Take A Moment

When was the last time you took a moment to appreciate the small things in life - good and bad? Moments of joy, agony, frustration, peace - they are universal. Here's a wonderful video to appreciate little moments.

Trends for the Next Decade

Cool video by Time Magazine about important trends for the next decade.

Of course, I was attracted because of the important topics is failure. According to Time Magazine, America has lost its acceptance of failure through the financial crisis, demanding accountability. I'm not sure I agree with this one. Accountability is a good thing, and should decrease failure - the financial crisis was really a failure of morality, which is something else all together.

Check it out!

Mixed Media Dollhouses Inspiration

I was so excited to Friday to receive an email from Marian Seiders of Will Roger Middle School in Lawndale, CA. She wrote to me to tell me how my new book Mixed Media Dollhouses has inspired her and her art class to create an amazing Alice in Wonderland themed mansion. Each student in the class created their own room in the mansion!

artwork by Will Rogers Middle School student

artwork by Will Rogers Middle School student

My heart just filled with pride! This is just so amazing that my book has inspired an entire class of young art students! How thrilled would I be to have my children in an art class with this kind of teacher! The mansion was such a success, that the school principal is planning on having it displayed behind glass all of the upcoming school year.

artwork by Will Rogers Middle School student

Thank you Marian, for sharing this wonderful story and allowing me to see your wonderful project.

Click here to see more photos of the school project!

Gift Card Holders Featured Again!

I'm excited to report that my patented Greeting Card with a Gift Card Holder has been featured in the summer issue of Gift Shop magazine! See page with one of my gift card holders below:

The issue featured all kinds of greeting cards, mine was the only type that is meant to hold gift cards. You can find my gift card holders at the Whole Foods mentioned on my website: papierstudio.com. If your local Whole Foods doesn't have them - request that they order them from me!

Two Great Art Events This Weekend!

There are two great art events that are absolutely worth your time this weekend. The first is the Topanga Artist's Studio Tour, being sponsored by the Topanga Canyon Gallery, flyer above. I blogged about this last year, and will be trapsing around the canyon this Saturday. Join me at 5pm at the gallery for the reception!

Also worth your time this weekend is the Viva Gallery Women Painters West Exhibit. This is a juried exhibit, some of my friends are in it. It's at Viva Gallery in Sherman Oaks, this Sunday, June 13, 3-5pm. Click here for the link.

Enjoy and buy more art! It saves lives!

Lady Gaga

I just had to add - if you still think I'm nuts that she's a good business person - check out that video below again. You know you want to anyway....

In an age of everyone with Tivos and DVRs fastforwarding through commercials, she has incorporated AT LEAST FIVE well placed commercial items in the video - see if you can catch them. Comment here and let us know what you found.

See, now we're not just passively observing commercials, we're actually seeking them and counting them - genius.

Where's my Wonder Woman Bikini when I Need it?

Fast Company just came out with their annual 100 most creative people in business for 2010. It's a great read, and I am so proud of them for picking Lady Gaga as - you would've never guessed it - #1! Now, you may not think she's a "business person", but you would be very wrong.

The video below will show you just how fun and creative she is. Beyonce even got in on the fun. Warning-it's a little explicit, so not for those under 18.

Within the span of ONE YEAR she made herself into a global sensation out of no where. Read the Fast Company article here. Press play below to see this amazing video that is some kinda mix of male and female fantasy. That's all I'll say, 'cuz I'm kinda busy.

Social Media Revolution

I've been hunkered down, working 12-14 hour days on something exciting and new.

No, it's not the Love Boat, it's a new business.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up Papier Studio! Papier Studio is just getting started! When the signatures are still wet on contracts, I promise to fill you in on the details.

I'm working on something that will take my patent to the next level-the virtual space. And I'm thinking of ways to do that with Social Media Marketing.

Yah, there's lots of buzz about this, and hooplah, and eye rolling. But there is a such a huge potential out there, it's actually vibrating. I can feel it.

I wanted to share these super cool videos about it. For anyone who doubts its power, press play and groove to the funky beat. If you have trouble viewing the video, just go here.

Also check out this link to see another video equally as fun.

This Sunday!

Join me this Sunday at Barnes & Noble in The Commons at Calabasas from 2-4pm for book signing and free ATC Workshop!

The Calabasas Fine Art Festival is also happening right next door. This is a FANTASTIC, high quality show that I've blogged about before, and is definetely worth the trip in and of itself.

Barnes & Noble This Sunday!

Come work on some ATCs, let's sit and shmooze, I'll even sign your book!!

Book Signing Event

Sunday, May 2, 2010, 2-4pm
Barnes & Noble - The Commons in Calabasas, CA

Not only will I be there, but right next door will be the Calabasas Fine Art Festival! It is one of the best art shows around! Come and look at art, buy some art, appreciate some art, and

MAKE SOME ART!

I'll be at the same Barnes & Noble next Sunday too - more to come!

