...to hear sleighbells in the snow....

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....  
When I was growing up my Mom had this thing about Christmas.

She. LOVED. It.

The Decorating. The Shopping. The Baking. the Giving.

                                              ...have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.....

Our house was transformed from the day after Thanksgiving until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th with festive decorations.  The banister in the living room to the piano, the buffet and the big mirror. The mantle, the front door, the dining room and even the kitchen had a bit of Christmas Cheer.

Then there was the tree. Oh my - that tree was so loaded with lights and decorations that it looked magical. And, in a way it was. Because every morning of the weeks leading up to Christmas the pile of presents under the tree grew. Some years I swear the tree was held up by the presents because I remember a few Christmas mornings when the tree fell over after all the presents were distributed. 

Red and green all through the house.
Glitter and tinsel and lights.
Decorations made at Scouts
The advent wreath with new candles
Perry Como, Bing Crosby, The Little Drummer Boy, The Boston Pops
The Nativity Scene handmade by Dad - but you can't put the Christ child in the manger- he hasn't been born yet!

It was such a time of anticipation and wonder.

...Just like the ones I used to know...
                     
There were TONS of presents ( imagine 5-6 gifts per child and there were EIGHT kids- add in gifts from grandparents and as we got older gifts to each other and spouses and grandchildren and Mom and Dad- yeah pretty darn amazing) but my parents didn't let in commercialism. It was about family - and food.

We spent a weekend early in December making cookies and Italian Goodies so we could make up "Goody Trays"- as Mom called them- to give away to neighbors and friends. The sibs and I spent countless hours staging our own version of the First Christmas on cold December nights or going out into the neighborhood to sing Christmas carols.

The Annual Christmas Party at the American Legion
" Timothy Mouse"
 "Going on a Bear Hunt"
And the visit from Santa Clause
Red mesh stockings filled with an orange and nuts and candy
Christmas cards strung across the doorway into the kitchen
Making ravioli for Christmas dinner


 Yeah....
.....through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow....

...and have yourself A Merry Little Christmas now

Eat. Drink. Shop.

What more can you ask for. These are the Big Three for me. Good food- Good Wine and Shopping With Friends. My 3rd Annual Santa Baby Open House is tomorrow night from 7:00 - 10:00 PM.

 This year I put James in charge of the food and drink. It was time to delegate.  He came up with some wonderful choices that I can't wait to try:

Roasted Eggplant Spread

Greek Olive Bruschetta

Tzatziki Spread

Pinot Grigio Salami

Rose' Salami

Chianti Salami

Smoked Salmon

Shrimp

Creme Filled Cookies in

Cafe Mocha

Chocolate

and Tiramisu flavors

Three weeks ago I decided I wanted totally new and different merchandise to offer my customers so I did a complete overhaul of the studio and ordered some beautiful items.

I also made my sister Cecelia send me new watercolors- and they are beautiful! I also made myself sit down and create some new work for the Open House. Sometimes I get so busy working on other people's stuff I forget to make my own. 

This year my love affair with pearls has continued. I am using pearls with some really flashy cut crystal glass beads. I love the contrast of the soft a subtle pearls with the sparkle of the glass beads. I have also been playing with quite a bit of turquoise too. 

Necklaces and bracelets mostly. I have been able to work them in between all of the custom earrings I have been making for clients!

 So here's a little preview of what you will find at my Santa Baby Open House. I hope you can join us!



Here we are, playing in the studio...

..banging on the pots and pans!

No really- today I decided it was time to do some playing or as my daughter Kelsey would say-

"Mom, I think we need to experiment"

(of course she pronounced it esperiment and was only 5 and it was super cute)

And this is what I did. I have been going through my Pinterest pins and reorganizing some of them because I have so many I can't FIND anything! (I really thought this was just a filing cabinet issue turns out I am chaotically organized-or filing challenged - whatever)

So one of the pins I tried today was making my own alcohol ink. I ADORE Tim Holtz and all of his wonderful products - but I can't justify spending close to $10 on a three pack of his alcohol inks - each bottle is .5 fl oz.  I want to use them for a project I have my students doing and .5fl oz won't go very far when you have 16+ students using it. Plus I only have three colors because I bought the ink on clearance and got a really good price for it. But I digress- I wanted more ink and more colors. So I used this recipe I found on Brigit's Daily Bytes . I bought 10 bottles of liquid Rit Dye, 91% Isopropyl alcohol and some spill proof plastic containers with snap on lids.  Then I carefully measured the dye and the alcohol into the container, labeled the lid and put it on and shook it.

