Artful Assemblage with Tim Holtz: Class Review

On Friday, I had the great good fortune to take a class with Tim Holtz called artful assemblage. The class focused on learning how to use a variety of Tim Holtz products to make a three dimensional collage. We played a lot with distress crayons and distress collage mediums and used ideology ephemera, letter press and found relatives. I absolutely adore the collage I created. It features my one little word for 2016 and focuses on the idea of growing from a willful child to a brave woman. I meant to feature my current age (55) but that didn't really pan out. I did however include the year of my birth (1961) and the year I graduated from high school (1978). 

I love Tim Holtz and use his products a lot (you can see many of my Tim Holtz creations, as well as class and book reviews by clicking and scrolling through this link). I first met Tim almost 15 years ago, when he was first starting out, at a Club Scrap retreat. He spent the entire weekend with the group and showed himself to be a funny, talented, genuine, generous person. And he's still the same, as well as a very gifted teacher. Tim is a self-taught, hands-on artist who began his career as a demonstrator at some chain craft store, so he's not long on design principles. He's also a brilliant business person and inventor who works with a variety of different manufacturers to try to get the highest quality product at a reasonable price. So he makes stamps with stampers anonymous, cutting tools with tonic, ink products with ranger, etc., rather than doing everything with one company.
The class reflected all this. The class was short on collage design theory but long on fun and other learning. This worked for me because I've taken (and taught) collage classes. I learned all about distress crayons (which I had sampled before but not really understood until this class). I also learned an amazing new tip - place your paint and glue/medium brushes in a baby wipe while you're using them to keep them fresh without becoming water logged. For our $85, we got three hours of amazing, personalized instruction, all the supplies for the project, a bonus apron and a bonus stand for our canvases! A huge value in my opinion.

One of the joys of Tim's classes is that he brings everything! I walked in with absolutely no supplies and was able to complete a project that I loved. Another joy is running into friends. Cindy McCool (pictured above) lives near me and we used to get together at least once a month to make art together. We'd lost track of each other recently, so it was quite a treat to walk into the classroom and spy her there! Although we were not sitting anywhere near each other and there was a huge variety of supplies to choose from, there ended up being a lot of similarities between our two projects. I guess that's what comes from being art sisters who have spent so much time together.
All-in-all, a terrific class and a terrific day!

Enjoying an (un)planned summer

Wild Heart - found at the beach

For the first summer in a long time, I'm approaching the holiday without too many plans. I often teach or have big plans to write or travel or do other work. But this summer, I didn't sign up for any much of that. Sure, I've got a few things to do, here and there, but mainly I have time to do whatever I want or to do nothing at all. And I'm really enjoying it.

Wild Heart - found on the bluffs

So what have I been doing?

Cleaning out the garage and doing some light gardening - both feel very satisfying. 

A little reading, but not as much as I would like.

A lot of TV watching - binge watching Justified (OMG - this show is so good; I'll be sad when I finish it this weekend) and Bloodline (season 2 not as good as season 1, but I enjoy sharing this with Henry) and soccer, soccer, soccer (Euros and Copa Centenario)!

A little blogging (again not as much as I would like).

A lot of photo scavenger hunting (including my finds for item #1 a wild heart).

Some scrapbooking (traditional and photobook)

What am I still looking forward to this summer?

More scrapbooking, sketching and art journaling

Getting reacquainted with my camera and lightroom

More blogging and reading

More home improvement (hardwood floors downstairs and cleaning the upstairs rugs)

And, today, I'm heading to a class with Tim Holtz!

Enjoying this (un)planned summer so far. What about you? Did you make a summer plan? Or not? How's it going so far?

Scarpbooking Variations: New Apps and Old Styles

#8 A Scrapbook Page or Art Project

I met some friends at the last remaining local scrapbook store last week and had a wonderful and productive time finishing the last of the pages for Henry's sports album. These pages are from his college soccer team's victorious trip to the national tournament.

