Happy Monday

Just a quickie post today. I have been busy today doing chores and packing to go to Julee's tomorrow! I am so excited for another artsy play date and hope the girls enjoy seeing each other again.

Wanted to share that my art cards came in and they turned out better than I had hoped. I posted some packs in my Etsy shop along with other bits and pieces that Hannah and I have been creating in the studio. Hannah recently got her first sale and was OVER THE MOON with excitement. so cute!

See you for Work Table Wednesday!

new stuff...

The "big sale" at my printer encouraged me to turn some paintings I have been hoarding into new art cards for the Etsy shop. I could have ordered a whole slew of them but DH would probably freak out with me spending that much $$ right now since we just took it in the rear with the IRS. (gah!)
So, I limited myself to my three favorites and I hope you love them as much as I do ( or think I will once they actually get here)..

They are flats and they have printed backs too. I can't wait to send my friend notes on them!! Squeal. Isn't it nice how "little things" can make you feel so excited? Its going to be like Christmas when UPS arrives in a week or so. 

Looking at these, and working with the images to add text and crop them right, etc. makes me want to go out and play with all my scrap paper and paints. I have been deep in soldering and jewelry. I can't seem to stick with any one thing. At least its easier for me to find and put away all my stuff now that the studio is clean and relatively organized. I guess we'll see how the week progresses. It might not progress to well..

I have to report for jury duty tomorrow.

of art & Etsy...

Happy St Patty's Day!

We just finished up a yummy dinner of Corned Beef & Cabbage with all the trimmings. Super yummy. Plus, I harvested some lemons from our tree and made yummy lemon pie (which we dyed green) for dessert. Mmmmmmm.

Since it was pouring rain all day and the feast was simmering on the stove, I got a fair amount of computer time in and managed to restock the ole Etsy store as you can see over in my sidebar. Hannah and I have been busy in the studio making fun pendants out of old keys, vintage jewelry bits and Swarovski crystals.
Also, since I have been cleaning the studio, I ran across a pile of back issues of Portals Zine so I listed a few issues of #7 in the shop... last chance! LOL

Also, as I teased a couple of days ago. I finished a couple of my soldered pieces. Here they are...

The first is my mermaid piece. I collect mermaids and have a mermaid tattoo. The focal on this was a little card someone gave me ages ago that I had been saving for just the right thing. I threw together this little collage when Julee was here and I love how it turned out. I soldered 3 rings to the bottom to dangle things from but it looked kind of sparse so I added the chain and was able to dangle lots of goodies!
Our bathroom is decked out in mermaids so this will be going in there. love it..

My other piece was more of an affirmation piece for me. I have had the beveled glass just hanging around so I created a house shape with words cut from a PaPaYa Art calendar. The little bird is from a Teesha Moore collage sheet and then just pieces of wallpaper and deco paper. Its very meaningful to me and I think it will end up next to my bed. Been loving the vintage faux pearls lately so they are getting used a lot as seen here, in the dangles. Love the happy colors and positive affirmation.

shop update

Hi all, In the spirit of supporting independent artists and crafter and shopping Small Business Saturday, I am linking to my album of available works on Facebook. Etsy has locked me out of my Short Attention Span Studios shop for some unknown reason so I loaded everything up on Facebook for the time being. You don't have to be a member to look :)

There are mostly frames but also a couple of chalkboards and mirrors. All were created by me of polymer clay with a smattering of commercial tiles. I create each tile by hand, add pigments or paint and some are embellished with austrian crystals for a little bling. All have been sealed with clear acrylic to help resist dust and each is signed and dated by me. Every piece is one of a kind and unique.

Hope you enjoy looking. Happy Holidays...

tap, tap, tap

Is this thing on? Does everyone read blogs on Facebook or Reader now so no one comments?? Anyone here? Pop over and say howdy if you are... :)

I have been updating my Etsy shop with various things. I have listed a few of my handmade journals like the ones featured in the Somerset Memories and Create With Me publications. They are so fun, I love to go back and flip through even the empty ones to check out the papers and flaps and pouches. I have one more I need to list but I need better pictures of it because the ones I took sucked... LOL

Anyway, in addition to journals there are various supplies and other bits and pieces like supplies. I will probably be adding some more of my JUNQUE packs because frankly I have WAY TOO MUCH stuff in the studio and a lot of it is cool and needs to be shared. I am trying to be better about purging and letting go. Making progress.. it is good :)

Thinks that is about it for now. I hope you will pop over and look around the shop. I have something cool to share later this week. Just need to take good pix. So excited..

