New for 2011

Alright, I must admit, I have been VERY bad at "blogging" however, I haven't completely disappeared off the earth. I've been posting in LinkedIn, Twitter, a little bit at StumbleUpon, however, I'm still trying to understand that one & of course on Facebook. All of these social networks, it's hard to keep up!!


I just wanted to share with you a new idea that I've been considering for probably the last 3 months & finally decided this last week to give it a try.....................Wristlet Key Chains made from (but of course) repurposed materials.  

All of those little snippets of pieces that have been too small to use in my other pieces, now have a new home, (other than the trash can.)  Although I question, "Am I saving TOO much?!" I'd rather you not see me on the next episode of Hoarders!! :)

These wristlet key chains are 6" long by 1.25" wide.  I will also be creating others that are a little bit longer & not as wide, so you could attach it to a zipper on a clutch if you'd like.

I'm also planning on some primarily fiber based wristlets as well!!





Diet Coke items seem to be a favorite in my shop!

LOVE Cheeto's so I tend to have quite a few of their empty bags in my studio!!  (Have you tried the White Cheddar ones, YUM!! and no orange dust left on your fingers :)

Can't leave out the beer lovers :)

I really enjoy making these & it's always fun to try something new!!  My next HUGE jump............zippers!!  If I could just get over my huge phobia of them, I think it would open a few doors for my work to grow!!  It's probably just all in my head & once I figure out zippers, I'll probably wonder why, I put it off for so long on learning how to sew with them!!

Indie Spotting for the Holidays

Looking to buy handmade for your Christmas gifts this year?  You HAVE to check out IndieSpotting.  It's so much more than just a blog!!  On this site, you will find great gift guides for any holiday, "how to" items you can create for yourself or give as gifts, featured artists with links to their shops & other artist shop links off to the right of the website.  (You'll have to check out my new avatar that I created myself, under Our Sponsors - it's also the new header for my blog.)  I actually had hired someone else to create an avatar for me, (since I really wasn't comfortable in doing that myself) & after several attempts at contacting the person to see how they were coming along & never getting a response, I decided to make an attempt at doing it myself!




My shop is featured in their "handmade holidays" section on their IndieSpotting website site & on their sister site An Indie Christmas under their "handmade holidays gifts" section.

If you're looking to support artists, creating handmade unique items & wanting to stay out of the "big box" retail stores, this is a great place to start!!

Who is that artist?

First of all, grandmas can be SO awesome!! My grandma Elizabeth, is one of them!! I was VERY fortunate to grow up with my grandma & grandpa living right next door. I have noticed throughout the years that I have acquired some of her values, personality traits & "quirky ways" (which I'm very proud to possess!)

It was that same grandma that saved these creations of mine while I was growing up.  We came across these little treasures when we moved her from her big 6 bedroom house of 60 years into a 1 bedroom apartment.  This first one as you'll see in the picture, was done in 1974 (I was 5 years old).

The potholders (remember the little looms we all made those looped potholders on), I was 10 years old. (I still love weaving today.)  At least I had an eye for color in the brown one, not so sure about the other one though :) I remember making TONS of these!!  It was so touching to see that grandma had saved these ALL THESE YEARS!!


One of the many things my family did right was to expose me to some type of art since I was 4 years old (I was put into dance classes & didn't stop that until age 16).  I was encouraged to draw, to paint, to dance (music was in the house at all times) we went to musicals, I was in art fairs, anything that involved the arts, we were encouraged to participate..  I remember taking art & music classes all through K-12.  (Then a college degree in Fiber Art.)

(Time to get on my soap box here) This summer, I went to an Art Fair in Leavenworth, Washington & I had the opportunity to visit with one of the jewelers.  He explained to me that 20% of all of the sales of this art fair, which was every weekend for two months, went to local schools so it could help them have an art program, which was one hour once a week.  ONE HOUR, ONCE A WEEK?  That broke my heart!  Apparently, (I didn't know this, since I don't have children) but with budget cuts, in the schools, the Arts are the first to go?  That saddens me. Children should all have the opportunity of being exposed to the Arts, encouraged to create & to only get one hour a week to do this?  I just hope families are encouraging their children to create at home since they can't get that at school anymore.  
(Ok, I'm down off the soapbox, now)  :)


I am VERY grateful & thankful that my family encouraged me, while growing up, to be creative!!!  Maybe some day, those pieces above will be worth something, lol!!

Fall is in the air...............

........... the trees are turning, which is wonderful, however, with our falls in Seattle, comes a lot of rain with gray days AND with this being a La Nina winter we're to see more moisture than an average fall & winter. I'm not that thrilled about it, however, the DH is excited in hopes of more snow in the mountains for skiing. I have to admit with Whistler at our back door, it is always a beautiful place to visit in the winter.


