« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
My hubby & I just celebrated on March 20th our 15 year anniversary! For one, I can't believe I'm getting old enough to be married this long! And for two, we still love each other! I'm so very blessed to have such a great man in my life. (honey, thanks for puttin' up with me for so long, i love you!)
I promise this will be it for quite a while on the owl thing! I'm onto other creatures from here. But, while I'm at it...
I'm going to my first Artfest next week! My friend and fellow artisan April is flying in on Monday from Detroit so we can drive up to Port Townsend together. I'm really looking forward to learning some new techniques and being surrounded by creative people for four days. And, of course hanging with April who in and of herself is super inspiring.
I'm still lovin the new Allen Designs logo Katy designed for us based off our original logo. It was nice to run out of our gift boxes so we could do a new print plate with the new logo. There is just something about a fresh sketch book, a package of new pencils, a pile of new unfolded printed gift boxes that makes me excited!
Again, a little catch up! I don't know what my blogging problem has been lately. I sure have been spending plenty of time scouring other blogs for misc. info... health, recipes, design and trends. I have been in a creative lull but maybe that has been God's plan to give me time to take care of some important family things.
Last week I took my oldest daughter on a little mid week retreat (she doesn't have school on Wednesdays so she only played hooky for one day!) to downtown Portland. We did the Passport to Purity by Dennis & Barbara Rainey. This is a "guided weekend for father and son or mother and daughter will prepare your preteen for physical changes to come, preempt peer pressure, and establish biblical principles on sex and dating. You will have the opportunity to connect with your son or daughter in a deeper way, create a heart-to-heart time for some of life's most intimate issues, and help your child decide in advance what his or her convictions will be, based on God's word."-Passport to Purity
She's going to be so excited I'm sharing this with you! LOL! But really, we had a fantastic time. It was a great program that gave us lots to talk about. I really appreciated how P2P in the end, puts the ball in your child's court to make their own decisions. All we can do is give them the info., keep the lines of communication open and pray like CRAZY that they make good decisions!
We stayed in the historic Benson Hotel downtown Portland. She drank more than her fair share of Starbucks Strawberry and Cream Frappuccinos!
We went to the Pita Pit. Yum, Yum! And, one of the few meals I stayed on my "new eating plan"!!
And, last but definitely in her book not least (no pun intended)... the infamous Powell's! This is where we could have both spent most of the day but cherished the few hours.
(the shoes she wore, thought you may enjoy them!)
I feel like I needed to finish up a few things that I have already started in the studio before I can move on. The owl in the back round here is still in process but the front one is finally finished. It ended up with MANY layers of paint, a little collage and a whole lot of hours. Sometimes a piece goes quickly and other times you just can't seem to quite get it.
Just look at these utterly fantastic art dolls made by Jo and Dylan. I LOVE this! Check out their blog for more of their great imagination and handiwork.
The past few days I've finally gotten myself back into my studio. I don't know what it is that I get afraid of or overwhelmed by, but this always happens after I travel for long periods of time. Even though I haven't been in my studio I am always thinking of art and new creations, sketching in my journal, meandering through cute shops, looking at artsy blogs and perusing all sorts of image oriented magazines.
It's funny that I always go through this ritual of cleaning and sorting to get back into the groove of things. Just to make a bigger mess usually!
Happy creating to all of you. Be it... with paint, food, your children, your life.
This is kind of an embarrassing thing to admit but I've never had a spaghetti squash till tonight. Never even seen one cooked! Now being enlightened, these things are AMAZING!
My husband and I are trying desperately to eat healthier and feed our children better. We've been doing well at it for about 4-5 weeks now. At 5:30pm I was on my way to the bank and grocery store with absolutely no idea what I was going to make for dinner. So, I called my faithful friend Kim and asked what she was making for dinner. She's always doing something creative and yummy. Once again she came through for me! Thank you Kimmy! My family loved it. Jess, who usually has a hard time finishing the first serving, had THREE servings!
All you do is cut and clean out the squash. Bake it cut side down on a cookie sheet at 350 for about 45'. For the marinara I used ground chicken breast, italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and a generic sauce from the grocery store. Super simple, the way I like it and need it.
Here's another yummy looking spaghetti squash recipe I found.
Seeking inspiration to get my rear end back in the studio to begin creating new lines for summer shows, I ventured out to see my dear friend Kristine, aka "Cheese", from the good ole Portland Saturday Market days! We went to lunch off Alberta Street in Portland. What a fun street, I hadn't been there in several years and so much has changed. This little gallery, Redbird Studio, had the most darling window. Umbrellas made out of their handmade cards. Clever! Next door to it was Guardino Gallery showing work by artists Chris Giffin and Tabor Porter. Both amazingly talented and inspiring.
I don't know what it is about artists' messy studios that always tends to inspire me. Kristine has a great open space filled with things to make art.
With her crazy use of color you can see why we're friends! Check out more of her wonderful works on her website. Thanks Kristine for a great afternoon!
Steve, Gary and Greg
Remy McManus, Chris Horner, Kiyomi Waller, (steve's sis's hubby in the back), Gary, Greg, Steve and Dan Rock
The very generous and kind host and hostess of our get together, Steve and Caprice. Thank you!
Right after I got back from the shows, my family ventured off to San Diego for some fun and time together with old friends from our cycling days. (Steve & Greg even managed to get Gary on a bike again!)
It was a short, adventure packed weekend. Full of GoKarting, horseback riding, time in the pool (or for me, by the pool) and reuniting with cherished friends.
Still catching up with things I wanted to share... These are the last bits from the shows. I got some fanTABulous headbands from Cookie and the Dude. She's darling and her things are well made and very comfortable. Going 3 months without cut or color on my hair you can only imagine how desperate I am for headbands! Even my kids are commenting on how much gray I have.
And, I'm so excited to find this bag from OYikes!. It has some compartments but not too many to confuse me, it's lightweight and durable and will hold a good sized book. When I travel I need to be able to hold lots of things without breaking my back, which is what my previous bag was doing.
This is definitely one of the perks to doing these shows... : )
