Zindorf Workshop Count Down

Th count down has started for the Zindorf workshop this weekend. Michelle will be flying in tomorrow (along with her sister) and the first workshop start on Friday morning. I have my studio all set up and waiting for everyone. I will be cutting the paper tonight, I always wait this long, in case of any last minute changes but other than that I'm all set. You can see the little pyramid of ink pads in front of everyone chair. Michelle is planning on using a lot of color!

Auction Find

In one of the outside junk lots at the local auction house were these cool file drawers. They slide in and out of the rack. I thought there were only three but after I got home and clean everything up, I ended up with four. I didn't photograph the fourth one. I'm planning on using some of them for a display in my booths and keep some for my inner studio. Outside junk lots usually have random things thrown together and are just one step away from being thrown into the dumpster. Lucky for me, no one else was interested in the drawers.

Off by 1/4" - art

I dragged home this very heavy folding screen from the auction house today, thinking it would look nice in the studio and help shield the garage door. My husband has been complaining that it's too bright when the sun hits the windows. I had the next door neighbor's son and his buddies come over and help me move it into the studio. The boys got it into place only to discover that it was 1/4" to tall for my house. Totally bummed that I didn't measure the space right and knowing I could not take it back or resale it. What to do? I took off the hinges and leaned each panels into the spot. After that I spent the next hour moving all the cabinets around to see if I could make it look any better. The beach geese came out of a huge estate home that had it in their indoor swimming pool area - not to be confused with their outdoor swimming pool area. The guys at the auction said the house was so big that they had to tie a string from the front of the house to the back so they could find their way back to the truck. :) I thought it was a fun piece of art even with all the age spots on it. I'm now looking into how to clean it without damaging the paint.

Auction Week

This is auction week for me - well every other week is auction week. All the local auctions happen at the same time for some reason. It's been slim pickings for us at the auction houses. Either there isn't anything good or it's going so high (usually to private buyers) that we can't afford it. :( Normally I don't go to estate sales because it's sad to walk into some one's home and see all their things being picked over. Without being able to restock my vintage booths with cool auction finds, I finally broke down and went to an estate sale. It was a tiny house so they could only let so many people in at a time. One quick glance around and I was getting ready to leave when I spotted a small white box fill with what looked like printer's blocks or stamps. Well, I just had to check it out which wasn't as easy as it sounds. I had to find the person with the key to open the glass case it was locked in and once people heard I was asking for the case to be opened crowded around it to see what I interested in. I just pointed to the box and said I would take it all without looking at it (risky thing to do at an estate sale), along with the mini wood planer (it really works and is going to be present for my contractor) and oil can. The box had various Christmas theme metal blocks that a printer or engraver would have used. Since I collect printer's cabinets this was a major score! The best part was the three metal stamps of vintage cats and a dog images. I stamp them out so you could get a better look at them. I'm already working on class ideas using my new treasures.

Cornflake card

I've been so busy, I haven't had a lot of card making time. Tonight is my "Cornflakes" night (my card making group) so I had to sit down and do something! I plan to do a whole series of classes using "My Favorite Things" stamps, so I decided to whip up a quick card with my new stamps. Since I'm working from home this week, I used diamond glaze on the the coat and boots. After I put the card together I realized I should have also done the dog's coat too.

Frog Eating Day

Today is a marathon "frog eating" day. I'm getting ready for Michelle Zindorf's workshops in a few weeks. Now that all the supplies are here (happy dance), I've started the process of prepping all the kits. The rubber stamps are unmounted so all 24 sets have to be cut and trimmed before class. I'm also working on sorting out piles of paper along with other craft supplies. There is so much all over my house that I pick a four foot square and clean that area. It may sound silly but it helps break down the over whelming task of getting thing put away.

Bocce?

One of our good friends Bill had a surprised 50th birthday party at the Los Gatos Bocce Club last night. Bill's wife Kristen was so funny letting Bill think he had made the decision to out and play bocce. He really was surprised! After a couple of games we then went inside and had a great Italian dinner with Bill's favorite wines (Bill's wine buyer was one of the guests) and then got to watch Bill open his gifts. We have known Bill for over 30 years so I made a card with a photo from one of our first Christmas together. (Bill, Doug and I use to be roommates way back when) Bill (the one holding the tape measure down) use to have hair down to his waist and was skinny as a bean pole. Everyone had a good chuckle seeing the photo. Happy Birthday Bill!

Ever have days like this?

Ever have days when your to do list looks and feels like this picture? It's been a busy week for me and it will be this way until the end of the month. My mantra has been "one frog at a time" from the Brain Tracy book "Eat that Frog".
The photo is from one of my CJ buddies Sue (see my blog roll) who loves to hike and actually climbed up to the top of this peak. Sue called it hiking, I would call it more rock climbing, along with a few other expressions. If I can't hike Nepal this year, maybe I will go out and hike and crawl up this thing. :)

Cats & Bats Class

While I had Lucy keeping Purrcy busy, I got a photo of my "Cats and Bats" sample board. It's another easy and quick class using two of my favorite themes, Cats and Halloween.

