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!

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:)

Off to the Farm!

We are off to the Farm in Michigan for a long weekend of bug hunting, deer spotting, long lazy walks, and lots of frolicking in the sunshine! I'll be back next week to post pictures of my little water color journal that I'm starting while we are up there:) I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Getting Caught Up...

I completed this embroidered photo of my grandparents (on the right) back in February. I haven't really known what I have wanted to do with it. I have had lots of ideas but none that have really sparked my motivation. I received some lace and antique white buttons recently and now I am ready to move forward. Isn't it funny how sometimes the simplest of things are what inspires us? What inspires you?

Procrastinating and then catching up!

Like many other busy artsy craftsy people, I have projects that I start but don't quite get finished. This is one of those projects...

I had completed a digital collage of the girls last fall, I had even printed it out on a fabric sheet and started to embroider it. Well last week I finally collaged it! I painted my canvas board a bright blue than collaged it with old book pages, school papers from the girls, and of course lots of tissue paper...

I wanted it to convey a northern Ohio mid-summer feel to it. I think I am going to end up giving this to my mom and dad for their camper, it has a camper kind of feel to it:) What projects are you finishing up?

Treat Bags For A Special Evening...

I finally finished the treat bags for Saturday evening. I love doing stuff like this - to me it's just so much fun!

I played around in Photoshop and designed the iron on transfer, this was a challenge because I wanted to keep it gender neutral. I'm used to creating sparkly, girly things for Fiona and Alexa...

And of course these were REALLY fun to make:) They are Oreo cookies dipped in white chocolate and covered with rainbow sprinkles. Nothing like sugar on top of sugar! I hope the kids enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Here is my new studio assistant, he seems to have attached himself to my hip lately. Where ever I go - he's right there, poking his big 'ol head in to see what I'm doing. Have a Blessed weekend.

A Little Bit of Spring...

Maybe spring is almost here. We have a little wren that has taken up year round residence in the bird box on our front porch. It's been so cold that I haven't seen her (or him) in a couple of weeks. This morning, she was perched out there looking all fluffed up but she appeared to be enjoying the 33 degree weather (balmy compared to the 12 degree high of a few days ago!).

She took off when I started to get a little too intrusive for her comfort. What a busy couple of weeks around here; the snow days and really cold weather have thrown everything off, incuding myself. Hopefully this week will be back to normal, I have a couple of projects almost complete. I also received this past week "Art At The Speed Of Light" by Pam Carriker and boy do I LOVE it! I'll tell you all about it soon, for now stay warm:)

A Collage Finally Finished!

The one good thing about needing a distraction from a house that is too quiet is that it allowed me to finally finish this ice cream collage...

I had started the embroidered ice cream cone before Christmas. Then came the teacher gifts, and other Christmas presents for family that I was making. Before I knew it we were half way through January!

I made this collage on an 8 x10 streched canvas frame. I used acrylic paints, tissue paper, old ledger paper, wrapping paper and some old sewing pattern paper. I layered everything up, then incorporated my embroidery, my words, and my old buttons...

The purple is a little darker in this picture than what it actually is. I was having a very hard time with lighting while trying to take a good photograph! I can't wait for the long lightfilled days of the summer - there is nothing better then natural lighting. I hope everyone has a very Blessed week.

Some petit Woolen Embroidery...

I have been busy the last week embroidering for several coffee cozies that I am making. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to sell some of my art...

One might wonder what coffee cozies have to do with art?

Well, I find the coffee cozy a perfect sized pallet for experimenting with embroidery, wool, and beads. This also goes for color too - as I pick out wool color, thread and bead color, and what kind of cotton I'm going to use to line the cozy with...

The best part about making coffee cozies is that each one is a pint sized, portable, unique piece of art...

As the new year is well on it's way (being that January is almost half over!) What kind of pallet do you like to work on? I prefer smaller scaled things, sometimes looking at something blank and big scares me. Maybe that should be another resolution; make at least one piece of big art?

My First Art Journal Page of 2011!

Well I started working in my art journal. The first page was for the class I am taking through the free online class at Strathmore.com. The instructor, Pam Carriker, had us take copies of other pieces of art we had made and use them in our journal page. I am not a big drawer or doodler, and this is my first art journal so I asked myself, what do I have that I could use in an art journal?

Two things came to mind; first I have my girl's school papers - first graders and preschoolers bring home more paper than a paper factory. I save them in a large bin (important ones get filed away) and I use them for collage. The second thing I had was lots of digital pictures...

