SuzeBlogz

Off to Faro

The Lenster and I had a lovely dinner tonight in famous Asbury Park New Jersey ( also home to Bruce Springsteen).
No..."The BOSS" did not invite us...but then again, we never invite him to our place either.
No...we went to a place called "Moonstruck
"


the view was superb. The food was delicious. We ate on the 3rd floor outside on the porch.



even the Canadian geese like it here (we just don't like them )

and the seagulls


and because The Lenster is a Marine Engineer this landmark was right up his alley


and this is the part of the old famous pier



then, we went to see one of the BEST movies I've seen in ages
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
I can't even began to unwind the plot for you. It's a Quentin Tarantino movie. It's amazing movie making. It's not always easy to watch and the subject matter is difficult, but it's just brilliant.

SO NOW WHAT......


Well...I'm off again !

Tomorrow.....

To Faro Portugal...with a little side trip to The Netherlands for work.

 gonna visit one of my dearest friends MAGGIE WRIGHT.

Maggie is British and I've been to visit her many times in England but, last year she bought a home in Faro, Portugal so it's a 'take the camera along & don't think about a thing'  vacation !

Damn....Life is often so rough.
Many of you have offered to carry my suitcases....I might run a lottery. !

however...I might be offline for a bit...not sure what the internet situation will be there.
 So, I Thought I'd put a few things up for sale at 10-25% off on the website to keep you busy...

You're my buddies....could'ya buy a few products while I'm gone...??

go check out The FLAT BACKED RINGS



and the terrific Roller stamps from GLITZ



and BACK OFF for removing the paper from the back of transfers



Distress Ink pads...always fabulous



FLEX for UTEE




And a great Wonder Tape Special

Vintage Architecture



and BTW....Tim has his new ROCK CANDY STICKLES AND ROCK CANDY CRACKLE PAINT


The office has limited supplies so my advice is get it while we have it.
All the sale stuff is on the home page.
Maureen can always help you and let you know if it's gone or maybe there's something you can substitute.

don't forget me if I can't blog !!!!!
I'll try to do facebook on my Blackberry

I'll be back !

Start Spreading The News

I want to be a part of it...
NEW YORK..NEW YORK !

so..that's where Elizabeth and I headed this rainy morning...into New York City.
up bright & early and into the car we go...The big wide open eyes are all fake - held open by toothpicks -  because we stayed up late the night before and neither of us are early morning people !



Once there we jump into a taxi and discover it has a built in  T.V. with a GPS system FOR THE PASSENGERS to follow the route.
We are v-e-r-y excited. It doesn't take much does it.



The first thing we spot is a restaurant that provides me with a morning laugh.
perhaps THEY need to try The Lensters special V-8
 


we head over to B&H Photo...a HUMONGOUS photo store...I mean GIGANTINORMOUS HUMONGOUS where we help to pay their mortgage..well Elizabeth helps the most. I tag along and do small damage !!



We pass some of the neat things in Manhattan hidden on side streets
like....the brownstones




the parks with the pigeons (rats with wings I always say..sorry, but true !)



well...this makes things pretty clear.



The funky eateries



and some fun ones too



or...if you want a street vendor...we have that too




or someone dressed a little unusually...too matchy-matchy for me... (but not for NY !)



a little hidden theater on a side street. Great old NY architecture.



We stop at Port Authority building where local vendors are selling their "stuff". I buy these great paper place mats of all the worlds biggest cities.



I passed up this really cool calendar but whomever thought it up is brilliant Look at it really carefully...it plays on the negative space of the numbers.

I even passed on the fun rubber stamps
I already have an overload of those things !!!!




and I pop into a wonderful thrift shop boutique called OUTCASTS (a St. Clement's Thrift Shop) filled with items from years gone by....I could have played around in there for hours.
660 Tenth Avenue
if you visit, ask for Peter



we're gettin' close to lunchtime now....so, we check out Elizabeths room at the Westin in Times Square...they have a Mac computer in all the upgraded rooms....Yum Yum...now I wish I were staying. When you turn the computer on it gives you a daily message...cool, huh ?



we do lunch
fancy-schmancy



Late afternoon..I head home....what normally takes an hour by car took three.
Bad weather and a ton of traffic



 but who cares...it was such a wonderful day with such a wonderful friend !

Passing through

My friend Elizabeth from Toronto, Canada flew in today and is headed to New York City for the weekend.
She's gonna schmooze it up with some of her girlfriends but, she lovingly made a stopover in Jersey so she could spend the night with us.
 Then I'll take her into Manhattan tomorrow and stay for a while.
We want to hit up some of the camera shops and other fun places.



Elizabeth and I are good friends. We went to Paris together for a week and took some photography classes and I've been up to visit her several times.
She owns A Scrapbookers Dream in Bolton

Elizabeths mom, Susan is an accomplished beader and glass bead maker
Check out the gorgeous gift she made & sent for me....all sterling...all swarovskis

I am overjoyed with her generosity. Elizabeth has one too !


