More doodles in the journal...

Seriously. Awesome.

I got the best surprise present in the mail today! Lotus of Whymsicallotus embroidered another one of my coloring book doodles and sent it to me! Oh, if you could only see my huge smile! I LOVE it!!!!

Journaling

Love those Paper Cowgirls!

Oh wow... those Paper Cowgirls sure do know how to have a party! Seriously, I felt so welcomed and had such a great time. It was hard to leave! Here are some pics from my adventures, but I didn't take even close to enough... SO... at the end of the post are some links to other places to see lots more photos!

Here's me and the fabulous Jennifer Stewart. She is a super fun and super organized teacher! Below our picture is what we made in class and then a photo of the adorable little pins that Jennifer made for us (and put on a bag of yummy chocolate!)!Some of the cowgirls visiting and picking up their registration/badges.The next class I took was from the adorable Lisa McIlvain. We played in wax and each made a wonderful little hanging piece. Another really fun class!The next morning I woke up before the crack of dawn (crying toddler/baby in the hotel room next door), so I got to work writing out some love for my students.Here's what their spots looked like at the table.And I can't even tell you enough about these girls standing with me in the next photo. On the left is Melissa Hines. Ummm... this girl and I must have been separated at birth. We do the same kind of day job, we both work from home, and we got along like two peas in a pod. The only thing that she does that I don't do is BLING! But, she's trying to rub off on me. :) AND in the middle is THE head cowgirl herself, Cindy Mayfield. She has been a fabulous support and friend to me since we bumped into each other on the internet. She's a talented artist, event organizer, and just all around wonderful. Seriously, I love these two girls. I'd move to Texas to be their neighbor if I could.I just love you two girls!

Ok, and now to send you off to some people who actually took photos!

Vicki at Homespun Hugs and Calico Kisses took my class and made a beautiful collage. (Hi Vicki!!!)
Here's a link to her post -- LINK

Vicki has a lot more photos of our class. Hopefully I'll be tagging them to my new facebook page... Shelly Massey Art. Here's a link to that too -- LINK

I hope she doesn't mind... but Nicki Loyd took my class and posted her awesome collage on facebook. Love the colors she chose! I stole a copy... here it is! :) (Hi to you too, Nicki!)
The fabulous Cindy Mayfield posted her super-cool page on her blog too -- LINK

I had the pleasure of getting to know Pamela Huntington much better during Paper Cowgirl. She's a spectacular artist and truly a splendid person. If you ever get a chance to take a class from her, GRAB IT! She took some lovely photos of the events and I can pretty much guarantee that before you know it, you'll be lost in her blog. -- LINK

Starting Again

Well, it's time to move on now, right? I'm ready.

What's up next?
This weekend I'll be teaching 20 lovely people at the Paper Cowgirl retreat. I'm thrilled that they all signed up, so I'd better get my head in the game!

I'm teaching them my art journaling/collage style. The class is just THREE hours, so I hope I can compact it all into that time. At any rate, we're going to have a ton of fun!

I'll be taking two classes too, and I hear these cowgirls are hard to keep up with. Should be a blast!

After that...
When I get back it's time to work on magazine submissions. I've been pokey getting around to that goal.

And then...
I'll be working on kits for Inspire My Life, Art Unraveled, and Art Is...You.

Did ya know?
It's not too late to sign up for my classes at:

Inspire My Life - Manitowoc, WI - July 28-30
I am teaching:
- Love Your Letters - I'll give all my tricks for creating cool lettering on your art pieces
- Don't be Blue Bouquet - A sweet mixed media bouquet of flowers

Art Unraveled - Phoenix, AZ - August 1-9 (I'm teaching on August 2 and 3.)
I am teaching:
- License to Create - A fun mixed media license plate box
- Birdy on a Branch - A fanciful mixed media birdy perched on a branch

Art Is...West Coast - Petaluma, CA - September 22-27 (I'm teaching on Sept 22 and 23.)
I am teaching:
- Mixed Media Playtime - A whimsical framed license plate mixed media scene
- And the ever popular License to Create class. :)

Come and join in the fun!!

P.S. AND... to top it all off.... I've continued my 15% off sale on Etsy. I'll end it after Paper Cowgirl, so you have about one week left to save on fun greeting cards, prints, and paintings! Just enter 15PERCENT at checkout to save 15% on your order!

Working hard to find the silver lining...

I just got the email that I didn't make the Artfest cut. I'm trying to find a positive here, but because I just got the news, I don't know how to turn it around to something not super sad yet. I'm sure there's good there somewhere... might just take a few hours or days to find it.

[Edited to add]
OK, collecting my list of upsides already because I really (REALLY) don't like to be sad.

Upside 1:
I can sell one of the proposal samples to the guy who really, really wanted to buy it on Friday.

Upside 2:
I can reuse the projects for another event if I want to.

It was a nailbiter....

But the Artfest proposals are DONE. {Whew!} They will ship via Fed Ex in the morning. I'll go ahead and share them with you now... just because I like ya.

This one is called All Turned Around.

And this one is called Open and Shut.