and they lived happily ever after...

for 37 years...

We're off to celebrate the day!

The AWESOME Artful Voyage in Mexico report coming...

soon!

make art...

wendy

by land, by air, by sea...FINALLY!

2 hours to Midway airport...

4 hours to LAX...

Tomorrow...

the big boat.

FINALLY!

We're ready...I think...

and so very excited!

And we're happy to be leaving cold...ugly...rainy Illinois.

maybe it will be sunny & WARM when we return...

but then again...

probably NOT!

Here's the cruise logo that tim designed...

It's grungy & AWESOME...

Just what I LOVE!

Now...Some art...

If you're a frequent blog visitor...you'll remember last month Robin sent me an adorable vintage coke bottle

filled with studio 490 grunge flowers...

Well...now it's fall & she's done it again...

Here's some inspiration from Robin...

even the back is cute!

Here's the front...

Thanks Robin for sharing this cool idea...

hmmm...

I wonder what she's got planned for the winter arrangement?

THANKS SOOOOOOOO MUCH for the emails & well wishes for the cruise...

YOU GUYS are the best!

We'll be back next Monday...

Until then...

take care &

MAKE ART!

wendy

gone..........

SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey...it's fall & it's really chilly here...
like 40 degrees last night!
YIKES!
Almost frigid...

I have NOTHING to wear............
seriously...

shhhhhhhhhh...
Rick believed that...
so MUM's the word...OK?

Just one quick photo for you...
A page from Maya Road's new canvas album...

A really FUN project....

I'll go now & shop...

while YOU...

make art!

wendy

wishing you...

comfort & joy...

ok...it might be a tad early for Christmas sentiments...
but I had this idea...

another 6x6 art piece...
square is good...

I'm in LOVE with these graphic 45 papers...
it's easy to create a coordinated look, by inking all of them with the same distress ink.

I used brushed corduroy over the entire piece.

and...they FINALLY arrived...
the Maya Road mini houses and mini alphabets...

I like to mix 2 fonts...
jonathan & noah...are my favs...

I LOVE the ability to put larger words on a small space...
another reason why I love minis...

Want to see ALL the adorable MINI'S?? LOOK here.

studio 490 stamps on grungepaper made the trees & holly...

Just add some vintage trim & an old ruler piece...
some of tim's idea-ology snaps...

tada...done and fun!


oh...
and rock candy distress stickles on the mini letters...


and on the holly berries too...

this time the holly is gingham...
but any background stamp is cool...
the holly is versatile...
because it's an outline...

same story with the tree...

Studio time for me now...

getting MARKET PLACE stuff done & ready for our cruisers...

I'm just saying...
the shopping will be so much fun!

So, my wish for you today...

May you have comfort & joy while you...

make art!
wendy

oops and inspiration...

here's the oops...

A NOT SO NICE UPS driver dropped this off for Mario...
he LITERALLY...
dropped it off...

WHAT?




Now take a look...
behind that car...

***a LONG way back...***

is the garage...
aka...Mario's studio...
aka...cruise shipping central...

What was he thinking???



So...in addition to getting 8 pallettes ready for our cruisers...
add this task to the TO-DO list...

UNWRAP...UNLOAD...
and CARRY each box into the studio...
to be RELOADED...

GEEZ.............

What a BAD BAD UPS boy...
no Christmas card for him this year...

I found the labeling very interesting...
(Mario just might have another word for it...)

Look @ what's needed for just one box...
@ last count, Mario said he's labeled 172 boxes...

Can you even imagine?

I think he's earned a mojito or 2!

The freight hauler arrives on Wednesday & is responsible for getting all 8 pallettes delivered to the ship...


and yes...
CRUISERS...

that label says
MARKET PLACE!

We've heard loud & clear that you guys are so looking foreward to...
SHOPPING!! (me too!)

I think we can help you out!!

It won't be long now...
Let me tell you that we're all VERY excited!
We leave early Saturday morning...
not that we're counting the sleeps...

