Mad Tea Party 2016

It is that time again. Mad Tea Party Time! This year is a unique year. So a unique interpertation of this theme seems in order, don't you think? I've got something up my sleeve and I'm excited to share it with you. So sneak around by on Saturday and see what is cooking on the blog. I assure you it will be Assam. Oh Darjeeling, you must drop by. 

Oh Happy Day!

Today is the day that my dear friend, Cindi Huss arrives for a few days of making art. We have talked about taking some time together for a long time. Our "Artist Retreat" has taken some unexpected turns and has toned down from the original idea. I trust that it is unfolding just as it should. Here's proof of my optimism:

The fabric paint I ordered was delayed. The arrival date shifted to a date when it would be too late to use it. Disappointed though I was, I knew we had more projects than time so shrugged it off. It arrived yesterday! In plenty of time. Now we only have to use Hermione Grangers time warp to have time enough to use it! 

As if that isn't enough, tomorrow is the Mad Tea Party. My post will be up bright and early. Be sure to visit all the wonderful parties going on!

Present to Myself

I've been absent from blogging this past month. First there was illness and then the hectic pace at the end of the school year. Truth be told, this led to the need for a massive clean up action before I could get to my desk. Oooops! 

School's out and I have given myself a wonderful present. Tomorrow I am heading east to take not just one, but two, classes from Kelly Kilmer! I will be learning more about mixed media and journaling. This is like a dream come true! 

I've packed up my bag of materials and I'm ready to spend a day learning, growing and flinging paint! Can't wait to post the results. 

Time to phone a friend - Self Care Saturday

I jumped the gun on Self Care Saturday this week and scheduled a call on Friday with dear friend and fiber artist, Cindi Huss. So when I sat down with my journal to do this week's page, I was amazed to see two faces and two phones staring out of the paper at me. The pages were prepped last week as excess paint from other projects and some torn gelli prints. The prep was done before the phone call. Yet there were those two faces. Neither is in a style I would usually create, but they demanded to be set free and so they were.

Cindi and I have been friends for many years. She is one of those rare people with whom I can be my whole wacky, outrageous self. I don't have to limit my love of language (other people do not delight in my favorite words - rancorous, recalcitrant, obstreperous….), I don't have to be serious. I don't have to reign in my dreaming. Our emails and phone calls of late tend toward planning an artist retreat for the two of us. This dreaming and scheming is filling my soul. 

Hope your Self Care Saturday filled you up. 

You can see some of Cindi's work at her blog Dancing Threads.

Hydrate & Moisturize - Self Care Saturday

On the second Self Care Saturday moisture was on the agenda! Winter really dried me out. Spring is a great time to rejuvenate and we are finally enjoying Springlike weather! 

So priorities today -- plenty of fluids and moisturize.

Care to join me? What did you do to pamper yourself today? 

Gelli Printing!

This weekend I treated myself to something I have wanted to try for a while now. I hope you treated yourself as well. 

I first got interested in printing with a Gelli Arts plate after watching a video on YouTube that wowed me. If I find it I will post it here. This seemed like so much fun and a great addition to art journaling. 

So as I was driving through Providence my car suddenly turned toward Wickendon Street. Before I knew it I was parked at Dick Blick's Art Supply Store. I have so many happy memories involving this store when it was Utrecht's. One day a guy came in on his unicycle to buy a very large piece of paper. We wondered how he would ever carry it on that unicycle, but he rolled it up, put it in the cylinder slung over his shoulder and pedaled away. 

Today I broke out the plate and gave it a try. The sound of the paper pulling away from the plate and the squishing of the paint were accompanied by my squee-ing with delight. The pulls I got from this method made me do a little happy dance. 

I will be trying this again!

What kinds of things do you do when you want to treat yourself?