Shop Update!

 

 Shop Update today! Hope you'll pop in and take a peek. xo

At long last - my list for 2014

This post really is just a list of reminders for me, but I've decided that putting it "out there" is important this year...

Nothing like making your list for the year when it is almost February. But, all things considered, this is kind of how I work. Not a one of my roommates would be surprised that my "resolutions" were decided upon 22 days later than most. This isn't a list of resolutions really - it's more of a check list. And most of this list will be a delight to complete, so while it's going to be long, it's completely do-able. Ok, let's get to it:

Goodness Recycled

1. I will paint. A lot.
2. I will get my business functioning like a business - with quarterly goals, show goals, taxes paid on time, etc.
3. I will be in at least four local craft shows - I love them, they are filled with "my people" and I need to join in a bit more on a small scale.
4. I will blog again. I love it and it feeds me. No more cataloguing it as a decadence.
5. I will increase the range of products in my etsy shop.
6. I will research equipment that will help me - I will dread this goal but it is time for a high-quality paper cutter, binding machine and printer to enter this space. There will be research, reporting, saving and craigslisting/ebaying galore.
7. I will update (recreate) my website.
8. I will learn some essential computer skills, most urgently, how to upload a pdf to the internet for tutorials/selling.
9. My business space will be organized and determined - not somewhat a family space, somewhat a craft room and somewhat a business. This step may sound boring, but it's going to be exciting for some reasons I can't yet share.
10. I will explore finding an art space outside of my home. Thankfully, I think David has stopped reading my blog - otherwise, he would comment, "No you won't," and I would reply, "Yes I will!" and he would reply, "No you won't!" (Much in the style of the first 10 seconds here.)
11. I will go to one professional conference. [Read: art retreat.] The only guaranteed companion for this conference will be the ocean.

Creative

1. I will make at least one art doll.
2. I will learn to sew - pillows mostly.
3. I will start and continue art journaling - no excuses.
4. I will make one flip book.
5. I will make a journal for each of my kids.
6. I will learn to marble paper.
7. I will finish a needlepoint pillow for our back porch.
8. I will paint at least two paintings for our home - dining room, master bed.
9. I will knit David a hat that actually fits him.
10. I will knit something for myself. That I don't need.
11. I will make our winter holiday cards - they may be Halloween cards or New Years cards, but they will be handmade.

Health

1. I will walk. Walking has saved my life at times (seriously - more than once - maybe I'll tell you about it some day). I need/want to get back to it.
2. I will swim. I LOVE to swim! And I HATE to be cold - so getting my tookus to the pool is the challenge, once I'm there all is well. Lisa Congdon is a full time artist and avid swimmer - I kind of want to be her. She is my inspiration on this one.
3. I will learn so much about Celiac Disease and gluten, people will walk away from me at parties. I will be such a fact-spouting-smarty-pants-know-it-all, and..
4. by December, I will have a FULL repertoire of recipes to feed my kids that are delicious and crowd pleasing. And we will have a system in our house whereby gluten free healthy and junk food is always easy to find and within reach in a meaningful way (think homemade single serving lasagna in the freezer) - to say we have three growing kids is a ridiculous understatement.
5. I will garden with passion (see next section).

Garden

1. I will garden as if I am going to live in this house for the next 50 years.
2. I will research getting electricity out to our carriage house (details on why this is gardening later).
3. I will complete our side-yard garden - this will include fencing, a rain barrel, perhaps bees and maybe a turtle habitat.
4. We will start an asparagus garden.
5. We will find a way to save cilantro all winter (Similar to saving basil? I wonder.)
6. We will plant garlic again and for the duration.
7. We will explore planting a peach tree again and make a meaningful decision about it.
8. I will read at least two books on permaculture.
9. There will be a tipi.

It's going to be a great year! xo

TGIF!

Getting a batch of Upcycled Journals ready to deliver to Maven Boutique in Maplewood. Hope you have a lovely weekend! xo

Flowers to the People!

Just a little note that my Upcycled Book Journals are now for sale at Flowers to the People on Cherokee. Flowers to the People is a sustainable flower shop owned by Bridget Weible - her work is great and her shop is filled with gift items all made by local artists. Cherokee Street is so fun at this time of year - a perfect place to buy local, have a great meal and spend time with friends!

Flowers to the People

2317 Cherokee Street

St. Louis

Upcycled Journals at Maven

 

 

Today I will be delivering a dozen Upcycled Journals to Maven, a wonderful, funky boutique in Maplewood, Missouri. Maven sold my journals over the holidays and they sold out. That was thrilling! So we're going to see how my books sell there during a regular retail season (I'm sure that's not how to refer to it - clearly I am not a retailer).

Hope you'll pop over!