On to the inspiration...

like I said...
it really IS everywhere...

This is a Talbot's ad that came last week...

The sweater is cute...
but the colors were what caught my attention.



It inspired me to make this...


The heart is cut from a vintage quilt...
I picked these up @ an antique store...
probably 2 years ago.

It's one of those things that I would take out of the drawer...
admire...
and put right back.

But this ad inspired me to actually USE it!

It's amazing what a little bit of machine sewing adds...
a very small detail...
but it adds a lot to the end result.

Here's a closer look @ the odd bits & pieces...
They all just seemed to work well together.

Stamps?
studio 490, of course!

Flower?
grungepaper...

Paper?
it's mostly graphic 45...
but the tiny text on the left is 7 gypsies...

a vintage bottler cap?
My new fav embellishment...

a vintage ruler?
Yep...I like it there...



The moral of today's post?

Keep your eyes wide open...
to really SEE what's around you...

there REALLY IS inspiration...
EVERYWHERE!

Now...
I hope you're inspired to...

make art!
wendy

on my lunch break...

I made art!

I found this 4 1/2 inch square piece of wood in my stash...
it's about 1/4 inch thick...
I have no clue why I had it...
or where it came from...

anyway...

This time I mixed the mini jenni bowlin papers with a graphic 45 that I fell in love with...

there's that canvas heart again...
I stamped the scrolls right on the fabric with jet black archival & heat set it...

another grungepaper rose...
this time with a bit of gold paint from the dabber...
then rock candy distress stickles accents...

that stamp on the kraft cardstock is this one...
it doesn't look too cute in the package, but it is one of my fav backgrounds.

Try stamping it with coffee archival...
or olive archival on a peeled paint background...

whoever said that leaves don't have numbers? wrong!

the gold paint dabber makes a quick finishing edge...
quick...
easy...
NO MESS...
even for me!

here's the result...


and speaking of edge...
this is another simple idea that just finishes off the art...

lay your background stamp rubber side up on your table...
ink with archival ink...

then press the edge onto the stamp...
dry & ink with a coordinating distress ink to color the bare wood...
or you can use the distress ink first, then stamp as above.

it's simple to get it perfectly straight...

see...


You can also create an edge on a canvas that way too...

That's the Friday update...

I know you'll enjoy your weekend...
if you take time to...

make art!
wendy

it's october...

REALLY???????
Are you sure?

Yep...no sun here...
the furnace is on...
I'm looking for sweats...
I want home made soup...
I made hot tea last night...
I HATE Illinois in the winter...

anyway...

YIKES...
If it's really October...
I must have slept thru September...

And speaking of being asleep...
I just got an email...forwarding my reservation..?
WHAT reservation?
Where am I supposed to be?
OMG??
Did I forget something?

NOPE...it's from Ranger... for CHA already...
in January...2010...
WHAT???
I just got back from CHA...how is this possible???
But...
It got me excited...

I LOVE working/demoing @ CHA for Ranger...
I LOVE seeing friends...

I'm thinking winter will be really exciting this time...since summer CHA was done on a smaller scale...

Lots of new stuff...
Lots of awesome displays...
new studio 490 stamps...
another book??
YIKES!!
How many more days to get ready?

I'll keep this short today...
All the products I used are listed on yesterday's post...
if you want to play along...or if you NEED to shop!

Here's a shot of the canvas again...
finished...


And here's the film strip ribbon idea...

those little holes are PERFECT for hanging...
stuff!

HOW SIMPLE...


I stapled the film strip ribbon to the bottom of the canvas with an old fashion stapler...the kind that opens all the way...
I used string...you could use jump rings...
DONE!

I have a few more of those canvas hearts...
more mini jenni papers...
I want to mixed them with graphic 45...
I'm thinking...RED...
all I NEED is 30 minutes...

maybe later today...
I'll skip lunch...
I WILL get it done...
and...
I'll show you tomorrow!

That's it!
Take care...

make art!
wendy