Well...this little fella was passing through my neighborhood today and you know me and my nature thing....so..with camera always in hand I took this shot....he was eating an ant !
Well...I'm sure it was tastier than The Lensters home made veggie juice !


 Rock On little bug !

Art Is You

I'm sitting here drinking the Lensters homemade V-8 (again !) and kind of choking on it. I'm lovin' the fruits juices (well of course, they're sweet !) , but all these veggies....OY
I have on my happy face and I'm pretending cause, after all, he's so excited over this juicing thing,  but frankly........
let me say OY one more time !
I'd much rather have my tomato & celery on a plate.

so.....Thought I'd just fill you in on some of what I'll teach at the
October ART IS YOU event



We're going to do some really fun stuff with UTEE FAUX SOLDERING using The Melting Pot, Memory Glass, Memory Frames, stamps, Beadazzles, Zamora Beadz, wire, and lots of other goodies & very fun techniques, plus we'll make some other interesting unexpected jewelry too.






then...we're going to do some cool stuff with wax in a different class, different day
but also using the Melting Pot with the Project Pan, so bring some favorite embellishments and I'll bring mine !
(BTW...I have No idea who this guy is, I just stuck him in there!)



 and my third class uses UTEE, The Melting Pot,  Mold n Pour and special techniques with the non stick craft sheet to make an altered Goddess...yes..she's made entirely of UTEE.
We' ll even learn how do use the wax stylus tool to do some special effects with UTEE


C'mon now..I want you all to sign yourselves up!
Sign up for the WHOLE SHEBANG....EVERYTHING THE CONFERENCE OFFERS.
It'll be such a wonderful weekend in beautiful Connecticut.
Come...you'll meet The Lenster too !

Easy Decisions

So much is going on in the artful world
Here's a little checklist
I hope you can attend them ALL

Coming up October 8-12
In Cromwell, Connecticut
ART IS YOU

I'll be teaching at some of these events.



On December 5th there's

The Tinsel Wonderland Workshop

in old historic Lafayette, New Jersey
with Lisa Kettell


Scooting over to 2010....

First up....
Art Opera
April 7-10
in historic Red Bank, New Jersey

registration now open !!!



Reserve May 13-15 for
Donna Downeys Inspired
in Concord, North Carolina


AND....if you comment on Donnas Blog by 10 pm tonight you might even win this gorgeous 'Avenue A' necklace from jewelry designer Angela Bannatyne

Drink your veggies

Lunch today with my gal pals Patti Behan and Bonnie Egenton...2 of the Ranger-ettes as I affectionately refer to them. We got on the subject of eating healthy ( as I was shoving the Octopus sashimi into my face ) and I told Bonnie that The Lenster and I got a juicer.
Both girls already have one.
Bonnie shared her recipe for a homemade V-8 and I promised her we'd try it.
It involved a lot of fresh veggies and The Lenster loved the idea and thought I should participate...

Riiiiiiiiiight.......this is where honing my craft knife skills came in very handy....



The Lenster fed the machine.
You'll notice I haven't yet given up my favorite Jif Crunchy peanut butter.
Yes I know all about the natural stuff...one thing at a time guys.



Vegatables are pretty damn squishy. I mean seriously...we even juiced cabbage...how yuck



But, Im such an expert at this point he has me flip the eggplant that he's breaded with Wheat flakes....this health thing is really testing me...let's not push it !



We toast our success.....because, in all honesty, since I gave up all the sugars and real crap I dropped 6.5 pounds  without much trying.
But I'm not sure I would want this new version of V-8 all too often...takes some BIG getting used to !


and now...the VERY INSPIRED ANNOUNCEMENT....




Here is the list of teachers for Donna Downeys Inspired Event for 2010

pam garrison - mixed media artist http://pamgarrison.typepad.com/pamgarrison/

cd muckosky - paper/scrapbooking artist http://cdmuckosky.blogspot.com

angela bannatyne - jewelry artist http://www.avenueacollection.com/

suze weinbrg - encaustic artist http://suzeweinberg.typepad.com/

dara troshane - mosaic artist 

regine dossche - sculptural/fine artist www.powertexcreations.com

I feel totally honored.

I promised to share some artwork from others....
I fell in love with this canvas painting from Chris Nicholson.
It was hanging in her living room and I wanted to know where she bought it

SHE MADE IT WITH CLAUDINES STUDIO PAINTS....Bravo !!!


The circles were made using a paper cup dipped in the paint. What a fabulous idea.



Okay...it's time for some freshly squeezed apple juice....I'm on a roll!

What a find.....

