Texas Antiques Week

Last month I went to Texas Antiques week - I had the day off from work, and I wanted to get out of the house so I decided last minute to head down there.  Here are some pictures of things I thought were picture worthy:

I need a Dr. Pepper Chandelier 

These pics were over $1000 each! Yikes.

Here are some pictures of what I go.... this pink shelf, which folds down flat when you need to store it:

The shelf currently has tons of art supplies on it!  I found some cool ephemera for art journaling:

I got those two metal birds for my Christmas tree.  I also got myself a new Selina Vaughn Bag:

Its quite large, but I got it for when I go away for a day or two and don't need an entire suitcase.  I love the orange inside!   I also got some homemade soap (I can never resist that! It always smells so good), and some cute earrings (which did not photograph well).   According to my Jawbone Up I walked about 9 miles that day!  I really had a good time though.

ACA Conference

In March I got to go to the American Counseling Association Conference in Orlando, FL.  My Journey started at DFW where I found this art in the terminal:

I was absolutely LOVING the weather in Orlando because it was so nice - much warmer than Texas, but not yet hot.

At the ACA Expo the Association for Creativity in Counseling hand an art activity for us to do.  We used alcohol inks on the back of dominoes to make cool, one of a kind, magnets:

Here is the table when I made my domino:

Here is what I purchased at the Expo... a chart to explain feelings.  This will be (and already has been) useful for working with my clients, and it looks like an artists pallet so that is a plus!  The cards at the bottom are a deck with therapy exercises/directives.  I also got it for help working with clients.

A sink mirror selfie... I was very glad that I had this belt bag because carrying around a back on my shoulder all day was making my arm hurt!

One of the best things about the conference was finding out about the Military and Government Counseling Association and meeting other people who work with military and veterans!

After the conference was over, before I went home, my awesome best friend came to get me and took me to Downtown Disney.

We had lunch at Bongos - a Cuban restaurant - and it was delicious! 

Here I am with my awesome best friend:

It was great seeing her again after 6 months!!  I really enjoyed this conference, but it certainly did keep me busy 7am until about 10 or 11pm each night!!  I learned a lot and I even signed up for next year which is going to be in Montreal!  It will be my first trip to Canada and I am really hoping that I can take a few days before/after so that I can explore the city!

Lucky Star Art Camp Comes to an End

I was so sad that art camp had to end!  I truly felt like I had made some friends at camp.  These are the love ladies that kept me occupied and entertained - otherwise known as my cabin-mates:

At Camp Waldemar there are a few cabins that have been retired and thus campers are allowed to paint their names on them:

Its pretty cool - I appreciate the community art spirit of it!

I worked in my journal a decent amount and I managed to finish one journal page:

If you have not gotten the idea so far - Lucky Star Art Camp was AMAZING.  Camp next year will be from November 4-8th and if you are even remotely considering it I would say DO IT!!!  And if you are not considering it then WHY NOT?!!!?!  I certainly hope that I get to go back to camp next year and will do whatever is in my power to make sure that happens!  I hope you enjoyed my Lucky Star Art Camp recap - if you have any questions I would be more than willing to answer then!  Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Lucky Star Art Camp Day 4

Saturday at Lucky Star Art Camp is a half day of art and then half a day of free time to partake in camp activities.  I took Juliette Crane's class, Make Believe, and was able to finish this butterfly lady:

I also made this birdie:

And started this dragonfly girl:

I really like the art that I made!!  I will certainly be doing some more paintings like this.

After class I had an astrological reading.  It was very interesting.  All the planets in Libra pointed towards me having a creative career that helps others help themselves... so, Art Therapy!!!  Duh.   Art therapy is my destiny!

Then I sat on the green and enjoyed the sunshine.  I was tired so I didn't make myself do anything.  I enjoyed relaxing.

Saturday evening we had a show and tell.  I performed an Irish Dance that I learned during an optional just for fun/exercise dance class:

And some ladies from the beginning guitar class performed some songs for us:

And then a few people told us about their camp experiences and/or the art that they made.  Then we had a little craft market where we could get things.   I got a Katherine Center book:

If you so desire to get this book you can get it here! 
I also got some earrings, a business card holder, and some of Mandy Rowden's CDs.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope to "see" you tomorrow!

Lucky Star Art Camp Day 3

On day 3 of camp I took a full day class called Painting from the Heart with Juliette Crane.  I LOVED this class - although the backgrounds/beginning layers that Juliette has her students do are somewhat like my own style, the rest is completely different from my normal art.  I still loved everything I did and was super happy with this class; I felt successful thanks to Juliette's awesome instruction!  Here are some photos for you:

So, I finished both the pig and frog.  Then I started this butterfly lady:

I was not able to finish her that day, but come back tomorrow and you can see how she turned out!

Juliette's class was held right next to the river that runs through camp!  Here are some pictures from class:

It was great painting outdoors and doing something completely different yet being able to feel good about it!

After class I ran over to the stables and went on a horseback ride!

A horse and the barn cat communicating

the horse I rode - Rio

Selfie with Rio

Here I am with Rio

It was fun!  I got to see some pretty scenery and some deer too!  Later that night we all gathered around the campfire for a sing along and story telling!  After that my roommates and I went on a "haunted hike" were we just went around camp in the dark and looked at all the unoccupied cabins!  It was a good time with lots of giggling.

Lucky Star Art Camp Day 2

On the 2nd day of Lucky Star Art Camp I took two classes!  First I took Mixed Media Alchemy with Corrine Gilman.  Here are some photos of the work I did in this class:

I think only the first one is done - I will keep working on the other two!  Corrine's class was very enjoyable - Corrine's style goes very well with my own!  

The second class I took was Elizabeth Quigg's Intuitive Spirit.  We started off making and then discussing this nature alter:

Then we did a healing exercise and a guided meditation.  Then we got to have some open art play time using these materials:

As you can see we were outside on a balcony for this class.  It was nice to be in nature even though it was chilly that day.  During our free play time I just worked in my journal a bit.

Come back tomorrow for some more art pictures and camp tales!

Lucky Star Art Camp Day 1

Last week I went to Lucky Star Art Camp ("grown-up lady camp.")  I heard about Lucky Star when I went to Create Mixed Media back in September.  It sounded AMAZING and I rationalized that I would surely be stressed out by job hunting by the time Lucky Star rolled around and thus I needed to go.  So, I signed up and was super excited.

Wednesday two lovely ladies from the DFW area came over and picked me up for camp.  I did not know them but "met" them via the Lucky Star Facebook page.  They were so nice to offer to let me ride with them and that way I got to meet two people before I even go to camp!

Lucky Star Art Camp takes place at Camp Waldemar in Hunt, Texas.  The camp is beautiful.

Here are some more pictures...  We all decorated streamers to add to a big dream catcher.  The streamers had our dreams on them.

Mine is hard to see but it says "art, yoga, friends, family, adventure:

 I also got to decorate my name tag:

The first evening did not include art classes.  We had dinner, an opening ceremony, a speaker , and a "campfire" singalong with  Mandy Rowden.  Our speaker was Katherine Center who was super nice and told us all about her journey of becoming a writer.  Mandy, was super awesome and is so much fun to be around.

Come back tomorrow to see what I did in my first day of art classes!!