My eyes are still a little misty from reading all those Holiday memories... thank you to all of you who shared.
I want to let you all know that we are going to have an event to support the women in Uganda, many of whom are HIV positive, who are the beaders for the "Bead for Life" program. In the photo, you can see a necklace and some bracelets, made from paper beads. The women have started this business as a means to sustain themselves and their children, and the whole village. Stories about them can be seen on the website http://www.beadforlife.org/, from which I have taken this quote: " Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads, and people who care open their hearts,homes and communities to buy and sell the beads.The beads thus become income, food, medicine, school fees and hope. It is a small miracle that enriches us all."
We will be having a trunk show of these beads and jewelry pieces, here at the store. I tried to get it in time for holiday gifting, but I guess they were pretty busy. (I will do better next year!) Our trunk show will arrive here at the end of December. I will give the exact specifics when I receive all the items. I hope you will all want to come in and support this great cause. 100% of the price of the beaded items goes directly back to the Bead for Life organization. (This is not a money-generating event for the store.) One of the items that I know they sell is packages of loose beads. We're talking art supplies!!!
Now, here is a photo of the give-away in the random drawing this week for anyone who enters a comment in response to my question. It is a set of stamps and 2 chipboard sets from Maya Road, one of my favorite companies.
Here is the question: In your fantasy (don't worry, not going there..)what is your profession, and what are you doing with it? Here is my answer...It will probably surprise no one that in the deepest recesses of my heart I would love to be a rock star, singing up on stage...some outrageous wild knee-slapping songs, with a few heart-wrenching tear jerkers thrown in for good measure...but I wouldn't do all that club-hopping..I would be the first rock-star rubber stamper-altered artist...and I wouldn't forget all you little folks who knew me "when"...but do not, I repeat, do not call me to borrow money or get me to sing at your kids PTO spring fair..seriously, I don't really have the time for that, between running the store and being a rock star...what were you thinking?? So, c'mon...there must be some wild fantasies out there...who wants to get up on stage with me and do a duet???

schedule

soooo..Zentangles..what are these crazy things that

seem to be dominating our schedules these days?? We

are all having so much fun with them. I will refer you

to the original website, http://www.zentangle.com/.

Be sure to keep it singular, instead of the word

zentangles...as I have sent multiple people to a

neighborhood dating service by having that typo...I am lucky none of my customers has eloped with a crazy internet

weirdo...OK, maybe some of you have, but still, ...not completely my fault. Anyway, it is a new art form that anyone can do...really, anyone...it is freehand drawing, purposeful lines,...in some cases it takes a little getting used to, but the patterns emerge, and cool, fun art is produced. In the process, though, you will find yourself completely absorbed in a very relaxing way, in the whole experience. Plus, its great for anytime you have to wait somewhere...doctor's office, car repair place, tattoo parlor, bank heist (in case you are driving the get-away car...but be careful. it can be very absorbing...and as your robber friends are making a mad dash for you and the car, you may be making a very complex design, and thinking, y'know guys, this just isn't a good time for me to stop drawing right now...I don't even want to think of the problems that will ensue at that point, so maybe hold off on the abetting a robbery, at least for now.) I carry my pen, pencil and shading tool, along with a small notebook, everywhere I go.
What to do with it? Definitely your choice. Add it to some of your current art endeavors, appreciate it on its own, like a well-loved watercolor scene, use it in your journalling, make jewelry, and other small objets de art (not quite sure on the spelling there...maybe getting too sophisticated for my own good.) In any case, we are just loving it here. I went away for a few days to become a Certified Zentangle Teacher, learning at the feet of Maria & Rick, who developed this whole new world. Aside from meeting very talented people and being blown away by everything they had all done, I also learned quite a bit.

Check out this week's newsletter, as I have added another Class, "D." My mind is very busy these days preparing the advanced class, filled with lots of cool things. Here is a photo from one of the beginner classes...looks like everyone got the hang of it.

I am looking forward to putting our own little AE twist on it, by adding some Ranger Stickles, (along with Copic markers, as I did on the "three xmas trees" card... first I stamped the blank tree three times, then I added Zentangles to each section of the tree, after which I used the Copic markers and Stickles.) Distress Crackle, hardening gel and the UV lamp, die-cutting, inserting words, creating layers with foam tape...I could go on, but we need to pick a random winner for the blog prize. Go to the newsletter, to find out if it is you! Below is a photo of the

prize for this coming week,... a 12 x 12 calendar set, with stickers to help create a 2010 projecet.

