Leaf Carving

The leaves in my neighborhood are just barely starting to turn all of the beautiful fall colors. I found this carved leaf at The Senses Five and am so amazed... There are more carved leaves HERE.

New Listings

I just uploaded these two cards into my Etsy shop! Yay! New work! It feels good to be back in the saddle, er, sewing seat again.

I LOVE:

I love converted busses, Airstream trailers, and Volkswagens!  Click on the photo to be directed to the source.

Coupon for YOU!

As promised, I have a coupon for those of who that still check in to this ole' blog. Save 15% on your purchase in my etsy shop! Once again, thank you so much for your support. I plan on making new cards, mobiles, and bags to add to the shop over the next few weeks... For now though, I have re-listed some of my favorite cards. They are individually made with recycled paperboard, vintage fabric, buttons, and hand stitched. Each is one-of-a-kind!

The coupon code 'relove' can be used in my etsy shop HERE! 

Checked out for the summer!

Hi all... Sorry I was so absent this summer. A big part of that was because I didn't sew hardly a stitch! Really, I'm not exaggerating. The only things I did sew were for the art school I work at. That brings me to my next reason for taking an extended break. While it was good in some ways, this summer was so busy with art camps at Clementine Studio. A few of them were totally full - 30 kids! At the end of the day I just didn't really feel like making, or writing, or doing ANYTHING. I spent a lot of my evenings sitting in front of the fan and watching DVDs.

Now summer is slowly fading out and I'm starting to get that sweet cozy fall feeling. I think I'll pull out some of the quilts I've been working on (like this one, that I worked feverishly on and then put away for a year and a half!) and finally finish some projects.

I'm really gearing up with my pottery creations too... Definitely check into Mud Whimsy if you haven't already!

Thank you for sticking around, even when I took an unannounced extended vacation. Once I get my Etsy store loaded up I'll post a coupon for you! (within the next few weeks- I promise)

What I've been up to lately

So, obviously I haven't been blogging around here lately... Sorry about that! You might be wondering what exactly I have been doing with my time. So here is a list for those of you wonderers:

1) Working. Did you know I have 3 jobs? Yes, 3. Two of them are very part-time. My main job is as an art teacher at Clementine Studio, which I LOVE. It is so fun to see the creations that my students come up with!
For example, this is a portrait of me made by a 4 year old student (he was "pretending I had hair bows and had lost some teeth")

 2) Clay, clay, clay! Right now I'm registered in a pottery class and I'm trying to make the most of it. This is the first time I've had access to a full studio in 6 months and I'm so excited to be throwing, firing, and glazing work. Some of you may already know about my other love: Mud Whimsy. (It's my ceramic business- for those of you that don't know). Soon I'll have new work in the shop, another open house/sale, and a few improvements to the studio. I've also been trying to keep my clay blog updated- www.mudwhimsy.blogspot.com.

work in progress

work in progress

work in progress

3) Speaking of the studio, I'm talking about the little shed my dad built me in the back yard, solely for my art. Working with clay is messy business, and my dad being the observant guy that he is, thought that it might be nice for me (and my roommates) if I had my own space to do it in. So he built a 10 foot by 9 foot shed, and I've gone out there every day since. My new goal is getting the exterior painted. It's been a lot trickier than I thought it would be with all this rainy weather, but slowly I'm getting there. I'm painting it a color called 'Pesto', and I'm quite thrilled with it. The trim will soon be a cream color...

Not a current photo- just the color!

4. Just life. My daughter, my boyfriend, and my dog. 

Re-loved garden fence

Every time I went out to my studio I would think to myself, "Ugh, that fence is so ugly!" Rosie the dog keeps going in the garden, so a fence of some sort is necessary. But this one? I knew I could think of something better.  The other day when I was in Anthropologie I was inspired by their line divider made out of fabric.... 

This is what I came up with! Now when I go out to my studio I think, "Oh, how cute!"
I used the fence stakes that we already had,  then tore up a sheet and tied it around the stakes. The criss-cross part is the 'gate'. It's easy to step over but if needed it can just be untied and taken down without disturbing the rest of the fence. (I'll have better photos soon!)