Spring Break = Rest and Restoration...

So sorry for slipping away like that....but this gal was in serious need of a break....

Spring Break came and went in a flash, but it was oh so good for the soul! I was in need of a getaway of the mind....and I checked out! I felt that I had had it up to my split ends.... and relaxation was the fix....and so I did plenty of that!

I spent some time in my studio and put together some new collage packs....these have vintage ledger pages, sheet music, dictionary pages, painted papers, so - so many neat things heck......a

whole host of collage goodness.

Each pack is $25 which includes shipping! Can't beat that because these babies are full!

I also made these neat little fortune packets.....each pack has approximately 30 fortunes. The fun part for you is to draw a fortune and use it as a journal prompt, then if you "wanna" glue your fortune right down!!! These little cuties are $5.50 each which also includes shipping!!!

Email me if you are interested at sstaton3@nc.rr.com or paypal me at sstaton3@nc.rr.com

So....with that plug behind me, lets get to what has been going on in the studio....

Enough said on that one.....

And, this page isn't done yet....but, I used some Tim Holtz stamps that I "had to have"!! At least I used them, right!!

I hope that each of you will take some time to rest and restore yourselves....maybe even if its only an hour or two....its so worth it!!

Until next time,

Ophelia

My thoughts on being a dreamer....

I will gladly admit that I am a dreamer.....have been for as long as I can remember, and will probably always will be. My problem is that I dream up all of these "great" ideas...set goals based on these ideas...and, leave it at that. I have realized for quite some time now that great ideas, dreams, and goals require action. That is something that I truly stink at. I have the best intentions of getting around to it, but somehow, never seem to have enough steam to get it done. PLEASE tell me that I am not the only person out there that is like this. I have often thought of getting in touch with a Creativity Coach, but then well, that gets filed away, along with the other ideas that float around. I honestly think that this is the source of so much of my frustrations. I never act on what it is that I really want to do. Welp, I will keep chugging along at it, definitely start writing things down a bit more (and not lose the notebooks that they are written in) I am such a work in progress!!! Until next time, Ophelia

Happy Sunday!

Good morning my blog friends. I hope that you all are having a great weekend.

I woke up early on yesterday....pretty early for a Saturday morning. Why??? Because I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. I had plans for the day....art plans!!

I got to spend a bit of time with my friend Linda! Linda is a rubberstamping GODDESS! Jeez, she can turn absolute mud into pure gold. I can't even describe her creativity...its just simply amazing! And, her studio...Holy Smokes Batman! Eye candy for the soul!

We played around with inks and resists....talk about sheer heaven! The time just flew by! I haven't seen Linda in years it seems...you know, little people who keep your life out of control! So, spending the morning with Linda was a real treat! Then, it was back to reality with baseball...and when the rain started to pour, I decided enough was enough, and I check out...and headed over to Archivers for a bit of scrapbooking fun!

Here are my fingers this morning....and believe me, I have washed them several - hundred - times!!! Thats called busy art making bliss!!

Anywho, I wanted to share with you a page I did a few days ago....just goofing off...I love these Teesha Moore collage sheets!

Oh well, I'm off...there are papers to grade, and baseball games to attend...

Enjoy your day.

Until next time,

Ophelia

WOW...I'm Late!

Happy Tuesday everyone, I realized last night at about 9pm (just before it was time to say night-night) that I had not done my April calendar page....YIKES!!! I guess since I have not been able to do some blog surfing and have not seen the other pages being posted, that it totally slipped me! I got up this morning and had a go with it.....this page is still a work in progress...but it felt good to just create in that hurried manner.... I am totally a Fall/Winter kind of gal, but something about the birds singing in the mornings lately is just so refreshing to me....so, for April, enjoy the sounds out of your window....and allow them to awaken you soul. I hope you all enjoy your day today. I have to get scootin' here...today is my big observation at school....ugh...me and a room filled with kids is great! Add some adults....and I get the willies! Wish me luck!! Until next time, Ophelia

Happy Sunday...

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far. It was quite a windy day on yesterday on the baseball field....but, the kids had fun chasing their hats around!

It has been slow going with my back these days, and I have been doing things a bit different in my art room. I have been digging up old stamps that I haven't used in a while, and playing around with stuff that I had honestly forgotten about!

For this page, I used some stamping, distress inks, embossing powders, and my trusty chalk pastels....it was a lot of fun just using things that I haven't played with in a while....I started this art jounal journey by way of scrapbooking and rubberstamping....and it was great to use some of those things in my journal.

Today, I will be over at Jerrysartarama doing a fun (I hope so!) demo using chalk pastels!! Playing around with chalks in your journals can be so much fun....and, well, since I have them....I might as well wipe the dust off and start using them...right!!!

Have a great weekend everyone,

Until next time,

Ophelia

How Not To Start Your Work Week...

Happy Saturday blog world...

I hope you guys are all having a wonderful start to you weekend...

I wanted to let you know where I have been since I haven't posted in a while... This is a little lesson in how not to start your work week....

On Monday morning just as I was heading out the door for work, it snapped...and ouch, oh ouch it was...my back that is. I don't know what I did wrong and can't even explain it, but out of nowhere, it felt as though I was being stabbed with something...so, I started my work week in bed...flat....and that is where I have been since then. To add insult to injury, my art supplies are up a flight of stairs....now, we're in trouble!!!

I spent a great deal of time watching Youtube videos, and as I have mentioned before RachO113 is incredbile. She does the most amazing mixed media pieces....and has incredible haul (shopping videos) to let you know of where she gets all of her goods!! So, for days, I have been watching YouTube and being delightfully entertained by Rachel...and adding goods to wishlists all over the WORLD!! At one point, I seriously thought I had searched the entire internet....

I think it was Wednesday, I got some journal down and finished some pages that had been started at my demo at Jerrys this past Sunday....

My demo was on color mixing really, and when I get back up to get my workhorse journal, I will show you all of the colors that I was able to create....

I hope you all enjoy the start to your weekend...over here, its still slow going, mainly flat on my back, with a serious case of bed hair!!

Until next time,

Ophelia

Gotta Share This!!

Hope you all are wrapping up a wonderful weekend filled with artistic fabulousness! You can certainly guess where my weekend was spent - on a field...surrounded by flying baseballs...but it was good. At least the weather was great!!
So, my friend Jeniffer over at Joyful Arts Studio has a class with the 21 Secrets line of workshops! You may remeber my post with meeting Jeniffer again after many years had passed.

Jeniffer was my first Art Journaling teacher here in Raleigh a while ago....I don't even know how I came upon her as an instructor, but she completely changed the way that I looked at Art Journaling! I realized then and there in her class that this was something I could do...and I have been doing just that since then. She moved away..and we found each other again back in November!
I hope that you will join me in the series of workshops and follow Jeniffers link to get there. The lineup looks so awesome! Goes on sale tomorrow!
Until next time,
Ophelia