Monday, April 30, 2012

Some Happenings

It's Monday again. I spent the weekend feeling under the weather but trying to get some things done.  
I posted this little glittery cutie in my shop.  You can see the details here.  I loved making these shadowboxes.  I want to make more and more and more.  Anyone know a good place to get shadowbox frames on the cheap but aren't cheap?  

I feel like there is an ever-changing art installation going on in my bathroom thanks to my necklace arrangement.   This was one that caught my eye. I love when all the right colors end up together.  When we move I will miss the color of the bathroom.  I suppose I could paint every wall this color when we move.  I don't know what J would say.  I'll just wait until he's away for a weekend...

Last night I worked on my first fabric banner.  Since I still have not learned how to use my sewing machine I used liquid stitch to hold it together.  So far so good.  Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy. It's a gray day here.
 And a weekend would not be completely without gluing glitter onto something. I'm working on a place for cards to go at our wedding.  So much wedding stuff!
How did you spend your weekend?

How will you spend your week?

xoxo

Friday, April 27, 2012

Friday Re-Run

Today it's time for a Friday Re-Run.  That's where I look back on the last four years of my blogs and pluck one out to share again.  Yesterday I went to some pretty great thesis shows (which I'll share more about those later) and it got me thinking of my own show.  I can't believe it's been two years since my thesis show. Time has flown by.  This post is from April 19, 2010.  Take a look and enjoy!  Happy weekend!




Wow! It's been a wonderful mostly stress-free weekend and my show is now up in the gallery.  



Introducing:





















Tomorrow I will try to get my artist statement posted to explain a little bit more about my work.  



Thursday is the reception! I can't wait!!





Thursday, April 26, 2012

Window Window

Yesterday at Cracker Jax I got to decorate my first window! I'm so lucky to have two bosses that let me be creative all the time. I have to admit I was really nervous before doing it.  It seemed like a very overwhelming task but once I got going it all felt very natural.  I worked the whole day on it, wishing for more hours so I could keep going.  Now that I'm done I can't quit looking at it, which means I'm nitpicking it to death!! Today I want to address a couple of small areas but after that I will leave it alone!  Here are eight million pics of it!










Last night I was still feeling very creative so I curated another treasury.  This one shows off my love of sea urchins.  Click the image to see more details. If you like it, click the admire button. Maybe it will make the front page!

Have a super great Thursday!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Treasured

Yesterday was a super busy day getting errands done.  You know, the boring kind of busy day.  I did get a little crafty finishing up some small projects and started working on a commissioned animal jar piece.  Also! I found a few moments to create a treasury for Etsy.  I haven't done one in so long and I had recently been included in a few so it inspired me to curate my own.  I believe I was looking at gorgeous druzy jewelry when I decided to make this.   If you don't know what a treasury is it is a feature on Etsy where someone can make a page with a theme and feature products from different people's shops. If it's liked well enough it could make the front page!  

The first one is mine.  Click on the image to view the whole thing.  
This one is by my friend Julie.  I love how original this one is.  The colors are nice and soothing.  Click on the image to see more details.



This last one is from a gal named Lauren.  The glitter definitely helped inspire my own treasury.  I'm crazy about that shade of blue right now, too.  Again, click the image to see closely.


If you have an Etsy account and like any of these treasuries please click the admire button. I would love to see one of them (or all of them!) make the front page.

Have a great Wednesday!!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

What's Happening

Yesterday I got a few more animal jars listed in my shop.  
 You can hid your treasures in the cat feather jar here.
 Or decorate a space with the mossy dog jar here.
 Or store some goodies in the dinosaur glitter jar here.
 And some other things around my place:

My dearest boyfriend made his specialty the other night, spring rolls! They are our favorite but we don't get them often because they take so long to make.  I'm trying to find simpler recipes because I could eat them every day.
 Recently at work I got to redo our register display case. I love doing this. It's like making mini installations.  Tomorrow I get to do my first window. I'm way mega nervous but I've been thinking a lot about it and have a basic idea to start. I'm excited to see how it goes.  If you are in the are check out Cracker Jax. It's the dreamiest store in the world!



