Dream Street Papers sneak peeks this week...

woo hoo! this is my favorite part of the year...when the new papers we designers at Dream Street Papers get to show sneak peeks of our new paper lines...the first 2 of 10 are up on the Dream Street blog...they are being shown 2 per day for the next 5...mine will be out on Thursday....but check all the other beautiful papers out!...gorgeous stuff~
http://dreamstreetpapers.blogspot.com/

a bit more about Birmingham and Townsend Hotel

I noticed a comment from the manager of the hotel in my comments??...amazing how people can find stuff on the internet isn't it!? Any way, I, just since I am the type of person that doesn't like to come across nasty or begrudging, would like to clarify a bit on my comments of Birmingham. It is a very very beautiful city..my favorite part was driving through some of the neighborhoods. The little town part was very picturesque and there were tons of little shops downtown. However, for me, clothes shopping just isn't my cup of tea and being 10 degrees out did make me a bit crabby. Marley's was an amazing boutique and will be on my list of places to visit again~ I was astounded (or is it flabbergasted ha ha) at the prices..but being an artist myself, was in awe that it is possible to find places where artistic creativity and ability is appreciated and willingly paid for! Something not seen in many places. I guess at times I am a cheap skate..and since i can make so many things...paying that much for some things just isn't going to happen..i will make it myself. Although on the other hand, i take great pleasure in supporting my fellow artists directly and do so often(i know how much retail tags onto the original price..used to own my own shop..lol!)
and back to the hotel The Townsend Hotel. Honestly, I have stayed in many 4 and 5 star hotels in various places like in Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, Toronto, New Orleans, Denver etc.....Art says that a 3 star is roughing it for him..lol! Well, my determination of this hotel. It is by far my favorite hotel i have ever been a guest of. Truly outstanding...like I mentioned, the details that were provided for were incredible. The food....i can only say one word..crude as it may be YUMMY!!! the best scallops...i didn't know they came that big and cooked to perfection. Art was equally impressed with his dinner(the margarittas are fogging my memory....not sure what it was he had...a steak and lobster I think) the staff was friendly and helpful and full of smiles...very much appreciated! I would definitely look forward to staying there again...and a bonus..even though i am NOT a shopper...only occasionally....the huge mall, Somerset, is only a few minutes away...that is an adventure in itself...

so if any one decides to visit Michigan...Birmingham would be a wonderful choice to add to your list..and if you please...i can recommend the Townsend Hotel...gees i am beginning to sound like an infomercial..rofl...really though, it was wonderful~
okay off my little soap box (who i am pontificating to, I am not sure...lol) and back to the real world and the mountain of laundry and a handful of errands....then maybe 10 minutes of art time..up here in my studio....

I LOVE my life...aka "I know I am spoiled rotten...."

We went on an overnight business trip thurs-Fri last week. Art had a course he attended at this gorgeous hotel. I tagged along just to get a mini getaway! Here is what greeted us as we walked into the lobby~(bear with me..there is actually some art at the bottom of this post!) the flower arrangements were made by this wonderful shop across the street called Marley's so many fun and unique items and prices that made my hair stand on end and take my breat away..artistic clothing...600 for one jacket?..gees maybe i need to send them pictures of some samples...rofl~ I wish i had just hung out and sat in the lobby. I froze my butt of walking around town for a while with no shops that were of interest to me..too expensive with snotty sales clerks..I felt like Julia roberts in Pretty Woman....gees
the lobby is only one example of how gorgeous this whole hotel was. It is the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham MI. I felt spoiled. We had a delicious dinner the night before..my scallops were the size of hardboiled eggs...6 of them with delicious everything else to go with it..including some of the best margarittas i have ever had!when we walked into our room....this was the first thing I saw! I told Art..."i Love my life!!'''rofl! yes am a bit spoiled at times...it makes all the hard work worth it though!details details every where..you should have seen the mini bar...Thre was even a jar of gummy bears~ i resisted though..i had ahuge dinner and then went down to the restaurant for breakfast


the suite
the restaurant in the lobby..this is while I was waiting for my cream cheese and lux brekafast!

So after the swim meet yesterday the rest of the weekend was spent up here in my studio~ I had signed up for the bracelet club at paulas kit club(.com) and wanted to play. I decided i wanted a necklace and earrings. I love the look of bracelets but honestly never wear them..or rarely. So i played and played and played...i ended up cleaning my studio the rest of the afternoon today or I wouold have had time for another set or two..but Turners cubscouts are coming on Feb 14th for their party and crafts...and Salina lost her friends camera...so it was a good reason to dig in and start the cleanup...i still have more to go..but wow! i can see my table top a bit..rofl~

this one I added fabric yo-yo's and used the majority of the kit
for this one I used the red button and lace from the kit(paula's kit not the jewelery one) the heart beads are from French General from the valentine kit... one more these are highly addictive so be ready to see more in the future...a good way to use up all those vintage and various buttons i collect...ha ha..maybe 100 more and i might make a dent..lol~ so this was a wonderful past few days...a get away with Art and a day and half of artwork..what more can a girl ask for! Life is good!

purging....out with the old!

