Octoberfest!

My Etsy shop is finally reopened and I'm slowly but surely getting it restocked!
Right now I'm having an Octoberfest Sale...free US Shipping!

Also check out the list of other WIST stores participating in our sale

Tutorial Tuesday -CD Case Frame

Hello, another tutorial here!

Tutorial Tuesday -Swaps

Check out the post I made on the WIST blog this week
and let me know if you want to join in on the swap!

My Birthday

Isn't this the cutest cake? Saturday while Mike was at an auction, the kids made me stay in my studio while they baked me a cake. I love the way they decorated it with Playmobil guinea pigs eating out the words "Happy Birthday Mom". I was yummy too!
So yesterday was a good day. It had to be the coldest birthday I've had...only about 65 degrees. But it was a beautiful day to be out. At Henry Vilas Zoo my favs are the capybaras and the prairie dogs. so cute!

Then we had lunch and did some shopping. I found a novel I've been wanting. Unfortunately I couldn't wait and I stayed up most of the night reading the book! So I'm moving a bit slow today *Yawn*

Gotta get moving. Today is the last day of summer vacation for Emma and Ethan. School starts tomorrow and we still need to get a few things.
remember ......

Tutorial Tuesday -Bleach Stencil Tee

Check out the tutorial I wrote on the WIST blog

Tutorial Tuesday on WIST

I have a cute little tutorial on the Wisconsin Street Team blog. Please check it out here.

Being business minded

I am not a very business minded person. I have fun brainstorming packaging and display ideas but the nuts and bolts of business, no way! Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone to collage for business and marketing. I figure either way I would be when I am now, making art. Maybe I'd know better how to make a good living at it. I do think about what my other options are. Do I want to sell at art fairs forever? Do I want to teach more classes (I taught one so far)? Do I want to go more into designing for others? Should I follow through and illustrate the children's books I've already written? So many question marks!

I found this class while surfing the web. It is taught by Laura Bray of Katydid Designs:

Multiple Streams of Income:
An Online Course
Begins September 7, 2009

Attention Artists and Crafters!

Are you struggling to make a living doing what you love?
Do you feel like you are working all the time and getting nowhere?
Do you feel overwhelmed and confused about all the ways artists and crafters can make money?
Are you always jumping from one idea to the next without following through on anything?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, this online course is designed for you!
*****

Sounds like what I need! Maybe more information would help me figure out a direction? You'd think at my age I'd have a direction for goodness sake!
I you are also interested in learning to expand your art and craft options go here and get the class details.

We got egg!

Straight from the straw, dirt and all

All washed up

One of our ducks, not sure which, layed their first egg! The egg is a bit small and the yolk is a darker orange. I've never had a duck egg, but it was delicious! I scrambled it up so we could share it easily. Ethan thought it was the best scrambled egg he'd ever had!

Carnival Day

In the years I've volunteered at my local library, I have planned so many kids activities but this was the most challenging! How to have a free mini carnival with prizes for a very small amount of money?

I came up with 5 games, face painting, and the library director hired a gal to make balloon animals. Everyone loves balloon animals! We had goody bags for all and two gift baskets in a drawing.

Yesterday was the day, 50% chance of thunderstorms in the forecast! I woke to a dreary rainy morning. I had my art fair tent set up outside and out two of the games inside in the Library meeting room. Luckily the rain stopped, sun came out, and we had a great turnout! I was swamped the whole time doing face painting, so a good friend and "helper" took photos.

Each game booth was run by volunteer carnies (my kids and friends from school). It was fun but exhausting and I don't want to do it again in the near future!

Everyone loved the bean bag toss..this game I got from my brother and

all I did was paint a bulls-eye on it

Yes, the game was knocking plastic golf balls off tees with a water filled ketchup bottle!

It worked better than a squirt gun.

Me painting ants down his arm :-)

Moo Crew Feature

I am the featured WIST member (Wisconsin Street Team on Etsy) over on the Wist blog. Stop by my Etsy shop and look at what prints I have and then leave a comment here. One winner will be picked at random to receive their chosen print!

Yay! Free Art!

This weekend I'll be in Mount Horeb. My booth will be accross from Moonhill Mercantile, just before 3rd Street. Stop by and say "Hi!"

New necklaces

These are my new style of Doodle pendant. Each is still an original painted doodle, but these are done in pen and collaged onto cute little plastic tiles. I only have so many tiles, so each will be numbered and initialed. I haven't counted them up yet, but I have about 60 of each (square and round).
They hang from 18inch long cute ribbon cord thingies.

I luv'em!

Ok so they aren't on Etsy yet...I'll have them for sale this weekend in Mount Horeb, WI. Then on Etsy after.