Maven Boutique

7290 Manchester Road

Maplewood, MO 63143

click here to visit Maven's website

Have a great week! xo

wonderful day

 

 

 

We had one last-minute cancellation, so our Here Comes the Sun class was even cozier than I planned. A great day though with two of the loveliest women. The next painting workshop will be about painting plants. It will be called Houseplants are for Lovers - details coming soon. Wishing you wonderful weeks! xo

Something's cookin'...

I've been posting a bit less and hardly checking my stats. I am delighted when 100 people check into my blog each day. Well, imagine my surprise when I saw that more than 300 people have looked at my blog today. What's going on? Kyle turning eight is momentous, but, really?

It turns out my cousin Erin's wedding is featured on Style Me Pretty - ooh la la! Style Me Pretty was so sweet to link to my blog. Welcome if you are just checking in for the first time!

If you happen to live in New Mexico and need an amazing photography company, all of the photos in the link are by husband and wife Kitty and Craig of Twin Lens Images.

To my fam - that's Faith in the photo up there! So fun! xo

100 journals

One of my goals for 2012 is to make 100 ephemera journals - or whatever you wanna call them. I'm trying to think of a new name for them, because trust me, the word "ephemera" does nothing for people. I'm leaning towards calling them fortune cookie journals. Here's why: You know when you open a fortune cookie and even though you don't really expect it to reflect your life, you secretly hope that it does and that it is going to give you some optimistic insight that you'll say was just a coincidence and "fun" to see, but deep down, you get to believe a little bit that the hope, dream, issue, challenge that you're thinking of might indeed be about to make a turn or get even better...all because of this little slip of mass produced paper? Well, I think my journals have a little speck of that magic in them too - between the collages all being one-of-a-kind and the beautiful mess of vintage and recycled papers that are on the inside, not to mention the writing, sketching, doodling, journaling that each owner will complete...well, I'm leaning toward "Fortune Cookie Journals".

 What do you think? I'm not totally sold on the name yet, very open to suggestions.

Anyways, they're not my big money maker, but they are my work through and through going out into the world. I sold every one I made in 2011, so I'm going to try to make 100 and see how they do. They will cost $42 each. I'm also going to wholesale a group of them. Do you own a little shop? Would you like to carry them? Wish me luck! And if you need a journal, please stay tuned...

I am in a little Valentines show this weekend - details tomorrow. xo

February is the new January

Curly Girl said it first and I couldn't agree more! Hi! How are you? Are you still with me? THANK YOU for checking in! We had a great month over here - lots to share.

First though, I wanted to share my sale. I spent A LOT of January thinking about my business and my art. When you're new to this, what do you do with the stuff you make? My skills are not so honed that I can just stop when I have inventory and not practice/make more. But I also want my work out in the world. Is selling it for less to get it into homes and hands "selling out" by artists' standards? At this point - for me - I just don't think so. I will be asking artists this throughout the year (yes, I'm working on my studio tour thursday lineup). But in the meantime, I know that I want my books and my paintings out there. Out. There.

So from now until they're sold, all of my 2011 journals and paintings are 50 percent off in my etsy shop. They are in perfect condition.

I'm so happy (and thankful) to be back here! xo

Oh what fun it is to say...

"I have a little show coming up at the Contemporary!" Oh, how I will miss dropping that into conversations!

 Show Me Etsy

Contemporary Art Museum

TONIGHT

6 to 9 p.m.

free admission

cash bar (bring canned goods for a drink ticket)

click here for more details! 

Hope to see you!!!

And to my out-of-town readers...it's all holiday all the time over here after tonight! Thanks for checking in even with all the self-promotion going on! xo

Learning lessons...

The artful blogging community is usually very positive and negatives are usually about personal things, not professional (it seems) so I hesitated to write this post. But then I decided that this experience is an important step in whatever direction this creative life of mine will take me. So here it is.

I had my first devastating show this weekend. I won't tell you where, but the photo above is only 1/4 of the room - filled with vendors. In my "square" I was the only vendor who made my things myself. Everyone else was connected to a home-party-sale system or a mass produced system. I think for the hosts, the sale was a wonderful community builder and this was great. But for me, well, I'm going to tell you what mistakes I made (and realized in hindsight).

1. I didn't call/email the hosts and ask specifically who else might be in the show. If I wasn't comfortable asking for a list of vendors, I could have most certainly asked what percentage of the vendors sold handmade items.

2. I made assumptions from the application. Since the letter and application read as if the show was juried, I assumed that the show was competitive. The application questions lead me to believe that this was a handmade vendor sale so I assumed that everything there would be handmade. Next time, I will email before submitting my payment. Another hint should have been that there was no wording, "Artist must be onsite to sell his/her own items..." This is a common expectation of shows that fit my work, and I should have noticed that this wording wasn't there.

