Chel in the Land of ZNE

What a Circus!

This past weekend was totally nuts.  It turned out that Gina and I had to pull our booth from the wonderful tumbleweed cotilion because we signed up for an outdoor booth, and the temps were unseasonable hot (like, close to 100 degrees).  Too hot for paper products and ephemera to sit out and sun, and Gina's beautiful dolls were cracking in the heat.  No good at all.  Not to mention both of us were flirting with heat exhaustion big time.

We got there, set up, and then - closed up shop a couple hours later.  I was sad not to participate in such a fabulous show, but decided to make the best of it by focusing on the kids I had in tow (Abs, RJ, and his best friend Jared) and creating a vacation for them.

So, I spent to much money, was a bit stressed out, and regretful that I couldn't participate fully in the Tumbleweed cotilion - but the kids had a blast.  Start to finish.  In fact, our pulling from the show could not have worked out better for them.  More time for fun.

We spent time at the pool, at the kids arcades, we ate reoom service dinner and the fabulous buffet breakfasts.

On Saturday night we saw the Floor Play ballroom dance show at the El Dorado. 

And on Sunday we all went river rafting down the Truckee River - which couldn't have been more beautiful, and was great fun!

And so, even under stressful circumstances, the weekend could not have been better.  The kids returned home well fed, well entertained and happy as nevada clams.  : D

I figure, it wasn't necessarily what I set out to accomplish, but job well done.

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Trying to make everything seem All Right...

"A new kitten will turn your house upside down and at the same time make everything seem right."

(That's a picture of my son RJ, taken about ten years ago.  I have always loved this picture.  He has a little heart painted on his cheek, and those big brown eyes, oh my. 

He is bigger now, still beautiful, (always will be to me, I'm sure!) and sashaying toward adolescence.  Sometimes I forget that a part of him will also always be that same little boy, inside.

Today however, something very difficult happened, and I was reminded of his fragility, and overwhelmed with love for him, and by how blessed those of us who are parents - are - to have such tender lives - those of our children - handed over to us for safekeeping.

This morning, RJ's Dad came to take him out to breakfast, to celebrate father's day.  But then, right before they left for breakfast, with RJ right there - my ex husband turns to me and says:  "Oh, I've been meaning to talk to you.  I wanted to let you know that - for a number of reasons, I've decided to stay in Colorado.  But, I'd like to have RJ visit me for several weeks this summer, and you know - I'll come visit with RJ when I can - on weekends."

For brevity's sake - I am leaving out some details.  For example, the fact that RJ's dad remarried - a woman who has been living in Colorado (we live in California) - a little over a year ago.  RJ has only met her a few times, and hasn't seen her in over a  year.  Oh, and she's pregnant - expecting a child at the end of this month.

It is a baffling situation to say the least.  My ex has been leading this odd double life, living here in California part of the time and flying across state lines every other week to spend weekends with his pregnant wife.  But, up until this point, RJ's dad has had 50% custody of our son.  and while we knew that RJ's Dad was going to Colorado tomorrow morning - for an "extended stay" - to go and be with his wife who is expecting the baby, we always thought he was returning in August to continue this strange double life he'd set up for himself.

I've talked about a lot of personal things on this blog before, but never my ex husband.  He's my son's father after all, and there are no words - really - to express the gratitude I feel toward him for being a part of the most extraordinary gift I ever received - that being, the opportunity to be a mother to my incredible and beautiful son.

So, I don't want go on and on here about my feelings, in terms of the timing, or logistics, or bizarre handling of this situation.  And, in truth - the feelings I DO have about his - aren't about me anyway. I'm not the important one here.  This, is about my son.

Let me digress to say that I adore my own father, but he is no gem and has a knack for abandonment which has rattled my self esteem and trust on such core levels, I couldn't explain it if I tried.  I simply have no words for how damaging it is to our fragile spirits, when we were parented by someone reckless and unreliable.

And I'll say this -  my heart broke anew today, for my son - this little boy love of my life, when the gravity of the situation hit me.  His father moving out of state - has been my son's greatest fear, ever since his Dad remarried.  My son has actually said this out loud, during the past year.  In tears no less.  "You don't think my dad will move to Colorado, do you?"  (I can't even remember how I answered those fears.  "I don't know what your Dad is going to do, RJ - but I do know he loves you very much."  Something like that.)

It's been coming of course, for months now.  My ex-husband never talked about it, but this dual life was a bit ridiculous.  His wife had to endure the entirety of her first pregnancy, without a husband there 80% of the time!  How was my ex-husband going to manage one child 50% of the time in one state, and a newborn and wife in another state?  How would he be there, much less hold down a job or be responsible or accountable toward either child, under such bizarre circumstances?

