Life in Saluda with Patti Digh

For a few hours on Saturday, we soaked up the creativity
and inspiration of Patti Digh
when she came to read from her new book,
"Life is a Verb". What a delightful
afternoon filled with like minded individuals,
yearning to be learn more
about ourselves, about Patti and about the
world around us.
Betsy Libbey wrote in her Blue Haven Studio Blog
and posted some
great pictures of this special day. That's a really
really good thing that
Betsy had some pictures because my little camera
wanted to stop working
just about the time I needed it. Off to get a new one
that I can abuse just
about as much as I abused this one... maybe even more.

As a "Thank You", Patti presented me
with these 2 beautiful tiles
created by TileSmiles

If you missed this event and need a book, we have them available
here and we can have Patti sign them for you. Some people
have purchased several copies that they will generously
give to their dear friends and family members.
A gift like this is precious . . . as those of us who have
read it knows dearly.

More keep coming in - check it out!

Christy Hawkins completed both a front
and back page for this challenge.
The addition of vintage ephemera
and a very vintage sepia tone theme
truly makes the "heart" pop.
Notice how she placed the heart
off the top of her journal page.
Christy is from Jacksonville, FL

(back page of Christy's entry)




Fonda Haight from Flat Rock, NC
created this interesting page
with many transparent layers.

It's a Bird, It's a Heart, It's a Journal Page

Crystal Chappell from Charlotte, NC
used some interesting colors and textures
to create her page.
She added a quote from Langdon Hughes
and her own vision of a bird.

Carol Sloan started painting on fabric
then added paper then decided to
start sewing on it in a recent friday workshop.
One thing led to another and Presto!
A journal page was born.


Carol Sloan even took those paper
and fabric scraps a step further
with the addition of stamps & more sewing.
Great job Carol!

Donna Downey here in Saluda

Don't miss out!

Donna Downey Workshops here at Random Arts

Sample of Swatches Workshop with Donna Downey

paint, watercolor, doodle
Sat. March 21st 9am till 12noon
8 page, 6x6 acrylic and chipboard album

Mix and match sizes, shapes, textures, colors, and mediums to create a bold and beautiful hand-painted and collaged mixed media scrapbook. As you experiment with color, each page will be immediately transformed into mini-masterpieces individually colored and designed by you. You will explore new techniques for using watercolor crayons, layering and collage for acrylic album pages, as well as, paint and doodling tips for taking your creative scrapbooking to the next level.

Your Cost $85.00

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

SWATCHES
Sat. March 21st 1pm till 4pm
Three, 10 x 10" canvas swatch artworks in framed loop

You asked for it and here it is!!

New in a series of craft media workshops where you’ll learn the step-by-step process of how to create my signature Swatch art pieces
In this 4-hour workshop we will create three individual 10” framed canvas Swatch art pieces utilizing more than a dozen art mediums, techniques and tools. As we create each canvas we will build upon layers of technique and applications, introducing new ideas that will open up multiple creative possibilities for layering and texturizing your art.

Your cost $85.00

Tweeeeetie Tweeeeeet

Artist Doni Jordan from Columbia
took the contents of the packet to a totally different level.
Bird = Feather
Heart = Love

Denise Henderson's striking colors, textured and
painted surfaces create a very cohesive
journal page.
Denise lives in Etowah, NC

Chris Tessnear created this
interesting piece keeping
it in a total "valentine" theme.
Thanks Chris, it's awesome.

There's still more to come

Carroll Ann Wykoff from Asheville, NC
has joined our challenge twice now.
Thank you so much, Carroll.
She also used some real feathers and a
personal message in her journal page.

Brenda Berchey has been a avid stamper
for over 15 years and is one of our very
first customers, way back when....
She has a personal message in her journal page
as well. Love the colors.
Brenda is from Hendersonville, NC
and you may have seen her many contributions
to all of the stamp magazines; she is a regular.

Amanda Demick-Noyes is from McHenry, Illinois
and has been to our shop with her sister
Denise Henderson who lives in the area.
Amanda did the "valentine hershey kiss" thing
to her page. Thanks so much.

More "sweet tweet" inspiration

Sharon Kolbye of Landrum, SC added a little
humor of the upcoming "love" holiday.
"love comes, loves goes"

Cindy Trobaugh is from Morristown, TN
and she used multiple painting techniques
and offers a "shadow" bird using
the stencil portion of it.

Real bird feathers were added to the bird
image sent to Jean Simpson from Naples, FL
(summertime in Brevard, NC)
I like the way that she positioned the bird
on a 3 dimensional limb coming right off
the Basic Grey paper.

You all need to see what Patti Digh
told us after her visit here in Saluda this past Saturday.

Dear Jane,

Well, that's it.

I've decided.

I'm moving to Saluda.

