For my sister*....

...because she loves SPRING and her garden and digging in the dirt and being outside in the sun.

Come on SPRING...GET HERE ALREADY! (It was 40 degrees this morning. Wha? We have the FIREPLACE GOING TONIGHT. Seriously.)

This was inspired by the oh-so-inspiring Donna Downey, she herself. I want to make one in every color.

(*Shhhhh! Don't tell! I don't think she reads my blog daily and this isn't in the mail to her yet!)

WASSIMA ART JOURNAL {Week 41}

(Edited..oops! this is WEEK 41, not 42!)

Only eleven weeks (not ten!) left in our DECK! Wow.

OK...this week's card is inspired by my PLAYDATE (Wed) with AIMEE (Aim, how did we NOT take any pictures???). It went by TOO FAST and made me wish we were next-door neighbors so we could spend more time together laughing, shopping and creating. And then Miss Katie (Aimee's daughter) was home from school and we chatted about her American Girl Doll (Julie) and her upcoming trip to NY to the American Girl Store....and it reminded me of playing dolls with my BFF when I was a little girl (Angie Smith, I miss you!) - especially the hours of fun we had playing with PAPER DOLLS (and making our own clothes for them--Angie was a way better designer than I!)

So...this prompt is "WHAT FUN THING (or PERSON) DO YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? {Seriously -I really miss paper dolls!}

WASSIMA Art Deck catchin' up - {Week 36}

Oh I loved Aimee's prompt for this one! "Use a spring ad" to create your card. EASY. Just pick any page from the ANTHROPOLOGIE catalog and I will take one of each, please and thank you!(sorry for the crummy scan!)

Bring on SPRING! and SUNSHINE! and FRESH FLOWERS! and BRIGHT NEW COLORS! and CRISP WHITE LINENS!

(and um, yeah, that Spring Cleaning thing, too. Right. I will get on that. Soon.....)

WASSIMA ART DECK PROMPT {Week 39}

I keep coming back to comfort and nostalgia lately. This week's prompt is an Ode to MILK & COOKIES.

Lately, Rob and I have been baking mini-batches of cookies (what says "comfort" more than the smell of fresh-baked cookies? Not to mention that first bite, still warm from the oven? And nothing is better than seeing Little Miss Sirryha indulging in a bit of chocolate goodness! Surely no other toddler chews his/her food so cutely? Surely. hee.)

And last night, we had dinner out with my sis- and bro-in-law, and R's cousins Jill and David at Bridget's Steakhouse in Ambler. YUM-O food and good company---we don't get enough of these moments together lately! And the perfect ending to our dinner was the chef's interpretation of MILK & COOKIES for dessert. (A glass of vanilla mousse for dipping your stack of chocolate chip and sugar cookies in! SINFULLY DELISH!) Sorry I don't have a photo to share! (Really sorry that I didn't pack up the last two to bring home!)

And with those thoughts in my mind this morning....my card came together quicky. Collage bits are from my Art Journal 102 class with Dina Wakely & the Elmo pic cracks me up every time I see it (Sirryha tries to feed her "faux" cookies we made for her kitchen to every human, animal and dolly in the house!).

Here's wishing you a happy Sunday! (Off to the mall to meet up with Jackie and Mikayla....camera in hand, as requested by Miss M!)

xo

SNOW DAY=ART DAY.

Or so I WISH! Seriously...I wish I were snowed in for a WEEK so I could play with my inks and paints and papers! (Sadly, today is only a two-hour delay...but I am not BUDGING until our roads are cleared.)

After drooling over her work in Somerset's Artful Blogging, I couldn't resist, and I treated myself to the DINA WAKLY ART JOURNALING 102 class.

And every spare minute has been about this:

Loading up my art journal pages with layers of textured gesso, acrylic paint and spray-on ink.

...And altering photos: (this is simply a B&W print, scratched with sandpaper. I need to get some photocopies (not inkjets!) to try some gel transfers and painted portraits. Oh me. oh my.

WASSIMA Art Journal Prompt {Week 37}

(yeah...I know I still owe for WEEK 35! stay tuned!)