Perhaps some people know how to handle these situations, but I am going to put it mildly when I say that I don't feel that he handled it well... no he simply did NOT handle it - at all.

Cut to today.  Father's Day.  It may have been coming for months (the news, not Father's Day) but it felt like it appeared out of nowhere - this declaration.  The elephant in the middle of the room - roaring suddenly.  "Oh, by the way... I'm moving out of state, to live with my new family, my new child.  See you later.  Goodbye."

There was no talking about it.  No forewarning.  No... figuring out how to handle this together so that we could mutually support our own child, my son - and reassure him that no matter what everything would be ok.  No preparing for the fact that if this was handled badly - my boy, who is still a boy, only 11 years old, after all - will worry, late at night, under the covers, that monster under the bed - up and out and whispering in his ear "your Daddy doesn't love you [as much] [anymore] [now that he has a new family]." 

All I had, was that moment, my ex husband explaining that "maybe in six months, a year, maybe, he and his wife will find new jobs and a new home out here.  Maybe, then, they will return.  Maybe, then, he will be a father again, to our son.

And in this surreal, ridiculous and heartbreaking moment - the weight of the world, every bit of responsibility that the blessing of a child bestows on you - seemed to have been carelessly tossed in my lap.  With my child watching, I could not be angry. What if RJ thought that meant that I was angry that he was here full time now?  I could not tell my ex-husband that he was a louse or a fool, or how dissapointed I was in his choices and the way he has handled them.  Because, the only thing that could make this moment worse for RJ - would have been to have to see his mother and his father fight.

I had to smile.  I couldn't shake or even grit my teeth.  I had to say something equally ridiculous and surreal, as if I was talking to a neighbor, a casual aquaintence off for a trip around the world.  "Ok, well keep me apprised of your plans."

"I'm not really moving... I'm just going to live "there" instead of "here."

It was as if he had become Dr. Seuss.  The Cat in the Hat.  Bizarre double speak, that made no sense. 

My mantra.  Smiling.  No yelling.  THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME.  My son was looking at me.  I couldn't even grit my teeth.  Here is what I said:

"You know what?  I don't think it matters what words you use - "living here, living there, or moving" - or whose name is on what electric bill in what state - all that really matters right now, is that RJ understands that you love him, no matter where you live, and of course - you do right?"

Please, please, please.  Tell our son you love him, before you say goodbye.

And he did.  He said, "Oh, yes, well of course..."  He took RJ out to breakfast, and when they returned - it was my ex husband who started to cry.  My 11 year old son hugged him and said - "Dad, it is going to be ok."

His Dad left.  A car door closing.  He drove away.

Everything in my son's life changed today.  I know, he will always remember this day.  The day his Dad moved.  That car, driving away.

"Well, I have to go to the pet store to get some dog-food.  Wanna come?" I asked RJ, a few minutes after his Dad left.

RJ sat on the couch.  "No Mom.  I feel sort of wiped out." 

"Ok.  Well... you know what.  I want you to come anyway.  Alright?  I just want to hang out with you  - ok?"  So RJ relented, and came with me. 

As it turns out, a local animal shelter was having adoption day at the Petco where we went for the dog food.  RJ wanted to hold a kitten, so we sat down together, with the sweetest tiny little tabby I have ever seen.

"Can I have him Mom?"  RJ asked after a few minutes.  I began to prepare mental notes for all the reasons why another cat in the house would not be a good idea.  Why we couldn't, we shouldn't, we wouldn't... and then RJ said:

"Since I won't be going to my Dad's anymore, I'll be with you all the time.  So I can take care of the kitty better, that way."

Well.  What can I say?  Our menagerie of pets has grown, by one kitten.  This is a picture of him - near asleep, this afternoon - on RJ's Bed.

He is the sweetest little kitty in all the world.  Still, RJ named him "Pepper."  Ah well, I suspect RJ - has had a bitter-sweet day.

Ok, before I end here, I want to say this:  In my life, I am surrounded by extraordinary men and fathers, all around.  My best friend Jenna's husband Randy is father-of-the year, every year, in my book - for the loving and tender way he takes care of his children, his step-children, and RJ too.  My other best friend Marc is single and childless, but is incredibly loyal and caring, and both my children - RJ and Abigail, love him dearly, as do I.  My brother is an amazing father to my nephew - a joy behold - I love them, my brother and his son - beyond any words' ability to explain.

And of course, my own husband, Richard.  He has wrapped his sense of family and faith and loyalty around me and my son and his daughter, as if our family was always meant to be.  And of course, I too believe that to be true.  Here he is, when RJ was six, making sure that my boy was safe and ready to ride his first skateboard.  Making sure, that he was safe.

