Give Away!

This pretty little purse will be included in a give away on Emily Falconbridge's blog tomorrow (Friday)! Please stop by her blog to enter to win!

New Work

I have been really busy working on number of projects as well as some goals and wonderful changes that I will share very soon! One of my projects has actually been a series of paintings that I am turning into petite prints mounted on wood blocks, ready to hang on the wall. I spend A LOT of time painting canvas to sew with and have actually kind of missed doing what I have spent so many years doing...painting pictures for the wall- go figure! The first two in the series are now in my Esty Shop!

Sunset

sunset on the living room wall

Another Shop Update

Another shop update tonight!

Where Women Create

My advance copy of Where Women Create arrived in the mail! And I was so excited to see eight pages of me and my studio!! I am a little shy and uncomfortable with attention and often have a hard time reading and looking at the articles I write or contribute to but I am making myself soak in the lovely photos of my CRAZY studio!! Having a space like I do (though it is humble compared to others) was really a dream realized when we purchased out first home (one year ago last week). The first time I created in my new space I cried because I was so happy to finally have a large studio where I could be messy and free!  Getting to be a part of such a lovely publication is an honor.  Please support this wonderful publication by purchasing a copy of your own!!!

Etsy Updates

It is HOT here in San Diego and there is nothing worse than being sick when it is hot outside!! I am still fighting this stupid cold and thankfully feeling better. Since it was so nice I decided to get a little sun by the pool hoping a little vitamin D would be make feel a little better- at least I am not as pale as I was last week!  

I am also finally getting around to updating my Etsy Shop with lots of new messy and colorful goodies!!  I have a number of clutches, the most popular being the Simple Clutch- these were a HUGE HIT at my recent trunk show! 





...and a new clutch that I am calling the Skinny Clutch. I actually carry one of my own because it is the perfect size for a cell phone, lipstick and a handful of junk that we all carry in our purses!! And if you don't carry a clutch they are perfect for a pencil and pen case!!

Sticky Back Canvas Earrings

Have you heard of Claudine Hellmuth's new Studio product line? Well, it is FABULOUS and since I kinda specialize in canvas projects, for the next month I will be sharing all kinds of fun projects to make with Sticky Back Canvas. 

The first project is simple canvas earrings- inspired by the earring project in my book Canvas Remix, I decided to put a twist on the project and use sticky back canvas!

Start by printing out a page full photos, sketches or even words.  (I filled the page with a combination of my scanned sketches and my favorite words in fun fonts).  Print your images out on a sheet of Sticky Back Canvas.

Next, cover the canvas with messy paint and let dry.

Peel the backing off the canvas.

Fold the sheet in half.

Draw the shape of your earrings onto the surface of the canvas. 

Notice I used one of the bottles of Claudine's Studio paint as a template :)

Cut out your shapes.

Paint the edges with black paint or your choice of color and let dry.

Cover the surface of both sides of canvas with a glossy medium or even a glossy polyurethane. Let dry.

Use an awl to make a hole in the canvas.

Attach jump rings through the holes.

Attach hook earwires to the jump rings.

And VOILA...a pair of super fun, messy and colorful earrings!!

Coming Soon!

Coming really, really soon- lot of new purses!!

I'm Back!

I have been out of commission for the last few days- I have been battling a cold that my husband brought home a couple of weeks ago and the cold finally won. Today was the first day that I was able to breath through my nose and I am SO happy to finally be feeling better! It never fails that when I am not able to take care of myself, practice balance and back off of working too much- my body takes control and literally stops me in my tracks.  I have done nothing but lay on the couch, sleep and try to heal thy self for the last few days.  This is sadly the first time in months that I have done nothing and as boring as it is...it is just what I needed!

Now that I am back to my blog I have lots of fun and creative things to share in the next few days. The first being that I am finally offering what I am calling "Messy Kits"                                                             

A kit full of messy painted canvas, fabric and recycled paper to use in your sewing and mixed media projects! If you know me and my work you will know that I love MESSY painting full of color texture (and lots of splatter) and everything in these kits are are messy!

Each kit contains a variety of 10-15 pieces of hand painted canvas, fabric and recycled paper.

Each kit is organized by color.

Sizes range from (roughly) 7X11 to 4x4 inches

Visit my Etsy Shop for more info!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have always loved flowers and have dreamed of one day owning property where I could have a garden.  But until that day comes (really I should be just very thankful that we were able to purchase our first place even through it is not a home with property) I will make due with our wonderful patio with an ocean view.  And while I plan to start a garden on our patio, I just don't have time yet. So instead I have decorated our patio with lots of plywood painted with flowers.Until I have time to take care of flowers I will have to settle for colorful paintings of flowers :) 

Trunk Show=Success

I have spent the last few days working hard painting canvas and sewing it into purses for my trunk show today at the Escondido Museum of Art and I am happy to share that it was a success! Not only did I meet lots of WONDERFUL people, I sold lots of purses and the museum store will now be carrying my purses....and I have a feeling I will be working more with them in the future ;)

Pursuing Your Passion Interview- Bethel Honan

I am happy to share the first of a series of interviews that I am calling Pursuing Your Passion. Inspired by my own (longtime) journey with juggling my career as an artist with my day job and how best to make it all work!  Often the only thing that gets me through the difficult times is connecting with others who share the same lifestyle and there are so many of you out there who are raising a family, growing your dream life, pursuing your passion, working late into the night on your ideas after spending the day at the office. I have found inspiration and comfort in other’s stories and want to begin to share that inspiration on my blog.

