My First Crusade ~ Make It Your Own

I adore this lady. I love her passion for art & life. Michelle is quite inspiring. She's been doing these crusades for some time now, this is 31. I don't know why it took me so long to get on board. Lots of them called out to me. This particular one did & the stars aligned & here I am.

A couple of years ago I started to feel really good about my art. I even blogged about it here. It was mine, it was personal & it was me. When I first started making jewelry, I was so intimidated by everyone else. While I was intimidated, I knew this was a true passion for me. As time went by, I became more comfortable in my craft. I tried all sorts of mediums in jewelry making. One of the first clues that jewelry making was my calling, was looking at other artists. I could look at a book, magazine article, or blog & use it as true inspiration. I didn't need or want to copy. I know my style is all my own. It's a bit eclectic & I believe everyone has their own special eye for things. You just have to listen to that inner artist in you.

My first inspiration is from Jewelry the Zine. I can't stop making these crocheted necklaces. Oh so fun! It goes really quickly & I LOVE to play with color combos. I have a bunch more to take pictures of, but the weather has been kinda crappy in FL. Gotta love the afternoon rain here! By the way, check out some eye candy from the zine authors Catherine Witherell & Deryn Mentock. I first blogged about crocheting here & it just keeps going :)

The second piece of inspiration that I Made My Own is inspired by Laurie Lenfestey. I first saw her work in a Country Living article & fell in love with her work. It is this page of rings that became my inspiration. I loved the idea of layering buttons, rhinestones, cameos, cabochons, filigrees & brass stampings.

Thank you to Michelle Ward for all her inspiration & the crusades. Be sure to take a look over at the crusade blog GPP Street Team. There is so much to look at. You have 31 crusades worth of eye candy to look at!

Pink Saturday ~ June 20 2009

Happy Pink Saturday! Hopefully this post is up on Saturday. I'll be traveling back to MD after a short stay in Charlottesville.
For today I'm showing my newest crochet necklaces. I used pink c-lon thread & pink seedbeads. The one on the left is a pink strawberry pendant with rhinestones. I picked up that cutie at Studio Baboo in Charlottesville. The one on the right is the pendant I made with Jane Wynn at the Art & Soul retreat. There's a better picture here. The weather hasn't been the greatest here & I don't have my computer to do the photo editing.
Be sure to say hi to Beverly, our hostess, & check out her blog How Sweet the Sound for the list of pink participants.

What I've Been Up To

Summer has been at varing speeds for us; sometimes slow & relaxing, other times at the speed of light. We FINALLY got our orders. Hurray!
The background of the picture is this sweet handmade journal made by the oh so talented Tara. I've been a fan of hers for awhile now & couldn't resist this journal. I'm filling it with memories of this summer.
I've also been a beading crochet fool. I can't get enough of these cute necklaces. I better start listing some in the store. I have a feeling I'll be overrun with them very soon, although, I may be there already.
My laptop is in for repair again! (As Josh asked, "Why is it broken again? Why didn't they fix it the first time? Yes, my questions exactly!) I haven't been able to respond to everyone who's visited my blog yet, but I promise I will. I'll also be posting on Pink Saturday :)

Current Inspirations

Catherine of Happy Day Art did a fun post about what writing down the things that describe you at this time. I thought it would be a fun exercise. It's a great jumping off point for journaling as well. You can take a look at her original post here & an additional one here. My list follows with a wordle cloud, as well, & some pictures. Thanks to Catherine for such a creative tag.

Anthropologie

Silhouettes

Chandeliers

Crowns

Pink
Aqua

Crochet
OOAK

pendants

Swirlies

Doodles

Vintage

Old treasures
Damask

local
New adventures
journaling

Art with the kiddos

Purpose
Nature
Birdcages

Bling

Right now my world is in a state of flux. I guess you might not be able to tell by all the fun pictures up top. Our family has moved every year for the last 5 years straight. We've moved cross country, we moved to the neighboring state, we moved down the coast, we moved from old base housing to new base housing. Last year around this time I was shuttling the family & our belongings among 3 states. Right now we're preparing to move abroad. We literally just got our orders yesterday & it's been a long wait since March with lots of snags. I'm just happy to have them so we can continue our adventure. There have been 2 things that have helped me keep it together family & friends & art. I would have never had the chance to take those pictures above or create the art that I did without those moves. Some were really rough but I grew & my art grew.

