Dispatch From LA

tulip porn carol turner facebook & buck moss

thing #1:  i started a facebook page.

 wait.  i mean i TRIED to start a page vs. a personal profile or whatever but my efforts met with failure.

 so i had to go the personal route.  my friend beavis was doing it.  

 highly intelligent conversation snippets between beavis and i:

what is the like button for?

what is the talking about button for?

let's friend each other.

what's the subscribe button for?

where is my wall?

okay well maybe you can see my wall, but shouldn't i be able to see my wall?

where do you post at?

what do you mean it's hidden?

why is it called a wall?

you mean if i accidently update my profile picture 900 times everyone will know?

you are unfriendable.

because i can't figure it out! that's why!

did you friend all the people who friended you otherwise how did they know you were there?

try to friend me again.

go take another screenshot my wall does not look like that.

thing #2:  paging carol turner.  carol turner.  carol turner.  email me i've sent you 5 emails.  fix your mailbox first though so when i email you back you'll get it.

thing #3:  FULL TILT BOOGIE is still on sale.  there is one scholarship class available thanks to carol lyles shaw.  if you have hit the skids and don't have a red cent to your name, but still want to take a journal/bookmaking class...email me PRIVATELY with a brief message.  i'll get in touch with you by january 15th with all the deets.

thing #4:  ROD is still on sale.   

thing #5:  i took out my macro lense and did some tulip exploration.  those saucy tulips!  ravishing aren't they?  they are from a bouquet my sister sent me for my birthday last week.

thing #6:  found 2 shots of buck moss from july... on the camera i used with the macro lense.  

taken about a week before he died.   so long sweet boy. 

a jumble of pages

i like seeing all of my recent pages together.  they're like a map, showing me where i've been and which direction i'm headed next.  my very own paint splattered GPS that says, "you are here."  and then...

"reconfiguring."  i love getting found.  and then lost again!

that bottom right page doesn't exist anymore.  i covered it up.  wish i hadn't.  but that's the fun of working things out in a book format.  a big container to hold your past impulses. 

sara berry made this book in full tilt boogie

  here's what's going on sale and staying on sale from december 1st - december 31st

FULL TILT BOOGIE

STENCILRY

clickity clack for more info!

the day after monday

tomatoes + plums + mozzarella 

a final warm day before storm clouds gathered.

let's eat outside.

with a big glass of fizzy elderflower soda.  whadda ya say?

~

my cute friend judy wise is offering this online class:

i haven't taken it and i don't know a single solitary thing about hot wax.  except that i screamed once when someone tried to hot wax my upper lip.  big sad face.  since it's JUDY offering the class i'm sure it will be worth it's weight in gold.  just sayin'.

And finally, extra clever LIbby was inspired by FTB to make this big stack of books for holiday gifts. In a stroke of genius she whipped up her own covers out of cardboard & fabric to sandwich the book blocks between.  So cool!

Between now and Halloween, FULL TILT BOOGIE will be on sale.  After the witching hour on the 31st prices revert back to normal.

GO HERE for more info.

Sticks & Salty Dogs!

This Salty Dog is helping only a little with my frayed nerves as I sit in the war zone that is LA on the 4th of July.  It's like The Big Bad Wolf is at my door and  I'm in the house made of sticks!  Sticks!  Where are my nerve pills? 

These are the stitches we did this, our 3rd week in FULL TILT BOOGIE.  Pat made the stunning journal above using a combination of Sewn Chains & Triple Chain stitches.  If you stop by her blog you'll see what else she's been making.  Both of these stitches are clever Keith Smith designs.   I was pretty excited when he graciously allowed me to teach them in FTB.  More than excited actually.  Delirious.

Michelle made the book above.  Go check out her blog to see all the books she's made!  Impressive!

Our photo album holds only some of the journals that this talented ambitious group of craft monkeys have been making.   By the way the 2 stitches above are deceptively simple!

If you're in the NYC area in September, Keith Smith will have an exhibit of his books at Bruce Silverstein Gallery.  He's been exploring the book structure for the last 40 years so I'm imagining this show will be a real visual feast.   