This week's prompt is: WHICH MONOPOLY PIECE WERE YOU AS A KID and WHICH WOULD YOU ASPIRE TO BE TODAY? hee. silly I know...but it occurred to me when I saw this as a writing prompt ("Which monopoly token were you when you played the game as a child?") that I still want to be the IRON or the THIMBLE, and that I always did.

See there? Even as a kid my mind was on crafting and creating. Only now, I am calling it "my art." (Sort of. Not really out loud in front of the teacher or anything. hee)

Card to follow!

GAGA for CYNTHIA's A-gCA -zine!

"To promote and celebrate authentic experimental creativity in scrapbooking and mixed media art."

Cynthia, you are living it, my dear friend! Thanks for including me on your journey! xo

Oh I am so not worthy!

If you haven't already, hop over to A-gCA and lookie at the latest issue....http://cynthiafriesehassanein.typepad.com/agcablogmagazine/.

I am so grateful Cynthia and I found each other at INSPIRED last year (even tho' it was the LAST day and we didn't have a real conversation until we were home and exchanging emails/blog comments and phone calls!) Loving the creative inspiration she brings to my crafting world. Love that through her, I discovered SISTV and Miss Sandy, and all the other Leading Ladies she discovered & recruited! And now I am loving being a part of the A-gCA 'zine! xo

Um-yeah. I think I jinxed myself....

....with my cocky "2009? Bring it." banner!

I had such good intentions for JANUARY! Four projects to finish now that the holidays were over (three of which are LONG overdue!) and here it is the last week of February and only ONE of them is checked off the list!

Wha? where did the hours go? No need to answer that one.

Onward we go....today I am re-re-re-organizing my desk area and craft space(s). And yes...the PLURAL is because I slowly take over every available surface in the house when I am in the midst of my projects. Doesn't everyone? I really do want to have my pretty dining room table cleared off and a lovely centerpiece installed. But it's the best surface for my sewing machine and cutting mat at the moment...guess I could scootch the PILES to one half so hubs and I can eat dinner there tonight for a change?

In the meantime---my $10 new craft table (another LSS closed. sad.) is smack dab in the middle of the family room. Note that it is NEARLY BARE. Not for long. I have the rest of the evening to get it properly installed in the corner (replacing the cardtable)....and by the time I head to bed, I am sure it will be PILED HIGH like a proper ART TABLE should be!

Bad Blogger!

Sorry my Peeps! I have been a bad, bad blogger.

I don't call, I don't write, I don't post, I don't comment....

I will do better!

In the meantime...here are some pretty pictures to tide you over. Happy Valentine's Day (a bit belated, but the roses are still gorgeous!)

WASSIMA Art Journal Prompt {Week 33}

Today is WEEK 33 of our little deck of cards journal....

The prompt is "COMFORT" - this word has been in my mind for a few weeks now for a several reasons:

• all the cold weather lately has had us staying in on the weekends, which has allowed us time to bake cookies, make pots of chili and last weekend we even made a roaster full of stuffed cabbages (oh the house smelled like GRAM's!) Yum. COMFORT food.


• looking over my inspiration book for pages/ideas I want to 'scraplift' - one of my favorites for quite a while remains an Elsie Flannigan layout from her first book. The title was "Soothing," and the journaling read "the most soothing person I know" (about her friend Rachel)....love that...and lately I am especially grateful for my true "soft landing" peeps : )


• and of course, creating ART in every form remains a big comfort to me....journals, scrapbooking, sewing, feathering the nest....all brings much peace to balance the "OVERWHELM bits" that crowd my mind, my time and my weeks!

So what equals "COMFORT" for you?

P.S. NOT a sports fan. But the Pittsburgh Girl in me is of course rooting for the Steelers. ["Go Stillers!"] But seriously, pre-game since 1 pm? Seriously?

WASSIMA Art Deck Journal Prompt {Week 31}

Sorry I am still BEHIND on this! Week 31 was JANUARY 18! WHA? Where did the month GO? I am not done with my LIST OF STUFF TO DO yet!

OK..enough moanin' about. Gotta just DO IT. I know, I know.

