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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Book Signing and Slumber Party


So on Thursday Katie drove to my house and on Friday the two of us drove to southern Oregon to visit Stephanie and Sue Hadden for a weekend of slumber party, girl sharing, book signing and art making. Girls never outgrow slumber parties, remember that. Few pleasures are better than leaving your responsibilities behind for a few days to hang with the girls.


We all slept at Sue's house and painted on fabric in her converted horse barn. Sue lives in the country just outside of Grants Pass where we woke up to wild turkeys, wild bunnies, sunshine and the most amazing gardens that Sue put in all over her property. It was heaven.


Stephanie and I got right down to business and signed stacks and stacks of books for the people who ordered them from us. We enclosed a print from each of us and they'll go out in the mail today. We are both so proud and happy to share the projects in the book with our friends near and far.


After we painted we sewed on our paintings and Stephanie and Katie showed us how to use the special thingy on the machine that lets you roam around on the fabric and draw pictures in thread. That was a new experience for me and it is so much fun. Now I'm going to do some at home.


Katie shared kimono fabric with all of us. Stephanie is sorting through the treasure in this photo.


We stayed up late to paint and discuss and yes, the wine was available to those who enjoy it. (now who would that be?) We all felt so creative playing exquisite corpse.


Above is part of the long, narrow piece that Sue is going to make into a pillow. It shows the four of us and Sue's little dog Ozzie who was a member of our party. (we let one "boy" come.) We chose nicknames for the weekend: Raven, Moonshine, Stardust and Annie Bedsprings. We'll leave it up to others to guess who is who.


I didn't get photos of all the pieces and mine aren't done but here is another I happened to shoot. I loved everything about this painting-fabric-sewing process.


It's so much fun to see where your friends live, to stare at their studios and the art on their walls, to learn more about each other and to feel the affection growing as we gain insights into each others' accomplishments and challenges. We all have both and it helps to share that amongst ourselves.


Here is a wall in Stephanie's house that is pure amazing, incredible Stephanie. She and Sue whomped up the most delicious food for us, provided every comfort and sensory delight; we even got to see the fuzzy little chicks and meet some new friends during the visit. And she has a treehouse. A big, terrific treehouse that lots of adults can sit in and from which they can look out over the rolling green hills and talk like pirates.

I'll try to finish my exquisite corpses (just the sewing, not the painting) and show that to you tomorrow.

Let's all inspire each other! Pass it on. xo

24 comments:

Judy Shreve said...

What a great post! What fun and how inspiring to surround yourself with your girlfriends (and some wine) and create art! Loved the way you wrote the post and shared your photos -- felt as if I was there :-)

Anonymous said...

This looks like it was so much fun! I can't wait to take your upcoming class.

heather noye said...

looks like you all had a fantastic time!!! i love the fellowship and of course nothing beats art-time with girlfriends. :) i can't wait to receive my copy of the new book.

lyle baxter said...

looks like you all had a wonderful slumber party! not much slumbering I suspect. please show us more! the sewing is interesting. what's the attachment called?

Clare Wassermann said...

wow I am so jealous. I love the picture of all of you - particularly your knees!!!

Parabolic Muse said...

This is FREAKING awesome!! Are you Annie Bedsprings?! Anyway, slumber p's are so fun and it's been forever since I had one. I have a bed set up in my studio! You should come over and we will sew stuff to other stuff and then you can sleepover! I once sewed my dog's hair to the bedspread, but she just pulled off of it. She's very strong.

I know someone who's taking your class, but she's cheating by doing the lessons in the book already.

Something happened to this comment. Basically, I just wanted to say this is freakin awesome. I'm glad you had so much fun!

Bren Graham Thebeau said...

This was pure magic, loved sharing in it with you. What an amazing home and surroundings, and that treehouse oh how fun would that be!

Caterina Giglio said...

what great fun... and always inspiring...

Stephanie Lee said...

waaaaa haaaa HAAAAAAA!!! I MISS YOU!!! I had the best time. the BEST! Thank you for coming down and for bringing that silver halo'd goddess with you. I adore you both...even though you kept me up ALL NIGHT with your talking and snoring and dream sounds. geeze.

BTW, the books went out in yesterday's mail (Monday). Woo Hoo!!

boo hoo...I'm a cry baby...I miss you...waaa haaa....sniffle sniffle.

femminismo said...

Lucky, lucky creative you! This weekend sounds like an entire luscious dream that got to be lived out! Can't wait to see the corpses. How do you find time? Will I when I retire?????? IHOPESO!

Unknown said...

How wonderful! This is how girls should "roll" LOL! Thanks for your inspiration and for the smiles...xoxo Connie

Lynn Cohen said...

Judy welcome to the world of free motion sewing! You will love it and I can already see what a natural you are at it too. You will be doing thread paintings and thread drawing and writing in no time. I can see a whole new road in cloth journals by Judy Wise just around the bend.
What a wonderful weekend you shared! And yes her house is awesome! I enjoyed being along for the ride. Thanks. And again congrats on the big book publication! Wow!

Chris said...

Oh what fun! Enjoyed seeing the projects in process, and the creative surroundings. Treasured times. Received my Plaster book and just love it. Continuing on with experimentation and now have more things to try. Currently, I'm building bowls...such messy, wonderful fun!

Bridgette Guerzon Mills said...

What fun! I can't wait to see your book...I'm hearing good things about it already! Congratulations to you both.

Anonymous said...

this is so awesome. i wanna have a slumber/art party now......AND i can't wait for my book and the course with you and stephanie. thanks for inspiring us all....as usual~ it would be dreamy to hang out with ya'll!
kim

katie said...

what a sweet time we all had. feeling inspired, juicy, energetic and oh so thankful for my time with you all at the 3 day slumber party - i love my gal pals! it's a sure cure for the art doldrums :-)

lynda Howells said...

so excited to think l am seeing you putting together the book that at this very moment is winging it's way to me!xxthank sfor sharing your wonderful time together. You looked as if you all had an amazing time. On top of that l learnt a new word....exquisite corpse.Thanksxxlynda

jill nalette said...

now that sounds like FUN! your posts are such a joy and inspiration to read!
you truly are one of my favorite woman!

be well!
love, hugs and smiles~ jill

misty said...

oooh, i love that last painting. how evocative!!!
looks like you girls had a beautiful time together... perfect! love all the images, thanks for taking us along!
xoxox

Seth said...

Looks like a lot of fun. And congrats again on the book -- enjoy this part of the book making process!

marianne said...

What a delightful, fun post.. Made even more special because my book came today! I got such a kick out of the pics of you and Stephanie signing the books..makes the whole process even more personal when you see the effort that you ladies have put into this endeavor..and the book? Exceeded my expectations..Absolutely brilliant!Kudos to you both for a job VERY WELL DONE..I can't wait for the class to start..:)

Jill Berry said...

looks like a wonder-filled weekend.
Question, do I get a contributor's copy? If not I will order a signed one from the two of you! Can't wait to see it, especially since your art loomed on the shelves over me at my photo shoot...
xoox

sandy said...

this was so fun to read and see....and wow to the studios you showed, and love stephanie's wall.

Jacqueline said...

I enjoyed reading every morsel of your experience, and reeeeally want to see that tree house!! *smile* Congrats to you and Stephanie on your new book! It looks AWESOME! Saw it on Amazon, and it led me to your blog. Your book is definitely on my "must-have" list!

(((((Many blessings to you and family)))))

Jacqueline Graham
Artists of the Round Table
http://artistsoftheroundtable.smugmug.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtistsOfTheRoundTable/