Wren's Nest

Flying out of my comfort zone...

...way, way out. I have not really painted before. I completely admire people who can paint, but it's always seemed too hard for me. My husband bought me watercolors for Christmas a while ago and I never even really used them. For some reason it scares me to death. I have a problem that I think a lot of women have...it's called - if I can't do this really well the first time, I won't do it at all.  

The problem with starting a new thing is...if it requires any patience to learn and I don't pick it up right away, I lose interest (kind of like math in school). It's not that I don't like what I'm doing or trying, but I've lost the ability to just play and have fun with whatever the new thing is and to just not worry about it. 

So here's the thing - I don't want to be like that anymore. I'm trying new things this year and taking my chances and who cares if it's not perfect or even good - if I like it, I need to just keep practicing and having fun. So, I signed up for a painting layers class with Misty Mawn. I saw that my friend Teresa was doing Misty's portrait class (which seemed WAY too scary for me to do) and saw that she had a background class...which seemed less scary. So, I signed up and then felt sick to my stomach and then I watched her amazing videos and thought - "seriously, who do I think I'm kidding?" I watched again and freaked myself out even more...then I thought - what have I got to lose? So, I geared up and went into my studio and started painting. Messy, smeary, blendy painting and you know what - I LIKED IT and you know what else - I DIDN'T EVEN CARE WHAT THE END RESULT WAS because it was just FUN!! So, I'm putting myself WAY out there and showing you one of my backgrounds. I don't know what I'll use it for (maybe a collage - my other new favorite thing) - it's layered paints and a stamped fleur de lys and I sort of like it, but I REALLY liked making it...so which is more important?

Charmed, I'm sure...

I had another class at Anna Corba's studio this past weekend. We learned to solder - how fun and amazing!! I was totally intimidated at first, but kind of got the hang of it and had a great time. We made tiny collages and then did the soldering. I'm on the lookout for a soldering tool now!! Here are the charms I made...be nice - I'm a beginner...

 

Here are the pictures of the studio that I hadn't shared yet. It's such a beautiful place - the time goes by really fast when you're there...I can't wait to take another class!

 

 

Anna Corba Class - Part 1

 
Last Saturday I was lucky enough to be able to take WHOLE day and head to Anna Corba's studio to take a collage class.

Collage is new to me, but this is the year I'm trying new things, so off I went, by myself on an amazingly lovely day and drove to Sonoma...as I got closer, I wondered if I was even on a real road (she lives in this beautiful rural area), but I was and I found her studio and had an extraordinary day!

She was kind enough to let me take some pictures of the magical space she has created. It was a great group of women creating on Saturday (I even met someone who I went to high school with, though we didn't know each other). Her very sweet husband made us an amazing lunch of butternut squash soup and chicken pesto panini AND brownies!! and we ate in their lovely home. (no pics of that because someone forgot to bring her camera to lunch). We also learned to use beeswax over our collages - so fun! I've already bought some to use here and I have to say...I am hooked on collage right now! So, without further ado...let's start with what I made (I made 2, but the 2nd one isn't done yet)

Now on to the studio - it's a two story studio with tons of light and windows and this view

Love how she had these old books displayed

A table under one of the windows with brushes, ribbons and old papers underneath - she has the coolest stuff and let us use lots of it!

and an old dresser with more amazing things on it. There was nothing I didn't love about this place...except getting lost on the way home! More pictures tomorrow!!

Guiness

We spent 6 hours in the car today...to pick this little one up in Chico.

He's a little Havanese puppy and his name is Guiness because my husband thought he looked like a dark beer with foam on top. He's a real sweetheart and my kids are beside themselves!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I get to head to Sonoma to visit with this lovely lady...

It's Anna Corba and she is teaching a workshop at her studio!! I'm SO excited. We'll be doing some of this (I hope) - it's a collaging class. I haven't really done collage much, so this is a whole new thing for me.

 

and this

 These are all pieces of Anna's work, courtesy of Somerset's Artist's Cafe magazine. So pretty!! I'll take some pictures - we're also having lunch under an old oak tree in her yard - a perfect Saturday!! The following Saturday...same place for some soldering!!

39 Squares Update

I've been stitching along (trying to keep up...not always easy) with Amy's 39 Squares project. I'm only 1 day behind right now (I've done 9, I'll do the 10th tonight). It's really fun - I have lots of amazing Japanese craft books that I'm getting inspiration from for motifs to stitch - hard to keep things in the 1x1 squares! I've also signed up to do Teresa's E-zine version and will probably do my own (which may be French themed since I've found a lot of cute French stitching ideas in those books and my friend Rachel mentioned doing a stitch project on some certain cute ruffly tote bags on our trip...). So here's  an update picture.

1. Square1, 2. Square 2 - a better shot!, 3. Square 3, 4. Square 4, 5. Square 5, 6. Square 6, 7. Square 7, 8. Square 8, 9. Square 9

Happiness is a Beautiful Cookbook (or 6)

Last Saturday we had our school auction. It was pretty fun. We'd set up during the day, so I was sleepy AND my poor husband was still (and is still) not feeling well from the kidney stone situation, so I went by myself. Well, I went with friends, but then their husbands came later, so, you know...it just wasn't the same (not that I don't love them, but I would have loved John to have been there).

ANYWAY...there weren't a bunch of things I wanted. A couple of sign up parties and some day with teacher stuff for my little guy, EXCEPT THESE...(choir of angels singing here):

I saw them during set up - bid on them at the silent auction and watched them like a hawk until bidding ended. I LOVE cookbooks and I love to cook, but really, I just love cookbooks - the photography, the possibilities, the general beauty of most of them. This was a group of all these amazing Williams Sonoma cookbooks. I was SO excited when I got ALL of them for $75! Seriously - quite a deal! So far I've made Minestrone soup out of one of them and am making short ribs and polenta out of the Comfort Food one on Saturday (I seriously want to make every.single.thing in this book). 

Of course, my cookbook cupboard is full, so they're sitting (much to my husband's chagrin) on the dining room table in a big pile...but, he's eating well, so I doubt there'll be too much complaining!!

A Giveaway...

Looks like a great day for a giveaway to me...how about you?? I am a proud sponsor of The Shabby Nest - a beautiful blog with great decorating advice, wonderful writing, and...giveaways. Today Wendy is featuring my little shop - Dreams of France and we are giving away 3 - count 'em 3 - Apothecary tea towels to one lucky winner. You know you want them, so pop over and leave a comment at The Shabby Nest.

 

...and since I'm talking about the shop...we just got some amazing pillows and pillow covers in. So perfect for spring!

 

So, don't forget to pop over and leave a comment at The Shabby Nest...Have a lovely day...looks like we might actually get some sun here!

Sweet Scents

New in the shop...beautiful, fresh, clean scents for spring!

Square 1

Here's Square 1 for the 39 Squares project...I started with the word "home" and my color palette is in the background. I think it'll be a spring theme - birds, nests, soft colors. I may also try to do a larger sampler at the same time...we'll see what time allows! (I had a hard time getting a good up close shot. These square are only 1"x1").