Of Lilies & Journals & Beehives

Here's what I've been doing:

Packing up my classroom for the summer, sheparding flocks of errant sheep back & forth across the school yard, eating peaches, sticking my nose deep into my blooming stargazer lilies and getting orange pollen all over my nose, going to the store WITH the pollen on my nose,  snuggling with my cat Buck who smells like a skunk, taking 2 hour naps,  watching So You Think You Can Dance and cheering like I'm at a concert.  WHILE.  I'm conducting all of that business.  My FULL TILT BOOGIERS have been stitching up some pretty awesome journals.

Sara made the one above.  I love the way she used baker's twine to sew her book together!

Gina made the one below.  It's big.  It's bright.  It's beautiful.  It's wow.   I'm going to get some blue waxed linen STAT!

If you want to be constantly filled with ideas, teach an online class.  The people who sign up for your class will amaze and delight you with their sheer creative SPUNK.  It's a buzzing bee hive of a class full of funny nice people.

Susan Elliot made this handsome journal.  Doesn't it look like some gunslinging outlaw woman might've carried it in her saddlebags and wrote on it at night around a campfire under the stars?

Michelle made this from an old record album while her cat Johnny nodded his approval.

Briana made this warm stunning journal.  The old leather albums have such charm!

There are more... Which, I'll be adding to a photo album on the sidebar.   

But for right now, I'm headed back outside to get some more orange pollen on my nose.

Pink Globes

I'm back so soon!  With a bouquet of giant PINK globes.

Pam has been on a cleaning reorganization spree and is selling some of her surplus vintage photo albums HERE which you can use in FULL TILT BOOGIE.   She just listed these tonight.  Go HERE to see more.  I can't wait to see what she does with one of these albums in class.  I am standing by, ready to steal her ideas and copy whatever she does.  

There are 5 spots left in FTB at the 50% off rate.  Additionally, A couple of extremely big-hearted people have asked if they can DONATE a class to someone in need.  I think that is a beautiful thing.  I have decided in turn, to donate 100% of the proceeds from those gifts to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.  I'll list the donor names on the FTB registration page - down at the bottom.  I'm not yet prepared to begin collecting names for those "gift certificates", but in the coming days I will let you know how to apply.

UPDATE:  as of this morning I have no more slots available for 35 buckeroos

UPDATE #9876543980

If you've emailed in the last couple weeks and your question has gone unanswered please EMAIL AGAIN!  I'm deep in a cycle of forgetting/remembering.  A repeat email will do the trick.

Full Tilt Boogie

I'm still here!  Right smack dab in the middle of a visual journaling brouhaha!  Here is the big motherload of information about FULL TILT BOOGIE.  All the details you've been waiting for.  In the coming days I'll make a little sidebar icon for easier access.

~

Full Tilt Boogie Sneak Peek...

I have been working away over here in Beatrix Potterville.  But alas my animal friends have NOT been helping me!  I've been going it alone.  And enjoying every mess-making minute of it.  There are piles of books & albums on every surface.  I leave a paper trail in every room.  Journaling my heart out.  I'm a fireball of ideas.  Full Tilt Boogie.  It's a labor of pure love.  That's a true story.

 

Video Music = "Fold" by José González

Final details coming by June 1st, Wednesday.  Class begins June 17th and will run for 4 long lovely weeks.  I'm looking forward.

Parrot Games!

Oh um, I'm still here!  Making books on video and watching the flowers bloom.

I was videotaping in my art room late this afternoon and one of the big flocks of parrots zoomed by.  Squawking and screaming.  Their winged shadows literally moving across these sunlit walls.  I ran outside, but missed their flight maneuvers.  This happened a few more times.  Parrot games!

And the epis presented me with a double bloom this morning.  

And last week a band of racoons were cavorting under my bedroom window at 3 a.m.  I sat up in bed and leaned into the window sill to talk to them.  I feel lucky to be surrounded by city wildlife.  At times I feel like I'm in a Beatrix Potter movie.

