LARGE Birthday Card

Arlene's birthday invitation came with a rubber nose, peanuts and a photo of her dressed as a clown. Is that funny or what? Arlene is the owner of The Magic Castle in Hollywood and that's where the party was held. She didn't want any presents - only cards. My first thought was, this better be a great card and I started to play. This is what I came up with.Four funny faces! I just love making these faces, they are sooo much fun! My friend Rene is responsible for getting me hooked on this. When I began, I had no idea what the faces would like, they just developed. To me, the faces ended up looking like a robot, a clown, a muppet and a martian. Do you agree or do you see something else?
Here's the back of the card before we signed it. Needless to say, Arlene loved the card. And yes, it was the largest (13" x 17") and most colorful card on the pin-up board. My DH made a wonderful envelope for the card. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

The party was a blast and the magic is always amazing. If you ever get an invitation to visit the Castle, make sure you accept.

Thermofax Prints

My friend and artist extraordinaire, Andi Perejda, make six thermofax screens for me. I'm not sure why, but I only used one of the images from the last post. I'm going to be sending you more Andi. Anyways, I learned a few things along the way. The most important one is that heavily textural graphics do not make good screens; they are just too confusing. I had two images that didn't work out too well, one was a cactus and the other was rocks. They were so bad, I won't even show you. Another important item is the thickness of the paint; thin = bad print! The third thing is that almost anything can be saved! I also did some painting and writing, but didn't get a chance to take photos. Next Post. Here are some of the prints I made today.

Last week I had the opportunity to be a guest at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. It was fabulous! The magicians we saw were top notch and each one has their own unique style. Everything from Red Skelton style to Las Vegas showman. I am friends with the owner of the Magic Castle. Her husband is a retired Hollywood writer and she is a retired costume designer, however, they don't seem to retire well. He wrote the musical Pizzazz and she is designing 180 costumes for the musical. Pizzazz will have its world debut at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara in June. After that, the show will be on the road for 2-3 years. I'm helping her with the finishing touches on the dresses, beaded fringe, sewing on lace, etc. The costumes are amazing, completely over the top. It's really exciting to be involved with this.

I also went whale watching on the Condor in the Santa Barbara Channel. I saw Gray whales and Humpback whales. It was a lot of fun but the ocean can really churn up your stomach. Mike and I was fine, but my daughter didn't fare too well. I never realized how difficult it is to get a good photo of a whale while your boat is rocking. I have new respect for the photographers who manage to get amazing shots.