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:)

Staying very busy...

It seems like the month of July has literally flown by. Please forgive my late blog posts - there just has not been enough time in the day this month to keep up with everything...

I have several projects on the table; this embroidered photo is finally complete and I have just about completed the collaged background for it.

I start my collages with a base coat of acrylic paint and usually some old book pages.

Then I move on to adding lots of layers; wrapping paper, ledger paper, tissue paper, sometimes even my girl's school works gets added in.

Once the collaged papers are all dry I start layering with paint and ink; a little paint, some stenciling, stamping, or both, then usually some distressing and inking. My process is not exact and it varies depending on things like size, subject matter, and color. Once this layer dries I will add the embroidered photo and any other embelishments I find. I'll post the completed project on Friday. In the mean time I really hope everyone is staying cool and hydrated during these nasty heat waves. Blessings:)

An Engagement Frame...

My cousin Annie got engaged this past winter. She and her fiance, Ron, are coming to visit my parents this weekend. I made this collaged picture frame for them. Annie's engagement ring is a blue saphire surrounded by diamonds, so I wanted to do the frame in hues of blues and purples.

A high school aquaintance had posted this verse on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and I just fell in love with it. It had been a very long time since I had read anything from the Old Testament but this verse really says it all...

I painted the frame black then collaged old book pages on to it. I layered colored tissue paper for the majority of the intense color and then used acrylic paint thinned out with water to wash over it. Then of course I had to glitter, stamp, ink and embellish. The fabric flowers were given to me by my sister. She had gotten them from her husband's grandfather's house. I thought they added a nice contrast to all of the blues. I hope everyone has a great day!

Photographic Friday...

With Andrew being out of town I have not gotten as much creating finished as I would have liked. I have however, had the opportunity to play with my watercolor pencils. They are very fun - I created this little flower grouping for a mason jar lid. I filled the jar with some home made granola and gave it to my cousin as a gift.

Summer has finally arrived! Around here that means hot humid days where we spend a lot of time outside. The girls love to be out in nature exploring all that it has to offer.

Summer also means that it is ballet recital time. They have worked hard all year to put on their best performances. Hope you are having a wonderful summer too!

Photographic Friday...

Because Andrew was out of town, the girls and I didn't have any big plans for Memorial Day. We did however, visit a new conservatory/greenhouse at the Lorain County Metroparks. Lots of rare orchids and dessert plants. I saw this urn of flowers resting near an exit door and I really loved it's look.

Of course we had to find species of plants and flowers that were purple for Alexa, as this stunning orchid above.

I'm not sure what the name of this plant is, but for obvious reasons Fiona fell in love with it, pink is after all her favorite color. I am always so amazed at the extroidinary artistry of Mother Nature.

Isn't it great how the best things are found right in your own backyard? Or in this case looking out our front window! This was the sun trying to squeeze itself into our living room at the end of the day, before it settled in for its' evening sleep. What wonderful things have you seen today?

Photographic Friday...

April showers do bring May flowers! Whew - busy week and then some problems with Blogger make this post more pictures than words but sometimes that's okay...

Now that we have had a few days in a row with sunshine and no rain, flowers of all kinds are starting to bloom...

I can get really inspired by all of this natural vibrant color - what about you? What kind of things inpire you?

I hope everyone has a wonderfully colorful weekend. Blessings.

Photographic Friday...

Yay! Signs of spring:) The Saturday before Easter we were at an Easter egg hunt and I spotted this little pink flower braving the cold, cloudy weather. It's like he was shouting "hey! spring is here!".

I love being able to catch soft colors, hazy light, and early morning dew. It's as quiet outside, as my house is inside, during the wee hours of the morning. Before children and birds wake...

I also love it when you cannot tell how old a picture is. Was it taken yesterday? Or a hundred years ago?