Very traditional and basic pages made with cardstock and stickers. But that's the tone of his whole album. And I still have to add journaling. But I'm so proud of myself for getting caught up on this mammoth project. Plus, it ticks off item number 8 on the Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt. 

I still really enjoy making traditional paper scrapbook pages, and I'm looking forward to figuring out what photos I still have to scrap and which ones I need to print to scrap. 

But I'm also branching out into other types of scrapping, including:

• shutterfly photo books - I'm working on uploading my photos from Japan there and will create a 12x12 hardcover book with those photos.
• chatbooks app -  Deb Turtle's mentioned this app and shared a code for a free book (CFA6GXG7). It actually is free if you choose the slow shipping (which I did). I created a 60 page book with 60 photos from Henry's college life, all pulled from my iphone. I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing it and will give a review once its here. I think he'll like the book, and he's not that quality conscious - LOL! Anyone else tried this yet?
• I also got a notification for a new app called Parabo. If you use the code "amaze," you can get 25 free 4x4 photos. They're supposed to be on high quality matte paper, suitable for display. I did have to pay shipping for this one, so it wasn't actually free. But still reasonable, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they turned out. I printed my favorite 25 photos from Japan, and I'm thinking of matting them together in a grid and putting them on display somewhere (maybe the bathroom, actually!). Anyone else used this service? 

Snap! Interesting Japanese Folk, Part 2

I really enjoyed photographing the people in Japan, as well as tourist attractions, architecture, and nature. The bottom row are typical workers. The top row includes people dressed up to work with tourists: a group of Samurai that stopped for ice cream and to take a selfie and someone willing to transport tourists in a rickshaw. Linking up with Helena's Snap! photography meme this week.

Snap! Interesting Japanese Folk, Part 1

When we travel, I try to do more than just take photographs of the standard tourist attractions (although I do take plenty of those shots). I also enjoy taking photographs of interesting people I see. So, I thought I'd share a couple groupings of interesting Japanese folk as part of Helena's Snap! photo meme. I took the first photo at the Inari temple, spied the second pair trying to decide which bus to take in Kyotoa, and the last two at a baseball game. More interesting folk coming next week.

How's the hunt going?

Item #12 A Window, Option 1

It's been so much fun to watch the 2016 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt Facebook page and instagram hash tag filling up with Scavenger Hunt photos. For my blogging friends out there, how's it going?

Item #12 A Window (option 2)

I know I've seen a few posts, but I just wanted to check in. Let me know if you have any questions. So far, I've got seven and one alternate found (although I haven't blogged them all yet). Plus, today I'm going to go crop with friends, so I'll be able to tick off number 8 very soon.
1. A "wild heart" - a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn't have to be a rock)
2. A footprint or pawprint
3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray
4. A book or magazine read during 2016
5. A porch or deck
6. A camper (caravan)
7. A family gathering
8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.
9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.
10. A bicycle
11. Fresh produce
12. A window13. The moon
14. A buffet of food
15. A team logo16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period
17. Twins
18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries 
19. A seasonal cocktail or beverage20. Someone laughing
21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.
Alternatives - if you're having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
alternative 1: a lighthouse
alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)
I'll be hosting a link up at the end of the month. And, if you haven't started yet, no worries. There's still plenty of time. The summer solstice is still about a week a way, and the hunt lasts until September.

A Visit to the Deer Park (Nara, Japan)

One of the delightful places we visited in Japan was Nara, home of a temple and a large park where the deer are considered sacred. They wander among the tourists (including large groups of Japanese school children).

They are very tame, and they have even been trained to bow if you offer them a deer cracker.

One of the things I did on my vacation was to keep a travel journal, where I wrote about the day's activities and added simple water color drawings and sketches. Here's the page I did about Nara.

I really enjoyed the process of sketching during the trip, and I"ll be sharing more pages, along with photos of some of my favorite places in Japan.