Products of Artfest

Self Portrait in watercolor (started with a blind contour drawing,

which is why it is sort of Picasso-like)

a bowl of peaches in pastels on a journal page made of brown packing paper

Finger painting!!!

Sunflowers in pastel

funky torso with canvas journal attached

Well, the fabulous new friendships I made at Artfest were probably the best products of the trip, as well as the great time I had with my good friend Lisa, but I though I would post some pictures of my art work from the classes I took. Keep in mind that these were new mediums and/or new techniques. I came home with a lot to play with and a lot of inspiration!

Schweatty Balls

These funny looking little things are what I've been making lately just using dyed wool and a felting needle. I am going to Artfest next week and found out recently that participants trade with each other. Some trade miniature art, some trade ephemera to be used in projects, some trade antique buttons or pretty ribbons...just whatever.

Well, I tried a few ideas, which were not coming along very quickly, and since they recommend you bring 30-50 trades, I had to move on. Thirty of these little felted baubles may be do-able in a week. I don't know.

I have a good friend who makes GREAT homemade almond roca. If I can talk her into teaching me, that's my back-up plan.

Best Books

I posted my favorite books about two years ago. I thought it was time to do it again, since things have changed a little. I love, love, love a good book! Take a look at my top 20 favorites and let me know what books I'm missing out on. I'd love to hear your recommendations!

Okay, here they are, in no particular order:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jennette Wells

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Indian Creek Chronicles by Pete Fromm

Young Men and Fire by Norman MacLean

Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Bald in the Land of Big Hair by Joni Rodgers

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy Joy...

How much joy do you experience in your life?

Do you let worry and plans and ought-to's get in the way of your joy?

Have you ever wondered what your purpose is on this earth?

I may be able to tell you what it is in one word: JOY!!!

When you give someone a gift, what do you want them to do with it? I have a feeling you want them to enjoy it, no? What do you think God wants you to do with the gifts he's given you? Don't you think He wants you to use them and enjoy using them? And He wants you to use them to give to others and glorify Him!

Sometimes I think that I just don't know what my "spiritual gifts" are. I really don't enJOY that feeling. It makes me feel purposeless. But I usually come around to remembering that when I am giving from a place that brings me joy, then giving is a true blessing for me and the recipient.

So, when you get in a funk, here is a little exercise you can do that will help you to remember where to find your joy:

1.)List five things you enjoyed doing as a child.

2.)Remember five truly joyful times in your life.

3.)List five things you would do if time and money were no obstacle.

4.)Try to find some commonality among these answers.

If I you gave me a gift and I just tossed it in a corner to collect dust until I got other stuff done or because I just didn't want to deal with it, I would be disappointed. Totally bummed. I wonder if that's how God feels sometimes.

What Font Are You?

This is a really fun personality quiz.

Take a few minutes to do it, just for fun, and see what type of font you are!

Poppies

"Poppies"

by Mary Oliver

The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn’t a place
in this world that doesn’t

sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage

shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.

But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,

when it’s done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?