Stamp Camp

It's taken over 2 years but finally I managed to attend Stamp Camp in the Hunter Valley this year from 7th - 9th September. It's always held on a weekend in September and as the majority of my family members birthdays occur during this month, I haven't been able to go ... until now!

I arrived on Friday night after working all day, just in time for dinner. I spent the weekend with a lovely group of ladies, some I'd met before and others I met through various online groups.

On Saturday, the lovely Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door (http://www.rachelgreig.typepad.com)
spent the day teaching us different techniques to make cards.  When we weren't in the classroom, our time was our own to finish off other projects.

All in all the weekend was just what I need to recharge and get back in balance with a little bit of creativity.

Below some photos of the cards made in Rachel's class, some ATC completed and a pic of my Stamp Camp buddies. From L to R Bev Charter, Therese Davis, Me, Dorothy Leach, Heather Askitis & Carolyn Passfield.

 

Keep smiling and keep creating!



Creative Soul Retreat - Part 3 (final)

On the third day I did a journalling workshop with Jan.  I managed to get 2 more layouts done in my journal, which feels so good.  Here's some pictures.

My pages ... I wouldn't say I'm a journalling queen, but I'm happy to have done something.

The whole Journalling class

A picture of Sue Thiel and me ... it was great to get to see each other again..

Me, Jen Crossley & Nic Hohn ... a candid spur of the moment shot.

There were so many others I got to catch up with again at this year's retreat, but totally forgot to get some pictures.  Our trivia group (me, Sue, Kyla and Karin) won the final major prize ... we all received a product from Golden - to say I was thrilled is an understatement.

Kyla and I decided to stay in Melbourne an extra day so we didn't have to rush off to the airport.  There is so many different styles of "art" around the streets, it's just fantastic.  We walked, caught trams and walked some more, but it was fantastic to spend an extra day with Kyla, knowing that now we live in different States, it's not something we're going to be able to do every day.

(1) Statues on the Corner of Swanston & Bourke Streets; (2) Electrical or Phone Box with lovely paintings on each side.

There's plenty of graffiti art in many of Melbourne's alleyways.

Kyla sitting pretty at Chinese ... our hotel was right near China Town, very handy.

The Creative Soul Retreat, which has been running for the past 2 years has been cancelled now, which is such a shame because it's not everyday that us Aussies downunder get to do workshops with those talented tutors from the States.  I am so happy with all the people I met and the tutors I got to learn from ... hopefully there will be other opportunities to do workshops with these people again.

Creative Soul Retreat - Part 2

I'm sure you've been in suspense waiting for my next post on the Creative Soul Retreat, so I shall not keep you waiting any longer (ha, ha, ha).  On Days 2 and 4 of the retreat, I had the extreme pleasure of learning all about Polymer Clay from a fantastic teacher, Laurie Mika.  She is the most energetic and talented teacher, not to mention her assistant (sister) Leslie, who was such a hoot.  I spent two fabulous days with these girls and was so happy that I actually did the polymer clay classes.  In the first class we made 3D ATCs and the next one was wearable reliquaries (I'm not even sure I've spelt that right).  Anyway, here are some pictures of the things made:

Laurie showing us how flat our clay should be.

All our 3D ATC Masterpieces ... amazine huh!

I made 3 ATCs, one for Kyla, one for me and one for Pam. 

Our 3D ATC group.

Laurie and Me

The scalpel was a little sharp, luckily Laurie was on hand with her bacon band-aids.

Some of the group's reliquaries.

The last day's group - that's Laurie, me & Leslie at the front.

Here are all my little pieces from Day 4 and below some close ups.

 

The last post on CSR will show some of Journalling pages I created in class and some other things I've created since ... there's not much as working full-time and trying to get the new house we moved into in order is taking up so much of my time.

Hope you're all well ... until next time.

Creative Soul Retreat - Part 1

On Wednesday 17th March I flew from Sydney to Melbourne to attend the Creative Soul Retreat.  I met up with Kyla at the airport, who flew in from the Gold Coast ... it was good to see her again.  We hung around the airport for a couple of hours until everyone had arrived from all corners of Australia to catch the bus to our venue - A Country Place Retreat in Kalorama.

Kyla and I shared a room in this section of the retreat.

The view as we walked to our room from the main dining area .. just beautiful.

The main dining area is inside behind the balcony.

Our first day of CSR saw Kyla and I doing the Waxy Layers class with Jan Harris.  Originally Judy Wise was to attend and run this class, but health issues prevented her from coming.  All the same, we had a wonderful fun day learning about encaustics from Jan.

Eliza, Kyla and I working away in the Waxy Layers Class with Jan Harris.

Jan playing with fire ... so much fun.

My two masterpieces??

Waxy Layers Class

An ATC swap was run at this year's CSR and the theme was "Miniature Me" and the card had to also feature a sign.  The Miniature Me part was all about your style and for my ATC I used bits and pieces that I love.  I started by coating the matte board with gesso, a light wash of paint, which once dry I then covered with my favourite glimmer mist colours of Tattered Leather and Olive.  I used my favourite tree stencil with ink, then added a street sign that I photographed at Mt Tribulation near Cairns in Queensland for drivers be aware of the Cassowary, which someone had vandalised - a classic.  I added my all time favourite rusty bottle caps along the base and some string to finish off.  I made 21 of these cards as 18 people were to participate ... it was a shame that in the end only 7 of us ended up playing along ... no loss though, I owe ATCs to a bunch of girls in Queensland, so will be sending them the left overs.

More CSR adventures and art to come in another post, so watch this space.

"There is nothing like a dream to create the future."
~Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French Poet/Dramatist/Novelist~

Art Retreat Memories - Part 3

Well here it is, the last day of the retreat and the whole weekend just flashed by in a blur. In my opinion I feel I've left the best until last to report on ... Monday was spent learning and creating with BERNIE BERLIN! It's not to say that the other tutors were any better or worse (because Stephanie and DJ were just awesome), it's just that I have spent so much more time trying out Bernie's techniques from her Artist Trading Card Workshop book because of the monthly ATC Swap through ATC_World ... and her name just rolls off my tongue like a close friends. I was just so excited to finally meet her in person and found her to be an excellent teacher.

The class Bernie taught was called Secrets of the Burnt and Bound and basically we were creating a dimensional collage ... there was a bit of torn paper, some paint, some stamping, foil tape and alcohol inks, a bit of shimmer, some string and lots of gel and self levelling medium ... not to mention we left our thinking minds in park and just went for it. A thoroughly enjoyable day and class with a mad rush at the end to get to the airport ... I think next year I'll stay over one night in Melbourne!

Bernie in action.

My final creations from Bernie's class.

Some more creations and fellow artists - Liz, Deborah, me and Joan.

Here's a picture of a very excited me with Bernie when I won her painting.

Here's a very excited (and sheepish) me with Stephanie Lee winning her prize.

The gorgeous Kelsey O'Mullane.

The highly entertaining Eva.

Maryse, Me and the lovely Sue.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the pics as much as I enjoyed attending the Creative Soul Retreat 2009 ... and now that the retreat is finally done and dusted, I've registered for the next one (http://www.creativesoulretreat.com.au/) which will be over 4 days instead of 3!!! I'm thinking positive and hoping I'll get into my first choice of classes with Judy Wise (2), Laurie Mika & Paulette Insall ... oooh the anticipation is going to be too much.

... now I'm going to have to figure out what I can do to raise $40 per week to get there ... mmmmm ..... any lovelies out there wanting to send some donations!!! (LOL).

"Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously and never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop this picture!"
~Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993, Author of The Power of Positive Thinking~