A splash of pink on a gray, gloomy day ...

 It's been gloomy when it hasn't been raining for 4 days now.

 I've almost forgotten how sunshine feels.

 But, the meteorologists are promising beautiful blue skies tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I need a dose of pink.
I'm wearing a pink sweater
and craved pink images from the web.
Enjoy!

a little art

Saved this little art work from Bet Corsault from 2009. I do so like her stuff!
Today I added the type. And, this is what kind of day it is ...

Playing catch up ...

I spend better than an hour behind the wheel of my car traveling back and forth to work each day, and one of my favorite pastimes seems to be what I will write on my blog when I get a chance.  "When I get a chance." It seems I've been so busy being creative that I haven't had time to write about it. Until now.

I had the joy and pleasure of designing and curating an exhibit of fashion dolls for a little history museum in south Florida. Old Davie School, with its four classrooms of tall windows and Dade County pine floors, turned out to be a wonderful venue for exhibiting dolls. I'm prejudiced, I know, but, I really think we did a good job. My Barbie pal, Denise, contributed many of her wonderful dolls and we covered the gamut, from vintage to modern, including pop culture (think Munsters and Elvis!) and holiday dolls! And, of course, lots of fashions and accessories!

I created all the signage and collateral which can be viewed here. It's not often a person gets this kind of opportunity, so I enjoyed every aspect ... from the planning and execution to the graphic design and marketing! I was incredibly fortunate to get to work with Leslie, the executive director of the school, too! She had lots of wonderful ideas and I hope she's as happy with how things turned out as I am!

We couldn't resist! This is a huge alligator from the Everglades, on loan from Mr. Bergeron.
"Beach Rodeo" Momoko is riding on his snout! The kids loved it!

We hosted "Tea with Barbie" last Saturday afternoon and more than a hundred people showed up! It was utterly delightful (I've always wanted to use that phrase and really mean it) to see women of all ages dressed up for an afternoon tea. Some wore hats, some wore tiaras! Many of the younger guests brought along their Barbie dolls and it really WAS like a dream for me.

Each guest received a button as a little memento of the afternoon.
It says, "I had Tea with Barbie at Old Davie School." Cute, huh?

I caught two of the "live" Barbies and a Ken arriving at the school before the guests arrived!
Here is "Birthday Barbie," "Ballerina Barbie" and a Barbie Basics "Ken."
This was the executive director's idea, and what a wonderful idea it was!

The "live" Barbies were a big hit with guests! They're so beautiful, aren't they?

The littlest guests, in their tea attire, playing with ... who else? Barbie!

creativity without a computer ...

It's Tuesday. I'm working on my computer with the damaged disks and its 5 "critical" error messages, waiting for the computer guy to show up. I'm working in "safe mode with network connections." And, this is very limiting to the technical side of a person's creativity when so much of their creativity derives from using the technology. Unh!

Yesterday, when the problem began, I was able to (Thank You, God!) transfer all of my files and photos to an external drive. Whew!  (Comment: I just happened to have a 2 terabyte external drive handy. Do you realize how much 2 terabytes is? It is MASSIVE! And, for us hobbyist photographers, storage of those digital images is everything, right? The drive is about the size of a Kindle and very easy to use.) So, anyway ... while the transfer was in process, I had to keep my hands busy. I rubber cemented restaurant business cards onto a notebook page and made notes about when we were there, with who, and how the food and service was.  I painted a tag with pale pink acrylic paint and set it to dry. I cut papers from The Breathe Paper Collection and glued them to other tags. The tags are leftovers from my husband's VanHeusen polo shirt purchases. They're nice thick cardboard about the size of a business card with a hole punched, ready to be remade into something else. I'll take pictures and try to remember to upload them later, WHEN I have a computer with programs to work from!

