Oh Happy Day!

I love the days when I go to the mailbox and I see that my Somerset Studio Magazine has arrived! I get a big smile on my face! No matter what is happening in my life at the time I know this will now be a happy day because I can loose myself in my Somerset! I quickly thumb through the magazine as a preview for later when I'll actually sit down and study every picture and read every article. Well I'm off to bed now with my (no not my husband), you guessed it... my Somerset Studio Magazine! Ohhhhh and it's the Halloween issue! Yay!!!

Molly's Collage Journal

My little granddaughter Molly came to my studio after school yesterday to collage a journal. This year her class is doing daily journal writing so they were required to bring a journal from home. She wanted to make her journal really unique so she collaged a composition book. I'm anxious to find out what everyone thought of it when she took it to school today! I think it turned out just beautiful!

"Open Studio" Friday Night!

It was "Open Studio" Friday once again at Collage Cafe Art Studio! We're open every Friday from 7:00pm to 9:00pm for "Make and Take Projects" $25.00 dollars at the door (includes all materials).

This past Friday night two very cool girls (Aubrey and Halie) stopped by the studio to create wonderful pieces of art! They immediately chose their projects and started creating. The studio door was open so we were able to hear the live band on the street below which was part of the "Friday Night Music Series" here in Morgan Hill.
Aubrey chose to decoupage a wooden hand mirror and Halie chose to collage a personnel journal.
This was Aubrey's first time collaging and her project turned out so awesome! She made a beautiful Audrey Hepburn themed hand mirror that she will always cherish!

Halie's journal turned out beautiful! She chose to collage pieces of gold, purple and animal print tissue paper adding a picture of the Eiffel Tower, vintage postcards and a Paris window. She used an embossing pen and powders to make a raised design around the edges of her journal. Exotic!
Thanks for coming by girls! It was another fun Friday night at Collage Cafe Art Studio! Remember every Friday night 7pm to 9pm is Open Studio. Bring some friends or come and make new ones. Space is limited so come early! Can't wait to meet you all!

Molly Loves Being in the Studio!

A few months ago (May to be exact) I took my granddaughter Molly to the studio with me one night. I had some cleaning and organizing to do so she said "Grammy can I come with you and make something for my mom for Mother's day"? I said "sure what do you want to make"? She said that she had found a recipe online for some homemade perfume so she was going to make some for her mom and she needed a bottle to put it in. I knew just the bottle she could collage! It was a bottle I bought at Micheal's for 99 cents! So here is her finished bottle! Wow! She did this all by herself and I didn't even help her. My daughter Natasha was thrilled! Talk about a keepsake! I'll get the recipe for the perfume and post it here soon because it was so easy to make and it smelled great!

After she finished the perfume bottle she made a collage on a canvas board for her bedroom!

It's a very intense process you know!

Molly loves being in the studio just like her Grammy!

Her little puppies Weanie (don't ask me why she named it that), Cuddles and their son (I forgot his name) love to watch their "mommy" doing collage. She has had these puppies since she was born. She takes them everywhere she goes even to school in her backpack. I asked her why she does this and she told me "just in case there's ever a fire she doesn't want to loose them"! Yikes, I hope there's never a fire! I think it's so cute how special they are to her though! My daughter and I had actually bought "back-up puppies" (the exact same kind) in case these were ever lost. A couple of times through the years she did lose them so we had to give her the "back-ups" which were all new and clean so she was sceptical about them being the "real" thing. We told her that they had just gotten back from the Spa! LOL! She really believed it back then! She hasn't lost them now for many years, thank God because I don't think they make these puppies anymore! It is soooo fun being a Grammy!

Happy 11th Birthday Molly!

Here is my granddaughter Molly having her 11th Birthday party at Collage Cafe Art Studio!

She had invited eight girls and they painted and collaged wooden plaques for there bedrooms!

They had so much fun. One of Molly's friends brought her IPod so they listened to all of their favorite tunes on my IPod player and munched on goodies while they collaged. That's my daughter Natasha (Molly's Mom) looking up from the table. She almost looks like she's the same age as the girls! lol!

Here is Molly's finished plaque. She loves puppies as you can see! Below is her friend Izabella's plaque. It was so interesting to see how each of the girl's plaques were so unique to their personalities. They all had a great time and got to take home a beautiful piece of art!
I think there is really something to this birthday party idea. I would love to do more of these. It's exciting to see the girls really come out of their shells! I think I'll start promoting these kinds of parties! I also have such a place in my heart for teens and young people. I want them to come to the studio and do their art and bring their music (Ipods) and hang out and express themselves through collage!!!!!! YES!!!! I'm thinking this might be my mission or part of it anyway!