Bigs girls can have fun too!

A couple of months ago I was asked by the St Anthony Hospital Wellness Group if I would offer a class at the studio- something creative and fun because that is part of wellness. They left it up to me what I wanted to teach.

I decided to do paper dolls. There was a flurry of phone calls from interested people. One lady even came down to the studio to see a sample.


- is this a class for kids? Is this something I could do? what exactly are we making.
 
uh- Paper Dolls.....

I figured there would be no takers after that. I was wrong- four brave women ventured out to take the class. And what fun! None of the ladies were into scrap booking ( neither am I ) but they jumped right in to art papers, rubber stamps, glitter papers, ribbon, tulle ....and created these wonderful paper dolls

From serious to sassy...












The paper doll template and rubber stamp faces can be found at The Enchanted Gallery and the mermaid crown and clown hat came from Inka at Altered Artifacts in her Etsy store.

New York Styles 1916-17

This is my most recent find at my local thrift store. There are 393 pages of fashion items you can order from the National Cloak & Suit Co. of New York City.  Dresses, hats, shoes....men, women, children...bridal veils, undergarments, and household dry goods. It has been such fun to look at the pages of this book.

I am not sure what I will do with the book but for now I will savor it. Spend time peeking into the world of fashion during World War I.

what's new, eh? how about a GIVE AWAY!

So, I guess I took a two month absence from blogging. These things happen.
That does not mean that nothing is going on in the studio.
Lot's going on- lot's of new stuff.


I have a new line of paper goods created by my very dear friend Shari Kratoska- or- Shari theToska- as my kids used to call her. Shari is a self taught artist who has mastered the gelatin printing process. She has tried to teach me a couple of different times but I just can't achieve the same effects as she does.

( HOW DOES SHE DO THAT!)

Shari uses acrylic paints, rubber stamps, and all sorts of found objects to create the most interesting textures and compositions. My favorites are the ones she makes up using old slides for a slide projector.

Pretty cool aren't they? I really like the one in the top row left hand corner. I think these would make wonderful pins or embellishments in collage work.

Shari also makes tags. I will admit I have not quite gotten into the tag thing. But I can see where these would add the perfect touch to a gift or scrap book page.

Shari needed a name to call her paper goods venture so she said- you're the creative one! Think of something!- Oh please- she is just as creative- but this is what I came up with

Shari makes note cards and books and gift bags and doo-dads for scrap booking; wall pieces with quotes on them and large sheets of hand embellished papers so other people can create with her images.

Now, here is the fun part- I am going to give away an assortment of Paper-toska goods to one lucky reader and a friend.



There is more than one way for you to enter-

1. suggest my blog to a friend -have your friend leave me a message saying- so and so sent me


 ( make sure you are also following my blog- leave me a message too!)


2. like my page on facebook Artworks Studio - make sure you leave a message on the blog and facebook page telling me you were here and if you are the friend tell me who sent you!

Winners will be chosen from all the "my friend sent me" messages on January 19th. Please make sure you leave me your email address so I can contact you.

(can you tell I love getting messages!)

It appears that people are having a hard time posting on my blog. Well, we will just fix that! Follow my blog and then POST on my facebook page (link is above) I will pull the winner from there. Take THAT blogger!

Rescue me!

This is my office.
I spend a lot of time here. A lot.
I have reached the point where I can't stand the disorganized clutter. I have my studio very well organized and things are neatly in their place.

The office is more like epic fail.

Stuff stacked all over the place.

I have to move half a dozen different things to find what I am looking for.

Is there ANYONE out there who is up to the challenge of organizing this mess?

It needs to be fun and functional and easy to maintain!

I am a HUGE fan of the barter system! So I would be more than happy to trade services with you.

If you are interested in tackling this mess I have created PLEASE contact me or leave a message here.

El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

When I first pitched this idea to my 5th - 8th graders the general reaction was "That's creepy!" until I explained to them what the Day of the Dead was really all about. It's a Mexican and Mexican-American celebration of dead ancestors. Despite the morbid subject matter, this holiday is celebrated joyfully, and though it occurs at the same time as Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, the mood of The Day of the Dead is much lighter, with the emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, rather than fearing evil or malevolent spirits.

As an educator I believe in teaching my students about other cultures beyond our community. Where we live is rural Iowa and when I was a kid diversity was more like being any other nationality but German or any other religion but Catholic. That is changing these days. We have a growing Hispanic population in Carroll as well as families from India and the African continent. I like diversity- it makes you think - about a lot of different things.

So this is our take on the sugar skulls. Enjoy!