So here is the prompt for Week 31: "What 3 words would you like people to use to describe you?"

This was a question I was given in a "personality quiz" at a job I had many moons ago... and it has always stuck with me. I think my answer at the time was "fun, smart, pretty" (don't judge! I was young!)

Fast forward 20-some years, and my answer today is not much different. I'm going with "fun, funny, artist." How about you?

(Pretty Please post links to your cards in comments here so we can see them!)

SNOW DAY!

YIPPIEEE!! Best thing ever? SNOW DAYS off work. Second best thing ever? 2hr delay (which is what we have today!)

So what does that mean for me today? Time to catch up on the ole blog and look up the artists whose work I have BEEN DROOLING OVER in the (first!) issue of Art Journaling magazine (oh yeah, Somerset Studios can't stop themselves. How many publications can they crank out? Apparently the number is A GADRILLION. And I WANT THEM ALL.)

On Sunday night I was working on my FABRIC JOURNAL PAGES for the Inspired girls swap (thanks, Stella! lovin' this project!) and I really needed a new beading needle (I had MANGLED the one my BFF Tracy had given to me earlier this month! Those skinny buggers don't take too kindly to being shoved through two layers of fabric PLUS quilt batting. whatEVER.) So....I zoom out to Jo-Anne's with my 40% off coupon....grab the pack of needles (ok, and some sequin trims - 25 cents a pack! but that was IT. Don't NEED ANOTHER THING. [not in the budget either, remember?!]) But then....

...I saw it.

Just as I approached the checkout line. The MAGAZINE RACK....and the 10% off sign. OH MY. AND THERE IT WAS. THE FIRST ISSUE OF ART JOURNALING MAGAZINE.

With a BIRD ON THE COVER. (When did I start loving hand-drawn birds? Bluebirds, especially?)

AND PAM GARRISON's name in big letters on the cover!

So, yeah. I brought it home. And am IN LOVE AGAIN with art journaling....(and by association/blog-hopping from Pam Garrison's blog links....to all things shabby chic and pink and frilly and soft and romantic and hand-stitched and hand-sewn and hand lettered and why do I have to go to WORK?)

Which means I now HAVE TO HAVE COPIC markers (because that's what Pam uses sometimes and clearly THAT is why her lettering/drawing is so much more fabulous than mine. Right? I am just NOT USING THE RIGHT MARKERS!)

See how easy it is?

Stay tuned for more obsessions with art/sewing-projects-I-don't-have-time-to-do-but-will-start-anyway....next up is my "oh I am so doing that" stitching sampler idea from Rebecca Sower on that piece of linen I bought eons ago and accidentally turned "slightly pink" in the wash somehow (just bleached it this weekend and still pink. drat.) And oh yeah, my BFF Pam Garrison's version is not too shabby, either. And lookie at the free embroidery pattern she gave me! Is she the sweetest or WHAT?

that 2 hr delay went by FAST.

WASSIMA CARD PROMPTS Weeks 28 & 32 - Catch-ups!

{PS. HEY, AIMEE...can you believe we are going to INSPIRED again?! weeee!!}

Aimee has weeks 28 and 32 posted on her blog....I will post week 31 asap!

People Are Nice.

How sa-weet is this little story?

Some of you have been on the receiving end of my emails inquiring about "where can I get that skinny word stamp Donna Downey uses on her canvases?!" And Cameron told me the one I wanted was by 7Gypsies but it is DISCONTINUED WHA? No way. No fair.

So the QUEST began (oh yeah. obsessive. remind me to tell you the one about the Red Rose Tea.....right. Again I digress...)

ANYWAY...I start looking online (remember - NO BUDGET for spending on frivolities!) and I see it on eBay - IN THE UK! (not that I am patient enough to wait for it to SHIP TO ME or anything)...yada yada ya...

...and then on Friday, I went to The Cropping Station for cropnight with Aimee and her daughter Katie. (Ohhh we had fun! Can't wait to do it again!)

So, well into the night....I wander over to the "tools" shelf and start browsing through the stamps....(you see where this is going, right?)....and it isn't a huge selection....but sure enough! There! In the stamp basket! Was! The! 7Gypsies! Stamp! NOWAYSHUTUP!

