Kindle Covers are Ready!

The quilted Kindle Covers are finally ready for the store! 

They are now available at the MUSE! 

Also I am dropping of some Halloween, Thanksgiving and other assorted cards... Like I said.... I can't seem to stay away~ LOL!

Had a great weekend... spend a day in the trees, climbing and zipping at Sandy Spring Adventure Park for Emily's 12th birthday and took a class on Zentangles taught by Stacie! And to top it off... The Philadelphia Eagles win their first game of the season... YEA!

Hope your days are going well too~ I'm off to school.......!

Birthday Celebration and a Gift for me!

It's that time....~ Tomorrow is a dear friend's birthday and today we are meeting for lunch to celebrate!
I can't wait to see our little clan... it has been a long summer without my friends and this is the perfect opportunity to catch up~ !

I made this litle box for my friend and filled it with various ephemera along with a very special book - Four-Word Self-Help by Patti Digh. 


Stacie first introduced me to this book and I love it and have gifted it many times. Despite it's title, it is not a self' help book... traditionally.

It is filled with meaningful four-word phrases that you can use in a variety of ways. My favorite... using them in art. In fact they are all parts or in whole someone's art.  If you get a chance, check it out. Very inspiring!

And I will say, I had missed crafting these past few weeks. School and summer with kids have completely taken over my life and I hadn't set aside time to craft for myself.  I really enjoyed making this project for my friend.  Thank you Rene' for giving me a reason to spend some time creating... it's really a gift to me!

Memorial Day weekend! YEA!

Time for sun, fun and family! 

I love having these three day to spend just enjoying each other with no time restraints or schedules... 

It's been a long month....

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 

See you next week~!

More paintings...

Just had to make more... I think the blue haired woman (originally Taylor Swift) looks a lot like Kate Voegele.
 

 

I love this album, by the way :) 

Hope you are having a great week!!!

An Unhurried Sense of Time...

I have been taking a few days for me. Painting, collaging and just having some personal time.
Stacie showed me a technique she learned from 21 Secrets and I played a little today with it.
You take a magazine face and transform it (mold it) to your own.

Here's how my face turned out... PS. the face I used to start was J. Lo's! (Can you see it? of course, not!)
My daughter says it's missing something. Who knows, I might add more.

I tried to add colors to resemble a self portrait... drk hair and eyes... no bangs... etc...
It doesn't really look like me... but I still like it. I like the saying... because I am always struggling with time. I like the "unhurried" sense. I will try to be in such a hurry :)

You can get more information about 21 Secrets from Stacie's Blog and view her collage she made using this technique! added plus - You can check out a list of GREAT quotes on her blog post as well!

Well, I hope you are having a great week... I will post again later this week!

LOTS of LAYERS just for ME!

I don't have too many days where I just make art for my enjoyment only. Usually I am making something for sale or as a gift. But today I had the opportunity to just mess around with a technique from the newest Somerset Studios Magazine I subscribe to ~ and I got to spend the day crafting with Stacie!

The project was to explore layers. And we really did put layer upon layer on this watercolor paper base. I love using PPA (Perfect Paper Adhesive). It's the first time I"ve used it and it works AWESOME in place of mod podge or gel medium. I belive it comes in both matte and gloss finish. I used Matte.
Acrylic paints, gesso, inks, water, sewing, stencils, stamps, ephemera and glimmer mists... all mediums I LOVE to use.

Here's how mine turned out! 

 

In the end I cut it in half to make the front and back of my art journal (and it is definitely tough enough to handle cover wear and tear!)

I think Stacie put her's up on her blog! - TAKE A LOOK!

I had a MUCH NEEDED day of rest having fun with my friend and creating something I really like to look at. I hope to do it again very soon!

Paper Fabric FUN!

Last night I taught a paper fabric bookmark class through the MUSE here in Frederick! It was such fun. All the projects turned out so cool and the people were even cooler!
With about 10 crafters... mixed in with a little cheese and wine... we had a party~!
Here are some photos I stole from Whitney's (The MUSE) blog...

Thank you to all who came to create with me... I am very happy to have met you and hope to work with you again soon! and thanks to Whitney, Margaret and the MUSE for having me!

"Oh, Deer"... Mom and babies visit me again!

Last year in May a momma deer had her babies in our yard. 

One in our bushes and one at the top of the hill in the trees...

This morning I took a peek outside and saw the momma and her deer visiting me again! 

(Or - I want to believe that was them :) )

So... Let's just say it's so!

Hope you are having a great week!

PS... really looking forward to the Paper Fabric Class I'm teaching at the Muse next Wednesday!

If you are interested in this or other classes...

It's Wed April 13, 7-9pm

info here: THE MUSE

hope to meet you there!

New Tags for Spring!

I am putting together a few new designs for the Spring Tag line.
The darker tags are 100% recycled material.
Each is hand distressed and inked. Stamped and strung.

