Artist Gift Basket?

Need gift ideas for the ARTIST on your Holiday list?

Find an authentic vintage rubber stamp or authentic vintage wallpaper to use in Visual Journaling or Scrapbooking at
AlteredInsomnia!
A basket filled with one-of-a-kind art supplies is just the ticket for your creative friends!

Here's just one of the unusual items you will find!

An antique revolving rubber stamp holder.

An Artist? Who? Where?

I had vowed to myself on Friday afternoon - sitting at a red light - seeing the aftermath of a terrible accident on the bridge going over the Back Bay that once my errands were completed I was staying at my art table all weekend. Art is what makes me happy. It defines me.
Or does it?
I awoke on Saturday questioning who I was. An artist? Me? Oh, I dunno. I dabble. I play. I have fun with it. But other people I know are true ARTISTS.

And I found every excuse I could to NOT make art. Vacuuming the already spotless carpet. Preparing things for veggie sandwiches for dinner. Hell, I even made a Jello fruit salad. Pathetic!
I blogged about 'sounds' in the 'hood. Read friends blogs. Wrote emails about nothing in particular. Chair danced to 60s music on iTunes...

Finally I knew I had to create something, because I didn't feel like doing anything!

This is when I fully realized the VALUE of VISUAL JOURNALS.
Playing in my journal doodling with images and words. Expressing myself. Ha!
It was then I felt my spirit lifted. It was then I acknowledged to myself... I am an ARTIST!

(Another page from my junk mail journal. The word SHUTDOWN, the words LIFT YOUR SPIRIT, and the image of the window with the ocean view are all from junk mail I found in my mailbox this past week. Art is all around us. No excuses. Go. Make. Art.)

I Have Such Cool Friends :)

Tomorrow is my Dad's 92nd birthday. I got this crazy idea of how I would love to have an old photograph of my parents done as a painting for his gift. Of course I am not that kind of artist.

So, I turned to my wonderfully groovy talented friend, Ellen - who is an amazing artist. Ellen was two years ahead of me in high school - and we never knew one another. We did share the same art instructor...and Mr. Cochrane would always share Ellen's work with me when I was taking his Commercial Art classes. I was a huge fan of Ellen, and she didn't even know it!
Years...hmmm...okay...light years later...I was playing around on Classmates.com and I came upon our high school message board. Lo and behold - Ellen had left a post. I quickly replied to her telling her how I was so happy to have found a way to let her know, years later, that I was in awe of her artistic ability.
And a friendship began.
I LOVE the Internet!

So, a few weeks ago I scanned a favorite photo of my parents together. This was taken in 1938, six months after my parents were married in Los Angeles. The photo was taken on the steps of the courthouse in Santa Barbara, California. The coastal town of Santa Barbara has always been a favorite destination for our family all of my life. It is filled with fun memories of long summer days on the beach, walking around the eclectic shops, and savoring all the rich history of the area.

Ellen took a look at this photo and worked her MAGIC...

Thank You Ellen -- you ROCK girlfriend!