My husband, my love.  He did what a dad will do when they are worried about their children and want to reassure them, today.  He hung out with RJ this afternoon.  He didn't get mad about the kitten we brought home (goodness knows, this alone is proof this man loves us!) and even told RJ, that his new furry friend was awfully cute.  Then, my husband built a rocket with my son.  We walked down to the park, our little family - and launched this hydrolic foam rocket high into the sky.

What can I say?  Today, something very difficult happened.  But also some things wonderful.  My son's heart and soul was turned upside down - and because of that, so was mine.  But my son and I are so loved and so blessed, and so lucky.  AND, we have a new kitten!  Life changes and turns, and sometimes hearts break - and yet, it seems, in the end it is always alright. 

It makes me think of that quote about kittens:

"A new kitten will turn your house upside down and at the same time make everything seem right."

So, I'll end with this:

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful fathers out there.  Hold, and hug, and keep your children close.  They need you near, more than words can say.

And to everyone - hang in there through the difficulties and upside downs.  Hang in there.  soon enough the tide will turn the other way, and life will seem alright.

And finally, this - another picture I love, taken several years ago of me and my little boy wonder, my blessing, my child love of my life...

Their imaginations were under there...

"I love fishing.  You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end.  Your imagination is under there. " ~Robert Altman

I thought I would share these pictures of my kids, both of whom enjoyed themselves fishing (and caught fish!) fishing off the lake behind my Aunt Barb's house in Michigan, this past weekend.  As big and lovely as these fish were, we preferred the masticcioli Barb made for dinner, so these lucky fish were thrown back in.

Here's to hoping you catch some joy this week, too!

xo - Chel

What a weekend!

Jon Troast (www.JonTroast.com) was so wonderful, during his concert in my living room (!) - it was just pure joy.

Here are a few of the mesmerized guest.  As you can see - it was nearly impossible to get a non-blurry picture. I think it was because there was a wonderful whirlin dirvish of frenetic and positive energy in the air.  Here, amongs the blur are Gina Gabriell, Iva Wilcox,their spouses, my best friend Marc, and his date Cara. 

Here's a group shot:

Iva, her husband John, Marc and his date Cara, me, Lyn Wright, her husband Bill, Gina, her husband Steve, in front of Gina is her son Noah, and kneeling is Jon Troast.

What can I say about Jon Troast?  This guy is truly up and coming, he is so very talented.  My 11 year old son loved him, all of the guests loved him - and stay tuned for really exciting news about Jon and the ZNE ConvenZioNE 2008 event- coming soon!  www.ZNEcon.com

So, that was Friday night.  On Saturday, I headed out to Point Richmond, and the lovely Nova Studio.

The owner of Nova Studio, Lori Nova, is an expert soap and body product maker - and she teaches exquisite classes about the same...

However, the studio also welcomes instructors who teach other topics.  There are some wonderful mixed media classes at the studio, though I am teaching a series of art/business related classes.  Yesterday I taught a wonderful group of students about the art and craft show circuit.  I just loved the lovely pale green studio.  What's not to love about this fun wall display, showing off both soap and bodyworks, and fun mixed media samplings:

 

And I loved this picture - look at all those jars of herbs and petals and all kinds of lovely scented goodies!

If you all want to join me for the next series of classes I am teaching there, they will be on June 21, and you can learn more here:

http://www.thenovastudio.com/2008_CAL_JUN.html

Here is to hoping that you all have a musical, magical, and wonderful weekend, and week to come!

xo - Chel

An extraordinary weekend - and happy birthday my lovely son!

Last weekend was SO fun.  My kids and nephew and I hopped in the ZNE-Mobile, and went to the lovely seaside town of Jenner.  Here are pictures from our weekend:.

Cowgirl Round~up

Well, cowgal Chelise set off for the ranch yesterday, all dudded up in her denim and gingham dress!

(a lot of these pics are really blurry, but you get the idea.)  Isn't it fun to have an excuse to wear red RED red lipstick!

At Diablo Ranch where the wedding took place, I arrived early to help set the tables and get all the favors I made distributed.

I made 100 western cones filled with kisses:

And I decorated 100 little bubble bottles with these shabby tags:

I also made six pairs of western themed earrings which my soon-to-be sister in law gave to her bridesmaids as gifts:

(I even decorated the earring cards with toy cowboys, and the gift bags that she put the earrings in, with little toy horses.  So fun!)

At the wedding, the kids found the stable with the pool table, straight away:

 

Here is to hoping that you all had a wonderful weekend, and that you are all ready for a fabulous week. 

Keep your heart lifted, and your spirit ready for what may come.  You just never know what doors may open for you...