Bethel Honan

Recipes from the Wild

The first person I interviewed is one of my childhood friends Bethel Honan. For as long as I have know Bethel she has been full of creativity, energy and always had a passion for food. Growing up in a small coastal town can be limiting with resources and inspiration but Bethel has always been on a mission to pursue BIG things and is putting her drive and energy to into her dreams. After marrying a man who is a hunter and fisherman she found there weren't very many recipes for the fish and game her hubby was bringing home.  She decided to put her culinary background to use and began developing dishes of her own, then created a website and started assembling recipes- Bethel is now developing a business, growing a plan and juggling life at the same time!

Describe what you do?

I currently work as a Real Estate Broker but with

the state of the economy I also took on a part time job.

The past month I've been working almost 7 days a week.  My fridge

is bare, the clothes are piling up and my poor dogs are neglected.  I

have three dogs and a husband who likes to eat. Oh, and did I mention I have

this amazing website and business idea that I really want to get going?  

I have been struggling with time management and haven’t had

lot of time to put into the website.  I decided to make a change and 

I'm backing off real estate a bit and working from home, on my time.  Making this decision has mentally made

things easier for me.  Now, with all this extra time I can cook for my

husband, write recipes, take photos of my food, and post it on

the site and focus more on growing my business. This whole real estate thing has been quite a

test- I started making good money these past few months and

but it took time away from my creativity.  I couldn't tell you the last meal I cooked that wasn't in a

hurry.  I know I made the right decision because money isn't my drive. 

I just want to pay the bills and create, is that so much to ask?

Do you have formal training?

I attended Western Culinary Institute in Portland Oregon in 1997 and I

finished up their program a year later.  I guess you could say I received

formal training but the reality is my love for food and cooking wasn't

something I was "trained" to posses.  I did learn some fundamental

elements for cooking like how to make every sauce in the world or proper

way to tie a roast.  

Where does your passion for cooking come from?
I'm not sure where it came from or how one person can have a passion for cooking and the other be totally afraid of the idea.  I guess if I really dive into this I could say that I come
from a very, very, large family.  My mother's side are all Hispanic and we
spent most of my childhood around a table of food, or at a potluck
celebrating.  There was always an excuse to celebrate something
and the food acted as a reason to gather.  I fancy
myself to be creative and for some reason God has decided that the
creativity I posses would be demonstrated in food.  Not only do I love to
cook, but I love to set the table, invite camaraderie, drink wine,
basically make it a social event.  When I'm at home with my husband and
I'm trying a new recipe I like to examine what I cooked, think about
how I can do it better, and challenge myself to try it differently by
adding a dash more of this or a pinch less of that in order to get it just
right.  It's kind of like a game or I'm a mad scientist!! 

Where do you find inspiration?

I'm inspired by what others do. I'm totally visual I

love magazines, tv programs, a conversation with someone who has cooked

something a certain way. Lately, I've been inspired by other cultures and

how I can take their recipes and local ingredients and give my own spin.

I'm also inspired by my own taste buds.

What is your favorite dish to cook?

Lately I've been into two dishes. The first is the Elk Parmesan on the

website, the other is the Grilled Sesame Venison (also on the website). 

Both are pretty easy to cook and if you cook it just once you will be able

to whip it out the next time. Those recipes are always crowd pleasers.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I'm not sure this question could go unanswered without me writing a book.

Five years from now I'm in that dream house which I have already picked

out. It's on the top of a hill in Cannon Beach- most importantly it has this very large, amazing kitchen with all the colors

and details I would want in a kitchen! I see myself running a very successful website where I

could focus ALL my time on continuing to grow it. My home would be my office, my test kitchen,

my design studio, my inspiration. I will employ a few key family members

to assist with the projects. I will be touring the country learning from

others just like me and their methods of preserving, cooking, storing, and

creating wild food dishes. Lately I have this vision of creating a

canning section on the website and I'm at home making

batches of canned bolognase sauce, berries, jam, tuna, etc. in the "test"

kitchen. My husband Steve would be able to work only if he wants to and

if he decides not to then he would spend most of his time doing what he

loves which is hunting and fishing. He's the happiest when he's outside

doing those things and in turn it would create more food for the website

to test recipes on. I see us working together within 5 years each

supporting each other in our passions. I better stop there because I

could even tell you what my outfit would look like!

What is a typical day like?

My typical day is juggling a few jobs, on the phone a lot, making sure all

three dogs have eaten. By the evening my husband has come home and I'm trying to figure out

what to cook for dinner.  I find time to visit the site, email a few people, work on the next step

 and then sit down to watch American Idol. Not exciting but

within a year my days will look like what I wrote in the 5 year plan.

Why is it important to pursue what you love? 

It's important for me to pursue what I love because it makes me happy. I

want to be happy and I'm saying "no" to things that don't make me happy

and "yes" to things that do.

For more information visit-

Recipes from the Wild!!

And more...

Graffiti Chic Showcase

Time to showcase work from Graffiti Chic! It is really inspiring to see how each person has interpreted the techniques and really made them their own!  As we enter into week 5 of our class I will post be sharing more work.  

Joy’s Blog!

Leslie’s blog

Alex M’s Blog!

Jane Eileen's Blog!

Karen Cole's Blog!

Stephanie

Shelley

Leslie

Kristy

Joy

Deborah

Anna Maria