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