Fun, fun, fun

On Friday morning my husband's family from out of town came over for a snack/brunchie thing.  They were here for my brother in laws wedding.

I put out mimosas, and ice water.  Toffee, and crackers.  I made a cheese ball, and carrott cupcakes, and brownies too.

It was fun.

Maybe not quite as fun as the rehearsal dinner though. I love my family.  Look how beautiful Abs is:

(isn't that funny how it looks like she has the world's largest glass of wine next to her!? No, no, that was Nanny's wine.  Not Abs'!)

And, in what other family, can you get away with doing THIS at the stuffy 'ol rehearsal dinner!?

(My my!  I wonder where he gets such terrible manners from?  Tee Hee!)

Today's the wedding.  I am a bit sleep deprived, and, well, silly.  But things could be worse!

Here is to hoping you are all having a great time this weekend - wherever your corner of the world may be.

xo - Chel 

Cowgirl Up!

No, that's not me (ha!) but hopefully, I will be wearing that dress, soon!

My brotherin law and his girlfriend are getting married in April, and they are having their wedding at a horse ranch.  The overall theme is sort of western.  What could be better than a red gingham top with a denim bottom?

I ordered the dress from Pin Up Girl Clothing, a store that is clearly after my own heart.

I'll take pics on the big day, and you all can see me in the dress, instead of that gorgeous model.  I know, I know, but still - should be fun!

I am also going to be throwing my  sister-in-law to be a shower, and I am decorating their guest book, and making their party favors plus earrings for the bridesmaid party - as gifts.  So I'll post my western creations over the next couple of weeks, as I create!

Woo Hoo!

xo - Chel

We had such fun!

We had some FABULOUS kids join us for the crown workshop last Tuesday.  My stepdaughter Abigail is on the far left, then (me!), my son RJ, Maria Schuldheisz, Gina Gabriell's son Noah, and Gina herself.

Everyone had a good time playing with crown forms, ink pads, images and embellishments.

Everyone was royal that night!

The crowns were really fun to see, all grouped together.

My heart overflows...

My wonderful friend JoAnnA Pierotti received her copy of the book ZNE created to comfort her in her time of sorrow as she deals with the death of her mother.

In true JoAnnA style, she created a beautiful piece of artwork to express her appreciation.  She used a picture of her mother holding her when she was about one year old:

 

Click on the image to see a close up and be able to read her beautiful words.  Check out JoAnnA's blog to see her post about receiving the book:

http://mosshill.blogs.com/joannas_journal/2008/03/my-dear-preciou.html

My heart overflows right now with gratitude toward all the members of ZNE who contributed to the creation of the book, and in the fact that JoAnnA has received great comfort in its pages.

(And if you would like to purchase a copy of the Never Forgotten book which honors mothers, loss, and healing - CLICK HERE.)

My Heart Breaks ~

(Artwork above copyright JoAnnA Pierotti - "A Mother's Love")

My dearly loved friend JoAnnA Pierotti's mother died this morning.  I spoke to my wonderful Mossy this morning - and she is dealing with unbelievable shock and grief right now.

I wish I could scoop up all the motherless daughters in the world, and love away all their pain.  Suture up all those broken hearts with stiches of Grace.

Sigh.  I can't write much more right now.  Early morning phone calls about mother's dying are so close to home, and my heart is broken for Mossy and her entire family right now.

xoxo - Chel

Playing Around ~

Last night, my husband and I went over to a friends house, and he and the guys played around in a WII band.  It was hilarious.  It is so fun to watch grown men play.

I brought my art journal, which I have been forcing myself to doodle in for months now - to overcome my fear around "I can't even draw a straight line!"  I've been having fun lately, which is nice.  See that picture?  That's me.  See, I'm growing, just by playing around.

And here's a picture of the hubby on drums, my brother in law (who was playing along on a real guitar) and our friend Kevin's girlfriend Lisa.  I was wedged between her and my pregnant sister in law, Sara, and I was doodling away.

Hope you had a joy filled playful weekend too.

xo - Chel

What is Love?

My kids and I decided to take a dance class together and we video taped the results.  What do you think? (HIT PLAY)

I also signed up for another Easter swap over at Bella Enchanted's blog.  My "new" studio (the one I moved into a year ago, practically - ha!) is very fru fru, so I can't wait to have some easter and springy things from new swap friends to add!

She's taking sign ups through Februaryn 20 - here.

Hope you all are having a great Thursday!

xo - Chel

Joy is not in things; it is in us.

These photo-booth images are soooo grainy.

But I think the joy still shines through.

: D

Wishing  you all joy, and silliness, always!

xo - Chel

Bloggin, Loving, and The Book Club too!

