Let me introduce you to my friend Niccole who is an amazing photographer. I love her little bio of why she does what she does "I just can't get enough...little giggles, long gazes, TINY TOES, bashful smiles, tender TOUCHES, slobbery kisses, windblown HAIR, holding hands, ice cream dribbles, SILLY faces, living, LAUGHING, and loving." She's doing a $ special on sessions right now, you can check out her site for details.
What do you give someone who has everything as a gift? Of course, ART! I wanted to do something special for Steve and Caprice for their hospitality in San Diego. They love their dog Buster so I asked her to email me some of her favorite pictures of him. Then I had Katy alter it a bit in photoshop and this is where I took over.
I took a small canvas, applied a couple coats of gesso to try to get a little smoother surface. Then I used Mod Podge and glued on the print. I painted all around the outside and also dry brushed paint around the edges of the print. I added a cape cause he's a super hero of course!
Added more and more paint and layers. Used a round sponge to add the dots. Did a combination of stamps and hand lettering to keep it interesting. I also used those Distress Ink Pads to distress the edges which was new for me. Something I learned in one of the Artfest Workshops!
Here is one of my yard favorites. This Clematis has so many blooms every year that go on and on for several weeks. And the best part is that I do nothing to it. Every few years I prune it back but that's it!
MT (marathon training)- Ran 10.7 on Sat. with a few friends that are also doing the Portland Marathon. My husband roped me into riding today 29 miles with a lot of hills! Not was I was expecting but I do admit I felt great and accomplished afterwards! I'm thinking of doing the Furman Training Plan for this marathon. This plan requires only 3 days of running a week-speed, tempo and a long run. Plus 2 days of cross training. hmmm. I have an email into my brother in law, Mark Allen, to see what his opinion on this is. He should know! : )
Our whale clock is featured on the Dear Dr.MOZ's baby blog!
Dan Gauger, a guy who I go to church with and that is a friend of my parents (and mine), and I flew down to San Diego on Friday morning for the Rock-n-Roll Marathon. I can't believe how fast 16 weeks of training went by. I still didn't feel prepared to run 26.2 miles! 16 weeks ago I could hardly run 4 miles without dying!
The marathon wasn't till Sunday morning so we had time to chill. We stayed at our friends Steve and Caprice's place which is like a luxury resort! This was my room. I absolutely love this painting. I need to ask Caprice again who the artist is. She has several pieces by this same artist and they're all amazing.
Just a little bit about Gary and I's friend Steve here. He is about 54 years old or so and this guy is a stud. I don't think he ever sits still. Over the 2.5 days we were here Steve went on a 70 mile bicycle ride (fast!), did 2 - 45' bike races, sit ups and chased his dog Buster all over the house! What a testimony to staying active!
Sunday morning came quick and early. We were up and out of the house by 4:45AM. The race started at 6:30AM and we had to get down to the parking area and take a shuttle to the start line. I think there were about 18,000 participants.
I was surprised that I wasn't nervous. I figured I had about 4 or more hours to figure things out so why rush into panicking, right?! CORRECTION-I was a little nervous cause I was running in brand new shoes with just 6 miles of running on them. All the pamphlets and experts say "DON'T RUN IN NEW SHOES". Finally I had to just remind myself that my old shoes were hurting my feet so what did it matter if these did too.
A few things I didn't expect in running a marathon were so many people! I was surrounded on all sides the entire 26.2 miles. I was also surprised by the vaseline on sticks aid stations. Smart, I just wouldn't have thought of it.
Here's Dan's HUGE O MONGOUS blister at the finish... and blackened toenails. Bummer!
At mile 15 I started getting pretty tight and wondered if I was going to be able to finish. At mile 20 I couldn't believe how far every single mile was. I started thinking what a stupid idea this was and that I was never going to want to do this again! As I looked around at the other runners struggling for every step I thought "what is it in us that makes us sign up and pay money to suffer like this?" By mile 24 I knew I could finish. I finished in 4:10. I would have been disappointed with anything over a 4:15 so I was happy. Within moments of finishing I was already thinking about the Portland Marathon in Oct! I know that tons of you were praying your hearts out for me on Sunday morning and I thank you! God was totally with me (especially with my new shoes! only two tiny blisters that I didn't even know I had till I did a close inspection). God is good and faithful!
The whole training process, long runs and routine was something that I realize I love. Thank you for listening and letting me share this adventure with you. And, if any of you want to... you could join me for the Portland Marathon, you have time if you start now!
Maybe I've been spending too much time in this journal! It's so fun and freeing. There's no need to fear messing. Scratch-Scribble-Paint-Draw-Erase-Dribble-Etch-Sketch!
Half way through the year and I've finally finished my 2008 Goals List! I won't bore you with the items but I will tell you I list them in categories - Business, Personal, Family, God, Church, Inside House, Outside House.
I love the quote "Fail to plan, plan to fail". I know it's ultimately God's "plan" but I do believe in setting goals and working towards achieving them. I relish making lists and scratching things off as I go. I also get great pleasure from looking at other people's lists, is that weird or what!?
Check out Anne's blog for her LIVE studio painting! It makes me want to get into the studio and CREATE! I look forward to someday meeting this amazing woman that continues to inspire me. (anne-hope you don't mind me grabbin this pic of you?)
As many of you know I'm running a marathon June 1. Just look at what came in the mail yesterday from Julie! I love how she taped all the inspirational quotes around the inside flaps of the box. Thank you Julie! You brought me to tears with your kindness. It was actually through Julie's blog that I was inspired to venture into running my first marathon.
MTU (marathon training update): I ran 20 miles a few weeks ago and since then have been having some trouble with my right hip. I've taken extra days off, been to the chiropractor and several times to the massage therapist (my dear friend Tammy!). It's a bummer to put this many months into training and have it all come down to an injury a few weeks before. I'm running 11 tomorrow morning, hoping it feels okay. : (
I'm actually in the comfortable United States of America posting right now! Glad to be home. Praising God for the amazing country and freedoms we have here in the USA.
Making up for some lost time. Here are a few pictures of one of our clocks already in production. I've always loved multiples of things.
Loving the bamboo scaffolding. They even use this method for their large skyscrapers in HK!
Not as apparent in photos as it is in person but there is TRASH all over the place! Ick! They just throw their trash everywhere. Different Culture!
Not sure what kind of fruit this is but it looks dangerous! Anyone know?
This is a container of our product being loaded to go to one of our distributors in France.
All in all this was a good productive trip. I finished with about 12 new designs. Some I'm confident in and a few that I wonder if we'll be able to sell. Now that I'm saying this I realize that the birds that the factory is painting on the top pic of this post is a clock that I almost cancelled out of the 2008 Winter Line. It went on to the gift shows and was one of our best sellers! Go figure. I can never trust my instincts!
Thank you again for coming on my China journey with me and keeping me company along the way. It means the world!
This isn't my dog he's my good friend April's dog and this is one of her journal pages that she's dedicated to her cute guy. He sadly passed away 2 days ago. I can only imagine her and her husband's heart break. See her other journal page and more pictures of much loved Samson here.