I have no programs. No software applications! No Microsoft anything. No Acrobat. No Photoshop. No QuarkXPress. No FrontPage or Expressions. Limited web access. This is torture. I have so many things to do that require this technology, and NOT having that access causes anxiety.  Then, there's the added pressure of analysis of what happened and what the best next step is. Is it time to replace the computer and move into Windows 7 with Microsoft Office 2010? 

Things change at warp speed. Adapt.
Good thing I have stuff stored on line at Picasa and Flickr!
At least I have some images available to me ...

Okay. Fine.
I've got to go wash a paint brush.
And, see where the computer guy is ...

Playing Catch Up!

I haven't been here in a while, but I've been being creative all over the place! In February and March, I organized, promoted and hosted two, count 'em! 2! art socials at a little park in my neighborhood. The artists are so wonderful and they delivered a lovely evening of art and food and friends! Maybe, with a little luck and a lot of help from neighbors, we'll do it again next year!

In April, it was the children's art exhibit, "Everglades Eyes." I started this as an annual event in celebration of Earth Day back in 2006 and it's definitely taken on a life of its own! My boss was amazed that this year was the "fifth annual" and he was impressed with the amount and quality of the art submissions! 105 students from five area schools produced some amazing images! Like, this one ...

In May, working with my Soroptimist club, we presented the "Live Your Dream" Luncheon. I posted all the collateral I worked on at my Veer page, here, if you want to see. And, now, I'm working on a Barbie doll exhibition at the Old Davie School! (http://www.olddavieschool.org/)

I'm a huge fan of Kelly Kilmer, a mixed media artist and instructor, and, while my pages look nothing like hers, she inspired me take pictures of what I've created and share it here, on my blog. So, here you are!

The left page above is my first draft of my "doll list" for the upcoming exhibit at Old Davie School. I know the school's four rooms really well, so my goal has been to link the dolls to the exhibits (however thin that link might be!) and create an experience that is entertaining AND educational.

The page on the right is my notes from a meeting on a capital project that I attended for my day job. The flower doodles didn't get colored until after the meeting, during a phone conversation that involved a good deal of time "on hold."

These pages are what's happening right now. My "to do" lists, a new vocabulary word (and, what a word it is!) and paperdolls I cut out during a brainstorming session. I think it's clear what's on my mind! Dolls and their fashions!

So, there's my creativity contribution for today! I've got to design a "tee shirt" for the special Barbie event in July, so I'm off to do that now. I'm so glad it's Friday, aren't you?

Valentine's Day 2011

Before I put all the Valentine goodies away, I took a few pictures. Here's my mantle shrine to St. Valentine!

"Home Sweet Home" was a find at Joanne's Fabrics. While the tag said "Made in China," the sentiment was "Made in America!"

I've had this crocheted hearts garland for an eternity, and it is undoubtedly my favorite for Valentine's Day!

A simple Valentine greeting at the front door lets the world know we believe in LOVE!

My neighbor enthusiastically decorates for all the holidays, and I think he does a terrific job! At night, the twinkle lights really showcase his garden of hearts!

New beginnings ...

I've just been reading through blogs this afternoon, trying to catch up on all my favorites. There seems to be a theme of "new beginnings" running through many of the artists' blogs. And, comments about trying to "get focused." 

That's so me. It seems like I spend too many days trying to get focused.
Maybe this year will be different. It's for sure I'm going to keep on trying.

So, here's today's offering to the creativity gods and goddesses ...

You see, I have way too many pink sweaters. I know I do, yet I keep buying pink sweaters. I have a drawer full of pink tee shirts, too. I seem to have a real thing for pink clothes. The thing is ... there really is no one shade of pink that's better than any other. It's a mood thing. You choose your pink by how you're feeling at a particular moment, don't you?   I do.

The Pantone Matching System (PMS) recently announced that "THE" color of 2011 is "Honeysuckle Pink."

Okay.

So, what, exactly, is honeysuckle pink?

Beats me. But, I'll take a stab at it with these images from my "PINK" folder ...