Custom Order - Newborn Twins Card

Studio Wall

Ornaments!

I had fun painting some glass ornaments for the last fair. I'd love to be able to make them and sell them online, but I'm not too confident about shipping them out! I'm sure people ship glass every day, but it would make me incredibly nervous! I made about twenty, but here's a small sample... They really make me happy, and I wouldn't mind all that much if they don't sell and I get to keep them all! haha

Side Project - Lamps!

I have coveted some beautiful red lamps that my mother-in-law has for a while now. They look like this:


While my lamps looked like this: (UGLY yard sale finds, and one of them was missing a shade!)


So with a little primer:


And some red spraypaint:


Add some new rounded shades, and yippeee! Matching lamps that are similar to the original but super cheap to create! The flowers are SOO GONE... HOORAY for "new" lamps! :)

Some photos from stART on the Street - Worcester, MA - 2009

The weather was absolutely fantastic! It was actually kind of hot out, and the street was packed with people from the time the fair opened till much later than it was supposed to be over! The tents went pretty much as far as you could see in both directions down the middle of the street. I was only able to take a quick look at a few booths, but everything I saw was amazing!! I wish I had more time to shop!!!


My dad, Ed, of Ed's Old House Three Deckers.... The number one question asked, probably about a hundred times throughout the day: "What are those made of?" The answer, folks... scrap wood, or "recycled wood" as my dad likes to say... (but you wouldn't know it, would ya!?) ;)


Some Worcester police men were totally enthralled with my dad's work... You can see some of my stuff over on the right. About four different people popped into my booth to take photos of that pink onesie with the pink cupcake on it (hanging on the right)... It made me laugh everytime. Someone finally bought it ;)


Hey, it's me! (and my new haircut haha!!) I threw on some random t-shirt the morning of the fair, while I was in a huge rush to get out the door. Turned out it was HUGE and didn't fit me at all! Luckily, an awesome stART volunteer was walking around before it started selling these tees... I tracked her down, bought one, and put it on!!! She saved my day!! :) (The shirt rocks, by the way... I LOVE IT!)


Finally, our booth. Dad was amazing enough to get a new tent for us (after the last tent fiasco where it completely broke into pieces the morning of the last fair...). The new one was brown, but the white top from my old one fit perfectly... Sweet! It looked great and was a breeze to set up! (and take down)

I had a great time spending the day with my dad, seeing family and friends, and meeting all the people that came in! Can't wait for the next one! Visit stART on the STREET's website for more information on upcoming events! See you then :)

Birthday Wishes!

Today my son turns four! We'll be celebrating for the next few days, but I wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about you :) I still have some custom orders to work on, and piles of news to share with you!
In the next few days I'll be sharing a bunch of photos and telling all about my time at stART on the Street that took place last Sunday. It really was a great day!

Still to come:
- debut of handpainted glass ornaments!
- new 3D card designs!
- Halloween!
- more screenprinting!
- new shrinky dink jewelry!
- FUN!!!! :)


Stay tuned! And for now, I'm off to the birthday party :)

New Shrinky Dinks!

I bought some white shrink film this week, in hopes to have some cool new necklaces for the craft fair...I'm not sure that's going to happen for tomorrow, since I'm running out of time, but definetly for the next one! (I always seem to start new projects at the last minute... that's when I get my best ideas! I guess you have to take the inspiration when it comes haha) Anyway, I've never worked with the white kind of shrink plastic before... I'm not sure how I like it, but I made a necklace for myself that I LOVE! :)

Here's a mini-step-by-step:

draw out the designs with a sharpie...


cut them out and make sure to remember to PUNCH THE HOLES!


preheat the oven to around 300 degrees... put the designs on a cut up paper bag...

Here is where I made a mistake and actually had to scrap this batch (which is unfortunate because I loved the designs)... I should have put another piece of paper bag on top of the cut-outs so they didn't curl so much and stick together (D'oh!!) The photo is cool though lol


take two: I tried again and the paper bag on top worked! (yahoo!)


I added some jump rings and a chain, and voila! CUTENESS :)

the end.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

I will be at stART on the STREET tomorrow - Sunday September 19 - from 11am to 5pm. It takes place on Park Ave. in Worcester, MA (near Elm Park). Check out the stART website for more info!!
Should be a great day filled with music, food, art, and crafts! Come out and say hi! :)

I'm sharing a booth with my dad, Ed of Ed's Old House Three Deckers...

Doodles

Starting the Glue...

Glue, glue, everywhere..... I wonder if it will ever dry!

Trying Paper Mache!

I've had this project in mind for weeks... I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, but I'm trying anyway :) I've sculpted a couple ornaments and a doll from newspaper and masking tape, and I'm going to paper mache and paint over them... Here's my progress so far on the girl...

Faces - 2007

The Big Clean - Phase One

I spent about two hours last night finding my desk... Oh hey! There it is!! :)


I also started gathering up some supplies that were spread around the house and started putting them together in bins... Imagine that! The prettiest one by far is the box of ribbons... I mean seriously, who could look at this and not be inspired to do something colorful! ;)

Doodles

This Week's Custom Cards

Eric Carle Museum and More Custom Work

I took my son to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art the other day. It's in Amherst, MA. I'm sure you know Eric Carle's work, even if you don't recognize his name... He's the author and artist of many great children's books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, among countless others. The artwork for the Hungry Caterpillar is on display until September 6 to celebrate Carle's 80th birthday, and I'm so glad I was able to see it! He uses a process of layering tissue paper, and the pieces are very delicate so they can't be on display all the time. I recommend checking it out if you can before the exhibit closes!



The museum also houses the artwork of other picture book artists, which rotate every six months. I saw the work of Tomie de Paola who wrote and illustrated some books that really touched me and I remember reading them as a kid, like "The Art Lesson" and "Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs." Seeing his artwork for the books, and especially his non-book art was awesome!



Also in the gallery was the amazingly detailed watercolor and ink work of E.H. Shepard who illustrated the classic Winnie the Pooh stories.
The museum also has a great library where the books are sorted by artist... and a huge art studio where kids and adults can make projects! It was a really great day and we'll definetly be back for more visits!




I also just finished some personalized bookmarks for a customer. I think they came out cute!

Hour and a Half - Happy September!

Did a little more on my painting today. Its going painfully slow because I don't have alot of time. I can't work on it at night (which is when I like to work!) because of a poor lighting situation. I guess I should invest in some lamps! That's all for now.. I'm currently working on about eight custom projects for different people, so back to work I go! By the way.... Fall is here...