I took a picture that I had taken a couple of years ago of some sunflowers in our front yard. A yellow warbler was enjoying the seeds. I took the picture and manipulated it in Photoshop to look like a rough painting. I then cut different parts of the picture out and used them in my journal. The whole process was very stress free! I also found it very enjoyable to play around in Photoshop with no real pre-set ideas of what I wanted to do with my picture. I can't wait for week two of this class:) I hope everyone stays warm, dry, and safe this week. Happy Winter! It is snowing and is 19 degrees here in Norwalk tonight...

The Start of a Fresh New Year...

It's like a fresh clean sheet of paper... A brand new year. I actually made some resolutions this year...

I'm going to burn more candles just because I like the smell of them (I used to burn them all the time before the girls were born). I'm going go on more dates with my hubby, because we really, really, don't do that enough. And I think this is the year I'm going to sell some of my art (yes I actually said that one out loud)...

Oh - and I'm going to keep an art journal. I'm taking a free online class through Strathmore.com (the people that make lots of journals and sketch pads). I'm very excited because I originally did this just because it was free - something to spark my creativity and keep me doing different things. Well when I signed into the e-classroom, the instructor for the first workshop is Pam Carriker, a mixed media artist I am very fond of. I kind of feel like a teenager that gets to meet their favorite rock star. Well - tomorrow starts back to the daily grind; girls off to school, hubby back to work, me back to work... But before reality comes back, what are your New Year's resolutions?

Bead Journal Project for January...

I have joined the Bead Journal project for 2011 http://beadjournalproject.blogspot.com I have decided to keep my journal small, 4 x 6 and to just play around with it. I transfered a bunch of small photos (2x2) using a transparency technique and will be using those photos in my bead journal. The idea is to do one bead project a month and then post it on the blog. I've always loved beading but the extent of my beading has always been just to embellish embroidery. I plan to practice different beading techniques in my different journal projects. On a side note, the transparency transfer technique (I got from the winter 2011 issue of Sew Somerset) is very fun! I can't wait to try more...

Some Christmas Tidings...

I thought since this will probably be my last post before Christmas I would spread a little festive tidings from my home. My friend Leah at www.manyslices.typepad.com had mentioned one day how she loved to put up all of her pretty decorations but sometimes little hands came along and un-prettied the arrangements. This is sooo my house! So the pictures that you will see are all of the Christmas tree...

For whatever reason (thank goodness) the girls, dog, and cats, have all left the tree alone. Other than sitting on the couch admiring it, not one ornament has fallen off the tree! Of course now that I have said that - the cats will probably be climbing the tree tomorrow...

The reality, however, is not all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the holidays, but being grateful for the Blessings that we have and celebrating the coming of the Savior...

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas - I hope your season is filled with love, joy, gratefulness and many, many, Blessings...

One more embroidered Christmas Gift...

My sister's in-laws, Jean and Don, are really wonderful people. They treat my girls as if they were their own grandchildren and I feel blessed to know them. Jean loves to go to garage sales and all I need to do is tell her what I'm looking for and she finds it, buttons, embroidery thread, old books, you name it and she tracks it down. I embroidered this picture of my niece Giada for them...

I plan to mat the picture with a coordinating fabric. They bought a small summer cottage on the river in Tiffin Ohio and they plan to call the place "the river house". I think this will go well with a lot of Jean's country wicker furnishings.

Coffee Cozies for Teachers...

A good snowy weekend and a snow day today were just what I needed to get moving on the girls teacher's gifts! I have always made teacher gifts; usually a long with a gift card to the local independent coffee shop and a gift card to the teacher store in Sandusky. This year I decided to make them festive coffee cozies...

Not only do these celebrate the season, but they are eco friendly as well; the wool came from a 40 year old air force blanket. My father was in the air force and my parents have several of these. This one happend to get recycled because the last time I washed it the blanket came out of the dryer in two pieces! It's a wonderful worn cream color that goes very well with the season's reds and greens...

I love making Christmas gifts. I wish I had the time to make more than I do. There is something to be said about taking the time to make something for someone. I don't receive too many hand made gifts anymore. When my Aunt Tracy was younger, she would make gifts all of the time. I still have a beautiful blue and white patchwork throw that she made for my bed when I went off to college. I will never part with it. The same goes for the crocheted blanket from my Aunt Diane...

This is just a simple coffee cozy but heart felt just the same. Being a teacher takes an incredible amount of dedication and patience, and their gift should reflect my gratitude as a parent.

When I was growing up my mother did ceramics and she always made my teachers their Christmas presents. Being that I went to a Catholic school, she usually made something spiritual and faith inspired. I like to think that some of my teachers still have what my mother made them. On a side note: my mother did ceramics for years and was an absolute master at fine details like doll eyelashes and finger nail polish. It always amazed me that she was so uncoordinated when it came to things like riding a bicycle but put a paint brush in her hand and she was genious with it. I hope that if you are making hand made gifts this season, you get plenty of time to make them:)