CLAUDINE HELLMUTH
CLAUDINE HELLMUTH blog   

it's tuesday! oh boy!
Paul and I ventured to the vortex that is Target and stocked up on a bunch of stuff. Then we get home and we realize a whole bag of stuff was left behind. Darnit! Don't you hate that when that happens? Now to decide whether to waste 45min to drive back and get it or to let my hot chocolate and microwave popcorn go.

Other than that, just worked on
commissions today and got a lot of work done. Thanks to Donna for mentioning me on her blog. I got a few orders and it's much appreciated!! You are a sweetie!

Here's a pic of an 18x24 PoppetTM Canvas commission that I just shipped off. This cute couple is getting married on Saturday and she is giving her husband-to-be this piece as a wedding gift! Awww!

Now we're watching The Amazing Race. I love this show. Anyone else watch it? I didn't see last season because the family version annoyed me, just way too many people. I loved it when Joyce and Uchenna won in Season 7 and I was so glad that Rob and Amber didn't win! whew!!

all clean!
Today we cleaned out the garage, it was brimming with stuff, we could barely get our cars in. I have tons and tons of empty boxes that I keep for packing and shipping artworks, and it was becoming a nightmare! But now it's all clean, hooray!

I had a much better day in the studio today. I worked on both
commissions and my own work at the same time. Nothing really exciting to report as far as my own work goes, it's been so long I feel a little rusty, still I played around with color and line, and tried not to worry about making a big mess. I am going to try to make more of an effort to integrate my personal work into my daily schedule so I don't lose my rhythm. Normally I binge on either all commission work or all my own work, so I'll try a little of both at the same time and see how it feels.

Paul is editing the new podcast tonight (
here are the directions if you want to play along)

I had no idea that this podcast would be so funny! While Paul was editing it, I laughed so hard I snorted diet coke out of my nose! Ahh... feels so good to laugh like that. I don't know if you guys will find it that funny, but I do! I think this will be our best one yet.
slightly less sleepy sunday
Feeling a little bit more awake today. I still didn't really know what to do with myself, so I decided I would take my own advice and create backgrounds and see what develops next. I layered paint and paper on a few canvases and now I am letting them dry, tomorrow, I'll see where they take me!
sleepy saturday
Not a whole lot going on today, I have been so sleepy and out of it, I had a hard time getting any work done... here's a Poppet TM sketch commission of a cute girl and her doggie that I finished up yesterday.

So, I sat in the studio for a couple hours, but could barely stay awake, I tried to do some menial work, cutting out elements and things like that but I just wasn't with it. I am trying not to feel guilty about not having a very productive day. Sometimes it's better to just get out of studio when things aren't flowing then to try and force it, at least that's what I tell myself.

Paul and I rented
Red Eye, it was a good "rental quality" movie, easy-to-follow and I didn't have to think that hard which was perfect since I am exhausted today. My big beef with it was that I didn't think that a midnight flight from Dallas to Miami could be called a red eye. Is it really a red eye if it's just a 3 1/2 hour flight? I thought only West-to-East coast overnight flights were called red eyes. So I spent the whole movie saying "that's not a red eye, it's just a three hour late night flight!"

But still it was entertaining.

I'm going to try and get an early night so maybe I'll be more awake tomorrow.
let's go magic!
Paul and I are off to an Orlando Magic game tonight.

I will actually get out of the house and have MORE fun! Wow! Twice in a week, can I handle that much play time!?

I ment to get all dressed and ready to try to look nice when I go out tonight, but time got away from me in the studio and now I'll be lucky if I wash the paint off my hands. There's still gel medium on my jeans.

I'm not really a sports girl (well not at all actually). But I do like going to the odd basketball game. Basketball is nice and fast paced not slooooow like football. I can not stand football.

Our seats tonight are super great, only a couple rows back from the court, so we get to see the players in all their super tallness.


Now if we're lucky they will actually WIN. But maybe I am asking too much, Magic have played really badly this year, so hopefully it will be a good game!

Happy Friday! Have a great night!!
poppetTM scrapbooking preview party
Today was totally eaten up by errands, packing commissions and taking them to the Post Office. It never fails that I am ready to go when all the schools are letting out, so it always takes me way longer than it should.

Here's a commission I just shipped off of Elizabeth, she's the owner of
A Scrapbookers Dream.

They are having a debut party for my PoppetTM Scrapbooking line on March 4th. If you're in Ontario Canada, stop on by for the Positively Perfect PoppetTM Preview Party!

Now say that three times fast!

