I Can't Believe It's Been This Long!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG! Time does fly. Seriously! I can't believe the last time I posted was in DECEMBER??? WTH? I promise to try to do better at this. There just are not enough hours in a day to do everything I want to do and really need to do! I know I'm not the only one with that problem, but I think its a good problem to have. That means I have a very full life. 

One reason for posting today is to share some fabulous news -- now this isn't the big surprise of mine I have been teasing you about. This is about my dear friend Ellen Smith Vargo. You must check out her blog at "ellen vargo ... ten thirty-six art". Ellen recently joined PaperArtsy as a guest designer. If you know Ellen, you know she uses her own hand carved stamps in her artwork. Well, in addition to Ellen designing for PaperArtsy, they recognized the artistic genius in Ellen's stamp carving and decided to produce Ellen's stamps under their Eclectica3 line. And I mean they are not only fabulous, they are MUST-HAVES: 

These stamps scream Ellen's distinct style and creativity. They are usable in so many ways that I would never think about. Check out her blog to see how she creates lovely borders and complete backgrounds with these designs. I've placed my order for the entire collection. I hope you will too. 

Now, what have I been up to, you ask? Lots! My 'big surprise' isn't quite ready to go public yet, but we are very, very close at this point. Thank God, I'm about to burst about it. I promise I'll share the very minute I get the go ahead! 

Dave and I have recently been featured in an article in the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Long story, but the nutshell version is that my breast surgeon, Kristen Fernandez, contacted me several months ago asking if Dave would be willing to be interviewed about male breast cancer. She had been approached by the director of MedStar PR about male patients. Kristen told the director that she had a patient that was married to a male survivor and told her the story of how we met and it became something else. We were on the front page of the Baltimore Sun on Valentine's Day and featured online here. Pretty cool! Next stop The Ellen Show! LOL 

Here's some of the art I've been playing with: 

I've been doing some collages and painted papers for those collages inspired by Jane Davies. I've also cut some of them up into mini collages. I really like how some of the pieces look when cut up. I'm taking some of Jane's classes this October at Art & Soul in Virginia Beach and can't wait. Here are a couple I've done lately. 

After making my first floor cloth (shown in my previous post), I had the idea that I wanted to paint another one for our laundry room. The room is painted taupe with white trim, the washer and dryer are taupe and we have a cornice over the window in a really pretty turquoise that our friend Jodi made. So that was my color scheme for the floor cloth and I bought a blank that was 2.5' x 6', just the right size to go in front of the washer and dryer. Here's how it turned out: 

And last but certainly not least, I started my own Etsy Shop, InkyObsessions, where I am selling some of my art pieces as well as some items custom made using prints of my original art, like wine totes and cell phone covers. Here are a few other pieces that are featured in the shop now.  I hope you'll check it out. 

That's all for now folks! Stay tuned for more art and fun to come! 

Happy Arting, 

Patti