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Happy New Year! Hope all of your celebrations were enjoyable. Mine was and here's a little of it. We did a little fondue - chocolate and cheese. Chocolate fondue with pound cake, cookies, strawberries and cheese fondue with bread, vegetables, and meats. It was very good. But, my favorite- Hot chocolate milk bar. White and Milk chocolates with all the add ons - shaved chocolates, cocoa powder, cinnamon pumpkin spice. Then, raspberry, caramel, and peppermint syrups. With the last additions of marshmallows, peppermint and chocolate chips. Oh, and there was eggnog as well. If you need any ideas, this is the type bar to do again. If you're curious - all the milk and cheese was from Shatto. The fondue pots were from Pier One Imports. The mugs and cake plate were from World Market. The pitchers were from Target. Candle sticks from second hand stores.
When I lived in Provo I had this corner in my studio. The corner had 2 big 4' x 4' windows, a chair, and a side table. (It's in the painting below, though the chair is really red.) I designed it and the boyfriend built the studio. I loved that corner. I was in it all - the - time being creative. Or just being. My husband called it the Command Post.
He called it that because that's where it all began. The center for my operations. My headquarters. And everything went out from there. The figurative center where I command from. Command doesn't sound quite accurate (okay, sometimes it does) but my husband likes to tell me I'm in charge. (Alright, so I am.) But, it's more like direct and instruct. At any rate, it's where I mentally celebrate.
I have this thought. (I know, when don't I have thoughts.) Every woman needs a Command Post. Someplace where she does her thing. Whatever her thing is. My thing is being creative. Doesn't matter what it is I have to be creating. So, for me it's a Creative Command Post.
I have the Studio, which I'm so happy to have. But, a Creative Command Post is a smaller space than that. I realize I don't have a real one in our new house but I've used makeshift ones. Like my bed. I will sit on my bed for hours. With all my creative stuff around me. Usually writing, designing, thinking. And sometimes, I use the dining room table. Spread it all out there so I can be near everyone. I don't have one in the studio. I have a desk, couch, and worktable but not a Creative Command Post.
Here's the criteria I think should be involved in setting up a Command Post
Command Posts
• comfortable - no need to fuss
• light - it helps the soul
• intimate - space to think, or whatever
• minimal - chair & table
• belongs - to you, your style, you own it You can remember it because you'll want to CLIMB right into it.
C - Comfortable
L - Light
I - Intimate
M - Minimal
B - Belongs
I think I'm going to rectify that. So the search is on for a chair, since I left that chair when we moved, though I did love how it felt. I LOVE the chair below. Love, love, love. But, part of me says this would not be comfortable, at least not for any extended period of time.
 Gilles Nouailhac • Paris So, I'd have to do my bling with a small pillow like this. Which I am in luck! I already bought a lime green beaded pillow that I love. (I don't have a photo of at the moment. I'll post one later.)  From Cherry Blossom World's Blog Now, back to the chair. THIS one looks like it would be way comfortable. I could snuggle all day in that one. Maybe that would be a problem. But, I'm not quite sure yet. It doesn't say it really belongs to me. So, I'll keep the search on. Do you think a woman needs a Command Post? What would your chair look like. Go here and post a pic if you want. (I think I made it so you could post photos.)  From TheBerry.com
This weekend was about getting your BOOK • BOX • BELONGINGS. (If not, read this post.)Since this is the first day, I'll let you know how we'll proceed. You won't have to go this alone. Every Monday will be Q & A, as in QUESTIONS & APPLICATIONS Monday. Questions for introspection and application ideas to help with image making. There will also be a word, phrase, or quote meant to inspire the whole thought process. Use any or all of the ideas. INSPIRATION:a single focus word (or maybe a phrase) INTROSPECTION:questions to explore your thoughts and life IMAGE MAKING: applications to experiment with There's a few ways to go about this. 1) Do the images first and think about the inspiration word. Then record your most important thoughts around or on top of the images. 2) Or, write your thoughts and let images come to your mind and recreate you mental images after you've recorded your ideas. 3) Or, a combination of back and forth with words and images. Images and words.Anyway works.One last thought. Don't stress yourself over the image making. This might be the most uncomfortable process. If at first you're nervous, look at other's art journals for inspiration. Mimic their layout. Use their color palette. Incorporate their use of text. It will get easier and you'll become more uniquely expressive as time goes on. Don't worry. Start somewhere. Just begin. OUR FIRST ENTRYINSPIRATION: MY NAME INTROSPECTION: Q. Who inspired my name most? Q. What other name were my parents considering? Q. Have I always liked my name? Q. Does my name have any significant meaning? Q. Do I have any memories related to my name? IMAGE MAKING: A. Create a background of markers and ink stamp your name over the top A. Put the title "Celebrate Me" along with your name and text A. Take a photo of yourself, glue it into your book & repeatedly write your name over the top of it A. Do an ink character self portrait and use watercolors or pastels to add color & add your name A. Print name in a font you love, put your page over the top of it, use a light table and trace For the next few weeks, I'll add other people's images to get your image making going. This will hopefully give you ideas and ease you into making your own images. REMEMBER, this is about you, for you, to celebrate you. Ohhhhhhhh! I almost forgot. On Friday morning, everyone can upload a photo of their celebrate me • art journal page on Shannon's Studio Facebook page. You can't not share with us. It's not a critique of your expressions, it's a celebration of each of us. Let go. Do it. Friday.