If you're waiting to buy the PoppetTM Scrapbooking line, you only have a little longer to wait,
Lazar StudioWerx, will be selling them retail from their web site soon, or ask your local store to carry the line -- they can visit the Lazar StudioWerx web site for wholesale info.
runway time!
Random thoughts from the Project Runway reunion episode:

Did you notice how much room Santio took up on the couch? He was squishing poor Chloe!

I think Guadalupe was high. what was she saying???

OMG I had no idea that Andrae's crying jag went on for almost 10 MINUTES! That is a long time to cry in front of total strangers.

Paul and I talk in pseudo German accents all the time, so I thought it was really funny that Andrae does that too. Go Andrae!

Zulema scares me. I don't ever want her to be mad at me!

Looks like next week is a show where Tim Gunn visits the final 3 at home so we have to wait to see who the winner is for a little longer!


Project Jay is on, so I'm watching now, but I might have to finish it tomorrow -- I am getting sleepy. I heart Jay!
blog review
I just got a great review on Designer's Who Blog. Oh boy! What a honor! I am so excited!!
i'm a busy girl
I've been busy today finishing up commissions (here's a little girl commission I did awhile ago).

I'm starting to get things ready for my next
workshop!

It's still about 4 weeks away, but I'll need to send a bunch of supplies ahead to have enough for the whole trip, always hard to decide how much to send.... I'll be teaching at the Coupeville Arts Center on Whidbey Island, WA.

There's still room in the class if you'd like to come and join us!


It's such a wonderful place to teach, everyone has their own 6ft table to work on -- so no squishing in! Email me if you have any questions, I'd love to have you there!

Speaking of workshops...


I'm about to submit my classes to an event in Raleigh, NC in November. I know some of you are near to the area, any requests for specific classes? Here's my class list, let me know!
poppetTM shopping in alabama
I just sent 15 PoppetTM Sketches to a funky little gallery in Birmingham, AL, called A'mano Gifts, if you're in the area check it out, it looks like a super cute store!

It's my first gallery that I am in and hoping to be able to send them more work and find other galleries too! I am excited! One of
my goals for 2006 has already been reached!

Today I actually left the house!
I haven't left the house for a whole week, I have been holed up working away.

So Paul decided it was time for me to get out! We went to see Firewall, which was OK (we weren't expecting it to be great) we wanted something nice and brainless so we could relax.

I spent the whole time upset about Harrison Ford's dog and worrying that the kidnappers would hurt him (I wasn't worried at all if the human family members would be hurt - only the dog!)

Ok time for bed, I've got lots to do tomorrow!
night, night!
come play along!
Paul and I just taped a new Quick Collage Podcast and just like last time, we'd like you to play along too!

The Theme for this Podcast is: "hurt"

Here's how to play:
make an artwork around the theme of "hurt".

Create a JPG of your finished piece and a write a little sentence or two about your thoughts while working on the piece, send it all to Paul by Sunday March 5th and we'll post them up the day we air the podcast!

Remember to keep the focus on working fast and having fun! The Quick Collage Podcasts are all about the process, not the final product!

See if you can do it in 20 minutes - if it takes you longer we'll never know!
nothing like a good book
We got tickets to see David Sedaris when he comes to Orlando on Oct. 14th!! oh boy! I can hardly wait. It's going to be so much fun, he's one our favorite authors and so totally funny.

I've worked my way through a few good books lately. I read "The Girls" which is a fictional memoir of two conjoined twins, it was perfect -- sad, funny, poignant -- right up my alley. I got this book as a proof copy and isn't out yet, but as soon as it comes out get it and read it!

Then I read "Her Mother's Daughter" which is a memoir by Courtney Love's mom, really, really good, I devoured it. Paul's been reading "Kick Me" and "Superstud" both are hilarious, if you like David Sedaris, you'll love these books.
me on hgtv
I took a peek at the HGTV web site and I see they will be playing my first Carol Duvall Show taping again! yay!

It is scheduled to air Wednesday, March 1 at 9:30am.
This is episode that I demonstrate beeswax collage techniques from my first book, Collage Discovery Workshop -- if you missed it the first time, check it out!

Speaking of TV, we had that Jennifer Love Hewitt psychic show (where she communicates with dead people) on tonight, for about 5 very long minutes. My goodness what a horrible cheesy show that is! Just imagine how annoying would it be if you were dead and the only person you could talk to was ---Jennifer Love Hewitt. *shudder*

Thanks for all the tips on our NYC visit! Mucho appreciated!

