Effy's Book Of Days: Letters to 2011/2012

In Effy's Book of Days, 

we have a spread that 

incorporates a letter we write
to the year 2011.

I think this is such an amazing idea.

We also incorporate a pocket 

for a letter to 2012.

We don't touch that until, 

um, 2012. 

This spread is the very first

in my upcycled journal.

I begin by using my favorite 

color, Golden's Cobalt Teal.

I think Heaven is an Urban Outfitters 

and the walls are all this color.

oh, and the clothes all fit...

teehee, seriously,

What I really think is that 

Heaven is Now.
OM.
Back to Art.

Now my favorite color combo

on the planet

is teal and red. 

But I wanted to say 

good bye to 2011

and greet 2012 

in a less vibrant fashion.

So, I went with teal and pink. 

A pretty, gentle, and compassionate 

meet and greet. 

teehee.

In the pic below I am playing around with the layouts.I have had that PAPAYA! sticker for years! who knew the importance a lotus flower would come to have for me 

years later.

On the side is some vintage wallpaper I was lucky enough to score in a trade with another Art and Soul 

attendee.Also there are some assorted scrap booking elements left over from those days too. And the pic of the thread spools is from an old Coach catalog, believe it or not. Back in the day I cared about stuff like that. That's ok. I got my first Coach bag when I passed my State Boards, I was 26. Some of Sam's school mates

had them in second grade, but I am coming dangerously close to my what is happening to the world we live in diatribe...back to art!!!

So I'm almost ready for the glue.

For my letters I am repurposing

a thank you note from my sister, Linda.
I'm just going to write my letter
in between her writing. 
very cool. 
Since she wrote
in orange pen, 
I may just write
on top of her letters in black.
So I get to keep a little of her, too.
very, very cool.

I always loved 
the henna tattoo/paisleyish 
pattern on the notecard

and had grandiose dreams of 

tracing it and cutting it

into a rubber stamp. 

HAHAHAHA.

I will scan it though.

Just in case...

I have the years stamped

with one of those 

office date things.

and some stenciling

through some cool

punchinella, 

or sequin waste. 

I also used some 

PAPAYA! tissue

and twinkling H2O's.

Do Not Hate Me

for getting you hooked.

I am an Art Supply Enabler.

Below is a pic of spread 

without the letters in the pockets.

There are some stickers used

and a clear envelope 

from when Sam was a baby

and I was scrap booking every fart.

She's almost 18.

Therefore,

my "use what I have" year.

Long Overdue.

Below more

gratuitous closeups. 

Cuz I'm a closeup whore.

And there you have it,

my first ever

Art Journal spread.

and it was constructed

mostly in bed

with foot elevated.

  

So, my word is

Mindfulness. 

I hope I can live up to it.

Thanks for looking!

xoS
PS I have no idea why
that column of text is way over to 
the side, and I'm way too tired
to fix it. Let's just all pretend
I meant to do it that way.
Thank. You.

MIA No More

I have not been creating, but want to share with you some absolutely gorgeous Christmas cards I purchased from PaPaYa:

For my soul sister Diane xo Whose faith is a beautiful thing...


For the new Mrs. McHugh!


For my Soul Sister's Lorri and Grace. OK, OK, I got one for me too, who could resist this hot elf!

And these next two are Christmas presents to myself!

What an artist to inspire my own humble creations, Anahata Katkin. I want to be her when I grow up. But I want to be Koko Taylor, Etta James, Nina Simone, Melody Gardot, Frida Khalo, and Barbie, too! I won't admit it to myself but I wouldn't mind a little Martha Stewart thrown in the mix!

Before M was just M and instead was My Heart, we saw Buddy Guy live. It was very considerate of M to get tickets, he'd seen Buddy numerous times already. Perhaps it was my repeated comments, "I HAVE to see Buddy Guy before I die" that led him to treat me to 5Th row seats to see My Hero. The concert was a tribute to Jimi Hendrix and the musicians were all amazing. Besides Buddy, Jonny Lang, Doyle Bramhall II, Hubert Sumlin, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Hendrix's original drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist, Billy Cox played. Mitch Mitchell has since passed away. We were very fortunate to be able to witness his talent first hand.

Not long after that concert we saw Susan Tedeschi. She is touring to promote her new album, "Back to the River". It was an amazing concert, it seemed to be over in minutes. We were WAY lucky that Susan's husband, Derek Trucks, was in town with his own band. He snuck out on stage and played an encore with Susan. It was incredible. My only complaint? That they won't adopt me and let me hang out on their tour bus.

The question comes to mind "what possibilities remain?" Carol Shields wrote this question in one of my favorite novels of all time, "The Stone Diaries". Perhaps my expectations have been too high. I am of the age where I fully understand that love is mostly what you can "tolerate". I don't mean settle. I hate that word. Love, I believe, at this age, is mostly about being able to tolerate someone else having different ideas and ideals, styles of doing things, ways of communicating. One of my most difficult struggles over the years, has been coming to terms with the fact that "my time" is not the same as someone else's. Whether it's a mundane subject like when they are gonna get the trash out to when they are going to be ready to commit, it can't be done in "my time". Man, is that a heard lesson to learn and re-learn and re-learn.

Have you heard -" 40 is the Old Age of Youth, and the Youth of Old Age"?

It is time to acknowledge that my Picker is broke.  Has my Picker permanently left the building?

In case there is any doubt, let me go on the record and say, I love men. In person, it shows. My Art is where I let my Anger have free reign. I hope not to be bitter, but to be resigned to reality. Humor is my best defense. Although the words used in my Art can be negative and dark, do not overlook the humor. It is there, thank goodness. When the humor goes, I will hang up my thongs for good.

xo

Susan