Recent Art and Exciting News!!!!!

Hello my fellow art enthusiasts! I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I have been consumed with testing second graders! Here are a few things I've completed in the past few weeks. The super exciting news is that I have written an article that is being published in a new Stampington publication titled Create With Me. This magazine will feature artwork by children and the previews look amazing. I started an after school art club in January and Tuesdays have become my favorite day of every week. I have 14 pint-sized artists happily working away and all of us making a merry colorful mess. The best part is they have to help me clean it up! The kids are so excited about seeing their art and names in print. I can't wait until it is released on July 1st. Click on the magazine link to check it out for yourself!This is a sketch I colored with Portfolio crayons and added white rub-ons.
This page is for a Marie Antoinette Journal group I'm in. It's Marie's Facebook message!
This spread is for an artistic evolution round robin. It's fun to work in a limited color palette!

Whirlwind Weekend to the East Coast!

Oh My Goodness! What a crazy weekend I had! I flew the red-eye after work Friday night

to arrive in Boston at 5:30 A.M. I wanted to see my son, Jamison, perform in his first tour!

He is playing multiple roles in the Theatreworks USA production of Junie B. Jones.

He plays Junie B.'s dad, the bus driver, Mr. Scary her first grade teacher, and Gladys Gutzman the Queen of Snacks ( lunch lady)!!!!

I saw the show with about 2,400 kids in New London. CT at a gorgeous theater called The Garde Arts Center. It was high energy hilarious fun. Since I teach second grade I am very familiar with the Junie B. Jones books. Of course, Gladys Gutzman brought down the house!!!
Here I am after the show with my handsome son!
This is an official looking building in Boston(?)
Here is the stage for the show and that is Junie B.'s giant journal that opens up to the classroom.
A very old, kinda spooky cemetary in Boston. We had a few hours Sunday to walk around Boston. I really need to come back with Dave and Weston so we can get the full Boston experience.
Jamison and Ed drove me to NYC Saturday evening and treated me to a Broadway show.
We saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert! It was a magical, sparkly disco extravaganza!!!!
This is how I feel whenever I'm in Times Square!!
Jamison and Ed at the Cheers bar in Boston, where we toasted with Blue Moon beer.

Ed was a sublime host and did not complain once about ALL that driving!!!!

A big huge hug to both of you for a wonderful, wild, unforgettable time! Love you! OXOX

Bathing Beauty Sunday

Maggie rarely looks right at the camera when I try to take her picture!
Can you see why we call Samson our polar bear?

Maggie is such a pretty girl, why oh why won't she look at the camera?!

You can see the blue film in her eyes, that was our first clue she was having vision problems.
Awwww! Look how cute our big boy is. We also call him our male model because although he got the looks, Maggie got the brains LOL!
Look how tired out Samson got just by getting washed, dried, and clipped!

My main goal today was to haul my two big doggies into the car and drive 20 minutes to the do-it-yourself dogwash, The Scrubby Puppy. Because my labs live in the house and don't get too dirty this is an occasional ordeal. They really needed their toenails clipped and we pay to have it done there. If you read my earlier post this year about Maggie's health crisis, you'll be happy to know that she is feeling and looking soooo much better. She has gained 20 pounds back and the insulin shots have regulated her glucose levels for the diabetes. The sad side effect is that

she has totally lost her eyesight in the last two months. We now have to be careful not to move the furniture around and keep unexpected items up off the floor so she won't run into them.

Maggie turned 7 years old April 12th and we are so happy to have her feeling better. We are all adjusting to her blindness, but as long as she seems happy and healthy everything's good.

Samson, our 95 pound "polar bear" is as lovable as ever. We have him on the same restricted diet as Maggie now and we hope he will slim down so he doesn't get diabetes as well! I love it when they are all freshly washed and blown dry and they smell like doggie conditioner!

I thought I'd share some pics of my bathing beauties Maggie and Samson.

Artistic Evolution pages

I just started a new round robin group project called Artistic Evolution. We are all using the same chipboard journals with pages that vary in size so you can see the edges of other pages. The idea is you start with a color combo and a theme and each artist carries the previous page theme to the next page. It will be fun to see how the ideas morph from one page to another. I had two books here and I did the spreads this weekend.

Happy Spring!

To celebrate spring I got a drastic haircut because it seems like I really need to lighten up!

The weather can't decide what season it is and I am trying hard to rise above the constant

stress at work. I can't wait to show my sister how I copied her new look! What do you think?

Another OWOH prize flies in! My sister is a cutie!

TGIF everyone! Look at this adorable froggie bracelet I won in the One World One Heart event from Liv at Liv luvs scraps. It just arrived all the way from Sydney Austalia! It will be going to my lovely cousin, Tina, who collects frogs! Thanks Liv!
My sister Melanie and I went to see Kenny Loggins perform last night and she surprised me with a totally new do! It was an awesome concert and we had a blast singing and dancing!
She had been threatening to cut all her hair off and she did it!

Doesn't it look cute? She had a few women come up and tell her they loved it at the concert. They even took a picture of her haircut! Which reminds me, I need to get an appointment to

get my highlights handled! I wish everyone a weekend filled with ART and HUGS !

Oui Oui It's Marie!!!!!!!

I am pushing myself to get all my round robin books done before I go back to work Monday!Here are two different Marie Antoinette spreads I finished this yesterday! The first is Lee's

Marie relaxing in a big goblet ready to party!
Lee wanted recipes to go with the pages. Since I am NOT a cook, but I AM a decent mixologist when it comes to cocktails, I added a drink recipe!Below, are Marita's pages and she requested a cake recipe for each double page spread.
Once again, being challenged in the kitchen, I found a delightful CUPCAKE recipe.
I had fun using yummy flocked paper for Marie's dress and the cupcake.