Labels:

i like new york in ... may
Paul and I will be going to NYC in May for a short visit.

We'll be there checking out the Surtex licensing show, the NY Stationery Show and also having a little vacation! It's been forever since I've been to NYC, any suggestions on things we must see? We are trying to get tickets to The Daily Show or maybe Issac. I want to see Blue Man Group, but Paul's not sure about it. I think he's turned off because whenever he see's the blue men he thinks of Tobias from Arrested Development and now he can't get it out of his head. Has anyone seen it? Is it good?

Other than looking up NYC hotels and air fares, I've been working on commissions, and tackling the pile of work that built up while I was away. I'm seeing the end in sight!
runway time
Oh where to start?! Santio, Daniel and Chloe are "in" and Kara is the one that is out. What a great episode!

I actually really liked Santio's dress until he started putting all those gold bits on it. How hilarious was it when Tim told Santio that his dress looked like something worn at a Renaissance festival!? hee hee! I giggled with delight.

I agreed with Tim about Chloe's design -- I was worried her dress would make the model's behind look big -- but it turned out beautiful even though Michael Koors called her dress "underwhelming." It was not a surprise that Daniel won the challenge, how many has he won? Six of them? Maybe more.

That was horrible how both Kara and Daniel told the judges that Chloe should be the one to leave, she said she felt backstabbed and I thought she had every right to feel that way.

The only reason I could think for Daniel to tell the judges Chloe should be out was that he thought he'd have a better chance of winning against Santio and Kara so maybe it was a strategic move ah-la Survivor. Still it was nasty of him and just when I was really starting to root for him.

Looks like next week is just a reunion episode (should be juicy), so we'll have to wait until March 1st for the finale. Oh the suspense!

I can not wait to watch
Project Jay next week, I *heart*Jay. He is so totally funny. And I loved him even more when he told Santio "I hope you get canned."
guilty pleasure
I said I wasn't going to watch American Idol anymore but here I am.

It's Valentine's Day night and Paul and I are snuggled down, with hot chocolate, watching these people make fools of themselves and laughing our heads off.

I can't believe some of these people. I imagine some of them are good singers, but right now we haven't seen any. Did you see the cowboys? They were horrible!

I managed to make a big dent in all the work I have to get done, so I'm feeling a little better. I always feel frantic when I come home from a trip -- wanting to get caught up on everything at once.

Ok back to email for me!
Hope everyone had a special Valentine's day!
brrrrr!
It got SO cold around here, I feel frozen!

We had to cover up all the plants to protect them because tonight it will get below freezing for the second night in a row. I hope our tomato plant survives, it is finally growing one teeny tomato and Paul and I can't wait to eat it.

I don't know how all you Northerners can handle all that snow and cold! I saw photos on Nina's blog, it looks lovely, but brrrrrr! I can't take it.

Today was mostly filled with errands, we finally bought new batteries for our garage door openers, so that now we can actually use them. You know you're all grown up when getting new garage door batteries makes you really excited.

Also worked on the
commission orders, answered email etc. and before I knew it, it's time for bed!

Happy Valentine's Day!
send a valentine card!
Tomorrow is the big day! Send your special person an exciting ride on the Love Boat with Toby and Maggie with my Valentine ecard!

A note to those of you sending cards to AOL email addresses.

AOL has blocked my postcard program from sending to AOL members. What most likely happened is someone using AOL received one of my cards and pressed the "this is spam" button and now it's blocked. I am working on getting it unblocked but it probably won't happen in time for Valentine's day :( I can't even begin to tell you how annoying this is.

All other ISPs can receive the cards just fine -- this only effects AOL email addresses.
i can't help myself - more runway stuff
I was bouncing around the internet and found the design collections for Project Runway's last 4 designers, Chloe, Daniel, Santio, and Kara. From what I understand, they have to put all 4 of them in the New York Fashion Week so no one is tipped off who is in the final three. Click here to see their collections! Use the "more collections" pull down at the top of the page to see the others'.

I thought Daniel's final collection was the most classic and wearable, lot's of browns and neutrals. Chloe's didn't wow me, I did NOT like all the puffy sleeves she used. Santio's was nice with lots of flowy dresses, man does he like the empire waistline, he uses it in almost everything. Still it's hard to tell from only internet photos, I can't wait to see the final episodes!

So now my bet is on Chloe, Kara and Daniel in the final three with Daniel as the winner. But who knows!

Here's a fun quiz to see which Project Runway season 2 designer you are. Here's who I am - gasp!

