Finished!

I just finished sorting through and reorganizing my fabric stash... well, most of it anyway. This is pathetic and kinda' scary but, I have 8- 12. gal bins full of fabric INSIDE my studio... with another 3 in a storage shed outside! Eeks! But I LOVE it! And, to further show my sickness, if saving teeny-tiny scraps isn't bad enough, what about saving THIS!

But did I throw this holey thing out? NO! I nicely folded it and put it back in my vintage fabric bin! :) This is THAT bin:
This is a bin that holds mostly my cotton fabrics and is double decked with fabric folded like this. Admit it. I know you want to roll around in it!

This... THIS is my most favorite bin of fabric... all my vintage kimono silks as well as some from India and Thailand as well. I do not organize this. I love the digging. And, most of the pieces are just that, bits and pieces. I do have some larger pieces but I really love digging in the bits. It's the first bin I reach for when I start any project.
And now, for the final result! If you missed the before picture of what this mess looked like underneath one of my art tables, scroll back a couple of posts. This is what it looks like now! Ahhhhh......


I finished just in time. I have to go pick up Max from school... so now the real craziness begins... homework....

is there help?

OK, so is there a 12 step program for someone like me who saves fabric scraps this small? Is there a name for such sickness that brings such delight? ;) Hey people, don't laugh at me! I'm serious! Please tell me I'm not alone....

I know, I know, it's been a while...

I've had a lot going on in my life lately so I haven't posted in a while, I know. And, I don't really have time to post much now but, I wanted to tell you guys about a couple of cool things. First, there's this site
The Little Black Box is something I just found out about and decided to order the August box to get an idea of what other etsy sellers are doing to promote their businesses. Well, in the package were these darling note cards from this seller
She does the sweetest watercolor paintings and cool wire sculptures! I love her work. You must go check out her stuff. Can't you just see a baby nursery or child's room done with her paintings as the basis for a theme?! They are just darling. And I really want one... or two... or three... of her sculptures. Of course, birds and cats are favorites of mine anyway and those are two of the things she creates! Cool huh?

Anyway, life stuff has temporarily gotten in the way of my art but I'm in a cleaning frenzy. I'm in the middle of tackling that mutating fabric stash I have! LOL! I got through 2 bins and have a few more to go but I'm making progress! I've been wading through stuff inside the house too. Slowly but surely, things are finding order. But I'm itchin' to create again....

Cool give-away

You guys, go check out this blog where cool give-aways are posted all the time! I love this custom wallet up for grabs. Now, if I could only figure out how to cheat the system with the random number generator, it would be mine... all mine... mwaahahahahahaa

And, if you are smart, you'll put this blog on your RSS feed so you don't miss out on any future give-aways!

Studio pictures

Well, Blogger let me upload my pictures today so here is my "clean" studio. OK, it may not look that clean. There are still some problem area that need to be addressed such as stuff hanging on my shelving unit, things piles on the very top, my drawers of rubberstamps are scary, but my fabric will come first. It seems really weird to be able to see both of my table tops. It's been months and months!

Whew, I finished!

Well, I worked like a dog and got my studio all cleaned up! BOTH tables are clean! I still have to address the mutant fabric pile but I'm taking a break! I'm trying to upload photos and for some reason, the computer is not allowing me to click on photos. I'm trying to upload photos to my etsy store and have the same problem! It's so maddening! Anyway, I'm a happy but tired camper and now have lots of space to mess stuff up! hehehe! I purchased several pieces of fabric to make some comfy skirts so I think I'll cut one out and sew it up tomorrow. I'm using an existing skirt that I have as my pattern. I don't usually sew clothes cuz I hate patterns but this will be easy peasy. front, back, hem, elastic...

Moon set

I got up early this morning and saw a gorgeous moon setting in th western sky. I have horrible trouble trying to photograph things outside when it's dark. Here's my picture but the sky wasn't really THAT dark since I could see the moon sinking behind clouds. Unfortunately, I'm not a photoshop person or I could fix this but... oh well... there's only so much time in a day and so much brain power. I'm not ready to go there yet. Anyway, I thought it was so weird that my friend, Lorri, also photographed the moon setting this morning! What are the odds? Go see her view. It's beautiful!

So, I was up early enough to watch the moon set outside my studio window. What am I doing? Well, I'm on the computer checking e-mail and blogs as soon as I get up. But, I'm back to cleaning in the studio... stilll. In the past two days, I cleaned off the top of a big freezer and small refrigerator that happen to be back in this room on the play area side. I have been stashing things up there forever and it was gross! I took everything down, cleaned off the inch thick dust bunnies, threw stuff out, organized, etc.. THEN, I cleaned up the boys play area and got the zillion Legos put away. I have sorted through baskets of paper stuff and now, I'm down to the table piled mile high. Once I get the table cleaned off, I'll reorganize my fabric stash... may save that for next week. Maybe not. So back to work for me. I think I need breakfast...