I snag it and head back to my table. Aimee and Katie are shopping so I don't even have a chance to tell her about my find right away! I immediately grab some white cardstock and start stampin away. WISHING I HAD MY CANVAS WITH ME. And then I go back to workin' my page (oh yeah. A 6hr crop and I did ONE PAGE. ONE. Just ONE. And didn't even finish the JOURNALING that night! But again....we had FUN. We chatted and Katie let me play with her colored pencils Santa brought her (that's my scribbling in the photo of all the colors in her set!) and we shopped the 65% off racks (three times!) and ate Fritos and eavesdropped on the ladies at the table behind us and Katie's mad skills were impressing the heck out of me and the store owner...I love crafty/creative kids!

OK...so back to the story....all night that stamp is sitting next to me. And as midnight is approaching, and we are packing up and getting ready to go...I say to Aimee "I WANT THIS STAMP! Do you think they have more and I just didn't see it?" No. "Do you think she will sell me this one?" (Aimee knows the store...used to teach there....) And of course, my Snow White friend says "Want me to ask for you? I will!" (seriously. Birds circle around her and I have SEEN A HALO ABOVE HER HEAD.) You know I was afraid to ask because if the answer was "NO" I'd have to PUT.IT.BACK!

So I call over to the very nice shop lady (Sandi)....

ME: "Do you have any more of these stamps?"

NSL(S):"oh, no, sorry."

ME: "Will you sell this one to me?" (I am sure my voice cracked and the fear of rejection was all over my face! Picture the "Please, sir, may I have some more?" scene in OLIVER!)

NSL(S): "Sure."

ME: "Oh goodie!!! HOW MUCH!?!!?!?" (As if it mattered? Like I wouldn't have willed her my retinas for the thing at this point?)

...and she says "oh just take it."

NOWAYSHUTUP! THANK YOU NICE SHOP LADY SANDI!

How nice are people? She also gave another lady at the crop something and said "if you are going to use it and love it that is what matters." HOW NICE IS THAT?

So, thank you, Sandi at The Cropping Station. I owe you big time. And I will SO be back!

So behind! First things first!

OK... I owe my lovely niece MIKAYLA a birthday SHOUT OUT (She turned 14 on the 16th!) So HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mikayla! This one's for you and your birthday party peeps!

{Hi girls! Leave a comment here and you will get a special treat from Aunt Susie!} xoxo

Birthday Princess!

Tribute Wall for Miss Mikayla...14 years in photos. (Great idea, Jackie! xo)

{How much do I love this photo? xo}

BFF & Lady-in-Waiting, Olivia

BFF& Lady-in-Waiting, Curran!

BFFS & Ladies-in-Waiting Lucy and Catherine B!

BFF & Lady-in-Waiting, Candace!

Oh I could go for a big slice of this cake right now! Was as yummy as it was pretty!

Flowers for the birthday girl from her Aunt Carol!


Prince David (Mikayla's brother) & his pal Davis served as Waiters for the evening!

Proud Parents & their Princess!

{Oh...and of course every Royal Family needs a Court Jester, right? You are fun, David!}

Back to Mom's Advice: FINISH ONE BEFORE STARTING ANOTHER!

OK ladies...I am sure I have said this/promised this one before....I know my mom preached it to me often enough that it SHOULD HAVE sunk in by now (but not.)


Thanks to all who have commented and emailed about the WASSIMA ART DECK JOURNAL. I decided to go on and finish it out....(and yes, I am going to do Emily's, too!) Can't promise it will be on time each week (no change there!) but by JUNE we will have 52 prompts!


SO.....all who are playing (or following along, or saving the prompts to do later...) - this is another official request for GUEST PROMPTERS! Just comment here or email me and we will figure out a week for you. AMY did Week 30 for us.....with this timely prompt: "What Would You Like to Let Go of in 2009?" Thanks, Amy!

WINNER!

WE HAVE A WINNER!
Hello ladies! Thanks for your patience...was having trouble with internet connectivity last night so I didn't get online to do the "drawing."

