BahamaDawn

Brave Heart Pendant ~ Pay it Forward

2012-02-02T07:13:00.000-05:00

{Have you ever heard about a situation and it just breaks your heart and you feel like you HAVE TO do something about it?

A few months back I met a lady, Lovely Reckley, and she told me how she goes to four different schools in Abaco and feeds 85+ children that would have otherwise had no lunch. For some of these kids, this is the only meal of the day.

Lovely even takes food to some of them when school is out.

That really broke my heart. I mean, I know there are kids all over the world that are starving, but when I realized there were children right under my nose it killed me. I kept wondering what I could do. I thought about offering to help cook, but cooking for so many mouths really overwhelmed me. Then I realized what a COMMITMENT this awesome woman had made to these children.....EVERYDAY!!!

At Christmas, instead of giving gifts I gave a donation to her organization (and to our Humane Society) instead of buying things that people really didn't need.

But it kept tugging at my heart. So, I decided for the month of February I would post several heart themed items to my blog. They would be for sale, and I would give 25% of the cost of the item to Lovely, to help with her costs.

I may post an item everyday or I may post several items a week.....I am really not sure, but 25% will go to "Feed the Children" in Abaco, Bahamas.

I CANNOT imagine going without food, or only having one meal a day that I had to rely on someone else to bring to me, and these children shouldn't have to deal with this either, so please help!}

Good Morning!

My heart item for today is this Brave Heart Pendant.

It is made from copper, fine silver and one of my glass headpins.

The copper heart I cut out of sheet copper, stamped, filed and textured it.

The silver tear drop is made from PMC3, which when kiln fired turns into fine silver.

I finished it off with one of my glass headpins. Connecting them all together with fine silver wire.

This pendant is $48, the chain is sold separately.
If you are outside of the Bahamas, you will be able to purchase it from my Etsy store, HERE!
25% goes to help "Feed the Children in Abaco".
Thanks for stopping by!
Go out into the world with a brave heart today!

Pay it Forward for February

2012-02-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard about a situation and it just breaks your heart and you feel like you HAVE TO do something about it?

Lovely even takes food to some of them when school is out.

At Christmas, instead of giving gifts I gave a donation to her organization (and to our Humane Society) instead of buying things that people really didn't need.

I may post an item everyday or I may post several items a week.....I am really not sure, but 25% will go to "Feed the Children" in Abaco, Bahamas.

I CANNOT imagine going without food, or only having one meal a day that I had to rely on someone else to bring to me, and these children shouldn't have to deal with this either, so please help!

My item today is a quilted journal cover that fits a Mead Composition book, which can be replaced if you fill it up. I named this journal "Heart Strings", and quilted on it is the famous quote, "live, love, laugh"

If you are in Abaco or Nassau you can contact me to purchase this. If you are the U.S., Canada, or somewhere else the item is listed in my Etsy shop.....HERE.

It is made from cotton fabrics and cotton batting.

I even quilted a heart pattern on it.

The hearts are made with 2 pieces of fabric fused together and stitched down the middle, so there is a little bit of a three dimensional quality to it.

And there are two hearts on the back of the journal cover as well.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope sometime this month you will find something you like that will give a donation to "Feed the Children Abaco"

Have a great day & eat consciously.

What I Have Been Up To.......

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000-05:00

Hello!!!

I am sure in my last post I was telling you that I was getting ready for an art show.....

I used old frames, spray painted them black, for jewelry displays.

Had a quilt to make, as a donation to the Bahamas National Trust, for a raffle.

The art show ran for three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and was a great success!

It was the first time I really had a big selection of jewelry. My sales were great and I got a lot of compliments.

Of course any show is a lot more fun when you are surrounded by friends. These friends were my show neighbours and we had a great time.

I still haven't had a chance to upload the photos of my booth. I *borrowed* these few photos from one of facebook friends :)

Be sure to check out my blog for the month of February. I am going to be posting and selling some cute heart items, and giving a portion of the proceeds to a local charity.

See you tomorrow!

i {heart} hearts

2012-01-22T15:37:00.001-05:00

I am not sure what has gotten into me lately, but I have been totally smitten with hearts for several months now. I think I have been trying to repress this also, but I no longer can. They are sneaking out into my work like I have no control.
My style really seems to be changing, but I am enjoying the transformation, and just creating from my heart.

As you have heard me say, I am getting ready for a show next weekend. I am trying not to show too much of my new work. For one, I want people who come to the show to be able to see new things, and then I get in a pickle if someone wants to buy it and then I am short of stock for my show.

B U T......I just have to show you a few things that I am so proud of!

First this set of jewelry....heart of blues.....

Then this journal that I made after reading a bible verse on Pinterest (yes, i am addicted to pinning also!)

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Proverbs 4:23

WOW! That is the perfect verse for an artist!

Here is the journal I was inspired to make after reading that verse.

I love the texture in this......

If it were my journal I wouldnt be able to stop touching all the textures and frays.

I hope this journal gets a really special home.....

and that the owner of this journal remembers...
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Proverbs 4:23

Bead Table Wednesday ~ i {heart} copper

2012-01-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!

It is sad how long it has been since I have done a BTW post. I could have been doing them, because my bead table has been a very active place....but.....anyhoo.....I am back this week at least :)

I am getting ready for a show next week, so I have been working on some new components.

In this last post about the Woodland Necklace, I discovered how much I love copper......all on it's own. Since then I have been cutting and hammering and forging and soldering away with copper. I just love all the colors copper turns under the heat from the torch!

Here is what was on my table today.....

These, very organic copper flowers, for some reason, were very difficult to clean after oxidizing them.....not sure what I did! My fingers were black!

I have been experimenting with Shannon LeVart's tutorial, called Turning Leaves, which you can purchase on Etsy. It is a great tutorial which will lead you step by step through creating mixed media leaves. Again, I used copper! Fun! Fun! Fun!

I've also been playing with PMC Clay some more and need to turn these components into some finished pieces of jewelry.

Well, that's all I got for now.
Back to creating........

Back to Quilting

2012-01-10T17:12:00.001-05:00

Today I have been back at the sewing machine. Finishing up a quilt I am making for the Bahamas National Trust. It will be raffled at Art for the Parks, which is a local art show that I participate in.

I realized today that this show is 2 weeks from Friday......eeeekkkk......TWO WEEKS!!!
I only have a few more blocks left to make for this quilt, and I really love the palette....lime, yellow, hot pink, a little orange and dash of red.

And this pattern sews up very quickly.

I have so much to do, but I love the creative adrenaline rush I get leading up to a show. It is something I wish I could bottle and use when I have no motivation to work.
I am looking forward to sharing with you all my new creations.
After this show I will also be back to teaching quilting again!! If you are local and would like to take up quilting, or be a part of a quilting class, please let me know ASAP.
Well, back to stitching for me right now.......unlike my precious cat, Mr Wiggles, who gets to snooze in the sunshine.....

Woodland Necklace

2012-01-07T17:16:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Remember my post, *Coming Soon*?

I was awaiting the arrival of a copper leaf clasp from Daisy Chain Designs in England. That tiny envelope took almost 2 months to get to me!

Now that the holidays are over and my house is empty again, I had a chance to make a piece using this beautiful clasp.

There were five jewelry designers that participated in the challenge, so be sure to check out their blog posts if you didn't already, right here.

While I was waiting the arrival of this package my lampworked owl was born, and I thought he would be perfect with this clasp.

This is the first time I have done a necklace completely out of copper wire and chain, and I really like it.

I have had this chain for quite some time and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. It works perfect with this necklace. Heavy enough to add to the design, but not so heavy that it takes away from the oak leaf clasp or the beads.
Mr Owl has a birdie friend accompanying him also.

Hope you like my Woodland Necklace!
I think I am keeping this one for myself :)

Recycled Glass Jewelry

2012-01-06T07:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!

Over the last few weeks I have been working on and off with making glass beads out of used bottles, that would have otherwise been trash.

The beads aren't perfect because I am not working with a rod, the glass isnt perfect, but I think the imperfections add to the uniqueness of the pieces.

Sometimes pieces break or crack, but I am pretty happy with the finished jewelry pieces that have been created as a result of this glass that could have been garbage.

I still have more photos to upload and edit, but wanted to show a couple of the most popular pieces.
Have great weekend!

Thank You & Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T14:42:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!

Like most people I am trying to figure out where 2011 went!! It was a whirlwind. A fun and exciting one though! Thank you to everyone who reads my blog, buys my creations, supports me at my shows, and encourages me along the way.

You have been with me through my new vegan journey and at my first vegan Christmas dinner last year! This year was the second!

You cheered me on to finish UFO's, and there are some that still aren't done and some new ones for 2012!

I shared recipes with you from my vegan journey and I hope they were helpful to you. You encouraged me when I came up with new ideas and had art shows to attend.

You read my posts in February as I did a Creative Everyday Challenge. That was a great challenge and one I need to do again!

You have listened to my dog stories and looked at my agility trial pictures.

Watched me struggle and enjoy swaps. The last part of 2011 I didn't do any swaps but will be getting involved again in 2012....i missed some of those gals (and guys!)

In May I thought my life was slowing down, but that wasn't so, things got really busy around the house, and I really slacked off from my blogging. But during that time my husband and I have been working on a classroom for me to start teaching quilting again, we built a guest cottage and a storage shed and dealt with Hurricane Irene.

You also cheered me on with my Paint Party Fridays, which I also miss and want to start doing again. Bead Table Wednesdays were fun and kept me motivated.

You listened to my stories about my online classes and encouraged me with my new lampworking skills.

So thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for your ear (or your eyes since you are reading!), and I hope you will continue to follow my creative journey into 2012.

In 2012 I want to keep creating and get all these new ideas out of my head!