Ok, I think I have to choose early

So, I've learned a lot from my request for thoughts as to why my "Crane" piece of artwork hasn't sold. I've had a lot of insightful things posted. Some I totally agree with and plan to change, and others that I don't exactly agree with as I feel that some things are simply a matter of preference. I appreciate all the comments as you guys have given me a lot to think about. However, even constructive criticism gets hard to take after a while so I think I have to put myself out of the agony and do my drawing early. I just can't imagine anyone else having a new take on this piece so why wait until Saturday!

One poster asked what happened to the original piece of artwork... I sold it as soon as I finished it!

I especially appreciate one comment that stated something to this affect:
Your work is beautiful. To change something would be to change what the piece is saying.

When I read this comment, I wanted to shout "Hallelujah! Someone gets me!" While many of you suggested making changes to the piece, in all honesty, there is absolutely nothing I would change about the piece because it came from my heart and I feel it is exactly as it's suppose to be. I know it doesn't suit everyone's taste but it is what it is.

Just for information, the vinyl is the exact size of the print and does not look cheap in any way but does act as protection for the print. I personally love the feel of it. And the black crinkled velvet is not as shiny in real life as it photographs. The crinkles give a multi-dimensional affect with the black breaking up the dark with hits of light on high points.

Anyway, enough about the crane. If it never sells, I'll put it in my house and love looking at it every day. It's one of my favorite pieces I've ever done.

All that being said, I'm going to go ahead and do my random generator drawing for the three winners. And they are..... drumroll.......
1.) #8 Monique
2.) #13 Kay
3.) # 19 Penney

Congratulations girls! I'll send you private e-mails and need your snail mail addresses so I can get your goodies off to you right away!

Progress

I can see the top of my table!!!!!!!!! Now the BAD one is left... UGH!

Yesterday's sunset

My mom sent me these photos she took last night. She lives about a 15 minutes drive west of me. I didn't get outside to take photos but did enjoy the view. She has a much clearer view without power lines. Isn't this amazing?

I'm busy cleaning in my studio. I can see the top of one work table! ;) And I continue on. I' d like to have the studio somewhat back to functional by Friday since my husband is leaving for Denver with a bunch of guys for a few day. I want to be able to just play all day while he's gone. I'll be living on cereal, if anyone cares.

Thanks for all the comments on my artwork. I am taking them into careful consideration. Somethings I am complete agreement with and others, well, it always comes down to a matter of taste, I suppose. I do appreciate the thoughts from all of you.

Time for another Give Away!

In honor of my Art Unraveled week, I have three of my little trade packages left and want to give them to three lucky winners! The little packets contain:
2- 2x3 sheets of Hebrew text
2-2x3 sheets of Asian text
3 buttons
12 inches of 2 different pieces of vintage lace/trim
1 tiny rubber/plastic animal
1 vintage German tea drip catchers (called Tropfenfangers)
1 Moo card

There is a little "catch" to these drawings. You need to go to my Etsy store and look at the listing for this piece:
Read the description and all details. Then, I want you to come back here and post a comment telling me your honest opinion as to why this piece has had 393 views and has not sold! I'm puzzled by this! That's a lot of views for one piece! This is the artwork featured in the current issue of Pasticcio Zine #4. Anyway, leave a comment and make sure you leave CONTACT INFO. I will be doing the drawing for 3 winners on Saturday morning!

AU is over and real life has hit

"Peaceful rest"

"The Shepherd"


Well, I still feel like I'm hung over from my whirlwind week at AU! While I didn't have classes every day, I was at the hotel with the girls every day. I had such a blast with my girlfriends!

Saturday was vendor day and for the firs time, I stayed the whole time! There were some great things to buy! My most favorite purchase is a handmade hat that was hand-dyed by Lorri Scott with L.A.S. fibers. Her pieces were beautiful but the hats made me squeal with delight! Lorri did the dying and Jennifer somebody... sorry, I don't know her last name( so Lorri, if you are reading this, fill in the blanks for me, will ya') made the hats and are they darling! I LOVE hats but often have difficulty finding them to fit properly because I have a small head. Add hearing aids into the mix which make a squealing sound if anything gets too close to the microphone, meaning a hat that comes too far down on my head... these two things make finding a great hat really, really hard. I almost died when I put the first hat on in Lorri's booth. It fit perfectly and OMG, was it ever cute! It was more than my budget at the moment but I did tell Lorri I want one but in any shade of brown so I can get a ton of use from it. However, I did buy one a little less expensive in a gorgeous moss green and I got a zillion compliments on it that day. I bought it as soon as I walked into the vendor space and wore it the rest of the day. I will have my boys take a picture of me in it so I can show you guys. These hats are to die for, I'm tellin' ya'! Everything Lorri had in her booth was so beautiful. It has a modern victorian feel to it and the hand-dyed stuff is luscious.

