Vision Book Workshop with Marilyn LoRusso

Yeehaw!!! In celebration of Bean Up The New Art's new studio space -- ultra-conducive to fun, visiting, learning, creating, all things art-ing -- we're trying something new: hosting a class that will be taught by another local artist.

Voila!

On Saturday, March 10, wonderful Marilyn LoRusso (who you might know on Twitter as @fun_master) will be teaching a Vision Book Workshop.

And here are all the deets, straight from Marilyn herself:

"Join me for a FUN art workshop where you will begin to create a Vision Book using the altered book collage method. A Vision Book is like a Vision Board, only in a book! This way you can carry it around or move it from room to room easily in order to gaze upon its pages and enjoy its images and messages. You can include anything in your Vision Book . . . images and messages that make you feel good and inspire you, places you would like to visit, activities you want to try . . . anything! Your imagination is unlimited."

"I will provide instruction on how to prep your book, different collage methods, and tips on how to make it beautiful. You will leave with two-to-three pages completed, and ideas to continue your creative and fun Vision Book journey."

"I will provide all the materials you need, such as:

* Books

* Magazines

* Beautiful papers and ribbons

* Rubber stamps and stamp pads

* Feathers

* Glitter glue

* Colorful sparkly gems

* Markers/oil pastels

* Glue sticks

* Scissors

There will also be complimentary tea and cookies to munch on as we create! You are welcome to bring some of your favorite images and old magazines.

And the fabulous mixed media collage artist, Tamara Holland, will be on hand to add to the FUN!" [Aww. Thanks for that, Marilyn!]

And here's Marilyn's bio:

"Marilyn LoRusso is the CFO (Chief FUN Officer) at FUNitude HeartQuarters. She believes it's all about your FUNitude and raising your FQ (FUNtelligence Quotient). For Marilyn it is all about feeling inspired and focusing on the best in any situation . . . feeling good, no matter what. Life is supposed to be FUN. When you add a sense of FUN to any situation, it transforms the experience for you and everyone around you!"

"She writes the column "For the LOVE of Kids" for The Patch on-line news site and has published a series of e-books entitled, "Celebrating Children: Conversations With Kids." She has been an arts and crafter her entire life, has taught art classes to children and now wants to spread fun, joy and art to children of all ages."

"Marilyn has a B.S. from Northwestern University, and M.S. from Columbia University, and an F.S. (FUNMaster of Science from Life University. She is currently working on her Doctorates in FUNology from Eternity University."

To learn more about Marilyn, visit her website: funitude.net.

Marilyn's Vision Book Workshop will be at Bean Up The Nose Art's studio space at 2 Florence Ave., in San Anselmo. Saturday, March 10, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Cost: $35.00 per person. Class is limited to six lucky folks. To reserve your space, e-mail Marilyn at marilynlorusso@sbcglobal.net.

We hope you can come and play :)

New Reps, New Stores, & Good Old Friends

2012 is barely seven-weeks-old. But it's already evident the little baby year has amazing potential to change things up, and grow new ways and relationships.

Along with new studio space and new art friends in this still-almost-new year, we've started working with two new sales reps: Ginger McCleskey of Queen of Hearts Cards, Etc., and Ivette Rothenberg. We'll be talking more in depth with and about them in upcoming blog posts.

Today, we're highlighting the new brick & mortar friends Ginger and Ivette have already made for Bean Up The Nose Art. Yay!

The following very fine establishments have just joined up with us to carry Bean Up The Nose Art goodies. We thank them profusely . . . and hope that when you're in their neighborhoods, you'll support them.

* Arlington Pharmacy, 299 Arlington Ave., Kensington, CA

* Builders' Booksource, 1817 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA

* Cypress Garden Nursery, 590 Perry Lane, Monterey, CA

* Expanding Light, 14618 Tyler Foote Rd., Nevada City, CA

* JJ Jackson's, 244 Commercial St., Nevada City, CA

* PegasusBooks, with three locations: 1855 Solano Ave., Berkeley, CA

2349 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA

5560 College Ave., Oakland, CA

* Readers' Books, 130 East Napa St., Sonoma, CA

And we remain oh so grateful to our established accounts with brick & mortar friends -- many of whom we've been able to tell you about on this blog. For example, we're thankful for recent re-orders from:

* Avatar Community Business Center in Fairfax, CA (click here for our blog post)

* Heartware in Oakland, CA (our blog post)

* Mountain Bookstore in Sonora, CA (our blog post)

* Scarlet Sage Herb Co. in San Francisco, CA (our blog post)

* The Star Store in Langley, WA (our blog post)

The greatest source of Bean Up The Nose Art's revenue is business through our brick & mortar friends. As our blog posts attest, we admire the moxie, tenacity, creativity, boldness and courage of folks who open up their own shops and do business in the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you to shopkeepers everywhere. YOU RULE.

