day 20, thirty days of thanks continues....

continuing on about art retreats........ i am extremely thankful that i am in a position to get to go to these retreats and take classes. i realized how lucky i am, as alot of women (or men) can only dream of getting to go.

Last May i attended Artiscape in Ohio. There is took 3 classes with my friend, Karyn Gartel of The Altered Diva. i just love her work and whimsy. i met so many wonderful people and made some awesome friends that i have since had a chance to see again. (kim and julie in ohio, shar and Lennea).

Then this summer i drove to Boston and spent 3 days with Tim Holtz at Absolutely Everything. what a great time that was! so much fun. his classes are busy and very hands on, so you are constantly creating and then walking away with a fabulous project!

In October i attended Artnsoul in Portland (where i hooked up with Lennea again) and got to meet some great women who had come together and formed "The Charmsters". we each made 50 charms and then held a swap. We have another swap cooking for Valentine's day, which i am hosting. can't wait for the mail to start pouring in at the end of January! might have to make the mail lady a gift! I finally got to meet my good friend, Jan, at Artnsoul after emailing each other for months. we will reconnect again in April and then again in May. I also met my newest best bud, Zhulia. i told her that i felt like i was looking at my future self with her!

Now, it's not a formal retreat, but Jean and I are getting together next week for 3 days in Pennsylvania. we met thru the Charmsters group and she is 3 hours from me. We are getting together for some project sharing, shopping, etc. I am so excited to be doing this. Jean is very generous to have me come just like that and open her home to me. In turn, i have promised to make her my famous tacos (don't be jealous, Kim!). we are going to be creating some resin jewelry and who knows what!

In feb. i leave for Utah to attend Artnest with Anahata Katkin, Pam Garrison and Amy Hanna! i'm tickled pink about getting to go to this one!

In April, i leave for Washington state to attend Artfest hosted by Teesha Moore. Here i will hook up with Kim and Julie, Andrew, Jan (and meet Frank the tank - yippeee!) and finally meet my online friend, Lindsay. again, can't wait! I'll be seeing some other familiar faces like Michelle and Lauren from the Charmsters group. and i get to meet Layla (Ms. Mod!) for the first time. There i am taking 2 classes with Nina Bagley and wall paper people with Anahata Katkin.

Then in May, i leave for Hampton, Virginia. i will be driving there and probably picking up some people along the way. I get to see Jan and Zhulia again, Leeann and Jean and Layla! (plus others i am forgetting about!) there i am taking uber portraits with traci bunkers, girls got gothic with Sally Jean, Junk Drawer Metalsmithing with Stephanie Lee, transparency collage with Michael deMeng and butterfly boxes with stephanie rubanio.

I have so many fun things to look forward to. The anticipation is just as much fun as going!