Artfest Synopsis by Lisa

I just read Lisa Myers-Bulmash's synopsis of her Artfest experience. Please check it out here! So many great pics and class descriptions.

More Artfest Art

As promised! More Artfest art continues...

My third day of classes was with Alex Shur in "Cast of Characters". Check out her website at wingedheels.com . This was really a fantastic class. The concept of this class was to create backgrounds using watercolor or guache (I used guache). Once the backgrounds were dry, we then sorta cloud gazed into the patterns of the paint to find characters "from our subconcious". I thought this was a really cool concept, very esoteric. I love cloud gazing, and now, I can also gaze into my own paint. Hmmm, starting to sounds a little weird, but not really.

Although I made a TON of backgrounds, I'll just share a few of my favorites. Below is an example of a background where I just started outlining in sharpie my "character". Big surprise here - a tree. What I loved was the funky, big nosed character that showed up in the trunk of my tree. You can see his green face on the left side of the tree trunk. There's also a great profile of a windblown face at the top right of the piece. I can't wait to continue working on this one. This piece is 15"x22.5".


My next favorite piece is "Ms. Thang" below. This piece is 5x7. I had a large background piece that I just struggled with and didn't see anything, so I ripped it into four 5x7 pieces. That's when all the characters came out!

I first saw the eye on the right, and then the mouth. I free drew the nose and then, just started doodling, just like in Ellsworth's class. Whatever struck my fancy. I actually did most of this work on the plane ride home with a few sharpies.

The next piece to come out of the torn up background is this one: The entire piece is painted with guache, a little music paper behind the words, which are written in sharpie: "My looking ripens things" which is an excerpt from a Rilke poem that I love. Aren't those four words just so erotic, powerful and delicious all at the same time? Say it to yourself again: My looking ripens things. Mmmmmm..... Another quadrant came out as below:

This started as a complete mistake/disaster. I was pumping my paint pen on the plane, and it just gushed out everywhere because of the pressure difference on the plane. I used the back of another paper to blot the paint that had puddled all over the page, and when I lifted the paper, I saw these great jellyfish! I simply outlined them and their little bubbles with black sharpie.

I already can't wait for Artfest next year!

Artfest Art & Unique LA!

Firstly, I would like to invite any local LA peeps to come and see me at Unique LA this weekend at the Calfornia Market Center. I will be there Sunday, April 25 from 1-5pm.

I'll be there right in the main, center of the exhibition area "Make and Take" center, selling and signing books, selling my greeting cards and doing a !FREE! make and take of paper dolls from the book!

The California Market Center is in downtown LA, click on the link for full info!

Now, on to ART!

Yes, it's taken me forever to come and dowload pics from Artfest. I met so many cool peeps, that there is just no time to load all those photos too. But, I am talkin' about you! You know who you are, making fun of me down by the bonfire, feeding me chocolate eggs in the castle dorm, listening to my crazy stories. You're awesome!!!

So, here's two days worth of what I made at Artfest, more to come tomorrow - I promise!

First class was with Theo Ellsworth - Mystery Doodling. When was the last time you allowed yourself to really doodle and explore just doodling for 6 hours? I mean, we had a lunch breach in there somewhere, but I've decided that I need to do this more often. Famous last words, I know, but one can try, right? Maybe not 6 hours, but how about just one? Here's what I came up with - it's certainly electric!
What you see is actually a paper doll of sorts, which is separate from the rectangular background. We doodled on pieces of the paper doll which were pre-cut up, and we didn't know they would end up in the shape of a person. Pretty cool!

Next day was Traci Bautista - excellent teacher! This is my fav piece I made from her class, entitled, "Inventio IX" since I used music paper from Bach's music with the same title. It is a mixed-media collage piece using acrylic paint, paper, copies of my own photography, sharpie, and oil pastel. You know how I'm partial to trees

This next piece is entitled "Fire Lotus". It's a mixed-media piece usining acrylic paint, faric paint (for the flower petals), white out pen (for the white detail work) and black sharpie. This seemed to be lots of people's favorite.

My other favorite that I made in Traci's class (yes, this was a one day class, I work FAST so that my subconcious can flow easier). I call it "Peacock Fish". It's a mixed media piece too (gee, big surprise...) using acrylic paint, paper, white out pen, sharpie in red and black, and color pencil.

This last piece below is just an unfinished background. I wanted to post this so you could see the background on its own, which I thought would be fun to see. This is all acrylic paint. I have plans for this background involving some gold leaf and more, so will post when it's done!

All these pieces are sized 15" x 22.5"

Alex Shur's watercolor class tomorrow!

Book Signings!

Here I am standing in front of the Barnes and Noble at the Everett Mall in Washington! Our second book signing event in WA, where I decided to bring my nice, sunny So Cal weather with me. As you can see in the window display, they were heavily advertising our event!
Left to right: Julie Molina (co-author), me, and Lisa Myers-Bulmash, significant book contributor, and friend extraordinaire! The table behind us had samples of some of the rooms from our book, which will be traveling around with me to different events.

