Inside My Journal...

I have been doodling a lot in my journal this summer so I thought I would share with you what's inside... 

I have seen some really beautiful journal pages in magazines and books lately.  I love them but my journal is pretty much doodles and colored markers... 

I love the idea of a journal filled with mixed media pages but that's just not for me right now.  Most of my doodling comes in very small increments of time; like ten minutes here or six or seven minutes there... 

 During the summer months when the girls are not in school and there's lots of activities going on I just don't have large blocks of time (even an hour is considered a large block of time!).  So I keep the creative juices flowing by constantly doodling and coloring...

This is very portable too - I can shove this in my purse with three or four markers and a fine point black Sharpie and I'm good to go!   

It's starting to rub off on the girls too, the last time we went to the park, Fiona grabbed her journal and two colored pencils.  What is your grab and go method of creativity?

Letter Love 101 Class 2012

The online class I am taking (taught by Joanne Sharpe here's her blog http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.com/)

started this past Wednesday and I am so excited!  This class is a lettering and journaling class and we will be  working with different kinds of pens, markers, and journals...

I have always been told that I have very neat handwriting.  Some people have even told me that I write

the same way I was taught in the second grade.  That's not to say that I write like a second grader but

that I haven't changed it - I still add the little loop at the top of the letter "C" and I still write an "F" the

way I was taught...

I use a lot of words in my art, and all of the words I print out on vintage paper via the computer.

I would like to be able to use some of my own handwriting, I think it's another level of

expressing myself.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - I am going to spend mine

practicing lots of new letters!

Getting Ready for Some Doodle Fun...

I am so excited for February 1st!  I signed up for Joanne Sharpe's "Letter Love 101" online class.  And it starts this Wednesday:)  Check out her blog for more details http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.com/

I have been so excited about this class that I have already started playing around with my markers and my drawing/doodling.  I took watercolor paper and cut it into 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares.  I am going through the alphabet, and, using each letter creating an inspirational phrase.  The small format allows me to finish a drawing in a very short amount of time.

When I am finished with the alphabet I would like to incorporate them into a piece of wall art for Fiona and Alexa's room.  I want them to think about the phrases and know that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to! I am currently up to the letter "M" so I will post more of these later in the week.  In the mean time I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Blessings, Cassie

Finally Starting My New Year!

I'm so sorry I've neglected everyone!  We had a busy start to the year here in Norwalk.  My daughter, Fiona had eye surgery on the 16th and now that she is recovering beautifully I feel like I can finally start my New Year. Amazing how a relatively routine outpatient procedure can consume your whole world when it's someone you love. 

Now for a little bit of exciting news.  On Thursday January 26th I will be teaching a class in making this "Remember You Are" collage at Gabby Road Studios.  This is the new art gallery/studio that opened up right before Christmas and have sold several picture frames there.  The owner, Sharon, asked me if I would be interested in teaching a class in collage - I told her that I did not consider myself a master craftsman but I would be more than happy to show other people how much fun, and 

how inspiring collage can be.

I have also been busy making more coffee cozies. I thought hearts with reds and pinks was a pretty good idea being that Valentine"s Day is coming up soon.  I forget how therapeutic it is to embroider, there is just something about pulling a needle and thread... 

I wrote this Haiku sometime last year but was reminded of it yesterday - enjoy and have a great weekend.

"Calmly, quietly,

Steadiness in pulling thread

Peace in Needlework"

A Joyful Christmas and a Blessed New Year...

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!  I decided just to post some pictures of the holiday tidings around our house.  Life has been so busy here - I am sure most of you can relate... 

We did not have a white Christmas here this year - just lots of rain.  So the girls took it upon themselves to cover the wall going upstairs in homemade snowflakes...

Most of the ornaments on our tree are either hand made or very old.  They range from home made Girl Scout ornaments (circa 1981) to embroidered ones that I made a few years ago, to bulbs that the girls helped out with just last year.

Finally I would like to introduce you to Red Girl, the newest member of our family (she was a little embarrassed about the sweater, so we only make her wear it once in a while).  She is a five month old half German Short Haired Pointer and half English Setter.  She is VERY energetic and is already pointing birds.  You can just imagine how crazy our Christmas has been!  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a Blessed New Year! 

Putting Myself Out There...

Talk about a sign from above, the day before Thanksgiving my husband showed me an article in our local paper (The Norwalk Reflector) about an art gallery/retail shop opening up just off Main Street...

Gabby Road Studios is an eclectic little shop that promotes and sells hand crafted items made by local artists.  Here is the link to their website http://www.gabbyroadstudio.com/index.html

So on Thanksgiving Day I took the plunge and emailed the owners about my interest in selling some of my picture frames.  

The owners responded right away and within a few days I had some picture frames for sale in the shop.  Gabby Road Studios has been wonderful to work with and they graciously allowed me to photograph their wonderful space.

I believe this is a sign from God that this is what I was meant to do.  Friends and family (blogger friends included!) have been telling me for a couple of years to put myself out there and take a chance.   Gabby Road Studios was the Lord's way of saying "here I am now doing everything but selling it for you  take the chance!"  On that note I will say this - for all of you out there thinking about doing what you love - take the chance!  I hope everyone has a Blessed week:)

Trying to live in the moment...

