on the road again

i'm feeling much better today i am happy to report. yesterday i could hardly speak as my voice just left. also i found it hard to speak, like someone was standing on my chest. the night before i had a terrible night of coughing, coughing, coughing. now i know how poor tucker felt when he had it. so i put a call into my sweet neighbor who is a doctor and told him i was leaving for Va. today and that i was sick and could he give me a script for a cough medicine to knock me out! i could just see me coughing all night in the hotel room. my roommates would shoot me! he also decided to put me on an antibotic, especially since my ears hurt so much and i am prone to ear infections. i was wondering though how would the driving part to Pennsylvania go (my first stop to pick up Jean. we are spending the night at her house and then doing the 5 hours to Va tomorrow) since i was still feeling a little coedine out! but it was fine.

i left NJ around noon after a visit to my dermatologist for my annual skin cancer screening appt. i 've had several episodes of skin cancer (not melanoma's but the very common basal cell kind), so i kind of know what to watch out for. if they are precancerous sites, then they can just freeze them off. i had a spot on my lip, nose and scalp froze today. the big spot on my arm that i had removed last fall was a spot that i had him look at. it was biopsied and when the results came back, i was told it had to be surgically removed, which i had done. So, it's important to be screened!

anyway, after i just gotten on the road, i realized i had forgotten some pictures at home for my class with Traci Bunkers, so i turned around and got them. then i made my way over to Jean's, which is about 3 hours from my house. we decided to meet up at our favorite antique store and see what bargains we could find. i got some great things.

cute little yo-yo doll

vintage glassware with caddy

little doll

vintage suitcase

cool Asian shirt from Goodwill. has wonderful bird motif on it.

tin types

tiny vintage harmonica - really cool!

another little doll

sterling silver sweater grabber. clip one on each side of sweater to keep sweater from opening

day 3, artfest, Funky Wallpaper People

well, i just love Anahata. she is such a sweet and warm person. she's a wonderful teacher and gives so much to her students. i i've taken classes before where i felt the teacher was holding back a little bit on things (you know like sharing a receipe, but withholding the secret ingredient). i've never feel that she holds back when teaching. she really wants to see her students succeed and get the most out of her class. when she is done with a class, she always reserves time at the end to discuss each piece created. she gives great input and sweetly finds a nice thing to say about everyone's work. she is the geniune article and that's why i am excited to share that i will be going to Bali, Indonesia in March 2009 to take more classes with Anahata. it's 4 days of workshops and 3 days of extra curricular activities like

1.a day trip to a local textile weaving factory with excursion to Ubud, the culture arts center of Bali- with lunch included.

2. Group snorkeling, beach excursion

3. A private one 1 hour massage

4. An evening of Traditional Balinese Dance Performance

5. Bali temple excursion

6. Hiking through Balinese Rice Patties

i'd like to go a day earlier and stay one day later, but we'll have to see about that!

scenes from the Jersey Shore

the other day i had an hour to kill before i could go pick up something, so i went to the dog beach in Manasquan, NJ. it's a beach dedicated to the canine's. i love going to that beach. it is fun to watch all the doggies playing in the surf, chasing tennis balls, rocks, other dogs, etc. there were 2 little puppies who were seeing the beach for the first time. they were afraid of the water, which was cute. this beach is also the best spot around for finding sea glass. i guess it is the location of that brings the glass into the cove; beccause if you go right around the corner, by the inlet, you are at the Jersey Shore and i rarely find any sea glass there. we can usually find lots of blues and sometimes red, sea glass. on my way out of Manasquan, i snapped some photos of some of the beach bungalows that are still around. unfortunately they are quickly disappearing as they are being replaced by huge non beachy mcmansions.

i'm busy getting ready to leave for Hampton, Virginia to attend Artnsoul. i can not believe all the stuff that i have to bring for these classes. i have a huge suitcase full of supplies. it's crazy. it made me rethink artnsoul in Portland ,especially now with airlines starting to crack down on how many suitcases you can check in (some airlines are only letting you check in one suitcase now!) yikes. my friend just called in a panic as she found out she can only check one bag. thank goodness i am driving to Hampton, so i can bring as much stuff as i want. i'll be driving to Pennsylvania and staying the night with my friend, Jean. then Jean and i will leave in the morning on wed. and head for Virginia. we will drive straight to the airport and pick our friend, Zhulia, then go to the hotel and check in. classes start thursday morning. here's what i am taking:
thurs - Uber self portrait with Traci Bunkers
fri - Bedazzling butterfly boxes with Stephanie Rubanio
sat - transparency and collage with Michael deMeng
sun - girls got goth with Sally Jean
mon - junk drawer metalsmithing with Stephanie Lee

i really haven't gotten much done today as i am not feeling well. i thought it was allergies, but maybe i have a cold. all i know though is i felt horrible this morning after taking some allergy medicine last night. i just can't handle that stuff. today my chest feels tight. tuesday i have to go see my dermatologist for my annual skin cancer screening. i found a new red spot on my scalp that will need to be checked out. if you haven't had a screening for skin cancer, put it on your list to do - it's important!