Anyway, I had Katie Kendrick's class called Poetry in Motion all day Sunday. Photos are in the beginning of this post. This class really challenged and stretched me, which is why I took it, but it REALLY challenged me! I felt like I was floundering most of the day. We painted layers and layers and layers waiting for a image to "emerge" from the painting telling us a direction to go. Well, let me tell you, my images were slow as molasses showing themselves! After making squiggles, finding nothing, repainting, more squiggles, finding nothing, repainting, etc.... this went on for hours... I finally found these images. And, since they are now sealed in wax, there's no goin' back so "it is what it is". Done.

My boys started school yesterday and I ended up going fabric shopping with Fran, Joanne, and Lorri. Fran and I took them to our favorite hot spots. Joanne broke the bank... maybe more than one. She got herself a new embellisher on a smokin' sale. And we all got lots of stuff at our favorite store, SAS, which is a huge warehouse type fabric place. I'm gonna' be making some fun skirts. Lorri treated us to a yummy lunch and then I had to run and do mommy stuff. I'll miss all my buddies!

Today has been a lot of cleaning. This is the condition of my studio at the moment. Scary and paralyzing, I know. This will be my next big project because something has to happen so I can start working again!


After my class with Judy Wise last week ("So you want to sell your art"), I will be making some changes to my Etsy store as well as my blog. The blog will no longer have anything on it unless it is art related in some way. I will create a new blog just for personal, family type stuff. I want to get some more art done to put in my Etsy store, including some prints of my work! So, be on the lookout!

Well, back to work for me. I'm beat and could fall asleep in seconds but I have to keep going.

Art Unraveled

is in full swing! It's been great seeing so many old friends, meeting some on-line friends for the first time, and meeting others brand new. It's great to put faces to names that I've known via the internet for years. There is just something powerful about being able to gather with others who are like you and understand you even when you don't really know each other well. There is a soul connection that happens. If it weren't for Art Unraveled, Fran and I would have never met. I would still be wishing for a really close friend that "gets me". And my relationship with Fran had time to solidify before my sweet friend, Stephanie, moved away to Colorado. God takes such good care of me providing just what I need in the right time.

Anyway, I went to the opening night to hear my new, sweet friend, Reva Solomon, speak to us. I just love her! I met her last year at lunch for like, oh, 30 seconds, yet she made a lasting impression on me in that 30 seconds and I have followed her blog since. This year we have made a point to spend some time together and I feel like I have always known her. She has such a genuine, honest soul.

I took my first all day class on Monday along with Fran and my friend, Joanne, who came from Michigan. I also got to hang out with some others from previous classes in years past like Marilyn and Lynn. Hey girls! Our class was a quilt class with Jane LaFazio. I opted not to do that landscape quilt but did two cats instead. These kitties are 2 of the feral cats that live here... they were born underneath my storage shed. There were a total of 11 feral cats that my neighbor and I managed to get spayed/neutered and now care for them. A couple of them disappeared but there are still several here. These two have allowed me to pet them now. These pieces are works in progress... I've not done any stitching on them yet. The purple piece is Ariel and the orange piece is Sassy.

My second class was yesterday evening. A watercolor journaling class by Jane. It was nice to paint in watercolors again and see how Jane does it. There were several locals in the class so that was fun.

Today, I'll be doing a bit of shopping for my dear friend Katie (my teacher on Sunday) and Judy, whom I've only met briefly but have followed her work closely for a long time. Judy is teaching my class tomorrow evening "So you want to sell your art". I've already picked up some things from their supply lists but need to finish up and deliver things later today.

So, that's the latest update!

Altered t-shirt

Well, I was at Costco a while back and bought a t-shirt that I LOVED but, when I got home and put it on, I hated the really long, fitted style. The top part fit fine but I don't want something hugging my tummy! So, I decided to cut it off and make an empire waist dress from it! With just a little fabric and a couple of hours, I now I have new loose fitting and comfy dress! To give a bit of more finished look, I added a band over the seam where the two were sewn together. I'm happy with the outcome and think I'll be making more! It's so comfortable!

Tomorrow night is "Meet the Artists" opening night for Art Unraveled! I'm so excited. I still haven't packed up my supplies for my first class Monday so I better get a firecracker under my rear end!