Bring Me Back 2 U

Hello Bloggers!  I had a very long day yesterday and didn't make it home until well after 9:30.  It's a hard life on some days.  Oh, who am I kidding - I was out shopping!  Anyway, I pulled up to my mailbox to find a beautifully decorated package from the lovely Jana.  Inside was the canvas that she altered for the canvas swap at Artsy Fartsy.  I was so inspired by the envelope that I just HAVE TO decorate the envelope that I am mailing her canvas in.  It's on my to do list for tonight.  For now I will leave you with pictures of the gorgeous and colorful envelope and of the very artistic canvas (I love all of the layers of "stuff"!).

Update

The No Tie Dinner and Auction was wonderful!  I don't know exactly how much my prints sold for but I'm sure the AIDS Services of Dallas will let me know soon enough.  I had the opportunity to meet lots of really neat people and discuss my work with them.  A huge thank you to the lovely Larry Gibson for inviting me to be a part of this event.  Here are some pictures from Saturday Night at the Dallas Flight Museum.

I was really surprised that people bid on the floral print...I am not crazy about that one.  But it seemed to be pretty popular.

I wanted to share this picture as well...I snapped it while waiting for valet.

I will also be participating in "Flood of Emotion" on April 9.  I haven't decided yet what print I'll be donating for auction...I'm thinking the butterfly again because it has a message of hope and it's Spring, and it symbolizes new beginnings...should I go on?  :p

This coming weekend I will be attending an exhibit and media launch for Through the Eyes of Emma.  My friend Carolyn did photography for the short film.  I can't wait to see what she has been up to.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Peace, love, and creativity!

New Head Shot!

The other one I was using was a bit on the risque side.  I am digging this one.  This is very me, much like my visual art --dark and beautiful.     

BIG NEWS!

I just got the news that I made the Design Team for The Crafty Scrapper.  What an honor, what an honor!!!!!  This is the first time I have ever submitted work for review.  My confidence is up.  Now I can add designer to my accolades.  This is the work that I submitted for consideration (see below).  Thank you to "SOMEONE" for encouraging me to pursue this - for believing in me.  ::BIG GRIN::  

This decorated jar/lid:

This mini album:

A birdhouse I made about me and my sisters:

This card I made for my mom’s 60^th birthday:

This layout which ironically enough, I designed as a GUEST Design Team Member for the Crafty Scrapper:

This gorgeous tag that I made for my TN Mawmaw:

12x12 Canvas (Not all who wander are lost):

8x10 Canvas:

Mini Canvas:

I know what you’re thinking…”WHY ARE YOU COMMITTING TO DOING MORE WORK WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY SWAMPED WITH OTHER STUFF?!?!?!?!”  Or maybe that’s what I’m asking myself.  LOL.  What can I say…busy is good.  Beats staying at home with no job and throwing a pity party.  :D  I'm blessed!

Heavy post ahead...

The prints for The No Tie Dinner and Auction have been picked up.  YAY!  I’m super excited about that.  ::BIG HUGE SMILE::  I ended up reediting the butterfly image.  I also received permission from poet Deborah Chaskin to use her quote.  I can’t get over how beautiful this print turned out.

I also donated this third print.  I took this photo at the Dallas Arboretum last week. 

So several people have asked me what I’m wearing to the auction.  I’m thinking this dress and these heels.  Thoughts?  Oh, and maybe a big red flower in my hair and red lipstick?  We artists aren’t afraid of red lipstick! 

I also got some photography in last week.  You know me, I love black birds.  :D  To see more of my photography, visit and join my photography page on Facebook: 

http://www.facebook.com/msruinart

Happy St. Patty's Day

I am so exhausted.  I have been sleeping like crap lately.  Blehhhh.

Anyway…finally got the prints ordered for the No Tie Dinner.  I’m picking them up tonight.  WAAA HOO!  I am the only person I know that says “waa hoo”.  LMAO.  So these are the ones that I chose.

The butterfly in 8x10:

The School Room in 11x14:

Did I mention that I’m exhausted?  ::collapse::  Maybe I need to drink Muscle Milk after lunch.  Hmmm.

Anyway, we (the Risk Management Team) went to the Dallas Arboretum today.  The weather was beautiful!  Got some more sun.  My forehead is actually peeling now from the sun I got on Saturday.  You can clearly see my freckles.  I never liked them, but now I embrace them.  ::yawn::  So I will leave you with these gorgeous pictures and the song “St. Patrick’s Day” by John Mayer.  This was actually mine and Jeremy’s wedding song.  ANYWHO…Spring is here, I don’t care what the calendar says!

More layouts

So - I got a few more things done for the Crafty Scrapper last night.  I'm not crazy about the second layout...really, really, really don't like it.  But again, I was just trying to use what they supplied.  The first layout however is so friggin' adorable!  Probably my favorite out of all of them.  :)

I also made a card for them with this really cute paper by My Mind's Eye.  Isn't it cute?

Here is a side-view so that you can see the dimension in the clouds and the buildings.

I just hope that the gals at TCS will like the projects I made for them.  :)

Ides of March

It’s picture time!  Here are some new and old playthings…

In honor of my VERY Irish last name, I bought the kids some St. Patty's Day socks.  My friends think that I'm crazy for 1) keeping gifts from K and 2) buying socks for stuffed animals.  LOL!  Whatever, they are totally cute.  And it's not like I went to the store to buy socks, I was in the check out line at Jo-Ann Frabrics and there they were in the dollar bin.  Couldn't resist.  :D

I bought this little sign a while back.  I finally hung it up yesterday on my studio door.  It's very me.  The hand is actually on a spring so it moves.  :)

Okay, how cute is this chair?  I love it!  I call it my little big chair.  Reminds me of something out of Alice in Wonderland.  I just had to have it for my studio.

I also had to have this bird cage.  The paint is distressed so that's an added bonus.  What am I gonna do with it?  I have no idea!  Maybe buy a bird?  I'm kidding!  LOL.

How stinking cute is this tote?  I know, I have a ton but this one has birds on it!  I also bought this at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

As you know, I'm quite the stampaholic.  So I just HAD TO buy these new stamps to add to my collection.  I can't wait to make some tags with these.  Weeeeeee!

Love my Chuck T's!

This is a canvas I made for the Crafty Scrapper.  It's about my love of Converse snearkers.  <3  My favorite part of the canvas besides the pictures that I took is the flower I made out of zippers.  :D

Happy Mardi Gras

Guess who won the Mardi Gras Shoebox Float competition?  Okay, it wasn't me...but I did win third place.  I mean, THE DEPARTMENT won third place...but everyone knows that I was the one with the vision and did 85% of the work.  ::struts::

Layouts

LIFE.HAS.BEEN.SUPER.CRAZY!  ::collapse::

I have entirely too much going on but I enjoy being busy.  More later on all of that.  Here are three of the layouts that I made for TCS.  All of these papers are new and should be in the store soon if they are not in stock already.  Enjoy!

Layout Number One

Here is the layout that I worked on tonight for TCS.  Have I mentioned that I suck at making scrapbook pages.  I really do.  Anyway --it's about 90% done.  It's missing "something".  Not sure what that something is just yet.  Maybe some hand drawn balloons?  Keep in mind that I am trying to use only the products that were supplied to me by the store.  I don't want to use too much of my stuff because if they don't carry it in their store, it kind of defeats the purpose of moving products out the door.  Anyway - I will post better pictures once it is complete.

Peace out!

Delicious

This is probably one of my favorite shots ever.  Think I'll have this one printed for my office. 

"On a bed of nails she makes me wait..."