Ok, let's see... On the bloggin' front - ZNE is starting up some new promotional activities for our members who BLOG.  of course, we already have the Site Ring, and now we are going to have a special blog about bloggin' (ZNE Blogz!) as well as weekly art and writing prompts, and more!

 

   

   

Get ready!  Hope to have it all up and moving along buy June or July at the latest!

And speaking of blogging, I joined a cool new blog roll.  Namely because, uh, I wanted to be able to say I was a bloggin' chick!  I am after all!  So, check it out.  A lot of fun women bloggin' their hearts out, on this blog roll.

And, on the writing blog front, I've been having a lot of fun with prompts.  My last three entries were in response to prompts from Art Words, Sunday Scribblings, and Indie Blogger.  Check 'em out if you haven't already.

        

Ok... speaking of things I love (art, writing, ZNE) have I mentioned lately - how much I LOVE MY HUSBAND!  There are of course a million reasons why, but for the purposes of this post, I'll stick to one very recent reason:

1.  He is replacing the floor in our house with lovely hard wood.  (It's a laminate, but one of those real wood, real pretty ones, I am SO  happy about this!) So, he's been literally down on his hands and knees ripping (carpet), removing (carpet staples), cutting (wood to size) and hammering (wood into place) for days now.  Yesterday, after he completed the first living room (we have two) and dining nook - he showed me this photo:

What is it?  It's a picture he drew, of our family - on the wood floor beneath the carpet.  The picture is now covered with the new floor, but it (the picture of our family) is down there for all eternity.  Well, or some aproximation of all eternity, anyway.  ISN'T THAT CUTE!  I am going to have to print out and frame this picture, it is so special.  :D

And, let's see - what else?  Oh yeah - be sure and check out The ZNE Book Club blog:

We've posted our Monday updates!  We are all enjoying Bernie's book.   Remember, if YOU want to join us for June's Book Club session, we'll be reading Claudine Hellmuth's Collage Discovery Workshop.  If you join the Book Club on or before May 14, you'll be entered to win a free copy, too!

Oh, one last thing ~ Check out this cool site I found on The Wish Studio's blog.  You enter any word, and it pulls flickr photos to create your word.  Here is an example of one of my favorite words:

 

How cool is that!?  Go ahead and click here to make your own!

Happy Monday everyone!  Things are hoppin' here in The Land of ZNE!

xo - Chel

Art, art, everywhere!

Phew!  I was able to hand off my latest Cercles D'Ame journal pages.  The theme of this journal was childhood.  Here are my silly pages:

 

And, making me happy lately - is - of all things, my key chain.  A few months ago I bought this big huge fused glass bead dangly keychain thing, and then yesterday a little collage embellishment key chain created by ZNE Member anemone arrived at my doorstep, and now I finally feel as if my keys are really stepping out in style.  Check 'em out.

But that's not all.  Look what my super talented adorable 11 year old step-daughter Abigail made:

ITS A PILLOW!  That little doggy is so cute, I can't stand it.  Almost, but of course - not quite - as cute as Abbey.

Hope you all are having a fabulous APRIL!

Back to the grind for me.  Lots going on!

xo - Chel

Boo Boo Swap!

When I was a young child, my brother and I called our scraped knees and dinged elbow patches "ca-ca."  That was our name for little cuts and scratches.  "Mommy, I got a ca-ca," we would say.  To this day, I remember being six or so years old and having a teacher tell me that "ca-ca" was not actually a word.  How was this possible?  How was it possible that a word I used frequently, that my older brother used and my mother and father used - was not an actual word??

(I suppose, the shock of using made up words - dulled the not much later shock of finding out that most people who did use the word "ca-ca," used it to mean poop.  What can I say?)

Now my own kids used the word boo-boo for such injuries.  And though they have long since grown out of using the word, they have not grown out of the boo-boos themselves.  My son in particular is the master of scrapes, cuts, and bruises.  He has fallen off bikes, skateboards, stoops, stairs and chairs.  A couple weeks ago I had to pick him up at school because while he was running across the playground he tripped and skidded on his face.  He looked like someone had stuck mincemeat on his forehead.   Sigh.

This morning when I was catching up on Missy Ballance's blog, I saw that she was hosting a First Aid Kit Swap.  I think it goes without saying that this is the perfect swap for me!  I can't wait to put something fun together, and see what I get in return.

I'll post here when the swap is done!  In the meantime, if you want to participate too, hop on over to Missy's blog!

Have a great day.  Try not to step in ca-ca or get any boo boos.  : ) 

If clothes pins were for laundry lines~

If clothes pins were only used to hang wet clothes on laundry lines - it goes without saying that domestically challenged moi would never have occasion to use one!

