My art journaling class at the wonderful Naperville cultural center

Click on the link above to see a video about the art journaling class that I teach.

Visit the naperville cultural center for fun classes
 and fabulous cultural experiences.

Art show

If you are in the Naperville, Illinois area

 please join us for a wonderful artisan home show at

745 Chesterfield road

I will be selling my fashion ornaments, prints and cards. 

Stop by and see all of the amazing artists and get a head start on your holiday shopping!

Kreative Blogger Award

I received a lovely Kreative Blogger award from sweet Shonna of Twisted Figures blog. Thank you Shonna for sharing this award. In accepting this award I am to share 7 things about myself and pass the award on but I would like to offer this award to all of my blog friends. I find you all to be so wonderfully creative. I've done this several times in the past but it's always fun to list a few more things to let you in on who I am.


So here are another 7 things about me that you might not already know.

1. One of my favorite indulgences is fresh ricotta cheese.

 I just had some this week and it was soooo delightlfully devine!

It's incredibly delicious

and especially sweet when it comes fresh from a good Italian deli.

2. Hey! When I was 4, I quit preschool. 

Can you believe it? 

In my litttle 4 year old mind, I didn't think I needed to go to school.

 Well, my Mom just thought it was the funniest thing that I would want to quit preschool.

So, she said to me, in her italian accent, "Yeah you quit!"

So I did,

 I quit!!!! 

Then after a few months of sheer bliss and freedom,

I was informed that it was going to be time for me to go to kindergarten.

Well, since I quit preschool

I thought I had a choice in the matter and

 I decided that I didn't need to go to kindergarten either.

No thanks

But

 the fact of the matter was that I  really didn't have a choice.

and when I learned the truth,

I was shocked and thought
 NO WAY!!

 I'm not going to do this again.

 Preschool was enough !!

 It's not for me Mom!

Oh, but I ended going just like everyone else

and I paid my dues and I tolerated school for quite a number of years.

And guess what?

Now I teach.

3.  I speak three languages.

4. I think in English.

I mostly dream in English

 but on a rare occassion I will speak Italian in a dream.

5. I can never dial the number correctly when I dream about making a phone call.

I always press the wrong button or two buttons at a time.

It just never works.

6. So my parents speak broken English

 and many words were pronounced a bit differently in our home as we were growing up.

I always thought that it was correct to say
 garbitch and sangwitch.

For instance,

when I was a kid,

I would use those two words in a sentence like this;

"I'm gonna take out the garbitch
after I eat this delicious ham sangwitch."

7. When we were growing up,

my Mom made my brother red patent leather curtains, pillows and a red patent leather bed spread for his room.

We all thought that was completely normal!!

As years went by

I thought she got rid of all of the shiny red bedroom accessories

 but while we were gone ( I was in college and my brother moved out)

she whipped out that flashy bedroom ensemble and displayed it in my brothers old room.

I was home for a weekend from college and my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, stayed at my parents late one night.

 I said to him, "You can sleep in my brothers room."

I walked him upstairs, pushed him into the room and I turned on the light.

When he saw all the red patent leather everywhere,

he said, "Oh no, I don't think I can sleep in this room!!!

 I'm going back to the couch!!"

I think it scared him.

I wonder what all that red patent leather did to my poor brother? ;)

See, having foreign parents really made life interesting and unique

 and we thought everyone grew up with patent leather bedding and pillows.

IF: FAST

With a fancy new tail fin, the propeller fish was the not only stylish, but super fast as well!!!

THE WINNER of the 2nd annual Halloween blog party give away is....

#30 Laura

  Chosen by the random number generator!!

Woohoo the sweet and ever so talented  Laura Taylor Mark . 

Send me your address Laura and I'll ship these postcards out to  you asap!

2nd annual Halloween Blog Party

Did you hear that it's time for a party? 

Oh yes, that's right, we are all invited to the 2nd annual Halloween party

 hosted by the charming  Vanessa Valencia of  A Fanciful Twist.  

The Punk-in twins

set their table in the finest of linens

for this glorious day!

The younger twin was in charge of all the baking

and the older twin did all of the candy making

Now that the linens are all set in place

it's time to set the table with goodies and lace

The younger twin brings out these cookies for you.

She baked up these cookies all through the night

 then topped them with candies

what a delight.

Here are the lollipops  twisted by hand.

  What do you think of them?

Don't they look grand?

They place the round candies here on a dish

and display sugar cookies here as you wish.

