Sew Sari

 I love, love, love, recycled sari silk. If I had a talk show and I was giving away my favorite things. I would be throwing rolls of sari silk into the audience and shouting, I loovvee sarrrri Sillk!!!! The crowd would be jumping up and down, hugging their neighbors, and with tears streaming down their faces they would be  dreaming of all the creative things they would make with this magical product.  Ok I've gotten a bit carried away, but it really is dreamy stuff. The first time I saw sari silk was a year ago at the Long Beach Quilt Show.  I loved the rolled up rainbows of color. Every time I pasted the booth displaying it, I spotted another color combo I just couldn't live without. I ended up with about 20 rolls before the weekend was over. It took me about a year to get to the bottom of my basket of sari silk. It was a very sad day indeed. But happy days are here again, because I found Nicole at Darn Good Yarn. Nicole is a doll, and  helped me mix and match colors to put together the perfect combination. She didn't even mind my phone calls as I impatiently waited for my package to arrive clear from Maine. It was well worth the wait.  The first thing I made were these flower pins, that will be available at my Open Studio Tour this month. More info on that to come in a few days. So I'm happy that my sari silk basket is once more full, and that I have a great source when I run out again. Check out Darn Good Yarn and read their story about how they help women in Naple support their families with this business.   

Be Blessed

Being blessed is a choice we choose to walk in. We make the decision every morning of what side of the bed we get out of, the wrong side or the right side. Things happen everyday that effects our mood, as they say "Stuff Happens". It would be a perfect world if it didn't, but we all know the world isn't a perfect place. No matter if the Blue Bird of Happiness comes to give you a smile, or leaves you a little present on your shoulder, life moves on with or without you. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord and walk in His blessings, even if that blue bird gets the best of me at times. I would really love to hear from some of my followers, please comment if you have the time.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

 My art and posts are usually bright and cheery, but not today. I've been in a funk for a couple of weeks. We all have ups and downs, I guess this is a down. This years birthday post is so far from last years, that it doesn't feel like it's from the same person. Sorry for this depressing cloud of glum, but that is how I feel right now. How does that song go? The sun will come out tomorrow. We'll see! OK, it is now tomorrow, and things are brighter. Thanks for your concern.

A Touch of Vintage

This new artwork with it's old book pages, handmade polymer embellishments, and neutral color palette has a touch of vintage style. So many of us find joy when we reminisce on things of the past. I know it makes my heart happy. Right now outside my studio window, the hollyhocks I planted last year are blooming. I couldn't wait to see what color was going to burst forth when they opened. I remember loving the hollyhocks in my Grandmother's yard. I also remember one day when we were watering, and her telling me that it takes two years for hollyhocks to bloom. What a strange thing for me to remember, but sure enough, forty years later, it still takes two years to enjoy those beautiful tissue paper thin blooms.I also loved the little ring of black seeds. Now I'm patently waiting for the pods to dry and the seeds to mature. I'm looking forward to sharing the experience with my kids. They'll probably grow up and say, "do you remember how freaky Mom was about her hollyhocks?" As I think back to the day I planted those flowers, and the disappointment when I realized I wouldn't  be seeing those blooms anytime soon. It makes me think of the time I've invested into my art, and the time I've spent wondering when I would see the harvest. It's so easy to want to break open that seedpod to early and find the immature green seeds inside. It's much harder to wait for God's perfect timing and reaping the right harvest at the appropriate time. That's when faith, and hope, and works, and dreams, come together and in the end you are looking at your harvest with a smile on your face. What harvest are you waiting for?




 

All about the heart

I've been having so much fun in my studio! I'm combining some techniques I recently learned at a Lisa Kaus workshop, with some of my older techniques, and some new, and this is the combined effort. It's funny even my husband and kids said," this looks like what you used to do." It's a bit more whimsical and I'm using brighter colors. But it's funny to see my work come full circle. Who knows what I'll be doing next week. I'm really concentrating on some easier work, that I can wholesale, these little beauties are being delivered to a local store, called "Serendipity" later today. As artists it can be a tricky deal to wholesale and retail your art at the same time. I've had my things in a few galleries and stores over the last couple of years, but have mainly sold my art at local art shows. There is a real balancing act to selling at a price that works for a retailer,and is still  affordable at my shows. My answer was to come up with a completely new product to wholesale. I still continue to sell my art that is really labor intensive at the art shows along with my new items, that I sell at the same price as my stores. So far it's been a win-win situation for myself and the stores.  I decided  to give wholesale a try after setting at a three day show. Sales were good, but  by the time I pay the entry fee, and my husband and I invest three days, I knew I needed to make some changes. I'll always do shows and my Open Studio Tour, but now I have more options, which is always a good thing. 

"Wire" my new addiction

My finger tips may never be the same. I can't begin to tell you how many spools of wire I've twisted in the last few weeks. It started out innocently enough, I thought it would only be one little wire birdhouse, but no, I was hooked the first time I felt the cool smoothness between my fingers. Now I hangout at the local  hardware store, just looking for the right gauge 18, 20, 24, I love them all. My hands just have to be busy all the time, they never just let me sit still, they have to be twisting something, it might be a birdcage, a house, or maybe a flower. Whatever it is, I love to see the end result. Well this strange addiction has taken me into a new type of mixed media, that I'm really enjoying. It has been a great addition to the vintage line of art I've been working on. Several of these framed pieces were sold to a great store in Arroyo Grande called "Serendipity". They look lovely hanging on their pale green walls. Time to stop writing, I hear the wire calling.

Lisa Kaus Workshop

 Much too pretty to mess-up

Fun Goodies

Work in progress

Don't mess with Texas (say cheese)

More talented Artists

Vickie and Cindy

Vickie and my Artwork

Second day of workshop

A few weeks ago I was in Southern California taking a Lisa Kaus workshop with my friend Vickie. I was in heaven, two whole days to learn and create. When we first looked into the room, I thought we were in the wrong place. The room was setup and decorated for what looked like a ladies luncheon, or maybe a bridal shower. But no it was for us. Kim Caldwell did a fantastic job of setting the tone for a great weekend. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Kim's events, you won't be disappointed. Lisa was a good teacher and I loved her style. She uses a lot of squares in her work, like I do. There were about thirty women in the class, and everyone was thrilled with their finished work.

Bring on Summer

I'm not sure how you feel, but I'm so ready for summer to be here. Only one more week of getting up and rushing out the door to get the kids to school. We were talking in the car this morning about all the things we can do this summer. I told them that we needed to hit the ground running, because there were so many things I wanted to get done. I'm sure they were both rolling their eyes as soon as they heard the phrase " hit the ground running", and were thinking to themselves, here we go again, Mom and all her big plans. They would love to sleep, eat, play videos, and watch TV. Then wake up the next day and start it all over again. But where does that get you? You wake up sometime in late August, and say where did the summer go? Not this year, we will look back and say "wow look at all the projects we got done, what a great summer!" Ok I'm not so bad, we'll fit some fun in there also. Whatever we do, we will do it together, and it will be fun. Because I'm Mom and I said so. PS, do you like my latest polymer and tempered glass window?