Of course finish some more UFO's; do more pottery {i have a potter's wheel again ~ woohoo!}, continue to improve my lampworking skills, make more jewelry components from ceramic clay and do lots more work with Precious Metal Clay. I just love that stuff and when I work with it I always ask myself why I don't work with it more!

Here are a few new pieces that I finished today.....

The textured circles on these earrings were made from Precious Metal Clay, and have my glass headpins hanging from them.

Potcake Necklace.......

Potcakes are our local mixed breed and there are many strays. When I make these pendants I give $20 to help the animals of Abaco.

Have a happy, healthy, exciting and creative 2012!

The Journey of an Owl

2011-12-14T21:09:00.000-05:00

Today has flown by! Probably because I have been on the torch most of the day. It has been the perfect day for it.....it is 71 here with a brisk breeze, so having the toasty kiln on & sitting by a torch feels good for a change!
(Yes in the Bahamas we consider 71 cool!)

I told you in my last post that I had the pleasure of having Cassie, from Glass Beadle, here to help me with my bead making.

When she came I had a list of beads I wanted to learn how to make. An owl was on that list, but the three days went by so quickly that we never got to it.

I wasn't worried, since she had taught me some great skills with sculpting so I figured I could figure it out on my own.

That little owl took several tries.....four to be exact....

Just for fun I thought I would share the photos with you.
The very first one broke - after the annealing, while I was cleaning him!! I was devastated!

It took me a few weeks to try again.....so here are Mr Two & Mr Three....
They were better, but still needed some work to get rid of the wonkiness!

And then success today!!! WOOHOO!!
I am pretty proud of this little guy!

Sorry for the terrible photo, but I couldn't wait to share him with you!
Tomorrow he will become a pendant.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Busy, Busy Christmas

2011-12-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

I am not sure where the first two weeks of December went, in fact, I am trying to figure out where 2011 went! I sure have stayed busy!

Wanted to do a quick post to show you some new things I have been working on.

I also, finally, created a Facebook for Bahama Dawn. If you scroll down this page you will see the button on the right. Click on it & *like* it please. Right after Christmas I am going to be running a discount special specifically through that page.

Back in November the awesome Cassie Donlen, from Glass Beadle came to Abaco and spent three days helping me with my glass bead making. I can't thank her enough! She was awesome and I learned TONS of great tips and tricks. It was my first real class in lampworking! Before that I had fumbled along, taught myself, and made a lot of mistakes.

Thanks again Cassie!!!

So here are some of my new creations......
These are just a few of the beads Cassie and I made together. Some are hers and some are mine in this photo.

I learned how to make these hearts which have been very popular and I LOVE making them!

I am also having a blast stamping on metal, especially creating little scenes. Will have lots more pieces with these stamped pieces as I get a chance to put together and finish pieces.

Also having fun making these puppy pendants!! Need to work on a kitty pendant also! I am selling these for $20, and all the money goes to help the animals of Abaco.

Tree of Life Pendants are another new creation which have been popular also.

My final little show and tell are these sea glassy beads. I make the bead, then etch it and it looks like sea glass!

Thanks for stopping by to see my new goodies!!
Have a great week!

Coming Soon........

2011-11-29T18:09:00.006-05:00

Hello!!

First of all, today I am supposed to be a part of a group of bloggers taking part in a challenge with beautiful oak leaf copper jewelry components from Jo at Daisy Chain Designs.

Unfortunately, I am stilling waiting to receive my package, with the oak leaf, that seems to be delayed in the mail.
These are the beautiful copper pieces I am waiting on.....

In the meantime, please check out the Daisy Chain blog & website, as well as all the bloggers participating in the challenge:

Jo Tinley of Daisy Chain Designs

Melissa Meman of Art, Life, Love

Niki Sayers of SilverNikNaks

Amber Boorman of Larksong Studio

Rebecca Anderson of Songbeads

As soon as my oak leaf arrives I will post my design. I have had a design idea in my head since I saw the oak leaves on Jo's blog, so I cant wait to get started!

Experimenting......

2011-10-03T11:17:00.001-04:00

Over the last few months I have been experimenting with some new materials, trying out new ideas, taking some online classes.

I am not doing any Fall shows like I normally do. Instead I thought I would have an open house in December with lots of new items.

Here are some sneak peeks from classes I have taken and some new products I have tried out.

This heart charm was from an online class I took at Beaducation, in PMC.

I had worked with PMC (Precious Metal Clay) before but hadn't really pushed myself to make anything like this. It is 2 hearts joined with copper spacers and brass hex nuts, then riveted.

The class gave me a lot of confidence with the PMC and some great ideas for new pieces.

I put the piece in Liver of Sulphur to age it, and then was sorry I did since before that the metals were bright and there was a lot more contrast.

I am still happy with it!

I have also been playing around with some enameling.

Those are some of the first beads I made. I am using Barbara Lewis' kit and book, "Painting with Fire" and it has been very helpful.

Yesterday I got into a bit of an earring making spell.

Here are two pairs....I cant show you everything....need to save some for the open house!

I love the enamel earrings, below. They remind me of the ocean.

I'll pop back in soon to show you some more experiments and some new things!

Have a great week!

Bead Soup Blog Party: Soup is Ready

2011-09-17T15:51:00.001-04:00

~~Good Morning!~~ ~~Good Afternoon!!!~~ Hello....FINALLY!!!

Today is the day for the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Remember to go here to see all of the participants and their posts.

I am a little late posting today, and I apologize, but our internet is off more than it is on now-a-days! I have been trying to get this post done since yesterday! The internet will literally be on for 10-20 minutes, then it goes off for a few hours....very frustrating! And while it is on it is as slow as molasses!

My partner, Karen, was very generous, and sent me 5 focals and tons of wonderful natural stone beads. With all the natural stones I got on an earring making kick. A few years ago customers would ask me to make earrings and I would say, "no, I dont like making two of the same thing".

Then I came up with earrings that were the same, but different. They are very 80's probably, but hey, that's when I grew up so I am influenced still by that era.
Here are all three pairs that I made.....

Here are some close ups.....this first pair are my favorite :)

These run a close second....

The stones that my partner Karen sent were so cool that I love these just as much!

I then had to choose one of the wonderful focals sent by my partner. It was difficult because they were all so beautiful, but I finally chose the one with the sand dollar.

The focal can slide on the chain because of the hanger I made for it.

Karen makes all of these focals herself and she uses a lot of seed beads, so I thought I would challenge myself and use some even though I had asked her not to send me any. I am sure Karen would have done something more exciting with the seed beads, but I did what I could.

I am calling this piece "Earth and Water". The the black around the sand dollar reminds me of lava or the dark sand at a river's edge, and the leaf toggle represents land. The shell, the color of the raku beads and the seed beads represent the water.

Make sure you check out all the other wonderful Bead Soup Blog Party posts....there are over 300 of them this time around!
Also, be sure to go to Karen's blog to see what she made from the pieces that I sent to her.

Bead Soup Party Coming Up Soon!

2011-09-07T13:32:00.002-04:00

It's been like a month since I posted last.....that's embarassing!

Between lack of internet and Hurricane Irene passing over us I got behind on blogging!

I am taking part in the Bead Soup Blog Party again this year. We are assigned a partner, by Lori at Pretty Things, partners swap bead packages and make something with what was sent to them.

My partner is Karen, from Seattle, and you can check out her blog here.

Karen sent quite an amazing package.

Here are the Focals and the toggle. Karen made these focals!!! The one on the bottom right has a sand dollar embedded in it!! They are all so beautiful and my imagination is whirling thinking about all the things I can do with these.

And then there were all the other extras.....

Look at all these beautiful stones!!!! Karen told me the round disks are fossilized coral....very cool!! These pieces are all new to me since I have never worked with stones like these. So it will be an exciting journey.

The turquoise cube beads above are some of my favorites!

Be sure and come back September 17th, do the Bead Soup Party Blog hop and check out what all the amazing jewelry artists have created.

Well, I've got to go get to work, and I promise you I will be back before September 17th!

Bead Table Wednesday ~ sea glass bracelet

2011-08-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!!

Been busy, busy, busy with orders and fun stuff going on around the house so I havent been posting a whole lot lately. Actually the *stuff going on around the house* has taken over my life!

Right now, in between everything else, I am trying to finish up the bracelet that I started a few weeks ago.

I still need to add a clasp, secure the sea glass in the bezels and then do a final polishing.

I love all these sea glass colors so much and can't wait for it to be finished.

Soon!!!

Check out all the other Bead Table Wednesday posts this week and be inspired!

Bead Table Wednesday ~ work in progress from the classroom

2011-07-20T21:30:00.003-04:00

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!

This week I am in the middle of taking a local jewelry class. It is named Sea Glass Class, but it is so much more than that!

Here I am polishing away at my work station....

I have been making jewelry for several years now, and after doing more metal and wire work I wanted to learn how to cut more of my own original pieces from sheet silver and copper. So, about a year ago, I bought a jeweler's saw which is a hand saw with a very fine blade that breaks very easily. I tried and tried to get that saw to work and just couldn't! In my frustration I put (threw) the saw aside and out of sight!

Well, the first day of this class we had to use one! After a brief description and demo we were all sitting at our workstations, saw in hand, and I got it to work!! I was over the moon!!! If I didn't learn another thing this week I would have still been happy!

I had to go home, find my saw and apologize to it!

Here are some bails that I made from sheet silver using the saw....

On one bail I soldered on a small turtle pendant that the instructor of the class made.

These two pieces still need polishing up which I will do tomorrow.

I have also had a chance in this class to use a dual fuel torch for soldering which has made things so much easier.....once you get use to the heat!

I have been using a butane torch and having problems with it lately and it was all because there was not enough heat.

