Finally Catching Up After Paper Cowgirl

I am finally posting some pictures from the Paper Cowgirl Event, what an incredible experience it was! There were over 70 women there, not just ordinary women, but creative, fun and inspiring women!!! I got to see some familiar face like Nancy, LaVerne, Chantal, Cindy and Ann Denise and I got to meet so many new people. The classes were awesome (the ones I took and the ones I heard about) and the vendor night was the best ever! I came home with an empty wallet and a full van!! Here are just a few of the pictures I took, you can go to www.warehouseartchix to see more!
Here's Cari at our first class on Friday morning (notice her dinosaur bracelet that she bought at the Doves Nest on Thurs. night)...and here is our class kit for Cindy G.'s class, La Petite Boutique...

and here is Cindy Gilstrap and her adorable daughter Courtney.....her class was a french inspired boutique dress form with paper ruffles made out of vintage sewing paper patterns! Too Cute and so fun to learn!!! I still have not finished mine, but I will post it when I finish it!

And here is the adorable Susan Skinner in her hat that I made for her in the Not Just Your Mama's Hat Swap.....it was so fun how it matched what she was wearing....it had lots of vintage baubles on top!

And then when I got home...it was back to creative work painting four "spa" paintings for the gallery, La Montage in Lewisville. These were special orders, and so fun to do....just wait till I show you what this led to. I think my next post will be entitled "One Thing Leads to Another"! That seems to be the way it goes in my world!

I have lots more photos of the PC event, so stay tuned for more of the fun! Thank you especially to Cindy Mayfield for the hard work and commitment she put into this event. She and the much loved and missed Tina Wright started PC and Cindy has put her heart and soul into keeping it going and growing after the death of Tina. Even though Tina was not there in body, we all felt she was there in spirit, and it was a special treat for us all to meet her husband and daughter at the Meet and Greet on Thursday night. Now I am off to post on the warehouseartchix blog...join me there with the link above!!!

Time for the Best Lil' Art Retreat in Texas!!!

That' right, it's time for Paper Cowgirl 2010! And what a line up of classes and teachers...twelve, yep, count em, twelve classes to choose from! And guess what??? I am going to be one of them!!! This will be my second time to teach at Paper Cowgirl and I am so excited to teach another Beeswax Painting class! The big event will be held in Waxahachie, a charming town with lots to see and do! The dates are June 24th-27th, there will be classes, swaps, giveaways, good food and guaranteed friendly creative people to meet and make art with! This is the third year for Paper Cowgirl and I believe it will be the best one yet! To find out more about the retreat and how to sign up, go to http://www.papercowgirl.com/ and get all the details! And to see each artist project and more about them, here is a list of the teachers and thier blogs:

Lisa McIlvain - Mixed Media Art Tags http://tarnishedandtattered.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Babcock - Altered Bird Trinket Box http://glittermyday.blogspot.com/

Mendy Mitrani - Digi Class http://mendytexas.blogspot.com/

Dale McClain - Sea Inspired Shadow Box http://www.dalemclain.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Stewart - Beautiful 4th Banner http://jenniferstewarts.blogspot.com/

Ann-Denise Anderson - Victorian Boots http://www.whimandfancydesigns.blogspot.com/

Angela Berger - Shabby Classy Necklace http://www.filigreemoon.blogspot.com/.

Chantal Johnson - Inspirational Tag Book http://www.chantaljohnson.blogspot.com/

Laverne Johnson - "pocket" book http://www.riversidestudios.com/

Deb Taylor - "Found & Rebound" http://diddebdoit.blogspot.com/

Cindy Gilstrap - La Petite Boutique Altered Canvas http://cindygilstrap.typepad.com/junqueart/

Corrine Clark - French Paper Shoe http://100prettythings.blogspot.com/

Sandra Feazel - Beeswax/Painted Canvas http://7thststudio.blogspot.com/

Joanna Lewis- Feathered Friend Collage http://www.sweetfinds.typepad.com/

Wow! What a line up and what a treat 12 fabulous blogs to look at too! So go get another cup of coffee and join me as I check out each teacher and her project!

I will be featuring the the other teachers and their projects on my blog over the next few weeks too, so stay tuned for more info! But if you want to join us at the Paper Cowgirl Retreat, the first thing you need to do is go to http://www.papercowgirl.blogspot/ and let Cindy know which classes you want to take, before they all fill up!

A Little Lisa Kaus came to my house!!!

A little (really a lot!!!) 0f Lisa Kaus came to my house!!! by way of mail...

IN the way of a blog give away that I won!!! Lisa's blog is so much fun to keep up with, she has such a whimsical style! I love to read her blog and see her latest work, so imagine my surprise when I actually won her blog give away!!! I want to share with you the adorable things she sent to me!!! First, she sent the Sumerset Calendar for 2010...and surprise, she is featured on January with one of her dollie pieces!!! If you go to http://www.lisakaus.com/, you can see more of these fun pieces! Also in the box were two of her mini prints, they are mounted on wood and have the cutes scrolled hangers...I love the WISH one, it is in pink and has one of my favorite prints on it, a whimsical cake! and then she sent one that says "LIVE LIFE JOYOUSLY", that one I hung right by my winter scarves to remind me each day to do just that!!!! FILL IT WITH JOY! Next, she sent a sweet notecard with one of her prints that I will never want to send on, but will hang onto and probably frame....and she enclosed a sweet thank you note! It made me feel extra special to receive all the fabulous things from Lisa! It was such a generous thing to do!!! I look at these each day and am reminded of her thoughtfulness! Thanks Lisa!!! so very very much for all the goodies, I will treasure them always!!!

