Fairy Jewelry Boxes

This weekend, at the Creative Souls Workshop, we made Fairy Boxes. We had black boxes (spray painted) that were sponged with a shimmer paint. Each participate was also provided other items to incorporate into their box including fairy images and a special fairy cut-out from my new Silhouette machine. The Silhouette hooks up to the computer and can cut any image you upload into the program. The machine is absolutely fantastic.

Heather - Inside Box

Heather - Lid of Box

Teri - Lid of Box

Terri - Bottom & Top of Box

Judi - Bottom of Box

Judi - Lid of Box

Judi - Inside Box

Donna - Lid of Box

Donna - Inside Box

Mary - Inside Box

Mary - Lid of Box

Karen - Inside Box

Karen - Lid of Box

So, that was Saturday. On Sunday, I was back at Heart & Soul with my pottery and a fun Creative Souls Make-And-Take Project for their first Arts & Crafts Fair. Below is a photo of my booth.

I got the tent at Costco - it is an easy up. Love it!

Heather Meets Artist Leigh McCloskey

My art mentor, Susan Manders, arranged an exclusive tour to Leigh McCloskey's home and amazing art studio. In Malibu, it overlooks the Pacific Ocean; however, the wonderful view and lush gardens are quickly dulled as you step into Leigh's art studio. His vision of the universe and life's important questions have been painted on almost every surface, including the bindings of the books on the shelves.

Leigh and Heather

Susan Manders on the steps up to the Studio.

Pictures can hardly capture how awe-inspiring his body of work is. As he talks about where he started on painting the once ugly linoleum floor, you are blown away by the depth of his knowledge of religion, science, art, philosophy and beyond.

Below is Sophia. She is painted onto the cabinet and if you open the cupboard the exploration of your soul continues. Leigh explains that it is not "self-discovery" but "shelf-discovery" and you want to get to the top shelf.

Below is a piece of Eve. She is painted on a free-standing pillar in the middle of the room. You can see the intricate detail of the form leading the the whole piece in this picture. He said that the thin lines were drawn with a quill.

Yes, even the couch is painted - on every surface.

Leigh talks about where he started working on the floor.

Leigh in front of Phoenix Arise talking to his enchanted audience.

The ceiling.

The Heron on the Chair.

Despite the early morning rain, it was the perfect day to drive to Malibu. I drove through Las Virgenes Canyon, which thanks to the rain was very green and lush. It was very blustery and the waves were crashing into the coast. Truly a breath-taking day.

Creative Souls Whimsy

The theme of this month's Creative Souls Workshop was "All the World's a Stage." Each participant was given a "character" with a head, arms, legs and an odd "body" piece. They all created truly wonderfully whimsical characters.

Judi (Front)

Judi (Back)

Terri

Michelle

Laurel (Front)

Laurel (Back)

Liane (Front)

Liane (Back)

Vicki

Heather

Meeting Deborah Norville

Deborah Norville gave the keynote presentation last month at the Craft & Hobby Association Convention in Anaheim, and I had the opportunity to meet her afterwards at the book signing of her new book - "Thank You Power."

Heather Morrow & Deborah Norville
January 2009

I found her keynote inspirational. She told the story of growing up in a small town in Dalton, Georgia (aka, the Carpet Capital of the World) and learning how to sew. She won several beauty competitions with her talent as sewing. As she moved into broadcasting, making your own clothes was frowned upon, so she did it in secret. She has come out of the "crafting closet" and launched her own line of yarn for knitting.

"The One You Love" Workshop

"The One You Love" Creative Souls Workshop was Saturday, February 7. Each participant was given an unfinished wooden frame to decorate and a Valentine's box of goodies (including a sheet of Decoupatch paper) to embellish their frame.

We had a little extra time at the end, so we used the left over supplies to create a special V-Day card.

"Be Mine Or Else!" -- Vicki is serious about her love.

We used a rolling stamp to create the pattern on the paper and then blended the color into the background with an applicator.

The inside says "I only have eyes for you." Just too cute!

The inside says "Love"

Mary Engelbreit Takes My Cupcake

Mary Engelbreit and Heather Morrow

I have just returned from the 2009 Craft & Hobby Show in Anaheim, California. It was a crazy four days filled with 10 art classes and a huge wholesale vendor show with a ton of "make-and-take" projects to highlight how to use their products.

I ordered quite a bit for my Creative Souls Workshops, so look out -- the projects this Spring are going to be out of this world.

One of the highlights of the show was, meeting Mary Engelbreit, artist and entrepreneur. Her magazine (ME), which is no longer going to be published, has taken crafting and scrapbooking to a whole new level. In addition, her illustrations have been published in hundreds of books and licensed for everything from Christmas decorations to cookie jars. In my world she is best known for her "Henry" Scottie design.

My friend Marie and I had heard that she was going to be at one of the booths, but we had no idea where, let alone when. About mid-afternoon, I stopped at a "make-and-take" project table at the Plaid booth. We were using their new line of glitter paints (which I ordered) to decorate ceramic cupcakes. While I painted glitter on the cupcake, Marie went to pick-up another project we had done earlier in the day.

Marie returned and we moved onto the next "make-and-take" project table in the booth; however, it was being closed down. When we asked why, we were told that Mary Engelbreit would be arriving at any moment and they were using the space for her. We couldn't believe our luck and we were not about to give up our front row space.

When I met Mary, I was holding the freshly glittered cupcake (bottom of the photo) and she asked if it was for her. I told her sure, but that it was still wet. She didn't hear the it is "still wet" part and went to grab it. Needless to say, her hands were covered in glitter paint. As they scrambled to get something to help her clean-up, I left the cupcake off to the side to dry and my business card.

It was great fun and I don't think she will ever forget me because of the glitter painted cupcake she took home.