Here are a few more pieces I am working on in class.

I love these pastel colors together. Still trying to decide what to make out of these....a bracelet....a pendant.....a necklace.....any ideas?

I would love to hear your opinions!

Be sure and check out what others have on their bead tables this Wednesday over at the Flickr group, Bead Table Wednesday.

Watch out world.....here I come with my jeweler's saw!

BTW ~ Boho Bliss Class

2011-07-13T17:00:00.001-04:00

I went missing in action for a while there because of having no internet at home. It was off for 2 weeks!!! So glad it is back on, but now I am playing catch-up!

One of the many things I am catching up on are the online classes I am enrolled in.

Boho Bliss is a jewelry class I am taking and loving learning different techniques with metals.

Deryn is the creator and teacher of this class and I love her jewelry style. She offers a few other classes as well which I am looking forward to taking.

Boho Bliss is all about earrings, and these are my hoops from the first week ~

Made from a plain piece of copper (or silver) wire!

They are meant to be plain hoops, but I am in a frenzy of making those glass headpins so I have also been adorning everything with them!

Here are some plain silver ones that I did some decorative stamping on for texture ~

Over the next few weeks we will be adding more to these hoops as Deryn teaches us more techniques. I can't wait to learn more about metal and come back and share my pieces with you!

What is on your bead table this Wednesday?

Paint Party Friday ~ Recipe Pages

2011-07-01T09:43:00.001-04:00

Happy Paint Party Friday to all!!!

{First of all I want to send a BIG apology out to everyone at the Paint Party for not getting to read all the blog posts last week and comment. My internet at home has been down since last week and I have to come to my husbands business to get online until the cable company decides to come and fix the problem. This makes my online time very, very limited.}

I have had this idea in my head for sometime.

Some of you may or may not know that I am a big foodie and last August I went vegan, after being a vegetarian on and off for 20 years prior.

I love to take a recipe and veganize it, and also love to find amazing recipes that satisfy my carnivore husband!

So my idea was to do a journal/recipe pages for my recipes. A lot of my recipes are scribbled on pieces of paper or if they are in a cookbook there are a million notes and changes made to them.

This is the first one....

I am so excited about how this turned out and cannot wait to do some more which I will be sharing with you.

Sorry for the quick post but time is limited online when I am not at home, and we have people working around the house so I have to get back.
Be sure and check out all the awesome Paint Party Friday posts HERE!

Have a wonderful and creative weekend!

What's Old is New Again

2011-06-29T16:32:00.002-04:00

Happy Wednesday!

I am finally getting to the posting of my “What’s Old is New Again” blog challenge from Artbeads.

This set of elements gave me some challenges, which led to a bit of a creative block.

I am finally happy to show you my pieces.

The first piece I made was a necklace using the antique silver plated pewter heart pendant, rolo gunmetal chain, a sterling silver key charm, and resin azalea flowers.

I really love working with rolo chain, it is actually one of my favorite chains. In the past I have used the sterling silver, but this gunmetal one is great also and looks awesome mixed with the sterling silver.

In this piece I also included some white beads from a necklace that was once my grandmothers, some of my pink glass headpins and some silver chain.

The pink flower beads that are attached to the silver chain I doubled on a silver headpins along with the white vintage beads and glass headpins that I made.

The photo in the bezel is of my grandfather with a silver key charm and a Bahamian coat of arms from an old stamp set in resin.

I finished the back of the necklace with some soft pink, silk ribbon.

This necklace needed a pair of earrings to go with it, and this is what I came up with.

They are very light and fun.

I added single pink resin flowers on the rolo chain. There are three strands in different lengths and at the top one of my handmade glass headpins.

Also from Artbeads I got the cutest metal bicycle pendant and made this casual necklace from this piece, also complimented with some of my grandmother’s beads.

I love the mixture of metals in this piece. It is going to be great with jeans and a casual shirt.

Artbeads has a variety of these metal pendants with other themes and they make a quick, cute pendant on a necklace.

So here is where my real challenge came in……

I got some large transparent resin roses from Artbeads as well, and when they arrived there was no hole to string them or attach them. (if I would have read the description properly I would have known this before hand)

I tried to attach them to silver rings with epoxy and they didn’t hold.

Then it hit me …… add it to a mixed media piece!!

What took me so long to come up with that?!?!?!

I love how this turned out and I was sorry I didn't have anymore resin flowers to add to more mixed media pieces.

Here is a close up of the flowers. The rabbits look like they are feeding amongst the flowers.

After making this piece I thought the flowers would make great additions to an art quilt. So I guess I will have to order some more!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

The Artbeads.com products in this post were provided as a promotional gift by Artbeads.com, as part of their Design Partner & Blogging program. I have been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion - good or bad. My comments and opinions about these products are my honest, personal opinion and I have not been paid for any endorsement.

Paint Party Friday ~ Morning Pages

2011-06-24T09:23:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post today for Paint Party Friday.

I told you in my last post about the morning pages I was doing, but instead of writing, it was an artful journal page in a sketchbook.

Here are a few from this week:

These are pretty quick to do and a relaxing way to start the day.

I don't think about what I am going to paint before....i just paint!

I am using a portable watercolor set which makes it really quick. The brush has the water in it and the watercolors dry within minutes.

Don't forget to go check out all the other Paint Party Friday posts!

Have a great weekend!

Bead Table Wednesday ~ getting somewhere

2011-06-22T15:35:00.000-04:00

Remember those components that had me artistically stuck?

Well I am getting somewhere with them this week.

There is also a heart bezel that is filled with goodies and resin which is drying on the side.

I am having a busy week - both emotionally and physically - but being able to create is my solace. I always seem to be beaming with ideas at times like this.

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!

Happy Paint Party Friday!!

2011-06-17T11:07:00.000-04:00

I cant believe it is Paint Party Friday again!

I have had so much fun this week in my online classes, learning new techniques, having artist breakthroughs and enjoying a wonderful community of artists.

I mentioned in another Paint Party Friday post that I was working on some mixed media pieces. I had done a series of mixed media pieces a few years back and really enjoyed the process of them. Then, a little while ago, I came across Christy Tomlinson's e-class called She Art and thought I would join it to learn some new techniques and get back into the mixed media groove.

Here is one of my completed pieces from this class.

I just love the mixed media process. It stops me from worrying about what the final product will look like because there is to telling how it will turn out.

The message on the front says "she loved everyday", then on the side I painted "you are here for joy and delight of your soul". I just love that saying.....joy & delight.....who cant say those words without smiling? And if that is your focus.....JOY & DELIGHT.....you have to love every minute of everyday.

I didn't even plan the letters on her face, "God's child", they just happened to be on the page of the old book that I cut from, and I didn't notice until I had glued her face onto the canvas. It is just awesome how mixed media's just work themselves out. My little inner critic didn't even bother me while I was working on this piece, he sat quietly on the side and left me alone while I enjoyed the entire process.

I have been doing Morning Pages, off and on, for a few months now. (You can read more about them here, at the Artist's Way). At first they weren't working for me, but then I started doing some art journaling first, and then the written pages just started flowing.

This is one of my pages from this week.

The art pages are supposed to be a quick art piece done without thinking about it. Just a way to let it all out.....all that garbage we keep as artists in our mind.

Be sure and check out what my artist friends are doing over at Paint Party Friday also!

Hope everyone has had a great week!

Remember to fill everyday with JOY & DELIGHT!

~Bead Table Wednesday~

2011-06-15T16:19:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week here with workmen in and out of the house. I am surprised I was able to do anything creative. Two weeks ago, in this post, I showed you a variety of components I was working with. I am really struggling with getting these to come together right.
BUT.....I was successful with this pendant.....
I love making those fused silver rings, hammering them FLAT.....very therapeutic.....and then stamping them for some texture.

I had a headpin leftover, and it was lonely, so made this simple pendant for myself..........

I have also had my hands in clay and glaze again......

Cant wait to glaze these and fire them. I love that owl towards the bottom right.....he's gonna be a cutie :)
Right next to him is a bezel box that I cant wait to fill with goodies and resin.
Here are a few glazed beads waiting for something creative to happen to them....

I think they may grow up to be pendants.
Be sure to go the Flickr group, Bead Table Wednesday, and check out what other jewelry artists are up to.
Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!!
What is happening on your bead table?

Check out this giveaway!

2011-06-14T21:46:00.003-04:00

Aren't these some awesome beads?

These are just a few that are part of a giveaway on my friend Lana's blog.

Go over to her blog for a chance to win these Jangles beads along with a BUNCH of other awesome hand made beads.

You have until Monday to enter to win!!! So go check out the BLOG now!!

Paint Party Friday ~ Sunshine

2011-06-10T14:24:00.006-04:00

Today we have a dreary, rainy day. We do need the rain, but I love the sunshine so much!

Maybe that is why I named one of my cats "Sunshine".

I did this painting a while back of my cat, Sunshine. That is him in the second picture looking very insulted.

I would eventually like to do a painting of each one of my cats so this is a start!

This painting has some sunshine quotes on it, as well as some words from the song "Sunshine On My Shoulder". I always sing that song to Sunshine.

The eye image that you see in the painting just kind of happened as I was painting it. It does have some significance though, since Sunshine was in a pretty major accident about 5 years ago where he got a broken jaw and one of his eyes was badly damaged. He still has his eye, but the pupil dilates on a different schedule than the other eye. Sunshine is fine now and one of the sweetest cats I have ever had.

Be sure and check out all the Paint Part Friday posts by other artists.

Maybe you will be inspired to do something creative this weekend!

B.T.W.

2011-06-08T17:07:00.002-04:00

Personally I think a messy work table shows that work is getting done!!!

Right??????

It is a little embarrassing to show this photo, but when I am in a bead making frenzy this is what happens!