Monday, April 23, 2012

Animal Jar Kingdom

Yesterday I packed up my animal jars and went outside for a sunny photo shoot. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy but I didn't mind.  Here is a group shot of the newest animal family.  
 I worked all night editing photos and got this sweet pink glitter horse jar listed in my shop.  You can find it here.
 Lately I feel like I haven't had much time to get in my studio like I would like to but I also wonder how much time I'm wasting doing things that I could not be doing... like facebooking and playing games on my phone... So I decided I want to make a thing a day. Or I want to finish a thing a day. I have many projects started and it's time I finish them.  Yesterday what I did was simple but I really liked it. I have been trying to come up with different ways to fill these little animal jars so I bought some moss and tried to play around with it. I filled this little dog jar with moss and cut out pictures to add to the sides.  It's simple but I like the look.  Someone could definitely make more of a terrarium out of it.  I need to research terrariums more. All I know to do is add moss. 



This little dog should be listed in my shop tonight.  And a new project will be finished tonight as well.
Yay productivity!

Have a super fantastic Monday!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Friday Re-Runs

It's Friday so it's time for a rerun blogpost from my past. This is from December 17, 2009. I'm missing my friends Courtney and Cassie today. So read away and have a wonderful wonderful weekend!!


Yesterday's crafting was a success! For those of you wondering about the yarn wreath it's really easy. I had been seeing wreaths like this all over the place lately including the cover of Readymade. I also found this tutorial on Urban Outfitters by Yokoo on how to make a pom pom wreath that is gorgeous!
For our wreaths we just used a bit of glue and lot of yarn. We wrapped the yard around a foam wreath until the foam was gone. Cassie, on the left, crocheted doilies and made pom poms to decorate hers. Mine is in the middle, I striped mine with green and blue and made a couple of pom poms as well. Courtney on the right made a string going from side to side and she plans on hanging letters from it. So crafty!
Here's one more close up of mine. I'm thinking of getting some wooden letters to glue to it. I'm going to give it as a Christmas gift and hopefully make some more before Christmas.
This was the best afternoon I've had in a while. Very fun. Today I have to spend the day running all over trying to finish up in-town business because tomorrow I fly home for the holiday. So much to do!



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Inspired

This morning I had not planned a blogpost. I was just going to sit and catch up on blogs while I ate my breakfast. At Strumpet's Crumpet's I clicked play on this video out of curiosity. It's about a little boy who built his own cardboard arcade. She warned readers they would get a bit weepy but I didn't think it could possibly be anything to tear up about. Boy was I wrong. I was full on crying while watching it. But it's the good kind of crying, the kind where you are so happy crying is the only way to express it. And now I have to share it with you!

This little boy was so inventive. It reminds me of how smart and clever children are. I feel like if we are not careful we can really lose so much of that creativity as we grow up. I used to take apart gumball machines and make little scenes inside them. When you turned the quarter slot people would dance inside. I could never imagine making that now because I know I would be so hung up on the details of making it perfect. When you're little you don't care. You just want to get it made.

Let's all try to think like little kids for a while. And make whatever you want to make, imperfections and all.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Wedding Backdrop

This weekend I went to my home town for two wonderful days in a row of wedding showers. I got so many wonderful things! Now I just want to get in my new house and start filling it up. Our poor apartment looks like a Fiestaware warzone.

While I was home my friend Janey and I worked on the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. It is the biggest banner I've ever made! I was nervous about making it because it will hang between two trees and has to be as tall as my super tall fiance. Eeep!

After much hemming and hawing and trying to get Janey to agree to just scrap it because it would be such an undertaking I finally quit being a baby and just did it. Here is our progress:







It's hanging in my bedroom at my parents' home. It's so large, it will be fun to see it hanging upright.
A little over a month and it will be up!

The countdown begins!