Ruffle Your Feathers... at Bird!

Hey everyone... if you are in the area, come on down to Asbury Park, Saturday, May 29th for the Grand Re-Opening of Bird—an eclectic retail establishment with a brand new space 10 times larger! It really is "grand"! Owner Leigh Grahill will be your gracious host as you peruse the racks of her personal line of Artwear, as well as funky vintage clothing that she "rescues and re-designs." You'll also find a plethora of jewelry, accessories, artwork and decor items—in every flavor you can imagine... oh, and several pieces of my mixed media art will be there for sale.

To celebrate, Bird will be entertaining you at 8pm and 10pm with ever-so-talented vocalists, informal fashion shows, and plenty of acting out! Then finish the night around 11pm with Man Up, one of the most popular local Rap acts... This is one Grand Opening you'll want to leave the nest for!

Bird
707 Cookman Avenue
(on the first block from Main St.)
Asbury Park, NJ 07712

An Odd Bird...

Feel like an odd bird lately... with my head in the clouds... Cleaning and organizing the house because I have to... Longing to create because I want to... Needing to exercise to feel fit again... And wanting time for relaxation to recharge... Life isn't stopping to give me enough time for all of this... My head is spinning... What's an odd bird to do?

Home...

Back from vacation and fell a bit under the weather this week. But... the days are warming... the trees are blooming... and the sun is starting to shine more often than not. It's the perfect time to get my house in order before Summer begins. I've been organizing all my art supplies for the past few months and I'm almost there.

My trouble is that I have so many different areas of interest... it's hard to organize ALL the supplies... so they are ALL easily accessible... ALL the time! I love acrylic paint, collage, assemblage, jewelry, soft dolls and paper clay dolls... sheesh! And I never know what mood I'll be in.

I'd love some helpful tips... share 'em if ya got 'em!

We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Life For A Brief Vacation...

Get outta town! Yup, that's what I needed to do. The first vacation of the year and boy... was it time! But it was more of an adventure than anything. My plan was to meander on up the Hudson River in New York state... and make my way over to the Catskills... stopping at all kinds of places along the way...
Like George Washington's Headquarters on the river in Newburgh... I love to explore historical sites!
Then making my way up to the adorable little town of Rhinebeck... stopping at antique shops along the way. Had a nice dinner at the Coach House Tavern and caught a flick at the Upstate Films Theater...
Then on to my favorite place to stay... EVER! The Woodstock Inn On The Millstream! It's a retro motel, converted to a quaint little Inn. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and the millstream is just so relaxing to sit next to... I spent hours upon hours there!
I even took some down-time to make my own little piece of "rock" history... and left it by a tree...
When I wasn't relaxing... I was shopping! One of my most favorite vacation activities. In fact... in my regular life... I rarely go to the mall. I wait until I go away... because that's where you find unique stuff. I love rummaging through the antique stores... shopping for themed souvenirs... local artists creations... and perhaps a gift or two for a friend or family member.

While in Woodstock... I ran into Grandpa Woodstock! He's a local icon who I've seen around the area at concerts and gatherings since probably 1999. His mission is to spread Peace and Love. Not a bad job! He's really a sweet man. We had a nice little chat and parted ways with a big giant hug...
Then in was on to Bethel and the original Woodstock concert site. There is now a permanent multimedia exhibition there... in the Bethel Woods Museum... featuring tons and tons of images, ephemera, vintage vehicles and movies relating to the 60's and the original Woodstock Festival. I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area...

Peace!

Cheshire Cat For Tea...

I'm late... I'm late... for a very important blog post! Hello from down the rabbit's hole... where I concocted this dreamy necklace using lots of fun and frivolity from Vintaj! Beginning with this argyle-inspired embossed metal piece I created a few weeks ago...
It was just begging to be cut apart into strips and made into a choker of some sort. I sanded the edges first. Then I rounded each piece using a rubber mallot and... of all things... a spaghetti sauce jar! So they'd fit together like this...
The holes to attach the pieces together were made with the Crop-a-dile... and the same tool set the eyelets (LOVE!)...
The back was finished with a classic Vintaj clasp and tiny butterfly. Absolem, is that you?
Hope you enjoyed my latest Adventure into jewelry-making... who knows what kind of mixed media merriment will come next!

Something To Say...

Over the weekend, I watched a couple of Suzi Blu's inspirational Mixed Media Art Journal videos... and found myself starting to create my first page in a brand new journal. Now, being a recovering perfectionist... I hated what I made! The pencil was too soft and smeary... the eyes were too lazy... the mouth was too big... and on and on! But... Suzi says don't give up!

So, I brought out the paints, thinking I could fix it.... Eh. It was okay. Looking better. Hair taking shape. Eyes coming into focus (hee!). Dress, good. But the lips were just too big and I couldn't cover them up. I said, s%#@... I'm taking out the sandpaper and I'm just going to sand them off... but the graphite wouldn't budge!

So I said, I like words... I'll cover it up with a word! I found the closest book and the word "Protect" jumped out... It reminded me of when I was young, shy and awkward and thought that keeping quiet and blending into the wallpaper would make the mean kids leave me alone. It took me a very long time to learn to speak up. In fact I'm still learning. But watch out world... here I come... and I definitely have something to say!

Something Of Note...

Up on the lookout... what's there to see? Beyond the reeds... why it's a little birdie! I must say that once I embossed this Vintaj 3" x 3" metal blank using a Cuttlebug design, I knew exactly what I wanted it to be... a Field Notes journal! Of course adding a some flair with Vintaj embellishments and blanks.
I hand ripped paper from an old journal I had to create the pages for this book... using the Crop-a-Dile for both the paper and the thick metal cover! Gotta love that! 2-for-1.
The back cover I embossed using one of Tim Holtz' new Sizzix Embossing Folders. Even the reverse pattern on the inside back looks awesome! I lightly sanded this Distress-inked bird illustration to bring out the pattern and bring it all together. Fun!