And I think most artists are capable of making a real good MESS!!! I just hate myself when I have to clean it up, and that time is soon coming!
Very soon I will be upgrading to a mixed gas torch and I cannot wait!! I am just waiting for all the items to get to me :)

I am still working with the findings I showed you last BTW.

Here are a few beads that will go with that mix.

What is on your creative table today?
Go here and check out what others are doing on Bead Table Wednesday!

Paint Party Friday ~ Slow Week

2011-06-03T15:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Paint Party Friday everyone!

I only finished one painting this week....started a few mixed media pieces, but don't want to show them til they are done.

I am continuing on my Painting BIG journey with Connie, and this is the result of one of the exercises.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this online class to any artist. I am mainly an art quilter and jeweler, but a lot of times my designs are painted before they are put into those mediums.

This picture is not the best because the paint was still wet so I had to take it at an angle, but I really enjoyed this exercise and this is my favorite painting from this class so far. The colors are a lot brighter and more intense than they are showing here also.

Be sure to go and checkout all the awesome PPF posts for this week.

Have a great weekend!

Bead Table Wednesday

2011-06-01T17:33:00.000-04:00

A few months back I joined the Flickr group, Bead Table Wednesday, and have just been lurking and not posting any pictures. It really is a simple group, where jewelry artists post pictures of what is on their worktable, or what they have recently finished every Wednesday.

I decided to start today since I have a some jewelry pieces I need to be working on.

These components are a mixture of old and new.

I am fiddling with all the pieces now trying to decide which pieces I will make and that will help me decide what kinds of glass beads I need to make to go with it all.

Hopefully early next week I will be done and can show you what I came up with!

Happy Wednesday!

Paint Party Friday......BIG

2011-05-27T11:34:00.006-04:00

Happy Paint Party Friday!!!

Last weekend I never made it around to all the Paint Party Friday blogs because we have been having internet issues. Fingers crossed.....looks like the problem has been resovled. So today I have been MADLY catching up on emails, and I will probably spend the rest of the day catching up on replying to emails and reading blogs!

Last Sunday I started an e-course called *BIG ~ a fearless painting adventure*.

Doesn't that sound awesome? Well it is!

It is hosted by Connie at Dirty Footprints Studio.

I am learning to enjoy the process of painting and not worry about the final product. This is a lesson I need to learn for all areas of my creativity. So many times I am so wrapped up with the image, in my head, of the final piece that I dont enjoy the process. Then when it doesn't work out many times I dont finish that piece.

Here are a few of my paintings from this week....

This whole process is like art therapy for the artist! I really need that since my creative juices just havent been flowing that well lately.

Take some time to check out all the creativity over at the Paint Party!

Have an awesome weekend!

Paint Party Friday Dreamin'

2011-05-20T22:30:00.002-04:00

I have always been a dreamer.

By dreams I mean goals I have for myself for the future, things I want to accomplish, a bucket list of expectations for my life.

And I dream BIG!

I expect a lot from myself.

The last couple of weeks, while my muse has been away from me, I have taken some time to think about those dreams again. Consider (or re-consider!) what I need to do to make those happen.

So I did a quick art journal painting for PPF with this theme.

A reminder to myself that it is all possible.

Not sure who wrote this quote....

"if you shoot for the stars and miss, you'll land in the trees. if you shoot for the trees and miss, you will land on the ground"

So DREAM BIG!
BIG HUGE DREAMS!!
Go check out all the other Paint Party Friday blog as well - right here!

Have a great weekend!

Mermaid Message for Paint Party Friday

2011-05-13T16:07:00.000-04:00

In all my frustration this week with my creative block....or whatever has been going on....I started doing some blog hopping and came across this cool blog called "Paint Party Friday".

I have mentioned in a few posts how I have been wanting to do some painting again, so I thought joining this online party would be great inspiration.

In my last post I showed you a background in blues I had started in an effort one day just to do SOMETHING creative. Well the idea I had for that background was not inspiring me anymore, but I had another idea.

I have also been pretty inspired lately by quotes and sayings and I love a painting with a quote. So I gave this mermaid a message to say......

Something we probably forget a lot!

From the Paint Party Friday blog (don't forget to go check out all the other blog postings for todays paint party!) I found Kristin Dudish's blog. This lady does some awesome paintings and sketches and she is one of the creators of Paint Party Friday.

Kristin has a button on her blog called "30 in 30 for 30". She did 30 paintings in 30 days for $30!! Pretty cool idea hey?!?!

I have been trying to come up with another way to raise money for the Humane Society that I volunteer for and I think I may do my own twist on this. I emailed Kristin to ask permission to put my own twist on it and she was kind enough to say yes. I am still brainstorming the whole idea, but stay tuned!

Have a great weekend!

Unfocused Ramblings

2011-05-11T15:59:00.000-04:00

I thought it was just me......but after reading several artists blog posts over the last few days I don't feel so alone.

For the last few days I cant seem to concentrate.....I feel really unfocused in my work.

I am irritable, in part, because I have all this creative stuff in my head that can't come out.

There's so much in there that I am having trouble focusing on one thing.

I can't decide what to do first. I start one thing and then think I should be working on something else.

I was waiting for this time when I only had a few orders ahead of me, when I could just play, do what I wanted for a few hours, experiment with new ideas......

Now I don't know what to do with myself.

It is so frustrating!!!!

It doesn't help that my studio is an absolute mess and I really need to deal with that before I start anything else, but I stand there and look at the fabric pulled out, the sketchbooks all over the place, the yarn that needs to be put away, the glass rods in a pile and I am paralyzed!

I have been having this urge to paint, so I pulled out three colors and started this background.....

Hopefully I can find the inspiration to finish this when it is dry.

As artists are we just supposed to wait for these phases to pass, or fight thru them......I am not sure.....

Have I held these new ideas in for so long that they don't want to come out anymore?

I am kind of jealous of my cat right now......

He's not fighting any repressed creativity!!

We finished the screening in the back porch and most of the cats love it. They can sit and watch the birds, enjoy the breeze and chill.

Maybe I should take some lessons from my cats....relax and this too shall pass :)

A Quick Peek!

2011-05-04T16:10:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I showed you my first freezer paper stenciled piece, and told you today I would be back to show you what I had done with it. Well I didnt get to finish the piece, but thought I would show you where I am so far with it.

It is going to be a pillow, and the white parts will have appliques and some quilted words. Over the last few days the idea for these pillows have slowly developing in my head.

This wont be the last, especially since doing the freezer paper stencil was so much fun! The worst part was waiting for the paint to dry.

My friend, Amy, who does some fabulous stenciling and printing on fabric, gave me some great tips for the stenciling. Check out Amy's blog, During Quiet Time, to see the work she does. Also check out her Etsy shop where you can buy her wonderful creations.

Give me a few days and I will be back to show you the finished piece :)

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!

Happy May!

2011-05-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

I think the busyness of my life may be slowing down a wee bit! I have finished up a good chunk of my orders, last Saturday was the last farmers market until October, and I have lots and lots of fresh ideas brewing in my brain.

One of my items that has been really popular are my quilted journal covers.

This was one of the last I did for an order:

The above picture is the front, and below is the back.....

Here is the entire cover.....

Do you see that ultra cute fabric in the *grass* that has flowers with black and white striped petals? I won that fabric in a giveaway on the Jennifer Jangles blog.

Go and check out Jennifer's blog and the side tab has all the links to her Etsy shop, Flickr, and website.

She is an amazing ceramic artist who now designs really funky, fun lines of fabric.

This is the stack of fat quarters that I won:

I could only bear to cut off a strip to use for the grass on this journal. I must get my hands on some more, then I wont be so possessive over these pieces!

Today I am trying my hand at stenciling on fabric. Waiting for the paint to dry is the worst part. I will be back tomorrow to show you the results ~ hopefully it turns out!

Something Finished

2011-04-20T14:46:00.000-04:00

In one of my posts at the end of December I had a whole long list of unfinished projects that needed my attention. This week I managed to get another one of those UFO's DONE!!

My very first crocheted pillow!!!! All for me :)

I love the scalloped trim.

This is the back.......and this is what took sooooooooo long!!! Rows and rows and rows of single crochet!!! What was I thinking? I am glad I persevered and did it thought because it has a cool look.

The buttons for the closure was a bit of a challenge also, but it is DONE!!

I am now trying to decided which pattern I will use for my next pillow.

I also wanted to show you some new glass that I got in last week.

I'll soon be showing you some new beads and jewelry pieces from these yummy colors!

Today I broke down and ordered a bead annealer. The kind you put the beads in as soon as you have made them. Right now I am making them, then putting them in the kiln later on. I also can't get PMC and enameling off my brain and I have the materials.....I just need to do it!

Hope you all have a very Happy Easter :)

Full Pink Moon Dreamboard

2011-04-19T15:50:00.000-04:00

This month I decided to participate in Jamie Ridler's Dreamboard challenge. I have been watching the posts on these dreamboards for several months now, but the last several months have been a real whirlwind for me. I finally feel like I am at a time when things are going to slow down and be less hectic, and when I reach these points I have always been a list maker. I have so many ideas bursting from my head that I have to write them down, prioritize and then play!

So this month it was very theraputic to create my dreamboard instead of writing a list. (Knowing me I will still write a list!)

"Trust your crazy ideas" ~ is stamped right by my house, because my ideas get pretty crazy sometimes!

All the symbols in the painting represent areas in my life that I plan on working on, and most revolve around things I want to do around the house or new creative ideas and dreams.

I am thankful every single day that I can engage in my creativity on a daily basis.

Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

Bracelet Blog Hop for The Global Genes Project

2011-04-16T06:33:00.000-04:00

The Global Genes Project is a campaign to raise awareness to rare disease in children.

