Fun Fabrics Found with a new Friend

It's always fun to go to a _____ store (you can fill in the blank - bead, fabric, art supply, etc.) and its even more fun with a like-minded soul who loves to add to her or his stash as much as you do! With our husbands occupied with their own pursuits today, we were able to dive into girl time and look freely without worrying whether our sig other was getting bored, knowing we'd hear about that for the next several years!

What a delicious event! So here are some shots of my most favorite fabrics that I found today.

I loved the human faces on the turtle and fish! They feed my ideas for some mixed media creatures with interchanged human / animal parts!

And how to resist these colorful Day of the Dead skulls? I've not seen them in a fabric before. Don't know how I'll use these fabrics, I think I often buy fabric just because it inspires me and makes me smile

or swoon!

I also recently took a collage workshop with Joyce McAdams which was fabulous. A wonderful tip I learned from her is to get color copies of my fabric or scan them into the computer (these are photos), so that I can save the original. The copies can be printed on either paper or fabric for use in collages, and they can then be altered with paint!!! How cool is that? Best, you still have the original fabric. Truly a hoarder's delight!

Enjoy your colorful world!

Great Giveaway from Lovely Colorado Artist!

You'll want to check out these 2 uplifting retreats super collage artist KC Willis is offering at her Longmont, Colorado, studio next year! One is called Colorado Collage and features guest instructors as well as the inspirational KC! The other is called Imagination Congregation and is focused on making Christian art that will stand up and shout your faith!



Read all about these exciting opportunities to be inspired and find your inner artist on KC Willis' blog!



If you love vintage, you love paper, you love collage and western themes, and you love the cameraderie and inspiration of being with spirited women for an artmaking, soul-feeding, fabulous five days, hurry on over here and find out more from the links to these two great retreats (and guess what! Both are offered twice next year - so you'll have more opportunity to attend!)



Plus, KC and the visiting artists are offering an amazing goodie box for helping to spread the word! So check out KC's blog and the retreats and the fun and amazing art of KC Willis! (And learn how you, too, could be eligible for this great giveaway goodie box!

Bowl of the Year

I've been reading Sue Bender's Everyday Sacred. The cover image is a simple bowl and since Bender is a potter, the bowl is a central theme in her book. Bender thoughtfully reflects on the monk's beggar bowl, with which he asks for his daily nourishment.

It occured to me that a year is like a bowl - circular, complete, repeating from one year to the next, with an arbitrary beginning / ending point. And yet each year, unique.

What has filled your 2009 bowl? What did you ask for? What came to your bowl unbidden? Perhaps your bowl was filled with ease, perhaps challenge or hardship, certainly it was filled with change.

No matter what your year bowl contains, I imagine it is rich and savory. Yet you may want to spice it up a bit, or perhaps add an accompaniment to cool it down.

Bring your year bowl into your heart space and feel deep appreciation for a year of nourishment, for the gift and blessings of the year. Feel gratitude as well for the challenges, which may take some time to reveal their lessons or blessings.

Lastly, carefully cleanse your bowl and prepare it for a new year of offerings.

May your new year bring you peace.