If your interested in playing along, I'm going to quote directly from Catherine's blog. To me this was a great brain dump exercise to get some creativity flowing.

What are you about right now?
Write down as many things as you can until you can't really think of any more.
Tag as many people as you want.
Link back to the person who tagged you so they can see what you wrote.
Write a comment so people can go see your list. No pressure. Let's
see what this will bring. I am curious as always...

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday ~ June 6

I'm sharing the rest of my tags for the Sweet Sentiments tag swap hosted by Mary Ann. She is hosting another tag swap & 2 itty bitty book swaps. Quite a few of my tags had a pink theme. This was so so fun :) You can take a look at the group pool here.

Make sure you visit Beverly to see who else is participating in Pink Saturday.

Please Don't Make Me Leave...

I've been splitting my time between preparing the household & getting as much of Charlottesville into my system. Today my little man & I visited the downtown mall. I went to say goodbye to my beading friends at Studio Baboo.

I went to another store today for the first time, The Artful Lodger. It's a wonderful furniture store that has some great gifts. Look what I got! A Jill Schwartz shadow box. I'm in love :) I chatted with the store owner for awhile & really enjoyed it. Charlottesville has opened my eyes to "buying local". Being an artist myself, how could you not? This beauty is going in my art room in the new house. Looking forward to having a room vs. a corner this time around.

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday!!

Can you belive it's been one year since Beverly introduced us to Pink Saturday? Congrats to her & everyone who has participated. I've met some fun blog friends & so happy to have joined. Make sure to visit Beverly today & see all the participants.

I got this darling make up bag at O'Suzannah at the downtown mall. How could I have missed this gem of a store? It will come in handy for our upcoming trips. My makeup, flat iron & jewelry box fit in here. Heaven! Next up are these beautiful sea urchins. I'm going to try a few things & see if I can do what I'm thinking of (how's that for vague?) I got them at the Old Lucketts Store, which I will be visiting today for the Spring Antiques show. Can't wait!!

This gorgeous ATC is so me, Tickled Pink & a crown :) Purplepassion is the talented artist behind this.

If you want to see all my Pink Saturday posts, click here. Happy Pink Saturday & Happy Birthday!!

My Charlottesville Bucket List

My mosaic made with pictures from my Charlottesville photo set.

Oh, the sadness!! I've become quite attached to this city & I haven't even lived here for a year yet. I hope to be back eventually. Here's my bucket list for the next week & a half.

1. Just one more Beads & Lunch. I'm gonna miss this store & I'm going to miss the talented staff & wonderful regulars that have welcomed me with open arms. If you visit downtown Charlottesville, this is a must stop.


2. I also need one more estate sale. I've gotten to know Beverly & her staff as I've became a regular. They treat everyone so well. I'll not only miss the good shopping, but again, the wonderful people.


3. Fridays After Five ~ I'm gonna miss the music & the kettle corn. Fun & yum!


4. Ruckersville, VA ~ Antique/junking shops galore :)


5. The Barn Swallow

Happy Pink Saturday ~ May 22

For Pink Saturday I am sharing a vintage print I picked up at an Estate Sale here in Charlottesville. It was quite the bargain. I got it on the last day of the sale for 75% off. I only paid $7.50 for this beauty. Any vintage print that shows the fashion of the day is a keeper. I have a bit of a soft spot for them & have a few. I'll be taking it with me on our move to decorate my craft room.
For more Pink, make sure to visit Beverly of How Sweet the Sound. She hosts Pink Saturday every week & last week there were over 160 participants. There's lots to see :)

Lollishop News ~ New Categories

How sweet is this? It's the new catagory look for Lollishops. The category page is not live, yet but should be soon. We're just waiting for vendors to start adding the categories to their store. I just finshed up mine & I'm so in love with the cuteness!