I'm going to work at Random Arts, eat gorgonzola mac & cheese at the Purple Onion every day for lunch, get an ice-cold Cheerwine at the hardware store for dessert, and swing on the swing sets across the train tracks every day at 3pm.

What a glorious day! I am so touched that you spent your afternoon with me - and so, so, so appreciative of Jane and Joyce and Jen hosting me at Random Arts. The moment I stepped in and met Jane with her incredible energy and saw those cupcakes in my favorite color (teal) and those little flower cookies and that purple bathroom and all that beautiful paper, I knew it was a special place, a special day.

And I was right. What an amazing energy in that room. I wanted it to last forever. Thank you for your support and love and stories. The fact that my words have been meaningful to you in some small way is so precious to me. I hope we will meet again. Tess asked me all the way home if you all really liked her spider story - she was thrilled to share it...

A few notes:

If you are loving Life is a Verb, I hope you might consider writing a review of it on Amazon--even if you didn't buy it from them, you can write reviews on their site, and those are important in the book world. My publisher thanks you. :-) Alternatively, if you're not comfortable posting on the Amazon site, if you'd like to write a short statement about the book that the publisher might use in publicizing it--what it's meant to you, for example, or how you are using it--I'd love to receive those also and will pass them along.
If you are interested in pursuing a more in-depth exploration of Life is a Verb, perhaps my April 24-26 retreat near Asheville might be of interest--there are a few spaces left and it would be lovely to have you there.
My next book readings are in Atlanta on Feb 5th and in my hometown, Morganton, NC, on Feb 12th (at the annual "author's luncheon" for the public library I read about in the story "Save Face for Someone Else", so that will be really meaningful to me - I guess I should take tissues, eh?!). If you're close by or know people in those areas, I hope you'll pass the word along to them! If you'd like to invite me to your town, let me know. I've been known to say yes!
Life is a Verb was recently chosen from over 440 nominees as one of five finalists for the prestigious "Books for a Better Life" awards, alongside Randy Pausch's bestseller, The Last Lecture. I'll take my older daughter, Emma, to NYC for the award's ceremony on Feb 23rd. On that evening, light some good vibes candles for us, won't you?!
I'll be back in touch about art for the next book! The thing I forgot to tell you about the artwork for Life is a Verb is that I asked the publisher to hire the woman who first sent me that artist trading card, Donna B. Miller, to create the cover art for the book, so there was a great sense of a circle being completed in having her work also serve as the cover.
Many thanks again for joining me in Saluda for such a special gathering. It meant a lot to me for you to be there. Let's do that again! Since I'll be living there, it'll be easy... (smile).

Love,
Patti

Today's the DAY!!!

Everyone is talking about it and now I wonder if I have enough books in stock to sell
today at Patti Digh's reading here at the shop.

If you are anywhere within 50 miles of Saluda
you need to stop by and meet Patti Digh.
What a perfect crisp, sunny day to
hear the voice of
intensity,

intuition,

intimacy,

integrity,

inclusion,

intensity.

Fly away inspiration

Each and every page takes on a special
"tweet" for me as I am the one
who gets to open the mysterious envelopes when they arrive.
I get the first peek to see how
each participant has interpreted the choice
of elements...
1 bird + 1 heart = 1 fabulous journal page!

ABOVE
Kristi Steiner chose to "work outside the box"
and create her page in the shape of a house.
Her copper bird has been given the patina look
with verdigris and her shabby chic
distressed background is a perfect match.
It's so "Kristi"!
Kristi is from Columbia, SC and is one of our instructors.


Page 2 from Kristi Steiner


BELOW
Liz Derby

Liz Derby brought Edgar Allen Poe
into her Raven journal page.
You can get a close up view
by clicking on her page for details.
Liz is from Charlotte, NC and
she participated in our last journal
challenge that was auctioned at
the senior center here in Saluda.

More inspiration from Tweetie Pies

It is such a joy every day to open my mail box and find another surprise journal page.

You have to click on Linda Knight's page
to see the "inside" humor of this "mama crow".
Linda is from Charlotte, NC

Emily Pruitt's colors definitely evoke
thoughts of spring.... oh dear, could it be
that close? one could only hope.
Emily is from Greenwood, SC

Martine House Workshop

We've expanded our workshop space
to accommodate additional participants!!!


So, come in and
"Play With Textures"
with
Martine House
Sat. Feb 14th


Create textures with different materials such as silk paper,
Solvey, Fibers,Tyvek, needle-felted wool, distressed stabilizers
and embellish them with stitches, paints, beads, foils, cords, etc.
The small pieces you will produce can be used to make note cards,
add to altered books, altered arts, assemblage, art quilts or decorate journals.
All skill levels are welcome.
Some supplies are required including a sewing machine
Cost $60.

Sweet Tweet reminder

Need another bit of inspiration for completing your Sweet Tweet
Journal challenge page?
This page was sent in by
Alice Houser of Spruce Pine, NC.
Looks like she used the original envelope in which
her challenge pieces were sent.
That's what I call re-use, re-cycle & re-purpose.
thanks Alice,

Sweet Tweet reminder

Tweeeeeet Tweeeeeeeeet Tweeeeeeet
Like it?

