Where did this month go? Someone help me find it!

I can't believe this month is over already! It was a blur! I'll try to do a catch up.

-Max's meds are doing really well but I'm having to really encourage eating as the meds diminish appetite. But what a life change we have had! Wooohoooo!
-Sam has an appt. with a specialist to be tested for Asperger's Syndrome the week of Christmas. If he does have this, it is on the mild end of the scale... I'm still leaning towards social anxiety stuff more than anything. But he's really done better in school this year, socially, than the past years.
-I celebrated my 45th birthday this month.
-I have worked like a crazy woman getting things ready to sell at an art bazaar, which took place last weekend. Unfortunately, it was a complete flop for me. Really not much traffic and obviously the wrong venue for me. I cleared $20. in two days! Eek! Not doing that again! Now I have to photograph things to get up on my etsy store!
-I had one class proposal accepted for Art Unraveled 2010! I'll be teaching Dimensional Watercolor on the last day of the retreat. Head over to the site and check it out. Registration starts earlier this year than in the past!
-As for the classes that were not accepted for AU this coming year, I will pursue teaching those locally, for now. I'd love to teach other places so if you have any ideas for me, pass them my way! I love the classes and think others will too. If you would enjoy having me come teach where you live, I'd love to talk with you about the possibility! A private art party would be such a blast! Have supplies, will travel! And, just to let you know, I try really hard to provide as many of the supplies in kit form as I possibly can making it easier for students.

Here are my sample pictures:

This first class is a recycled plastic bag book. I titled the class "Beyond the Bag":
This one is dyed with alcohol inks. The bags take the ink beautifully!

The second is a class I titled "Show of Hands". I based this on another book I made a few years ago. This one has blank painted pages inside and would be great as a gift book, journaling, quotes, etc...and would be terrific personalized for yourself or someone else. The initial book I did similar to this one was not hinged. I did create the cover for this one hinged and I like it much better. Pages are created with watercolor paper, painted, then cut out.

The third class I have created is titled "Watercolor and thread". In this class, students learn to paint with watercolors on unstretched canvas and then add stitching, both hand and machine, along with other fabrics and such to create one of a kind quilted wall hangings.

My next class is my watercolor on canvas. This is one of the classes I'll be teaching at the Shady Ladies retreat in April! Students will create small canvas works using watercolor with pen/ink. Having the watercolor paintings on canvas eliminates the need for framing! Here are a couple of samples:
And yes, I like painting cone flowers! LOL!

Sorry about the poor photo here... I had to use my computer camera to shoot this one. Never got a real camera to photograph it before I sold it either.

I also have my "Torn and Stitched" class that I would love to teach. Students learn to make transfers from transparencies and then use them as a focal point for a small "Quiltlet". These quiltlets are created with using several layers of bits and pieces to create the composition. Hand and/or machine stitching can be used. They are backed with mat board and a hanger. This class will focus a lot on composition, visual balance of color/texture/scale. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time, this will be familiar to you as I have done many of these little gems.

I will be teaching my "One Page at a Time" at Shady Ladies also. I loved teaching this class at AU last year and look forward to teaching it again. I want to teach it often! This is the class teaching my original book binding technique allowing students to bind one page at a time into their books. A great technique for working outside your book. Perfect for any type of pages, including small quilted pages or mail art. Here's a reminder of that class sample.
Here are a few samples of the "Dimensional Watercolor Class" I'll be teaching at Art Unraveled here in Phoenix next August. This class will focus on creating watercolor paintings with pen/ink detail. Some of the painting is done on the base and other elements are painted separately and then cut out and collaged into the painting. Other elements also work well being added into the painting! I've done many, many of these. Unfortunately, photographs do not show the dimension created within the painting when they are done this way. However, here are a few.

This last one was a spread in an altered book I did when participating in a round robin. This artist's asked that each participant do a spread in the book based on the season when we were working in it. Obviously, I had the book in spring around Easter. The background is done with acrylic and text woven. The watercolor elements were all painted individually, cut out, and added to the spread to create the composition. I've kicked myself ever since for not getting a good scan of the chick. I often will get good scans giving me the ability to reuse an image multiple times for other mixed media work. Since I didn't do that for any of these elements, it was a one shot deal. :( I love the chick! I hope Catherine loves it too.

Well, these are several classes I have written up with proposals, supply lists, and handouts, ready to go!

I had a nice Thanksgiving in spite of it being the first holiday without my step-dad. His presence and silliness... as well as his yummy food, we greatly missed. I took my boys over to be with their dad for a bit in the afternoon. I took the time for a mountain top date with God... I went hiking. It was the perfect day for it. I felt refreshed.

I'm also working on a special order "God box" for someone and have to have it finished by Sunday. I've make a lot of progress today so it will get finished up tomorrow. I MAY get out of my pajamas tomorrow... but getting to hang in them two days in a row would be pretty great to me! LOL!

Well, gotta' get going for tonight. I'm about ready for bed.