simply me

creative PLAY.

i spent the better part of lat night just playing.
multi-tasking and playing.
i haven't felt creative lately.
i have been doing a lot of the admin. work for donna downey, llc,
but not a lot of creating.
so i laid out 4 blank canvases and created some 6 x 12 recycled pages to paint on.
they are all in various stages of work in progress...
i love the creative chaos.
sad to say, i think i need it.

i also want to give a big shout out to Jess! Congrats girl, you won the Catslife Press stamps! email me (donna@donnadowney.com) your addy and i will ship them out to you!

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I've never seen Catslife stamps before and so I browsed there site....amazing. I like their altered book stamps, a lot. Thanks, Donna!

Posted by: Jess | February 26, 2009 at 04:17 AM

 

Catslife Press giveaway!

even if you never stamped before, you have gotta appreciate a good stamped sentiment!
Catslife Press stamps have some of the best little sentiments around.
i have NEVER walked by a aisle of them and NOT purchased one (ok 2, 3, 4, etc).
today i would like to giveaway some Catslife sentiments and thanks to Susan of Catslife Press for making this possible. you rock!

simply add a comment to today's post and be entered to win all 3 stamps!
i will post the winner in tomorrow's post.

WORDS = reminders to belive in your voice.

i have always loved words,
the shapes,
fonts,
how they look in books
and the visual exercise they give the mind.
words have meaning, emotion, they tell stories, document life and (my favorite part) create visual texture.

i decorate my home with them, cut them out of magazines, books, newspapers and have often been known to photograph words on signs, advertising and buildings.
wearable words are a must!
a visual reminder of how i want to live.
when times get tough, i instinctually clutch the charms around my neck or twist the ring on my finger.
a gentle and constant reminder of my voice.

i asked lisa leonard to design a special piece for this years Inspired. event.
I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS PIECE and i can't wait to get them for inspired.
not only do i love its continuous circular message, but the fabulous turquoise charm in the center rocks my world.
i am over the moon!
LISA you are an Amazing artist and i cannot thank you enough!

A while back i posted a picture of my ring. I wear this band everyday!

several of you wanted to know where i got it and i couldn't find the link.
well i found it! i got it here.

i also had to share this artist with you. His name is John Clark and he makes these beautiful black pen drawings onto book pages. i love how the words and sentiments emerge from the pages beneath and into his artwork. i bought this print and am contemplating making a grouping of 3 of them (i just can decide on which other 2). This is textual happiness for me!

as a lover of words, i also have collected more than my share of single word and sentiment stamps as well. i have them displayed about my studio again as reminders of who i am, who i want to be, and who i can be. I enjoy looking at them and try to incorporate my favorites in almost everything i do and i am constantly seeking stamp companies that do "words" well. Catslife Press is by far my favorite.

Tomorrow i am going to be giving some Catslife Press stamps away in celebration of the words that remind us to be creative in our life...so be here tomorrow!

EDITED: the necklaces will first be made available at inspired. and those remaining after the event will be available through my website. if the response is great enough i will place an additional order with lisa and make them available in the shop.

making the time.

it is a real treat when my studio is clean enough for all of us to set up around my work table and play. my kids have always had free range of anything in my studio with the only rules being:

1. they ask for permission first
2. they respect my supplies
3. they return it back from where they got it.

i have until this day never had a problem with them using anything. kinda a blessing!

payton is my artist!
i mean no disrespect to my other 2 children because they love to create as well, but payton enjoys the process and has specific ideas and perspectives to what she creates.

since as far back as i can remember she has collected bits of paper, string, rocks, fabrics, etc and stashed them in her room. she often spends hours gluing and transforming these bits into pieces of art. it is amazing what this kid can do with lint! She is free-spirited, passionate, and takes creative risks.