Here I am at Zinnia signing books just this past Saturday- WE TOTALLY SOLD OUT!

But, back to Washington - After a lovely weekend in Seattle, exploring the city with DH, signing books galore, and eating WAY too much junk, Lisa and I settled in on our trek to

ARTFEST BABY!!

Why do I feel like breaking out in song - "I'm on a BOAT" like in the SNL short. See it here - but beware, lots of four letter words, and you might just fall off your chair laughing.

On our way we had to stop for lunch and became sucked into a girlie girl vortex.

pinkies up! Some little town in the Puget Sound with REALLY good tea and lots of chocolate choices. Let's just say, everything on the menu came with a scone bigger than my head.

And, yes, we got to pick our own hats.

I had classes with Theo Ellsworth, Traci Bautista, and Alex Shur. What great classes!

Here I am getting attacked by the Ellsworth monster...

when was the last time you allowed yourself to doodle for 6 hours? How about doodling blindfolded?

Here I am in my watercolor glory with Alex Shur. cloudgazing into our watercolor to bring out the characters in our subconcious.

The art I made to follow in the next post! The new and old friends in the next post too! Sorry, I'm just tired of resizing photos today.

Mystery Doodling

I am looking forward to book signing events this weekend in Seattle! I plan on bringing my sunny California weather with me - so break out your t-shirts, Seattleites!

Friday, March 19, 5-7 pm Everett's Artists Supply
9304 Evergreen Way, Everett, WA

Sunday, March 21, 2-4 pm, Barnes & Noble at Alderwood Mall, WA
we will also be having a paper doll making demo!
Join me, my co-author, Julie Molina, and contributor, Lisa Myers-Bulmash for a fun afternoon!

Become a fan of the book on our Mixed Media Dollhouses Facebook Fanpage!

I will also be attending Artfest in Port Townsend, WA!! This will be my first time attending this retreat, and I am really looking forwad to my first class - Mystery Doodling by Theo Ellsworth.

Check out his website - it'a total trip!

Mixed Media Dollhouses

Here it is folks: the book I've been working on for quite a while now:

I know you're dying to have your own copy, so you can go buy it at barnes and noble or amazon NOW! Join our Facebook fanpage now!

I am also going to be having some book signing events! Here are the currently scheduled events:

Friday, March 19, Everett Art Supply just outside Seattle 5-8p see this link to see info on Facebook.

Sunday, March 21, Barnes & Noble at Alderwood Mall, just outside Seattle, 2-4pm (right before Artfest!!!)

Saturday, April 3, Zinnia in Pasadena, CA, 5:30-9pm

Sunday, May 9, Barnes & Noble in Calabasas, CA, 2-4pm

How much fun will we have if you show up??

What else have I been up to, you ask? Especially since it's painfully obvious that I haven't been blogging?

Well, I've been working on my gift card holder business, people. This is some serious stuff! My patent is OFFICIAL and I am so excited to get this product in more mass market stores. It could be happening soon, so I will let you all know when it does.

In the meantime, I have been marketing, marketing, marketing, networking, networking, networking! I've been to presentations by Mr. Bill Clinton himself! See horrible picture below:

Just a few rows away - and, yes, the man has some serious charisma! Just the fact that we all know he's into cute Jewish girls puts him high on my list.

I also got too see the Penn & Teller show: see me and Penn after the show:Boy, is he TALL! I don't think that show name tag really matches my beautiful, brown suit.

Yup, four long days in Vegas, marketing and selling like crazy. Don't even think for a moment that I don't have even more wonderful ideas and new things coming around the corner that will amaze you! I have even grander, newer ideas for my patented greeting card/gift card holder concept to take my business through the next century. Let's just say, paper isn't everything. That's right folks, you heard it here first. Come to one of my book signings and I might let you in on more secrets!

Let's Have a Good Laugh

Need a good giggle? J-Crafty is in da hooouuuuuusssssse!

If you're crafty, or if you like goofy videos, please, please, please click here and giggle away.

You're Probably Not Failing Enough

Here's a good one for yah -

If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough.

I think I heard it on Biggest Loser. Man, I love that show. Talk about getting over your fears of failure from years and years of struggling with weight, to go on national TV with your shirt off and get weighed in front of everyone!! NO THANKS!!

But back to failing more...The first month of 2010 is almost over!

Are you putting yourself out there and doing scary things? Are you doing things where you have no idea what you're doing? Are you failing and learning wonderful lessons?

If you answered yes to any of these, you are probably growing as a person by leaps and bounds.

I'd love to hear about the scary things you're doing! Write a comment and share with our community how you are growing, what you're learning! Or email me privately and we can talk more about YOUR situation.

Embrace failure. That's how you know you're really trying.