Luckily, the clothes pin and I have been getting cozy as we play around with fairies and all things glitter.  Hooray!  My favorites!

Earlier I showed you some of the clothes pin dolls I started making for an Altered Art Obsession swap - it is sort of hard to appreciate the best part of these, when you see pictures of them.  The clothes pin makes the little fairies three dimensional.  They are so fun.  Here are a few that I worked on last night -Tipsy Trudy, Glenda Glitter, and Golden Clutch Gilda.

The face and dress images that I used for these are from Fenderskirts Vintage.  I just love them!

(I have decided that I am going to have to dedicate a post, soon, to all the incredible image sources out there, that I just LOVE!  There are so many extraordinary places to get collage sheets and digital download images, lately - and all of the vendors I work with regularly are incredibly kind and generous.  So, that post full of my favorite resources, will be coming soon!)

And I have added a side shot of Tipsy Trudy so that you can get a sense of what I mean by three dimensional.  I am really enjoying playing with those vintage lucite clothes pins.

Oh hey, is it March 23?  OOOH!  Guess what?

It's my wedding aniversary today!

Sheesh.  I almost forgot.  Let me go kiss the hubby.  Hold on a second....  Ooop.  It's morning.  He's too grumpy for a kiss.  Ah well.  I did say Happy Aniversary Honey!  Here, a cyber kiss will have to do:

   

SWAK!

Love you ~ even when you are grumpy!

Happy Friday everyone!

xo - Chel

Warning! Shocking Photos!

These are very rare and shocking photos.

My children, in the act of cleaning their rooms:

My Altered World

Alrighty, I'll start with this.

Could there possibly be a more miserable face than this one?  We've had to baby-gate proof the area of the kitchen that houses the dog and cat food dishes.  Apparently, Adin thinks that Kibbles and Bits could not be more delicious.  And he is NOT happy about these recent gated developments!

Now this is MUCH better.  Now, I can write a post in my blog!

(But first, one more comment on the picture at right.  Is it just me or is there a little magnet in that cheek begging for a kiss?  Honestly, my lips are puckering just looking at it.  He's a miniature Marlon Brando with those pudgy cheeks.  But, I digress...)

So, on Sunday I gathered together a dozen or so ZNE members, and then I cracked the whip and worked 'em hard and fast so that in four hours, each one had created 18 (!) individual chunky book pages.  (As you can see, I also bribed them with apples and brownies!)  The end result is an absolutely extraordinary ZNE Zaftig book.  The ZNE Zaftig book is an ongoing chunky book project.  Our group has hosted two chunky books - the first one was hosted by the fabulous Shin Young a couple years ago, and this second one is being coordinated out of The ZNE Studios.  Members from all over - Georgia, Indiana, New York and Illinois sent in pages to join those which were created by the members of the workshop on Sunday.

The pages were created as a part of February's Altered Everything ~ Everything Altered Workshop.  Normally I teach these workshops at my house, but this month we really needed room to spread out given the quantity of pages we were creating.  ZNE member Andrea Chebelau was kind enough to offer her art studio, A Work of Heart - which is in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose. 

I hope to get as many pages as possible uploaded into The ZNE Projects and Activities Gallery this week - but, in the meantime, here are some fun pics from our workshop.  Speaking of Andrea, I love the close up at right, of one of her pages:   Cool, eh? On the left is a picture of some of her pages in process.  I supplied her with some vintage (circa 1918) precription ephemera and she really had fun with them.

And below are some pages that Alison Downey created.  She hated having to create so many pages in so little time, but she was a trooper.  I gave her these fun little vintage scottie dog toys, and some cat cards that Izabella sent me a few months ago.  It was raining cats and dogs for Alison.  Ha!

And then there are these fabulous pages made by Patricia Cowan, each one ended up with a little hand created bookmark tucked inside.  So cute!

 

I was just really impressed with everyone's hard work.  I am not kidding when I say that most people were mighty grumpy with me the last hour of the workshop.  One person commented that 4 hours is little long for a workshop of this nature, and to tell the truth, I agree.  But, again - the end product is just so extraordinary.  For those of you who haven't done chunky books before, the way it works is that every participant ends up with a bound book that has one page that they made, and one page that every other participant made, inside.  These books are such incredible wellsprings of creativity, inspiration, and artistic collaboration.  They are truly fabulous.  So I say a great big thank you to all the participants of this month's workshop!  We made enough books that everyone got to take one home, plus I have a couple  to send to ZNE We-Care recipients, and one is going into the ZNE Show-Your-Love contest pot.  WOW!

BRAVO EVERYONE! 

