Back to school

The kids and I are on day three of a complete cleaning and re- organizing of the classroom in preparation to start school on September 2. Time management is not my strength. I thought for sure two solid days of work would complete the task. But alas...we continue. Perhaps by the end of the day today we'll be done.


The UPS man has been a frequent visitor with boxes of supplies arriving daily. I mourn the fact that full days in my studio are coming to an end for the year but the kid's excitement for the learning that lies ahead is infectious!


In celebration I am offering a BACK TO SCHOOL special in the Etsy shop. August 28-September 2 all $12 post earrings are 1/2 off with any other purchase. (applies to any $12 posts already in my shop)

A confession...

...I am an avid doodler. As a child such behavior was called play. As a teenager amoebas and flowers adorned my notebooks and I was called a daydreamer. As a young adult it may have been said that I was wasting time.
Now, at 41, I preempt any negative labeling by telling people I am a trained artist and I am creating charming, hand-colored, one of a kind, handmade stickers with custom backgrounds and high quality, top of the line, colored pencils ;-)



But in my heart...I'm still playing ;-)

To bead, or not to bead?

That was the question.

Then I noticed (and where had I been?) the interest there seems to be in artisan made beads. So I'm experimenting with beads. Stamped beads. Swirled beads, rolled beads and spacer beads. I like where I'm headed.


I don't have a handy-dandy bead roller yet so everything is totally rolled/shaped by hand. I am quite picky about the holes being cleanly pierced through and have purchased some long, sharp needles that do the job quite well.


I will probably have some for sale in the shop soon and at New Freedom Fest next month.

I'm preparing for New Freedom Fest coming up on September 19. (gosh - thats just a month away!) I am so thankful to have this great little crafts market/celebration of small town America right in my own home town! Its a full day of art, crafts, food, kids games and music. The day ends with an outdoor movie on the town green beginning around 8:30 pm.


Last year I ran the kids craft tent and wow - do kids like to make beaded bracelets! This year I'll participate as a vendor. (I'll have lots of new jewelry, beads, buttons and maybe some other surprises for sale.)

We're located an hour south of Harrisburg, PA and an hour north of Baltimore, MD. Right off of Rt. 83. Easy to find! Check the link to get the event schedule and a map if you're interested in attending.

All photos in this post courtesy of New Freedom Heritage.

Home Sweet Home (ah but Maine sweet Maine!)

A long day of driving brought us home yesterday after two amazing weeks in Maine.


We sailed, we swam, we watched bald eagles fish. We visited the Farnsworth in Rockland, paying tribute to Andrew Wyeth. We played UNO and laughed hysterically and ate really fresh seafood.


But for the most part, we dedicated ourselves to taking it slow and keeping it simple, our only "splurge" was...time. I have found that for me, a constant stream of information and everything available 24 hours/day does not produce happiness, better children or creativity. In a way, its as though MORE (of everything and anything) stifles what is good and LESS allows it to surface. Ok...I think I'm onto something here.



My etsy shop will stay closed until August 12.

All photos in the post courtesy of my daughter Ema.

Perfect Timing?

Amidst a day of laundry, packing, maps and the lashing down of boats it seemed like a perfect time to stop and do a t-shirt transfer project! (Ok, you want the truth? The truth is I've been telling my daughter I would help her with this for two weeks and wanted to complete it for her before we left for vacation.)


My son is developing such an interesting style to his drawing. He did these little houses about a month ago. My daughter decided they would work just great along the bottom hem of a t-shirt. We scanned the images and printed them out on Avery Inkjet Transfer paper. We came up with a fantastic finished project!

We are headed to Maine tomorrow for a two week holiday. I will struggle being away from the studio but I think the distance will make me concentrate on things I have been neglecting like drawing and reading...and dreaming. I expected to come home refreshed and energized!

Fresh Air

We made an impromptu decision to go camping at a nearby state park and because we have pre-packed camping supplies all we really needed to do was pack a change of clothing and some food and we were off. (My husband would have me note here that it took him 1 HOUR to get the sailboat and kayak on top of the car. Credit where credit is due.)

Water.
Blue Heron .
No phone.
Just what I wanted (needed).



All photos courtesy of my daughter, Ema. I'll soon be featuring her work in a series of photo transfer jewelry.