Finally - I caught this the other day; Alexa having a tender moment with Simon. This is rare with him as she usually chases him around all day and he runs from her. He is very good about putting up with all of her hugs and cradling once she catches him. However, if he can avoid her he will! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I have a birthday party to get ready for tomorrow - Fiona will be seven:)

Playing with Mixed Media...

I did a little decluttering of my studio space last week and came across several of these small 4x4 mini canvases. I just knew I had to play around with them.

I did some collaging on them with tissue paper, book papers, some of the girls' old school papers, even some leftover fabric scraps...

I was in the mood to create something that could be displayed just about anywhere for just about any reason...

I really resisted the urge to add some embroidery because I wanted to broaden my horizons a little bit. Not to mention the fact that I wanted this project to be relatively quick and easy. As much as I do not find embroidery difficult - it does take time.

I hope you enjoy this little bit of a departure from the stitching! I also hope this week finds you dry; it has been raining non-stop here in northeast Ohio for several days. My backyard can now be called Lake Shella:) Have a wonderful week.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I wish everyone lots of Blessings for this wonderful spring season:) JOY!

Photographic Friday...

It has been a VERY rainy spring here in Ohio. As much as I want the sun to come out and shine, there is a real beauty in the rain. I find it very calming most of the time. However, being that the girls are on spring break this week a little sunshine would be nice!

On Tuesday we baked Easter sugar cookies, the girls went to town decorating them. I love to take pictures of their baking experiments, it's a lot like their artwork - they do it with complete abandon.

Here's some sunshine! When the sun did decide to peek out this week, I made sure I got a picture of it. There is nothing more beautiful than the natural way the sunlight makes everything sparkle. Hope you have a Blessed and sunny Easter!

Giada's Collage

My sister has been after me for a long time to make her a collage using a picture of my niece, Giada...

Well I finally made one for her and gave it to her this past weekend at Giada's third birthday party...

The poem was written by my sister a few days after Giada was born. I thought it appropriate to include it in the collage. My sister has written poetry since we were in junior high. I keep telling her to start a poetry blog; but she keeps coming up with excuses not to. (I write this as I am shaking my head.)

I'm hoping she will see her poem here posted on my blog and that will motivate her to start her own:) I hope everyone is enjoying the week, my girls are on spring break right now, unfortunately, it's been cold and rainy. But we have managed to make Easter cut out cookies, and are working on dying eggs later in the week. Thursday - we are taking a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art - we can't wait! Blessings.

Fiona's Art!

Fiona came home from school yesterday with a bunch of art projects that she had completed throughout the school year. (The one above is an embellished letter "F".)

The second one is her version of "Starry Night". They had learned about Vincent Van Gogh and used a marbling technique to create the night sky...

This is a monster they created with "squishy paint". I am SO INSPIRED by the girl's art work. Complete serendipity; look at those colors! Do you think she sat there beforehand and said "now what colors do I need to use for the best look?" NO! She just created with utter abandon and the wonderful color combination just appeared- straight from her heart:) I already told her I'm going to scan her artwork and use portions of it for my collages -I can't wait. What are you inspired by?

Photographic Fridays...

I really want to blog more often, I enjoy it, it's therapeutic, and it makes me happy:) So I am starting Photographic Fridays...

With the start of the warmer weather, I plan to do a lot more picture taking. I love photographing simple, basic things and making them look pretty. Makes me grateful for all that I have. I can't wait to get started, have a wonderful week!

Finishing an Embroidered Collage...

I finished a collage this week for a friend. I always start off with paint and old papers. I got this book from Lee at http://www.webersworld1.blogspot.com/ I love the papers in this book. I'm thinking about just framing some of the pages. Once I get the first layer going - then I layer with some paint, more papers - usually tissue and wrapping paper (some of the wrapping paper out there is fantastic!)...

Once the collage part is finished, I add the embroidered piece, buttons, and usually a quote...

This one is going to friends of ours that had a baby girl in January. And yes, God's work is definately beautiful! Hope you all have a Blessed week:)