Sunday, May 8, 2011

Gifts... Giving & Receiving

And the winner is........ The lovely Jacqueline

Last week was a week of unexpected gifts. I found myself on the

r e c e i v i n g end of a few blog giveaways,

while having a little giveaway of my own right here.

What an wonderful feeling to win something,

let alone, from a couple of the blog spaces and artists

that I admire.

(And right before Mother's Day- couldn't have timed it any better!)

On the other hand... what a d e l i g h t to be able to give a gift to someone else!!

Thank-you everyone who entered the giveaway.

I am continually amazed to find such sweet, supportive comments here.

I am so grateful for the continued support and the time you all take

to drop those seeds of encouragement.

It was hard to choose only one winner.. and so it is,

that Jacqueline, a fellow flyer from Malaysia,

will be receiving my little birdie house.

Jacqueline has a lovely line of creations that she sews by hand. The words

s w e e t, l o v e l y, w o n d e r f u l a n d m e r r y

are the embodiment of Jacqueline as well as her creations.

I'll be doing another birdie house giveaway in a couple of weeks-- stay tuned for details.

Little Birdie House

Below, was the blog giveaway that came from Jennifer at StudioJRU

via her shop at DaySpring.

I am an admirer of her work, and have been longing to purchase one of her pieces.

I've looked and looked and couldn't decide. I love them all!

So, I was fortunate to win one~ choice made!

It came this week and was as fabulous as I was expecting it to be.

Thank-you Jennifer, Deidra, Johnna, & Mandy.

The lovely Jennifer

Below is an art piece from a sweet blog written by Miranda.

Her post at Easter, was most meaningful and inspired the painting,

I am going to be entrusted to care for.

Thank-you thank-you Miranda!

The lovely Miranda

And finally, these lovely handmade eggs, were a gift from

Sheila of the CAST team on etsy.

What an lovely group of people!

I am finding the connection to teams on etsy to be invaluable.

I can't believe her handiwork- it's just beautiful! Thanks so much Sheila!

The lovely Sheila

By the middle of last week I was feeling like I should

go to Las Vegas or buy lotto tickets.

I've never won anything in my life, and here I had 3 lovely gifts in one week!

Gratitude to the max!!

In between all of the receiving and giving, I worked on a few new plate designs.

My favorite being...mom l o v e

...inspired by, thoughts of my children ~

grown-up and getting more and more on their own ~

leaving the nest, and starting to fly ~

makes me very proud and happy with a smidge of sad, deep down inside.

And it is with "Mother's Day Love" that I leave you,

with wishes for a joyful and happy celebration

of all Mother's, on this very special Sunday!

Linking up to StudioJRU sneak peek fridays...

Stop on by to see some fabulous creative blogs and other artist studio's.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Seeds of G R O W T H... and a G I V E A W A Y!

"We come from the earth,

we return to the earth,

and in between we

g a r d e n."

anonymous

So, for the past year, I've been planting some seeds.

I've been working the soil of my creative journey.

Some days turning the dirt and adding lots of nutrients,

and other days just looking at the soil,

pulling some weeds,

and wondering when the sprouts are going to shoot up.

Lately, I've been seeing some sprouts.

I am starting to see a few glimmers of those colorful flowers

that I so desperately want to grow.

I do b e l i e v e

the flowers

are really, really starting to grow!

... and I am encouraged.

a list of my s p r o u t sightings...

~ I'm seeing some increase in my etsy sales

(Every time an order comes through, I'm like a child at Christmas-

the sales seem like they are creeping in slowly, but creeping in, is good.

I feel a lot like a snail in the soil sometimes!

I've started to "renew" and add items more often- as well as join a couple of etsy teams,

which I think is another contributing factor to the visibility.

Meeting new people on a team, and supporting each other through team treasuries,

giveaways, & team blogs, I think has definitely been a boost.

I am sooo thankful to the people that have included me in a treasury, or a feature, or their blog. )

~ I'm seeing increased visibility

(I'm starting to notice that my work is being recognized at shows, the more I attend repeatedly-

I had a couple of people looking for me- yea!

Also I am noticing that the wonderful connections and friendships from ecourses, blogging, blog hops,

giveaways, and social networks that have been continually taking root.

This is the most wonderful area in this crazy journey of creating art.

I cherish each and every connection that has been made, and am trying to recognize and support

each and every sweet person that is on their own creative journey beside me.

It's amazing to see some who have arrived to the place of enormous growth- completely in B L O O M.

It inspires and encourages me always.

It's amazing to see some who are on a parallel path and others who are just getting started.

I am inspired by and in awe of each and every one!)

~I'm starting to approach shops and bigger shows

(Finally being B R A V E and approaching a few shops to see if I can get

any of my work in another venue- got a couple of consignments started.

Also doing a show in a couple of weeks that is a much larger venue than I am used to...

Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Show.

Talk about butterflies and preparation! yikes!

Hey if any of you are in So. Cal and are attending,

or are exhibiting there- give me a shout out in the comments- I'd love to meet you. )

~I'm starting to see a path

(As I am starting to see a path, it feels right, to acknowledge this grateful list of sprouts.

There is so much soil I want to cultivate, and yet sometimes

it's good to just stop,

look for the growth,

and see the colors as they start to reveal themselves.)

what is on your "sprout list" ?

what new things are happening for you?

