Leanne Shawler, Artist

Urban Barn posted to their blog about the class I attended there.... Some of us had already left by the time the photo was taken ... but most of us were either helping KC pack up or browsing the store... I have found a place to hang my fabric collage and as soon as I figure out how to do the hanging bit (need to play KC's DVD as I was not paying attention during that part of class!) it will go up. And I know exactly where my Madonna montage is going to go too (from the Silver Bella swap last year)! Stay tuned....

Cherry Clafouti. I found it on the King Arthur Flour baking blog. And yes, the recipe said to use a 9" cake pan and I think I used an 8" hence the unusual puffiness on the sides. Actually, it kind of reminded me of a German pancake in its denseness. I used bing cherries and only missed one pit out of 3.5 cups, which I think is pretty good, even though I went out and bought a 4-cherries-at-a-time pitter. It's pretty darn yummy.

Here's the left hand side of the piece I made last Wednesday at KC Willis' Basic Collage Camp . (The link takes you to her studio which lists where she's giving workshops at home and on the road. You can also purchase her DVDs...) I know it's a lousy picture but its the best I could take. Apparently its blinginess confused my camera.... So a trip to Urban Barn would be impossible without wandering through the displays. Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I could take any pictures, so you'll just have to view my purchases instead. I just could not resist this birdcage. I have no idea what to do with it. The display had a book in it, so perhaps I could display artwork of the moment in it. It was originally a different color, by the looks of it. But its just so cute. Tiny wee salt and pepper shakers -- perfect for storing my fine glitter.... Some closeups of the birdcage: It looks like a Chinese lion, doesn't it?

So here is what I made on Wednesday. I still need to fashion a hanger for the back of it. This is my Gran as a young girl, dressed as a ... well, something. Her kerchief suggests cow girl but her floaty apron and short skirt suggest something German, so I'm going for Heidi. Some of the gals in the class thought she might be a cheerleader, but I don't think that's the case. The fabrics are pretty much all from KC's stash that she shared with us. We had to "listen" to our "girl" in the photo and come up with a caption. I wrote: "The world is my oyster -- and I am its pearl." The rhinestone bracelet lining the bottom was Nana's (my Gran's mum), and I think the pearl buckle was from her too. There are bits of a doily that Nana made in top collage bit. The little rhinestone earring with two dangly pearls was also hers. The burgundy triangle-shaped things (some sort of closure) were in her button box. The rhinestones glued on top I ...

Today I took a day off work and headed up to the Urban Barn in Escondido to attend KC Willis' Basic Collage Camp . This was the first time to Urban Barn and it is delightful -- with this huge space out back for parties and workshops. Below is just one of the tables, loaded with the fabric and special papers that KC brought for us to play with. (And that's a picture of my gran on t-shirt transfer paper that KC made for me. That's also one of her fabric collages off to the right...) It took me a while to spot these -- but they were way cool in the big space! Our work table which was this massively long table had little jam jars of roses. Aren't they pretty? Here's KC giving her intro. Yeah, bad timing on my part, sorry KC. Here's my collage in process.... See that golden bottle off to the upper left? It's Aleene's Tacky Glue. It is the most amazing stuff. Glues anything to anything. Incredible! Let me tell you, sewing machines and I do not get along, ...

I like it when I find something that I'd completely forgotten about. Take these for instance... I found these in a painted wooden box on my dresser. I bought these in Omaha during Silver Bella -- all except the little Mary charm in the bottom right corner. That was part of the Marvellous Madonna Montage, a gorgeous little extra thrown in. I wore it on my badge for a while that weekend (til it fell off and I decided I would much rather not lose it.) How did I know they came from Silver Bella? These and two MOO cards were also inside: The bee was another gift from Gina to her fellow Silver Bellas so we'd recognize each other on the weekend. And then I remembered many moons ago I had bought a hat off eBay as part of a costume that didn't work out... So I got it out, and I think it'll find a home, somewhere, in my craft space. Which may actually become a craft space once more. Still waiting on the office furniture to be delivered at work....hopefully today or tomorrow....