Full Tilt Boogie

Here it is!  The big mother of a post that's only slightly overdue.     When I'm off on an adventure in my art room.  I always think this is it, 'I'm in FULL TILT BOOGIE! ' Swimming in pure narcotic bliss.  I wanted a name to convey that gorgeous feeling of being lost in the moment.   Absorbed and transported by enthusiasm and love for the creative process.  And FTB sounded better than Vintage Photo Album or The June Class.

 By day I've been monkey whispering, but by night I've been moonlighting in my laboratory making class samples (some featured in this post), spinning idea after idea on my spinning wheel.  Now that they're mostly ready, I'm off to the next chapter in online class creation:  videotaping.  When I'm done with that I will be able to be more specific about price, supplies, registration logistics, and dates.

In the meantime, I can tell you about some of the supplies you will need. 

1.  Vintage  photo albums like these (check back in my categories under online classes to find tips on Ebay auctions and search terms)

OR these:

Celluloid, velvet, leather.  They'll all work.   Decide what size feels most comfortable to YOU.  Clasp intact or not, doesn't matter.  The condition of your album and your personal preference will dictate the type of journal you make.  I'll be making 2 different journals with the COVERS of the albums and 2 other journals with the inside photo frames.  If you have 2 vintage photo albums you can make all 4!  

For those who can't find a vintage photo album.  You can use books like these:

OR these:

If you can't find books like those you can use ANY BOOK you have on hand.   If you're afraid of not finding a vintage photo album fear not!  Ideas will blossom in your art brain during class that you hadn't thought of before. 

If you don't have photo frames you can use cardboard or whatever your imagination deems appropriate.  If you're a crafty gangster I know you can find alternatives!  I'll be teaching you 2 chimp-proof binding stitches that are surprisingly simple, and that I haven't taught before.  Both are very common, classic bindings.  Neither are complicated.   Both will make you feel like an Awesome Genius when finished.

You'll also need a small bit of fabric - under a 1/2 yard in total, but can be composed of scraps like this:

The pages of one of the journals will be a jumbled mix of fairly sturdy papers.  Unlike ROD, these pages will not get the sewing treatment.   They will also lie flat.  During class I will demo working in a longer, odd-sized album, and a small album of perhaps 6 by 9.  You can work in an oompa loompa sized album, a monster album, or any size you choose.

  
A sewing machine will NOT be required, however it may be useful.  You can get by without one.

My intention for FULL TILT BOOGIE is to open a can of ideas.  The journal-building portion of the class will be detailed, explicit instruction.   Once you have your journal made we'll switch gears to begin the visual journaling process on the inside pages.  This will be less instructional.   I won't play teacher here.  I'm just going to be ME doing MY thing (lots of different things) and you can watch.  Simple.   If you have questions I'm here for you.  As a student I always learn the very most from watching people and I think this is the beauty and wonder of online classes - the ability to watch someone make something.  

  I will talk about my process, but mostly I'll SHOW not tell.  I will be using a combination of photos, collage bits, various papers, tape, glue, ink and a little paint thrown in for good measure.     FULL TILT BOOGIE  will be rooted in my ongoing visual journal practice.   

If you are a novice or seasoned visual journal keeper I invite you to climb on board and relax into a natural rhythm of visual journaling that is uniquely your own.  Your big world.  Through your eyes.  On your pages.  Captured on paper.  Through repeated dedicated practice my hope is that you will grow bolder, more confident, less critical, more enthusiastic about this rich wise act of mess-making.

FTB will be ongoing and open indefinitely.  You can revisit the videos and pdf's as often as you like for as long as you like. (providing you don't lose your password!)  Start immediately or watch the videos and let your ideas simmer for as long as you want.  No stress or guilt allowed.

Happy Mother's Day!

Stuffed, fried, squash blossoms.  Slap-your-mama good.  Cacao Mexicatessan.  If you live in the vicinity...JUST.  GO.

~

I'm swimming in a sea of rose petals.  I'm going to be sad when this wild flush of blooming is over.  

Eden is COVERED with roses.  They aren't fragrant, but they are pure pink buttercream deliciousness.  I think Willy Wonka would be proud.

