The Keys 4 Art - Day 2

Up very early, found the coffee maker ready, pressed start, and was shortly joined by Lillian, another early riser. We found some bagels, shared breakfast and nice conversation, and waited for everyone else to make an appearance.  It didn't take long.  I think we were all excited to begin.
I planned to show the group some of the techniques I learned in the Lynne Perrella workshops I took last August.(To learn more about that, go to my August blog posts).   So, first thing to do, was cut up some red rosin paper.   You can find rolls of this stuff in Home Depot, and believe it or not, this paper, which is normally used to protect flooring during construction, makes the very best art paper......once gesso is applied.
We had to do this first, so there would be plenty of time for it to dry completely before we could add color and collage elements.   At this stage, everyone added lots of texture, with stamps, stencils, bits of cardboard, netting, string, sponges, bubble wrap.....you get the picture.

Gina shows me her gessoed fingers

Once everyone was finished, we set the paper aside to dry, and immediately got into Val's wonderful journal project.  This was her gift to us all, and included chipboard covers, coin envelope inserts, and a bag full of fun embellishments.....chipboard pieces, maps of Florida, a tiny bottle full of sand, etc.

Mind you, these are my leftovers!  There was a bag full of goodies.

We all set to work on our journals, decorating the coin envelopes and covers.  Here are some shots of a busy studio:

Linda and Patty working on their journals

Jen, Gina, Marita and Sue take time out for a photo op

Look all the way in the back, right in front of the window.  That's a huge cage, and inside is Pancho, Elena's

blue macaw.  Noisy fellow.

Jen and Juliet, Pancho behind them

Val gathered us together to demonstrate the "drunken scotch" technique, which she used on the frame on the cover of her journal.

 It is a very cool technique, and I've mentioned it here before.  Basically you apply glue to a piece of chipboard or grungeboard, drop some alcohol ink on top, then blast it with the heat gun to get a bubbly, rusty look.  Here's how it looks on my journal cover:

We used the frame to make a shaker box.  There are tiny beads inside.  The shells were contributed by Elena.  The bird is one I made of polymer clay, but that's for another post.

Here are some more pages from my journal (which when completed was bound by Val with Elena's Bind-It-All:

The cover with some mementos hanging from a chain.

Close up of the danglies.  I found the leaf outside Elena's house, and covered it completely with crystal effects.  The key was done with the drunken scotch technique.  The rectangular tile was done in our polymer clay class (more on that tomorrow), the little fish charm I added at home, but the tiny fish hook was done on the spot for everyone by Gina.  The glass bottle full of sand and shells was in the goodie bag Val gave us, and the shells were from Elena.

The inside front cover.  A bit of the map of Florida, with Key Largo highlighted under a clear bauble.  The bird was done with the inlaid embossing technique (more on that later).

Val gave us each a library book card which we used to have everyone sign in:

I decorated the rest of my pages as the mood struck.  Used paper on some, paint on others, some stamping, stenciling, and collaging of some beachy Graphic45 paper.  Here are just a few of the pages:

This is the inside of the back cover:

And the back cover itself:

Jacquie had brought some delicious sweet and savory pastries from a wonderful Miami bakery, and we just kept eating them throughout the morning, right into lunch time.  No one even thought of stopping to go out for food.  Too much to do, too much fun being had.

In the afternoon, Jen shared with us some of what  she's learned taking online face drawing classes.  She is REALLY good at it.  First we sketched faces by looking at pictures from magazines.  Here are my two attempts:

Then we were able to pick a face from a magazine that Jen had covered with a light coat of gesso.  You could still make out the features, so it was a great way to practice.  Wonderful technique, Jen!

 Here is Elena working on one of her sketches:

When it was time for dinner, we drove to a local restaurant, Marlin, where Elena is very well known, and we feasted on a never ending array of Cuban food....not to mention some very good margaritas.  Thanks to Manny, the very generous owner.

And the very best......

