In a word...

Welcome to the New Year! Two thousand ten has lots of promise for me in the creative arts arena. I've been working to free up my time so that I can work on my illustrations and collage art. And right out of the gate, I've got a fresh start! At the indirect urging of my friend Amy and her past January podcasts, and through the inspiration of Ali Edwards, I've chosen a word to help guide my creative endeavors this year. It's a word that I had chastized myself with last year in the avalanche of projects happening around me. I often felt out of control, and that my creative time was not my own. I have always been (and will likely continue to be) an full spectrum art & crafter. I have tried to do it all: paper, fabric, paint, rubber, wood, metal. And that won't change. What *is* changing is my purposefulness. My intentions. My focus. *Focus* Focus on what compells me, what intrigues me, what challenges me. Focus on the lines and shadows. Focus on the dailyness. Focus on learning. Focus on being present. And not just the art, but on parenting and friends. Focus on being present in conversation, and fully committing to the moment. We'll see how it goes. What might your word be?

Autonomous wax

'Tis the season for a new greeting on the front door. I make these hang-signs for holidays, for seasons, for reminding the boys to dump the sand from their shoes. This one has an old drawer pull with distressed paint still on it. I love the handle, the weight of it, the patina of the exposed metal. And I reluctantly added it to my sign, telling myself if I found a better use for it, I'd grant permission to deconstruct it. The sign also has some splattered crayon wax (with rhinstones), and oh how this brings back a memory. One Christmas on Cooper Hill Road, my mom had a whole tray of red votives alight on a coffee table. My brother, being a boy cooped up mid-winter in Connecticut, was under the table, and sort of lifting it with his feet. You see where this is going? So we had red wax on the oriental carpet, and one very angry mom. After attempting to remove the wax by iron-&-brown-paper-bag method, we were left with a stain, and a lesson-learned. Even here on my sign, I am reminded how autonomously hot wax (mis)behaves.

Christmas Quail

Here stands the Christmas Quail. She's supposed to grace my holiday postage, but I'm struggling with the color of her plummage. The good folks over at Zazzle have printers that print a few steps darker, and I have to plan for that...so we'll see. I wish I could say the Christmas cards were this far along! I'm quite tempted to buy a few boxes, pen our names & send them off. But then I recall the exponential satisfaction of handmade...

Microfilm!

I'm smack in the middle of a Kits class (taught by May Flaum) over at BPS to learn some new tricks about using up the last vestiges of my scrapbooking kits. She's got some great suggestions, tutorials, & challenges to get you moving. But she also encouraged us to build our own kits. I've never done this before, and *loved* focusing on using up some great supplies and favorite items that haven't yet made their way into a project. And then I came across a spool of mircofilm while hunting for some black lace...and voila.

Re-purposing

I'm playing along with Ali Edwards and her December Daily project. I've yet to upload my photos into the Flickr group, but I was really excited to build this book! I took an old Dunn Edwards paint chip binder, gessoed it, covered it with light-weight kraft, and filled it with a page for everyday in December. A book-maker's take on an Advent calendar, and completely inspired by Ali Edwards. I'll share pages along the way. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm making that crazy, vivid frozen cranberry sauce with horseradish.

a Greeting, and a Very Good Read

Happy Mother's Day! With much help from my sister, I made the Fifty Things We Love book for our Mom. The hardest part was editing out all her spectacular recipes, and the laughs we'd shared!

I just closed the back cover on the latest Geraldine Brooks novel based on a true lost book. This is an amazing story of respect--for all faiths, for art, for families. Just thought I'd make note. What are you reading?

pink prams & growth charts

Yes, it's true. I haven't blogged in months. My excuse, however, is in the form of an enormous graduation book (see the "growing tall" page). You'd think the child was graduating from high school or something. Nope. Nursery School. And he didn't even make very much art...

I'm tickled pink to share a write-up about my silhouettes! The taste-makers at droolicious (and my savvy friend Sunny) gave me a nod on their blog. Go visit; this group knows how to shop!

Also, I've been drawing prams! We welcomed a new baby girl into our circle, and I made a pram-themed announcement for her and her family. What a treat to make something girly & pink. Happy May Day!