Breathe with me

I can see the light at the end of tunnel. It's faint, but it's there. Homeschool ends for the school year next FRIDAY! As much as I love working with and teaching my children, we need a break. They don't have anymore room in their head for information to be crammed in. They need months of not thinking, doing whatever their creative minds need to do.

My creative spirit needs some time to ME now. I've been reorganizing my art room this week. Okay, can we really call it 'reorganizing' at this stage (stop laughing at me Trisha and Rhonda)? I'm always having to do this. It's a perpetual thing. New stuff comes in (although I really TRY not to buy new stuff) and I get tired of using some things. Or I use stuff and make a huge pile-o-mess next to and on my desk, which needs cleaning up. You creative types know what I'm talking about. Hey! Since I'm cleaning out my art room, if anyone reading this is interested in trading a stuffed ziploc bag full of ephemera and embellishments for altering, I would be game. I like older, vintage type stuff.

I'm sitting here thinking about all the things I want to work on this summer. I've been reading so many inspiring books that my brain is in overload!

Altered Books, Collaborative Journals, and other Adventures in Bookmaking
Collage for the Soul
Collage Sourcebook
Kaleidoscope
La Casa Loca
Transparent Art
Fabric memory books
The altered object
The new creative artist
True Colors : A Palette of Collaborative Art Journals
Altered Books Materials Guide
Altered Books Special Effects

We're using the last 2 books for inspiration for the Altered Book Club I attend once a month. It's been so great getting to know the ladies there. Some real talent! We work in each other's books in a round robin process, AND we trade ATCs for fun. I look forward to our meetings. I finally threw my 'book' in the ring to play along in the RR. You can see what it looks like in a previous post. I worked on one of the lady's books this last month. Her theme was Philippians 4: 8. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." My first page spread was all about 'pure'. I cut niche's through to the next spread. On the 'pure' page, the glass windows say 'true, noble, right'. On the next spread the topic is noble. I thought of kings and castles. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out although the wiring in of the windows was a pain in my nose. (Click on them to see a closeup)



Update on my reading book club... We finished 'No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'. It's set in Botswana of all places and I loved it! I'm onto the 2nd in the series, 'Tears of the Giraffe'. I think there are 8 in the series... Read them!

Okay, back to working on cleaning up my art room. I want to be able to sit here and watch a movie (Because I Said So) tonight while making ATCs. Right now I'm listening to the soothing songs of a french CD, 'French Cuisine'. You can get it at the library like I do. I'm finally starting to feel calm after a whole year of homeschooling... deep breath everyone. Breathe with me; in-out-in-out...