Anyone there?

I've been going through photos from trips to Artfest, Montreal, The World's Longest Yard Sale, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, South Carolina, Nashville and a recent trip to the North GA mountains for a short hike on the Appalachian Trail. Way too many stories and photos to sort through before we head off to Montana and Idaho for more camping and hiking.

I've missed my friends in blogland and hope you haven't forgotten me! I'm itching to catch up but the weeds are tall, the lists are long and there's packing to be done. If I survive backcountry camping in -30° weather then I'll be back to catch up when I can. Are you still there? I hope so.

P.S. That's not -30° weather, it's supposed to be <30°. Less than, colder than, way colder than I'm used to in Georgia! Oh, and the picture is of a photo transfer I made on a piece of wood. It's from a photo booth photo while we were in Montreal. All made by hand, you know...wood, photocopy, gel medium, sandpaper. No Photoshop trickery on this baby! :-)

She Dreams Deep

My hands have been covered in paint and gel medium for the past couple of weeks and I have LOVED it! Here's a sneak peek at a few of the 75 (YES! SEVENTY FIVE!) ATCs I made for ArtFest trades. I leave on Wednesday for Seattle and will meet up with other ArtFesters to take the shuttle to Port Townsend/Fort Worden. I've still got lots to do before I leave. Just wanted to share a quick photo before I give all of these away.

I know we are all busy right now but if you haven't already done so, fly over to Mary Ann Moss' blog (Dispatch from LA) and sign up for her online Stencilry class! She's one of my all time favorite journaling bloggers and I know the class will be fab. At least pop in and leave a comment to put your name in the hat for a freebie! Do it now 'cause it ends tomorrow.

Ok, I'm off to pack for a camping trip, gesso about 6 more pages for LK Ludwig's class and try to find a 3/8" hole punch! Happy Spring to you all!

Thing-Finder

Last night as I was reading LK Ludwig's inspirational book called True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling, I sat up in the bed and said to my husband: "That's it! I finally know what I am. I'm a THING-FINDER!" I then went on to read him the quoted passage from Pippi Longstocking where she explains to her friends what a Thing-finder does, they find things. When asked what kind of things, Pippi explains "Oh, all kinds...lumps of gold, ostrich feathers, dead rats, candy snap crackers, and tiny little screws, and things like that." If you looked in my art room right now, you'd find everything from that list except the dead rats.

It's taken a long time to realize there really are others like me. I suppose you can say that I've finally found my tribe. Which gets me to thinking about ArtFest! It's almost time to get on the plane with my big girl suitcase all packed with warm clothes and art supplies. I need to start thinking about trades. I don't think I'll make the PMC charms like I did last year. I'll need something fresh and new for my 2nd ArtFest. No need to be an over-achiever. Ha! Famous last words.

I've been spending a lot of time in my art studio lately. First to clear a path to my art table and then to actually sit at the table and be able to experiment with soldering. I'm getting better with each piece I make but I'm still not convinced I'll be able to s0lder a jump ring onto a soldered piece of glass any time soon. Even with two 3rd arms, a couple anvils, a steel block, a c-clamp, self-locking tweezers and a drawer full of pliers it's still difficult for me to manage. I'll keep trying until I can at least feel confident enough to make something to send to a friend. That's usually my benchmark. If I can feel good about giving it to a friend then I'm heading in the right direction.

I've had lots of time to work on things indoors because in case you hadn't noticed it's been COLD down here! I'm talking single digit, pipe freezing, 3 quilt and 2 cat sleeping cold. Today was the first warm day we've had in weeks. It was beautiful, sunny and warm. I sat on the back deck with my feet in the sun for the first time in months. I do believe I'm almost thawed out now.

Lots of excitement around here lately: A 700+lbs. cow in the front yard that my husband had to wrangle back into the pasture across the busy street with our 90 year old neighbor. Frozen water pipes due to the extreme cold followed by a broken water pipe from the house down to the barn. Luckily our friend Farmer Sue was over visiting when we noticed the leak that was pouring water into the crawlspace under the house. She told me not to panic - she knew all about the cutoff valve under the house and draining the pipe until spring. Just another thing to add to the "To Do When it Warms Up" list.

I realize it's already February and I haven't posted the photos from the rest of our trip to Coastal Georgia! It was such a wonderful trip. Very relaxing with lots of exploring, seafood eating, Geocaching and general low key goodness. We stayed in a great little cottage called Oaks of Eden that was definitely off the beaten path and very peaceful. I often found myself getting up early and sneaking to the observation deck to watch the sunrise over the marsh or packing a thermos of coffee and going with Marty down the dirt road on the bicycles to a place we called "The Green Lagoon" to watch the wildlife. We couldn't have asked for a better place.The owners were great! There were yummy muffins, fresh wild caught Georgia boiled shrimp and organic green salad from their garden waiting on us in the 'fridge when we arrived. We were so spoiled with all the good seafood we ate on this trip that we ended up bringing back 25lbs. of IQF (individually quick frozen) fresh wild caught Georgia shrimp. Of course, this lead to the purchase of a new freezer for the garage when we returned but it's packed with shrimp now and there should be room for vegetables about late spring!












For those of you who have never seen cotton growing - this is it! I've seen it all my life but it still amazes me when I look at it up close.