OK...we had five total replies to the call:

1 dodi said...
2 Ginny said...
3 Stella said...

4 amy said...
5 jen said...

ME (calling to DH in the other room): "Honey--pick a number from 1 to 5!"

HE: "Why?"

ME: "It's for my first blog giveaway!"

HE: "Huh?"

ME: "Come on! Just give me a number!"

HE: "How does that work?"

ME: "I have a list of five names! Whichever number you pick is the winner!"

HE: "THREE."

WEEE!! And that makes STELLA!!! our winner! I will let you know when the package is en route!

Thanks for playing along, ladies!

She's Back! 52Q Art Journal with Emily Falconbridge!

Weee! That's right. Emily Falconbridge is back to the weekly art journal project this year, and I am ALL IN!

In 2007, it was the "Deck of Me" using a deck of playing cards as the base. This year Emily is using shipping tags -- which I LOVE.....but.....

.....in keeping with my USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE/REPURPOSE plan...I decided to use this little batch of pages I had created last year (thinking I would make a mini art journal to tuck into my purse.)

But that didn't happen and they have just been sitting in one of my piles.

I had already coated some with a layer of GESSO. I had even tried to bind them into a little accordian book using self-stick index tabs and book binding thread, but it didn't work the way I envisioned, and yet I still couldn't part with them! (PACKRAT!)

So....I took them out last weekend and started playing around with them again. I counted out about 20 pages already prepped (Gesso'd) and I easily made up the difference (to get to 52 pages) with a quick paging-through of a few magazines on hand. (With such a HUGE amount of free SUBSTRATES (yep, still love that word, Inspired Peeps!) to chose from, you can afford to be selective and only use the ones with a pretty font (the new Creating Keepsakes ones) or wording (Somerset Studio, OPRAH) or border (MEs Home Companion) or photo (Vanity Fair, Martha Stewart Living) that you like. Or just GESSO over the whole thing. Or add patterned paper or fabric scraps. You get the idea!)

And I like it! I gave up on the crazy binding I had attempted and made a simple template for punching two holes in each card --two binder rings holds it all together.And I love, love, love the cardboard/kraft paper look of the Amy Butler scrapbooking supplies packaging - so I used that from one of her sets of fabric tags for the mini-spine (built-in jute loop for a hanger! wee!). And those typewriter key letter stickers on the cover? From my archives! Bet they are more than 10 years old. In love with all things TYPEWRITER again.

Inside front cover: (notice one coat of Gesso doesn't completely cover the text. But I am ok with that.)

QUESTION #1 was "What Do I Wish for This Year to Bring" (I am writing the question on the front, and my answer on the back.)

{Note: the MULTIPLE POSTS today are brought to you by Eagles and Steelers football games (occupying DH all day!) Here's hoping for an EAGLES/STEELERS SUPERBOWL!}

My New Year's ARTFUL Resolutions

Yes, I realize it is January 11th already. And most people are all decided about their New Year's Resolutions by the 1st. But this year is starting out for me much like last year ended....too much cluttering my mind (and desk, and living and work spaces.)

So I am easing into it all.

Loving weekends with NO.WHERE.TO.GO. (Two in a row!) Loving getting things actually CHECKED OFF my lists (rather than the lists just continuing to grow and grow...)

This blog has mainly focused on my creative endeavors--and I like it that way. Nice to have some neat parameters to work within (as the rest of life is not nearly as tidy!) So I am happy to share a few resolutions for the ART side of my life (the list is longer than this...but here is where I am starting):

1. Chose ONE LITTLE WORD to focus on in 2009, inspired by Ali Edwards. (This is the third year I've done it, and by FAR it's been the hardest year for me to pick just one word. But more on that later.) Really incorporate my word into my daily art & life.


2. INVITE my friends in more - to play/create/or just hang. I didn't do this much AT ALL last year...but this year I am taking Erma Bombeck's advice and NOT waiting 'til the carpets are clean or my dining room is back in pretty, pretty princess order. Real friends don't care about that, right?