Life here in northern Ohio continues to be very busy.  I always feel, around this time of year, like I'm on a wheel.  As the end of the year draws closer, that wheel just seems to go faster and faster.  Time is such an elusive thing!

I've been quite busy with the girls and school and all the extras - like ballet and Girl Scouts.  Kudos to those moms who have several kids all in different activities at the same time!  So far I only have one night a week where I truly feel like a limo driver.  I am continuing to work on my picture frames, my deadline date is fast approaching.  My attitude is "whatever I get finished, is what I am going with". No sense in getting myself stressed out, 

I want to enjoy this first experience.

I have been very conscience lately of trying to slow down and enjoy just being in the moment.  Like watching the fall leaves change colors - it only happens once a year!  The tree in our backyard turns a brilliant shade of yellow...

Before we know it the holidays will be upon us and another year will have gone by.  As the girls are starting to grow up I am realizing that I don't want to miss any part of it. Making sure that I'm actually engaged in the moment is the only way I can think of to not miss something.  What sort of things do you do to "be in the moment"?

Inspiration...

Wow! Has it really been two weeks since my last post?  How dare life get in the way of my blogging. I think whoever said that things get easier as your children get older was not being entirely honest.  Life in general is easier (everyone sleeps through the night without needing a bottle or a diaper change) but boy are we busier.  During the quiet moments I like to look for inspiration, and I always seem to find it right in front of me... 

Partially finished picture frames drying on the dining room table... 

A pretend campfire made of paper streamers 

(thanks to one of Fiona's Girl Scout projects)...

My never ending stash of tissue paper;  I can't help myself, the colors are so varied and rich and it's so inexpensive! 

During our fast paced lives, what inspires you during the quiet moments?

Committing to an Art/Craft Show...

Well I have finally made a commitment.  A friend of mine asked if I would sell my picture frames at a craft show/fundraiser that her daughter's school is hosting.  I took the plunge and signed a vendor agreement form.  Now I just have to start making lots of frames by November 19th...  

I have three frames completed - looks like I have my work cut out for me!  I am still not as familiar with copyright laws as I would like to be, so for this show I am sticking to biblical quotes and my own verses. (Not sure but would quoting someone like Henry David Thoreau violate copyright law?)

It is very wet and rainy here in Ohio this week, so it's a good time for me to just kind of hibernate at home and start creating.  I just have to remember to keep a balance and I'll be okay.  How do all of you creative types keep balance in your lives?

Trying To Get Into a Creating Groove...

Wow! I really don't know where the time is going.  I thought that once school started I would fall right into a schedule...ha!  I have started to put together my Etsy shop, however, learning the technology is going to take me a few days.  It's not that it's really hard to put the shop online -it's just learning the most efficient ways to do things, remembering to tag this, link to that, and I really don't have a good grasp on HTML.  But I'm getting there:)

I have been playing around with some broken slate pieces and collage.  They are the perfect size for magnets and I have an almost unlimited access to them.  They are fun to do and I enjoy making them, now if I can just get a handle on creating the Etsy page.

I do have a question though for all of you successful, prolific creators;  how do you set aside the time for your art and stick with it?  For example, when the girls started back to school this year I decided that Tuesdays and Thursdays would be my art making days.  This worked well for the first week, but by week two I had school stuff to do on both Tuesday and Thursday.  Also - how do I not feel guilty for working on my art when I have to pass the dirty clothes pile several times a day?  I know - I shouldn't feel guilty but I do. So that is my question for the week - how do you make time for your art and not feel guilty about it?  I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

A Girly Day Making Artist Trading Cards

On Saturday the girls had a few friends over to play. Five little girls running around my house for three hours, what was I going to do with them...

I decided to put together some kits for the girls to make Artist Trading Cards. Thank goodness for my overstuffed craft room! I had all the supplies needed and even had the little totes left over from a birthday party.

Thanks to Strathmore ATC card packs too! Artist Trading Cards were first introduced by an artist named M. Vanci Stirnemann, a Swiss artist in 1997. He created 1200 cards as part of an exhibit. On the last day of the exhibit he invited others to create their own cards and trade with him during the closing reception. After that - an art movement was born.

The girls had a lot of fun creating their cards and were excited to trade with each other. I always find children's art so inspiring - they have no hesitations! Have a Blessed week:)

A couple of finished frames

I have three frames finished for my friend Krista. She requested four and I am working on the last one momentarily...

These are colors that I normally do not work with. I like the colors (in fact my bedroom is olive green), I had just never tried to use this type of color scheme before. Like I have said before, my muses are two little girls, I tend to get very compfortable with the purples and pinks. I really like the way this turned out though, so much so, that I am going to start working with earth tone colors more often.

This frame is more along the lines of what I am used to working with from a color stand point. Lots of victorian pink and reds with some contrasting hunter green...

It feels really good to create something that gives so much joy to someone else. I have one more to finish - look for pictures soon. Both girls are in school tomorrow so I will have the whole house to myself for six hours! Granted I do need to get some house work finished but just the thought of the whole house to myself makes me feel like tomorrow is Christmas:) Have a great week.