My first workshop!!!

Did you see Traci Bautista's book "Collage Unleashed"? I was very lucky to receive the book several days ago and to go to her workshop today. It was just great! I had the best time! The workshop was fast paced and I'm sure that I'll be dreaming all the colors and techniques she showed us. I am going on a trip on Sunday and I can't wait to come back and play with my paints...I feel very inspired right now (just what I needed).
Traci is a sweetheart! You see her here showing one of her collages. We had an opportunity to look through her journals and it was just the thing I like the most - a celebration of colors, textures, different papers, drawings, words, beads, fibers... You could look at them for hours! We had a chance to work a lot, but nothing is finished... these are basically some samples of the backgrounds, or better said - building blocks for layered collages.
Finally - I have to share how she signs her books... Fun!!! If you have the opportunity to go on one of her workshops - don't miss it!

Shoes, birds and a workshop

For some reason I feel bad if I miss writing in my blog for a day or two. Not that I have anything important to say, but I still have the need to mark the day. I have a new computer!!! An Apple mini! While it is cute, I feel kind of out of place - I've been a faithful PC girl for ages. For some reason the photos look less bright and saturated... I don't know if it is only on my monitor or if Photoshop works differently on Mac. I'll have to ask my husband...
I went on a shopping spree today! That's highly unusual for me... I live in my favorite black clothes all the time... but I really needed something that's not black because the weather is so nice that it is too hot in black. So, I bought a new pair of jeans, some cute tops... green, blue, purplish.
I ordered shoes online (!?!) from Zappos and they came today!!! They are like the ones on the picture but without the silver thing (just black). How cute!!! I wore them when I went to pick up my daughter. I didn't count on the fact that she was on a field trip and that they will be more than hour late. Ooouuuch!

I didn't have a lot of time for creating, but I did play with some 4x4 canvases. They are not finished... I want to write some sayings, but I'm scared now (because they look kind of cute just like this... I think).
And - the big finale - my dear friend Connie and I will have fun being "unleashed" with Traci Bautista on Friday. Hope to learn new things!

What's in a name?

AnnaX shared a fun link today. Check the meaning of your name. I was happy to read mine :-).

Zorana
(Dawn, Slavic origin)

Versatile, intelligent and artistically talented. You love to enjoy yourself and tend to experience a happy domestic life and material success. You have a methodical and thorough mind and are able to organize large projects easily. Charming and likeable and with more than your share of sex appeal you tend to find yourself in the spotlight and much admired by others. Life is more fun with you around.

What is the hidden meaning of your name?

ZNE theme week - Birds and Hats

on eBay
I don't think I ever created an ACEO so quickly! It was almost 11P.M. when I saw on Izabella's blog her lovely entry for ZNE theme week. Somehow I missed even reading about the theme for this month, but when I saw that it was "Birds and Hats" I knew that I had to participate. So, in a spur of inspiration I made the card, scanned it and listed it on eBay just shy of midnight! Search eBay for "ZNE theme week" to see the other entries.

Inspire Me Thursday - Functional Art

Another great weekly challenge from "Inspire Me Thursday": "This week’s challenge is to create a piece of functional art. Something that not only beautifies, but that also serves some purpose or function." I need to make a journal, so I was thinking of some book binding technique but then I decided to check the links that Misty & Melanie provided. I found a tutorial for a polymer clay bracelet that I just HAD to try. Of course, I changed the design, but used the basic explanation. Isn't it interesting? I loved making it and I'll probably wear it (or sell it)! How do you like it?

The shade hugs my heart

Walnut ink on wood with acrylic glazes brushed over... never tried that before.
It's on etsy. I used the 'Try it Tuesdays' technique from last week - the tree is laser printed and transferred.

Try It Tuesdays - Easy Plantable Seed Paper

You can see a lovely technique explained this week on "Try It Tuesdays". I am not participating this week. My paper making stash is buried somewhere... But I used to make paper all the time (two years ago) and I LOVED IT!!! I found some old photos to share.

This is how I made paper from fallen yellow ginkgo leaves. It is messy and doesn't look like much, but the result is AMAZING - a soft, beautiful, unique paper with rich fall colors.

Here is one tiny piece of the finished paper (layered over some other handmade paper) where you can see a bit of the texture and color.

And here is something that is easy and fun to do - making paper bowls. They are unbelievably strong. I have used the bowl pictured here for year now - it holds my car keys, change and stuff like that.Here are some other examples - bowls I made for an exchange for the PaperMaking group on Yahoo.Finally - a silly picture of me making blue colored paper... I didn't like the blue color but that was the only pigment I had and I had to try it.