Happy Pink Saturday ~ May 16

Happy Pink Saturday! You could say I was in a Pink mood when I started making my tags for Mary Ann's Sweet Sentiments tag swap. You can go over to the flickr group & see all the beautiful tags. I signed up early for this one & started early too. So unlike me :) but so fun! One side was the quote or sentiment. There was no theme, so anything goes & I made all of mine different. I'm so into OOAK!
I am a big paper freak, so I have lots of pink patterned paper. I love to embelish with rub-ons, stickers, rubber stamps, my own doodles & anything with bling. I'll show all of them when I get a group shot. Some of my tags are even in color combos I don't normally work with.

Please visit Beverly to say hello & see who else is participating this week. There are well over 150 participants & she hosts all of us every week.

Just Letting Off Some Steam ~ With Art

Here's a few WIP's. I'm really biting my tongue with all the hub-bub surrounding our move. I say the Serenity prayer in my head to keep it from exploding & having dirrhea of 4 letter words coming out of my mouth. Please keep us in your thoughts when you have a moment. I can't bare the thought of my kids being separated from dad for an entire year. I personally don't know if I'm strong enough to do it.Anyways, here's my therapy, I mean artwork.
I made the crown one last night & made the other 2 today. I'm having too much fun layering. I contemplated making them into rings, but decided to make some pendants instead. They include buttons (new & vintage), filigree stampings, vintage brass findings & cabochons.

I also finished crocheting my first necklace. I used silk thread, teardrop beads & a crochet hook. Thank goodness for online tutorials. I need good pics & instructions. The zine in the pic is Jewelry the zine by Catherine Witherell & Deryn Mentock. I saw the article in there by Ruth Rae & I couldn't get it out of my head.

Journaling ~ Art & Soul Part 3

Many thanks to the talented Diana Trout for organizing a journaling meeting. (Go take a peek at her post of her student's work.) I arrived at the retreat on Friday & the meeting was held that night. It was my first creative experience of the retreat & I had a wonderful time creating, socializing, & trading.

I have always wanted to start art journaling. I kept journals through collage. I'm constantly writing lists, quotes, wants, dreams. I need some way to make it pretty. Here are some pages I started while I was there. I haven't quite gone crazy yet. I've been inking & doodling. Have you seen Artful Journaling? It has sold out, but Stampington is offering it as an on-line download. I LOVE this issue. I'm so inspired by it. I hope to keep up with the journaling. It's such a nice way for me to do a brain dump, especially with the stress we've had with the upcoming move.

Art & Soul Part 2 ~ Pink Saturday

Here's what I made in my class Pipe Dreams with Jane. The one on the right is made from Basic Grey paper, a mini Eiffel Tower charm & some pink seed beads. I'm having eye allergy issues so this post is short & sweet. I have more pictures & stories from Art & Soul, so I promise to post them all. We learned how to cut pipes, solder them, decorate & pop some plexi on top to finish.
Make sure to stop by Beverly's to see who else is participating in Pink Saturday.

I'm Such a Freak - Art & Soul Part 1

Does Art & Soul have to be over? Can't I stay & play with pretty paper & blow torches? I had the best time! I waited 3 years to attend & it was well worth it.

So how am I a freak? Read on...

I was not able to take a class from Stephanie Lee, but she signed a copy of her book for me. I adore her techniques & work.

Saturday during our lunch period, I got in the elevator to head back to class. It stopped & in walked Sally Jean!! I about jumped out of my skin. When I bought her book, I kept telling my hubby it was the bible of soldering. I couldn't put it down. This time around, my schedule didn't permit me to take a class with her, but I bought a few pieces from her (I own Sally Jean's work), she signed my book, & I took a picture with her. I caught her before class this AM & I had NO MAKEUP on. I look horrendous, but I have a picture with her :) I also still have coffee in my hands!

The class I took was with the lovely Jane Wynn. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Jane, do it! She's an awesome teacher to learn from. She's patient & has a wealth of information to share. You can really tell she loves what she does. Jane is very creative & oh so witty. I was lucky enough to buy one of her jewelry pieces & she signed her book for me too.

I'm ready for my next art retreat. I don't know when I'll be able to go again, but I know I need to. I'll post more pics in the next post.