Fragrant Yves Piaget opens up to reveal frilly scalloped petals. 

I'm a rose dunce.  Luck is the only reason I have this many this year.  I'm going to attempt to fertilize regularly and see if that will keep me in roses this summer.  I won't hold my breath, but I will enjoy these while they last!

I've been held captive for the last week while a ferocius art storm has been raging inside my mind.  Whirling dervishes have been spinning inside my art room.  In other words someone has been making one big mess after another and it isn't the cat posse.  I work really well when I'm given a deadline so I'm going to say that within a week's time all of the prototypes will be completed and you will be flooded with one big MOTHER of a post about the June class.  Including the name so I can stop calling it "The June Class."  However, I'm not ruling that out as a name.  

In the meantime go amuse yourself over at my SISTER'S blog.  She's been making pies and drinking again.  Who knows what you'll find there.

Photo Albums On Ebay

My screenshots are a little blurry, but you get the idea.  Here are a few auctions I've had my eye on.  Note the winning bids.   This is a small fraction of what's available on EBAY.  All of these photo albums would be suitable for the upcoming JUNE class.  The size of the album doesn't matter, but do select a size you're comfortable working in.  I'll be making journal structures in a small album as well as a large one.  Your album will need the CDV photo frames inside.  Whether or not they have actual photos inside doesn't matter.   If the photo frames have all separated from the spine - not a problem!   

ETSY also has lots of these kinds of vintage photo albums.  Have fun looking!  

travelogue

Nearly finished with my Paris travel journal.  Which means I'll be putting 100% of my creative energy into my upcoming June class.  I can't wait to share more details with you about the journals we'll be building.  

This is the type of vintage photo album to look for:

Having just recently bought a dozen or so on Ebay within the last week, I can tell you they are plentiful.  Ranging in price from 10 bucks for some fabulous falling apart junky ones, to 80 bucks for something more pristine.  If the description says RARE I don't even look.  If the price is over 80 bucks I don't look.  There really is something in every price category, but you MUST be persistent - dogged.  Lately I come home every single day and check the listings, put them on my watch list, and see what they're selling for.  Here are the words that lead to the best results.  Try THEM ALL:

• victorian photo album
• antique photo album
• vintage photo album
• celluloid photo album
• cabinet card photo album
• CDV photo album

Check Etsy too.  One of you lovely blog readers emailed me this week to say you found  an album there, I went and checked and there are tons!  Don't get discouraged by the high prices if you keep at it you will find something you can afford.  There is no shortage and more and more get listed every day.  Check the BUY NOW category too when searching if you are auction impaired.  A few more tips:  DO NOT bid, instead put it on your watch list and swoop down 10 seconds before the auction ends.  Bidding runs the prices up for everyone.  Much better strategy to swoop down like a hawk.  Find auctions ending at strange times, much less hawks circling at those times!  By the way this hawk won't be competing with you - I'm done bidding.  

I'll be showing you 3 different journal structures to make with these albums.  Naturally, we won't just make journals.  We'll be filling them up too!  1 of the structures will be made with the actual photo frame cards inside the albums.

Nearly everything else for the class will come from your existing stash.  If you don't find an album you can use an old book with cool covers.  If you don't have any photo frame cards you can use anything that is stiff - cardboard or chipboard will work!  In other words if you're crafty and clever you'll find alternatives that work for you.  I promise.  If you're ambitious and have extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, pick up a couple of these albums.

If you have extra photo albums and want to sell your surplus, contact me with your details so I can send people your way.  I've had A LOT of inquiries.  My Nikon is in the shop but the second I get it home I'm going to start filming the class.  I'll have a promo video, more photos of exactly what we're making, plus more details than you can shake a stick at by early June.  Class will follow in mid June.   Thank you for your boundless enthusiasm.  I appreciate and value it very much.  More than you'll ever know.  100% true story!

your seat can be used as a flotation device

ARMCHAIR TRAVELERS PREPARE FOR TAKE OFF.  those of you in my pocket snuggle in.  it's going to be a non-stop 10 hour and 40 minute ride.  bring snacks.  i'll wake you when we land.

