Getting Ready for Artfest

Over the past few years Artfest has been a part of my Spring ritual. I have attended this event that takes place in Port Townsend, WA since 2007. This year is no different. I picked my classes back in September and have been gathering art supplies (when they go on sale), planning art projects that revolve around the event (4x4 Fatbook trade, event trades) and preparing art journal pages that I can work on while I'm at Artfest. What is different about this year is that it is the last Artfest. The fabulous organizers of the event, Teesha and Tracy Moore and family/friends, have decided to make this the last one as they look to new opportunities and projects to get involved in. I cannot express my gratitude enough to the Moore family, as well as all the teachers and the 500+ attendees that make the Artfest experience life changing for me. I will miss going to the Artfest next year, but I wholeheartedly wish only the best for Teesha and Tracy in whatever projects they go for next. So here's a look at some of the things I've been working on for this Artfest. The theme is 'Stacks of Stuff'. Here is the page I made for the 4"x4" fatbook collaborative project. I used some clip art of the two women (Dover clipart) and stacked up the logos of all the Artfests I've been to since 2007. The base is watercolor paper with a paper tape tab on the side and a paper flower attached with a flower brad. I can't wait to see what the other 48 artists made for the book.

I've made about 55 ephemera packs and 30 of these tissue paper flower pins (photos below). They are made from old sewing patterns, and I made a few out of some patterned tissue paper I had saved from gifts I received. I found the instructions for these flowers on Pinterest. If you are interested in making them, you can visit this website:http://epherielldesigns.com -I will warn you, you need a bit of patience and a steady hand to cut these out. The results are worth the effort, they are really cute, and I feel vindicated for saving all those dress patterns I used to make things for my daughter when she was a little girl.

I hope to do a post from Artfest (if I can figure out the technicals on doing that with an iPad.) Otherwise I will post pictures once I get back!