It was great to see that we have all internalized some great advice. A huge thanks to everyone who gave us that advice!! Onward we go, with today's question: When you remember Christmases, or other winter holidays from your youth, what memory sticks out the most...a tradition, a trip, a certain gift, a certain person??? I have a couple:..We were never allowed to put up our tree until the evening of christmas eve...we didn't even buy it til then...so the pickings at the lot were somewhat slim...but my dad had to have the biggest tree available...so he always got one that was way too big to fit in our room...made sense that we would cut off a bit, right??...Well, he always cut off the top, so every year we ended up with a christmas trapezoid, filled with tinsel...but that baby was big!! I'll try to find some photos of some of them. Another memory...riding into NYC from the suburbs, to visit my most beloved Grandmother, Nana...she was like a saint, cozy apron, warm hugs, total acceptance, always on our side...we would ride a tiny elevator (the kind with the grated door that you have to pull sideways to close.)..up to the 6th floor, and enter her apartment, a very narrow, barely two bedroom place...but to us, it was heaven..we used to explore her bureaus, boxes under the beds, ...the old fridge always had bottles of coke, and of course, there were christmas cookies...her special recipe, that I still use to this day...the apartment was also very hot most of the time, so I remember sitting by a window, looking out into an alley, and feeling worlds apart from my real life...as we all got older, into adolescence, this became more of a chore, and we would wistfully wish ourselves back home with all of our friends...but apparently the feelings of warmth and love I felt at those times when I was younger have lasted and are what I remember most.

OK, now its your turn.

Thank you soooo much to everyone who responded to the question-of-the-week..I am blown away by the good fortune that we are all able to see in our lives. It is so nice that, even in the midst of problems and pressures-of course, we all have some of those-we can see through it all to what is most important...and how similar we all are, in spite of many differences, in how we appreciate these wonderful elements of our lives. We are a lucky bunch! I don't know about you guys, but I am developing a sense of a small community here..we may not know each other by sight or name..and wouldn't necessarily know if we were even in the same room, but we are all sharing pieces of ourselves, sometimes lightly, other times in more depth. And I, for one, definitely appreciate the openness, and participation from all of you...it really helps me feel more connected and it makes me think about other points of view...pretty cool. Check out the latest newsletter to see if you are the winner for last week's prize of the Martin Meyer Imports glitter.

Here's a quick little movie review for those of you that are into altered books and journals. The name of the movie is "1000 Journals." It is about a project where this one person sent out 1000 journals all over the world, and the story of what happened then...kind of fascinating. It turns out that Tracy Moore (of Teesha & Tracy fame) is in the movie. He's the teacher I had for that wild polymer clay journal I made with the 3-d face on the front. Cool to see him. Anyway, I got the movie through Netflix.
So here is this week's question: Tell us a great tip you learned in a class somewhere, or even just from someone else at some time, not necessarily in a class..a tip about technique, or style that has, in some, way, made a difference in your art. It can be specific or general...no rules about your answers here. Here's mine-I was told, once, to just experiment, with my art supplies..not to wonder if I could do this or that, just to try it out and fail miserably, if that was to be the case, but, really, just to try everything...I have had some happy accidents, and a lot of miserable failures...and learned lessons from all of them. But mostly I have learned to experiment.

Here is a photo of the prize for this week's randomly-chosen winner. It is a template from Crafter's Workshop, a stamp designed by Tim Holtz (think it looks crazy??...use it and see how cool it is!!), a set of bling and some black glitter alphabets from Making Memories. Odd assortment??...I guess that's where the muse took me...see, I was experimenting!