~

um.  bags are packed.  sweet corky, the cat nanny has arrived.  flight leaves later this afternoon.

decided to sew a journal bag for safekeeping.  its total guerilla manic made in an hour grab the nearest thread you can find style.  sort of like if charlie sheen suddenly got a wild hair to make a vera bradley bag.  you know?  

this travel journal was an extra special labor of love so didn't want to just stash it in my purse. it's a big fat scrap happy duct taped mess.  you'll see more once i get to paris... from that cafe i mentioned.

i HATE to turn this post into an advertising pitch.  blech.  but quite frankly if you're interested in my next online class, (debuting in june) i want you to get a jumpstart on finding a few things you're gonna need!  vintage photo frames, vintage photo album, maybe an old ledger with a cool spine, a mountain of scraps.  get yourself over to ebay and be persistent.  find auctions that end at strange times and swoop down at the last minute.  go to flea markets, yard sales, raid your grandmother's attic.  even if you find not one single one of those things...  your imagination is going to lead you down alternative paths.  not going to mention the class thing again until i have more succulence on the bones of my BIG IDEA.  promise.  the old photo album travel journal gig i've been on the last few weeks sparked a wildfire.  just sending you some smoke signals.  letting you know what's up.

{au revoir les enfantes!}

see you in paris.

Just Because I Wanted To

 Until at least 1/31...maybe longer.

Info on ROD HERE.  Info on STENCILRY HERE.

Please pay extra close attention to password information at the bottom under CAUTIONARY NOTES (after the jump).

Classes are now open indefinitely, but that only applies IF your passwords currently work. 

Autumn Arrives

~

REMAINS OF THE DAY updates and information:

I've decided to keep your access to the videos and class blog OPEN.  Originally if you registered prior to June 2010 your access ended this coming December.  No more!  I'm postponing the cut off date indefinitely.  This class has been like standing under one giant shining lucky star.  Enrollment has been consistent since the class began last December.  I never imagined it would grow so large.  Or that I would form bonds with so many of the people in the class.  Or that so many nice people would show off their journals and spread the word this far and wide.

THANK YOU.  I am grateful.

Kas, one of the generous ROD class members emailed me the other day to say she wanted to sponser someone in need.  In other words PAY their full tuition.  That really happened.  I'm going to contribute another 2 classes for someone else.  So 3 free spots in the class.  Send me an email with a brief description of your circumstances.  Special consideration given to the unemployed, recently laid off, or stay-at-home moms with no extra dough for yourself. When the spots are filled I'll update this post with the info.  Naturally, your name will be kept private.

*click on the words "email me" top right sidebar

***All 3 free class spots are filled as of 10/12***

Online Class Updates

STENCILRY debuted in spring of 2009.  There are 33 videos and 77 full-color PDF pages. It's still available, but since it's one year old I've permanently lowered the price to $50.  Class info & sneak peek available HERE.

OR you can knock yourself out and register for both of my stenciling classes (STENCILRY and STITCHED & STENCILED) at the same time for $65.    45 videos and 91 pages of full-color PDF.  I stand at the ready with smelling salts should you need them.  Go HERE to register.

Stitched & Stenciled is still available a la carte to those students who've already taken Stencilry.  Both of the stenciling classes are archived in their original format.  Price changes reflected above are permanent.

Happy Sunday Cute People

The little downhill flowing brook that bloomed in the lane next to my house yesterday has dried up.  A big dose of lemony sunshine arrived this morning.

A hot sunshine spotlight centered right over Moss Cottage.  After my shower I air-dried out back in my towel.  Don't worry it's private!  More or less.   Besides my motto since my birthday has been, "I'm 47 and I can do what I want when I want." 

Yes I can!  I'm pretty much unstoppable.  You would be too if you had on a pair of party pants.  I'm off to stir up trouble in the neighborhood.  Then it's back inside for more artful experimenting.  Happy Sunday, cute people!

PURE EXPERIMENTATION Online Class News (mostly for the benefit of those who subscribe in a reader format)

REMAINS OF THE DAY is open for registration.   