this is what spring is all about

here is a darling little house wren (and my favorite bird) who has made her nest inside my mother- in- laws garden shed. She built it behind the rake that had been propped up against the wall. she's got four little precious eggs inside.

look what i got the other day!

here's my doll at home in my studio. she fits right in with all my other handmade treasures.

don't you just love the handpainted face and colors?

my Texas AGF (art girlfriend) Debra was looking for some ideas to name these dolls she's been working on. so after looking at the pictures, i told her they reminded me of a jester (you'll have to look at some of the other dolls to get the idea... click on Debra's name and scroll down to Feb. 29th) - so she picked my idea and named her dolls Lexi jester dolls, after her neice, Lexi, who passed away several years ago. i was very honored that she went with my name! and in return, looked what she sent me - my very own doll. let me tell you this doll is quite cool. her face was hand painted and i love her dangly arms and legs .

and then if that wasn't enough, she also painted me this 3-D heart. i actually don't know what she used to create it, so Debra when you read this, let me know, because i keep forgetting to ask! anyway, it is also quite cool and i hung it up next to my vanity memory. i have a thing for hearts, so i just love it. thanks so much Debra. you can also see more of Debra's work on her new spinoff blog, http://www.thelittleyellowhouse.typepad.com/. she is selling her darling dolls in her etsy shoppe if you are interested.

artfest, day two, Nina Bagley's class, "Gatherings"

group photo L to R, Lisa Call, Candance, me, Nina and Julie

my front cover page of my "Gatherings" book. most of my little goodies on the cover are things i have found through out the years.

the second page i got done for my book. the angel in the box was the idea of my friend, Kim, who also took the class. i found it so lovely that i borrowed her idea so that it would remind me of being with her again and about our friendship. i miss her.

julie me and Candance (aka "the artnest girls"). they are so fun and lively. i was so happy they were in the same house as i. they made us they yummiest brownies of which i must get the receipe.

Handmade Faire

loved this sign made by Abbie

my copper resin filled charms on a bed of dry pinto beans

Amy and Carol each bought a wallpaper person and a few other goodies. thanks girls!

my booth decorated with paper doll garland

Yesterday i participated in The Handmade Faire, which took place in Waretown, about 30 minutes south of me. The evening before i drove to Atlantic City where i was staying the night at the Tropicana with my Mother in law, her two sisters in from Florida and my sister in law. I had packed all my stuff in Tucker's van, so i drove that down there ready to go for Sunday morning. We got there about 3pm, found the girls, went to the room, dressed for dinner and then headed down to the casino. My sister in law, Gayle and i don't gamble so we split from the 3 sisters and headed off to get in trouble for a few hours before dinner at 6 at the Cubre Libra. There is an area near the casino with shopping called The Quarter, so we headed there. we picked up some beer and then walked and shopped (well, mostly window shopped - everything is really overpriced and in my opinion, tacky!) but it was fun. We had a wonderful Cuban dinner with lots of wine and laughter. After dinner we split from the girls again and went to hang out a bar called Tango's. i think i had too many beers as i was starting to get obnoxious. But i need to unwind so it all in good fun. i was wearing my vintage hat, which always gets me lots of "hey, love the hat", etc. Secretly i like to wear it so i don't have to style my hair! we got in around midnite and i was sleeping on the floor on an aerobed i brought. well, the dang thing had started to lose air and i felt bad trying to reinflate (noisy!) it being so late, so i just went to bed. well i think it lost more air through the night. in the end i think i was sleeping on a puff of air. i was so sore when i got up (not good for someone with a "bad back"). actually i am still sore! i was really tired and a bit hung over when i got up at 5:45 am (ugh and blah). i had to get ready and then drive an hour to the faire. So i arrived, got my location and started setting up. i loved the area. the faire was held by a fellow etsynj street team member, Abbie and her mother in law, Pola. it was held at an old camp for the blind, which ran from 1927-1997 before it was closed. Now it has been preserved (no condo's!) and is now called The Natural Resource Education, owned by the Division of Fish and Wildlife . it is right on the edge of water and there are lots of darling little cottages scattered around the property. inside were lots of little buildings and hallways. the show was held in the hallways and you walked a loop to see everything. in the middle of the hallways was a beautiful garden dedicated to the woman, Elizabeth Morgan who worked hard to have the land preserved. in the center of the buildings is an old pool that eventually will be refurbished. it had that old retro public pool look, but i loved it! inside the pool where at least 20 tandem bikes. a gentleman strolling through the show later told me that he used to work for the camp and the bikes were rode by a camp counselor in front and a blind campee in the back and they would all go out on rides. fun! he also told me that they use to take the campers out at night and go waterskiing! i just loved the old stories. i joined the foundation and will find out about events going on and then i am welcome to go out there and hike, picnic, take photos, etc. can't wait to return. The caretaker of the property, Pola, is thinking of starting a guild, which i would love to join.

fellow etsynj street team member, Danielle bought one of my resin necklaces. thanks Danielle!