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Fun little interview by Cloth, Paper, Scissors

Cherie Haas interviewed me for Cloth Paper Scissors Today…check it out here!

Deep breath…

Hello, friends. My teaching schedule has been heavy the last few months, and it won't lighten up any time soon. I haven't had enough time to do my own journaling, so despite pressing deadlines I sat down a couple of weeks ago and made ART for ME. I need to make sure I have my own journal time despite my business. I need it so dearly.

Frida-inspired drawing below. Background is Dina Wakley Media acrylics and Dylusions White Linen spray ink, and my stencils.

The Back to Back Retreat is Sold Out!

Woo hoo, the Back to Back retreat completely sold out in 9 days. Amazing! We will have a blast!

Join Dina and Dyan for an art journaling retreat!

The wonderful and fabulous Dyan Reaveley and I are teaching…

TOGETHER…

at the Back to Back Retreat in February 2015!

What is it?

• Exclusive mixed-media art journaling event hosted by Everything Scrapbook and Stamps.
• Two wacky teachers (ahem, me and Lady Dy).
• All supplies included, plus some goodies we designed just for this event.
• Wonderful retreat location.
• Classes, inspiration, food, fun…
• Visit the website to reserve your spot!

Our Cairns adventure…

I am blessed to do what I do. I know that and I am grateful for it every day. We're also lucky that my engineer husband works for an airline. His job opens up the world to our family for much less $$ than it would ordinarily cost. So far our fellas have been to 9 countries, which is pretty great.

In May I taught at the fabulous Pages 2 Scrap just north of beautiful Sydney. Fabulous store, fabulous people! While I was teaching, my fellas flew out to enjoy Sydney for a couple of days. When I was done, we flew up to Cairns to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest.

I've been to many places in this beautiful world, and the Great Barrier Reef is one of the absolute highlights of all of my traveling. We loved it so much that we are going to get our scuba certification and go back when my oldest fella is done with his mission. I just have to show it to him. I want him to experience it. We snorkeled on the reef and also did two introductory scuba dives. Our instructor, Russell, was spectacularly kind and patient, and took care of us expertly. I highly recommend the company we did the tour with, Passions of Paradise. The staff was exceptional, they truly made the day wonderful. Plus the company is ecologically friendly and they help monitor the health of the reef with their daily dives.

Here are a few pics from the trip…

Above: view from our apartment (Aquarius…expensive but worth it).

This gorgeous tree was a block from the apartment, and has some very special residents.

Huge fruit bats! Hundreds of them.

Cole is in the front of the above pic…when we were getting ready to snorkel.

Carter took all of the underwater pics (except for the last one of all of us, which Russell took). The pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the reef, or to the experience of being there.

Such a moving, outstanding experience. Save your money and GO.

We also saw the Daintree rainforest, which was very cool, too.

We enjoyed the rainforest, but didn't love the tour we went on. Next time we go we'll rent a car and drive ourselves to a few of the rainforest points (including the Skyline, which we didn't get to do this time since it was closed for three weeks).

Thanks for letting me share our little adventure.

There are TWO more spots in my class at SAS….

Wow! The Scottsdale Artists' School asked me to teach an Introduction to Art Journaling class at their facility this summer. The SAS is amazing. Lots of fine-art instruction goes on there, really amazing stuff. I walked in and thought, "Eeks, I'm not qualified to teach here!" BUT…my class there on July 8th only has TWO more spots left. Soooo….if you're local and want to take my Intro class, act soon!

You can read more about the class here.

 

Drum roll please….the winners are….

Time to announce the winners! I used the Random Number Generator to pick numbers. The first winner is:

Posted by: Sherrinda | May 29, 2014 at 10:50 AM

 

And the second winner is:

Posted by: Kate Burroughs | May 26, 2014 at 12:02 PM

 

Big congrats, and thanks to everyone for your lovely comments. It was so fun to read all of them!

Remember to ask for my new line of paints at your favorite store (brick & mortar and online). I hope you love them as much as I do!

Dina Wakley Media Blog Hop–Win a Set of Paints and Mediums!

I am so excited that you're here on Dina Wakley Media blog hop day! Today we're celebrating the release of my acrylic paints, mediums, and brushes, made by the awesome Ranger Ink.

My paints are thick and creamy, heavily pigmented, and they spread like butter. My brushes have a long handle for both easel and close-up work, and have a stiff bristle which I love for dry brushing and scrubbing techniques. I love both the paint and the brushes, Ranger did an spectacular job of making my "dream" paint and tools!

I have gathered a group of wonderful artists to celebrate with me. Is this an all-star group, or what? Be sure to hop over to their blogs and leave them some love:

Dyan Reaveley
Roben-Marie Smith
Mystele Kirkeeng
Dawn Sokol
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
Nathalie Kalbach
Kirsten Varga
Traci Bautista

The best part about today? You can win one of TWO complete sets of my paints, mediums, and brushes! Simply leave a comment on this post and I will pick winners by random draw. (One comment per person, please.) I will draw winners on Sunday, June 1st. Spread the word!

Whether you just need a few swipes of color, or whether you want to make a large painting, my acrylics are perfect. I love them. Look at the incredible color in this background I made. I keep looking at it and I love it too much to do anything else to it (and holy cow, I used red AGAIN in a background…heh):

Here's a page I did with a painted background (the glitter is Ice Stickles by Ranger):

And here's a page done with my stamp sets All the Gals and Textures:

And a collaged page with lots of paint layers in the background:

So hop along today and get inspired! Thanks for celebrating with me!

She likes art…

Those of you who have taken my classes know I rarely use red in a background. Red is such a powerful color that it can be hard to control in  BUT LOOKEE, I did it here!

Try making a page and listing a few things you like as your journaling. I like art, diet coke, italian ice, and nice people.

[Remember to come back Monday for the blog hop!!!]

 

A couple of demo pages from class…and come back on 5/26 for a blog hop!

Hi dee ho! Today I'm sharing a couple of pages that I did in my while teaching my "A Face in the Crowd" class. I love the class, it's one of my favorites to teach. I push students to draw more expressively and to try unsual techniques.

AND…be sure to come back on Monday, May 26th! I am going to be celebrating the release of my new paints and mediums and brushes with a BLOG HOP. You will be amazed at who is joining me, lots of inspiration to come. AND I will be giving away a prize or two (coughcoughallmypaintscoughcough). So be sure and stop back on Monday.