Journals ga'lore

Well after a couple of scorching hot days I managed to get some pictures taken (not great) of the four journals I finished up. They are currently listed in my Etsy shop. I feel pretty drained after a couple of 100+ degree days here and am anxious for some cooling off SOON so I can go back out to the studio and play some more. Happy Journaling..

journalocity

Finished 3 journals today but need to photograph them for Etsy. This is the first one I am listing and hope to get to the others tomorrow. I am going to try to list some other bits and bobs up there too because I am trying to regain control of my studio space and I know someone could use some of this stuff but it probably won't be me. Thanks for checking it out :)

PS. If you haven't done so but want to, there is still time to scroll down to my giveaway and toss your name in the hat.

the bits and pieces

I have been playing with lots of pretty things lately and neglecting some custom work with clay. (shhhhh!) The vintage fabrics have been calling to me and I have been cozily holed up in my chair or the studio sewing bits of this and that together.

Over the last few days I have been adding a little bits and pieces to my Etsy shop. There is no rhyme nor reason but I am enjoying creating and sharing my goodies. I hope people like them and mush as I enjoy making them.

OK, obviously its late and I have nothing worthwhile to say, I am so spacey, so I will leave off there and just share some pictures....

Happy New Year

Hi all, Happy New Year!

I just realized that I have not posted since before it officially became 2010. I decided not to make any resolutions this year just because it seemed like too much

pressure. I guess at some point I might jot down some goals as I have in the past. The past couple of years I have done pretty well meeting them with the exception of losing weight.

I was really touched by Carol Spinski's post on January 1. It is embarrassing to admit you have a problem with your weight. I am at my heaviest ever in my life and I am very uncomfortable. I do not eat healthily, not that I binge on junk food but I eat at weird times and I eat too much. Since Jan. 1 I have tried to make a very conscious effort to be aware of what goes into my mouth. It is so hard but I know I would feel so much better in my own skin and about myself if I can conquer this eating.

Anyway, this post has gotten way off topic already.

I really came to share that I have been very busy in my little art room with some different projects just to make me happy. At Christmas I made a journal for my SIL for her bird watching. It was really a slip cover for a moleskin book so she could change it out once it got full. I didn't get a picture but I thought it was so fun that I thought I'd make some more. Pictured is another one I made that turned out a little wonky. I am still tweaking my pattern and they always seem to shrink before I get them on the book :). For this one I channeled my inner Pam Garrison and used lots of shabby fabric and scraps. I was fun to just grab stuff from my bin to use.

I have to admit that I am obsessed by these neutral/ linen shades and have been stitching away on little bits and

pieces with them. I vow that this year I will get my living room repainted and plan to paint a more creamy linen color with accents of aqua. Do you know how you can kind of subconsciously gather things in a certain color way only to realize at some point you have quite a lot of it and maybe you should decorate with it? Well that is how it is turning out with aqua blue and me. I have been looking around on Flickr for inspiration and these are some of the things I have seen and liked. My big hurdle is deciding what to do with all the brick in the living room. I will get a shot of that to share and get some opinions/ ideas.

Finally, because this post is getting so long. I am working on reloading my Etsy/ Lollishops with various things I have been working on or have just been sitting around because they never got listed before. I will post as I actually get stuff listed but here is a sneak peek of some of the things currently in progress. I am having so much fun with my scraps..

a winner...

Congratulations to Susan at "Plays with Needles" for being the lucky number (#28) of my give away. My hubby was my "random number generator" and picked Susan to receive my mystery prize in the give away I posted back on July 29, before leaving to OK. Susan, if you'd please email me with your address I will pop this in the mail. :)

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I had a wonderful time and it was hard to leave. I teared up as Holly left us the night before my departure and at the Starbuck's on the way to the airport and even as Donna drive away after leaving us in departures. It was super hard to leave those girls, my kindred spirits. I have yet to upload my pix from my camera so I don't have that to share yet. I will try to get to that later tonight or tomorrow.

What I DO have to share however, is the contents of that mystery package I blogged about in the give away post. I still have not listed them in my Etsy shop but hope to get them up tomorrow. They were a lot of fun to make and have sparked so many other ideas for the future. Presenting my "Wall Flowers" gift enclosures. They are small business card sized note cards that are great for adding to gifts and packages. All of them are created using vintage wallpaper which I scanned and manipulated to create message areas. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

etsy update

Just a quick note that while I didn't post any Flea Market Friday goodies today I DID update my Etsy shop (finally) with some new goodies that have been sitting around in my studio for far too long. Thanks to Holly & Joleen for the nudge ;)

Take a peekie peek :)

In celebration of her 500th blog post Kari aka Artsymama wanted to unveil a whole new blog look so I have been working on it and tonight was the BIG push. She wrote her 500th post as I uploaded the new blog design. Pop on over for a look see and to participate in her celebration project.

