Swap Project!

I wrote about participating in Kimberly Law's "Fabric of Nature" ATC swap, here.  I made this little homage to the sea, all out of fabric (no paper allowed!), per her swap guidelines:

She challenged us further, once we received all of the other artists' swaps in return, to figure out a way to display them all together.  Wanting to keep with the 'Nature' theme, I envisioned some sort of twiggy frame to house them.  I planned to go out in the yard and gather fallen branches and wire something together....and then I remembered I had this twig house-shaped planter out in the garage: PERFECT!

I arranged them all together like a tiny patchwork quilt and fastened them to the frame.  Amy's more vividly colored felted creation (it's awesome!) is in the eave at the top, and the darker green signage I'm adding at the bottom balances the color.  The rest, mainly in creams and ecru with little hints of color, are grouped together in the middle.  I just love it!  And I LOVE all of the beautifully crafted little treasures... each so detailed, each so different.

Here's a closer look at the scrumptious, tiny 'Nature' creations that were sent to me:

Top: Karla Jackson.  Middle: Terri Heinz, ArtfulAffirmations.
Bottom: Liz Waring, LuluLizInLaLaLand.

Top: Becky Swartzlander, RebeccaRoseDesigns.  Middle L: Marlene, UniquelyElla.
Middle R: Kimberly Laws,  ArtJoyStuff.  Bottom: Marsha Mees, TatteredChick.

Top: Amy Bauer, on Flicker.  Middle: Jewels Welsh, JustTickety-Boo.
Bottom: Carolyn Huber.

Thanks, everyone, for a great swap!

Proud Mama!

Last week my daughter had her h.s. senior photos taken.  Most of her friends had theirs done in the fall, so I scrambled to find a photographer that could fit her in before school is out, wanting to include photos with her graduation announcements.  I literally googled "Senior Photographers, Portland" and pawed through page after page of possibilities....none of whom impressed me that much, or their prices were so astronomical I quickly moved on.  About 5 or 6 pages in, I stumbled upon a gal who just started her business fairly recently, and the photos in her relatively small online gallery took my breath away!  I thought I'd take a chance, knowing no one who had used her before, and booked an appointment.  OH MY GOSH....SOOOO happy with the results!! (do click on these to view larger; the texture and light are so pretty)

 

We met her at a beautiful forest-y park in a nearby town (Canby), and she took the most scrumptious natural-light photographs.  I wanted her to capture my daughter's beautiful light-colored eyes....and, uh, YEAH, I think she succeeded! They positively GLOW.  We've only seen a few images so far; she is still editing them.  

I am one proud Mama!  I think my little (??) Gretchen looks gorgeous!! (and I am very, very biased!!!)

By the end of the shoot, our darling photographer, Erika Scott (The Red Barn Photography), even got a little teary-eyed and emotional over the images she was capturing.  It was just such a fun, positive experience ...and felt like kismet that we stumbled upon her, out of the blue, and took a chance.

Love it when that happens!  

Be forewarned: once we receive the whole edited package, this proud Mama will be posting more photos...kind of like the neighbors who make you sit through their vacation slide show :-)!!

Baby Steps

If you are visiting me here again, thank you for stopping by, and for your patience! It has been a long time since I did a blog post....I've been in a melancholy funk for a while now, and it became even more pronounced after my mom passed away.  I'm taking baby steps to get back in the swing of things, and one of those steps was to join in on a fun ATC swap.  I hadn't done a swap for a long time, and came upon this one that Kimberly was hosting on her blog, and thought it was the perfect one to get me back in the studio.

The challenge was to create ATCs using fabric, and no paper, for Kimberly's swap, "The Fabric of Nature".  The participants needed to work with the theme "Nature", in any interpretation we wanted, as long as we made the Artist Trading Cards using only fabrics as our substrate. I had just been to the beach, and used that as the nature inspiration for my little art pieces: ...

the view from our hotel:  the boardwalk and Pacific Ocean at Seaside, OR, last month

...the quiet colors of beiges and blues, and peaceful beach-combing when the tide is out (perfect, since we were also instructed to keep our colors "soft, faded, vintage-like").

I'll let my photos show my process...

the back side...

whew!  TWELVE of them...it was a big swap!

ready to ship off to Kimberly!

So I sent off my twelve little creations a couple weeks ago, and yesterday got all of my swaps back in the mail!  They are so wonderful, and I'll share them soon!

It was good to take a little baby step and have some fun!  So glad you stopped by :-)

Bragging

My daughter is eighteen, about to graduate from high school, and I am so impressed with her talent that I had to brag a little bit.  Look at this piece she created, just finishing it late last night:

It is a wonderful tribute piece of my mom, her grandma.  I posted pictures in my last post, right after Mom died last month.  My daughter used one of the photos for reference and drew this portrait of Mom in charcoal on vellum  She cut around the image and stitched it over a collage: a swath of Mom's handwriting, a photocopy of of her as a little girl, some old doilies, all on a crumpled paper bag.  I think it is just beautiful.  I'm such a proud mom, and also touched that she honored her grandmother so sweetly.  My daughter is preparing a series of 13 portraits, for a portfolio she hopes will earn her an AP Studio Art credit for next year.  She'll be a freshman in the school of design at KU, in Lawrence, KS in the fall----so FAR away from us in Portland.  I'm going to miss her like crazy.

So glad we'll be able to Skype!!

