So here it is. A little hand woven nest with 3 white eggs nestled inside. So how do you win? In the comment section below tell me what makes your heart full. I can't wait to read all about it. I'll draw the lucky winner on Monday. So be sure to check back and see if you won!
I am not so sure about the ribbon's place. I bought this sari ribbon a while back in hopes that one day it would become part of something.
When I picked up the nest off the fire brick under it was this splat of solder. I grabbed my scissors and cut out a heart, then stamped of course, "My Heart is Full" because it is getting there. It is. Especially after what came to the door today.
On our way out the door to baseball practice tonight there was a package propped on the door. It was from Somerset. I was so excited that my paintings from the Somerset Life issue had finally made their way back home. We quickly opened the box and found the two paintings and this issue of Somerset on top. Ok. That's nice of them to send this I thought. But I'm not in this issue.
At least I thought I wasn't. After reading this article I started crying, like really crying. It was the cry that needed to come out for a week now. Knowing I inspired someone to make something really, really made my creative spirit soar. Her words were so heartfelt and humbling. 
Atlanta is being hit with snow again today. Such a strange year for us. We've seen it all now....hail, floods, tornadoes, and snow 3 times. It definitely inspires me in different ways. Does that make sense? I hope you are having a lovely Tuesday! And check back with me on Friday. I have a special surprise for my sweet readers!! 
This class was called Plaster Architecture. We used floral foam, wire and plaster gauze to create various forms. I was originally going to create an airstream camper. But in her demo she used wire. And from their I took off running. I'll have to photo this once it's all done. Because of drying time, I was not able to put my piece together nor paint it. It will have a rather robust birdie hanging from the center. I enjoyed her technique and more than anything, can't wait to try it with my afterschool art classes. They are going to love playing with these materials! BTW, I think I really irritated the airline steward with this baby. You should have seen the painful look on my face when they said it had to go overhead and not stay in my lap! Thankfully it made it safe and sound.
Of course we had to try out the machines. I spent $2.00. And even though it was a .1 machine, I only got one roll. What's up with that?
The last day was a class with the adorable Julie Thompson. It was entitled, "Life is but a Dream". Now I'll admit, I took this class because of her picture on the website. It was just too, too cute! But once in the class, I quickly realized that technique wise it was my favorite of the week. You will be seeing many more creations from paper clay from me! This is Vivian. And she is a crank music box which plays What a Wonderful World.
Julie kept describing her style as "Steam punk". I have no idea what that means, but I know her work was beyond adorable. And her knowledge and skills were A+. She's coming to Atlanta this summer and I told her count me on the roll for sure!
Of course you can't leave Vegas without a little show. Here we were able to see the famous Bellagio water show. It was quite magical. And later that night we saw the Jubilee show at Bally's. I personally found it incredible (ok, not the boobies don't get any funny ideas) but the scenery changes and costumes....holy cow. Amazing. They advertise it as "35 pounds on their head and a costume that can fit in a tea cup." This was very, very true for much of the show. I can't balance a book on my head, so hats off to those women! Well, the trip was beyond worth the dollar amount I have added up. And it does add up. If you are ever considering an Art and Soul Retreat you can be guaranteed that the instructors are very well prepared and skilled. Mine and Valerie's classes both filled our minds and hearts with creative ideas beyond what we can probably carry through. I am thinking of instructing in Portland in October of 2011. So......start saving your pennies(realistically $1's) and join me!
We found this crate and brass rope holder in a closet off the room we were in. Always repurposing that Valerie is! BTW she was such a trooper that night. She hung out all night with me even though to our bodies it was way past our bedtime!
After a great (we sorta I really needed my pillow) night's sleep, we woke at our usual Mommy 7am hour and got up and at 'em. We were in the Bally's Paris complex. So, Bally's is like not my first pick, but Paris....oooolala..... It was like strolling through a Disney Resort in the food and Casino area. I could seriously eat crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner if given an opportunity. And literally, there is an Eiffel Tower coming through the building. Here's the outside of it:
We walked down the strip and came to a personal favorite, Mr. Peanut M&M. And adorable store where I picked up earrings and Mailey's new favorite PJ's. There was a lot to see and take in this first morning. And we made lots of plans to visit here and there.
My first class was with an artist I've admired for several years now, Lisa Kaus. The class was entitled "Color My World". In it we were going to be free with subject matter....the teaching was about experimenting with her special technique. And this was my favorite product of the day:
Water soluble pencils. Her technique is all about layering and texture. The boards were pre-primed for us with three coats- gotta get the hand out to remember what, but then she uses a series of Golden fluid acrylics and those yummy pencils above, some collage and then tops it all off with delicious smelling beeswax to create an illuminated canvas like this:
Yes, of course I did a camper. Now, I know it looks a little like something I already do, and was asked by Valerie upon seeing this, "What's different about it than what you normally do?" Well, for starters, the only material in the painting I'd ever used was the paper. In fact, all the paint I brought I was not allowed to use. You see, I LOVE my heavy body acrylic paints. They are gooey and opaque and are in my comfort zone. But the workshops I signed up for were all about NEW techniques for my art bucket, getting outside of my comfort zone. And although the subject matter is quite familiar to me (I mean why change everything about who I am as an artist?), every material in the painting was new. And I really, really, really enjoyed it.
That night we found out that the lovely Bill's across the street offered $1.oo margaritas. Yep, that was about the cheapest thing of the week. And Bill's became our "happy Hour" so to speak every evening. We strolled through Caesar's and ate yummy sushi this night and then called it quits. We quickly found out that casino time was really not our cup of tea, and that a good night's rest was much more valuable.
We were running late, it was one of those days yesterday. So we were not able to ride MARTA into town, we drove. It was 5PM. Now Atlanta is a city of commuters and cars. I seriously think that Atlanta folks have 2.5 cars per household. No one takes transit. But as a general rule, from the southside where we live we can usually get to the capitol in 30 minutes easy. The kids and I were toodling along when wham! Traffic came to a halt. I called Billy and said, "Something is going on, traffic is stopped." He replied, "Yeah, there are like 4 helicopters flying around the capitol and police cars." "Great, a bomb threat on Georgia's capitol. Seriously?" While talking to Billy though, my texting beeped and it was Valerie. And she asked, "Have you seen the Zebra? It escaped from the CIRCUS!" WHAT????? And sure enough, I turned on 740am and Lema, one of the circus Zebras, had escaped her compound outside of Phillips Arena. Evidently she wanted to take a walking tour of the city of Atlanta. On the 11PM news it was quite a site to see, her running down I-75 Southbound. She was caught, and they say only her hoofs suffered a little pavement damage. She is super lucky. As a human in Atlanta walking I fear becoming road kill.
So we got to the circus in time for the pre-reception where we filled our bellies with yummy mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, popcorn and of course, cotton candy. Then we headed out to the pre-show. If you ever attend the circus, I highly recommend getting there early enough for the this. The clowns are out mingling, they have real costumes to play in, and two rings set up where you can get really close to an act. I also knew that ASIA was going to be making an appearance. So I steered the kiddos to her ring.
And this is Asia. The artist. Oh my. The first time I saw her I was smitten. She literally has one finger on her trunk, did you know that? Which allows her to hold the brush and paint.
The gentleman on her right there is helping her gather paint. She smiled the entire time. And look at her back feet. How cute is that!! Her lovely abstract paintings are given away to a lucky person from a drawing. Man I'd love to be that winner!!
So today I woke to this adorable site, my own circus animals. Yes, they get along like this all the time. Hilarious really. I've a million errands to run and packing to do.....so I'll leave you for now. Check back next week for some super fun pics from Vegas!!
