No More Tears Baby Shampoo

Hi.

The other night I met with a former professor of mine and we talked a lot about where I am at with my artwork and how I'm doing with my studio practices.  So.... basically a critique.  It was a well needed intervention. I have been dragging my feet on the paintings I've been working on and not quite sure what to do with myself otherwise.  I was given great advice but mostly I was told to have fun with what I'm doing and make what makes me happy. It seems simple but it's easy to get worried about so many other things that you forget to just make stuff and let it be what it is.  

I want to start making more sculptural type things. I have ideas for large noisemakers and other larger-than-life party supplies.  This morning I was looking at these doilies with balloons that I used to make. I called them dolls and I used to float them inside shadowbox frames.  

So this got me thinking about making about the shadowbox frames I did with the banners and animals inside. You can find this one in my shop here.

And that thought begat this thought... I have been wanting to make big tissue paper garlands but didn't know what to do with something so large so I thought it would be neat to make a smaller scale that would fit inside a shadowbox frame. I sat at my table ready to work and started knocking out different pom pom flowers.

And you know what happened? I finished something in the same day that I started working on it. The only thing I need to do is paint the frame.  This is a final image but it will look pretty different inside a shadowbox.  I have seriously not finished a thing in one day in a billion years. I have not really even finished a thing at all in a million years.  I'm feeling pretty motivated and ready to try out different types of framed garlands.  

I'm having fun!

While on a productive roll I also listed this jar in my shop. It's not too late to get your Valentine a sweet gift.  These heart jars are one of my favorite styles.

  

I hope you had a super bowl of soup today. I had some chicken and dumpling soup.

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Resolving Resolutions

At the beginning of the year I kept declaring different things as my new year's resolution.  I was like Michael Scott on The Office where he publicly declared bankruptcy and he thought that just by saying it out loud all his money problems were over.  If I said out loud all the things I wanted to change then the resolutions would resolve themselves, right?

I am just now realizing I actually have to physically do those things. Knowing that is half the battle, right? I'm always someone who says when I'm off work I will do all my laundry and clean the house and work in my studio. Instead I watch tv and make elaborate lunch salads and look online. Before I know it my day off is over and I maybe did some laundry?  I am now sincerely working on my follow-up to public resolutions declarations.

Look, I'll prove it. I finally took photos of a  lot of my work and got all these chalkboard animals listed in my shop!

Horse

Lion

Tiger

T-Rex

Hippo

Dino

Elephant

I'm proud, it feels like I accomplished something important. Now I'm going to go make an elaborate lunch but it's only because I really am hungry. All this hard work stirred up my appetite. After lunch more items will be listed! Have a great weekend and get some stuff done!

Pinterest Recipe Success!

In the spirit of being inspired today I was inspired to make a recipe I found on pinterest.  It's a weight watchers casserole with ground chicken, black beans, onions, garlic, salsa and a nice helping of cheese all over a bed of crushed chips.  The only think I did differently was add green peppers.

 If you know me well you know I'm not crazy about cooking but every now and then a recipe piques my interest and I like to try it out. It seems like most printmakers like to follow a recipe as it appeals to their process oriented craft. I absolutely love to follow directions when it comes to cooking. My husband is more the type to look at a picture and skim over the ingredients and then he goes to it. This drives me crazy! He's a good cook but we never have the same meal twice in the sense that it's always made differently.

So if you are like me, here is the link to the awesome recipe.  Pin it on pinterest!  And if you are like my husband, well, you see the pictures and I listed the ingredients so go to town.

To be clear, my version is the bottom picture.  The one with the extra cheese.

Inspiration Wednesday

In an effort to focus on what truly inspires me I hope to post once a week on something that gets my heart beating fast.  We all know how that usually ends up when I try to do any kind of regular post but I am defiant in the face of my predictability.  Here goes.

I know that this is a whole lotta hipster action in this video but I like it. It's an old one by Jinja Safari but I just discovered it. I like the aesthetic, hipster or not. I want to dress up as a woodland creature and run through the forest with all my friends. Who doesn't?

Working Hard!

The last few days working at Cracker Jax have been busy ones. I have been on the move and barely stopped to eat lunch.  Once I got my mind made up to do some rearranging it was non-stop until I felt fully satisfied that everything was in it's rightful home. It felt good and I was excited by all the changes. The nice thing about working there is that we all get to stretch our creative muscles whenever we feel like it.

For me I kicked things off last week when I stamped these feathers with love notes and made a display for them in old bottles on a vanity mirror. We got the idea from a magazine and once I got going with it I couldn't stop!

 And then I start moving and rearranging and decorating. Decorating these chalkboards were a fun way to slow down and do some drawing.

 I also have some of my feathers on sale and doing signage for items is one of my favorite things to do.

 This is the wall that started it all.

 I'm a sucker for butterflies and always love gathering them all in one spot. That little nook in the wall is one of my favorite spaces in the store. It was fun making that spot active.

 The owner is always pushing me creatively.  She gave me a cardboard cone and asked me to do something with it. Normally I would fret for days before starting something like that but with this I dove headfirst and did things without questioning it. It was a good lesson in making work. Just go for it!

 This was the last wall I finished.  I have to admit I was dreading it because of how high I needed to get on the ladder. There might have been a few moments were I only had one foot solidly on a rung and I was holding my breath to keep myself steady. Scary scary but I think it was a good workout for my abs.

And now I have the next two days off.  I plan on applying that same energy from work toward my studio practice.  I got my errands done so now it is time to create.

Last night I met with a couple of gals and we started tossing around plans for excitement in the future.  It's time for me to start being more proactive about my art career. I'm ready. Lets do this!

Best Friend Spotlight

Hi.  Thank you all so much for your sweet words regarding Luxie. I miss her so much.  Rue and I have been spending tons of time together.  Here is a quick video I shot while trying to get her to participate in a studio dance party. She hasn't learned that the studio was made for dancing yet.

Friday I spend some time at my best friend Janey's place.  She enlisted me to take her save-the-date photos but we spent more time procrastinating then actually just taking the picture.  I love her apartment and her decoration sensibility.   She's great at putting together beautiful little groupings.  Here are a few that I snapped.

 I'll fully admit I copied her sea urchin cluster. It's okay, though. We're best friends. We own all the same clothes.

 My grandmother gave her those beautiful cacti.

 These were the decorations we had for the picture.It only took a few minutes to get them all set up but somehow I was at the place for almost six hours.

 I gave her that squirrel for Christmas!

This is one of the outtakes.  I love them.

Ok, I'm off to teach Rue how to dance.

Today.

We had to say good-bye to Luxie today.  Her condition got worst and she was in so much pain.  I've felt a little lost all day.  Luxie had been with us for over two years and she did things that made us laugh and she did things that exasperated us. She loved being outside and did happy sideways kicks as soon as she was free to run around.  There were places in the house she knew she couldn't go so she would plot to get there no matter what we set up to discourage her.  When she was annoyed with us she would stomp her foot. She was usually annoyed when we tried to pet her and she wasn't in the mood for pets. She always had a project she was working on. It usually involved going inside a box tunnel and digging out newspaper. She worked at that like she was getting paid.

 When we brought Rue home Luxie adored her. When I opened their "cage" to pet them Lux was sure to lay across Rue and watch me carefully. She would let me pet her but she wanted me to know Rue was hers.  Rue seemed to take it all in stride.  They were both the cleanest bunnies ever thanks to their constant grooming of each other.

We are going to miss Luxie so much. I will hold Rue extra tight and hope she doesn't stomp her foot from all the petting.