Happy Friday!

Welcome to Happy Friday! Please hop over to Jaime Ridler's site and let us know what made you happy this week.

I received two wonderful books in the mail: Little Birds & Drawing Lab by Carla Sondheim. I've completed my second project from Little Birds:And I can't wait to dive into Carla's Drawing Lab book.The back cover beckons: "introduce more creativity and nonsense into your art and life". Who doesn't need more of either? The Artists of the Round Table (ART) community is sponsoring an online workshop featuring this book starting on July 5th. I'm counting the days....Please join us. It's free to anyone who wants to participate. ART offers all kinds of free online workshops- check 'em out if you enjoy artsy pursuits.

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And, the most exciting news ever! I'm going back to NYC after 7 years of being away. It's only for a visit but I couldn't be happier (well, I could be happier if Kelly was going but someone needs to tend to the surly mutts) . Museums and old friends and music and theater and street muscians and....well, I'm hungry. I've been away too long.

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And OK, despite my whining, there are some things to love about summer:

And it hasn't been that hot yet this year. At least here in southern Oregon. It's been a glorious summer so far. And I'm happy about that. Cheers!

Happy Friday - Good Mail Day Edition

Happy Friday! I really want to thank Jamie Ridler again for sponsoring the Happy Friday blog. When Friday rolls around I start thinking about all the bright spots during the week that I can include in my Friday post. There are always bright spots.

This past Monday there were three pieces of mail in mailbox that were all for me and they weren't bills or junk mail. This is what is meant by a Good Mail Day. I didn't want to be distracted so, instead of ripping them all open on the spot, I waited until I finished my dinner. OK, I rushed through my dinner while the pile of envelopes beckoned.

The first letter was from Apron Thrift Girl(ATG), who sponsored a pen pal swap awhile back. The ground rules were simple - use a recycled envelope & vintage or recycled paper. ATG paired up with me. She used a junk mail envelope and added collage elements to it. Inside that little wrapped package (above photo) was this: A vintage card, sequins and a hand written letter on a recycled catalog page. When was the last time you received a hand written letter?

The second package contained journal pages from another swap. In this swap each participant made 11 signatures modeled after Mary Ann Moss's Remains of the Day journal class. I received this beautiful little bundle:And here's what was inside:Ten 8.5 by 11" sewn, scrappy pages from various participants unknown. I can't wait to make a journal out of these pages. The host of the swap, Gathering Up Bits of the World, also sent a package of delicious paper goodies. What a treat!

The third letter I received was from Carmen at Writing from Life. She sent me a pack of my favoritest tea in the whole world- Green Jasmine. Thank you so much for thinking of me Carmen! For those of you who haven't indulged, the smell of jasmine tea is heavenly.

This getting mail thing is so much fun that I guess I'll have to start sending letters and joining more swaps. There's nothing like personal mail in one's box.

Happy Friday - Collections

Welcome once again to another edition of Happy Friday. I was reading Paul Murray's post yesterday about his collections and was enchanted by his odd assortment of obsessions. Why do some of us stockpile things that we really have no use for? At least with my piles of buttons, fabric and yarn I can justify to myself that these items will come in handy for projects that I might someday do. But what about the things that I hoard for reasons I can't explain other than that they make me happy in some undefineable way? Things I don't need or have more of than I can ever use, like these straw trivets:I had to impose a moratorium on purchasing these. They're available at yard sales in droves and usually cost less than a dollar. I would buy dozens of these things if my space were unlimited. Why? I have no idea. What would I ever do with them all? But everytime I see them I smile.

The other thing I'm a sucker for is little plastic toys. I pull them out of free bins and buy them by the bag at garage sales. I like hiding them around the house and tucking them in drawers and on the bookshelves.

I really don't like clutter but I just can't resist certain things. Somehow these small items make my life feel less hectic and more full - the opposite of how true clutter feels. What odd collections do you have? What can you not resist hoarding because it reflects some part of you?

Happy Book Alive & Well

The Giggle circle's Happy Book arrived safe and sound and loud and beautiful in southern Oregon. It arrived just in time to enjoy two lovely spring days before moving on. The next leg of its journey will be to CreatureBug in Washington. While I don't envy the wait, I'm a bit jealous of the people who will receive it further down the line -it's really fun to see what others have done.

Our cover is starting to look like a Christmas tree with all the ornamentation attached to it: A page of shiny things:My favorite Shel Silverstein poem (Sick):The sun finally came out. Following the prompt to doodle sunshiney prettiness and soak up sun would have been hard if the book had arrived last week. As of yesterday, I finally remember what the sun looks like:
A collage. The heart is an origami card (hard to tell in this photo):And a page full of stickers. I didn't quite fill it up- I'm sure someone in the giggle circle will be man enough to finish the job :By the time it makes its way halfway through the 27 Gigglers I predict it will need to travel in a large box. The last person on the list? Oy vey! You'll need a forklift by then.

As much as it pained me to do so, I packed up the book last evening and will send it along this morning. Enjoy your time when your copy arrives. A week goes by really fast!

Happy Has Arrived

I have the book! It is fabulous! What a wonderful thing to have waiting for you in the mailbox after working all day with administrative details (not exactly the stuff that artistic play is born of). I like all the notes from the previous Happies, thank you all! For those of you still waiting for your copy- it's worth the wait.
I'll send it along ASAP if I can ever part with it!

Happy Friday!

