Thinking of Art & Soul

Thinking today of all the fun that's happening at Art & Soul this weekend in Hampton, Virginia. Unfortunatley, I couldn't attend this year due to a conflicting spring break schedule. I'll sure miss all the creative energy, excitement and most especially participating in vendor night. There's always next year ...

Getting published in GreenCraft!

Just found out one of my pieces is going to be published in Somerset's "GreenCraft" magazine! Will spill more when I learn the details. Yippee-skippee!

Doodling = Happiness

I read an article entitled "10 secrets to Being Happy" in a magazine yesterday. And I about fell off my chair when I saw the #1 thing to do. Ready? DOODLING! The article stated that upbeat doodles ease stress and boost happiness! But I guess we art journaling doodlers already knew that, right?

Sketchbook Project: Part 2

Here is my sketchbook (I left out a few spreads because this post was getting very long). There was a list of about 30 themes from which to choose ... I chose "I am a Scavenger" ... it seemed like a perfect fit! Like many people, I stuck to my theme. Other people didn't ... and that was OK. I felt pressure to fill all my pages (OK, I did glue a few together to give some "oomph" to a spread and also to use up a few pages!). Other people didn't ... and that was OK. You could do pretty much whatever you wanted as long as the final book was the original size. Some people took out all the pages and rebound in new ones. A couple people took out all the pages and put in one giant sheet that folded back up neatly to fit within the confines of the sketchbook cover. Someone asked me if all the books went on tour ... yep! They were all cataloged and arranged neatly on the carts. The staff was continuously pulling and shelving books the whole time I was there. They seemed pretty organized and I would guess that all the carts could fit in the back of a large box-style delivery truck.

Sketchbook Project: Part 1

I had the opportunity to view the traveling tour of the Sketchbook Project 2011 when it stopped in Washington, DC this weekend. There were close to 10,000 books(!) so I barely scratched the surface. It was great fun to see my book tucked in there with all the others.

All the sketchbooks were organized on carts that were kept behind a barrier. You were able to check out 2 at a time ... you can see why I barely scratched the surface!

These are spreads from Pam Garrison's beautiful book! I could have looked at it for hours! There were books from at least 40 countries ...

All books had a theme ... this one was "Lines and Grids"...

"Raining Cats and Dogs"

More dogs ...

I forget this one's theme, but love the elegant simplicity and use of white space.

Tomorrow, if I may be so bold, I will post photos of my book ...

Charge it!

Just posted vintage charge plates to the store. These pre-cursors to the plastic credit card have an embossed metal plate ... the part that made the impression when the slider went "chu-chunk" over it. 'Member those? Just two available! http://www.thepaperfleamarket.com/charge-plates.html

Cover to Cover

If you're near the town of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin this month, there's a great book show going on at the Fond du Lac Public Library called "Cover to Cover". There are 2-D and 3-D pieces from 15 artists (including this piece from yours truly). The theme is the interpretation of the word "book" and the artwork ranges from altered books, to handmade books, to sculptures and collages. This is all being sponsored by Fond du Lac Visual Arts. Thanks Mel at Ephemeraology (www.ephemeraology.blogspot.com) for letting me know about the show! Oooh, I wish I could go! That's my grandma in the photo ... the one who saved everything and inspired me to start my store! Sending xoxoxo to heaven!

A Royal Show

My friend Hillary over at Chick's Picks https://www.chickspicksbyhillary.com/ is having another wonderful show this weekend ... this time with a royal wedding theme! I've been busy the past few weeks making goodies for the show ... these are some bejeweled cake servers that have been a big hit the last two shows. If you're in the Northern Virginia area, this show is not to be missed! Here's the nitty gritty:

Thurs 8am-8pm Fri 9 am-7pm Sat 9am-2pm 20757 Parkside Circle Sterling, VA

I'll be there Thursday wearing my best tiara!

PS - Just a shout out to all my wonderful followers ... I just added a Facebook badge to the blog and now all your wonderful little icons are *gone*! Trying to figure out what happened ...?

Happy Monday!

Is there anything happier than little Fisher Price people? Don't know about you, but this brings back happy memories of many hours of childhood play. Found these at the flea market last weekend ... hope your Monday is happy :)

Beautiful vintage book pages

You just never know what you're going to find when you open the pages of an old book ... just look at these gorgeous images from an old book from the early 1900s! Each page is rather sturdy, so would make a great background for a collage. Or just frame them and enjoy. These (and more) are available now at http://www.thepaperfleamarket.com/vintage-prints.html

Jackpot weekend!

This was one of those weekends (that actually started on Thursday) where there was a sale everyday and each one was fabulous! Here are just a few of the goodies I found that I will be posting today... http://www.thepaperfleamarket.com/

Above is a box of "size rings"from an old department store ... these are flat and graphic and I LOVE THEM!

Animal Rummy cards ... and not just one, but *two* boxes!

Bride's Book from 1913! Only one page has been filled in ... would make a beautiful journal for a bride-to-be or you could alter it and fill it with memories of the big day and present it as a gift.

Menu from an old restaurant in Baltimore ... love the name!

And I still have one more book sale to go to later this afternoon ... will my luck hold out?