just another manic monday

Today has been mostly spent by doing laundry, buying road trip snacks, getting Sookie's nails clipped, cleaning, and finishing up some projects!!! I can't reveal them yet, but this is what I've been doing for most of the evening.

My dinning room table has looked like this for a few days now. Now that I'm finished, it can go back to the beautiful table cloth and decorations that are usually on it!
We're leaving tomorrow for Louisiana, so I may not be posting for a while. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

New Year Resolutions

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth! What a joyful season!!!

I am so sorry for my lack of updating. The end of the first semester is always a busy one. This year, however, was easier that past years, and I've actually been creating during my Christmas break!

Big A and I were able to finish many Christmas orders, which included 2 aprons, 2 stools, a scarf, and a plaque painting! Here is my friend Susan Jablonski's mother in law in her apron! She looks adorable in it!!! Yay!!!

I will have pictures of the other products soon. I am also working on some necklaces and charms in addition to my aprons so I can hopefully get them to Gallery 116 soon!

This week we are leaving for Big A's family's house in Louisiana. We are spending New Years with them, so I thought I would go ahead and post some of my resolutions for 2010!

*Get my Etsy page up and running comfortably.

*Sew and make aprons, onsies, and other fun things!

*Create unique charms and necklaces.

*Make more growth charts, door hangings, and name designs.

*Create more journal pages, experimenting with new styles, mediums, and techniques.

*Convince Big A to get me a YuDu home screen printing system!

*Finally get a booth at the Freedom Festival, or any other Art Fair. I've been wanting to do this for years!!! I just need to make enough inventory to justify the fees! :)

*Do as many art workshops as possible...there are places in Tennessee and Washington that I would love to go to!!!

*Do a Give Away to boost more readers on this blog!!!

Well, those are my crafty goals!!! What are your New Year Creation Resolutions?

Key Chains!

I am doing a small art show at school with the other art teacher at work. We've both just pulled together some things we've made, and included holiday items as well! I've been making these little keychains that are made on wooden dominos, and they've turned out super cute! They even have designs on the back, but it's hard to show both sides at the same time ;) I'm selling them for $5.00 a piece!

Meghan S., these are for you! Let me know which one(s) you want, and i'll take them out before tomorrow! Enjoy! :D

Junk Doodle

I was reading over at Doodlers Anonymous about how hard it can be to just start working. I have often times been so intimidated by a sketchbook, with it's big blank pages, and I am afraid to put anything on it!!! The site suggested to do a junk doodle. Instead of working on my sketchbook, I found a random space to work that didn't seem so overwhelming.

The point is to feel free to work on something that doesn't seem so permanent. So, since the kids are doing paper mache right now, I had a lot of excess on hand!

I've always struggled with drawing people, so I thought I'd do some experimentation on a less permanent surface!!!
The newspaper actually make a cool background, I think.
I love my ponytail girl :) she's not at all finished, but really still look'n good ;)
I call this next one Darla. :) I don't know why, and she doesn't have arms or legs yet. She will...still working
Sooooo, I challenge you to work on an unconventional space! JUST CREATE!! Remember, the goal is not to have a goal! Just start somewhere! PLAY!!! Please email me your results! I'd love to share them with everyone else!!!

The Goal

I love this quote. Most of my art is approached this way. Yes, I have a general idea of what I'm going to work on, but it mostly all comes together on it's own! I think the freedom of experimentation and having no expectation is so important!!! And that's what this weeks Gallery 116 class was like.

Thank you, Susan, for having your camera there, and for sending me these pictures of your finished projects! Susan, and her sister Colette, came to class together. We had a great time, but neither of them left with a completely finished project. But, creation took it's course! Here is Susan's finished piece! It's a little hard to read, but it says "Nothing Great is created without enthusiasm."
One of the girls in our class was in high school. I was so thrilled that she came! She told me, "I knew I would be coming by myself, but I wasn't going to miss it! I'm bringing friends back next time!" What a joy! Since she is somewhat familiar with these processes through her art classes at school, her idea came to her quickly, and she left home with this finished product.
Here is Colette with her canvas! Susan sent me this picture, and said that Colette's husband wrote "help, my wife can't stop working on this project :)" So exciting!
Susan also told me about her daughter's Girl Scout group that she would love to introduce this to. She tried it out with them this week, and her daughter, Claire, loved it! She had so much fun that she had to make another one after the group left!!!
Thank you, ladies, for sharing your art with us! I had a great time, and look forward to creating with you again soon! ...Possibly making ornaments on Dec. 8?! :)

Sketchbook Pages and such

Whew! Things have been crazy! I will definitely try to to update a little more frequently with my projects! Big A and I had a busy weekend last week, and I spent most of the week trying to recover!

