I’ve been working on a “Fun Fanciful Floral” design and thought I’d work it into my Illustration Friday contribution.

My super-talented art buddy Joyce Shelton & I had been talking about doing this for over a year ~ probably more like two or three… We don’t live too far apart, but are separated by an hour’s worth of intense Interstate 4 driving. We meet half-way now and again for lunch and always say, “We need to have an art play date!” Well, we finally did it. Thursday I packed my pillow & some art supplies and headed over to her place.

I can’t say enough what a great hostess she was and just how cool her place & studio are. Other than stopping for a bite, we had fun making a mess and art!

The above piece is mine and started out with more promise than I delivered to it by the end. I was trying too hard. I have always worked both on the board and the computer to create my pieces. I whined a little about not having “undo” and or being able to experiment on a layer that I could toss if I didn’t like it. But I started to feel the freedom of the play…

My shredder makes petal-like pieces out of my credit card offers and I brought along a bag full…

I am lovin’ the shredded flowers and plan to scan & do something with it. On to Joyce’s super cool project. She has these Mr. Magoo-like glasses and everyone who comes in the house has to put them on and be photographed. She has a great collection of silly photos of friends & family mugging behind these ridiculous things. She wants to do something funky with the photos and fill the wall leading up her stairs with them. The contemplation begins…

After some discussion and my sharing of a Photoshop trick, she begins with a shot of her friend Janie…

The shredded paper makes its way on to her piece as well…

Starting to shape up…

Too cool ~ not done yet, but getting there - it is a start!

Oh, and yes, I too had to be captured behind the glasses…

How I wish I were still sailing….

I finally got the photos from our recent sailboat journey edited and posted. What many people don’t understand is that you can’t go far in a short period of time on a sailboat, so we didn’t go to the Keys or Mexico… but we did have a good time. I overdid everything ~ food, drink & sloth ~ so I am cutting carbs, ramping up the exercise and trying to manage not to need to buy new clothes a size larger :-))

Click HERE to see all the pics & read a few short snippits ~ including my most embarrassing moment!

Back from vacation and trying to get organized and back on track, but I just had to share a couple things…

First, samples of these adorable cards I did for C.R. Gibson just arrived ! The hammock full of presents is die cut and a dimensional tip-on and the waves at the very bottom are die cut as well. The blue glitter on the whimsical waves is just icing on the cake…er…card! Too cute, if I do say so :-)

The second thing is the African Violet in my studio window. I am not known to have a green thumb, by any means so when my mom gave me this (MUCH smaller at the time; it is about 14″ across now), I was sick with the pre-guilt that I would kill it. Amazingly enough, it seems to love the window in here and I have managed to feed it just enough water (and not too much) to keep it healthy.

When I left on vacation, there were no blooms and I left detailed watering instructions with my friend who is kind enough to feed my “babies” (despite Gracie, Queen of Evil’s disposition) . When I walked in, the tray was full of water and the largest outer leaves were drooping down along the pot. I panicked! Oh no! Did I tell her the wrong days? Did she forget?? But after inspection I realized that for some reason the water was not wicking up through the 2nd pot as it had been before, so I removed it and set it directly on the water tray and prayed. I was rewarded the next day with the leaves all standing at attention and these lovely blooms.

Whew!!! I didn’t know I cared so much about this violet…

Speaking of vacation, Captain Hubby and I are back from our fun & sun-filled days on the water. We had a great time. I am still sifting through photos to share and will post soon!

Even though I have a hundred things to do this week, my brain is already on vacation….I am already thinking about boat drinks, warm breezes and naps in the middle of the day.  Captain hubby & I will be taking Adios on a little journey later this week and I can’t wait.  Until then, won’t you join me for a summer spirit?  Which is your favorite?

What gal can ever have enough shoes?  This is part of a series.  What a can you never have enough of?

Just got back from the Atlanta Gift Show. A day late. For the very first time, in all my years of traveling, my flight ~ along with about 60 others ~ was cancelled out of Atlanta. I won’t bore you with the frustrating details as I don’t particularly want to relive it myself, but I got home nearly 24 hours later than I had intended.

The show was rather quiet, but I had some good meetings, dropped in to say hi to others, and spent an entire day just stalking showrooms with my art buddy Joyce Shelton. I have to say, we really didn’t see anything “new”. With the economy the way it is, manufacturers are playing it safe it seems. This too shall come to pass.

Here’s a view of the endless escalators in the Gift Mart looking down from the 18th floor.

And of the open atrium area in the Apparel Mart…

One of the fun things about going to shows is seeing your product on the shelves, and better yet sometimes, in featured displays. Toland Home & Garden was featuring my fall leaves toss flag and door mat in their booth in The Gardens (my favorite section of the show). I am happy to report that I was told it was selling very well.

I just have to show a detail from this design because it is what makes it even more special…

This gift bag was brand new in the Leanin’ Tree showroom. It was derived from an assortment of cards I also did for them.

But the best thing about shows is connecting with friends. Joyce and I met up with Andy Mathis and Phyllis Dobbs and were sorry to miss a couple others that were in attendance.  Also had a relaxing breakfast cathing up with Joanne Fink who I had not seen in some time.  Here at dinner are myself, and fellow artists/bloggers, Joyce Shelton and Carol Eldridge. You gotta love Carol’s Bloomin’ Bosom! How cute is that shirt?!

Ok, time to get myself organized and back to work!

My contribution to this week’s Illustration Friday.  It was so much fun, I drew a whole series of them.  As soon as I get them designed up, I’ll share!

What a gorgeous day it was in Florida! If I do say so myself, we have the most beautiful lighthouse on the Eastern seaboard.

We took the good ship Adios out to enjoy the day and this lovely area in which we live. She was flying her colors….

This is the fist shot I’ve gotten of her in the water. We took our hand-me-down dinghy out for a maiden voyage and had quite the adventure.

This is her logo ~ of course I had to custom design it!

Even with dinghy engine problems, seam leaks and one of the pad-eyes coming off completely and setting her adrift so we had to circle back in Adios to retrieve her ~ we managed to take Hola (dinghy’s name :-) into Down the Hatch, one of our favorite weekend Ponce Inlet haunts. What could be better than some spicy shrimp and a cold beer on a day like this?

The pelicans took a rest from skimming the water to oblige us with a picturesque view.

…and Mother Nature outdid herself with the sunset. Wish I had some firework pics, but I just kicked back and enjoyed!