I've Got a Ticket to...

 It's been awhile since I've taken an online art class. Sometimes, I manage to get the project done, but other times I get a good start and then get busy with something else. There's still a lost project I started years ago that hasn't resurfaced...

 I fell in love with this diamond binding when I saw the class sample. I had to learn how to do it. Out came some children's books that were piled in a corner. The little guy with the measuring tape standing on the goat was too fun to cover up. Then the idea of adding a Saguaro cactus next to him flashed. I was on a mission to find the perfect cactus.

 It was intimidating... Everyone was talking about book cloth on the the class message board. Ten years of making books and I'd never used book cloth until the week before I started this class. The solid colored cloth bored me. Out came the paint and the stencils! Finally tried out the Jane La Fazio stencils purchased at Art Unraveled last August. Ooooooh........ Love..... Stencils are my personal form of crack.

 The hunt for the perfect saguaro meant facing a foot tall pile of Arizona Highways magazines. A page was turned and who was there saying, "hello" but the Arizona raised goats. They found their spot on the inside of the book covers. They're missing their glasses. They're special order and need to get picked up so they can match their studious buddy on the cover.

 Oh, yeah... The online class is called "Ticket to Venice." We were invited to tag along on Miss MaryAnn's trip to Venice last month. My passport is currently expired but we can find plenty of adventures around town. I'm keeping this book local. Got home and raided a pile of Phoenix Magazine and Phoenix Home and Garden.

 After years of talking about going, The Chick and I finally went to Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden. It drizzled the whole time we were there! We had a great evening that ended with dinner at IHOP and hot chocolate.

 I was thinking I'd be chronicling future adventures. Then a pile of tickets, brochures, from past adventures emerged. There were some evenings with glue and tape craziness going on. A production of the Sun Serpent at the theater at Tempe Center for the Arts.

 Vintage Arizona Highways magazine and vintage style postcard from an article in Phoenix Magazine. Hoarding good sh** pays off! My Arizona adventure started in august 1989. Going to have to start digging for photos but in the meantime...

 The fashion gallery at the Phoenix Art museum has some great exhibits. Frothing at the mouth good stuff. Picture taking isn't allowed in the gallery. Brochures it is.

A few images from an exhibit at ALAC-Arte Latino Arts and Culture Center.

There are many more pages to fill. You might have caught a glimpse of bingo cards, colorful flowered paper... The book pages alone were a variety of found papers. I started to wonder if it was too much but while adding items to the pages, it was all good. The ideas keep coming. The book will is going to fatten up! Better it than me!

Marissa