The sister looks at the cookies with a curious eye

I think she is hungry

for cookies and pie.

The pie was prepared by their old aunt Priscilla

she stayed up all night preparing the filling.

The table is set now

please come on in.

We'd like to invite you

 to just dig right in.

The sisters they offer you all of their best

now dine on these candies

at the Halloween Fest

They love to make candy

like these on the table

they made them for you

so eat

if you're able.

Up all night

 making candies with dip

the younger twin just

wants to eat

and to sip!

Happy Halloween to everyone!!

Please leave a comment

and

I will enter you to win a 6 pack of my Halloween postcards. 

Hooray and happy day! 

I'll pick the winner Monday.

Tomorrow we will party!!

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the 2nd annual Halloween Blog party

hosted by the lovely Vanessa Valencia of A Fanciful Twist. 

We'll have treats and a giveaway here and

 so will Vanessa and all of her spooky blog friends.

 Don't forget to visit everyone for a spooky fun time!!!

Click HERE to visit Vanessa's Fanciful Twist!

I have a little interview over at Sanctuary arts blog

The lovely Jen of Sanctuary arts has done a little Interview with me over at her beautiful blog! 

Please stop by and visit Jen and give her some blog love.

 She's adorable!

Click HERE to get to the interview on Jen's blog.

Oh and don't forget to tune in
 tomorrow, October 13th
for my HGTV appearance.

 Airing at 6:30am central time and
 7:30 eastern and pacific time.
Have a wonderful day!!

More altered Book fun

I really love the challenge of working on altered book round robins

Each month you get a new book to work on

with it's own theme

and you must try to create something special

in the theme of the book. 

The book that I'm showing is one that I worked on for a garden book theme.

 I thought that it would be fun to make the pages look like a giant cabbage rose.

 So, I added decorative paper and cardstock in a layered fashion

to give the pages dimension and make it look as if it was growing right out of the book.

My original intention was to make it a pop-up page

and to have the face  (that you see on the page to the right) be in the center of the cabbage rose.  I wanted it to fold to the side as the pages closed. 

I just couldn't figure out how to make what was in my head come to life

so, I added this element to the following page.

 I ended up embellishing everything with fun little doodads and sequins, for a little pazzaz

So, there are my little cabbage rose, altered book pages.

Hope it inspires you to give this fun medium a try!!

I teach altered book and creative journaling classes and workshops in the Chicago area.
 You can check out my website for my class schedule at http://www.thebeatofmyart.com/

Fun Halloween Postcards on Etsy

I just posted some new Halloween postcards in my Etsy shop.

Here is a sampling of my Punk-in Girls, Witchy Worlands and Slipping into Halloween fun Postcards.

Please visit my new shop for some Halloween goodies.

thebeatofmyart.etsy.com

I'm going to be on HGTV this Month!!

Tune into

HGTV's

That's Clever

on
Tuesday October 13, 2009

at 6:30am Central time

 (7:30am eastern and pacific)

to watch me demonstrate

a couple of clever art techniques

in 2 fun-filled segments.

LOOKS LIKE THEY JUSTCHANGED THE DATE THAT THE SHOW AIRS
to Tuesday it was originally set for Mon Oct 12


The picture below is of the crew that came to my house

 to film the show's 2 segments.

 Click here for HGTV's

That's clever show schedule

Fabulous Kim Parker's fashions for the home

I was sitting in front of my computer thinking about flowers and how beautifully delicate they are.

Thinking about how much I love all flowers, 

how different and lovely they all are,

how they smell so sweet

how the petals feel so velvety and soft

and shimmery in the light. 

Then in mid thought,

 I looked up

and noticed a Kim Parker print that I have hanging on the wall

above my computer.

 I wonder if this image subconsciously inspired my flowery thoughts.

 Well, once I looked at the print,

my mind went down the Kim Parker path.

 Her botanical designs are very lyrical and beautifully composed.

 They are a delight

and so very rich and complex

yet simple and fresh at the same time.

 She is

as lovely a person

 as are

her magical creations. 

Several years ago,

I had an opportunity to work with Kim

 on a make-over project.

I can't tell you what a truly darling person she is

and how wonderful it was to collaborate with her.

So here is my little tribute

to a talented,

 delightful

and

down-to-earth

artist!

 Please go visit Miss Kim's website. 

You can do so by clicking on the link below. 

kimparker.tv

Enjoy the flowery fun!