One of my blogging friends, Lori Anderson, is hosting this blog hop. She too, is affected by a rare disease.

Jewelry artists were asked to make a bracelet with the predominate color being blue.

The bracelets will be given to one of the 7000 families that have a child with a rare disease to show them love, hope and support.

Here is the bracelet that i made.....

I used one of my lamp worked glass beads, a hand stamped tag *wish*, and several blue glass shell beads.

The shells, for me, represent unfolding mysteries. I wish for these families that the mystery of their child's rare disease can be solved.

I had a hard time getting a good picture of the hand stamped tag.

Go and check out all the bracelets that others have made here on Lori's blog.

Scroll down to the bottom to see the list of blog participants and check out all the wonderful bracelets.

I hope I am not posting this too early, but I am getting ready to leave for an art show so I needed to get this posted before I left.

What I've Been Up to......

2011-04-13T09:36:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged! But I have been busy wrapping up some swaps, finishing some orders and getting ready for an art show which is on Saturday.

I got my Doll Quilt done and according to the tracking it will be delivered to my partner today! I cant wait....hope she likes it :)

I also finished a mini quilt for the MiniQT Swap, on Flickr. The theme was 3D.

My partner, sew-amy, has a nice collection of these VW Vans......what a lucky girl!! This is my dream car!

I was also in a private swap with mamacjt with an Easter theme.

She had hinted that she liked this design that I had done on a journal cover, so I added her name to it. Carol is always making others quilts with their names, so I thought she needed one for herself.

A few jewelry orders that I had were......

a set of three pendants for a mother and her two daughters.

And two necklaces like the one above for two friends...."Potcake Love"

Incase you dont know, Potcakes are our local *mutt*, and I am involved in rescue here to give them a better life.

Back to work for me. I have three days before the show on Saturday, and tons of this and that to do!

Have a great week!

I Think I Got It!

2011-04-01T17:47:00.000-04:00

I didn't expect to take so long to show you some more options on my DQS10 quilt, but I wasnt expecting to have a forest fire a quarter of a mile from my house for the last few days!! There was lots and lots of smoke around, ashes falling in the yard and fire department trucks everywhere, but most of the fires are out now and everyone is safe!

Our Volunteer Fire Department is AMAZING!!!

So for my DQS10 quilt.....I got to play with it this morning and finish off the binding.

This is the option I think I am liking, which several people suggested.

It is not ironed on and stitched down yet.

This quilt was inspired by the book "Whimsyland" by Liz & Beth Hawkins. I tried to put a few of my own touches on it.

Thank you so much for all your comments and ideas!! I really appreciated them! Let me know what you think of this before I iron it down.

I also got a UFO finished this week.....

Remember back in one of my late December posts I told you about all these little projects I needed to finish? This is the second of three place mats made from random blocks I had leftover from various projects. Two down and one to go!

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

HELP!! ~ I Need Advice!

2011-03-30T15:53:00.000-04:00

In my last post I showed you the beginnings of my quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap. I have been working on it for the last week, hoping to get the finishing touches done on it today.

All I have left to do is the detail on the bottom and sew the binding down by hand.

I had this GREAT idea, in my head, to sew buttons on the bottom to spell out *LAUGH*, but it isnt coming out like my imagination is seeing it. That is so frustrating!!!!

Is it because the buttons are too colorful? Should I use all white buttons? Should I scrap the whole button idea and use fabric? I would love to do something other than fabric...but what?

I know one thing for sure.....I need to step away from this for a few hours, but i would love your input. Give me some ideas!!!

Above is a close-up of the top.....I love how this part turned out....now if I can only *fix* the bottom!!

HELP!!

A few sneak peeks......

2011-03-22T16:23:00.000-04:00

Hello!

A lot has been going on the last week or so. I thought I would show you what I have been up to, and what has kept me away from blogging.

I have been trying to finish up my swaps.

Here is the beginning of my Doll Quilt Swap.....

I have done more to it, but just not quite ready for another reveal yet.

Here are a few quilts, some swaps, that need the bindings sewn down.....

Here is a sneak peek of a swap I finished and need to pop into the mail.

I wish I could show it to you. I love the way it turned out and hope my partner loves it as much as I do!

I did this painting as a donation to Friends of the Environment.....

And realized that I really missed the paint brush, so I did this.....

It is a painting of my kitty "Sunshine". All over the painting there are sunshine-y sayings and quotes. I am looking forward to doing some more painting. It is very therapeutic to me.

I helped out with a fundraiser for Abaco's animals, called "Cause for Paws". I made these take a chance games.....a cat....

and a dog.....

I won two, pretty awesome prizes at this game :)

I also made this quilt for an auction prize.....

So that is some of what I have been up to.

Da Market is on Saturday, and I am racing around getting ready for that also.

Bye for now :)

Pay It Forward 2011

2011-03-14T21:04:00.000-04:00

With all the chaos going on in the world right now life can be pretty depressing. It is so confusing who to help and which cause to donate to. There are small things we can do for the people around us that make a difference and cause a ripple effect, because in the end what goes around, comes around.

Some in the blogging world are starting to pay it forward thru their blogs. The theory is if you do something good for three people, and those people each do something for three more people, and this keeps on going, hundreds and hundreds will be touched.

Fellow bloggers I encourage you to join me and continue this thru your blog.

The first five people to comment below will receive a small handmade gift from me. Please make sure I can contact you thru your blog to get mailing/contact information.

When you do something good for someone there is a chance they will do something good for someone else. Even if they dont, it will brighten that persons day, at the very least.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" Ghandi

Busy Days

2011-03-08T16:02:00.000-05:00

I've been busy with all sorts of things the last week or so.

I made another sea glass ring for a special order.

Joined the Flower Bed Crochet Along!

Set a record for how many people I can fit to my dining room table.

Had an awesome week of agility training, and a day of trials. Trixi, my potcake, finished one of her titles....YAY!

Made a placemat as a gift for our agility judge.

Looking ahead I have a few shows coming up and lots of new ideas in my head!

Creative Project #28 ~ last day of the creative challenge.

2011-02-28T17:44:00.001-05:00

I am kinda sad that this creative challenge is over. It has kept me so inspired throughout this month! Although like I told you in a previous post I joined a new group called "Creative Everyday". I wont be posting every single day about what I have made, instead weekly, but I still will be creating everyday!

Some days were a crunch to get something creative done, but it was well worth the effort to make the time to do it.

So today I made some more beads. I am hooked on making headpins. Here are a few of the batch I made. You will have to wait and see the rest when they are in a piece of jewelry. I have lots of ideas for these little gems.

I got hooked on making these pins when Cassie Donlen, of the Glass Beadle, had a giveaway on her Facebook page for some headpins that she made.

I WON THE GIVEAWAY!!! WOOHOO!!!

Cassie is an amazing glass bead maker, and has a great video out if anyone is interested.

Cassie then asked on her Facebook page how others made their glass headpins. She made hers on the end of the mandrel then attached the wire with epoxy. I wrote in and told her I made mine on high temp wire, but then I wanted to try her method since the wire can be tricky if it isnt completely straight.

The last couple of days I have been making them on the mandrel and kind of like that way.

Here are the awesome headpins that Cassie made, and I won....

I got to pick out the four I preferred.

I cant wait to use them with one of her toggles I bought last year.

Have a great week!

Creative Project #27 ~ a beady kind of day

2011-02-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

Today was a day of catching up on some rest as well as melting some glass. I go into another zone when I make glass beads. It is like my own little zen.

Here are a few of the batch I made today....

I also designed a new necklace to go with this ceramic pendant that I got out of the kiln on Friday.....

and have started to make some of the components.

The day ended with several rewarding hours of agility training with our agility club and my wonderful potcake, Trixi.

It has been a fun and busy weekend.....I love it!

Creative Project #26 ~ a busy, busy day!

2011-02-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

All week you have been hearing me talk about "Da Market" that took place today.

It was an overwhelming success all around.

I sold my handmade goods, we sold tshirts and bags for our humane society, and Amy and I practically sold out of vegan food!

We were left with one vegan cheesecake and one slice of vegan mac and *cheese*.

Here are Amy and I in our tent.

Da Market is going to take place again the last Saturday of March and I think I will be signing up again for it!

Then after lunch our dog agility group trained for 3 hours with a trainer/judge, Daniel McDonald, from Florida.

Trixi is my current agility dog and she amazes me every lesson. She was a rescue that I planned to re-home. She turned up outside the vets office and whenever a human would approach her she would let out a blood curdling scream. Now she runs an agility course with confidence and it makes my heart smile :)

After agility I came home, ate dinner and left again to attend Junkanoo, which is a street festival/parade that is native to the Bahamas.

The costumes and the music amaze me every year.

I am exhausted, but is has been a fantastic day. I should sleep well tonight!

Good night!

Creative Project #25 ~ da market!

2011-02-25T17:47:00.001-05:00

As I told you yesterday, today was a day of tying up lose ends. Gathering show supplies, packaging items, and doing all those last minute things. I feel like I am prepared and that scares me so far in advance.....I NEVER feel this way the night before any type of show.

My friend, Amy, and I will have some vegan yummies for sale tomorrow in our tent along with our humane society shirts and bags, and I will have a small selection of my handmade things.

After I got the kiln running this morning, I started making labels for my vegan food.

"H" for Hummus!

Tags for *cheese*cakes...vegan of course :)

Yummies labeled and tied.

Amy will have *N*ice Cream ~ homemade vegan ice cream which is delicious.

I also managed to get some more bags sewn. These bags are really trying my patience. The slippery material has a mind of its own under the presser foot!

I really like the shape and size of the dog food bags! I'd wear the short, wide one on the left as a purse.....but that is artsy, fartsy me :)
Now if that kiln would hurry up and cool down I would really be ready!

