Rambling Heather
Posted on May 3, 2009
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Great post by Heather about what she makes sure to have on hand for craft shows. Excellent list & good reminder, too, since I have quite a few coming up as well. Heather is a hot glass artist, painter, aesthetician & jewelry designer. You can find her jewelry and hand-painted ribbons at her Artfire Shop.
Meet Michelle & Michabella Creations
Posted on May 2, 2009
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I am a sucker for bird-themed stuff. I have no fewer than 2 bird necklaces, a couple purses, journals, stencils & rubber stamps. OK. So jewelry isn’t quite “my thing” but Michelle at Michabella Creations makes some nice stuff like the birdie earrings on the left.
You can see what she’s up to at her blog where she writes about jewelry (of course!), and her crazy life as a SAHM, or follow her on Twitter.
Lori Anderson Designs
Posted on May 1, 2009
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Lampwork beads… lampwork glass… It’s gorgeous & shiny & dangerous! OK. I don’t necessarily know first-hand how dangerous but working with glass rods & insane heat from a torch? Yeah. Call me klutzy but I think I would burn off my fingerprints within 10 minutes of my first lampworking session.
Lori Anderson, however makes really pretty things out of glass & beads. Since she recently discovered lampworking, she’s converting a shed in her back yard into a full-fledged lampworking studio. (Jealous!) Hope she gives us some more pictures of the work-in-progress.
A Touch of France in Brooklyn
Posted on April 30, 2009
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Miriam of Angelshair makes whimisical illustrations from her home in Brooklyn, NY. I think she originally hails from Paris (France, that is) and she does have that French sensibility showing in her work. You can find her at Angel’s Hair where she blogs and on Etsy where she sells prints of her work & other fun stuff.
TiLT Creations – Sweet Bags
Posted on April 29, 2009
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TiLT Creations – hailing from Michigan (where I grew up!) makes some lovely handbags. This one caught my eye. She calls it a “mini duffle” and looks like it would be great for a trip to the gym or if you knit (I applaud you if you do!) it looks like it’ll hold a few skeins of yarn & knitting needles no problem!
She also has a craft/life blog where she has a “Wordless Wednesday” feature. This past week’s was rather freaky… I don’t want the picture on my blog so you’re going to have to head on over to hers to see it… *shudder*
Scrunching a few things in this one
Posted on April 27, 2009
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So things have settled enough for me to realize that I have overbooked myself in May. I’m hosting/teaching an ATC Make & Swap at the Ben Robertson Community Center in Kennesaw on May 5th, selling at the Hatch Market in Griffin, GA and two smaller art shows in Marietta – one at an apartment complex & another in Marietta Square at the very end of the month. I’ll post details soon.
Just when I thought things were going to get a tad easier. OH, and did I mention I’m running full speed ahead with a brand new offering? Yeah – It’s gonna rock, but I don’t want to spill the beans too much. If you join my mailing list, you’ll be one of the first to know!
To get myself moving (since I have a hard time getting stuff done on my own) I’m doing a few new things. I’m a part of a “Success Team” run by a fabulous lady – where a group of folks get together to share their dreams & we all band together to help each other out with ideas & accountability. I’m also taking the “Complete Idealist Blisness Action Camp” from Artella, and lastly, I’m being NAGged by the ProNagger, Rachel. I’m getting stuff done & it makes me feel good!
And as a lil’ bonus, Artella’s got another really cool class coming up. It’s called ” Make Change with Your Muse!: Mixed Media Art Projects to Attract Prosperity and Change in Your Life” and not only includes all the course materials but a goodie bag full of ephemera & stuff to use for your art via snail mail! Everyone loves snail mail, right? And if you sign up by May 3, you get $20 off for being a part of the pilot group.
I love Marney’s teaching style & so far all the e-courses I’ve taken (two to date) have been majorly helpful.
The Tree Fiasco
Posted on April 20, 2009
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oops.
I swear I have a good excuse.
You see, this Tree – a red oak – was uprooted during a horrible storm with winds reaching 75mph last Monday April 13th (tree with a capital T since it’s 100 year life-span and 15-ton weight sort of make it a Tree). It fell in the direction of our neighbor’s house. It did not land on said neighbor’s house (that would have been bad for them, but easy for insurance to cover). Instead the Tree got tangled up in a pine about 1/2 the girth of the Tree and stayed there all week while the pine slowly kept bending under the weight.