December is and has been all about catching up. I have been behind in design work due to "last minute" projects, colds, migraines and general holiday goings on. I keep checking stuff off of my To Do list but I hate feeling behind. I have decided that I will not take on any new work until I have completed what is on my list for now. I *DO* have a waiting list that I am happy to add people too but for my sanity and that of my families, no more commitments until after the New year.

Speaking of catching up, I am super proud of my buddy Joleen for catching up on so many of her UFO's. Some of them she has had lying around for a couple of years. With a big move coming up for her and her family, she has had to clean out.. well everything to pack. In working in the studio she has been using up her stashes of this and that to create all kinds of treasures for her Holiday Shop! Check out these and other fun goodies:
Finally, I have been working hard in my OWN studio to finish up various UFOs that have been littering my tables. I will be off to San Francisco in the morning for a couple of days with the little but when I get back I plan to list some treasures of my own in my Etsy shop. (I promise Holly!) So hopefully by Friday I will not only have some new *made* stuff but a few more Flea Market Friday goodies as well.

one about Etsy...

For the holidays, have made it a goal to shop Indie as much as possible this year. Fortunately, with resources like Trunkt and Etsy it has been quite easy to find custom and unique gifts and supplies for making gifts. I am feeling pretty good about my choices and I am hoping my family and friends like the things I have chosen. As I browse and shop thru these sites and stumble across gifted artists on Flickr its is hard to retrain myself in purchasing gifts for *myself*, but it doesn't stop me from adding things to my wishlist and sharing my fab finds with my bloggy friends every so often. So, in the spirit of holiday shopping, here is a new list of Fab Finds on my SWOON list...

From top right going clockwise:

• Adorable CROWN pin from Cerri at The Little Pink Studio- an a princess ever have too many?
  
• Sweet pink shaker of silver glass glitter from LoveJoleen- its pink! its wee! Its shakes glass glitter.. need I say more?
  
• Messengers of Peace by Moth to a Flame Studio- beautiful...
  
• "Duet" print by Cathy Nichols
  
• "Queen" pendant by the fabulous Ms Mod of Dollface Design
  
• Green Button Bracelet by Anakukuchek
• "Affirmatif en Vert" necklace by Bombalurina- things always sound so much more romantic in French.
  
• Gorgeous old stock cabachons from HannahGrey Limited Editions- check out the collage packs!!
• "fresh foliage" pendant by Gamiworks- I love green!
• the amazing handmade fabric Christmas Trees and birds from xtmoveis- I need to win the lottery!
• "Coffee Queen" handmade tile from Tilesmile
  
• "Goodness Gracious" mixed media painting by my friend at CitrusFaire- it still hasn't sold.. it must be a sign :)

so this is just a small selection of the fabulousness that is Etsy and things I love. Maybe if I have time I will do another list because I could just go on and on. I have some things I have been needing to list in MY shop but I have been unmotivated and busy. I DID list some great vintage wallpaper rolls last week and forgot to mention it. If you want to check them out, they are HERE.

Oh, a quick PS.. I found my camera!! Yay... more goodness coming soon. :)

Bits n pieces

Not a whole lot to report here other than summer has OFFICIALLY arrived and by officially I mean HEAT. We're expecting 100+ degree weather over the next couple of days to be followed by lots of noise in the form of the 60th Annual Hollister Biker Rally. Ugh.. We'll try to escape town as much as possible through Sunday.

Today was a fun mail day as I received a copy of The Foof-a-life from my pal Marilyn. Its a fun little publication with some cute projects in it. I LOVE Marilyn's birdie banner of course! I am not sure where to get it, I imagine it is available online somewhere but a quick search didn't lead me anywhere easy. Anyway, Thank You Marilyn! I will look forward to having this book in my library for inspiration!

Also, on a whim I added a few things to my Etsy shop today. It wasn't the grand update I was planning on but the way my life is going right now I feel lucky to have time to post six items for now. I know I have to ship a couple of things and I plan to get that done this week. I felt I was doing good but now I feel like I am running way way behind. If I ever get caught up I seriously need to have a studio flea market.. its a mess.. again.

OH, I realized after posting my give away in the last post I failed to set a deadline. oops, so I will draw names on the night of Friday, July 6th and contact the lucky winners. Good luck!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

check it out...

One of the not so secret project I have been working on is a new banner and avatar for my friend Liz's new Etsy shop. I met Liz at ArtFest and she was super cool. She has stocked her shop with beautiful totes and inspiring "prayer" flags. Check it out:

And since I am sharing eye candy from Liz's Etsy shop, I think I will share a few thing on my wish list in other Etsy shops as well... cause I don't have anything else to blog about.. except the thing at the end of my post..