We would not be here without you.

Thanks for the Love!

Typing away on this post about last Saturday's Valentine's Day Quickie Shop, I feel like an order at Cafe Gratitude*: YOU ARE LOVED.

That's you. And me. Both of us. All of us.

Because it was a great day -- from its beginning a couple of weeks ago, right up to the end of the day. And there are a lot of people to thank, for spreading all the love.

First, @toddlieman. (To those of you not on Twitter, nor interested in being there . . . the man's name is Todd Lieman. He's at Skadaddle Media. He rocks.) Todd became a friend in real life after we met first on Twitter. Around the first of the year, he sent me an e-mail introducing me to another artist friend of his: Willow Older. Todd thought Willow and I should get together and talk about our art businesses. Todd was right. THANK YOU, TODD!

Because, in the way these things magically work, I invited Willow to be in the Valentine's Day Quickie Shop. On the phone, before we even ever met in person. And she said yes. And SHE rocks, too. You can find her etsy shop here. Color, color, color. Hearts. Energy. Love. Awesomeness.

Second, friends helped publicize in the days ahead. With Facebook postings. With tweets and retweets on Twitter. With a blog of their own about it -- telling their readers to come to the show. With providing information the day of the show to people shopping at their nearby places nearby. Totally amazing. There was this little army of love, publicizing away.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Heather Kenney (Facebook postings); to @pcarlson0001, @dianefischler, @ctygrl99, @emerald150, @sally_k, @ipeggy, @ripelife, @toddlieman, @lisakifttherapy, @nextmoon, @fun_master (for tweets and retweets); to @sally_k (for a whole darned blog post); and to @emerald150 for telling people at the Fairfax Away Station to come on down.

Third, big thanks and love to wonderful Suskia Hyde, another great artist at the show . . .

. . . for bringing your awesome table set-up of old-timey trunks and boxes and mirrors, for providing so much fruit and chocolate goodness to the treat table, for offering totally cool jewelry of all kinds -- from watch-works and key necklaces, to felted pieces, to great earrings and bracelets. YOU RULE.

Fourth: the people who came by. O.M.Goodness.

Wow. So great to open the new studio space to the neighborhood and get to meet the kind people nearby. Including Pamela from pamelafrye.com. And Greg, who got the day off to a wonderful start by buying Valentine's Day goodies from all three artists. (Now THAT is a mensch.)

And thank you so much to all the friends who came on out and supported us local artists. Thanks to Heather Kenney, to Bogi, to Toni from Avatar, to Kirstin and David and baby Jack, to Kenji, and to all the Twitter crowd in Marin who support each other on-line, and in-person. Like @dianefischler, @lindasea, @lisakifttherapy, @momntwins, @nextmoon, @pcarlson001, and @tonicarr . . . who brought along her fabulous Ollie.

And to @fun_master, who brought A MILLION DOLLARS for us (because that's what your tweeps do for each other):

Thank you so much to everyone who not only showed up, but who bought our goodies. Like, wow. We totally appreciate it, and get a good feeling in the tummy thinking of our Valentine's Day cards going out to folks :) Most popular of the day:

And most popular luggage tag:

It was an awesome afternoon, filled with kindness and love and treats and chocolate and champagne. We feel so loved! And hope you do, too. Because boy oh boy, it is a very good feeling indeed.

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And while we're sharing our love and gratitude . . . another thing for which we're very grateful these days is the sales of our Kindle book! If you or a friend are thinking about making your arts & crafts hobby into a business, we've got a $3.99 Valentine's Day present for you! Click here for our 100 tips book to help.

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*For those of you who have never been to a Cafe Gratitude restaurant, their offerings are all titled with affirmations: "I am _______." As in "Radiant," "Fulfilled," "Nourished." Yes, it is sweet. Yes, it can also be amazingly, ingratiatingly, New-Age-Nazi irritating . . . especially on the days when you want to say, "I am Anxious" or "I am Frustrated," or "I am In Existential Angst."