All week our neighbors did nothing while we were stuck trying to figure out how to take care of this Tree. Insurance wouldn’t touch it since no buildings were damaged. Our neighbors wouldn’t touch it because it was “our Tree” although the law in GA says that what falls on your land is your problem…
Four tree service quotes later we found a service that would take it down for $1200 LESS than everyone else was quoting and wouldn’t completely screw up our lawn with a crane. It came down on Thursday. I suppose it would have been sooner if a) the Tree actually fell on our neighbor’s house and b) if there weren’t 17 kazillion other trees in the Atlanta area that fell.
Hubs and I ended up borrowing money from my dad to pay for this tree removal since we were not prepared for this in the least. It’s scary when you know something needs to be done about a precarious situation but you don’t have the funds to accomplish it. The Tree came down on Thursday, and the large parts went to a craftsman. I’m glad the bulk of that gorgeous red oak went to a good use.
Where that huge tree stood for 100+ years is now a bare patch of earth with roots sticking out of the ground. The last barrier between us & our neighbors has fallen and we’re not too happy about that. How does the saying go….? Good fences make good neighbors? Well, we’re going to put one up. As soon as we have the money.
We were supposed to drive up to New Jersey for Pascha (Greek Easter) on Thursday but that’s when the tree service folks came to remove it. So Easter was downsized… I made some killer lamb chops, but nothing could possibly compare to what my family had without us…
So it’s been a rough week, and I’m still coming down from it… I have 3 shows in May as well as my first Tiny Art Make & Swap class at the local community center, and I have a feeling I have overbooked myself. I’ll try to make it here more often but I can’t promise.
Send some vibes this way if you can – I’ll need all the positive energy I can get to push through the rest of this and next month.
Move over Copic…
Posted on April 2, 2009
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I’ve found a new favorite pen. It’s the Pitt Artist pen. I picked one up with a .5mm tip the other day and absolutely fell in love with the super-black india ink it lays down. Smooth writing at all angles and it’s SUPER black. Problems I’ve had with Copic Multiliners is that the black is a so-so black… I’ll dig up a few of my copics and do a comparison at some point this week when the rain isn’t blocking the sun… Photos just look absolutely crappy with artificial light.
Teachin’ summer…
Posted on March 31, 2009
Filed Under Creativity, Teaching | 1 Comment
This summer I’m teaching 2 classes at the local parks & rec! It’ll be lots of fun – I’m really looking forward to it!
- Intro to Blogging: How to use WordPress.com to set up and maintain your own blog.
$49 for Kennesaw Residents- Saturday, June 20, 2009 10:30 AM
- Saturday, August 8, 2009 10:30 AM
- Tiny Art Make & Swap: Learn Mixed-Media Techniques, make ATCs and trade ‘em at the end of the night!
$15 + $7 supply fee- Tuesday, May 5, 2009 6:15 PM
- Wednesday, August 12, 2009 6:15 PM
You can register for these classes at the Kennesaw Parks & Rec Online Catalog.
It’s Tax Time!
Posted on March 30, 2009
Filed Under oops | 7 Comments
Whee.
Shall I expand on how enthusiastic I am?
At least my sister-in-law does our taxes for free, but she needs us to come in before the end of the week.
I have a year’s worth of invoices, sales tax receipts, expenses and junk to wade through – TONIGHT. Why don’t I just keep track of it during the year like a conscientious business person? Right – I’m a big scatterbrained goof who always puts things off ’till the last minute.
It’s already 4 months into the new year and although I’ve resolved to keep track of everything better than I did last year, I have yet to implement a system beyond a big plastic shoebox for receipts.
Perhaps this is the week I finally get myself organized…
perhaps… 
If you’re feeling particularly generous, you can help pay my 2008 tax bill. Buy something here or order a custom journal. As a thank you for reading this blog, I’m offering 5% off every order from now ’till April 14th (including custom orders). Just mention the code “IHateTaxes” in the notes to seller field or your custom order form.
*Photo by Steve Woods
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