Day two

First day of classes are over! Family fun with Carla Sonheim was absolutely so much fun. i made the cutest picture of my family - too bad i can't post it - darn it! she started us off by doing some drawing excercises, which were a little hard for me since i don't really draw. first we had to draw with our non dominant hand, my left - and you had to draw the person across from you - and you weren't suppose to look at your paper! my picture was horrible and i apologized to the girl, Sue, a few times. hers was not too bad of me. then we had to do a one line drawing of whatever she called out, but you couldn't lift your pen and you could only make one continuous line - no going back over a line. that was fun - but hard!

For lunch we took the shuttle back to the Embassy Suites and Zhulia and i split a ham sandwhich. then it was back to classes, where i finished up my family painting.

Waiting to catch a shuttle in between the hotels is kind of a pain, so while i was waiting a sweet lady named Tammie offered me a ride - very nice! I changed my clothes and went down to the lobby to meet up with the "charmers" group to do some charm trading. that was quite fun and i was excited to meet up with some of my yahoo buddies. it was really nice to meet Allegra, who has been recuperating from gallbladder surgery and then (2) nasty cuts on her fingers. her sweet husband was there to totally lend a hand for her. so glad i got to meet her in person! I met Laurel, who made the AWESOME pins for our charm group that we have all been proudly wearing. i met jody, sammy, barbara and so many others from the group. Caught my buddy, Lennea coming in as i was leaving for class.

okay, so off to our evening classes we went. Zhulia (from now on known as "Z") thought classes were at 6:00pm, so she had us rushing over there only to find our classroom empty. (they started at 6:30). so we grabbed a bite to eat and had a glass of wine.

my evening class was with Stephanie Lee. We were making a night light called "A glowing symbol" made of wire, paper mache, silk scraps a little bit of sewing and then some embellishments. i only got part of mine sewn as the paper mache took a while to dry. i'll do a little more before bed. (maybe). but it was fun and interesting. i've been wanting to work with paper mache for awhile, so it was good experience.

okay - signing off! Hey, Francoise, i need a link to you blog - i don't have it! email it to me at Keeshagirl4@aol.com

Day one - Artnsoul

Okay, once again, while traveling, i cannot get my pictures to upload! so, sorry about that! i'll have to add them later in flickr or something.

anyway, yesterday, i met my first roommate, Zhulia - pronounced Julia. She is from Chicago and she is a pip! she reminds me alot of Jan - so the 3 of us together, i think spells TROUBLE! anyway, after she got here, we unpacked and looked at each other's trades. Then we went down to the lobby to the "store" and picked up some goodies. Then we took a town car into Portland to go to a fabulous store called, PaperDoll - located at 7909 SE Stark Street. (http://www.paperdoll-co.com/). Really cute store, so if you can get by there - go! take a peek behind the counter to see if you can catch a glimpse of "Splenda" (you'll definitely be seeing a photo of her later!)

We returned to the hotel, which is gorgeous! We are staying at The Embassy Suites, near the airport. When you walk in, they have an enourmous lobby with a spectacular water feature, so all you hear is the really calming water sound. nice element. Also, surrounding the lobby is a koi fish pond. it circles around and you can walk over little briges by the bar and see koi swimming by or sit down to eat and be surrounded by the biggest part of the pond. Really nice - and contributes to the overall relaxing atmosphere. In the evening there is free drinks from 5:30-7:00 in the bar. we stopped for a glass of cabernet on our way to the gala.

At the gala, we had a nice buffet of horduerves (sp?). while we ate, the girls put on a little skit on decorating and making things for a baby shower using things from the dollar store. it was cute. one of the ladies was talking about making some cookies with surprises in them. she called for a volunteer to try one of the cookies, but no one would go up - so i did. so i tried the cookie with the surprise and it was NASTY! inside was PICKLE! So from now on, we will refer to this as the pickle incident! but it was all in good fun - but lesson learned people, do not add pickles to your cookies - ever! but at least i won a prize and was thanked for being a good sport! that's what is important.

We are at breakfast (a nice free buffet!) and Zhulia is exhausted. she had to go to the airport last night at 9:00 to pick up her luggage - only she didn't get it until 10:30pm! she got back to the hotel around 10:45. poor thing - but i am glad i didn't offer to go with her! i got a great night of sleep and feel rested - yay!

my first class today is with Carla Sonheim called "Family Fun".

Makin this quick!