STENCILRY is open for registration.

I'm going to continue to funnel 100%  of the Stitched & Stenciled proceeds into a Haitian Relief Fund.  You can read more about that HERE.

Giveaway #4

 Sherri  #239 who left your comment on 12/18 @ 8:10am  YOU are this week's winner of your very own golden ticket to REMAINS OF THE DAY.   Email me or comment here to claim your prize!   

I'll spin the wheel one last time next Tuesday.  Kind of difficult to believe that Christmas will have come and gone by then isn't it?

 

Registration will be open until December 31st.  The FOR SALE sign will be taken down from January 1 - 15th.  I'll put it back up again once I return from my trip down south to Merida, Mexico.   If you're in the class never fear!  I'm carrying all of you with me in my suitcase, or pocket.  One or the other.  And as for the rest of you, you can come too if you want!  I'll be blogging & adventuring & travel journaling from my place in the sun.

By the way, you'll want to have a look at what some of the hardcore gangster crafters  have been up to in class.  Only a week out and  already a few have started revving their sewing machine motors, rolling up their t-shirt sleeves, and putting their pedals to the metal.  I've only had to break up a couple of fights so far.  Go HERE to check out the talent. Tomorrow they begin their pages.

A Flickr Christmas

 1. the winter of my content, 2. a 'gleeful' corner..., 3. Untitled, 4. 5, 5. mr snowman, send me some snow, make it the coldest that I've ever known...., 6. Baked and varnished, 7. Christmas Reflections in Paris, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled

Happy Monday dear readers.  I was home sick today nursing my earache, but will be back on full monkey patrol tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the first day of class and another giveaway!  A generous flock of registrants has floated my way down winter's snowy digital highway.  For that I am grateful.  I have decided to offer up 5 more half-price tickets to REMAINS OF THE DAY.  If a $30 price tag is more within your reach please send me an email.  The only requirement is NEED.  Well, that and a sewing machine. I'll post here with an update once those slots are filled.

UPDATE:  Okay well, that was fast!  All 5 slots are filled.

24 Whirling Dervishes

I've been out of commission with an earache the last few days.  Somehow I survived our annual Christmas program at school, ushering 24 angels in white capes and gold tinsel back and forth from the classroom to the auditorium too many times to count.

I left my camera at school so I don't have the photo of 24 whirling dervishes spinning around on the school yard.  Who cares about singing when you can spin like a top afterwards?  Not my monkeys!

We're going off track on Friday until mid-February.  My days of monkey whispering are numbered.  More than anything I look forward to the S I L E N C E.  I need long stretches of uninterrupted quiet more than the average bear.

I've been putting the finishing touches on REMAINS OF THE DAY.  Bright and early on the 15th Part 1 will come shooting out of the art cannon and landing in a computer near you.  Oh the wonders of the digital age!   

If you're in the class, your passwords and class blog info were sent within hours (sometimes minutes) of you registering.  All info. is mailed to your Paypal email unless you request otherwise.  If you can't find it zip me out an email and I'll resend.   If you registered under a different name or email let me know so I know where to begin the search & rescue.  

p.s.  I uploaded a little bonus video to the class blog this evening. 

THIS JUST IN!  

 Dearest MA, In todays' paper the Target ad has a Singer Tradition sewing machine with 10 stitch patterns and an automatic button-holer for $69. I thought you might want to pass this along on your blog for those who don't yet have a machine! Cheers Nona

Tonight's Low 47 Degrees Under Mostly Cloudy Skies

Somewhere deep in my late Autumn brain are thoughts that have nothing to do with paper scraps and fabric bits.   Wild delicious excitements are rising and cresting.  Great waves of ideas one behind the other.  All to do with paper and fabric.  Every. Single. One.

 

Cat has a silent dialogue playing in his head too.  It goes like this:

eat. sleep. find projects to lay upon.  look cute.  turn art blog into cat blog.

 

Flouncy apricot roses are sensing the cooler weather and blooming like crazy in the unkempt garden out back.  Rain is coming tomorrow.  I don't think shiny purple rainboots are out of the question.