I have had that clean out bug this week. I am clearing everything out...the whole house..mind you it is over 5000sq ft and has lots of storage and collecting areas. I had read on a feng shui blog about a year ago that excess stuff in our homes is conducive to excess weight on our bodies. She had a client that had gained weight after moving into her larger house. After a few years she sought help from this feng shui expert and after working with her extensively the only thing that they could determine of her environment(they claim that there are direct links of your home and work environment to your health and state of mind) Well, the one difference was that her house was bigger and had more places to collect clutter. the first thing she said was that she needed to clear the clutter...now i do have to say i never did get back there to see if the woman lost weight or not...but i like to think that there is validity in her reasoning...plus it is a good excuse to get rid of the junk! and it feels so good!

any way....there are no new pictures...and i have to say Jackie's guess is right...i am building mushrooms to sit on for posing..the cleaning spree actually started with my work space over there...first up the worst worst worst part of the house(nice to get the worst out of the way...the rest will feel like a piece of cake!) my storage room. So far in the past 5 days I have cleared out more than 12 large black garbage bags out of there alone!.phew!

I have posted a banner in my right column on behalf of Bernie Berlin and her outstanding efforts for her shelter for displaced and abuse animals. Her work is amazing. She is trying to raise money through this organization. If she can remain in the top 4 she will also qualify for a 50K grant to help her rescue mission! Every donation counts..starting at a mere $10..they accept paypal so that makes it extra easy! Please find it in your heart to help

If you would like to read more about her efforts please visit her blog: http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/ she has lots of photos..some happy ones and others that will make you cry!!
thank you!!
have a wonderful day!!
xoxox
angela

awesome art day!

PHEW!!! what a day! I finally got my Dark RR book ready~ It was quite involved and i am tickled though with the end result..it lived up to my hopes~ mY book is about a 10 year old vampire and her story of how she became a vampire...and her adventures of the last 200 years~ The cover of the book was so fun to create...it has a medallion on the front that I made fromsome thingie i got a garage sale..it think it was supposed to be a Mayan calendar or something. I alcohol inked it and added a bee and sparkles. The character;s name is Amelya...it has a 'y' in her name only because after i glued on the letters as i found them...realized there was not an 'i' available...lol~the inside cover explains my expectations...the 5 page letter on the opposing page is Amelya's letter of introduction...i think this actually could be the begiining of a really cool story! if you want to read it..leave me comment and i will email it to youthe sign in page...Timothy is somewhat of a graffiti artist....so i figured i would have the sign in on the castle wall. Timothy is Amelya's best friend....and I used papers I had designed as some of the elements...they seemed fitting for this book
Amelya'sfirst home before becoming a vampire..the castle is a pop-upthe introduction of Timothy...he is a fun friend..no?...

Amelya's parents...from 200 years ago...
The doll trunk the book travels in...outside
inside the trunk...along with the paper doll versions...and some extra friends
inside the drawer...I am hoping the participating artist will do one spread in the book (rather than the required two) and then either add or alter the trunk..this is the CRS powder that Amelya and her vampire friends use after feeding on their victims to make them forget the incident...the will only awaken with two odd puncture marks on their neck....CRS=Can't Remember Shit
I was on a roll...after I finished my book, I thought i would work on the pages from the next one in line..called the Dark Continent. It is in a fun format. the binder has loose pages with a protfolio style cover. I did two pages front and back. the first was an Egyptian spread...can you belive it the majority of this page is from a skittle ad!!! lol!~
the back side..images from a vintage book from 1918

and i have had this darling vintage image of a dance couple printed out forever...they were perfect! I was honoring their 'distant heritage"since their coutnry of origin is Africa..noting some similarities...the dance was ever so important to their culture
a bit wild on the back side~

so now I can rest easy...i will be mailing both out tomorrow to my recipient and this marks the beginning of our RR..okay it was very delayed...what was I thinking when i started a RR in December.....i know I had lost my mind!

so now we can get this party started!

xoxox

angela

sorry no new hints yet...

I am being a good girl and am working on my dark RR book...a story of vampires. It is ridiculously late...if i weren't the hostess i would have banned myself..*sigh* Once i get it going though, it should run smooth after this. The last 6 months have been crazy..starting with 4-5 days a week of football back in July into school prep, party prep, Thanksgiving reunion and all the other stuff. I am praying for a couple of boring months just so I can catch my breath around here~.....I was almost going to drop and just hostess...but then i decided that since this is probably the last RR I am going to participate in, that I will make it wonderful and fun!...my last RR hurrah~

I have so many new and exciting things happening right now....that I need to concentrate more on those and stop the swaps~ I loved the past 4 years of swapping..but as always all good things eventually come to an end....now it is time for new good things!
I will post a new hint maybe later today..and hopefully pics of my fun RR book!!
xoxox
angela

today's clue....

I didn't get far yesterday, Ty had swim practice..then supper and kids to bed so forth..weekdays are just so busy~..and no where today..It was busy with errands and taking Oscar in for puppy shots and his check up..but this is what I did after i posted yesterday...keep guessing!