The mixed media class at Gallery 116 this week was amazing! We had so much fun working, talking, and hanging out! We even decided that we should do an ornament class in December for the holidays! They've got a new blog up and going as well, so go take a look here.

Here's a few sketchbook pages that I worked on at school with the kids.
This is The Old Man and the Strawberry! The Alfred Einstein face is on the back of a silver strawberry. I covered both of the strawberries with braille paper from school, so they even feel like strawberries!
I've also been working on a few scarves. This is a weird picture, but I really like the jewel tones! They're very in right now, and I can't get enough.
And, here's another name painting. I LOVE this one! The giraffe pattern matches her bedding :)
Big A made 2 stools yesterday while I was at my sister's wedding shower. They are super cute, and I'm painting them for the clients this week.
Well, my Etsy is almost ready. I'm not sending you there yet because I only have 1 thing posted :) Hopefully soon though!

Growth Chart

Today was my friend Megan's little girl's 1st Birthday party!!! It was cupcake themed, and super cute! Avery looked adorable in her princess cupcake dress, and really got into her presents and her first taste of cake!!! We had a great time celebrating this occasion! I can't believe it's been a year since we first met Avery Kate at the hospital!!!

I made them a growth chart so they can document all of the big steps they'll have as she grows up!!!
Happy Birthday, Miss Avery!!!

splatter paint!!!

I teach 7th and 8th graders. I never thought that I would, it just happened that way, but these little people are far more entertaining than I ever could have imagined! They just make me laugh! (Yes, sometimes they make me want to go home early, but I think that happens with any job :).

I was approached by a student a few weeks ago asking if I would participate in the "What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar" segment that they were doing on their CTV show. I said yes, and I agreed to being splatter painted after school.

Now, when I agreed to this, my idea of splatter paint was the "confetti" version that I use in class. It is a very mild version of splatter paint.

That is not what went down.

We recorded our begining segment of the show, I changed and we headed outside. On the count of three, they splattered.

One.

Two.

Three...

And this is what happened!!! They had a BLAST!!!! I finally had to yell, "OK, we're done!" And as I'm talking, paint is entering my mouth :p

Here are the crazy kids who did it!!! These are also the same kids who helped me get my paint soaked clothes into trash bags, cleaned up the mess, and even helped me into my car, putting trash bags down first so I didn't ruin the seats!!! I teach fabulous kids.

In other news, here is some of what I accomplished over fall break. You can see a current project in the background :)
My friend Rhonda asked me to make a name painting for her adorable 3 year old daughter. Big A and I LOVE Ashlyn, and love talking and playing with her at church. She is extremely articulate, and just super cute!!!
Ashlyn was very pleased with her painting, and when asked what it said, she replied, "I love Shelb." (who is her older sister!)
Tonight I'm teaching another class at Gallery 116. I might have to go down to just 1 class per month because class sizes have been so small, so if you're close, PLEASE come to the class!!!!

Apron Complete!

Ta-Da! Today was my first day of Fall break, and this was one of my finished projects! I LOVE this apron! It's so fall and festive! I'll be making some half aprons as well, but this was a great start!
And, again, I'm working on Etsy. It's a little confusing, so in the mean time, if you're interested in an apron, or anything else, just email me!!!