Saying Goodbye To The Old and Hello to the New...Year that is! 2010

2009 was an incredible year, with so many accomplishments! The biggest of which is my daughter graduated from college! She did it in 3 1/2 years and I am so proud of her! Now 2010 will bring another milestone as my son will graduate from High School! I think that may make me old....almost two grown kiddos! I am stepping into this New Year with great expectations, with great dreams and desires. To be all that God created me to be, to really take the time to look and listen to His guidance! I hope you are as excited to see what this new year brings as I am! Here we are in day 2 of the new year and I have hit the ground running...spent the morning cleaning (purging my house of clutter is a number one proirity!), going to have lunch with my lovely daughter and an old friend of ours that we have not seen in about 8 yrs! and then off to work I go. My January work project is the revamping of an old historical house into a hair salon and day spa....lots of work to do there, as we start off the project with special finishes on the interior and a new paint job on the exterior. Enjoy your day and get lots done too! And here are a few pics of our Baylor Grad! Congratulations Syd!!!!

Lots of Goodness going on!!!

class pictures with projects and vendor booth pics of CAMP WHIMSY at Paper Cowgirl !

So much has happened since I last posted on this blog...I have been blogging on my other blog...www.warehouseartchix.typepad.com, but decided I better get busy and update this one too! This past weekend was an incredible event, the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat in Waxahachie, where I was blessed with the experience of teaching a class! What fun, and the women who attend this event are just the best! I enjoyed every moment of it, getting to know them each a little better, getting to meet and get to know the other instructors and spending the day with Cindy of course! I want to post some pics of the day, here is the whole group right after the crown class that Joanna (http://www.sweetfinds.typepad.com/) taught, it was a great class and as you can see, each girl created a crown that was to die for! Chantal taught the third class and it was a fabric cuff class, she was filled with information on fabrics and creating with trims and such, another great class and the projects were amazing! We had a fun filled day of meeting , having breakfast, enjoying the Cupcake Whimsy class that I taught, sharing lunch together, then on to Joanna's class, then a break for cupcakes (in the most amazing pastel colors!) and then Chantal (http://www.wishblooms.blogspot.com/) taught her class, we had time for lots of visiting and then some shopping at the Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie where the classes were held...all in all a fabulous day filled with lots of creative goodness!!! Cindy and Tina create the most fabulous events and I look forward to see what they do for the next one. Check out the Paper Cowgirl blog for more info...

I am a Big Flounder and other misc. thoughts!

Have you ever woken up and thought Hmmmmm? I seem to be doing that all the time lately. My hmmmm is this...what am I created to be doing???? I just don't seem to fit in the niche that I have created for myself (and been blessed with). I own a design firm, but lately I just seem to be hitting walls there.....the part of putting all my money out there to make enough money to pay the bills seems to be the hardest part, that or the people that say they don't know what they want, but really they do because they won't listen to a word I say when I give them suggestions for thier homes. Some just run out and buy the biggest honkin furniture and cram it into a room that just does not do it justice, while others are just to frightened to commit to even a color on the wall. I just have found myself in a spot where I seem to be spinning my wheels, all my money is out there waiting to be invoiced and waiting on the checks...where is all the creativity in all of this??? I love creating wonderful spaces, selecting color combinations, adding just the right accessories, hunting for just the right piece to be the icing on the cake, or tweaking something a client already collects or has, making it one of a kind. Frustration is what I am feeling, especially as I sort through all the paper work that business requires this time of year.

Then there are those days that I take a little time to paint and I wonder why I can't just do that everyday, all day and bring in enough money to pay those pesky bills! Do any of you flounder like this???? or am I the only one going through a creative identity crisis??? Where the heck do I fit into this world of creativity and why oh why does everything in life have to do with money???? Or is it just us single mom's that find that to be true? I just want to yell "STOP" and make the work freeze frame so I can break out the paints and play until my creative soul is filled up and my head is clear of all the nonsense that seems to fill up my days lately. Is this midlife crisis? You know I did just turn 46 (YIKES!) so maybe that is what this is all about. I have always felt like I was doing what I was meant to be doing...being a mom, creating, making a living being creative....why am I so lost in thought right now? Is this the storm before the calm, is God trying to show me something? What? What is it????? Just floundering that's all....like a fish out of water! Have you ever wished that you could write an email to God and just ask all the important life questions and then recieve an email back with his answer? Me too!!! That is where I am at today!

So much to show, so little time to post!!!

Well, this morning I am off to a job site in Colleyville, but as soon as I get back, I am listing some vintage treasures on Etsy, so just so you get a little preview...

How about an old iron rose hook for your bathroom? or some fabulous old composition dominoes to fill .....an old glass sugar dish, need one of those??? Got it right here-or some really cool domino beads for your creations....old photos....and so much more. Be back after lunch to fill the etsy store with treasures overflowing!!!