this past weekend was crazy busy! it’s time to stop and just take a breath.

mom’s 60th birthday is tomorrow and so we had a small bbq with our immediate family a few of her friends so that meant a day of costco, grocery and liquor store shopping plus a cleaning marathon. plus we took part in a block party with our neighbours and co-hosted the party by donating our bbq for the event. so all in all, it was a crazy two days that left me wiped out on monday.

back at it this week. the office grind and home art studio is humming along at a steady pace.

have a few commissions to finish off, some orders to pack and then a long bc day weekend to enjoy. whew! where does the time go?

one of the last areas for me to got through during the `big dig` is the storage area we have under our stairs. you see we have accessible storage from inside the studio via two narrow doors about the size of kitchen cabinet doors, only a little taller. in here were things that I had forgotten about - or were trying to forget about lol!

whilst digging through the last of my boxes, i stumbled upon some old photos of me and t. now these are ooooooold pics, taken about 13-15 years ago in the beginning of our relationship [we’ve been together for 14 years as a couple, 6 dating/living together and 8 years married]. damn, we look so young! so… because really, i have no secrets [and damn i don’t look half bad], here we are… in our early 20somethings. aren’t we cute?

here is another snapshot of a project that is near and dear to my heart… a tiny [and i mean TINY] altered book.

the book is a diminutive 2×3″ and was created in a miniature ‘joy of cooking’ book found at my local chapters bookstore. it was part of a round robin altered book exchange. the theme of the exchange was ’small altered books’ and i took the theme to heart, much to the dismay of some of the participants. LOL! initially the group grumbled about how small it was and how hard it would be to work in. carmi, you remember that don’t you? <big grin> but in the end, each of the artists loved the tiny book, holding onto it as long as possible. each person reveling in its petite-ness.

due to the tiny size of my book, i encouraged the artists/participants to create faux postage and mail art and to tip them into the tiny book. the mail art created inside the small pages is wonderful! it’s really a treasure to hold and see. the book is pretty much bursting at the seams, so photographing it is difficult. but… i thought i would include a little tease about how amazing this little altered book is. the edges of the pages are painted, beaded [carmi is famous for her beaded altered books!], inked and foil wrapped. each tiny submission unique and thoughful. i look at the pages often with admiration at the work inside and fondness for the women who participated in this project.

enjoy this tiny glimpse into perhaps the smallest altered book you’ve ever seen. i will treasure it always.

sorry gang… no posts for a few days. i’m dealing with yet another bout of my lovely, chronic eye problem blepharitis and this is a bad one. nasty nasty. won’t go into the gory details, but suffice it to say… i’m looking a little scary!

be back to regular posting in a few days… in the meantime, enjoy this!

maya road accordion chipboard mini-album. sprayed with glimmer mist oriental poppy. layered with jenni bowlin tiny papers, vintage ephemera, stamped image from lazar studiowerx design sheet on bazzill white cardstock and finished with american crafts thickers.

finally got my long awaited button magnet making supplies on monday and tonight i started playing. carmi, now i understand the obsession!

i pulled out my button maker. ripped open the bags of magnet supplies and started tearing out vintage magazine images to create teeny, tiny 1.25″ collages. i was soooooo happy with these diminutive art works that tonight i listed 2 new items on etsy. two sets of 3 - 1.25″ button magnets featuring original, mini-collages on each magent. so cool!

i love that they are originals and will not be reproduced. so… if you’re interested in art for your kitchen, desk or bathroom vanity - check these babies out =)

well folks, the verdict is in… i LOVE my ikea expedit storage solution! it totally rocks. yep. i said it. it rocks. hard. and you know what, that is wicked!

here are some snapperoos of the completed unit. notice the mini-books and binder album… the tiny and large cards… proof positive that yes! i still do create scrappy and rubberstamp goodness =)

oh… don`t hate my ledger book pic. i know i shouldn`t have that many BIG ledgers, but what`s a girl to do when she is obsessed with old paperÉ yep. buy more stuff!

much to my customer’s benefit, my studio purge continues and i am unearthing all kinds of stuff i forgot i had. i’m taking my spring closet purge process to heart with this studio/art room reorganization and the culling of ‘crap’ [well, it’s not really crap… just stuff i’m sick of seeing LOL!] is going well.