You are Andrae:
You're a visionary and people see that right away; however, you tend to be too sensitive and under pressure you crack (or mumble incoherently through tears and laughter). You have a kind soul and giving spirit. You may be too sensitive for the rags game.

And the sad part is that is pretty darn accurate! LOL!
getting caught up
I woke up today feeling like I got hit by a truck. Totally exhausted. It hasn't helped that it is nasty and rainy here, which just makes me want to sleep even more. I don't know how people live in Seattle and stay awake. Rain makes me sleepy.

I've been tackling my mountain of email today and slowly working my way down to a manageable amount. It is always scary opening my email after a long trip, I want to answer every email personally, but it does take a long time!

I've got a long to-do list of commissions, and other work -- tomorrow I'll get started on all of that.

I've also got a big stack of PoppetTM Sketches that I didn't sell at Art & Soul. We'll be scanning those and putting those up for sale. And the workshop photos too! Gotta get those on to Flickr.

Ok back to work for me!

I'm watching Airplane to entertain me while I answer email. My favorite lines are "What kind of plane is it? "....... "Oh, it's a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains at the windows, wheels, and it just looks like a big Tylenol. "

back in the nest
I made it home a couple hours ago after a long day of flying.

Art & Soul was super great! I had an incredible time and it was wonderful to catch up with my buddies. I'll get photos up tomorrow or the next day. Oh and I did some good shopping too, I got this leash for Toby from a funky store in Pacific Grove. Love it!

The next Art & Soul will be in Dallas TX, if you live nearby come on out! And my next workshop will be in about 5 weeks on Whidbey Island WA at the Coupeville Arts Center, there's still room if you want to come and play. More info on my web site here.

Thank you to my amazing husband, Paul, for holding down the fort on the blog while I was gone, he did such a great job I think I'll have him do updates more often (if he's up for it that is). I loved being able to send him pics from Lesley's camera phone, now I want one of those!

I have a mountain of email to tackle that I will get to tomorrow, so if you emailed me, I'll be writing you back really soon.

OK night night, I am super tired!
chloe's the winner!
Hello all, Paul here again, Claudine is still away. I didn't watch runway last night but did check out the winning designs on Bravo's website. I want Chloe's suit she designed for Nick. Love the pinstriped vest and pants...classic look. Very cool. It's sad Nick got voted out but it was only a matter of time. He's talented but there's only room for three people at the end. Warning: Tim Gunn impersonation ahead.... "What happened to Daniel?" The dress he designed for Chole wasn't up to his usual standards but he will bounce back. Here's what Tim had to say on his blog about Kara's design for Santino..But I couldn't help chuckling at her refrain, "I want him to look preppier." Preppier? Preppier than whom? Karl Lagerfeld looks preppier than Santino! Nice one Tim-ster! Well, that's about it for now. Claudine is finished teaching and is staying an extra night in California. The person she's staying with Tivo-d Runway. She may be able to write something about the episode later today.
the three amigos
Hi there! Paul here again sending you an update. Claudine's friend Leslie emailed a picture of Claudine, Lesley and Nina at Asilomar from her camera phone. It looks like a beautiful place. She said everything is going smoothly. I told her about all the great comments to the blog entries and she was thrilled! Mostly we chatted about our pets. Toby's eye infection flared up again the other day but it's clearing up due to a liberal dose of eye ointment! Is everyone ready for Runway tonight? I don't think I can stay up that late but feel free to comment about the show. Hope you all have a great night! Only 2 more days until Claudine gets back! YAY!
flying cats!
This is not collage or Project Runway related but I had to post this link. I was bumping around on Flickr and saw an incredible photoset by Junku. Amazing how he got such fantastic pictures of these critters! Cue R. Kelly's "I believe I can fly!" View as a slideshow for extra fun!
tim gunn podcast recap
Hey gang, Paul here again! I just listened to Tim Gunn's podcast. I loved the description of the behind the scenes stuff. He said the garden episode was his favorite of the season. He said a lot of the designers were concerned about the plants decomposing. The cost was another issue. They only had $150 to spend. Since the flowers were so expensive, most of them opted for green plants. He was upset the judges didn't understand this. He said he couldn't believe how they went ga-ga over Daniel's design. They acted as if he invented fire just because he added orchids! Good one Timmy! He said Daniel's use of flowers blinded them to any other possible winners. Overall, he really believed all the dresses were magnificant. His top three were Chloe, Kara and Daniel. Nick, Andrae and Santino on the bottom side but only were slightly weaker. He thought they all were very strong pieces. Other interesing observations Tim made about the contestants in this challenge:
- Daniel progressed nicely
- Nick didn't have enough stuff...looks like he ran out of material in the end
- He LOVED Andrae's dress (surprise) because he's a sucker for topiaries
- He liked Santiano's clusters of leaves but didn't quite understand his modernist construction (not sure what that means!)
- Chloe overcame huge obstacles to create a wonderful dress. Tim had a couple of concerns. First, the leaves she used were small, could she get the dress finished in time? Second, would the leaves stay glued on? He was worried the entire thing would fall apart.
- He loves Kara but said she proscrastinates too much. Still, he liked what she designed for this challenge.
- He did talk at length about Santino's impersonation of him. He was a good sport about it because he knows it was a bit of stress relief from the tension of the contest. He found it quite funny but said it was getting to be a bit much, especially the story Santino concocted about Tim and Andrae going to Red Lobster and getting into a fight. He thought it was a bit over the top. Personally, I think Santiano could have impersonated Tim all day and the comedic effect still would not diminish! The "what happened to Andrae?" catchphrase Santino made fun of referred to the time when Tim was looking for Andrae to do a testimonial. Apparently, the tv crew was all set up and everyone else already filmed. Hence, "What happened to Andrae" was born! He said the next challenge is an "unexected surprise." According to the Bravo schedule, the next episode is called "makeover." Claudine thinks they have to make outfits for each other. What do you think? Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!
substitute blogger