Along with fall, come the beautiful browns, reds & oranges so I'd thought I'd share with you my interpretation on the browns, reds & oranges in my repurposed art :)

M&M's always does a great job at creating packaging for all the seasons!!

I'm not much of a chocolate person, however, I do love a Snickers every now & then!!

This is entirely new labeling for me to work with.  A friend of mine works in a bar, so she's been saving me labels from liquor bottles.  This wallet was made from Knob Creek Kentucky Bourbon.  (Now if I could find myself a coffee drinker to save me their bags!)  :)

And for the beer enthusiasts ................(I think this one might be my favorite) a friend saved these labels for me. I'm not much of a pumpkin beer drinker, actually, I'm not much of a pumpkin anything person however, I have to admit that there are a couple of pumpkin brews out this season that have only the lightest suggestion of pumpkin & are quite tasty!

You might be wondering with Christmas around the corner, where's your Christmas repurposed art? I worked in retail for over 7 years & I always hated how Christmas came out earlier each year in the stores.  I prefer to celebrate each holiday when it comes, so for now, Halloween (one of my most favorite holidays) Thanksgiving THEN Christmas!! I'll have some Christmas & "winter" themed repurposed art, but I promise that I won't put it out until the week OF Thanksgiving :)

Seattle EtsyRAIN Pre-Holiday Show

I apologize from being SO absent in my postings, but as soon as I heard about this juried show that's put on by my local Seattle EtsyRAIN group, I've been creating like a mad woman so I'd have enough "opportunities" for people to purchase at my booth.

It's a 2-day show, at Intiman Theatre (in the Seattle Center), October 16th & 17th, from 11-5 pm.  With Christmas right around the corner, it's a great opportunity to purchase handmade art from local artists!!

If you're in the area, stop by & say hello, I'd love to see you!!  :)

Published in the UK!!!

I have to admit, this have been a fabulous year for me, so far.............wait, find a piece of wood to "knock on"  :)


A wonderful friend of mine, Marion Barnett, published a journal of mine that I created using Evolon.  You might remember a blog post I did on this journal back in June of last year.  Marion introduced me to Evolon, told me to work with it & see what happens.  I tried to give up twice, but Marion wouldn't let me & I'm glad she didn't! I was able to have the opportunity to work with a fiber I didn't even know existed & it really challenged me since I was used to working with natural fabrics & this is more of a synthetic.  (Which is why I stumbled & hesitated so much!!)


Once I started working with it, it reminded me a lot of Tyvek & since I had played with Tyvek quite a bit, my fear subsided (a little).  

Both Tyvek & Evolon can be melted using a heat gun, however, Evolon takes a lot longer to melt & I think it's more toxic smelling than when melting Tyvek, so make sure you wear a respirator & do your "melting" outside, just to be on the safe side!!

You can read about the the techniques I used here.  (Thank you Lynda Monk & Carol McFee for introducing me to Golden Fluid Acrylics).  The beautiful colors with the synthetic fibers of Evolon created a beautiful shimmering appearance!

I was SO excited to see my work published in Marion's book, that I didn't even notice when I read through it the first time that I was the only US artist published in this book!!  (Didn't know I could get anymore excited than I already was, but it happened!!)


THANK YOU MARION!!

Below is an "up close & personal" look at my journal.  I think, um..........those might be my fingerprints in the paints (I used my fingers to "move" the color around on the surface) we'll just call those "the artist's textural marks".  

Published in Draft Magazine!!!

Does anyone know of any fiber artists that have recently been published in a National Beer Magazine? I do, I do..........................ME!!! :)

Recently, I was contacted by the editor of Draft Magazine to see if I was interested in sending them some of my repurposed "beer art" to be professionally photographed for their next issue (as you can see, they chose to feature my luggage tags). I jumped at the chance................to have my art published in a National Beer magazine (my other true love) I'm on cloud 9 & still haven't come down yet!!

I've always viewed brewers as artists, refining & crafting their recipes & techniques to create a product that people will want & enjoy (what every other artist strives to achieve!) I've always wanted to work in some aspect of the brewing industry, but haven't researched what's all available for a person with no home brewing experience. The thought of home brewing has never seemed as appealing as brewing in a brewery with all of the beautiful metal beer tanks & working with others that share a common interest.............beer & another reason I haven't considered home brewing is if I take on one more interest, my DH will kill me!! :)

Wow!!! The thought of working in the beer industry & being able to create my art................................sigh!!!!