Remember Paris!

A trip down memory lane today-

Back in 2009 I was lucky enough to visit Paris.

Been on a Shutterfly kick lately, and am making books of my travel photos from different trips.

You guessed it,

I am working on my Paris book.  

Here's a few photos from that trip.

View taken from the top of the Arc Du Triumph. Shows how tall the Eiffel Tower is.

Of course, we visited Notre Dame too.

All the standard tourists spots.

But I can see why they are so popular.

Whenever I get back to Paris I have a long list of places I still want to visit.

It was February when we went and they were still ice skating outside of the Hotel De Ville, Paris' City Hall.

How about this great art store- Sennelier! I bought a bunch of fabulous oil pastels as a little present for myself.

And the walled river (the Seine) and lots of interesting bridges.

One thing we particularly liked doing in Paris was riding the Batobus up and down the Seine. It is a water bus- you buy a ticket for a time period and can get on and off at various stops along the river. This better than taking the Metro.

But we did ride that too.

And here's something not everyone does.

The Catacombs. 

We walked along this underground path through sculptures and arrangements of bones from ancient cemeteries in the city. Different for us, and very unique.

It was an interesting thing to do, something we had never done before.

And last for today- a famous lady in the Louvre.I much love the face on the left,  my daughter at 17.

I hope someday to get back to Paris and see some more of the sights.

Have you been to Paris? Any suggestions if I ever make it back there?

I LOVE it when...

So here's more altered book since it is Friday and I have NOT spent one moment in the studio since last Sunday, and even then it was for about 15 minutes. I did spent time last Saturday....but as usual, the pre-holiday BUSY has set in...last minute items to do...work being insane...today is our field trip to the Museum of Science in Boston with ALL the biology kids...(like 140 kids)...but there's 4 of us and it'll be another busy and hopefully-FUN DAY!!!!

Anyhow...this is the double spread and I showed you the gals on the left earlier on. Right page is mostly B Line stamps, except the trees in the Jennie Bowlin tag (which are from Aladine stamps) and part of a postmark from Stamp Francisco. I stamped and embossed the snowflakes and added a bit of "snow" just flying loosely around.

Speaking of snow, now they're talking maybe a BIG snowstorm Sunday night into Monday- maybe a snow day...maybe a white Christmas? We've had NOTHING but a few rogue flakes so far.

Next page...I created this Santa list which I like. The envelope is by Hero Arts, not sure about the Santa but he's great, and all the toys are B Line. Paper is Anna Griffen. Really looks 1930's which is the theme of the book.

And the mate page...more B line toys, the 3 other images are from CHF, stamped, colored and layered with mica to look OLD.

+++++

So I do need to mention what I love when I get to do it, as its the blog's title...and since its Friday...you might guess...but the answer is

I GET TO SHUT OFF THE ALARM!!!!

YAHOO!!!

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another morning already? You mean I have to get up, already?

These pages are suppose to show the Glitzy side of Paris...or maybe the more seedy side since Montmatre and the dancing girls are the artsy side, not the high class side. Lets see, I used a Tim Holtz speckle stamp and white paint to make the snowy look (yup, right off Tim's 12 Tag of Christmas 2010).  On the left, I went with stickers...some Penny Black ones and a Hot off the Press chandelier which I colored a bit. The stamp is Oxford Impressions, there's an Art Chix emphemera and some Prima jewels. On the right page...The dancing girls are a stamp from Postmodern Design...I collect their stamps since they're no longer in business and won this one on eBay a while back. I stamped on sheet music and colored with Copics...on the bottom is part of a tag stamp from B Line Design. And then there's Art Chiz and Prima gems and Martha Stewart punched snowflakes and gold fabric trim and even a piece of Martha Stewart Halloween sticker trim.

 Below is another couple of pages...I LOVE this man- he is a B Line stamp called Frenchie, with some snow on him... clip art tag, words are Stampington and Aladine, big snowflake is from Tattered Angels-LOVE the size of their HUGE stamps...7Gypsies tape, clear plastic snowflakes from Michael's, not sure who makes the French music stamp...hmmm.

I haven't been in the studio hardly at all this week...between the grey when I had no ambition (I'm so tired lately...Dave even had to wake me up this morning...that never needs to happen)  and then the "chores" I needed to do, like wrapping Katie's gifts before she comes home from college Friday and trying to get somewhat caught up on my grading...eeks...plus nights out this week-hair appointment, iPad class at work, finishing up my shopping...art just isn't in my sights...but HOPEFULLY this weekend I might feel a bit inspired. Because right now I will admit...not much isnpiration is flowing through me...not a bad thing nor am I having an artist's block- just don't feel like doign art and taking a break is NOT a bad thing at all.