For those of you who live in Northern California, or will be visiting on the 4th of Sunday of the month, join us at an upcoming workshop.  We work on a different project each month, they are great fun - and all supplies plus generous servings of chocolate and caffeine are always available!

Ok, well, before I sign off for today - I have one more thing to share.  I just love this pot of glue image that was in the corner of one of the pictures I took:

If anyone can think of a fun way to use the image in a collage or piece of artwork, I'd love to see it.  Maybe it is just me, leave it to a collage artist to love a picture of a pot of glue!  But what can I say, I do.

Wh...Huh?  What's that I hear.  Ah yes.  The familiar stirring.  A bit of a cry.

Adin's awake!  I better run and grab him up quick.  I'd hate to have him make that face, at the top of this post - again!

Let me go kiss those cheeks!

Here is to hoping that you all have cheeks to kiss and pots of glue at your disposal, whenever you need them!

Charming Gardeners

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
~ Marcel Proust ~

I have to say, there are so many flowers in my soul as of late, it is a virtual (spiritual?) garden of wildflowers.  I do hope that many of you reading this can say the same. 

Things are getting hectic around here.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that the latter half of the month is committed to working on newsletters, newsletters, newsletters.  ZNE in particular has so much going on, I need to write a novel in order to include all the updates.  I wish I could just get all our members together and give them a tour through The Land of ZNE.  "And behind this door we have...."  Oh, it would be so fun!  Hmmm... Note to self:  Project for the future - Create a Virtual Tour of the Land of ZNE.  Ooh!  Fun...

Anyway, that being said - I did want to post a few notes about some of the charming gardeners that have been making me smile lately.

First off, the light of my life - my son RJ - pointed out that I haven't yet posted a picture of him in this new blog.  My bad!  Here is a picture of my beautiful boy:

Yes, that is chocolate pudding smeared on his face.  Bad mommy, letting him fall asleep (on the couch no less) without making him wash his face.  Sigh.

I like looking at him while he is asleep, I can still almost see his baby face in there.  How quickly it all goes.  He'll be 10 years old in a couple of months.

Oh. the flowers that have bloomed in my soul, due to this child of mine, this gorgeous and charming gardener.  I never could have dreamed or imagined, and yet here they are.  At every turn, fragrant and lovely - my son.

The picture up top was taken in December.  He was making a ginger bread house at school.  I try to volunteer at his school at least once every month or two.  He loves it when I do this.  Asking me several times:  "What time will you be there?  Are you going to stay?"  But then when I get there, he wants nothing to do with me.  It's a 9 year old boy thing.  I can't talk to him, he shrugs off my hugs.  But he looks over to make sure I am still there, every few minutes.  He just wants me near.  There is something both wonderful and heartbreaking about it all.  Ah well, so goes the growing up of our children.

Ok, moving on - here is another wonderfulness that is making me smile lately - remember those earrings that I bought from Barbe Saint John - well here they are on my ears.  That picture was taken on valentines day.  Love these earrings! SO FUN.

Barbe is getting ready to move and she is selling some really fun stuff on eBay, so I also picked up the cutest red polka dot shirt from her a couple weeks ago.  (I mean really, I don't even have to show a picture - I can just say "red polka dot shirt" and you get the gist!) - And, as was the case with the earrings - she stuffed my package FULL of wonderful extra gifts!  Even a book of retro paper dolls that I ADORE!  If you haven't gotten the hint yet - git yer butts over to Barbe's shops and buy something.  You will not be disappointed!  (Plus, she needs to downsize and raise movin' money.  Help a girl out.  There is no better karma than good art karma!)

I know you can't really see those earrings in these pictures.  (Look at the original post for a better a view.) Needless to say, I've been having fun with filters lately.  I really really really want to become adept at photoshop.  I see some of the stuff these digi scrapbook designers are doing and I am blown away.   That being said, I feel that the learning curve is an uphill battle and I am not sure I am making much ground!  Sigh.  Ah well.  Here is another filter I applied to my face.  I am not sure what it is called - film grain I think.  I prefer "the dermabrasion" filter.  As in sandstorm.  (Here's a little peek into my internal voices.  They look at that picture, and say: Put some lipstick on girlie!  But I digress...)

Ok, well - moving on again.  Since I promised pics of my clean office, I figured I would spread them out over a few posts.  We'll start with this one.  It is sort of a teaser.  And a cheater.  Cuz' its only the doors.  When you first walk in to our house, the front doors to my office are on the left of the front entry hall. However, they don't open.  That's because there are shelves pushed up against them on the inside.  To enter my office you have to go through the door in our back hall.  We'll get to that in another post.

As you can see, I have attached some long tall French billboards to the doors, and those are covered in artwork by my many beloved artist friends.  Truth be told, it would be impossible to fill such a small space with even one small piece of work from all my favorite artists - but there is a lot of it here, on these doors.  (You can click on the picture for a little bit of a bigger image.)

