Easter Swap

I am hosting an Easter ornament swap this year with some art friends. there are 17 of us. i can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. i'm posting this picture as a teaser of what is to come for my ornament. isn't this baby darling?

well, it is super bowl Sunday - are you watching? i won't be - i'll be here in my studio; that's fun enough for me. i do want to hear Jennifer Hudson sing the national anthem though.

so how do you like the new look? i love it - it is very warm and so me. (not that the old way wasn't) - but change always feels that way - refreshing!

funny story

i might have blogged about this before, but i really can't remember and it is too cute not to post about in case i didn't already!

this is Harry, our neighbors dog. Harry went "missing" one day. my neighbor asked if i had seen him and said, i saw him about 15 minutes ago in your backyard. she said,yeah, i know he was out there, but now he's gone. so we gathered all the troops and started looking for him. jeff headed over to the new neighborhood, while my mom went out front with the neighbor. i headed to the back as i was a tad suspicious that he'd just been in their backyard. i'd thought i'd check the back field too. well as i headed back that way, i walked by the side of their yard where they installed a little fence between our yard and theirs. well, who did i find in the fence, but a terribly stuck Harry! looks like Harry was trying to escape, but sort of ran into trouble along the way! i'm sorry, but i couldn't resist snapping these pics before we got him out!

cool website

i wanted to share this website on all kinds of wire wrapping techniques. i was really impressed with the steps and all the different projects. i am in the midst of creating some class proposals on jewelry and a lot of them involve wire wrapping. since i was taught those techniques by Amy Hanna, Nina Bagley and Cindy Forrestor, i'm not exactly comfortable teaching wire wrapping as i don't want any misunderstandings that i am teaching something that was taught to me. you know the controversary surrounding this "sticky" subject and i don't want any backlash on it. so i've been researching online wire wrapping techniques that i can give to my students after i show them the basics, which i do not claim to be my own. this way they have some where to learn if they get confused or forget the steps. anyway, the website is from wittyliving. enjoy, there are some great tips there!

cool tutorial

i've been working with Gail Schmidt of Mind Wide Open. Gail has some online classes and that is how i met her. she is teaching a tutorial on Elements and creating brushes, so i signed up. then i started talking with her about creating a new banner for me. she does lovely work and is very accomodating. we are in the process of finalizing my new banner, so it won't be long soon!Currently on her blog, she's got a great tutorial on making wings. the tutorial was written by Rosanna Pereyra.

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So my article in Altered Couture is out. it was a piece done on my altered vintage handbags. An editor of the magazine found me on etsy and suggested i send them in as a submission. i have a few more things i am sending in for submission to that same magazine and Belle Amoire jewelry. my article starts on page 96 in case you don't want to buy the magazine, you can just quickly peek at it!

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i've met so many people lately thru OWOH as they stop by my blog and leave comments for mygiveaway. then i go to their blogs and enter their giveaway. i met two girls that i really enjoyed their work and they really enjoyed my work, so i suggested we do swaps with each other, a necklace for a painting and a doll. i was very happy that they were so receiptive to the idea of bartering with each other. i love collecting art that way, as it has much more meaning to me. i've also got some one on one Valentine's swaps going with my friends, Kelly, Leighanna and Kim. i will be mailing their goodies out soon.

Benedetta does primitive folk art, which i just adore and her giveaway for OWOH is a darling picture of a black cat. so i asked her if she could paint something similar for me, but using my kitty, Pebbles, as her muse. it you pop over there, you can see the piece she did for me. (i peeked!) it is sooo cute! i can't wait to get it.

my other new friend is Kim, of Once upon a blue crow. Kim also does primitive art, which obviously i have a fondness for. she does lovely dolls and paintings of sweet girls with darling hairdos and huge eyes. so kim is making me a doll in exchange for a necklace.

i made them necklaces that are similar to the one in my OWOH giveaway, since that is what they liked. i did change them up a bit, so that each piece can still be called, one of a kind. i'll post their necklaces later as i don't know if they want to be surprised or not. so i'll wait til they receive them.

change is a coming

i'm going to tease you here and tell you that my blog will be getting a new look. new banner, new background. i usually do this in the winter - get really tired and bored of things. i usually go on a big clean up purge around the house (done) , reorganize closets (done) - i donate as much as i can to recycle and not send more crap to the landfills. i ended up taking 3 huge garbage bags of linens, towels, blankets, etc. to the SPCA for them to line the cages of the furry friends there. although, i just adore my current blog banner, i was just ready for a change. got to keep it fresh, you know? hopefully it will be done in a few days, so keep your eyes out!