we stayed at the mgm grand and i just gotta stay… loved that hotel. amazing room, starbucks everywhere [just what a vancouver, coffee-lovin girl needs!], incredible pool, great casino, very central and last stop on the vegas monorail. loved it. back to real-life now…

i wanted to catch you all up on a new product that is just waiting to be picked up in point roberts [from my usa shipping depot]… our new pharmacie journal cards!  these yummy journal cards are printed with our new pharmacie digital paper backgrounds and are double sided, full colour, 2.5×4.5" high quality card stock cards. LOVE THESE! they turned out so great…  the cards are being added to our online store this week and will begin shipping early next week.  here is the sneak peek at them…

donna downey’s Inspired. Artist Workshop registration is now open.
i’m the textile instructor and we’ll be working with fabric, photos, florals, beads, image transfer and handstitching. loads of fun and potential with the techniques you’ll learn in this class!

here are a couple of sneak peeks at what i’ll be teaching at the event…

so now that you’re interested… go. run. and sign up to take 6 incredible classes over an april weekend in north carolina. i hope to see you there!

claudine was on martha stewart’s show on wednesday morning this week. it was a live show and she did so great! she worked on the ’sitting pretties’ custom poppet(r) inspired dimensional art with martha and the segment was really well-received by martha.

claudine really admires and loves martha so this was a HUGE deal for her. she was super excited and nervous about doing the segment, but you would never know it. she was so calm and worked through the segment with her typical charming, chatty style. you killed it girl!

here are some links to claudine’s blog with the run-down of how she was contacted by the martha show producer, right through to how the show went and her experience. enjoy!

• Claudine gets the news she’s going to be on the martha stewart show, the work involved, prep and leaving for the big day, rehearsal and the live show.
• Martha Show segment from Martha Stewart’s website.

so, can you guess we’re were going?

yup… we head off to the land of 24hr gambling, pumped oxygen, walking, shopping, walking, 100F temps and oh, did i mention walking? lol.

after 4 days in vegas, we always end up with what we have now termed as ‘vegas feet’… the definition of ‘vegas feet’ according to the lazar-schuler household:

• day one: walking is a breeze, you walk everywhere and ignore the casino cab line-ups
• day two: you’re looking for excuses to take a break and sit for a minute, cabs are starting to look good
• day three: you can’t be bothered to walk more than a few minutes at a time and you are now getting bitchy while you wait in the 20 person cab line-up at the bellagio
• day four: find a keno pit, park your ass and don’t move again until you have to go back to the hotel, get your bags and head to the airport!

what most people forget [or don’t realize] is that virtually every block length on the vegas strip is at least a half a mile long. the hotel, that seems of so close that you say with naively "let’s just walk to it", is really so HUGE it’s closeness is an optical illusion and what seems like a short distance is really about a mile away. trust me. i know this. i’m speaking from multiple trips of experience.

we’ve been to vegas more times than i should admit [this is our 9th visit in 13.5 years together] and i know just how far it is from the mgm grand to the venetian. it’s too freaking far! thank god for the monorail that now runs from the mgm grand to the sahara. it’s really  been a huge help the last couple of trips and makes travelling the strip much easier on our feet! we’re staying at the mgm grand this trip and having the monorail station in our hotel is a huge bonus.

there are trips to the two big outlet centers already planned [t has been scoping out the stores and their sales online!] and many late, late nights [3am-4am bedtimes] with much sleeping in [up at 11am] in our immediate future =) love that. we’re going to hit up a couple of our favorite buffets [at the paris and bellagio] and grab a great steak and pomme frits at the ‘mon ami gabi’ bistro in the paris hotel. yummy!

so why are we ‘really’ going? the memory trends scrapbooking convention… we’re heading to lv to suss out the new products for fall/winter and do some buying for our vancouver store. i’m looking forward to attending the show as a buyer and not an exhibitor for a change! plus it’s a nice way to take a mini-vacation to one of our favorite holiday spots [and we can write off the trip - LOVE that!]

well… i’ll catch you in a few days [we’re back on thursday]. hope you all have a great weekend. behave while i’m gone… really, somebody should. all i know is that i’m not going to this weekend/early next week =D

Viva Las Vegas, originally uploaded by studiowerx.

our virtual classroom is now open and taking registrations.

the virtual classroom includes a variety of classes such as rubberstamping, mini-albums, holiday and technique
based classes. here is how it will work:

1. sign up for the class by visiting the virtual classroom
2. click on the class link you are interested in and pay for your class through our online store
3. receive access to our exclusive, comprehensive classroom PDFS, sketches, video clips and audio introductions [as applicable]
4. following the step-by-step workshop instructions you will complete your new project or learn a new technique
5. visit our exclusive Google Classroom Group for inspiration, questions, comments and sharing your projects

enjoy!

when you and your hubby are up LATE [it’s 2am] working on webstuff and house plans.

while listening to our itunes collection of 80s hits, the rick springfield’s 80 classic ‘jessie’s girl’ came on and inspired some armpit orchestrations that, well, are just too good to ignore.

so for your audio pleasure [and giggles], may i present the armpit stylings of my hubby, t schuler…
jessie’s girl