I am swooning HARD over this ADORABLE bunny on Lori's (Faeriewindow's) shop:

I love this little bunny bracelet ( does anyone see a theme here?) in Mary Holcomb's "Oh Merci" shop. And how CUTE are these chicks on parade? Just too if you ask me!



I blogged about the shop "1 of my Kind" before and I have yet to get anything from it, even though I love virtually everything she has. Everytime I look I find TOO MANY things!!

and speaking of jewelry, check out these :

I just got this print from Susan Tuttle (Ilka's Attic). We did a swap and she sent it to me. Its sold out on her shop but she has other CUTE things. Thanks Susan!!

and finally, not an Etsy shop but check out what my hubby got for me the other day! I have already played with it and can't wait to use all the attachments!!

update at Etsy

Just a quick post to say that I have added some new goodies to my Etsy shop tonight...

Whimsy Jars

Danglies

Perfect Pink Trim
AND...
The hard to find WHITE Signo Uniball pens from japan!!

quickie post

Its been HOT here and I am pooped but I have managed to find a burst of creative energy to finish up several things on my TO DO list. One of them is to add lots of new goodies to my Etsy shop.. there are still more to come but I got kind of bored writing the same things over and over. I wish you could just save an item profile and use it over again. oh well. In addition to several new jars, including some new birdies, I have added some very fun supplies with more to come.

I have also been churning out pages for Portals as the last of the tutorials come in. I just did a layout of another fab article from Alma. Her stuff is always so fun and I love working with her.

Finally, I got 2 of the three RR things I had sitting here mailed and well into my Alphabetica spread in Laura's book. She chose a fun theme of vintage ladies using old calling cards and such and I thought it fitting to use an old photo of my fabulous Gramma. Here is an in progress picture. I stalled at first but now I love the way its going and I am getting to use LOTS of glitter :) (Laura, don't peek if you want to ruin it)

inspiration and news

Da funk has mostly lifted, I am still mildly frustrated but that will pass. I am putting that last finishing touches on Eye Candy though the bulk of it has gone to the printer aka my Dad. I am excited to get them off to Teesha and for people to get them in their packages. As soon as they start printing I will list them for sale on the Portals website. Issue #5 has been delayed at least 2 weeks. All updates are posted in the News Dept on Portals-Zine.com.

Anyhoo, I have been spending time in my newly organized studio and I am proud to say that I have been STAYING organized. Everything is easier and therefore less procrastinating!! Yay. I have completely sold out of my vintage birdie postcards and have reordered them. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. In addition I have had some inquiry about wholesale on my Whimsy Jars so I am hustling to acquire some more of these wee millinery flowers and some pom pom trims.. if anyone has any that they'd be willing to swap for, please email me!! I will be trying to work on these jars in addition to swaps for ArtFest in the coming weeks. My goal for tomorrow and Monday it to order the tools and supplies I need for my AF classes and to get some photos uploaded to share!!

Thanks to those of you who have posted and emailed little cheer up/ I've been there/ its ok to rant messages. I felt a little selfish dumping like that but the notes made me feel better and despite my not posting for a few days again I have been feeling better. It is so nice to know that there is a slew of people out there in blog land who get it and can commiserate. The internet truly is a wonderous thing, especially to those of us who live in podunk little towns.

Finally, in lieu of any of my own photos I am sharing a selection of my Flickr favorites for February in this post. I think that Flickr is so amazing in the vast amounts of inspiration you can find there and also it is a great place to find other like minded- like tasted people.. just like in blog land!

PS Is it only me or can others not post to Blogs that require the visual verification thingie? I am going to temporarily disable mine. Argh, all day I have been trying to comment places and can't!!

artsy...

Well, I have had these for a little while but I wanted to savor them for a few days and then, typical of me, out of site out of mind, I forgot!!
These are my first set of professionally printed postcards!! I am so thrilled with how they turned out. They have a lovely satin finish and the backs (which I forgot to photograph) are great for writing on. I just listed them in my Etsy store and have already sold 3 sets!! I am going to have to reorder soon!

In addition, I also listed some more of my Ballerina Whimsy jars. I got some new sizes and shapes to play with and I really like this tall size because its handy and also it fits MOO cards perfectly!! The little buttony one kind of was an accident but I really like how it turned out and as I LOVE LOVE old buttons... well just about any buttons.

I started my trades for ArtFest yesterday. My first batch is going to be more of my Scrabble tile charms like the ones I did for the ICE swap. It sounds like lots of people are doing charms this year in hopes of creating some fabulous charm bracelets.

Anyway, I better get back to my work on Portals and Eye Candy. Here is a little sneak peek of the treats coming in Eye Candy!