I am here in Portland for Artnsoul. i am so exhausted and it is only 9:00pm. i left my house this morning at 3:30am to catch the shuttle to Newark. took a plane to minneapolis and then caught another plane to Portland.

attended the gala this evening and won a door prize (cool paints). i didn't stay to do the receipe box - just too tired! ran into lots of people from the yahoo group and Charmsters. one woman said to me, "wow, you look familair - do you have a blog? are you Kecia?" so that was fun. she says she's just started blogging and likes to visit mine - so that was fun! Hello Francoise! see you in class.

okay, off to bed!

goodies for my new friend, Inger

I've become acquainted with a nice young woman, Inger, from Norway. Inger found my blog and started leaving little comments. i would visit her blog as well and we just started chatting. A few times, Inger mentioned not feeling well, so i finally asked her about it. Inger is 25 and now lives with her parents as she suffers from an illness very similiar to CFS - chronic fatigue syndrome. Her illness is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. i recently asked her to tell me more about it and this is some of what i learned:

I have been ill for about 5 years now, with my illness gradually getting worse. I am 98% housebound now and at times bedbound. It took a long time to get a diganosis and I finally got one in January. This summer I finally got disabilty benefits after two and half years.
The last year has mostly consisted on getting back on my feet. I finally allowed myself to grief over what I lost due to my illness last summer and it changed everything to the better. Now instead of trying so hard to be keep my chin up and be postive, I actually am and see my illness as a just part of my life, instead of who I am. Even if it means I have to change all my dreams to fullfill them I am determined to do so and make the best of things. I learned a way to find something postive in everything. It doesn't mean I am never down but it does mean I don't stay there and I manage to make life well worth living dispite not being able to do much at times. M.E. is a long-term disorder affecting the brain and other systems, including the immune system, the endocrine system and the autonomic system. Debilitating fatigue is usually the most prominent symptom. Other common symptoms include poor sleep, body pain and mental confusion (“brain fog”). Emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, irritability and grief, are common.

I am so impressed by her attitude. I find talking to her humbling as the more i learn about her life and what little she has, the more i realize i am lucky to have everything that i have. What really got me thinking about her was when i blogged about how crappy the shopping in NJ was and she left me a comment about how there was very little shopping where she lived. I pictured an aisle of crafts at the local hardware store for her shopping extravaganza! It made realize that i am lucky to have what little i do have - and in fact, i'm a little spoiled!

after exchanging a few emails with her, she told me that she loved photography, but that her camera had broke a few years ago. that's when i decided to do something for her. I just got a new digital camera (see, spoiled!) and my other one was just sitting around. So i have decided to give it to her. As a matter of fact, i sent Inger a box today full of wonderful stuff. I gave her my camera, some rechargable batteries, the battery charger and a card reader for her computer. i really hope she is using it in no time, even if she has to take pictures of the walls in her bedroom! i also sent her a project to work on - a manikin. I started it for her by collaging it with tissue paper and adding some wood balls for feet. I cut holes on each side of the body for a dowel that will become the arms. i made a little baggie with the dowel, some wood pieces to use for the hands and a wood piece to use for the head and some instructions. i collected 3 bags of ephemera from my studio and created a little folder for her of extra copies that i had of collage sheets, vintage photos, clip art, etc. I also bundled up my copies of "altered arts" magazine and then at the last minute i through in my DVD collection of the Soprano's, which is a favorite show of hers.

I spent $62 mailing that box to her and it was worth every cent. if i can share a little of what i have to someone else in need - a budding altered artist- a young woman with a debiltating/life altering illness - then i feel quite content. I am quite happy to know her and appreciate the perspective she has given me.

If you are interested in sending a box her way full of goodness, then feel free to contact me. I am already working on putting together a christmas box for her. I would also like to extend a call out to anyone who has any audio cd's (books on cd) that you are done with. she loves to read, but has to limit the activity - so i thought audio cd's would be great for her. i have several to send, so if you have any or just want to pick up one for her - let me know. she loves mysteries.

i can be emailed privately if needed at Keeshagirl4@aol.com

3rd altered doll in round robin

Here is the 3rd doll i 've worked on in our round robin. at first i really couldn't think of what i wanted to do, but then i coulnd't stop working on it! i added a crinoline skirt which now makes her look like a ballerina! her face is a metal hook, so there is a hook in the front that i hung a key on. the key says "inspire". i put sequins around the outside metal petals (you can't really see them in the picture) and then i added some words on the inside. It says "can't we got those 2 lovebirds to make up and start cooing". i gave her some really sweet wings and then sewed on 2 flower beads to her shoes.