Yes, I am putting a little "tweet" in your ear to remind you that your journal

page is due on Feb 14th. Quite a few of you have already responded and sent
in your pages but there are those that have not.... Not to worry, you have time
and we have time but sometimes we all need a little nudge. tee hee. (me included)
As a little "tweet", I am sharing one of our entries from Lea Nickless.

Lea lives in Miami and frequents her little cabin in the mountains here in Saluda and creates
out of her studio here as well. She has such a light hearted, easy going artistic
spirit and it is always a joy to be around her. Her journal page definitely reflects
the clarity of her colors in which she works.
Remember to sign your page and include your blog or facebook so we can all
be connected.

Preparing for Patti Digh

Come in, come in, come in and visit us at Random Arts....
Take the full tour of all that we offer. Take a creative workshop, play for a day,
learn a new technique,
soak up the creative juices,
hear inspiring words from
highly creative instructors & authors
listen. . . . . .

Enter Here

Ooooooooops

I am feeling a little red faced after my dear friend Denise told me that
I had the incorrect link to Arts for Life. You can click here for the correct
link for this worthy non profit organization. My apologies to
everyone involved and for inserting the wrong link. Gosh, if it's not
one thing it's another.

Smile! You're on face book!

Yes, do it! Be a facebook friend
with ME.
How artistic can you get?
Each day you can be someone else, or crazier than the last day.
How about it?
wanna join?

Flower Power

FLOWER Power?
You bet, just ask Doni Jordan what power she
has when she uses her "hippie" sewing machine
to create art.

See those original hippie flowers
painted on her sewing machine?

After laughing hysterically about the kind of sewing machines that we used for this class, our theme became " we don't need no stinkin' Bernina". No offense Bernina, we love you but our type of sewing was far less complicated than anyone who uses a Bernina could ever imagine.

Janette Grassi chose a neutral color palette
of heavy weight fabrics for a "one of a kind"
woven book. We had such a great time with Janette
as she tried & tried to make that ancient sewing machine work.
I think it needs oil. Funny how that makes all the difference.
Here is Janette's finished cover. Isn't it wonderful?



Mary Reeves thought that her old singer wouldn't do
the job but the "old Singer gal" did just fine. Mary
persevered and decided that she enjoyed making
this book so much that she wanted to make more
but not before she had her machine serviced for
additional "active duty".

Now, Doni Jordan, she's quite a seamstress when
it comes to papers, scrap fabrics and creating works of art.
Her sewing machine was a graduation present from high school
and it even has yellow and orange flowers on it. Yes! It was
made that way. How cool is that?

Jean used my little Kenmore $75. portable machine
that I can carry anywhere. She started off a little timid
but after I told her it was like riding a bike, she carried on
and finished quite a nice book cover.

Betsy Libbey used her refurbished "feather weight"
to sew her book cover together. Adorning the cover
with an Extravorganza photo transfer of herself
at 3 yrs old.

New Year ! New Winner! New Challenge!

We have a winner......for following my blog

And the lucky winner from the month of December is...
Alicia Griswold from Atlanta.

Not only is she a follower from a far off place (?), she has come to shop with us
and blogged about that experience. Thanks so much Alicia, for following and
being a part of our mixed up, mixed media, randomly altered artists. Be sure
to check out Alicia's blog, "Sending pages out to dry".

A surprise package will be heading off to Alicia shortly...



NEW Collaborative Journal Page begins now.... How about this theme "Sweet Tweets"
and our completed book filled with pages will be auctioned off on my eBay site.
Everyone gets a chance to bid on the book and the proceeds will be donated to
another good cause, to be announced later. Here's a clue... it involves the "arts".


Size 5.5" x 7"
Leave a .5" blank space along the left side for binding
Vertical please, 5.5" side to side
7 inches top to bottom
Feeling artsy? do both sides or not -it's up to you.
You can journal, draw, paste, paint, stamp, sew, rust
alter, wax, doodle, etc etc etc. Remember my rule from
the very beginning? There are no rules. (well maybe a few)
Please sign your page and maybe include your email if you want "praise".
Deadline Feb 14th, 2009

I will be sending out a "sweet tweet" to everyone interested in being
a part of this.
Remember, request a packet ONLY if you plan to follow through with
sending in a journal page & I will need your mailing address.

Our last response was almost 95% which is unbelievable, so let's keep
up the great track record and follow through with your page.
It's only one (1) page and I cannot wait to send out my "sweet tweet" to you.

FRIDAYS "UNFINISHED" FOR FREE
Each Friday during January and February we will be offering
an all day, first come first serve, (by reservation only) limited to 6,
"finish a project play day".Contact me by email to reserve your space.