Moo

Lookie at my new Moo Cards. I only ordered four different designs. I was in a hurry because I wanted to put them in my workshop packets.

Boo hoo, no Moo cards in time. They came today.

Ok, enough for now. Last day of the month is a busy day for me.

Enough for September,

Sharon

Thank You

Good morning,
Cleaning up ....no straightening up ....I mean moving stuff around on my desk always inspires me to paint.

I ran across this little sketch and decided to paint her. It's just a very small piece of watercolor paper probably about 6 inches tall so it didn't take too long. And you know me, I paint and then must show.

But what I really wanted to do was say thank you faithful readers for your visits and comments. Hearing from you means the world to me. I have been so neglectful of you the past few weeks and am feeling bad about that. This week I intend to pop over to see you and say Hi. I confess that I have passed by many of your blogs in such a hurry and I have enjoyed seeing all you have been doing but just left too quick to say hello.

Be watching for me.
Enough for now,
Sharon

Not Dreaming

It wasn't a dream. Last week I had a dream that I arrived at the Paper Cowgirl Retreat in Waxahachie, TX in plenty of time to teach my "Face on a Box" class.

In my dream I dilly-dallied around for about 2 or 3 hours and when it was time to teach, discovered that I forgot the class packets and all the other necessary this & thats. Thank goodness I woke up from that nightmare. So, just before leaving yesterday, I snapped this proof.

Oh my goodness, can I say there was one fun group of ladies gathered to enjoy three hours of Norah'S shenanigans along with a little bit of my instruction. And she certainly did make her presence known. She got out of hand only once......I'll just tell you that she is quick to stop the "doubting Debbies" that sometimes tag along with students.

Our project was on a 3 inch paper mache box. Unfortunately we did not have time to totally finish the box and were a little rushed at the end. But.......

have you ever seen such art and soul in a bunch of faces. I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am about the results of sharing a few techniques with a few fun ladies. It's amazing how every single face is beautiful, stunning, soulful and has a story to tell. They say things like shy, confident, demure, fearful, pretty, fun, crazy, and more and more. I'm just tickled to see them in a group like this. It's just dreamy.


This wasn't a dream. I swear it wasn't. Very very recently, my freind Rella aka Faerieluna had a drawing on her blog for a beautiful piece of her original art. Well, I did not win. But......

here is Sherri, who works at the shop that hosted the retreat, and who also was singed up for my class, and who won the Faerieluna original.

OK, I'm gonna wake up now because I think I have been dreaming again.

I hope you have been having a great weekend. I plan to nap off and on for the rest of the day. And maybe have a few little dreams about that fun group of ladies and their faces.
Enough for now,
Sharon

Home now

Sisters Trickin

10 X 20 canvas

A great time was had.

Next time, maybe you can come too.

I would love that.

Sharon

Nice ART day

Here they are. Little supply bags from the workshop.

I made packing tape transfers from photocopies of "Sister" paintings to add to the collage on the bag as well as the little tags.

I just noticed there is a little peep in the background of this top picture of the canvas I started.

I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow and of course you know I will show.

For now, I have had enough and must lay my body down.

Until tomorrow,

Sharon

Surprise Surprise

Here I am at the resort, relaxing and resting. And playing ART.

We just had a great dinner. I ate too much.

This is the beginning of my first project. I'm working on my workshop kits for next weekend. That is my priority but I did bring some other inspiration as well. I will finish this project early tomorrow and have plenty of time for other ART.

Just had to do this post. It's all about "firsts". I have never travelled with my laptop. I have never loaded pictures on my laptop. I work from three other computers and it just hasn't been necessary. I have never posted to my blog from my laptop. You remember my laptop is pretty new. OK, so, well, anyway, I think I will be sharing this weekend with you. Cool! Yes?

Four O'clock

Reporting in here. Doing much better (mentally) but still have some aches and pains (mostly in the rear).

I have my art-to-go-bagS packed and ready to shut down about noon and be on the road. We should arrive at destination about four o'clock. That is after stopping in at a Michaels on the way. I need more supplies and have a 50% off burning.

I am going as a spouse on this retreat and therefore can make it what I wish. I wish for rest and relaxation and my own private art retreat.

This image is of a Four O'clock, passed along from my Mother's garden about 17 years ago is blooming in my gardens at the moment. The wind was blowing so the image is not as sharp as I would like. Nevertheless, is that not the most beautiful whitest white and reddest red? Inspiration!

