I recently added some of the Wrap it Up Journals to my Etsy Shop. I created these journals when I wrote my ebook “Wrap it Up:journals with style.  Four of them are depicted here.  There are many inside secrets to these and are a mix of surfaces, all are described in my Etsy Shop.

So here’s one for you.  What do you do when your pup accompanies you on your wonderings all the time.  You sit down to make a little drawing of a tiny limb growing from the earth.  Since I have been working on my drawing skills, I like to draw something several times and go back to try it again.  Here is an illustration of having to change your plans because your pup decides to run over and eat your subject.
When she is focused, she’s hard to distract:)

Since mid June I have been redesigning my studio for a different flow.  My new printers are larger than the old ones, so the office had to be moved around.  When the larger printer moved in one of my large desks had to move out to the other part of my studio.  That was months ago, but I have tendency to pile things and move them out of the way to work until it is impossible and I have to do something about it. This allows me to get better use out of everything and let go of what I don’t need.   Since I am having a digital printing workshop here in 12 days from now, the last few weeks have been the perfect time to finish organizing.

One of the added inspirations for me during this process was to start painting my walls in a fun way.  I started in one corner of my studio, did a base of a sort and turned the wall into a huge journal.  What I love about it is that when I am working  the wall is easy access to play for awhile.  The next wall is all picked out to continue the flow:)

Today Robert Genn (of Robert Genn Twice-Weekly Letter) wrote an email entitled “The Dog Decision”.  I have been getting his emails twice weekly for as long as I can remember and enjoy his perspective on the art world.  This morning was perfect because I recently made the decision to take on a 6 week old puppy for a new studio dog.

Robert writes “Every puppy begins in joy and ends in tears. Sometime ago I wrote about the loss of our former dog, Emily. The email condolences that came in here were overwhelming. As far as I’m concerned there are two downsides to having a dog. The first is when you finally lose them, and the second, an ongoing problem, is what to do with them when they can’t travel with you. Lining up trusted dog sitters is vital.   Having said that, a dog will increase your studio hours and prevent you from wandering off and getting into trouble. Benjamin Franklin said that in order to be happy a man needs “a good woman, a good dog, and ready money.” I’ve noted that none of my dogs have ever criticized my work. A loving tail-wagger in the studio goes a long way in a profession of loners.”

So right now I am in the middle of the chaos of potty training and the ever present puppy finding anything she can put into her mouth.  The good news is my studio floor has never been this clean.  The bad news is that at this time, she does cut into my work time. That leads to more good news as I get to walk her on my property and appreciate my surroundings – which makes me more productive and I get to enjoy a walk outside which I wouldn’t do when I am working on something.  It does keep me feeling good.  Today I will be printing wire mesh and beverage cans, so we will see how she does with that going on. I have a nice little fence built around my printers so there will be no chewing on any printer parts.

This picture is from the middle part of May.  Actually she is a puppy and at the time the picture was taken 7 weeks old.  Sage was born on April 5, 2011so she will be 2 months old this weekend.  She looks little, but is growing everyday and being a mastiff she will be quite large in a really short time.  After my lab died I missed having company with me everyday and so I finally gave in a decided to go for a puppy.

This is exciting news!! A bunch of us artists have been keeping a secret and today we are able to tell part of the secret and keep the rest until you all see the finished product.  The amazing popular Sketchbook Challenge will be a book by the summer of 2012.

A couple months ago, I was invited to participate in a what will be an incredible book by author Sue Bleiweiss who initiated the challenge by the same name. The title is a The Sketchbook Challenge with a tag line, but that will be a surprise later too:)   Thanks for including me Sue and congrats on your book, can’t wait:)

It’s thrilling to be invited to be one of the artists included in this book. It’s a brilliant list and here are the artists, in no particular order:

Carol Slone, Jane Davies, Leslie Jenison, Lynn Krawczyk, Laura Cater-Woods, Jackie Bowcut, Jill Berry, Judi Hurwitt, Lyric Kinard, Jamie Fingal, Diana Trout, Kelli Perkins, Jane LaFazio, Kathyanne White,
Susan Brubaker Knapp, Tracie Huskamp, Kathy Sperino, Carla Sonheim, Violette and Kim Nugent.

For the rest of the details, you’ll have to wait.  When the book comes out, I will share some items here, but for now I will give  you some tidbits from my project for the book.