A field trip involving muppets, letterpress, scifi and a giant cyclone of guitars

What do all these things have to do with each other?

Well... This might explain it.

It is the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum here in Seattle. Yes, although quite pretty and modern, it really does look like the building is trying to eat the Space Needle.

Greg and I took a little field trip there last week to see the Jim Henson Exhibit. I feel that field trips like this are important for the creative muse. Also, it was a good excuse for a date. And who doesn't love Jim Henson? Anyway, it was good times and super inspiring.

Here are some of the highlights:

You will have to excuse the blurriness. It was free First Thursday and there were a ton of people there. It was hard to get any shots. And photography was actually forbidden in most parts of the museum. I did try to follow the rules.. but it didn't make for ideal shooting conditions.

Anyway, here is the coolest part of the Experience Music Project. It is a giant cyclone of musical instruments that is about two and a half stories tall. The instruments actually play in real time.. but not audibly. You can listen to them using headphones on the upper floor. Here I am rocking out to some good music. And finally, an unexpected surprise... There was a rock poster letterpress exhibit. Awesome.

And there you have it.

I got a TON of great ideas from this little "field trip."

Where are you getting your inspiration today? Or do you have something planned out for the future? I'd like to hear about it.

Have a great day.

blue skies and sunny days

Here is the layout I made using the stuff from my Label Tulip blog posts.
Also used up a bunch of bits and pieces I had lying on the desk. Thank you Dina's Art Journaling class. :)

Don't forget about my giveaway on this post.
And the LT challenge on this post.

And if you haven't had a chance to check them out yet,there are two very good free downloads I just picked up. Christine Middlecamp's PDF and the 2Peas summer mini class. Both look like good fun and good inspiration.

Have a great night!

a few thoughts

polaroids + summer = awesome

photo is polaroid TimeZero taken with my SX70 this weekend at Alki.

Sorry for the lack of postage, but I have been crazy busy making a biiig ole blog post for the Label Tulip blog as part of the birthday extravaganza celebrations.

I have a few other things planned for this week, but this was the big one. :)

First I did a little tutorial on Canvas Labels. Here is the link for the tutorial.

Second, I did a digital freebie full of very cute word art with a Summer/Travel theme.

Here is the link for the download. And here is the link for the post.
There are some sneaks of my project on the blog post, but I will be updating it later with the full reveal. Couldn't get any decent photos of the whole thing after sunset. ;)

So are you ready for a challenge?

I challenge you to make some sort of artful project using the digital freebie I've created. Pages, cards, ATCs, altered stuff, whatever it is that you make, I wanna see it!

Please be sure to link your work either to the comments on my Label Tulip blog post or on the "Day 7- Label Projects" thread in the "Challenges" board. Don't forget that you can upload these projects to the Label Tulip Member’s Gallery as well.

You have until July 14 (6 p.m. PST) to submit as many projects as you’d like. We will feature the winning project in the newsletter and blog on July 15, 2009, and award the winner with a delightful prize package

Happy Tuesday!

New Blog Design. Yay! Also, let's do a giveaway!

That only took like all weekend.... (well, in between the social engagements and relaxing and all..) I'm really really happy with it. It really feels more "me."It certainly was time to update the design and now there are a bunch of cool new features for my lovely readers.

Here's a meta-photo for all my peeps on Google Reader:

I also re-did the banners and formatting for my portfolio and tutorials site.

I thought you might like to see some of my old banners. Makes me feel all nostalgic. Also, really easy to see how much my photoshop and blog hacking skills have improved. ;)

Biiig plans for the tutorial site this Fall. I want to get some actual classes (with kits, hopefully) up there, probably Octoberish. Also plans to restock the Etsy for the Holidays. Also going to do more pendants and some stamp designs that I have been twiddling with. My business plan for CoffeeGirl Crafts is going to kick into high gear at end of Summer. At least, that's what the plan is.

Anyway, about the blog! I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. Questions, comments and criticism are all welcome. Especially questions. I like those. :)

In fact... If you leave a comment on THIS post by Wednesday July 15th I will draw a random person who will receive their choice of either blog design work or a physical goodie bag.

Happy happy weekend!