hugs across the universe™

I do believe in Spooks

Do you like Halloween? and vintagey stuff?
Then you might like this group:

There are lots of projects & give-aways coming for the next three months (for a ten buck fee) ~ I'm in! I've already got my mind flashed forward on Halloween and couldn't decide whether to do a Halloween Zine or a Day of the Dead Zine so I decided I might be combining them both--I think--just this minute that occurred to me so I may change my mind again....Anyhow I have a small stack of PaperBag books left over from my little project back in 2007 so I figured I would make handmade books/zines out of them with some possible pop-up action and fun stuff inside and put them in my shoppe. I have accumulated a lot of spook collagey type items over the years and I thought this would be a fun project. Hopefully it will not take me 2 years to do it!
I am having a hard time moving from paper projects to bears though -- this is not good. I need a clone.

I am trying to get my studio organized and trying to get myself on some sort of schedule. If you are not focused on one thing, not much gets done in a day. Thinking/creating takes a lot of time--I'm such a fusser over the small little details--And I'm trying to finish all the unfinished projects I have stacked up first before I start new ones. There are quite a few over here!

My friend Moo had a babyshower over the weekend so I made up these little matchbox sticker/seals sets--hers is the one with a boy and a girl--cause she's having twins!!! Yowza! Way to go Moo!

ZNE ConvenZioNE is coming soon!

I'm starting to get excited about the ConvenZioNE coming up August 22nd-24th. They keep adding new stuff and fabulous people to the day's events!

Michele Bleschen (of the series B. Original for DIY Network and HGTV) will be hosting the first evening's special event which is a screening of the film 1000 Journals which I am really looking forward to. And Sark is coming the following morning for breakfast before we have our classes. I've heard her speak before and she's very entertaining and inspiring. And they got Wendy Addison giving a tour of her studio and a dinner on Monday! But here's the problem, I'm leaving on Sunday! I wonder how hard it would be to change my airline ticket? I wish I was local~easier to deal with!
Anyhow, I can't wait for Jennifer's class and lookie here for some amazing photos of her new warehouse studio that Artsy Mama (also an instructor at the event whose class I wish I could take) visited recently and then click here for another tidbit on Jennifer! Way cool!


Meanwhile, I finished all thirty pages of my contribution for the Chunky Book that all artists at the ConvenZioNE can participate in. I've never been part of a chunky book before so I hope my page is up to snuff.

It should make a nice souvenir of this sure to be memorable weekend and I'm also pretty sure my suitcase will be full of many other delightful goodies for the return trip home.

If you're looking for a nice get-away, come join in on the fun!

Now we're cooking!

I finished up all my files for my website update! Hurrah! That's a load off my brain. I popped them into the mail yesterday on a disc for my webmaster. Hopefully, I covered all the bases. It's really weird letting go of the old, but once you do--it's so exciting to let in the new.

Here is the new! Even though the bears are a bit old. 5 months ago! But new to the website so there ya go. And here I am; a bit old--hence the soft focus I utilized on PicNik through flickr. It's 6 days to my birthday don'tcha know! But I don't mind, older is wiser in my book and I'll take wisdom over youth any day of the week---um...I think.
;-)

So, I've been puttering around the studio making lists and taking notes on all the projects started and stopped over the years, making plans for my shoppe and trying to make a plan for books and bears. All the ducks are getting in their rows and now that I've decided what I'm doing for the next chapter of my life, I have to tell you, I'm getting quite excited about it.

 

  Labels are being made,
  inventory is being taken,
  Experiments are being
  conducted.

  Fun stuff! I love waking up to a
  day filled with creativity.

Where have I been to???

Something funny is happening over here...I'm digging through piles of my old stuff~preparing files for my website and I'm revisiting my old life. And I'm realizing it was a pretty good life. 

I'm starting to feel excited about going back to work. And I wondered for the longest time if I ever could do that or if I would ever want to.  I feel I am coming back to me, coming back into my old skin--oh, but so much wiser, so much more mature, so much more aware. I've been on a journey, you see---a long and hard and amazing journey and now I come back with so many more tools in my toolbox, so many more crayons in my crayon box, so many more words to describe what I want to write about.

I found this piece of art today in one of my old storage suitcases. I was working on a story for this guy before I crumpled up in a ball and screamed at the universe for all the trauma it brought my way. And when I opened my eyes again, it all seemed too frivolous--children's books especially. I wanted to do something meaningful and full of purpose with my life. I've been all about meaning and I've been way too serious these last few years. I used to be a person who laughed a lot. What happened to her? I miss her.

This picture is frivolous--this story was frivolous--simple and fun. That's it. Not much else going on, except I was interested in combining more fabric into my illustration work and this was a sample I made up. This picture today made me remember what feels good about being alive.
Because I took a long journey to find out the real secret to life.
And that is that there is no big secret.
Life was meant to be enjoyed.
fully. completely. joyfully. that's it. period. hurry up and do it before the bell rings and your time is up.