I believe I rounded up all the stray pre-registration people who fell through the cracks.  But maybe not.  I wasn't clear in my last post about where to leave a comment for the giveaway.  Go to the REMAINS OF THE DAY post to leave it.  I'm giving away a class every Tuesday in December.  Thank you x 1000 for kind emails & comments about the class blog.  It's a labor of love.  Really and truly.  I was just thinking today that making an online class is very similar to what I normally do:   Make stuff and talk to myself aloud while doing it.  hmmmm.

If you are currently enrolled in STITCHED & STENCILED this is for you:

If you enrolled before 10/1/09 I've extended your time until March 2010.  If you enrolled after 10/1/09 nothing has changed.

An Elf

A big serving of cold and grey in the City of Angels today.   Too much sunshine causes my smooth thoughts to become jagged.  Rain is in the forecast for next week!  It's 56 degrees outside!  Not enough cool weather to smooth out my thoughts yet.  Bear with me.  An elf sent me some Christmas fabric.  So I made a toaster cover!

 

Look at me!  Look at me NOW!  Stop sewing paper together and making toaster covers and pet me.  Or I will do something bad.

 

But first let me go lay down.  On top of your projects.

I think.  I think I sent every last one of you pre-registered boys and girls your registration link.  I started some last night and finished the rest this morning.  Um... I think I got all of you.  But maybe I didn't.  If a few of you slipped by I apologize.  Zip me out an email and I'll take care of you.   Enclose the original message you sent when you pre-registered, that will help cut down on any search and rescue I might have to do.

Regular registration has begun for REMAINS OF THE DAY .  If you pre-registered use the link I sent you, don't use the BUY  NOW button.   Don't forget to put your name in the hat over HERE .  Not on this post.  On the REMAINS OF THE DAY post.  If you already dropped in your name last week you're set!  I'm drawing each Tuesday in December from the same pool of names.  Make sense?

Off to toss another log in the fire and curl up with a hot toddy and a book!

The Latest PURE EXPERIMENTATION Online Class Has Arrived!

$60

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.  It will resume on January 16th.  See you then!

Class information & passwords are sent to your PAYPAL email within 24 hours of registering, usually sooner.  If you need me to send the info to a different email you must add a note to your PAYPAL invoice at the time of purchase.  Look there first if you don't receive registration information within 24 hours.  99.9% of the time the registration information can be found in the inbox of your PAYPAL EMAIL ADDRESS.  If you check your paypal email address, junk or spam box and still can't find it, please send me your paypal receipt along with the email address & name you used to pay for the class.  This keeps the search and rescue team from barking up the wrong tree.

DETAILS:

• registration is in full swing!  Class starts anytime you decide after 12/15/09
•  27 high quality videos available from the day you register
•  32 pages of full-color PDF also available for immediate download
• at least 5 pages of digital collage elements for download (labels, tabs, numbers, words, journaling spots)
• full access to REMAINS OF THE DAY class blog and all of its videos & content until December 1, 2010
• an active & enthusiastic Yahoo group where you can yack with your classmates to your heart's content, get advice, share successes, and cheer each other on
• a Flickr group where you can show off what you make and get positive feedback
• sewing machine is required
• SUPPLY LIST = scraps of paper, security envelopes, fabric, sewing machine, quilting thread, 1 yard of waxed linen, regular or bookbinding needle, scotch tape, packing tape, your choice of dry adhesive (I'm using a glue stick),  any kind of camera

• A fast computer & high-speed internet service to process & watch the videos will be vital.   If you are regularly able to watch videos of up to 10 minutes in length w/o interruption you should be just fine.   Do make sure though, since tuition is non-refundable once your password to the class blog has been sent.
  

Ready for another dose of arty excavating and experimenting?  Ready to go on a wild and delicious archeological dig in your very own art studio?  Then climb on board and join me in another round of Pure Experimentation! 

REMAINS OF THE DAY - A Shabby Journal of Scraps is the antidote for all of those paper scraps that keep multiplying in your favorite scrap box and clogging up your artistic super highway.