I didn't think I'd get around to this. My craft room is still my office with a computer taking up much of the flat space on my desk. However, last night I had to give a presentation at vestry (um, that's council, elders, governing body of a church -- sometimes the Episcopal Church has a touch too much jargon) and as my hubby's on vestry, had to wait until it was done before going home. So I printed out Mary Green's challenge that I thought I was not going to have time nor space to do, took my gluebook that I started from her class , plus pens, and a bit of lace and played while I waited. I think I'd call this: "Miss Hayes Regrets She Cannot Come Out Today, She's Too Busy Looking at Flowers".... And in case you're wondering, that's the lace wrist cuff on her head. I thought I'd do something different as I'd seen a lot of torsos on the page ... and added a bit of lace to make her headdress a bit bigger. You know how you pack stuff f...

You know how you'll do anything but work on the old project you said you'd work on? Well, I do, anyway. Case in point: I was looking for odd bits of thread to use on my "Year 10" autographed pillowcase and I came across an even older project. From, I think, primary school (which is years 3-6 in Australia). All that needed doing was to sew up the other side and finish the top edges, which I did. Although I think it needs a button closure for the top. So maybe this really old project is not that done after all. I also found some old embroidery pieces -- where you stitch around the printed outline. I think they might be recyclable in some way... we shall see. How are your unfinished projects going? Remember if you comment here to say you're in , there's a giveaway to those who finish their unfinished project!

Who wants to go with me? KC Willis still has a few spots open for her one day Collage Camp: Basic Training on Wednesday, July 16 at the Urban Barn in Escondido. From her email: "Four spaces remain. This will be a fast-paced class where I will teach you all the basics for making work using my mixed media techniques....and I promise to leave you with enough excitement about being an artist to last you a long time. Come join us at the Urban Barn! (Home of Glamarella Junk! Way cool.) And if you have 43 seconds...take a peek at this. ..." For more info and pics, visit her website. (I tried to get a pic to upload but Blogger is not cooperating)

Hope is having another class! As soon as I found out, I just had to sign up for it. I've even been continuing to journal after her last one, just need to figure out my own spin to it. Check it out :) I just love the graphic design of this. Reminds me of a poster I did for church a few years ago...

So I've been meaning for a couple of weeks to share some of "what I did" from Mary Green's "My Vintage Gluebook" class. All the lessons are still available if you want to have a go, and people are still posting to the Flickr group. Now I just need to get my papers organized and I can do this with slightly more ease than currently!

As my Mum said to me on the phone after learning about my "Undone" idea: do you have any idea how many unfinished projects I have? So if you, like my Mum, are having difficulty picking an incomplete project to finish: maybe you can procrastinate some more by thinking or journaling about these questions: Why did you start working on that project? Was it to try out a new technique? Was it to make something for yourself for a change? Did you have a really cool idea in your head that wasn't turning out so well in the execution? Why did you stop working on that project? You just didn't think it'd be that much work? Life got in the way and you've forgotten why you started it in the first place? A cooler idea came along? You just found it buried at the bottom of your storage item of choice? As for me -- I haven't gotten any further along in sewing more than a couple of letters on my chosen project. Sewing a pillow case can be awkward! And, I've had life get...

Fresh from our garden today.

Since coming back from the monastery in Santa Barbara, I've been doing the Daily Office (well, morning and evening prayer, slightly modified from the lectionary because hey, when have I ever followed the rules?) ... But since coming back from Washington DC and seeing the Tibetan Shrine , I've been inspired to take the Marvellous Madonnas from last year's Silver Bella and do something like that (but not a whole room obviously). I need to lay out the pieces on the dining room table to figure out layout, but I also need to figure out where to put it. In researching online, I also rather liked this Eastern Orthodox icon corner. (Not sure if the blogger is Eastern Orthodox, might be Russian Orthodox.) Right now I pray the morning office either on the couch in our master bedroom, or sitting cross-legged on the bed. The evening office is always on the bed. I have the bible my great-grandparents gave me, the Anglican Church of Australia's prayer book, and the Episcopal Chur...