I am not getting any sleep as I mull over all the birdcage ideas..hope you were as inspired as I was. Check out the newsletter to see who won! Here is this week's prize, donated to us by the great folks at
Martin Meyer Imports. It contains 11 packets of German glass glitter...many of you may already know, this type of glitter is my all time favorite,... in next week's blog, or sooner I will post some samples that I have made with it. Also, here is the link to this very cool website..it has all sorts of items..esp. small stuff that we kind of folk like!!
http://www.meyer-imports.com/

So, here is this week's question:
It's November, and, aside from it being my birthday month, and therefore, my favorite month of the year, it is also coming up to Thanksgiving time...I have always thought that I would like to keep a thankfulness journal...no specific required entries, just what I am thankful for in my life, maybe just today, maybe for something in the past...in any case, I thought I would bring this up before the time crunch for pie-baking comes upon us..so here it is...What are you thankful for now in your life...feel free to mention up to about five different things, but one is enough, too...no need to spill secrets, because, you know, I am a blabber!...be as general or detailed as you like...I will start off.
I am definitely thankful for (#1)my family, a husband who doesn't throw out all my "finds," "piles." and "collections," and also doesn't go into the Art room... and healthy and content (for the moment) kids...Also, (#2)for the opportunity to run the store...this has been one of the greatest joys in my life, having a great staff, and meeting so many great people...(#3) My own personal move toward a healthier life...not easy. (#4) My 90 year old Mom, who has always been a rock in my life....and (#5), Learning Zentangles!!! There are tons more...but that's what I have come up with. Let's hear from you.

I have soooo enjoyed reading the comments from last week and seeing how everyone is doing such wonderful and different projects--very inspiring!! Here is a look at the prize for next week's randomly chosen blog commenter...it is one of the new calendars for 2010 that Stampington has put out...a little bit of inspiration for each month!! Its title is Somerset Life, not Somerset Lite.

The winner for last week's entries has been announced in the newsletter...go there to see if maybe it was you...Here is the Question for this week (also, I opened up the comments area for "anonymous" repliers...but I would be delighted if you would let me know who you are.!! Anyway...the Question:
What do you think are some good ways to embellish a bird cage..any size...This is really a fantasy project...just share your thoughts. Here are some of mine...I would definitely add some of those long Prima floral stems along the corners, with some extra velvet leaves thrown in...maybe I would make a few felt birds to hang on wire perches inside...and possibly a nest of some sort, maybe out of a combo of wire and twigs..will have to give this more thought, and who knows, after I hear from all of you, maI will actually make one!

I forgot to post this photo in my latest newsletter, but this is a great book that has just come in...lots of great tips and iinspirations...
Right now I am working on my samples for the Christmas album-in-a-day, the 12 Books ofChristmas in a box, and the 12 days of Christmas printers tray...also we are celebrating our family christmas on Dec 19, as that is when all the kids , all four, can be home...so honestly??...on Dec. 20, I am ready to move on...maybe I will start shopping for next year...
This is the prize for the person who is chosen randomly from
this week's group of respondents. Just post an answer to the
question
and your entry will be entered to win. Here is the question... Describe your most memorable art project, collage, scrapbook, set of cards, etc...whatever it was, tell us about it.
OK, technically, that is not a question, but let's just say it is.

The winner of the Tim Holtz stamp set is posted in the newsletter...go there to find out who it is...and for this week, we have the following prize:It is six sheets of SEI's new Moravia paper, along with a set of grungeboard, dotted, and no longer being made...so, last chance to get this cool stuff. Here is this week's question: Describe where you keep your art supplies...a room?...a closet?...in your pocket?...and what is your favorite storage secret to share with us? Thanks for playing.
So, here's something that came into the store and blew out before we even knew what was happening...the printers' trays from 7Gypsies...they are all out of them, as are all the other suppliers in the country, I think...so, we have a whole bunch on order, and they will arrive around the end of October. If you want to start getting your project ready for these neat frames, each section measures 2 3/4 x 3 3/4, so I trim all my paper to fit inside by coming down just hair off

of those measurements, not even a full 1/16...or maybe it is, but, really, not very much. There are 12 frames in each tray...We did them up as a calendar, using the Maya Road new calendar sets, and we also did this cool Christmas scene, using the new Webster's Pages paper. For the calendar tray, I also added a small postage stamp from the Crafty Secrets "all-year" set of embellishments--it has something for every month, and we used the postage edger scissors to make it look like a stamp.
So, I am thinking, 12 days of Christmas, linking two together for an advent calendar, family photos, winter scenes--lots of crystally snow flakes...it just begs to be decorated. If you would like to reserve one (or three) of these neat items, which are $15.99, feel free to call the store and put your name on the list. We are keeping a "reserved item" list for these.