my rule for the purge is that if i haven’t missed it, used it or looked for it in more than 1 year - it’s going either into the recycling bin, or will be sold at my studio/warehouse sale. recent finds and forgotten treasures include…

• these 1950s vintage bingo cards. i kept 12 for myself and will be selling off the remaining 100+ red, blue, green and orange cards for $1 each! ephemera and vintage hounds be warned… i suspect these will move fast on august 9th.
• also found was a gross of pale pink and white silk flowers. each bag in the gross holds 200 flowers which means i have 1000 flowers sitting around, being unused and unloved. these too will be going for a song at $2/bag. a steal of a deal if i ever heard! you can’t even buy one silk flower at the dreaded ‘big M’ for under $2 much less 200 flower heads alone!
• and then there are the 200 vials of 6 different coloured seed beads. yep… all these lovely beads will be sold for $1 each too… it’s madness!!
• and another unearthed treasure box showed up tonight… a whole whack of stampers anonymous, hero arts and other older personal stamps from my older collection was found tucked in a corner, under some other crap. there are about 50 of them. these are all going to be sold for $1 each. they are lightly used and many of the designs are no longer available and have been retired. they have been well cared from and living in a sealed box, so the rubber just need a god wipe with a baby towelette and it’s ready for stamping. get them while you can at the sale…

so now i’m up to 12 FACs boxes, stuffed to their capacity and i’m sure there are a few more to come. and i bet you’re all chomping at the bit for august 9th to roll around now aren’t you?

i’m definitely going to need help setting up in the morning and evening of the sale… anyone interested in helping out before the sale starts can email me or post a comment below… you’ll be paid in rubber and other supplies, BUT you must commit to helping set-up first, BEFORE you start shopping =)

oh… and here is some of the progress i’ve made in my ‘big dig’. its looking mucho better and i’m starting to feel really good about it.

i started the massive undertaking of reorganizing and sort my inventory from the home studio and our store on monday. can i just say OHMIGOD i have a lot of rubber!!

i visited ikea and bought a new storage cabinet to go with the fixture we brought home from the store and assembled it on monday night before the ‘big dig’ [as i like to call my re-org] began. it looks fabulous! it holds lots of inventory in clear bins and pristine white/silver ikea boxes plus it has great display potential with space for small art projects, mini-books and cards. love that!

i will be taking some pics of the ‘big dig’ results soon so you can see the massive improvement. i did forget to take pics of the before though… but just imagine 20 boxes of inventory, haphazardly placed store fixtures, cluttered studio table and boxes of giclee prints and mixed media artwork… not to mention the boxes of rubberstamps i had at home BEFORE i brought home MORE inventory!! wowsers!

so… here is a tease for the studio/warehouse sale. so far i have collected in 9 FACS boxes the following:

• 2 boxes of magazines - somerset, legacy, creating keepsakes, papertrends, scrapbook trends, cloth paper scissors, old and ends, and a few handmade altered art zines [these will be sold as a set]
• 2 boxes of art and craft books including books on painting techniques and faux finishes, book binding and journal making, altered books, knitting, interior design and paper crafting
• 1 box FILLED with UM rubberstamp sheets and general overstock. we’re talking discontinued christmas stamps for 65% off the regular retail price. yep… i’m blowing these suckers OUT. each quarter sheet will be $4, each half sheet will be $6 and full sheets for $12. crazy i know, but i gotta make room for new stamps!!
• 1 box of UM singles [and more to come] that will be put into grab bags for $10-15 each.
• 1 box of chipboard embellishments and other ’stuff’ for your artwork
• 1 box of odd and end embellishments, fabric, and ’stuff’

there will also be a bunch of my paper arts artwork from class samples for sale too. most of them are framed in cool 8×8 ikea frames and will sell starting at $15 each. all are signed and value for the frames alone is $9. so you will be getting some of my original artwork for cheap cheap =)

lots more to be done… will hopefully get some pics shot tomorrow evening of the new storage/display unit. i have BIG plans for this space and it’s really nice to see it starting to come together.

have a good day people =)

ADELE ‘Cold Shoulder’

adele is one of my new music obsessions. she’s from the BRIT school where all the amazing new UK girl musicians are coming from. the talent coming out of BRIT is truly impressive, you must check them out. enjoy…

a typical morning breakfast with the lulu. too cute and waaaaaaaay too spoiled!