Saying Goodbye to my Beautiful Mom

My adorable mom passed away on Monday night.  We knew it was coming, but saying a final goodbye is so hard.  I look at her pictures through the years, and remember such a vital, compassionate, spunky, kind, funny woman...and am so thankful for her and for all the wonderful memories.  I'm heading to Lincoln, NE for her funeral, and to see my three sisters again.  The last time we were all together, was almost exactly a year ago, when my sweet dad died.  I'm 'busy', tying up loose ends here before I go, but feel like I'm in a fog. 

My, how we both changed!

She was on this earth for 96 years, 2 months, and 22 days.  I was so blessed to have her as my Mom.

This was my last visit with her, a year ago, after my Dad's funeral.     My precious mom.

Shameless Plug: Go Get this BAG!

One of my clients, for whom I do design and illustration work, manufactures the BEST recycled shopping totes out there in the marketplace.

Most of the work I do for this company is marketing: I design display signage, hang tags, sales catalogs, and the like, and occasionally will do the actual surface design for a bag. 

The problem is, a particular image won't get printed until my client gets a purchase commitment from the retail outlets that carry her product (mainly Fred Meyer stores here in the Northwest, and Kroger affiliates nationwide).  She presents mock-ups of many designs each season, and for some reason, I have the hardest time having my designs "connect" with the buyers (there is also a big turnover of personnel in the buying field, so establishing a rapport with one doesn't hold any guarantees for future sales).  Generally, they go for designs that are 'safe': appeal-to-the-masses, nothing too 'out-there'--and I think my stuff is too wacky or something(???).  It can be sooo frustrating, because all the designs I submit (after countless hours developing and completing each) are "on spec", meaning I don't get paid unless they sell, and only then do I earn a small (tiny, actually) percentage of the order.

Several YEARS ago (I think it was 2009 or 10) I came up with this "Flowers in Bloom" design, with a mixture of whimsical line art and collaged images (in fact, I did a whole series in this style, about 5 total).  My client loved it, we collaborated on color choices, and then she tried her darned-est to sell the dang thing--for years, faithfully hauling it to another season's presentation, always having it ignored in favor of other designs.

I've kept the mock-up on display because even if it never sold, at least I loved it. Many of you who have taken classes in my studio have seen it hanging here for years!

But she never gave up on it, and FINALLY it sold about 6 months ago, and it is just NOW in the stores for the Spring season!!!

Here's my bag, FINALLY inside my local Fred Meyer store, alongside other designs.

Here's a little background about this awesome tote-bag company:  The owner started her business quite a few years ago, before reusable totes were so ubiquitous, before 'eco-friendly' was such a catch phrase, and before many grocery stores started banning thin plastic bags (at least they're out-lawed here in eco-centric Oregon).

She found factories that used super-strength, multiple layers of poly fiber (made from recycled water bottles) in their manufacturing process.  She also designed the large tote bag to have several handy inner pockets sewn in, to hold bottles, newspapers, cell phones, et cetera.  Love that!

To test the strength of the tote bag, one of the guys that works for her GOT INSIDE one of them, and two other employees each grabbed a handle and could lift all 175 pounds of him with ease and no sign of stress on the fibers.  You've seen the ones at Trader Joe's or even at Joanne's or T.J. Maxx--but they are single-ply el cheapo-s.  Even the ones in gift shops, with cool funky designs manufactured by Blue Q, are also the single-ply, poorly constructed el cheapo-s--but with a hefty price tag (about $18.95 for their 'designer' shopping tote).  My client's company offers hundreds of different designs and several bag styles, at EXTREMELY reasonable prices---seriously, Patty Reed Insta-Totes are a great product!!  Go to their website (a direct link to my design is HERE) and check it out, or head over to your local Kroger Affiliate or Fred Meyer store and pick up a few! In the stores, they are almost always on sale, for about $4 each, and they will be the best shopping tote you will ever buy.  I have so many--I keep several in each of my family's cars for grocery shopping.  I can load them up with SO MUCH, they're easy to carry into the house, and they'll last forever.  I also use them for quick weekend trips to the beach, throwing clothes into one, books and projects in another.  They are great to use in closets, too, for organizing.  Also, they are awesome as gift bags, giving the recipient a little extra gift to put to use afterwards.  (See, I told you I do marketing for this company!!  But I do fully endorse her products:-))

And if you buy MY design, you will help send my daughter to college this fall........well, maybe you will help me pay for ONE textbook?!?!

Okay, my shameless plug is now over!!

My Giveaway Winners

A couple of weeks ago, I had a little giveaway.  To refresh your memory, one of the things in my package of goodies was a lace charm, and the two winners could choose which one they wanted out of the selection, below:

Laurie, whose blog is Indulge Your Shelf, was the first place winner, and she chose charm #3, the white Venice lace.  She wrote the nicest post about the all the little gifts she received, and you can read about it HERE.  Laurie loves vintage textiles and buttons, and lots of other crafts, and takes such great photos.  She is a doll, and someday, I'm going to meet up with her at a workshop or an art retreat...I hope!

The second place winner was Tanya, whose blog is Bead and Needle. She chose charm #5, the vintage French Beading Lace.  She also wrote a sweet post about her win, HERE, and I have grown to LOVE that girl through many subsequent emails back and forth!  She blogs about travel, music, needlework projects, making jewelry, and also loves antique buttons, like Laurie.  Tanya also 'shared the love' and sent ME some wonderful treats, which I hope to post about later.  To quote Tanya, she ROCKS!!

Besides connecting with these two darling people, the 'Grow Your Blog' party was such a fun way to get to know lots more of you out there who are kindred spirits.  I am just so tickled to have met you, and even more honored that you've become followers of my little blog!

And now, a shameless plug: The remaining three lace charms are now listed in my Etsy shop, if any of you are interested:

 
Happy Presidents' Day!