Mckenna enjoys the completion of tasks. the accomplishment is the reward. she is goal oriented, focused, confident and linear. can you tell? look at her canvas compared to paytons in this photo. they both started painting at the same time, however payton had to look through all the colors and choose a palette for her creative idea, Mckenna completed the painting and then decorated the front.
(cole is not pictured here because he painted for 4.5 minutes and his friend came to the door and he was outta here! LOL! he is not the artist, he is the performer...)

this is payton's finished piece entitled, "chocolate rain". i love that she titled it!

This months Creative Playground trash to treasure challenge is to use the bits and pieces of your stash to create something new with. i would love to see what you can come up to and am accepting submissions for the march newsletter so get them in before friday.

simply email me your submission at donna@donnadowney.com and put the word "BITS" in the subject line and you could be featured artist in the march newsletter!!

congratulations!

carol girl you are the lucky winner of these fabulous new stamps!
i am excited FOR YOU!!!!
i love being able to see the stamps i have and i know you will soon own a rack of your own...
only a matter of time, ha!
email me your info at donna@donnadowney.com and Unity will ship your stamps out to you!

Your stamp storeage is just so inspiring. Can't wait to head over to Unity's blog to see what's new over there. Thanks for sharing with all of us.

Posted by: Carol | February 19, 2009 at 10:37 PM

Unity Stamps giveaway!

my Unity Stamps are in the HOUSE!

my rack is hung and i have already used them and incorporated them into my new Fabric Scrapbooking workshop!

check out how happy they make me!

leave a comment today and be entered to win all 4 of my Unity favorites! comments will be open 11:59 AM noon on friday! i will post the winner shortly there after!

1. US-229W Dream Tree Background
2. USK-146-2 Burberry Tree
3. USK-139-5 Vicious Circle
4. USK-128-3 Wish Sticks

also watch angela demo the whole system...this is where i had the ah-ha moment.

taking off!

hi guys!
i am taking a couple mental heath days...just being with my kids.
no work.

be back on Thursday with a fabulous unity stamp giveaway and a little video tour of my new stamp rack!

my best time yet!

bill and i ran our first 5k of the new year this morning.
my best time to date had been 31:29
my goal has always been to run a 5k in under 30 minutes.
when i crossed the finish line today i felt fast

i did it in 30:20
my personal best!
whahoo!!
happy valentines day!!

photoshopping + fabric scrapbooking

{contra pop - adobe photoshop actions}

playing around with my folder of photos that i have left virtually forgotten over the past 6 months
working on a new class using my fabric scrapbooking line.
having a great day!

and the Hero Arts winners are...

12:00 PM

My heart is thumping! Do you hear it?  Posted by: Gloria L. | February 10, 2009 at 12:07 PM

3:00 PM

Now.. MEEE!!!!  M  E  E  E  E  Posted by: Edys | February 10, 2009 at 03:03 PM

5:00 PM

once more!!!  Posted by: laura j | February 10, 2009 at 05:02 PM

8:00 PM

go go go!  Posted by: Carol Wehner | February 10, 2009 at 08:04 PM

10:00 PM

Getting closer to 100! :) Thanks Donna!  Posted by: JLinGriff | February 10, 2009 at 10:02 PM

12:00 PM

Great fun! Thanks!!  Posted by: Gloria L. | February 11, 2009 at 12:03 AM

i gotta admit, i thought that was fun and it looks like gloria l won 2 stamps!

email me at donna@donnadowney.com and i will forward your address to Hero Arts and they will be mailing you out your stamp(s)

ok on a total side note,
i love to read and read really fast.
i can usually read 2-3 book on my average weekend trip.
that said, i buy a LOT of books and have been totally into the whole vampire romance (OK SEX) novels.
i found this book One Bite With A Stranger at the airport in ft.lauderdale coming back from the ultimate cruise. i thought nothing of it until i left for NY this weekend and stuffed it in my bag.
i promised my ladies in Long Island i would post a link to the book (so they could get a copy, LOL!!)

MY GOD!
loved it.
not for its depth of plot,
nor its stylistic granduer,
but the first sex scene in the book lasts from page 32-112!
now that's a great way to start a book.
so for mindless reading that includes some tantalizing vampire sex, this is a good book!

YOU GOT THAT IDA!!