Due to a lack of internet connection at Claudine's current workshop location, I, Claudine's husband Paul, will be adding entries to her blog. I just talked with her and she's doing very well. She said Asilomar is beautiful. She has a tremendous view of the beach from her room. Her friends Lesley and Nina are rooming with her. Wildlife is everywhere. She even saw a few deer! She took some pictures and we will upload them to Flickr when she gets back. I'll have to tag along if she teaches there next year! Today she taught the composition class and a fun time was had by all!
it's time to go already?
It's time for me to leave my precious home again, I am sad, I want to stay here and snuggle with the pets longer. But it's time for me to go and make some $$. Gotta pay those bills! I've been trying to look on the bright side. I'll get to hang out with lots of fun people and friends at this workshop. I know once I am there I will perk up!

I won't be bringing my laptop with me because the event I am going to will be at Asilomar which from what I understand is very beautiful but not very high tech. Not even phone lines to distract us from our artistic bliss. If my cell phone works I might have Paul update for me, so we'll see. I'll definitely take lots of photos to post when I get back.

My second Carol Duvall Show taping will be on HGTV Monday at 9am! I'm in the last 1/2 of the show. We taped that episode in 2004, which seems like a lifetime ago. I noticed on their web site, they link to my first book and not my second book which is the one that has the technique in that I demonstrated. Oh well. Hopefully people will figure it out. I'll miss the airing because I'll be away, but Paul or Mom will tape it for me.

I've noticed Blogger has been having a major freak out and my blog has been down a lot this week, if this keeps up, I'm moving to typepad! sheesh.

Ok see you in a week if not before!
rainy day
It has been so nasty and rainy out today, all I want to do is sleep and snuggle with the pets.

I am exhausted after CHA. It feels so great to be home. I spent most of the day in a slightly blue mood because I have to leave again 4am on Sunday. I am such a homebody.

I left my cocoon briefly to buy a new suitcase. My other one broke on the way home from Vegas. I found a cute bright turquoise set at Steinmart -- 4 cases for only $80. And the best part is I won't miss them when they come off the luggage carousel.

Paul uploaded all the CHA photos to Flickr for me. Here they are!

I'm going to try and get an early night tonight, because tomorrow will be an day packing extravaganza!
runway chit chat
It was so nice to snuggle down tonight to catch Project Runway. Too bad our hotel doesn't have a restaurant or else we would have ordered room service. Instead I was propped up at the dinner table barely awake!

This episode was super great! I loved the challenge of using plant material to create a party dress. I think Daniel is really becoming the stand out, I didn't even realize until this episode that he had won so many challenges this season. Chloe's dress was my favorite I would love to wear a dress like that even if it was made of leaves and probably really itchy.

It wasn't a surprise Andre was out this week, with his sod dress. I could see he was going for a Jackie-O kind of look, but with these judges the outfits need to show some skin or else they accuse the designer of being dowdy.

It was a great last day at CHA, super busy, and now I am exhausted. I don't know how I demoed all day and then taught that class from 6-8pm, but it all went well --- even if it is a blur. Now it's time for sleep and then tomorrow we fly home all day.

See you Friday!

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