Each is a set of four.

I will be sending this set off to Art Partners, Inc in Clarksville this week. Muse, next week.

Also, The paper fabric bookmark workshop class is going to be through the Muse (Frederick, MD) on Wed. April 13th from 7-9pm. I have taken several classes in the past and they have all been such fun!
You can sign up for this and other classes at www.shopthemuse.com! I'm so excited to be teaching my first class with the Muse!

Tomorrow the gals are coming over for a fun art day! I will be making Valentines! (for Abby's class).
I hope you are staying warm this week. It is really cold here lately... the heat just doesn't turn off! Hoping for spring soon...
See you later in the week!

Paper Fabric Bookmark workshop coming up!

I will be teaching a class for the Muse in a few months... featuring Paper Fabric bookmarks.
I will have details of the class soon...
but for now, here's a sneak peek at the project!

Check out the current class offerings here!

Tomorrow I will start on new tags or pendent charms... See you soon!

Christmas Houses

New houses for you winter birds!

My friend asked me to make a large collage birdhouse as a Christmas gift for her mom... something with a vintage holiday feel. So we found this 9 inch wooden birdhouse and i got to work!

Started with the usual collage covering with vintage book and hymn pages and then whitewashed with gesso. The roof is then painted in an ivory color while the rest of the house stayed whitewashed.
Then the fun begins! Lots of Old World Christmas images and embellishments. Pearls, jewel and satin ribbons. Ultra fine frosty glitter covers the roof and the words, "hope, believe and love" and stamped on the front.
I really hope she loves it!

Then I moved onto a few birdhouse ornaments. Again using the same techniques... these houses will surely find a safe place to rest on someone's Christmas tree! PS... snip the gold cord for mantel decorations!


Well that's it for today. If you live near me... hope you are staying dry and warm! This cold rain really calls for a hot cup of cocoa and a roaring fire...

New Christmas Tags!

The holidays are fast upon us! Just two weeks til Thanksgiving.. and Christmas is not far behind! This time of year always feels like a rush... but this year I am committed to enjoying the process. The cooking, gift making and giving, taking in the meaning of the season and all the rest... I will vow to immerse myself into the spirit! (please gently remind me if things start to look crazy around here...)

This week I have started my holiday gift tags. All these tags are upcycled from 100% recycled file folders. So far I have two designs going up on etsy this week and following soon after at the stores. Each set of 4 is $4.50.

These tags are distressed and distressed some more using Tim Holtz Stamps and inks And finished with a shimmery glitter spray!





And these vintage style french tags have lacy beading and a jewel brad.

I will be making more of these tomorrow and later this week will probably be spent making more holiday cards!
Hope you are having a great week! see you soon!

More Calendar Pages

Just a quick one today. These are a few snaps of the newest batch of calendars. Going out to stores on Monday!

Calendar Photos

Ok. I finally got around to taking some pictures of the new calendar.

I am really happy with how they turned out... I love the simple cute designs... something different from the usual distress collage on the past calendars.

These will be delivered to the Muse tomorrow and the rest will go out to art partners by next week!

Short work day today... got a lot to fit in! Have a great day!

New houses on Etsy!

Ok. So I finally added a few new pieces to the etsy store. By Friday I will also have a calendar and 3 new birdcage nest builders up as well!



Here's a peek at the additions:



























The trees are starting to turn and it really is starting to feel like fall! Which means this weekend will be spent "fall festivalling" with cider and pumpkins! Hope you are planning some fall fun too!

It's Friday and I've started HOUSES!

Well I can't believe that the week is already at an end! It's been a busy busy week.
A fresh batch of calendars was delivered to the Muse on Wednesday and I finally got started on those tricky little houses!

I am so happy with how they are turning out. I even made a Halloween one for sale next week (again at the Muse!)
I started out with my new shipment of paper birdhouses and collaged/covered them with all vintage book pages. I had some french pages as well as old english pages.
The next step is painting the base colors in acrylics. I almost think they are perfect just plain like that... But then comes the fun collaging/detailing steps.




My favorite part... being able to create each house one of a kind and according to my mood at that moment!
Here's a picture of the Halloween house... creepy...

All in all, this was a very productive week; With a couple breaks built in for school volunteering, lunch with friends, errand running and exercise, the week just rushed by.




Oh, one more thing... Stacie sent me a video about artists this week. So many times I feel discouraged and wonder, "what the heck am I doing?" I wonder if making and selling pieces is worth the time and effort. I found the video very inspiring and encouraging. I realized I really do love creating things with my hands; I love the satisfaction is brings when something is finished and packaged either for sale or as a personal gift. It helped me justify my decision to create with my time & not take a more traditional career path that is just not for me.
It was helpful to me... maybe it will be for you too... or maybe not. If you have a few minutes, check it out!

Krista Vernoff "Commit to Thrive" from Omega Institute on Vimeo.

I hope you have a great weekend! See you next week!