Hope all of you close by will be at Da Market in the morning....9am til 1pm.

Have a great weekend!

Creative Project #24 ~ paint, paint, paint!

2011-02-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

I almost missed my post today!!! WOW! Couldn't let that happen since I am on such a roll!

Thursdays are usually such a busy day for me anyway, and today was even crazier with Saturday's market coming up.

Thursdays are my day to grocery shop, have lunch with friends, run errands in town, do banking, dog agility class........

On top of all of that I baked vegan cheesecakes to sell on Saturday, made tons of hummus, and painted ceramic beads.

These babies need to go in the kiln first thing in the morning, right after my run!

Here are some of them drying....

Tomorrow I will need to get all my show goodies together and in one place, like floats, bags, display stands......just so Saturday morning there are no early morning meltdowns.

Good Night!

Creative Project #23 ~ sewing bags while waiting

2011-02-23T17:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Hump day all!

A really quick post today to show you a glimpse of my creative journey today. I mentioned yesterday that Saturday I have a function to attend to raise money for Friends of Abaco Animals. Those clay pieces I showed you yesterday I put in the kiln for their first firing.

The firing took about five hours and now I sit and wait for it to cool down. Last time I checked the temperature was at 960! I probably wont be able to open the kiln until tomorrow.

So in the meantime I went outside and washed out cat and dog food bags......

Hung them to dry......

Now you are really thinking I have lost my mind!!!

But......I am making bags to sell at the Humane Society stall on Saturday!

Great shopping bags that are waterproof!

Trixi and Merlin wanted to pose with the bag! hahaha!

If you are in Abaco, please come by Da Market on Saturday, from 9am - 1pm, in the parking lot of the Bahamas National Trust office.

Creative Project #22 ~ silk and clay

2011-02-22T16:47:00.000-05:00

This week is turning out to be busy, busy, busy! On Saturday I am participating in something called "Da Market". It is put on by the Bahamas National Trust.

There will be farmers there with fresh produce, local food, preserves, arts and crafts.

I will have a tent there for "Friends of Abaco Animals", and under that tent a small selection of a few of my things.

If you are in Abaco, be sure to come out. I may have a few surprises :)

So this week I have been preparing for Saturday, and found some time today to finish up that scarf I started on Sunday.

Let me tell you....silk is so much fun to sew!!! It keeps running away from you!

In the end I won the battle and got the scarf hemmed!

I am looking forward to making some more of these.

I also had my hands in clay on and off today. I need a few embellishments for this weekend.

That blue contraption is my slab roller. I also leave the pieces there to dry into greenware. The shelf above it my husband hung for me yesterday so I can easily grab tools and glazes.

This week is flying by.....hope it is a good one for all of you :)

Creative Project #21 ~ my inspiration for RAW

2011-02-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

A few posts back I told you about a group I had joined on Flickr, called RAW (Ring A Week). The challenge in this group is to make a new ring every week. Today the group is having a blog carnival. At the bottom of this post you can see a list of participants and click on their blogs to see what inspired them to join this group. You won't be disappointed by the wonderful work you find!

I have been making jewelry for years, but until a year ago would just give it away as gifts. I started metal smithing a little over a year ago, and it has been an interesting journey.

At first I was pretty intimidated to post any of my work into this group since the ring pictures in the group are over the top! Then I thought this would push me to try new things especially since rings are probably my least favorite thing to make.

So I joined RAW hoping it would inspire me to try new techniques and get over my fear of making rings.

I make my rings out of fine silver, fused glass, sea glass, antique pottery shards, lamp worked beads. Something I am working towards is making rings out of Precious Metal Clay.

For the ring above I made a silver bezel, filled it with tiny pieces of sea glass and shells, then filled it with resin.

Here are a few with my lamp worked pieces and wire wrapping.

All last night I had an idea in my head for a ring which was a combination of metal smithing and a flame worked bead.

I set out this morning to try it out. I made the silver band but I could not get the part on the top that would hold the bead to work. So I bezeled a piece of antique pottery to make use of the band.

I like the the square pottery on the round silver.

Sometimes the pottery pieces can be tricky to work with. It can chip easily and the pieces are sometimes rounded from the plate or bowl they have come from.

Be sure and check out all the jewelry artists that are participating in this blog carnival.

Here is a list of them:

Marcie Abney - www.labellajoya.blogspot.com
Joanne Harrill - www.jojobell.com
Thomasin Durgin - www.metalriot.blogspot.com
Amy Nicole - www.rubymtnbeads.blogspot.com
Janice - www.doxallodesigns.blogspot.com
Aleksandra Micic - www.micicart.blogspot.com
Lana Chu - www.ginkgoglass.wordpress.com
Evelyn Markasky - www.markasky.blogspot.com
Kerry Alice-Twigs and Heather - www.twigsandheather.blogspot.com
Lorena Angulo- blog.lorenaangulo.com/
Kate Jones-- www.katejonesdesign.blogspot.com
Maria Apostolou- www.createjewelry.gr/blog
Sarah Small - www.bysalla.blogspot.com
Rebecca Bogan - www.Adobesol.com/blog
Elaine Luther - www.CreativeTextureTools.com/news
Rebekah Timlin Meddles - www.lunasadesigns.blogspot.com
Laura M (Zoeowyn) - www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com/
Kimberly (bahamadawn) - www.bahamadawn.blogspot.com
Erin Austin - www.metalmusing.blogspot.com
Catherine Witherell - www.happydayart.typepad.com
Michele Grady- www.michelegradydesigns.blogspot.com
Joan Furilla - jfurilla.wordpress.com/
Kathryn Cole- www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com

Creative Project #20 ~ silk scarfs

2011-02-20T16:03:00.000-05:00

Today I dove into something that I have not touched in a while....silk painting!

It started because I am still going through the many boxes of *STUFF* that we dug out of the attic and I found some panels I had painted back in 2002! YIKES!

I have also painted hundred's of silk pillows, so many that I will only do them now on the rare occasion!

So when I found these panels I wanted to get out the silk painting supplies, and I wanted to paint a scarf. I have been wearing a lot of different scarves this winter and have been thinking of lighter scarves I could wear for the spring. Silk is perfect!

One problem was that most of my stretcher frames had gone to storage since renovations are starting upstairs tomorrow.....eeekkkk!

So I had to do what I could with what I had!

I am going to have to paint this scarf in sections on a smaller stretcher frame.

Right now this part is drying.

Of course, I was itching to *finish* something, so I took one of my lizard panels and cut the backing off of it. It was a little too short for a regular scarf but could be used as a cowl. I added a Jangles button to hold it closed, after I hemmed it, and taaaddaaaa!!

I think this will be the perfect accessory for spring!

See you tomorrow :)

Creative Project #19 ~ flea market shopping creativity

2011-02-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

I am exhausted!!!!!!

I spent the day at the Man-O-War Flea Market helping out at our Humane Society's booth, so there wasn't much time for creating today, but I got some good finds at the flea market!

Of course I found some new plates for my collection.

Most were a plain mint green, but still pretty.

You can see (most) of my existing collection in the background.

This floral one with the bee couldn't be left homeless.

A floral one with colors from the 70's.

I also got a bunch of different linens. I'll show you my favorites.

This funky flamingo one will be perfect out by the pool! Time for another pool party!

Some cutwork, embroidered napkins.

Some fun pillow cases that I think I may turn into napkins that will go perfectly with the flamingo table cloth. I need to measure and see how many I will be able to get out of them.

And this set of 8 napkins which will be great for everyday use, since I am trying to cut down on my use of paper goods.

I did manage to squeeze in a teeny tiny bit of creative time. One of my blogging friends, Bella Bead Jewelry, has a challenge on her blog for Art Journaling. I have also been watching lots of youtube videos on this lately.
So this afternoon I got out the watercolors to do a small piece to describe my day.
Here is what I created.....

Watercolors really intimidate me. I think I am terrible at them, and that bothers me. So I am looking forward to incorporating them into my art journaling.
Hope you have all had a happy Saturday like me :)

Creative Project #18 ~ from the kitchen to the sewing room

2011-02-18T18:50:00.000-05:00

Today has been a crazy-busy day. I started out baking some banana bread for a Humane Society Fundraiser.

While that baked I worked on some more asterisk blocks. An idea for a set of placemats popped into my head with the asterisk flowers all over them, i made some smaller blocks, but i need to figure out some other design elements of the placemats so that is on the design board for now.

Problem was I was antsy to finish making *SOMETHING* with one of these blocks that I am so addicted to making. This little bag was born......

It is the perfect fit for my iphone and ipod.

The back is made up of scrappy greens.

These will be a new item at my next show and will be perfect embellished with my ceramic or glass buttons.

While I was finishing up this little bag I had a loaf of whole wheat bread in the oven.

My oven has been on over time today, because as I type this post I have these (vegan) stuffed cabbage rolls in the oven!

It has been a hectic week and tomorrow will be a hectic day. I head over to Man-O-War to help with out my Humane Society's table at the flea market. I hope to find some new plates to add to my collection!
Have a great weekend!

Creative Project #17 ~ when supplies are low

2011-02-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

I have let myself get dangerously low on my fine silver wire supply, and the urge to create jewelry hit me today so I had to turn to copper. One of my favorite sayings (I am not sure who's quote) is "Do what you can with what you have".

So that is what I set out to do with my creative challenge today.

I learned how to make the coiled circles from an issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry. In the magazine they were on a silver necklace as spacers, but the copper worked just as well.

I strung the pendant on two satin ribbons for an elegant necklace.