3. Keep everlastingly at it. Whatever it is. My art journals, scrapbooks, sewing projects, home decorating/organizing/reorganizing projects. Don't give up because it's too messy or cluttery. {And hug and kiss my hubby, again, for honestly accepting the mess/piles EVERYWHERE and not being bothered by it! xo}

So Hello, 2009. Welcome. So very glad you are here!

We need to hear from the WASSIMA ART DECK JOURNALERS!

Hello all. We need some feedback, please! {No, seriously! We want to hear from you! Pretty Please? There is a GIVEAWAY* FOR THOSE WHO COMMENT HERE OR ON AIMEE's BLOG ABOUT THIS POSTING!}

Aimee and I started our "WASSIMA ART DECK JOURNAL" back in June - intending it to be a 52 week project. Today marks Week 30, and we are considering stopping for several reasons:

First: a few who have played along are willing to stop now and just go with Emily Falconbridge's weekly 52Q project she started again this year (she inspired our version when we did her "Deck of Me" in 2007.) I am doing Emily's this year either way. I am happy to stop our little version and go with the "real deal!" (hee)

Second: we don't really know how many of those of you who started/were interested originally are still playing along? If you are out there and playing and want to finish -- please speak now or forever hold your peace!

For those who commented and participated - our sincere thanks. I hope to see you in the Flickr Group for Emily's 52Q this year! (Mine is posted there already! Go me!)

*GIVEAWAY!

OK....those who post a comment about the WASSIMA ART DECK JOURNAL question here or on Aimee's blog between now and Wednesday, January 14th, will be entered in a drawing to win a little package of "Sooz's Surplus" scrappy/crafty/art journally goodies. {Except it will be a real package, mailed to your very own real home. Not just that digi-box pictured here. In case you were thinking this is some kind of cyber scam. hee}

Treats Two Days in a Row!! I'm Not Worthy!!!

OH MY.

Lookie lookie lookie what just arrived!! (thanks to Anna Maria Horner's holiday sale - 15% off studio stacks---my prezzie to me and Sirryha for stitching goodies for her room. And no worries--there is plenty extra for other prezzies through the year....watch for RAKs, my peeps!)

Seriously. Anna Maria Horner's new line- Good Folks - is due out THIS MONTH (where is it where is it where is it????) And I am still in love with the latest two (Garden Party and Drawing Room.) Planning to do lots of room and wall decor in Sirryha's room (in progress! big reveal when done!)

I can't stand it!! Opened my STUDIO SCRAPS bag and out popped a half dozen or so TRIANGLES (some already pieced together)....which I remembered from this post. And how perfectly SERENDIPITOUS is THAT because the project I plan to work on next for Little Miss's room is a fabric banner.....(inspired here and here)...and oh my let me hurry with my other projects that are OVERDUE so I can get to these, too!! xo

Thanks Tracy! xo

How cool is this? TROLLBEADS have come up with this fun marketing campaign....they distributed SMILEY BEADS around the world, and those who received them (collectors and retailers) are to place them where others will find them.

And lucky me! My BFF Tracy received a batch of them and hid one for me and one for our BFF Kelly to find yesterday at work! You can imagine the excitement that ensued!

Like Christmas all over again! Thanks, Trace! xoxoxo

Some more pics of my YELLOW SMILEY BEAD (oh yeah. already on my bracelet! First thing I did when I got home!) and the card it was attached to:

WASSIMA Art Deck Journal Prompt {Week 29} Our First Guest Prompter!

Stella!

Hey ladies! I am happy to bring you this week's prompt from our first "guest contributer"-- Stella! No card examples yet...but I will post both of ours as soon as they are done & scanned!

Happy New Year, all! I am behind in my blogging/emails--will catch up soon!

Stella's Prompt: "I was thinking about holiday traditions, old & new. Now that the rush and bustle is over, what things do you always do, what did you start as a new tradition this year?"

WASSIMA Art Deck Journal Prompt {Week 27}

[edited: Front and back of my Week 27 card. (And no, sadly, I never did make my Christmas cards! Shameful!) Prompt is about wondering about what is ahead....]

Ohhh...so sorry that I am so behind!! Watch this spot for the WEEK 27 Prompt (December 21)....will scan it asap!