Let Summer begin.  Summer is my renewal time.  On a professional level it is time set aside to back away from the business of workshops, and the hectic schedule for a few weeks.  Time to refill my creative tank.  Time to dig out my studio which is becoming a pre-Hoarders marathon!  But first, it is time to spend the last week before school gets out on the bin of unfinished projects.  Do you have one of these too?

I just got home from my trip to teach at Bizzy B's in Toronto last night.  What a fun trip.  My first, to Toronto; and definitely not my last.  The Niagara Falls are so astonishingly beautiful.  Pictures cannot do it justice.  I felt this weird nostalgia because I'm pretty sure my parents went here as part of their honeymoon trip.  I might be remembering that wrong – but too late to call them.  Besides my GPS being a complete disappointment (a call to Garmin will be placed); for messing up the Canadian mapping functions, I made it there without too much trouble.  Barb and Tony Starace are wonderful hosts and the store was a jewel in the middle of a big city!  My students were treasures to spend the days with.  Thank you so much, Bizzy B!  And although we stayed up much too late, I really loved staying with the owners at their lovely home.  Mind you, I wanted to bring Nemo, their Cavalier pup HOME with me.  Nemo, you had me at first waggle… 

So now I am back home, and as usual first I immersed into home schtuff.  Loads of clothing have been washed, dishes too, a batch of Lebkuchen made for school Germany project; and bagels and cream cheese delivered to the Fourth Grade breakfast celebration.

And then YIPPEE!  I finished a project this afternoon.  I started this during an Art Apron workshop with Donna Downey at Inspired last month.  But I am not one to 'make n take' as much as I like to 'take and make'.  I observe technique, play around a bit and then finish it off in the comfort of my own creative space.  And so I shipped it home via Fedex Ground, and it sat here, unattended while I went to Texas and Toronto to teach workshops.  This afternoon it came out of the box and the ink, paint, glimmer mist went flying.  If you can imagine this scene in my front yard, I looked like a mad, musical conductor on a mission…

The top/sash are colored with Chalkboard Glimmer Mist in Strawberry Shortcake, embellished with dimensional Viva Pearl paint swirls.  The butterfly is sprayed with the Glimmer Mist colors listed below.  Because the embellishment would definitely not stand up to washing, it has been attached to a pin back for removal.

  
The apron is painted with watercolor and acrylic paints, stamped with Donna Downey foam stamps (Prima).  Say It In Pearls centers are placed in the centers, with a dab of Fabritac to ensure adherence to the canvas.

The bottom border, starts with some dry brushed paint, to resemble grass.  This is followed by a lace border, sprayed with Glimmer Mist in Viva Pink, and topped with Glimmer Glam in Luscious Lavender.  The bottom ruffle is sprayed with Glimmer Mist in Electric Blue.

Once dry, I sprayed it with a light coat of PYMII, an acrylic UV sealer.  I really love to make workshop items; but far more then that – I want them to be wearable and last.  This should do the trick, even on the watercolored and Glimmer Misted portions.

I wrote in 'live the' above the dream stitched letters using Adirondack Markers.  This picture shows how it hangs.  Love this.

Next up – on the way home from a fabulous weekend of workshops at Bizzy B's Stamp & Scrap in Toronto, I attended a workshop with Tim Holtz in Buffalo, NY, at Buffalo Stamps & Stuff.  Not only did it break up the long drive home nicely, but it filled up the creative tank a bit.  I ran into Debby Schuh again there, she was assisting with the class.  And sat next to Joanne Sharpe, whom I met/taught at the Copic Certification Class on Long Island, NY back in March.  Another gal who had been with me in Ottawa last month was at class as well as at Bizzy B.  It was comforting to be in a new place and surrounded by not only the crafts you love, but people you know as well.  Speaking of getting to know people, I met the store owners, Sharon and Mark.  Mark shared a story with me which really hit me on an emotional level.  I just had to give that man a hug.  Life is sweet… don't take anything for granted!!!

And as I mentioned, I don't tend to finish in class.  This was pretty much done though.  I just added the 7Gypsies chandelier crystals to the side.  I wanted the heart to be slightly off center and have this piece drape alongside to balance it out.  And lastly, I put a little Copic BG13 over the wings to give them patina as well while maintaining their details.

  
Cool new technique was the soapstone effect on the heart, which is molded black UTEE.  Simply apply acrylic paint dabber and work it in and off with your fingers.  Doesn't it look cool? 

There are several other pieces, including the flower which I've already posted on Facebook – but I'm not digging them out of the pile of schtuff right now.

It was a fabulous weekend, but as I was talking to Jen on the phone today, I agree that I was so tired today, it felt like the fog of a hangover — only no wine was enjoyed!!  I took one look at Neil today and explained the feeling to him so he could get where I was coming from today.  After the blur of morning work, I was ready to veg out; and now I'm feeling like my normal self.

Ok, playtime for tonight is finished.  But in true Scarlett O'Hara fashion, 'tomorrow is another day!'