Yesterday I told you about my asterisk blocks I was working on. I worked on them some more today. Here are the pressed and trimmed blocks.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

Creative Project #16 ~ Aprons & Creative Challenges

2011-02-16T16:54:00.000-05:00

This morning my dear friend, Amy, sent me a link to a website where an artist was being interviewed. This artist was Leah Piken Kolidas of Blue Tree Art Gallery.

Leah hosts a year long creative challenge to create everyday. I was over the moon since the February challenge I am in on FLickr has kept me so inspired, and I have been wondering what I would do after this one was over.

Of course, without hesitation I joined Leah's group! After February, instead of blogging every, single day about what I created, I will do one post a week with a selection of items that have come out of my creative journey, because there are other blog posts I am anxious to do. Like the post on my plate and chair collection!

So after the excitement of finding another creative challenge this morning I went into my studio and worked on some more asterisk blocks for my new quilt and then looked around for something new to dive into.

In one of my first Creative Project Posts I mentioned an apron I wanted to make from Fat Quarterly Magazine. Here it is........another apron to add to my growing collection.

I LOVE aprons. They are so practical and pretty - all rolled into one.

This apron will be perfect for art shows. There is even a tiny pocket for business cards and a pen slot.

Plus two more spacious pockets.

All the printed fabrics I used on this apron are all vintage fabrics, even the backing fabric.

For my last art show I made the apron below out of vintage doilies and got lots of compliments on it.

The owl apron was sent to me in a swap, and also makes a great show apron because of all the handy pockets.

Perhaps another future blog post could be on my apron collection!

Because I am an apronista!

Creative Project #15 ~ Eat Your Veggies

2011-02-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

Today started out as a hectic day, taking one dog and one cat to the vet, and ended with dog agility class. So my creative time was limited. The dog if fine....the kitty has a grade 3 heart murmur :(

I managed to squeeze in some sewing machine time, and finished this placemat which was the idea of my cousin, Tara, for her husband.

It also included a cow with a special message......

Tara loved it.....

I tried to make it as masculine as I possibly could.

See you tomorrow with Creative Project #16!

Creative Project #14 ~ Live ~ Love ~ Laugh

2011-02-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!

I am halfway through my Creative Challenge for February and having a BALL!

The project I am revealing today has actually taken a few days to complete, just because I always have a million different projects going on all in one day.

Making beads, sewing, quilting, sketching ideas, entertaining my furry children, creating jewelry, cooking, dog agility.....I could go on and on.....I get bored working on the same thing all day long.

I have a busy life, but LOVE every moment of it. Through all the busyness we all need to do more of this everyday is........

This placemat has been sketched out for months and sitting next to my sewing machine. I finally decided to make it on Friday. After I got it made, the common quote *live ~ love ~ laugh* popped into my head and I set out to make the other two placemats.

*Love* was second.

*Live* was third.

Yes, I did it completely backwards from the saying!

I love how they are the same but different. I love the funky-scrappy style they have.

It is a simple quote, but one of my favorites.

So let's all set out this week to LIVE MORE, LOVE MORE & LAUGH MORE!

Have a fantastic week!

Creative Project #13 ~ Artbeads Winter Enchantment Challenge

2011-02-13T21:12:00.000-05:00

As you know from previous posts I am an Artbeads Design Partner. The challenge that was recently sent to us was "Winter Enchantment".

Down south, in the tropics, we don't see snow and cold is in the 40's if we are lucky!

On cool, crisp days all the colors seem brighter and more vibrant. The ocean beams and the trees are screaming green because it is a comfortable temperature for them.
I went with a blue, green and silver color palette.

The design was simplistic with sterling silver chain, a sterling silver toggle, some sterling coiled wire and my lamp worked beads. This toggle was perfect because it looks like a branch from the trees who's color I was trying to capture.
There are so many neat toggles at Artbeads that it was difficult to decide which one I wanted to use.

I am calling this necklace and earring set "Winter Colors".

I am so in love with the diamond cut rollo chain that I got from Artbeads that I have already ordered more. It is on sale right now so hurry over and stock up!
These earrings are so light that you cannot even feel them on.

The bead just floats below your ear.

I went a little crazy adding beads to the toggle, but I was having so much fun with the beads being the perfect color and adding the coiled sterling silver wire for some fun and texture, that it was difficult to stop.

This design is a lot simpler than I normally do, but it seems that the designs I have in my head to do now are headed in that direction. We'll see what happens!
Hope your weekend has been fantastic!

The Artbeads.com products in this post were provided as a promotional gift by Artbeads.com, as part of their Design Partner & Blogging program. I have been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion - good or bad. My comments and opinions about these products are my honest, personal opinion and I have not been paid for any endorsement.

Winner! WInner!

2011-02-13T13:55:00.000-05:00

I headed over to random number generator and #10 was picked!

The 10th comment was made by *somethingunique*!

Congrats Lana!!! Send me an email with your address and I can send these out on Tuesday for you :)
Thank you all so much for playing. I love doing giveaways so there will be more in my blogging future!

Creative Project #12 for February......G.I.V.E.A.W.A.Y. for my 100th post!!!!!

2011-02-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

Today is the day!! WOW, one hundred posts!!! This creative challenge I am participating in has helped me get to my 100th post quicker than I normally would have.

This is what I decided to use for the giveaway prize:

Swirls with Swirls earrings. As always the wire is fine silver wire and they are my lamp worked beads. I love how that color combo turned out and hope you all like them too.

I have been selling a lot of earrings lately, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with these for a giveaway prize.

Let's go over the *rules* again:

1. Post a comment under THIS POST for one chance to win (not on Facebook)

2. Become a follower of my blog for a second chance.

3. Write about this giveaway on your blog for a third chance!

4. For each one of the above tasks you do, PLEASE write a separate comment. This will make it easier for me to use the random number generator.

5. You will have until tomorrow when I make my next post to play :) I am guessing sometime after lunch - eastern time.

Yesterday I showed you a terrible picture of a ring I was working on yesterday. I got a half way decent shot this morning even though it is cloudy here.

(the ring is not included in the giveaway prize - only the earrings)

Good luck in the giveaway!

Have an awesome weekend!

Creative Project #11 for February......a little bit of this and a little bit of that!!!

2011-02-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

Phew!!! Today has been quite the day. I have done a bunch of creative things.

First I started to make a silver heart bezel for a ring that has been in my head. With all the filing, polishing, and soldering that took most of the morning.

Then I had to gather tiny pieces of sea glass and shells to fill the bezel.

I was inspired to do this ring after joining a group on flickr called "Ring A Week" (RAW).

You HAVE to visit that page and see the awesome creations that are being submitted. There are so many talented jewelers there that I have been intimidated to post anything.

This isn't the greatest picture of the ring. The resin in it is still drying, so it is the best shot I could get right now. I will post a better picture over the weekend.

I also have a rack full of quilts to quilt. Quilt tops that others have made and they have hired me to quilt for them. So I knocked one of those out today also.

I also made some new beads at some point today, and some new earrings, but the beads are being annealed and while I write this post the earrings are in the tumbler for their final polishing.

Then I put some time into my swaps.....trying to finish some pieces for an embroidery swap I am in.

I have had a quilt top in my head for a while now that I started picking away at today also!

You can find a pattern for a smaller block here at my friends blog, House of Krom. It is a free pieced block and is tons of fun! I figure if I do a few blocks a day that in no time I will have enough for a quilt.
It has been a busy, busy day! And some people think I don't work!! HA!

Tomorrow is the big day for my 100th post and giveaway, so come back to tomorrow and sign up to win :)
Hope you have all had a Happy Friday!

Creative Project #10 for February......earrings and a few new things!!!

2011-02-10T18:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted a pair of earrings that I said *might* be the giveaway for Saturday's 100th post, but they were snatched up. So I am not sure what will be my giveaway....maybe something you have seen, maybe something I haven't blogged about yet. Surprises are good :)
I spent the morning making more beads and letting them anneal while I ran some errands.

Some I am saving for a necklace, but I used one pair for earrings.

The same but different from yesterday :)

I also got some new tools in the mail today and spent some time making a glass button and practicing a flower shaped bead.
Here is my glass button still on the mandrel. I only made one mistake.....I only ordered one mandrel, so I can only make one button at a time!

Here is my first try at a flower bead. I thought it was okay for a first try.
The shape is somewhat close. Just got to work on getting the petals even.....making that liquid glass *SIT & STAY*!

Here they both are off the mandrels.

I am looking forward to playing with both of these new techniques!
See you tomorrow :)

Creative Project #9 for February......earrings on the brain!!!

2011-02-09T16:07:00.000-05:00

Just a quick Create! project today since I have been in and out of meetings I havent had much creative time. I have tons of earring ideas in my brain. Quite a change for me since I usually HATE doing earrings since I have to do the same thing TWICE! Oh well, I seem to be on a roll now so I will go with it.

These were fun to make and are a combination of fine silver wire, copper wire and colored copper wire that is non-tarnish.

The shape reminds me of a birdcage or a bird perch.

I am *thinking*, but not sure yet, that these may be my giveaway prize for my 100th post.

Just so no one misses out let me go over the *rules* again.

1. Comment under the post for the 100th post (this Saturday) ~ this gives you one chance.

2. Become a follower of this blog, thru your email, not thru facebook ~ this will give you a second chance.
3. I will give you until Sunday evening to comment and will announce the winner on Monday.
Hope you all want to play :)

Creative Project #8 for February......finishing up orders!!!

2011-02-08T18:55:00.000-05:00

Today was not so much a *fun* day of trying out new patterns, but trying to finish up some orders I had from the show. Don't worry, I still have fun creating!

I spent the morning doing some research on Precious Metal Clay after being inspired last night when I came across this fun blog by Catherine Witherell. Catherine does some amazing PMC jewelry and yesterday she blogged about a Beaducation class which she had taken. I have *watched* this class but have never completed anything successful.