3. I didn't question the table fee. The table fee was $100 which is quite high for handmade - maybe not for other kinds of sales, or larger booth sizes, but for an 8' space in gym for a 3-hour sale, this fee was high. I should have wondered who was able to pay this fee.

I don't have anything against the "host a party - earn free things" world. That model has provided thousands with financial freedom, flexibility in scheduling, independence. Yeah! But for me to walk into a show, compliment a volunteer on her sweater and have her point and say, "It was just $29 from that woman over there....". Well, that was how my day started and how it continued. I can't compete with $29 factory made.

The good thing that came of it all was that I stood there next to my creations and looked people in the eyes, said hello, answered questions when asked (I did receive some lovely compliments). Just over a year ago, I had never done this, and honestly I don't know if I could have done it. So yin and yang - lessons learned, lessons learning...

Back to the grind!

crunch time

 

 

 The art room...right now! Hope you're enjoying (embracing) your own chaos this week?! xo

kit-schy

I love the word "kitschy" so I thought my post title was pretty clever until I googled the spelling and learned that it can mean, "tasteless"....

I disagree and I'm leaving my title. One week to our Black Friday Sale! If you're local, I hope that you'll come. 

Last year, my artist trading card (ATC) kits sold out before lunch time. I couldn't believe it. So this year I'm selling ATC kits and Design Your Own Journal kits. We'll see how they do.

If you're not local, please be forewarned that posts next week will primarily be shameless self-promotion for our sale! Hope you have a great weekend! xo

Collage houses

 

Just a glimpse at one of the projects I teach in my Life Is A Collage class. I'm going to add this house project to my art party selection too because they are so so so fun to make! xo

Meet the roommates!

Art shows are funny, because as an artist, you're clearly there to share your work and (honestly) to make money. So it's not uncommon for a show to come and go, and for artists to not meet their colleagues or neighbors, even if they stood within feet of each other for two days in a row. That did not happen at Craft Out Loud! We were plenty busy, but we also had time to chat and it is my pleasure to introduce you to my neighbors from the show. I was very disappointed in my photographs from the weekend, so please do visit the website links - these three women are uber-talented:

Taylor Saleem

Taylor's business is called The Rare Bird and her jewelry is soul-ful. I'm not kidding (remember, my photos are mediocre). Birds are so trendy right now, right? Yes, but Taylor's are extra special. She has items ranging from $25 to $500+ and it is all a joy to behold. Her work is the kind where you see it and immediately someone you love comes to mind - I witnessed people connecting with her work for the whole show. (If you go to her etsy shop, check out the ring in her mast head....breathtaking!)

 

Laura Miquelon
Laura hand sews wool into beautiful figures, ornaments and dolls. She uses upcycled materials whenever possible and her holiday table is a feast for the eyes. I know that St. Louis already has a Queen of Cute, but Laura, seriously, could give her a run for her money. Keep an eye on her etsy shop as she hasn't added her winter holiday items yet. People would stop by her booth and start talking about what they wanted their winters or holidays to look like - her work makes you think of home, and cozy, and family and time. Beautiful.

Julie Donaldson

Finally, our last roommate was Jenny Donaldson and I don't have a decent picture to share. Please go check out her website. Jenny makes these oh-so-whimsical animals with clay, fires them and then collages them with various papers. They are so fun! The best part about being across from Jenny at the show was watching people interact with her figurines. People would walk into our room, look at her stuff and squint oh-so-slightly, not fully understanding what her artwork was. Then, they would walk closer (I think the color pulled them right in), pick one up and their eyes would light up. LIGHT UP I tell you (!) when they realized that there, underneath the art paper and the color, was their favorite animal, or a creature whose mouth could hold paperclips on a desk, or whose eyeballs were staring right at you. She only had a few turkeys (tis the season) and they sold immediately with people coming in for the rest of the day, "Are you the turkey woman?" So fun!

Thank you Taylor, Laura and Julie for a wonderful weekend! (And yes, I do plan to check out their studios in the future and share them with you here!) xo

wellnowthatwasjustatonoffun!

 

Craft Out Loud! could not have been more fun! I sold one painting and 22 journals. I cannot believe I didn't take more photos - I've never had so many books together all in one place. I was in the Spanish room (filled with its own artwork obviously...making the photos a little chaotic I believe) with three other artists who I'll introduce you to here in a day or so. 

Thank you New City School for this wonderful event! xo

Getting there...

 

  

Just a little sneak peek of some of the paintings I'll have for sale this weekend at Craft Out Loud! I'm painting all day today and making journals all day tomorrow. Great fun, but I have to be honest - I'm looking forward to slowing down just a bit next week! xo