I Dream In Colors

Time out from my Key Largo posts.  I just completed pages for Jen's journal in our I Dream in Colors group.  Her color palette is chocolate brown, robin's egg blue, and lilac.
Not my usual colors (except for the brown, which I believe goes with everything), but had fun with it, and guess what?  Those who know me well won't believe it, but I sewed on it!  Me, sewing!
I have disliked sewing but love the look of stitches on paper, so a few weeks ago I went ahead and bought a basic machine and put it in a closet.
Something made me take it out yesterday.  I just knew it would end with much tears and cursing, but miracle of miracles, it really was as easy to thread as promised.  Can't believe it!  Not that I did anything elaborate, just some freehand stitching and attaching ribbon, but this is a very big deal for me.  I've always believed that I am totally incapable of using a sewing machine.  Yea, me!
Anyway, here is the first of the two page spread:

I used some of Tim Holtz's gorgeous new paper.  It's the right shade of blue, and I overpainted it in some areas with lilac paint.  I used the bracket from Tim's "Hanging Sign" die as the holder for the cage from his "Caged Bird" die.  I didn't use the bird from that die.  The smaller one is a stamp, inked and stickled.  The larger one is from the "Nature" grungeboard set.  I used Val's inlaid embossing technique on it.  Covered it with light purple embossing powder, then used a floral background stamp (Wendy Vecchi) over top, embossed with blue powder.

The second page is the one where I really tried out the sewing machine:

I LOVE Tim's "Fanciful Flight" die.  That butterfly is great, isn't it?  I put blue vellum under the chocolate card stock outline.

I chose the words I used, after searching for hours for a suitable quote about flying, because of the word "fairy."  If you read my post yesterday about the retreat, you know that each night we were visited by the pillow fairies (aka Gina and Marita).  I thought that whenever Jen looked at these pages she'd also be reminded of our wonderful days together in Key Largo.

Jen included some tags with her journal for us to use as a sign in.  She asked that we include a photo of ourselves.  I found a vintage NYC postcard, (well, a reproduction) Bethesda Fountain in Central Park in the 40's (I think), and used that as my base.  Here it is:

And no, I did not make up that corny caption.  It was actually on the bottom of the postcard!

The Keys 4 Art - Day 1

Now that I have the photos (thanks to Elena who overnighted me a disc), I can get into a day by day, project by project, and eating adventure by eating adventure description of five of the best days of my life!
I arrived in Miami about an hour late, thanks to a passenger on the previous flight trying to flush a bottle down the airplane's toilet.  Enough said about that.   Was greeted at the airport by Elena, Jen, Sue, Val, and Nicole.  Jumping and hugging ensued, and then we drove to South Beach for what we were told would be the best Cuban food in Miami.   Sounded good to me.  We'd be met there by those who'd arrived earlier in the day, and were staying with Jacquie....Gina, Marita, Lil, and Juliet.
The restaurant is Versailles (crazy name for a Cuban place, huh?), and the food (and fabulous sangria) just kept coming.   All thanks to Jacquie.  The owner happens to be one of her clients (like Elena, Jacquie is a lawyer), and we were treated royally.

Elena, me in the middle, and Marita

Nicole, Gina, and Sue

Juliet and Jacquie

Elena and me again

and again

Val (who clearly is having a great time)

Gina, Sue, and Jen seranaded by the Cuban equivalent of mariachis

After we were totally stuffed we piled into cars for the 1 1/2 hour trip to Elena's home in Key Largo.  We got a quick tour of her large and warm and welcoming house, discussed who'd be sleeping where, and then took our first look at our studio for the week.  A living/dining room transformed into an artist's paradise.

It wouldn't look like that for long.  You know how your workspace looks in mid-project?  Multiply that by 12 and you can imagine.  

We tore into our gift bags (see the previous post), exchanged more gifts, talked and talked, then eventually found our way to our respective beds and rested up for Day 2....our first full day together, and one that would be packed with creative energy.  We'd also get to meet the rest of our group, two of Elena's local friends, Linda and Patty, who'd been unable to meet us at the restaurant.

Tune in tomorrow (or later today if I can manage it) for our fabulous second day at The Keys 4 Art, 2010.

