Meanwhile back at home....

What have I been up to?
Well, cleaning my studio for one thing....and it is a BIG job! A little daunting but once you start you have to keep at it, right?
I am making progress....
I will show you pictures when I'm finally done...

And, I've been whining a lot. San Francisco has been crazy hot.  And it isn't normal for us at all. My house has been so hot I haven't been able to sleep, or do much of anything.
But I see some fog rolling in now.....thank God.

I took a collage workshop with Molly Meng at SF Center for the Book. Lots of fun. She is a delightful instructor.

I went to a Typewriter Jam at SF Center for the Book too. TOO much fun. People came and brought their own typewriters and what beauties they were.
I think the biggest hot of the evening was the large type typewriter my friend Monica brought. SOOOOOOOOO cool. I sure would like one of those but it seems they are very hard to come by.

I've been making weekly trips to Scrap SF (the main reason my studio is in such dire need of cleaning and organizing). I found these old photo booklets and changed them up a little to make them Ephemera Sleeve Booklets. Pretty nifty way to organize you small bits for collage, don't you think?

OK, another reason for my overloaded studio is my trips to the SF Public Library book sales....I admit it....I don't usually buy bibles but when I opened it and found that hair inside....well, I could NOT resist. Don't you wonder about the story behind this? I sure do.

More from the library sale....I am repurposing books to make altered books and collages....I just love old, old papers.

Altered Book Show
The show closed and my piece sold.....I went up to Marin to see  the show....

Another wonderful collage workshop at Scrap SF taught by the  amazing Sally Wassink. Just look at those tables! We had such a great time and the hours just flew by.

I dragged out my old Big Shot and have been having fun with some creative die cutting....

My collages made at Sally's ScrapSF workshop

Sending out some mail art of course....

More die cutting (easy to do on a HOT day). I love using very old papers like these for the little bags...

OK, now I think I definitely deserve a gin and tonic....it's HOT and I have been SO good.
That's my story and I'n sticking to it.

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Mail Art Meet-Up!

We had our first 2019 mail art meeting and it was sure a fun one. We had a little theme -- can you guess?

I enjoy seeing what people bring to the meetings....

I love all the art supply boxes , bags and tins..of course I want them all....

We had TOYS!!!!

You don't get your hands on an electric typewriter like this baby every day. And, we learned the SFPL has one you can use for free.

Dymo typer! Always fun to play with too.

We had an origami demo......

Being an origami klutz I didn't "get" it so don't ask.....lol....sorry....

We had a large group and a big table to make things on...
and brownies.

There is always some Show & Tell
These beautiful books are by Gregg and I am inspired to make some more of my own after seeing his.

I sat next to Margarete and you know that was fun. Look at this collage she made -- don't you love it?

There is always a swap table....the good stuff is snapped up super fast.

I am sick of Xmas but just wanted to show you the little Xmas book I made this year.
Every year I save pretty scraps of Xmas wrapping paper and they sit around till June and end up getting thrown away....
(Isn't this UK Holiday card from my pal Dori the BEST?)

So, this year I put wrapping paper scraps, holiday cards...all my little bits and pieces of Holiday ephemera into this little book so I can enjoy looking at it all whenever I want.
Good idea, yes?

This is a nice memory of Christmas 2018. Too bad I didn't do it sooner....

Public Service Announcement
Someone at the mail art meeting told us about this Rubber Stamp online shop in case you want to take a look....
I am just passing it along because I had never heard of this rubber stamp company and maybe you haven't either.

We are getting buckets of rain here in San Francisco this week. My plan to go photograph in Chinatown for Lunar New Year was thwarted and I am hiding at home staying dry.
But next week the sun will be shining and I will be on the hunt for Year of the Boar lucky envelopes and papers in Chinatown and photos will be coming your way.

Keep those ideas coming....I really appreciated all the comments I've gotten about what you are interested in seeing on the blog.

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Let's Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is only days away (here in the USA). I think it is my favorite holiday. No gifts, low-key and pie! I mean, really, what's not to like?
Like I said...pie.
What is your favorite kind? I think the holiday also makes us think about loved ones who we have with us and whose who are gone. My beloved mother-in-law taught me how to make pie crust and pies many years ago, After we lost her, I made many an apple pie for my father-in-law who loved apple pie. (He was the 102 year old fire fighter many of you know about).
So, I can't make a pie without thinking of those two.

I made a Thanksgiving altered book this year....and a matching one for my niece, whom I'm spending the holiday with. I think it will be a nice souvenir of our visit.

I used a bunch of old papers for a lot of the pages....and we will add photos and menus and ephemera from the holiday weekend. Looking forward to a little art time after all the eating.
And a nice long walk too.

Don't you wonder what these two girls did for Thanksgiving back in the day? I wonder how many they got to celebrate.
I invited them along to my celebration this year.

Some French pumpkins to add a little international color. But I doubt you could find a turkey in France! OK, maybe a small one...

This page makes me think of my wonderful mom,. Every Thanksgiving she would set out a bowl of walnuts on the coffee table in the living room where they would sit and get dusty and mostly ignored. I have to do the very same thing myself now....(yes, they still get ignored and dusty...)

So, I am hoping all of you out there who celebrate have a lovely day. Be sure to have some pie and think about your loved ones and what you are thankful for.
I'm sure we all have many things to appreciate and be grateful for and celebrate.
How do you all celebrate?
Do you BBQ a turkey? Go to a movie and get Chinese food? Celebrate with a few or many? Go for a walk on the beach and eat crab? 
I'd love to hear.

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

You're Going to Want to See This......

Want to make some books?
My friend Margarete showed me how to make this.....

and she can show you too......

I had such fun working on this I knew I had to share.....
Margarete taught us how to make these at an SF Correspondence meeting.
And then she came over to my studio to play!

I love it when my friends come over to my studio and play. And I really love it when they arrive with show-and-tell.
Just look at these wonderful FAT and happy altered books.
I couldn't want to get my hands on them -- want to see inside?

My friend Margarete made them all -- and I now you are going to want to know more. Lucky for you, she has a blog and she does tutorials on YouTube!
Here are her YouTube tutorials
You can see how she makes these beauties.....

I love all the different papers and textures she puts in for pages....

This is her RED book -- and it is charmingly small -- just about postcard size. And I gave her the  vintage red roses to include inside.....I'm just saying...

Of course, my favorite pages were the postal pages with vintage stamps and glassine envelopes and pages from old stamp albums.

Check out the cool pockets she makes.....

She also made a whole book from a Priority Envelope she received and the entire theme was postal....

Here's another spread with two kinds of pockets on either side....

Check out her blog too
The little red journal is featured on there right now.

And here is Margarete herself.....I didn't make her work the whole afternoon.....I had some show and tell too and we we walked down the street for lunch.
The day flew by!
That's what happens with art and friends.
Please let her know I sent you if you visit her blog and/or YouTube videos, OK?
It's nice to pass the word about artist friends and I now you (out there in cyberspace) told me you wanted to see more tutorials so here you go!

Now, get busy and watch what she does and go make a book!

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