Now that I am inspired again, I want to give PMC another try sometime soon.

My Create! project for day 8 consisted of completing some journal covers I had orders for.

I still have some bindings to work on tonight!

I love this new design! A friend asked me to do this one and gave me the design idea.

That little frazzled chick just isnt taking it anymore!

See you tomorrow :)

Creative Project #7 for February......Valentine's Day is a week from today!!!

2011-02-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

I have been on quite the roll lately with my blogging!! I am very proud of myself!

For Create! day 7 I am still in feeling the Valentine's spirit, and got such a great response to my heart jewelry that I thought I would make some more with a slightly different twist.

Floating Hearts Earrings:

The glass beads are dark pink with black swirls. The hearts are made of fine silver wire and soldered.

Just in case a matching pendant was needed, and since I had so much fun with this pattern:

I was looking through my box of finished beads, trying to decide what I would make and found I had enough beads to do earrings and a pendant.

The top bead was so much fun to make.

I had all this space to doodle on with the stringers.

Now my head is bursting with heart designs and ideas for jewelry!

Just five more posts until I do a giveaway for my 100th post! I think that will fall on Saturday. Here is how it will work.....first you will have to comment under the post, on Saturday, for your first chance at the giveaway........BUT...if you become a follower of my blog that will give you an extra ticket in the drawing.

I am still trying to decide what I will giveaway, but will decide soon!

Until tomorrow......happy creating!

Creative Project #6 for February....you'll never believe what i found!!!

2011-02-06T17:07:00.000-05:00

Today the task of emptying out the upstairs attic continued. I found some wonderful treasures I had forgotten about. A few (more) quilts I had started that had been packed away, my grandmother's sewing machine and some fabric that I had silk screened myself when I was about 13!!

I have been so fortunate to have had some awesome teachers along my artistic journey. From high school right through college. One of them was my high school art teacher, Bill Mangan. For summer school Mr Mangan would offer a silk screening class and I signed up for it several summers in a row.

Today I found the first silk screening project that I did in that class. A set of place mats and napkin (that need to be finished). *Sturrup* is my maiden name.

I need to get these finished for my mom. The printing on the napkins isn't the greatest but not bad for a first try!

Then I came across this musical fabric I had printed which I had TOTALLY forgotten about.

There is some slight yellowing on a small portion, but other than that it is perfect.

I had an order for a small bag made with a musical theme so I decided to use a piece of this for it.

I was involved in music when I was younger and have played the piano, the flute, the recorder (what kid doesn't play the recorder? I think it is a pre-requisite to get out of 3rd grade!) and the guitar.

I think the person who it is for will appreciate it.

My pictures are not the greatest today. When I decided to go outside and take the pictures it started to rain!

So there is my creation for the 6th day of February! I am thoroughly enjoying this challenge to do something creative everyday for the month of February. It is doing what I had hoped, and keeping that creative adrenaline rush going.

I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Creative Project #5 for February....something in on the road.

2011-02-05T19:31:00.000-05:00

Today was a pretty busy day. We are emptying our upstairs to have spray foam insulation put in......and *maybe*, just *maybe* one of the rooms upstairs may become a classroom for me to teach quilting. I have gotten a lot of requests lately and am starting to feel like I should pay it forward.

So the morning was spent emptying two huge rooms, then after lunch my husband and I took a road trip to another town....40 minutes away ~ far for the islands!.....to attend a fundraiser for a friend's mom.

If I was gonna create today I had to take something on the road. I had gotten an email from Lion Brand Yarns this morning featuring some patterns, and one of them was a cute little crocheted envelope.

Just before we left I got it started.

Here it is in the car when I completed it. You can take a look at our *highways* :)

When I got home I sewed on a button for a clasp.

Makes the perfect jewelry pouch!

My husband has also been creative! For Christmas he got a home brewing kit to make his own beer. We are beer connoisseurs! And tonight the time had come to taste the first batch, after 3 weeks of waiting!

It was awesome! This batch was Lager and the next batch will be Draught.

And I know this beer is vegan!

Hope you have all had a wonderful Saturday!

Creative Project #4 for February.......Valentines!

2011-02-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!

It dawned on me yesterday that I should probably do some Valentine's themed projects. So that was my goal with my *Create!* project for day four and since I am on a roll with the jewelry, that is the direction I went in.

I am not a matchy-matchy type of person so to me the pendant and earrings can be worn together, but I know to some that just wouldn't do.

All the beads are made by myself, and all the silver wire is fine silver wire. The colored pink wire on the pendant is colored copper wire that is non-tarnish.

I think the earrings are my favorite.

Now I need to get back to finishing my orders that are almost done! So if you ordered something from me at the show last weekend, then you will probably see me next week!

Have a great weekend.

Creative Project #3 for February (and a surprise for me)

2011-02-03T16:03:00.000-05:00

Today was a bit of a rush for me since Thursdays are my day to go into town, grocery shop, run errands etc..... BUT I did manage to do something creative! This challenge is really giving me a chance to try out patterns that I have had for a while.

Most of you know that one of my favorite books is "Totally Twisted" by Kerry Bogart.

Well she has patterns for sale at the interweave store also, and I purchased this pattern called "Pacifying Pendants". I had to work with the beads I had made so it isn't exact, but my version I guess.

Some of you may remember a few months back I was making these pendants.....

That is when I was playing around with PMC. At the time I only had a torch to fire the silver with and this was the only pendant that didn't melt before my eyes. Now I have a kiln I can fire PMC in, but with the shows I have been doing there wasn't much time to *play*. It is way up on my list to try some more PMC projects with my kiln very, very soon!

To top today off I received my Potholder Pass package from Amy!!!

Amy and I have become fast virtual friends and she and I are moderating the potholder swap together for this round.

What an awesome package!!!

Do you see that eyeglass case? Amy makes those...she prints the fabric and everything!

Check out her Etsy Store and see the really cool creations she has for sale from her printed fabrics.

I am so in love with these potholders that I want to frame them!

I just adore free pieced letters and green....perfection!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Creative Project #2 for February

2011-02-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

This post makes my 90th post!!! If I keep up this marathon blogging, in no time I will be on my 100th post!!! That day I will do a giveaway for my followers.

Today I worked on a few different projects. I have some orders from the show for my journal covers, so I started a few of those today. One of the orders is for a design different than any I have done....here is a sneak peek.....

I also worked on a project that has been at the back of my mind for a while now. Inspired by these two books......

*Whimsyland* & *Greetings from TucsaDelphia* by Liz and Beth Hawkins.

The designs in this book are full of fun and whimsy and that is top on my list when making something. After looking in these books, when I received them several months ago, I wanted to make some place mats.

So today *Vegan Blvd.* was created!

I love scooters and if the traffic here was decent I would drive one.

Tonight is pizza night, so in between sewing projects I have made some vegan sausage for the pizza and have the dough rising.

I am looking forward to dinner and using my new placemat!

Happy Creating....until tomorrow :)

Creative Project #1 for February

2011-02-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

In my last post I told you I had joined a new group, called *Create!* A Project a Day - February*, on Flickr and the challenge was to create something everyday for the month of February. I had three ideas this morning.....a bag pattern from Fat Quarterly Magazine, an apron pattern from the same magazine, or some crocheted jar covers.

The bag won!

If you didn't already know, I have a bag fetish! So I should have known the bag would be first. The pattern is by Monika Wintermantel. She is a flickr friend and I have admired her work for a long time! Check out her blog also www.monaw.blogspot.com, she does some amazing work!

This is the front of the bag. I basically followed the pattern for the this side. For the back I added my own touch.....

As well as some ceramic buttons that I made.

I am hoping this group keeps my inspiration in full gear since I have some upcoming shows to work towards and I have had a blast the last few weeks creating new items for the last show.

I'll be back tomorrow with a new creation!

Awesome Art Show Weekend

2011-01-31T21:46:00.000-05:00

The weekend sadly came to an end. It was filled with great sales, lots of laughs, chats with other artists and spending time with friends. I could not ask for much more.

This was the opening night. My jewelry table is behind me.

Now I need to figure out how to stay motivated and inspired! I was on quite a roll producing new ideas and I would like to keep that up.

I joined a new flickr group called "Create - a project a day - february 2011". Maybe this will help me stay motivated.

Of course I will be blogging about this adventure so stay tuned!

I never got to show you the chair that I did for this auction, in addition to the bar stool.

A very exciting bidding war went on over this chair, and it got the highest bid out of all the chairs.

Pretty neat to watch people react to your work like that!

There were a couple chairs that did not find homes that night and I got elected to paint them so they can be sold for the Bahamas National Trust. I have all sorts of neat ideas and cannot wait to get started.

At my dining room table I have 8 different chairs which are painted eight different colors.....it is my other fetish besides for the plates! I am still planning that blog post about my plate collection, so I will include the chairs in that post.

Have a great week and I will see you tomorrow with a new creation for february 1st!

something for me :)

2011-01-26T13:24:00.000-05:00

The other night when I took my journal covers over to my mom to ask her advice on pricing, my husband looked at one with a bird on it (i think it was in the last post) and said that the bird needed a sign that said, "eat more veggies".

That night when i went to bed a design popped into my head, and i sat up and sketched it out right then!

Here is the front:

This one is mine for sure!

The back:

The entire cover opened up:

I really love this one!

I am wrapping things up for the show now. The last pottery load is in the kiln, which just shut off, so now I get to wait for it to cool. Hopefully late tonight i can peek inside.

This afternoon I will finish the last few pillows and try and get everything in one place so the transport can start.

If the sun ever comes out here I need to take pictures of my new jewelry pieces which I keep promising to show you. Hopefully that will happen this afternoon.

back to work............... :)