Back from Key Largo and......

........overwhelmed by all I experienced.  Is it possible that I only just met these remarkable women for the first time?  It was like being with old and valued friends.  The power of art!

I'll get into the day by day, project by project, meal by meal, mojito by mojito rundown in a future blog.  Alas, my memory card had issues with Elena's MAC, and all the photos I took are KAPUT!  But, no worries...we all took tons and I'll have them soon enough.   Today, I'll show you some of the things I received and did....photos I just took this morning.  Above.....a wonderful personalized tote bag.  We each received one (thanks, Elena!).  The living room was set up with four large work tables, and we found our bags waiting for us at our seats.  What was inside?

Where did all this Tim Holtz fabulousness come from?  Well, Tim Holtz himself!  Elena, who seems to know everyone in the world, had mentioned to Mario that we were having this retreat, and he sent her Tim's new book (personalized and autographed for each of us!), the apron, a package of grungeboard, and some idea-ology.  Are those guys awesome, or what?  Of course, I already own the book and apron, so I think a giveaway may be coming.  But that's for another day. ***(I'm going to be editing this forever...I keep hearing about the boo-boos I've made.  That's what you get for blogging on no sleep!  The books and aprons were sent by Tim, yes, but those were purchased for us by Elena.  Yea, Elena....the best host anyone could want!)***

We never discussed in advance making gifts for everyone, but you know what they say about great minds thinking alike.  Every day was like your birthday and Christmas rolled into one.

We all received t-shirts and flip flops (well, we were in the Florida Keys, so what else would we need?), and each was a different color.  We wore them out to a waterfront bar one night, and looked appropriately tropical.  (Thanks, Jacquie!)

I made everyone a little charm to commemorate this special event.  I thought they could be worn or attached to a journal.  Marie Antoinette on one side, and our logo on the other:

Sue, who came all the way from Illinois, gave us all this gorgeous polymer clay tile:

Lillian, who came all the way from northern Ontario (she had to drive over 7 hours just to get to an airport!) decorated these wonderful art shirts:

From Jen, our California friend:

Inside the little fabric sack, an altered tin:

And inside the tin, goodies for our art....ribbon, fiber, charms, ephemera....

Now, someone PLEASE tell me who provided us with the naked rabbits, ready to be dressed up!!! ***(It was Val!  We didn't have time to "dress" them, but you should see the gorgeous dressed up bunny Val made for Elena.  I don't have a photo, but go to Val's blog and see for yourself.)***  Too cute:

 Juliet (from W. Virginia) crocheted wire necklaces for us all!  We could even choose the colors we wanted.  This is the one I picked:

And then, there were the pillow fairies.  Each night when we finally left our studio to go to sleep, there was a package on our pillows with a note saying, "sweet dreams, the pillow fairies."   We didn't discover til the very end, that it was our Oregon art friends, Gina and Marita, who gifted us each night.  First night, fabric fortune cookies and ear plugs (which I understand were useful in SOME rooms):

Here's what the fortunes said:

Another night we found:

a personalized luggage tag and these hilarious index cards:

And I LOVE this printed packing tape!

The final night, the identity of our generous and witty pillow fairies was revealed, as they left us these gorgeous ATCs:

(Gina's)

(Marita's)

I received a few other goodies as well.  Marita saw these sunglasses and of course thought of me:

Too funny, right?  I'll be sure to wear them when I board the ship for the next Tim Holtz cruise.  They were a special (and totally unnecessary) thank you for the collage technique I taught.  Gina also gave me an extra something as a thank you.  Those Oregon folks sure are a generous bunch!  A deck of ArtChix cards.  How cool is that?

(Of course, the card package had to have a beautiful tag on it)

Jen gave me a chipboard book set:

As did Elena, just because I said I liked it! (I have a good friend with a Scottie):

As soon as I get the photos from our art sessions (and our many many eating/drinking adventures) I'll be back with more Keys4Art blogging.  I'll just end with this one of Elena and me....I think it kind of sums up the mood of art and fun and friendship: