Happening's at Hip Chick Designs

Last Saturday we had Julee Hermann teach us all about soldering at the shop and it was delightful. There were 9 students, not including myself, and Julee walked us through how to create a pretty picture in a house shaped case and when we were done enclose it with the soldering technique. It looked kinda intimidating at first, the soldering iron is HOT and I know I am such a spaz I was worried I would hurt myself, or someone else. But I managed to come out unscathed, as we all did and I have a beautiful piece of art to show for it. Here are some pictures of the class....

I love how everyone made their own creation, no two were alike....

First you make the 'collage' then you put it in the glass to be preserved...

our beautiful teacher Julee Hermann

the demo

Patty has taken all of Hip Chick's classes so far...

Terin made her piece as a gift for her brother

my piece before it was soldered

soldering station

The Shellies having fun....

Terin soldering her piece

My finished piece, "Key to Life"
I love soldering now, I want to solder everything....haha. typical. But I think it'd be great to have a set to make charms and necklaces, shrines, etc for the shop. I shall put it on my wish list...Our next class is this Saturday with Stephanie Jordan who is teaching a mixed media collage class. There is still space available and as you can see this is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. You can be surrounded with good creative energy at a fun store, learn new techniques and walk away with a beautiful piece of art, handmade by YOU. A real treat. If you are interested email me at carrieclay@yahoo.com. Or call the shop at (707) 747-5543. We'd love to have you. I love having people make art at the shop and we will be having classes monthly, if you want information, make sure to join my email list as I am sending newsletters monthly. I have a facebook Hip Chick page where I post events often as well as I have a tab on my blog for constant contact, this is where you add your email to my list to be informed.
Lastly I want to shout out that Open Studios is April 30th and May 1st at the Arsenal. This is a once a year event sponsored by Arts Benicia and it is not to be missed.

The event is all day Saturday and Sunday it is FREE, and you will see more than 100 studios open for your viewing pleasure, I don't know about you but I LOVE snooping and this is your chance to snoop in these studios that are normally closed. Come see what art is made right here in the Bay Area, there is food, drinks, music, and art show, raffle and most of all.....FUN! I know I will be there, and I hope to see you too...thanks for taking time to check out Hip Chick's happenings...

Soul Restoration Online Workshop by Brave Girls Club

Hi blog friends. I have been neglectful. I'm sorry. It's hard after an absence to get back in the mode ya know? But I am here, I am thinking abou cha. What is up is trying to decompress back into real life again after the vaca of a lifetime. Re-entry is brutal. When one is transported so dramatically into paradise as I was, it is very challenging to do laundry, pay bills, and get groceries....I mean no one is feeling sorry for me, and indeed I'm not either, I'm just telling it like it is. So that being said it's time to get back into it....LIFE. Hip Chick and creating and frolicking..sometimes a break is good. You come back rejuvenated and ready to take on the world. And other times it leaves you numb, fuzzy headed and unclear. I'm experiencing the latter. So I decided to treat myself, yes, treat myself to "brave girls club" online art class. I found it through the facebook art channels, and it looks really positive and inspiring. Just what I need to get back into art after my little sabbatical. Here's what I am talking about..

check it out....these are some darling girls.

I just know we'd be friends if we met in real life. But since we haven't YET, I will do the workshop and meet other artists and women that are doing the same. I have done other workshops and met other women like my new friend Julee Hermann who happens to live near me and is teaching a class next Saturday at Hip Chick's. I met her through the Creative workshop's group and now we are hooked up! I love the internet for connecting people. I also love taking art classes and since I am time challenged as we all are, online classes are the best! You can do them at home whenever you have free time. There is nothing better than watching others create and then learning a new technique to implement into your own art. I am now a 'brave girl' and I shall be excited to see what unfolds....

Paradise revisited

This is a video of baby turtles taking their first steps in the world....magical

and here is a slideshow of my various pictures of the trip of a lifetime...I will never forget it.

I posted even more pictures on facebook, and to be honest it's much easier to do. But there are a few people like Robin who only check my blog so I post these for you....a labor of love. As the pictures show it was a trip of a lifetime. I waited 24 years to return and do this trip with Ben and it exceeded all my expectations. I got to see old friends, my old house, sail to Buck Island, see turtles migrate and renew my wedding vows. It was magical. I can't wait to get painting and make a giant painting of Buck Island. I have been to St.Croix three times, twice to live and once for a vacation and every time I am blown away by it's charm. If you haven't been then go. It's completely unique, third world funky, combined with epic beauty and charm. It has my heart and soul, and the best moments in my life.....

Hip Chick has returned to her roots

Today is day 3 of being in paradise....St.Croix USVI. I have waited 24 years to get here. Why? Gosh I guess it seemed so far and so expensive, but now that I am here I know I won't wait that long to return.

This is a picture on the first day outside our room at the hotel...
I moved to St.Croix in 1978 from California, my dad was transferred through Bank of America and we lived here for 2 years. This is house we lived in..

I went back and knocked on the door and Megan answered and I told her I lived there 32 years ago and she was so gracious as to let me go inside. I saw the whole house and it hadn't changed one bit.

I remember this big room just like this...and I saw my old bedroom...I used to sneak out of the sliding glass doors...good times...it's so wonderful to go back in time. I just love it.

I dream of the things that happened there and then there I was, "snap", back in that house. Surreal. I also saw some of my old friends...Big Beard has a charter boat company and he sails to Buck Island...My favorite memories are sailing

with him. Ben and I are going to Buck Island tomorrow and I can't wait..
I saw another familiar face, Sue Gibbons, my old roommate from my 20's.

I came back to St.Croix from 85-87 and lived here once again. Had way too much fun.....I went back to California to 'visit' and ended up staying as I had started to date Ben, my husband. So for us to come here 24 years later together is full circle indeed. Words cannot convey my feelings, but I am a sharing kind of gal so I show in my pictures my joy.

I have posted many more pictures on facebook as it's much easier but I know there are those like Robin who don't go on facebook. So these are for you...thank you for caring. for checking. for being in my life. Hip Chick is in her mecca and she has never been happier...

shout out from Pam Carriker

Pam gives Hip Chick a huge shout out today. Thanks Pam. She is one of my heros. I love her demeanor, her art and her accessibility. She's so real. I sent her a cobalt blue tutu and she loves it, and I love her. One of the many delightful things to happen to me lately has been to interact with fellow artists via the internet. I don't even know these women in person but I feel like I do because they are so friendly. Pam is such the case. She is pretty doggone famous now that her book, "Art at the speed of life" is on the bestseller list. But she takes time to chat on facebook, answer emails and give advice or support. It's one of the best things about artists, the ability to share. I have to run, literally and then go pick up Bob my studio mate, but I wanted to post this before I did. I am closed from March 20-April 6th on vacation. When I return from the Caribbean we have our 20 year anniversary, my birthday and Abby's birthday (my daughter) it's 'crunch week' at the Clayden house. I will be posting from home tho and of course sharing my Caribbean pictures so stay tuned!! As always thank you for your support!!

check out Pam's blog at www.pamcarriker.com
http://pamcarriker.com/2011/03/17/when-life-gets-you-down/

The Alameda was quite an adventure today!

Today was full of "splatter" as Sandi and I named "too much fun"...why splatter? Cause your brains feel like they splatter all over the place from happiness. I picked up Miss Sandi and met Kat at our usual rendevous and off we went on Miss Daisy (my truck) to the Alameda. Brrrr. It was chilly willy. Cloudy and sorta rainy but that doesn't deter us crazy hip chicks from shopping, no way! Stopped by the Junk Girls and said hi to Jenny and Melissa, they have wonderful merchandise and they are such sweeties. I lusted after a few things, walked away and thought about this cabinet full of drawers and when I came back I saw it was sold. DANG! But that's the flea, you take your chances and if you think too long it gets bought up right after you walk away. But don't fret this hip chick got plenty of goodies, she just kept on looking..

and after we all got our goodies, we drove to the shop and unloaded the shelf. Sandi decided she wanted to buy my secretary so we rearranged all the Toykomilk, and we loaded up Daisy once more and set off. In Walnut Creek as we were transferring Kat's stuff into her car I turned off Daisy. I noticed I had left the lights on, OOPS, and quickly turned them off. Too late. Battery died. NOOOOOO. Daisy has been so good, so strong, and dependable. Luckily Kat called AAA and we had Andrew there in a jiffy. He replaced the battery and spun the fan and Daisy started right up. Whew! Sandi and I drove home and unloaded her secretary with the engine running just to be safe and then I parked her on the hill and came home bushed. What a day! It was truly an adventure and I loved it all, got to take Daisy for a ride, got to hang with my buddies Kat and Sandi, got some goodies for the shop, made a couple sales, had an unexpected adventure, and laughed a lot. What more could you ask for on a gloomy Sunday in March???

Old friends are priceless

This is a picture of my friend Robin and our families.

Robin and I have been friends since high school, I think we met in the girls bathroom. Her school Camden had closed and she was new to Leigh, she was a beautiful blond, all sweet and smiley and we bonded over cigarettes I think. This was in 1980 and we've been friends ever since. 31 years now. wow. I recently had a bump in the road with Robin and worried if we could recover, luckily we did and this blog post is to show her how grateful I am. She is my #1 blog fan. Thank you Robin. You mean the world to me.

This is Robin with her daughters Erica and Alexandra, her mother and sister at Erica's graduation..
I can be a pushy bitch, always have. always will. I used to corrupt Robin to go party, always a bad influence. This would remain a pattern for us, Carrie urging Robin to come out and play and Robin reluctantly agreeing sooner or later. Robin got married young and started her family while I continued to play. I always marveled at how she took to marriage and children at such a young age, she was 21 when she settled down. I finally got hitched at 27 and then had my son Alex months later. Marriage and motherhood did not come easily to me. I used to call Robin on the phone and ask for her advice, "What can I do now?", she'd say "go for a walk", I said "already did that", she'd say, "play a game", I'd say "did it" etc....and we had completely different experiences of motherhood. I felt confined and stuck and she blossomed. Now our children are almost grown..Her daughter Erica is engaged and getting married later this year. My son Alex who I asked advice about is 19 and a sophmore at UCSC. Robin and I haven't always been able to hang out, usually obligations prevented us from seeing each other. But the love held strong. Recently I got my feelings hurt because I wanted Robin to come to my open studios and 1 year anniversary, but family obligations came first.

This picture is from open studios May 2010
This has always been our biggest obstacle. I got nasty and we had words. I wondered if this was it, were we done? It's so hard to recover from hurt feelings even though they are bound to occur in relationships. The best relationships can sustain this and ours did. I apologized and owned my behavior and ultimately realized I won't get what I want from Robin. What I want is for her to come out and play, to put me as a priority. It's what I've always wanted and but rarely gotten. Robin is filled up with her family obligations and this will remain steady, I keep hoping things will change and magically there will be a opportunity. What it comes down to is acceptance. I have never been very good at it, and it continues to challenge me. Can I accept the things I cannot change? Can I accept what Robin can give, even when I don't like it? Yes. I can and I will because she is worth it.

I cannot replace 31 years of memories. I may not get what I want but what I have is special. I have a friend who adores me even though we are so different. I have a friend who cares, even when I don't feel it all the time. I have a friend who is funny, loving, loyal and true. Why would I jeopardize this just because I am not getting my way? I'm spoiled and immature and bullheaded that's why. So Robin if you're reading this, and I'm pretty sure you are, thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me. For staying my friend for 31 years and I will do my best to stop pressuring you. I love you and your family and I don't want to loose you. Let's keep laughing and loving all the way to the grave.......