Research the easy way

Cuteness abounds on the internet--it continually amazes me how easy it is these days to find inspiration and research material in cyberspace whereas before it was hours and hours in a library with fingers crossed. I can go to China in a heartbeat and see things I wouldn't be able to otherwise.

How cute is that?
;-)

saying it with style

Satisfaction

Nothing like the feeling of finishing a illustration--especially a hard one. You get so worried about the glue and the placement and you fiddle with each little piece and every little detail and the minutes go by and the hours until...it's finally done.

It's after 7:00pm here and I can finally take a shower, get dressed and get out of my pajamas. I've been working on this sucker all day. Time to veg out with a good film for my wild and crazy Saturday nite....or perhaps a good book. SNOWBEAR'S CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN, anyone?

Typewriter Fever!

 In yesterday's mail, I got the pack of zines I ordered from etsy seller Niku--and I really liked the one on mailart. It brought back to mind my initial attraction a few years ago to carving rubber stamps which lead to artistamps and all that other good stuff--including my postage stamp collection from age six--and mostly how letters are a dying art that despairately needs to be revived. Niku talks about her vintage typewriter and how she typed up some of her zines on it and I've been thinking about that for weeks since my initial order! I've never seen a typewriter at any of the thrift stores around here in all my years and now I've got my brain telling me how badly it wants one on a daily basis. My birthday is coming up at the end of this month; and by golly I got to have one!!!

These two beauties are killing me from Mr.typewriter.com! And so is their asking price! I could write an awesome novel a la Hemmingway on one of these! Where's a royalty check when I need it?!

Anyhow, you know you have it bad when you just can't sleep. I tossed and turned all night with desire and wanting and my brain was thinking about all the things I want to type up and leave behind--my stories.

The idea of the zine is really appealing to me right now. There is so much one can do with the concept. It's possiblilities are endless. I've always thought I would write a memoir and this could be a nice way to do it--simple, DIY. Crazy, huh?

I've thought about all the kinds of zines one could make:

• artzines/mailart zines
• instructional zines/tutorials
• comic zines
• memoir/diary zines
• coloring book zines
• zine as a kit of some sort
• inspirational zines
• magazine/slice of life zine (various subjects all in one issue)
• Full-color zines
• black and white cheapies

And they come in all shapes, sizes and colors! Did I leave anything out? Makes me want to start one right this very minute! But not yet....not yet. I'll just add it to my "to-do" list.

Road Block

Today I had big plans. I was going to finish my website illustration. Little one wakes up with PINK EYE. Oy! This is like the fourth time in just a couple of months. So he's home with me today and my plans are foiled. I can barely get this post out as every two seconds, he's asking me to play with him. Why oh why didn't I have a second child for a playmate?
LOL
I think I'm going to have to set him up with the electronic babysitter later today or the whole work day is a bust.

This illustration has been sitting on my desk for well over a month. I don't know what the deal is but it's taking me forever to get it finished. Maybe I'm just a little rusty.

We had some of our friends over for the 4th of July and I was happy to have some help on something I wanted for this illustration but had no idea how to do. It took my friend just a few minutes in photoshop to create my original desire for this illustration. YIPPEE! I was so stoked!

He transformed my Snowbear book to fit! Now these pandas have excellant taste in children's books, don'tcha think? And the chinese lanterns are coming along nicely, I'm happy to see. I finished those yesterday. I just need a little butterfly to complete the picture and then I can move on to the bamboo forest and the finish line! Oh, and surprise; baby panda was always going to be in Mama's lap.

Oh, and the mailman delivered these yesterday for my etsy shoppe.

And I'm working on a nice cut-paper font that Amy is helping me to create (it was part of my swag package from her). I hope to utilize that for the new website--I just have to tweak some of letters as the registration was off on some.

Well, back to paper airplanes and other frivolities today. The studio is going to be closed for most of the day I'm afraid unless I come up with some mastermind plan....

Too bad Roo here isn't like the dog Nana in Peter Pan.

Hooked Up

Long time; no posts!

I guess I've been enjoying my new found freedom. I've got six hours a day to get my act together now and I admit after getting over the shock of it the first day, it's going by in a flash! I finally finished this piece I've been working on to hang in the studio and I have to say I love it! It's so much more colorful and glittery in person. It's my daily mantra and I needed to have it displayed so I could practice it everyday.
I have to tell you, I'm fairly excited about my new venture lately as well as my name--I feel connected to a greater whole these days. I got my seller's permit and it was kinda trippy to see HUGS ACROSS THE UNIVERSE on it in black type on a bright yellow piece of paper. The shop will open on August 11th which is an anniversary of sorts and how this "thing" all began. What a happy coincidence. I feel very good fully embracing all of this. It's who I am now and it's inspired me to no end.
;-)

I've been very busy working on little elements for all of this--little baby steps toward a greater whole; trying to get all the pieces in place--the website revamp is where all my attention must go fully now--can't wait to have that behind me. I'm almost there.