Artist Date: Wayne

After my first Artist Date to Manayunk, I decided to keep the tradition alive with a trip to Wayne, a Mainline community about 25 minutes from my home.

I have lived in Wayne for a year, taught school in Wayne for a year, and attended a moms' group in Wayne for a year--none of them the same year--so it feels like my "old stomping grounds."

Plus, there is a beautiful Anthropologie store there, this time with a big "SALE" sign out front.  Need I say more?

When I told my mom about trying on clothes at Anthropologie as part of my Artist's Date, she was a little suspicious that Artist's Dates were turning into something more like glorified shopping trips.  Maybe so, maybe so.  But there are such beautiful displays, clothes, and object d'art in those stores that I think they constitute a legitimate Artist Date destination!

I decided to make my photo self-portrait a tradition as well, so here I am in a pretty polka dot dress in the dressing room, which I would have bought if it hadn't been cut so weird on the bottom that it was totally inappropriate for this almost-40 shopper.

After Anthropologie, I headed over to The Readers' Forum, which has a combination of new and used books for sale.  The aisles are arranged in a kind of pathway that leads you through the store. 

At first, the man who worked there was rather unfriendly, especially when I asked for change for the meter.  He lightened up once I was at the cash register with a pile of purchases.  Among them were two engagement calendars from the 1960s, which I thought would be great fun to alter as art journals.  I have already started working in the Venice-themed book, which I will share more about later.

I walked up and down North Wayne Avenue, as well as Lancaster Avenue, looking in store windows and stopping in a few gift shops.  I was looking forward to checking out a couple of consignment/ thrift shops, only to discover that they are closed for the summer.  I took some photos of Wayne Presbyterian Church, such a beautiful piece of Gothic architecture with its square towers, soaring steeple, and stained glass windows, right in the heart of town.

I ended my Artist Date with a cup of coffee at Cream & Sugar Cafe, my usual way to end any "alone time," to fortify myself for my return to Mommy Reality!

Have I convinced you to woo your Inner Artist with a little alone time together?

Bookmark Swap

The inimitable Parabolic Muse, Chris, is hosting a bookmark swap, and I thought I would show you my submissions.

I created these bookmarks quite a long time ago, and had them tucked away, so I was happy to find a perfect use for them.

I made them after buying Collage Cards:  Mini Books, Slide Mounts, & More, a Design Originals publication by Suzanne McNeill.   Do you remember the slide mount craze?  I bought a few, but never put them to much use, but found a pretty design for bookmarks from Cindy Pestka.

I used precut bookmarks, but you could easily cut your own from cardstock of the size of your choice.  Then I cut a window in them using an X-acto knife, though you could also use a square punch, if you could center it properly. 

I put a pressed flower between two pieces of vellum for the first bookmark, and glued it between two of the bookmarks that I then glued together.  (Like a cardstock-vellum-flower-vellum-cardstock sandwich.)

For the second bookmark, I printed the word "INSPIRE" on vellum and made a cardstock-vellum-cardstock sandwich.

I then collaged various papers and images on the cardstock bookmarks.  (For the "Inspire" one, I did some collaging first before cutting the square.) 

For the first bookmark, I punched a hole and tied on a button with ribbon to the top, and for the second bookmark, I tied on a piece of raffia with buttons tied to the ends.

Chris is in the process of receiving all the swap entries (Monday is our deadline), and then will be sending out two bookmarks for each of us in return.  I am looking forward to seeing what arrives for me in the mail!

If you are interested in participating in swaps, check out the "Swaps" tab at the top of my blog for some more information.

Cartes Postales

Most of these postcards seem to have made their way to their destinations, so I thought I would show the series I recently made, which clearly reflects my great love for all things postal:

I always think it's kind of fun to add stickers to postcards that say, "liquid" or "fragile."  Silly humor on my part.  I definitely don't recommend putting the "fire hazard" label on a box you are trying to mail!

All of those fun labels, like "Special Delivery," "Air Mail," and "First Class Mail" came as a gift awhile ago from my online friend Karenann.  I am clearly indebted to her for my postal-themed art.  Do you see those airmail envelope stripes along the edges of the postcards?  Karenann created them by laying down alternating strips of red, white, and blue paper, and then making a laser copy of it, giving me permission to use and share it.  How generous is she?  (Very!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!