In my quest to find new and exciting places, today I went to the most amazing store.
It's called FOUND GALLERY !
Oh Boy !

oh boy, oh boy, oh boy !
It's in Ann Arbor, Michigan, owned by Mary Cambruzzi


The gals from Scrappy Chic and I took a little drive there today




If you're looking for altered pieces, jewelry, candles shaped like birds (Bought one !!) , handmade art (bought one ), pateras, mirrors, antiques, findings...
this shop has EVERYTHING...AND I MEAN everything.....here's a sampling...




You go through drawers that are full of surprises..







It was just an amazing experience.
I loved this particular handmade vintage piece which I bought.



and Hailey found some globes...LOL



and other vintage pieces




More drawers to search through.




and I could go on and on...but you MUST try to visit yourself if a trip to this area is in your travel plans.

Then, in the same building was the most wonderful paper shop.... HOLLANDERS

I need to stop drooling........I look like such an idiot when my mouth is hanging open at every turn.




Outside the building was........MORE !!!!!!



My student Rita Rousseau was there selling some of her Spirit Dolls. if you'd like to talk to Rita about her cool dolls email her here.



I still have more to share from some of the other students who took my classes this past weekend...but I think I may have put you in visual overload today so I'm just gonna go spend some time with The Lenster now

TTFN

Multi Tasking

Today we did UTEE...oh my God...this class was fabulous...these gals molded, faux soldered, did instant art transferz, cloisienne, used the UTEE Brightz, Perfect Pearls, made donut necklaces, played with Memory Frames and Memory Glass, 
and on and on and on.....

Hailey Mann LOVES UTEE !



Here's a nifty new way to use the Ranger Memory Frames....Instead of using it as a square, bend it to form a diamond, place it over a rubber stamp and pour right into the frame to see the stamp texture.



here are just SOME of the items I brought for them to make molds of.



after class my favorite food...in Royal Oak, MI
Hailey, Chris, moi, Linda and Kim



SUSHI...SUSHI....SUSHI,,THE WORLDS BEST FOOD !



CHRIS NICHOLSON, my hostess,  and the owner of Scrappy Chic



but then....Oy vey....they took me to the "seedy" part of town and into some pretty weird wild stores where...shy little me..... tried on a chain mail headress and bought a really wild pair of earrings.
I'm either Sir Lancelot in disguise or some kind of underground floozy.
I'm open to a vote !!!

Hailey took the picture and couldn't even keep the camera straight she was laughing so hard....Chris almost peed in her pants....I don't think they knew that THIS was the real me !!

LOL

Oh So Chic

Up at 5 this morning (I am sooooooo not a morning person !)
I fly from Newark to Detroit, Michigan
Through the really cool tunnel at Detroit Metro Airport (that changes colors & plays funky music).....
I make my way to Scrappy Chic
a 5,000 square foot store packed to the hilt with every product known to man !

I'm here to teach




Owner Chris and her adorable kids, Liv and Jake.






the store has a crop room that can seat 50 and they pack it every Friday night



Plus...they serve a catered DINNER...I swear I'm dreaming ! They let me go first!

 

I do a beeswax frame class and learn all about Primas gorgeous glitzy embellishments...
I am overjoyed !
Here's MY sample

and some of theirs


wonderful job ladies.....next we did beeswax transfers and tomorrow we'll do UTEE -
ALL DAY !

Getting a 'head'

well...the torso from yesterday looked like it needed a little something more.

I downloaded a face, printed it on a laser printer (not ink jet), brushed 3 layers of beeswax onto a canvas board and began


when the last layer of wax was still warmish I flipped the photocopy over face down onto the wax surface.
I burnished it down using my finger.



spritzed with water



began rubbing the backing paper off....

I am such an impatient crafter..
I have to own up.
This is a process that needs to be done slowly and with care....whoa..not me....
I got it a bit too wet and rubbed a bit too hard and some of her face peeled off
Okay...I accepted this.
It's altered. It's handmade

So...after I got most of the paper off I was left with just 'the fuzzies"
Used a heat gun to wand over the surface.
First it begins to turn white and you totally panic...


Then comes the big reveal....which includes her "blemishes" !
Poor thing !
all she needs is a little anti aging cream



Mollie, (aged 8 & a rescue) , doesn't understand what the fuss is about. She's just thrilled to have a mess to sit in.



Then...I added some really funky pistachio colored wax to the missing areas. Could I screw it up any worse I asked myself ?



Dusted on some Perfect Pearls and stamped. I liked it...
BUT.....

When I went to heat over the stamping I overheated a bit & it moved the wax around underneath causing the letters to move around



I say....MEANT TO BE.....it's fine !  Only you & I know it was a big freakin' mistake and I'm loving it  !!!

Hung it over the torso.




Well....I'm off to Livonia, Michigan tomorrow to teach classes at SCRAPPY CHIC.
We are going to have F-U-N !!!!

and...BTW...The beeswax is on sale...so..get some and have fun too.