The Whole Gang at Book Club on 2/15/12

Here is another great photo of the whole gang from 'Creating Outside the Book'. An art/book club I joined at the Cool Scrapbook Stuff Store in Poway. All of us with Jenny Doh and her brand new book 'Creative Pilgrimage'. See if you can find me. :-)

More and more ATCs keep arriving!!! :-)

The cards from my Strathmore ATC trade I am hosting keep floating in. I have been receiving at least one every single day in the mail since 2/16. The deadline is 2/29. It is so FUN to get ART in the mail! So many unique and creative cards!!! LOVING IT!

By Lauri Sikorowski of Fairhope, AL

By Rochelle Jay of Denver, CO

By Anne Kerr of Marlton, NJ

By Darlene K. Campbell of Danville, OH

By Stephani Gorman of Arroyo Grande, CA

By Patricia Gonzalez of Cleveland, TX

By Kim McDonald of Pt. Pleasant, NJ

By Jacki Long of Tustin, CA

By Kelly Kramer of Wauwatosa, WI

By Alice Gerard of Grand Island, NY

By Teresa Cash-Czech of Naperville, IL

By Kat Baker of San Diego, CA

By Kathy Scholl of Plattsmouth, NE

By Jan Hodgman of Anacortes, WA

By Linda Faber (front) of Miami, FL

By Linda Faber (back)

By Cynthia Ellis of San Diego, CA

Another FIRST today....

I received my VERY FIRST ...(ever in my life) pieces of...ART IN THE MAIL today!

I was like a little kid jumping up and down!!!! Six ATCs...all so beautiful!

Thank you Laurie May of La Verne, CA ....for making history...you are my first. :-) If you click on her name here you will be taken to her fabulous blog and you can see more of her art there.

I am expecting another 20 or so FUN FILLED ENVELOPES to still be on there way here soon from artists all over the United States! So fun!

Joined my FIRST art book club tonight!

Joined my FIRST art book club tonight. It's called 'Creating Outside the Book'. It is really more of an art group of creative women than a book club, but they use a book/magazine each quarter as their guide for inspiration. They do make-n-takes, show and tell art and have guest speakers.

If you live in the San Diego/Orange County area you can click on the above link and find out more information. There are two locations and both are open for more members if you are interested.

1. Third Wednesday of the month at Cool Scrapbook Stuff Store

2. First Thursday of the month at Gee Gee's Stamp Store

I went to the one at Cool Scrapbook Stuff Store in Poway...

They had a very special guest speaker tonight: Jenny Doh!!!

Jenny Doh, on the left below, taught us a crochet technique. Elena Etcheverry, on the right below, is the leader of this art/book club.

Jenny Doh also spoke about her new book called 'Creative Pilgrimage'. It highlights 14 artists and 8 artist retreats.

I was soooooooo excited I was able to get two of my Somerset Studio magazines autographed by her and a photo of me with her! Jenny used to be editor in chief of Stampington & Company magazines for many years and now she is owner of Crescendoh.

Here are my now signed magazines! :-)

She is also the author of this amazing book in which I already own, absolutely love and highly recommend!

Next it was show and tell time...

Elena (above) had gone to CHA and brought back some of Suzi Blu's new stamp images (below). I took photos here of my favorite ones...click on image to get a better view.

We then went around the room and everyone shared art they have been working on. Here are some amazing photos of all their amazing art!!...click on photo for a blown up view....

This beautiful girl with a heart is by Flor Larios.

Jen Cushman made this amazing heart piece with wire and gold crown.

And the adorable pink hearts, pearls and bird was made by Peggie.

by Gaye Larson (left) by Arma (right)

Amazing bowl by Alicia. Creative box by Kathren

'My Great Grandma' by Kathren. The adorable owl is by Cynthia. Trisha made the pinwheels. And this is my dear friend Kat :-) holding one of Trisha's pinwheels.

And finally....we all got sent home with a cool little bag full of surprises. This is our art kit. There is a surprise kit given out every month and we are asked to create something beautiful from the supplies provided.

Overall it was a really FUN night.

WOW!!! 21 so far!

I am really EXCITED! :-)

I decided to host my VERY FIRST ATC trade. (Artist Trading Card) There are sooooo many talented artists that I met from the free Strathmore class online that I thought it would be a great group to trade with and easy to do because the group is already all set up on line.

So, I posted a new discussion on 2/12 with the group ...and already today on 2/13....

THERE ARE 21 OF US SIGNED UP!!!

The deadline for me to receive all cards is Febuary 29th. They are to send me 6 and I will send them 6 back from various artists.

So fun! I will post pictures here with updates as the cards start floating in.

Letting the CAT out of the bag..

Well, today is the official day that I let others know about this art journal/blog. I just sent an email out to about 10 friends. I'm not really sure if anyone will really care to read/look at it. It is a bit intimidating...only because when I look at other art blogs mine is so amateur. But, a couple of my girlfriends from my 'doodle girls' group were encouraging me to give others my address. So, here it is world.

Anne's Art Journal - http://www.annesartjournal.blogspot.com

Sent my VERY FIRST ATC MAIL trade off today!

So exciting! I FINALLY sent my 6 ATCs (Atristic Trading Cards) off to New York today! :-) Can't wait to see what I am going to get back. I cut up my painting from Week 1 of Doodles Unleashed Class. It actually was pretty fun to cut it up and see all the fun little cards. Pretty cool. It made 15 individual unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.

My Final Project Step by Step from Traci Bautista's Class