Aprons

I've been working on this...
and this...
And she has been helping me with these... (This is Ellie. She is my sister's dog, who is just staying with us for a while...I need to post a pic of Sookie, who DOES live with us) :)
And I've made this...
Here is my apron with zip off towel! Makes it easy to dry your hands while cooking, cleaning, or just doing house stuff!
I bought some fall fabric, and will hopefully have some cute aprons up on Etsy by the end of my fall break! If you're interested, send me an email to be at the top of my list! :)

Dog Portraits

So, I'm currently making a cake for a baby shower this weekend, but I'll have to show pics later! Big A and I are heading out of town for a wedding reception, and are trying to make a little weekend out of it! I'm super excited!

In the mean time, I'll share more work! When I was in college, I made custom dog portraits and payed for my living expenses with the money! I started it by making one of Daisy, our family dog from growing up, and the ball just got rolling from there! I have recently spoken to some people who are interested in them as well, and they will actually make great Christmas presents! Just email me if you are interested!

The Story of the Scarves

Once upon a time there was girl who fell in love with a scarf. She loved the way it felt around her neck, kept her warm on blustery days, and could be tied in so many adorable ways! The girl loved her scarf so much that she decided to share her wealth with her sisters and mom for Christmas. As the girls adorned their necks with their scarves it became a Kodak moment which perfectly captured their joy and beauty.

Since the picture of the closer-than-close group sat above the fireplace, and soon became a photo enjoyed by all, the girl decided that it must be recreated into a masterpiece!!! And so the process began...
After much hard work, the finished product was complete! A perfect commemoration of love, friendship, joy, and scarves :)

The picture was hopefully to be hung and sold for others to experience the closeness of family brought together by scarves.

The End.

Oil Paintings

Whew! What a week! The gloomy weather, dreary days, and insane amount of rain has really taken a toll on me! I am a sunshine person. I feel blissfull in the rays, and am energized by the brightness. As fall is arriving, I am still waiting for the gorgeous stained glasses-esq leaves that will transform into vibrant beauty. In the mean time, the cloudy days are making it hard to get out of bed!
School is about to get busy as we are entering into the 2nd 9 weeks of school. I have 1 week left with my current kiddos, and I must say, I am really going to miss them when they leave!!!!

In keeping with showing off more of my work, here are a few of my oil paintings. Most of these were done through college, grad school, and somewhat recently.

I love. Love. LOVE Mini Coopers! They are just so cute and sassy!!! I adore this painting, and will find it hard to part with it!
This is my parent's 25th wedding anniversary gift. Yes, it is not supposed to have faces. That's the beauty of it! It's also a theme you might continue to see... :)

This next one is hanging at the top of our stairs! THIS is the fall that I am looking forward to!

I painted this portrait of my Grandpa and he bought it from me! For an artist in college, that was a HUGE deal to me, plus the honor of painting my Grandpa and him acknowledging me as a "real" artist! It's called "Joy," which completely sums up my Grandpa. And yes, he really does have that much hair. He's where I get my curls from! :D

And the dominos. A still life project, and a reflection of my family's love for games!

In other news, I'm hopefully going to be hanging some stuff in a local cafe. If you've never been to Tulip Noir for brunch, you need to go!!! They have amazing Eggs Benedict!

I also had another class at Gallery 116 this week, and Maria, Megan and I had a great time creating! Please come check us out!

Children's art

I thought I'd put up some of previous artwork bit by bit. Since my sister is due with my first nephew in just a few weeks, I thought I'd start with children's art! Ironically, I don't have a picture of his name design that I made for his nusery! As soon as I can get my hands on one, I'll add it. So, let's get this things started!

Here is a princess castle for Mackayla's room. She hangs all of her princess outfits under it! So cute!

The next few are from my niece's nurserys! Here are Mallory's letters for her room.

And the canvas over her crib.

Here's one for Alyssa. They both matched their beddings.

This is Phoebe's frog!

Aaaaahhhh, the stools! I love the stools because they are a joint project with Big A and I. He is a master craftsman :) and loves to build! We talk about design, I draw a picture, and he whips up these bad boys! We've had the joy to make one for his best friend's son, Anthony, who's still a bit small, but has something to aspire to, and for Mallory and Alyssa.

I love the kid stuff! It's so fun to personalize things! Please feel free to email me if you are interested in pricing for a stool, or any other custom order!!!!