Let the Celebrate Me Art Journaling Journey begin!Art Journal Short Definition: introspection and images in a book
Art Journal Long Definition:a personal point of view which can includewishes, wonders, wisdom, workings, warnings, war-ings, and worthwhile times,recorded in the form of doodles, drawings, designs or dressed up words and imagesall bound in a bookSo, those are the definitions that I've come up with. That way we are thinking the same things when we're talking. There are tons of art journaling sites on the net. A lot of them are just about image making. Which is nice. But, I happen to think pictures and text are a powerful combination. Then, when you add a person's life into the mix, it becomes extraordinary. It's the personal point of view that is the intriguing part, seeing the person and what they're about.Journaling is something we usually do as kids. I have several diaries from back then. I've always thought is was important to keep a record of life but life got busy and my entries sporadic. I've missed some memories that are important to me. We can't be all things, to all people, all the time. So, I'm not going to beat myself up about missing some of the past. But, that doesn't mean I can't record some of the present or thoughts on things now.Our art journaling will focus on finding out more about you (say, "me".) It's about celebrating. Celebrating your (say, "my") life - past, present and future. It's record-keeping with images. And you don't have to be an artist to do it but if you're worried, I'll share ideas to bring out your creative side. Because it's a little intimidating here's what you'll need to get started.1) GET YOURSELF A BOOK It can be anything. If you are going to be using wet medium (watercolor, acrylic, glue, etc.) then you'll want a book with thicker pages. A craft store will have a good selection with the cost being from $5 - $15. I'd go ahead and invest so that you can experiment and not worry.2) GET YOURSELF A BOX Not everyone has the space to have a studio, but you don't need one. Just get a box so that you can put all of your stuff in one place. It's ready when you're ready.3) GET YOUR BELONGINGS Gather up all your art belongings into the box.Markers, pens, colored pencils, watercolors, white out, glue, small blow dryer, tape, ruler -things like that.BOOK • BOX • BELONGINGSBAM!! YOUR READY TO ROLLGet the stuff this weekend. This weekend. Then we'll get started. Monday. Every Monday.I started a Facebook Page just for Art Journaling and sharing pages. Like it here.
 Parade Float • Cameron July 4th Parade • 2011 Parade Float conception and construction is not usually what people do in their spare time. Welcome to the unusual life. Here's a float our youth group did for the parade this summer. We had about a month to do it from start to finish. I think the longest part was trying to come up with something that 1) had a message, 2) that many people could be involved with and work on, and 3) that stay within a very small budget. It took us about 10 - 12 hours of group construction. And a few more from me. Our Construction Team did a great job! The young women are a natural at this sort of thing but the young men even got their creative sides to show up and did a lot of things they don't normally do. And everyone was laughing, smiling, and having fun with one another. Bonus! I've kept my mad-float-building skills to myself and didn't volunteer for this project. Things just seem to find me. Like the float another group I was a part of did 12 years ago. It was a bit bigger with more people involved. But, I learned a lot constructing... guts for all the animals - saws, screw guns, wood, chicken wire, pulleys and paper mache on a LARGE scale. Also, there was animation - giraffe's swiveled, jaws opened up, and elephants sprayed water on the crowd. It was a great learning experience for me. Things tend to run in my family and here's my sister's float experience.  Parade Float • Provo Freedom Festival • July 1999 • Grand Marshall Award I noticed that a lot of sites that talk about DIY float building have never built a float. I hate that. Not because they haven't built one (they could have done a lot of good research talking to people who have made one) but because their info doesn't really answer the questions of people who are doing it themselves and usually aren't "creative". So, here are a 5 quick tips to things that usually come up in the beginning of any parade float madness.
Here's 5 Quick Tips to DIY Parade Float Building 1) Have a Theme This helps immensely in decision making. If you know what you want to put across, that helps in the how to put it across. Having a theme will automatically make some decisions for you. 2) Know your Budget DIY floats can be from a few hundred dollars (the Free to Believe float) to a couple of thousand dollars (the Ark and Sister's float). Knowing how much you can or can't spend helps you get creative with materials. 3) Appoint a Head Someone's got to be the bottom line. There has to be a coordinated effort for the group. When things do go according to plan, and that will happen, then someone has to be able to make a decision about what to do next. 4) Combine a Team Even though this is a DIY project, it's still a good idea to teams doing specific tasks to spread the workload. Get a 1) Trailer Team, 2) Creative Design, 3) Construction Team, and 4) Outreach Team. Because this isn't a project that comes along very often, involve as many people as possible. 5) Enjoy the Experience It's hard when you haven't done something before and don't know how it's going to turn out or even if it's going to turn out, but try to remember to have fun along the way. By nature, parade floats are about fun and celebration. It should be that way through the whole process.
Here are a few links of DIY types. They don't really have a tons of info but it might get the ball rolling for you. • Here's a DIY for the "guts" (trailer construction) of a float • This link describes the standard materials (tends to be expensive) and lots of other parade float info. • Another true DIY parade float builder with tools they used • UPDATE 2/25/12 Another link with a few tips by Bethenny Watters, eHow Contributer Add more links below from others. I've already been given the assignment for next year.
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