Kalimiopsis/Siskiyou Wilderness Spring 2010

This Happy Friday thing is almost too easy. Fridays hold inherent happiness for those of us who are 9 to 5 shlubs. Happy Tuesdays would be a lot more challenging for me. Monday workdays seem to go by pretty fast but Tuesdays draggggggggggg on and on and on. For me this last Tuesday really dragged because I was signed up for a class on Tuesday night that I was super excited about: Pencil Me In taught by Karen O’Brien. Karen's mantra is "I want you to learn to love pencils!". She shared invaluable information about watercolor vs. dry pencils; the uses of clear gesso and absorbent ground and how these mediums affect everything from the strength of the paper to the quality of the color rendition. We learned the difference between H pencils and B pencils in practical application-we made sketches with each type using variable pressures and different drawing styles to test out their possibilities.

Not only am I now a big fan of pencils but I'm a clear gesso convert. I never knew about this wonder product. When I go into an art supply store I'm overwhelmed. There is too much to know, too much to buy. Will I use it? Do I need it? Classes can help clarify these things. Working with materials before running out and spending your life savings on things you may never use again is a good thing. The absorbent ground worked well but clear gesso is worth the cost. And it doesn't really cost that much.

Karen is a great teacher. If you ever get an opportunity to take a class with her, do it. It will be time and money well spent. The class was three hours and just flew by. Why is that work goes so slow but the fun stuff just zooms on by?

It has been a cold and rainy spring here but growth prevails! Here is a skunk cabbage in flower.

Another Happy Friday

Thanks to Jamie Ridler I now pay attention to my happiness quotient during the week. I still get grumpy about things but I notice more often than not that my days are mostly good and things are always shifting in different and interesting ways. Learning to roll with the mutable quality of life makes living a lot less stressful. This is easier said than done, but the Happy Book project has worked its subtle ways on me. I pay more attention to the positive and let the negative roll on by. Usually. Sometimes. Well, I try to.

Ah well, happiness is not about perfection. Meanwhile the flowers keep blooming...

This beauty is known by the suggestive name of Pussy Ears (Calochortus tolmiei).This is the flower of the Pitcher Plant/ Darlingtonia (Darlingtonia californica)
And this last little beauty is a Trillium (in the Lily order - I couldn't find the Latin name because there are too many common names! I'm not sure which is which.)
All the flower photos were taken by the ever talented Tree Geek, master of the macro lens and bondo bears and who causes Harley bikes (not bikers!) to quake at the very sight of him.

Felize, Onnellinen, Shiawase...

Welcome to Happy Friday. How to say Happy in other languages: Spanish-Felize, Finnish-Onnellinen and Japanese-Shiawase. I’m not sure how accurate the translations are but there you have it.

I finished more projects this week:

Origami Bauble (AKA Little Turtle) from Unit Origami by Tomoko Fuse
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Café curtains. Finishing this project was a milestone for me since I’m an insecure and untrained seamstress. Curtains, however, are pretty easy and I’m pleased with the results. I especially like these curtains because the material looks gauzy when daylight is shining through and opaque when it's dark outside. All you theater geeks know this material as scrim.

I also finished my sister’s birthday present but I can’t unveil it yet. I want her to be surprised.

I’m very inspired by this video. I just love her and I really need to hear over and over that one should create without looking for hidden benefits. Creativity isn't about results or sellable items. It's about process. I have a really hard time remembering that because the final product tends to be my focus.

Also, there is a demonstration later in the video that shows a really cool crayon melter device in action. I may have to get one of those.

Happy Friday!

Friday comes around so fast... Hope everyone is having a happy week and participating in the Happy Book Mail Around with Jaime Ridler Studios. I've had a great week that started off with the Jacksonville Chinese New Year last Saturday. And I finally signed up for the Remains of the Day scrappy journal class; I can't wait to begin! I also received a packet of beautiful paper scraps from Tara Finlay to kick off my class. It's been a great week.

Selma Oregon, overlooking the Siskiyou Mountains. Photo by Treegeek.

Happy Friday Links

Is it Friday already? Back to the Happy Book Mail Around! I'm uncorking the champagne bottle after this post because, for the first time EVER! I won a giveaway on a blog. I was poking around the Remains of the Day blog again (I know, I know! Just take the class already!) and I found this blog. And I entered her giveaway and I won! Never had the Random Number Generator picked me. Until now... When I receive the loot I'll post some pictures.

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Free Downloads! Everyone probably knows about these great programs already (and free! Did I mention that?) but I'll post them in case someone out there hasn't heard of:
Gimp: I'm still working out how to use this but I was told it's very much like Photoshop. I've gotten some fun results but then I'll add or subtract something and not be able to fix it. I should probably read the "Getting Started" online manual.

Inkscape: This is a vector graphics editor similar to Illustrator. It's techincal and daunting but I like puzzles and this is fun to play around with. If you start selecting random functions all sorts of interesting hell breaks loose. I'm sure it does something useful somehow.

And an amazing website:

Vpike: This could distract me all day. Type in an address and take a walk down that street. Want to see the old neighborhood? Check out a place to vacation? This site is fun. I'm not sure how often it will be updated so it could get dated really fast.

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Spent last Saturday at the Humane Society - that always makes me happy. Two more of our beautiful gals found homes last week:Tica went home with three of the cats from the shelter. She was last seen sleeping on a queen sized bed.Cheyenne finally found a home! She's been living at the RVHS since she was pup; she's been there 2 years! She was so deserving of a home and finally someone recognized her for the wonderful dog that she is. I hope you have your fairy-tale ending Cheyenne.