So I will be showing you more of my altered book...are you sick of it yet? 

COLD isn't the RIGHT word

Its FREEZING!  So COLD!!! 6.8 degrees Farenheit. BRRRRRRRRRR. FRIGID! I just want to stay in bed and pull up the covers. But its FRIDAY! HOORAY!   Tomorrow I can stay snuggled up in bed. Just what I want to do when its dark and colder than cold.

So back to my altered book project and a few more pages to show you. The pointsettia page is a tag I did. I started by stamping a Darcie's flower several times in 3 different colors. I then took some Memories Ochre ink and distressed the tag. I added  2 rows of some Martha Stewart punched trim and some actual fabric trim. I found some older 7Gypsies cloth tags which I used on both pages. The big poinsettia is Penny Black. I added the words. The Notre Dame is from a B Line stamp which I stamped on brown paper and cut out the Cathedral. The bells are layers of the image stamped in different inks and also colored- by Paper Artsy. The Joyeux page has an Oxford Impression stamp of the Hotel du France, a cut-out from I think an Art-Chix image sheet. The tag is Oxford Impressions stamped on grey and distressed with some red. The little red poinsettia's are older Making Memories stickers and the black border and leaves on the tag poinsettia are Hot Off the Press stickers. There's some Prima  and some Making Memories bling and the big pearl brad is Making Memories. Whew! Did I forget anything?

So time for work...time to venture out of my cozy fleece bathroom (as big a shock as rolling out of bed) and then out to my COLD car.STAY WARM!

Another Early and COLD Morning

Brr....its chilly once again. What a cold wintery week...but then winter is almost here. Days are REALLY short too! Today I need to take Katie's car...my windshield didn't get done yesterday...will miss my heated seats but my windshield will get done today (insurance company told the glass company the wrong info so they brought the wrong one). But yesterday was good...worked a bit on my Holiday Project-making Dave a new fleece bear blanket for Christmas...worked on my Paris Christmas book, got TONS of papers graded, and even wrapped a few gifts for Katie until I ran out of tape. Watched this old holiday flick that I have on DVD and like...Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby. Its a fun oldie... a little love triangle...something a little different for the evening when Dave is AGAIN working late.

So this spread in my Paris book is one of my favorites. Love the graph paper background- lots of Tim Hotlz stamps- but I added some B Line passengers to the car. Love them. The partridge in the pear tree stamp is huge- not sure who makes it- the Paris postage stamp is Mary Marta. The French words are stamps from a French stamp company...Aladine Stamps...got them through the Frantic Stamper...and used some various clip art photos to give it a real time feel...its so much fun making this book. Wish I could stay home everyday and just PLAY, PLAY, PLAY.

Chore Day

Today I am home, for 2 reasons. One, my heel has been KILLING me and I have a drs appointment. Also, they're coming to put in a new windshield on my car as the crack grew about a foot yesterday in the bitter cold. I will say, I called yesterday to set up some appointments and was able to get them all set up and right in. Wow- I'm so efficient...and I guess places aren't super busy right now.

So its NICE to have an unplanned day off. I have a stack of papers to grade and some holiday things to do...plus work in the studio-HOPEFULLY- and grants to rate...so they day will be busy but relaxing- useful busy, not rushing around trying to squeeze in the needed items. Feels good...as I'm trying to get caught up on the chores and can get my holiday and worklists shorter.

So here's some photos of my WORK IN PROGRESS. This is an altered book called Christmas in Paris (Noel a Paris). Its been a blast making it, and I'm setting it in the 1920's and 1930's so its fun to use all those stamps and items I have from that era.

Its fun combining holiday images with Parisian images too, a good mental challenge. And I can make it glitzy and a bit of old fashioned glamour too. That's fun about Christmas and these winter holidays...you can use your bling even if you're not a very blingy personality.

So time to go check Tim Holtz's next tag of Christmas...still amazing how he comes up with all those techniques. And Friday, new Hero Arts stamps...with Saturday release...can't wait. THis winter catalogue by Hero Arts always has SOOOO much to brouse and dream about and sometimes even drool over.

Till another day! I'm off.