Later,

Sharon

Hello

OK, so you know when we last talked, I was headed out the door to do some thinking on that mean mowing machine, otherwise known as my "think tank".

Some have wondered. Here is my story but first I will tell you that I'm OK.

I did the round and round thing for about 2 and a half hours. On this day due to the rain showers I had decided I would need to do it all. That generally takes me about 4 and a half to 5 hours. I didn't want to.

To make a long story short, this is the back side of our tank dam and up there where the white 'X' is....well that is where I got caught up in some underbrush or vine or stump or something. And as I was obviously in day-dream mode, I did a stupid thing.

And ended up down here at the bottom where the black 'X' is .....with the big mean mowing machine on top of me. Yep, I flipped it going backwards about ninety-nine miles an hour and picking up speed. I remember going past the little sapling just to the right of the white 'x' and I remember that I was on two wheels and I remember knowing that the machine had the best of me. I must have closed my eyes and my ears too because I can't remember seeing or hearing anything after that. I remember feeling my head hit. But I don't know where, front or back or side. I felt the hot oil running on my gloved hand. And I immediately started screaming, "help me! help me! help me!" I remember thinking that I didn't even know I could scream that loud. It is true, that an amazing number of thoughts run through your mind at a time like this and it is true that you get some kind of extra strength. While I was trying to get out from under it, I was thinking, "if I do get this thing off of me, how will I ever get to the house." I knew K was inside the house and could not possibly hear me or see me but I kept screaming anyway. While I kept screaming, I wondered if neighbors several pastures over might hear me. Anyway, with my right hand and leg pinned down, I could not budge it with my left hand. Not even the smallest bit. Then I realized my left leg was free and I could feel the mower deck or foot rest or something. I remember thinking it was a real solid something under my foot, all the while still screaming, "help me" and I realized that I could get leverage enough to budge it up and pull my body out. There I was sprawled out like a dead man when I heard the 4-wheeler crank and I knew my knight in shinning armor was on the way. He just happened to step out the back door and heard me.

Nothing broken. My leg from the knee up was a beautiful palette of primary colors. Now the bruises are more like the secondary purples and greens. My sun glasses cut my forehead but that is all healed. Everything still feels best if I am laying down or standing up. Where my body bends when I sit....hurts. That would be my knee and my rear.

This is a little something I was working on before I went out to think that Sunday. When the time is right, I will show you the rest of it. But today, I just needed to see the message. I hope to be back later this week, but we are going to be out of town this weekend so.....you know what that means. No ART.

Enough for now,

Sharon

I Dare You

Our crazy pear tree has fruit that will ripen shortly. Mother nature gave a dare to bloom again. And it did.

I've had a weekend of this and that working on several things at once.

At the moment, I'm just procrastinating the "think tank" chore. Oh believe me, I have lots of thinking to do but I'd just as well do it inside today.

Don't you just love this little book, I Dare You? While I go round and round on the mowing tank, I'll be thinking about something really cool to do with it.

And then, I may dare to show you.

Enough,

Sharon

Couch/Sofa Duty

Before I tell you about my exciting new Couch Duty, take a look at the adorable Klimt doll that Jackie gifted me with. You may remember the weekend Klimt challenge back in June. Jackie was inspired to use fabric to respond to the challenge. Do click and go to her blog to see more of her beautiful creations. Thank you Jackie.

And now, what is Couch Duty? And why am I so excited? I'm excited because I am on a mission on the couch that keeps me upright and moving (read awake here) during the weekday evenings. It involves this wonderful huge Journal that I made at Sally T's.

For quite a long time I have tried to come up with a way to save all the ART Mail that I receive in a system that I could enjoy. I always knew it should be in some kind of journal but I just could not figure out how to put it together in a way that I could keep adding to it.

The only tools for this Couch Duty is a crop-a-dile and TV remote. The only products needed would be eyelets and string, ribbon or fibers of some sort. The journal just has to be made of very large old book covers with a cloth spine.

Any size Mail ART works. Just punch holes, add eyelets and sew individual pages into the journal spine.
I save all the sweet notes and Moo cards with the mail. I glue some of the notes to the mail or sew it and I attach the Moo cards with ribbon or strings. You can tie the ribbon on the inside of the journal or on the outside spine. I'm doing both. Attaching the pages (mail) to the spine is time consuming but perfect for Couch Duty.

Enough now,

Sharon