Playtime

Alright so I finally got something done! These were quick snapshots I took outside under a tree..thus the dappled light. These were each done very intuitively without any real planning. Just a lot of messy playtime!An assemblage of my Doodle Birds on a vintage grater. Each bird image is cut from it's original paper then collaged with more paper on a small piece of wood and wired onto the grater.
*********

16x20 inch collage on canvas with cardboard, an old photo, and recycled and found papers.

Details

*********

11 x 14 inch collage on scrap mat board...slightly warped so I'll have to flatten it somehow.
*********

These last two are 9 x 11.5 inches collaged on scrap book board
leftover from a class I took last year

Happy 4th Everyone!!!!!

1. A display of Fireworks 2007, 2. Independence Morning, 3. Perspective George Washington Statue Independence Hall Philadelphia Pennsylvania History America USA 1776 Colonial Old Style Flag President, 4. Happy Independence Day USA, 5. Long may She Wave!, 6. Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, 7. WWII Memorial Fountain, 8. Fireworks #1, 9. Raising the flag on Iwo Jima, 10. Lincoln Memorial, Early Light, 11. Let freedom ring, 12. manhattan memorial lights, 13. Fighting Terrorism, 14. Victoria Harbour Fireworks, 15. Mount Rushmore, 16. mournument

Swap

I just sent this out yesterday for a Recycled/No Spend Dotee doll swap. She is made from fused plastic bag "fabric". This nice blue is from a Best Buy and a Festival Foods bag. The lighter colored face is a white bag layered over a blue bag. She turned out larger than I planned but I like her.

The plastic "fabric" sews fine on the machine but it is difficult to hand sew. So, I did have some trouble hand stitching the face to the body. I used netting left from our wedding almost 17 yrs ago. The yarn pieces are from an old wool sweater I unravled and dyed with Kool Aid. The rest is just bits and pieces I had around.

Etsy Update

Please click on the right side to see the new things I listed on Etsy.

So is this a small apple or a huge strawberry?

A Menagerie

Yes, we have another critter!

While Ethan and I were at Mom and Son Cubscout camp this weekend, Mike and Emma brought home a free kitten. She is so tiny and sweet. The problem...I'm very allergic to cats. So this cute little gal is an outside cat. We live in the middle of nowhere on 10 acres, so I guess it is OK. Hopefully she can be taught not to hurt the ducks????


So this is Tux, short for Teeny Tuxedo the 14th. She's out 14th critter!

Back from Camp

We (Ethan and I) just got back from a fun/intersting weekend at Mom and Son Scout Camp. It was nice to spend a whole weekend with him, but odd too. I missed having us all together.

400 moms with their Cubscout or Boyscout sons camping and doing activities together. We walked miles and miles. Hauling our stuff in, to all the activities and back, dining hall for every meal, and hauling everything out! I realize now that I didn't take very many photos...we were too busy.


We sang silly songs around a campfire and there was even a bugler who really needs more practice!

We did have fun though. We shot a BB guns, tie-dyed shirts, went out on Bear Paw Lake in a row boat, learned about camp cooking, made sand candles, watched a blacksmith (Ethan helped forge an S hook), handled many snakes, etc...

I am happy to back to a comfortable couch and tonight a soft bed!

We also had a surprise when Ethan and I returned...more on that later

New Work

I don't usually make too many large format pieces, small comes easier for me. I think this one turned out really well though. It is 16 x 20 inch on a wood box with a slightly dimensional bird and half eggs. The photo is dark I know, it was rainy the other day when I took the photos.
I cast the eggs in plaster, covered them in paper from a chemistry book and paint. Each egg is layered with stitched dyed used dryer sheets and more chemistry book pages.

So far this is untitled.

Snail Mail Goodness

Meet Berri, my new springtime dotee from Suzi. Isn't she sweet!

Just look at all this stuff! I can't wait to use the fabric! And a chicken timer *grins*

The wonderful yellow plush bird was my Pay It Forward goodie from Jenny here. She sent yummy chocolates (gone) and bird note paper (I already used a lot of it). See how nice her bird looks on my shelf! I never got any comments on this PIF post, but I'm trying again. Go to this post and comment if you want to join. I'll make you something!!!!!

Dragon Arts in Deforest WI

6x6 inch on cut game board

8x10 inch on recycled container board

approx 9 x 12 inch on hardcover book

6x6 inch on a cut game board

I have been so so busy the last two weeks! The kids had a bunch of school field trips and other end of the year fun. I sold so much at Sturgeon Bay, I had to work like a mad woman to get ready for tomorrow! I have a bunch of new work showing for the first time Yay!


In addition to the art fair there is a car show, a plant sale, library book sale, and more! Fun for everyone! Stop by and say "Hi!" if you are in the area.