Cats & Bats with Purrcy

I was getting ready to take a photo of my class "Cats and Bats" when Purrcy decided he needed to have my undivided attention. He's never done this before and every time I picked him up to move him to his play pen, he would jump out and roll around the cards. Don't worry, the cars are in plastic covers I use when I display the board at the store. I finally had to find Lucy who made sure Purrcy didn't get in the way. Turning your back on Lucy is not a wise thing for any cat to do in our house. :)

Talking about AC units

As I was talking about getting a new AC unit for my studio, I have another story about a portable AC unit. I've had a Grand Jeep Cherokee for 15 years - yes we keep all our cars for that long. My Jeep finally threw in the towel right before the heat wave hit California. My AC went out (the fans stopped working) then the power windows stop working. Ever drive in a car during a heat wave with no AC and couldn't roll down the windows? I've been looking for a new car for some time now. During my CJ retreat week, I rode around in Patty's Lexus RX300 during our marathon scrapbooking store shopping. After grilling Patty about her car, I decided that was the car I was going to get. Come to find out the second hottest car to buy is (that means it's on back ordered with a long waiting list) - yes you guessed it - the Lexus RX. Remember I'm still driving around in a car with no AC during a heat wave. What's a girl to do? I brought Patty's Lexus! So now I think I have all my AC issues under control.

New Additon To My Studio - RD2D

Seems like it's been days since I last posted anything - well it really has been almost a week. As usual something is always going on here at Flatfishpaperarts. For the last week we've had unseasonably high temperatures during the day. One of the nice things living in the Bay Area is when the sun goes down so does the temperature. One thing I notice right after my studio was finished was how nice and warm the room was when I had all 27 true light bulbs on. I knew when summer rolled around this could become BIG problem. With the Zindorf workshop only a few weeks away it was time to bit the bullet and get AC unit for the studio. There was a perfect space for it in the corner of the studio - almost like I had planned to have one there all along. I've now named it RD2D It's working out so well, we got for my Dad too!

Zindorf Workshop

Here are the photos of the three projects Michelle will do at her workshop next month out here in California. I've been busy gathering all the supplies and double checking the list - can't wait!!!

Zindorf Workshop - Stamps

Here is are the stamp sets by Innovation Stamps Creations we will be using at Michelle Zindorf's workshop next month.

Happy 4th of July Chad!

Every year my family gets together to celebrate the 4th with a big BBQ and then a walk to Central Park to watch the fireworks. My son Chad is currently on his fifth deployment to the Middle East. We wanted to let Chad and his crew know that we are thinking of them and appreciate all that they are doing.

Simply Happy Halloween Class

Here is my sample board for my "Simply Happy Halloween" card class that I will be teaching at Cranberry Hill. I LOVE Halloween and making cards is even more fun! You can get really messy with your cards and they still look Halloweenish.
The cards are really simple (hint was in the title) so people can make them in a wave of a wand. (O.K. I just had to say that.) I have more Halloween stamps and designs waiting for me on my design table. Keep checking back, I will post them as soon as I get them done.

Feline Funnies

These are the samples for my "Feline Funnies" class in August. It's quick and simple card class in honor of all those fur babies with attitude! Lucy (my cat) was the creative inspiration for most of the cards. This morning she made sure she got all the attention. Coughed up a hair ball, beat up Purrcy (my other cat) and made him cry loud enough to get my attention and then ran around the house like the race car. I really love the card on the left - talk to the tail. When Lucy is really mad at us, she will turn her back to us and not make eye contact. I've heard that other cats do this when not happy with their people.

Plum Poppers

I'm not a big fan of plums - just can't get over the tart taste of the skin and pit. We picked some plums at a friend's house this weekend and they smell soooo good. I decided that I had to find a way to bypass the skin and get to the tasty stuff inside.I now call them "plum poppers". I break the top of the plum and quickly suck out sweet stuff. This all has to be done super fast because ripe plums are really juicy. I do have to stand over the sink but so far it's working. Anybody else do plum poppers?

New Background Class

These are the samples for my next class at Cranberry Hill. It's a background technique class using alcohol inks, re-inkers, twinkling H2O, masking and sponging. Can you see the heavy influence of Michelle Zindorf - my creative muse? When I have those creative blocks and no chocolate in the house, I always ask myself what would MZ do? I'm still brayer challenged so I have to sponge on everything. Can't wait for Michelle to be out here and show us all how she does. If you haven't yet visited her blog and great tutorials go to my blog roll and click on Zindorf.