Let's see (please forgive the lack of links - I'd spend forever and a day doing link uploads.  Just do a search on eBay for ZNE!) we've got Katey Duley, JoAnna Pierotti, Diana Belton, Karyn Gartel, Joanna Grant, Christine Wasankari, Cinda Rae Oliverio, TiffanyJane Marshall, Krissy Chadwick, Cindy Couling, Nancy Baumiller, Julie O'Neil, Kris Hubick, Renee Thompson, CorrieLynne Sweiger, Artubus Tolbert, Dawn Hernandez, Ed Giecek, Patti Victoria Crump, Zorana, and more, more more....  And just think - we haven't even entered my actual office yet!

SO, wheneever I walk in my front doors, I see these two doors.  Doors to imagination, creativity, and truth be told - dreams coming true.  I am so honored to own these bits of artwork.  I am humbled by my friendships with these artists.  And I am overwhelmed with the joy of having oh so many charming gardeners, tending to the wildflowers in my soul.

I'll be back, and next time - you are all invited inside!  (My office.  Not my soul. Though, one does reflect an awful lot of the other.)

Spring is on its way.  So get out there and tend to your own gardens.  Literally or figuratively.  May you find beauty wherever you so seek. 

In the Land of ZNE...

YIKES!

Oh, the state of my studio is so unbelievable.  I have to tip toe and do long jumps to get across the room and sit at my desk.  There are SO many things on the floor right now!  I'd take a picture and show you - but for the fear that you'd call the fire marshall!

My husband likes to show my studio to visiting guests, purely for the shock value.

"Honey, don't!" I always plead- but he figures that if I let it get into this kind of a state, being humiliated by it is my just reward.  Sigh.

I'll try to sort through it all this week - but a complete clean up is not likely. I've got taxes to deal with.  ( Can you say - YUCKY!!)  And babies to watch. (Can you say - YUMMY!) and cats and dogs to pet and snuggle.  This stuff takes up an awful lot of time.  Ah well.

And, I am a bit melancholy today.  RJ is not feeling well, but he is at his dad's house.  So there my boy is, and well, he's not here.  It is hard to put into words - but all reason behind divorce and joint custody flies out the window, when your child feels sick and he is not home with "you" - where he should be.  Of course I called RJ and talked to him and told him I loved him and all that jazz, but still...

The good news however is that VIckie is home now (!) recovering, and she was even able to send an email message out to a few of her online groups.  I just can't tell you how nice it is to know she is home.

So there's my check-in. Oh, except for this:

Look at the little man!

Adin can hold his sippy on his own now.  He's not an expert mind you, but I am encouraging him to practice as much as possible.

Imagine him being able to feed himself! 

Oh, and though my life being filled with diaper changes and bottle feedings and goopy cereal and peas has been so very special - I do look forward to his growing a bit more independent.

So, happily to the sippy cup we go!

Ok.  Phew! So that about covers the excitement in my life as of late - and now -

On to Art!

We had a ZNE Altered Everything ~ Everything Altered workshop yesterday.  We had it here at the house, though I had to barr everyone from actually entering my studio - for reasons explained earlier in this post.  I like these workshops, everyone is so friendly and inspired and inspiring.  Here we are!  Me ~n~ a buncha ZNEers (what could be better?) getting ready to create some art.  (Oh, that's better!)

And, joy oh joy, I get to create some art!

Wanna see?  Here is a picture of one creation I made:

Ok!  Ok!  I admit it.  I didn't make anything in that picture except for the confection, which I referred to as "poop" fudge.

Still, people ate it, which just goes to show the power of chocolate over all other reason.

So what did I really make?  We were working on altered cigar boxes.  I (get ready for a shock) decided to decorate mine with some pin up girl imagery.  (That's not really a shock - but I figured that after the poop-fudge, I'd give you all a break.)

My box still needs finishing, but here's the front and inside:

I used a white glue wash to layer a decorative napkin on the top and inside of the box, and then put the images down.  As you can see, I just ripped the napkin to size on the inside, but I llike that raw around the edges effect.  Aside from the pin up girls, all the other embellishments were laid down where the tissue had ripped from being to wet (or being handled by my aggressive little bubble smooshing fingers).  But shhhhh! Don't tell. 

So, that's what's up in my neck of the woods.  And you?  Do tell.  Leave some comments.  You can leave comments on typepad, can't you?  Well I know somebody can, cuz' Bella did a while back.  Thanks Bella!  Now, for the rest of you - check in!  Say hi!  Whose peeking in here... ?  Until then - It's back to Life