In this process AND project oriented class we'll be constructing a shabby but sturdy journal using all that paper you've been hoarding.  I'll show you how I built the kind of travel journals that my sister and I carried with us on our trip to Portugal this summer.  Both of those were filled to capacity in 10 days and you'll do the same with yours without ever leaving home!  Instead of postcards, we'll use photos from our daily lives.  The book I make with you will be a completely different  book than the ones pictured here, but with a similar structure and content.

Using simple art supplies like tape, staples, glue sticks, scissors, paper & fabric scraps, and your favorite inky pen we'll set out on a recycled voyage of discovery.   ORDINARY life never looked better than seen through the pages of this stitched up journal of scraps.  Between these pages you'll be recording the little days that are all too easily forgotten.  The small activities between the bigger events of your life that get left behind.

The journal you see below is a class sample.  The one we build in class will be BIGGER, juicier, and more fabulous!  (Wanna see?  Go HERE and have a look at what everyone has stitchd together so far!)  Better still it will be super sturdy.  Swat away pick pockets or toss across the room.  NOT A PROBLEM. 

PLEASE NOTE:  This is not a sewing course, but a sewing machine is required.  I am not a seamstress.  I cheerfully employ guerrilla sewing tactics. 

THIS is the machine I use.  It's inexpensive, VERY sturdy, and sews through anything.

Once your shabby journal is constructed I'll show you how to start filling it up.  The book we make will be different in construction, but similar in content to THIS one.  I completed it in 2 weeks.   Think of it as a perfect place to deposit your deep thoughts, shallow thoughts, and everything in between.

IF THE IDEA OF SEWING UP A SHABBY BOOK OF SCRAPS SEEMS CHALLENGING...DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED!!!  I teach 2nd grade craft monkeys (whose primary language is not English) on a regular basis.  I will take you by the hand and guide you through each step.  Like I tell my students:  everything seems difficult if you don't know how to do it.  I'll answer your questions and provide counsel to your most elementary questions.  

Got a little (or big) craft monkey at home?  If they can walk & talk, they can fill up their own little book while you work in yours.  If they're too little to use the sewing machine they can use a ready made composition book or notebook that you jazz up for them.  

REMAINS OF THE DAY will be using dry ingredients only.  No paint, misters, sprays, spraypaint, gesso, or vodka.  This will be qualitatively different than my regular visual journal process.  This is the type of journal I return to when I want to work fast and use up abandoned scraps.  Think of it as a visual DIARY on steroids.  A photo logbook of your ORDINARY days. 

Read the comments on this page for current student reviews.

NO Tuition refunds will be given once the password to the class blog is sent via email.

Saturday Night 55 Degrees

In between Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic the craft monkeys were extra busy this week.

 

They started working on chipboard house books, kindly donated to us a couple of months ago by yet another classroom fairy godmother. 

They worked in their envelope books.  This year I'm taking lots more photos for them to put inside their visual journals.

We cut strips of fabric for Thanksgiving turkey collages.

Somehow I managed to get the room in order by the time the parents arrived. 

 

Today I rustled through my scrap piles some more for REMAINS OF THE DAY.  (link takes you to Online Classes category where you can scroll & read about the class so far)  I am 1/4 of the way through class preparations.  When it got too dark to videotape I made some cool digital elements in Photoshop for you to download and use in your shabby journal of scraps.  You'll be able to print on nice paper and cut out.  if you're a label junkie always looking for your next fix, I think you'll dig the downloads. 

I'm deeeeeeeelighted at how Prototype 2 is coming together.  Simple, but quite fabulous.  I really would like to show you.  But I can't.  It's a secret.  For at least a little longer.  Get your fabric scraps ready, put the batteries in your camera, sharpen your scissors, pick out your favorite glue stick, collect your thoughts (or scatter depending on how you work best), fill up your ink well, rev your sewing machine, and strap yourselves in.  We're going on a ride muchachos!

Registration is going to begin on December 1st.  Class will begin approximately 2 weeks later.  The videos, pdf's, everything will be available for a year lending new meaning to the term WORK AT YOUR OWN PACE.