OK I lied- I only carefully measured the first two. After that I eyeballed dye to alcohol and called it good. But I DID label the lid and put it on and shook it.

Now I have 10 colors of alcohol ink. TEN! And I paid less than buying three packs of Tim's inks plus I can make TONS more ink. I can't wait for my students to get here so we can play with them.

I was on a roll today so I went back to my Pinterest board and  looked for something else to make- and I found this pin for making my own shimmer mist. I LOVE this stuff too but it's very pricey - it's $4.00 for a .5fl oz spritzer. And the spritzer nozzle clogs halfway through use. very annoying- but I got the upper hand and poured the remaining shimmer mist into an empty spritz bottle I had so no more problem - anyway- I again followed Brigit's recipe and made my own mist. I used Petal Pink Rit Dye and Flamingo Pink Pearl-Ex Powders.  I am very pleased with the results. Brigit suggested putting a small glass bead in the bottom of the bottle so you get better mixing- so I did- and that makes so much sense because the stuff wants to settle on the bottom of the expensive stuff all the time. I am now looking for other recipes for making my own art supplies to use in the studio- especially the stuff we use a lot of- like gel medium and Mod Podge.  

Blessings banner

What can you do with some leftover scrapbook papers, stickers and some beeswax?

This fall banner-

How did I do that?

I traced a Gothic arch onto my scrapbook papers

Cut them out

cut out two sets of letters- the black letters slightly larger than the yellow ones

rubbed brown colored pencil on the edges of the yellow letters

glued the layers down

added some fall leaf stickers and some orange and yellow glitter flower stickers

dipped into melted beeswax to give it all a softer old look

punched small holes into each corner and threaded it with hemp

lastly I used a lark's head knot to put some fall colored raffia between each letter

I have been experimenting with paints and papers-the yellow letters is a pieces of paper that I hand painted before I cut the letters out because I wanted paper with some texture and color variations.



I am an artist

Over the years I have had many high school students spend their day shadowing me. Part of the experience is the interview. The student has to ask me questions so they can write a paper about what I do.

"What made you want to be an artist?"





And I answer the question: All my life I have always been different and I can't imagine my life as anything but an artist. I am not in it for the money- although it is nice to sell some work to pay some bills. I am an artist because there is this deep need in me to make things- to create. It's a 24/7 thing too. Artists look at things and life differently. You see a piece of paper blowing down the street and think of it as garbage. I stop and watch it move along the sidewalk and wonder what its story is. Like the day I was cutting across this abandoned parking lot behind a warehouse and saw this skull sitting on a trailer hitch. I took a photo of it because it reminded me of Georgia O'Keefe . When I got back into the studio I played in Photoshop with it .... one of these days I am going to print the photo and go in an alter it with my acrylic paints and create something but for now it's just a photo on my computer. 


Suffer for My Art

 

 






I hear music and I see colors in my mind's eye and fleeting images. Sometimes I drop everything I am doing just to create a piece based on that music because it moves me so strongly. 

 When I worked on this cello Bach's Cello Suite played in my mind over and over. And then it played on my iTunes over and over until I finished the piece. 

Everywhere I go and see and do is a source of inspiration to me. I see colors, textures, lines and shapes. I want to capture the feeling of walking through fallen leaves on a crisp afternoon or the mellow mournful sound of a cello. I want to celebrate the fact that we are living breathing beings and we are surrounded by a universal energy. I want the viewer to be amused, surprised maybe even taken aback by the images I create. I want to make them stop and think for a few minutes. My name is not Picasso or Rembrandt or Van Gogh. My name does not matter. What matters is that I am an artist. And when someone walks into my studio and stares at something I have created and they say it speaks to them then I know I have done it right because we are speaking the same language.