Feel free to leave a comment today and I will enter you into my giveaway

to C E L E B R A T E

s e e d s o f g r o w t h

s p r i n g

& g r a t e f u l n e s s

To enter to win (one of my little birdie houses shown above)

Leave a comment on my blog~ it's as simple as that!

Drawing will be on Friday!

2 entries if you are already a follower or if you become a blog follower.

Thank-you faithful followers!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Feeling the Spring?

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist,

and the less the artist does

the better.

Andre Gide

It's that "springy" time of year again, and I am being inspired by

that newness, and freshness that Spring brings.

I've been stretching those wings and trying

some "new" things in preparation for the

P A T C H W O R K

Indie Arts & Crafts Show coming up in May...

I'm finding myself experimenting with some wood substrates rather than the glass-

Trying to find a nice balance between collage and whimsy.

And freaking out a little... knowing that I have a few events lined up

that I need to produce some serious inventory for--

henceforth, why the quote above was speaking to me.

(Well... maybe it was actually yelling at me.)

I'll post that heart piece again when I finish it-- I'm trying decide on the words

and what area of the heart I may paint over with either a bird or flower thingy.

I was feeling a little empty, having missed writing last week.

I had my nephew here for a ten day visit,

and a surprise visit from my daughter (for a day) as well.

Causing some changes to the work schedule a bit- in a good way.

(I just love surprises from very special people).

During that week, I was also surprised with a lovely package

that came "f l y i n g i n " from one of our Kelly Rae Roberts ecourse friends Makiko.

Aside from being a wonderful ceramic artist,

Makiko, has a huge heart for the earthquake/ tsunami victims of her native Japan.

She has put together a wonderful fundraiser, that will

directly help in the recovery efforts.

She has created 1000 adorable little ceramic birds- can you believe it?

1000 little ceramic birds...

(and I am worried about inventory for a show?)

I ordered a few, and couldn't believe how lovely they were.

all wrapped up in their colorful paper nests...

ready to find a new home...

while meeting new friends!

If you want to take a peek~ check out Makiko's blog.

What a wonderful way to help!

h a p p y e a s t e r ~ h a p p y s p r i n g d e a r f r i e n d s!

By the way... linking up to Sneak Peek Friday at sweet Jennifer's Studio.

As always, there are some fabulous art blogs to peek at.

And for a special treat~ check out the Day Spring interview with Jennifer.

Leave a comment, to enter the very special giveaway!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

A little of this... A little of that...

Where to begin... busy busy week.

I came across this quote that was very encouraging, and had to share...

Act as if what you do

makes a difference.

It does.

~William James

The simplicity of knowing,

that what we are doing as creatives really does matter...

adds a cherry on top of the sundae for me!

(As do the words I chose for my little birdie painting plate-

a pure expression of how I feel when I am "creating".

If you've been popping in now and then,

you may have noticed that there are a group of creatives

that have been linking on a regular basis to studiojru.

Jennifer has been hosting this lovely space

where creative gifts are being shared.

I am happy to mention that this week's link-up will be at the (in)courage site.

A wonderful place of inspiration, community, creativity, and fabulous product.

Grab a coffee, a tea, and take a look through-there's so much to see.

Here's what I had been up to...

launching... new moMMy pins

(personalized pins with your favorite picture)

launching... new biRdie pins

...prepped for a MOPS boutique and happily sold many inspirational plates...

... more prepping

... and planning

... and completing.

There are a few smaller shows on the horizon, but I am so happy about the opportunity

to be part of a larger show...

Patchwork- Indie Arts & Crafts Festival

This event will take place on May 15th in Long Beach.

Want to know a secret....

With this venue, I'll have to prepare a booth space.

A full 10 x 10 space of creativity to sell creativity- yikes!

(Something, I've always been a little freaked out about).

I am sharing the space, with a friend that I met at a prior venue.

Zazu Faure

Between the both of us, I think we will be able to pull

something together and make a nice showing.

Her work is quite lovely-

sweet plush animals out of reclaimed materials- so well made and stylized.

I am on a path right now, to continue integrating

more and more of my own paintings into the plates...

and perhaps have a few mixed media pieces to bring.

For anyone in Los Angeles- check out the Patchwork website-

perhaps we'll see you there... at a booth or stolling the show?

If anyone has any thoughts on a booth space they'd like to share-

feel free to leave some seeds in the comment area.

Any creative ideas are welcome!

Time to check out the rest of the creativity from Sneak Peek Friday.

Thanks for stopping by, and know that

"Y O U make a difference"!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

California Art Club... and other stuff...

an most incredible piece by

Richard Schmid

I must say- I have been going through major blogging withdrawal this week.

So much busyness and so much to share. After spending the necessary time prepping taxes, and completing a couple of custom order's, I am soooo ready to get back to "creating".

(I need to cleanse my brain of numbers and see colors again!)

so... sharing....

F I R S T...

A wonderful exhibit to check out- that is running at
the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

I had the opportunity to spend a day, last weekend, with my dear friend

and a r t ~ g a l ~ p a l Patty, soaking up
the beauty of the California Art Club exhibit.

It was an inspiring exhibit of contemporary-traditional fine art.
Many of the artists are local peeps with classes at LAAFA, California Art Institute,
and private studio locations.

Take a peek at the exhibition website~ inspiration abounds!
Here's a sampling of some of the work on display.
So worth a visit, if you are in the area.

100TH ANNUAL GOLD MEDAL JURIED EXHIBITION