Fabric and Vintage Buttons = Awesome

I can't take the credit for this idea.

My friend Pam Holladay showed me something similar this past summer.

I ran with it, and now look at the beacelets that I've made!

I am using a lot of vintage buttons from a yard sale for embellishments.

Cute, right?

Blogger Crush!!!

I found a blog that I am LOVING this week!

The blogger, Rachele, is fairly local (Portland!), loves hairstyling and fashion, isn't afraid to speak her mind, and has fanTAStic taste in glasses!

AND she's an artist! Feast your eyes on her adorable header:


She says that she was "doodling" on her ipad one night and happened to create this MASTERPIECE!!   Cute, right?   You can visit Rachele here at her blog, The Nearsighted Owl.

Haikuesday

Today is the first day of a new feature that I'll be running here on Musings On Realities called Haikuesday (Haiku Tuesday).

My Haiku poems will usually be anything but poetic, usually quirky, and will definitely follow the 5-7-5 format.

Enjoy :)

Today's Poem:

I've used a whole roll

of two-ply toilet paper

to blow my nose with.

Coming Down

I feel like I've been in a whirlwind these past ten days, with A Real Piece of Work and A Real Gem.

Now that they're safely stowed until next year, I can relax a little...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

This week I'm dedicating a good amount of time to ME.

I picked up a new book last week, and I can't wait to dig into it.

The best part - when I googled the author, I discovered that he is the lead singer for a great band, the Decemberists! How cool is that? I love discovering the multi-talents of people in the least expected places!

Anyway, I bought this book for the cover art alone. Seriously. I didn't even read the back. I popped it into my basket and considered it bought!

 

Isn't the cover art amazing?!?

One of the pages from the inside. The illustrations were done by the author's wife!

There are cute illustrations peppered all over the book - just like this one.

I thought I would give you a sneak peek. Here is the first page. With a Radio Flyer wagon and an opening like this, I am TOTALLY looking forward to putting my feet up for some R and R this week!

A Real Gem!

I feel like I've been boring lately on here!! I promise (and even pinky-swear!) to get more interesting in December!

This month has been all about my two art shows, A Real Piece of Work and A Real Gem.

I organize these two shows every year as we near the Christmas season. It's always MADNESS getting the artists organized and making my own products to sell.

Madness, but awesome fun!!!!

This coming weekend is our second and last show of the season: A Real Gem.


If you live in the area, come and visit!

Journal Heaven!!

Once I got all of my journals together for my show this past weekend, I was THRILLED at the quantity and quality that I had!!

Here are some pictures that I snapped with my iPhone. The quality of the photos isn't great, but I am SO proud of my display!!!

So many great colours, lots of selection, and lots of different heights and levels to draw the customers' attention.

A Real Piece of Work 2012

This week I'm gearing up for A Real Piece of Work, an art and fine craft show that I organize and participate in. 

It's happening this weekend, so I need to warn you in advance of a possible gap in my postings here on Musings On Realities. 

If you live close by, please come and say hello!

Next weekend is A Real Gem - all jewelry and accessories *sigh.* In other words, it's heaven. 

See you there!

Candles - Art Journal Spread

I'm working on a two-page spread in my friend Joanne's Art Journal.

Lots of greens.

What are YOU working on today?

Book Review: Hand Lettering

This weekend I sat down with a new purchase: Hand Lettering by Marci Donley and DeAnn Singh

While it didn't force me out the chair and into the studio, it did really give me a huge understanding of the formation of lettering. More importantly, it encouraged me to create my own lettering styles using their practice templates and tips.

Here is a photo from the book - the authors.

I liked that this book showed practical ways of using lettering, not just cutesy cards.
Here is a mixed media piece that I was drawn to.

Of course there are so many uses for hand lettering - here was a neat way of joining the letters.
This style of lettering is called Clothesline.

In summary, this book was a good purchase, but I'm still searching for *the* lettering book that will inspire me go through all of my art journals and go letter-crazy.

Any recommendations?

New Envelopes!

This is one of my favourite things to make.

My envelopes are all made from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods paper bags - an AWESOME way to upcycle, right?!

I layer papers and fabrics onto them and then sew the pieces to the envelopes.

Each one is unique - that is probably why I enjoy making them so much! Each one is a new adventure!



Here is the process - my sewing machine table colvered in paper and scraps of fabrics!



A few of my favourite designs...

I love the texture that the stitching adds!



Near the top of this photo you can see where I did some free-motion sewing.



More free-motion sewing...



Fun, right?

Available here in my etsy shop :)

You can buy a four-pack here and save!

My Studio is Overloaded!

I have two shows in November, and I've been working overtime to get stock ready.

I keep thinking of great new ideas, so I'm making the process of preparing for the shows a little more stressful than it needs to be.

But really - look at what I've been making!

Remember the journals that I made using hardcover children's books?

Have a look here for more details on these journals!

Well, I had over a dozen groups of book pages that I had taken out of the books. All of them contained stories, fables, poems and fairy tales, PLUS great drawings!

I've gone through and taken out all of the drawings that appealed to me and I've made them into greeting cards!

Great images, right?

I glued each one on with a glue stick, then secured them with a zigzag stitch using my sewing machine.

I played around with different thread colours.

There are two different sizes - 5"x7" and 3"x5"

Then I stuck a label on the back of the card that includes my name and blog address.

And put them into plastic sleeves! All ready to sell!

These aren't in my etsy shop yet! We'll see how many are left after the sale.

I'm selling them ULTRA cheap - only $2 apiece, so I'm expecting to sell a lot of them.

If you are interested in buying a random assortment of these cards, let me know and I'll pick some of my favourites for you before I take them to the shows :)

Prices (either size - please specify preference):

$2 each (free shipping)

3 cards for $5 ($3.00 shipping) 

7 cards for $10 ($5.00 shipping)

15 cards for $20 ($8.00 shipping)

An easy payment on Paypal, and delivery to your door!

(I have over a hundred of these, so order as many as you like, or let me know if you want more than 15!)

Pyrex Obsessions

I'm talking about Vintage Pyrex.

In lots of colours and patterns.

And I'm not just referring to MY Pyrex Obsession, but also that of my good friend Nicole.

Feast your eyes on this display of loveliness in her kitchen.

And yes, she does actually use these; they're not just for display (although there would be nothing wrong with that, right?)

Nicole actually took the cupboard doors off for this display. Definitely cupboard-door-removal-worthy.

The colours of vintage Pyrex are so bold and inspiring to me!

And the patterns are simple and cute.

A fantastic collection, right?