Jewelry: the zine

I just received my copy of Jewelry: the zine by Catherine Witherell and Deryn Mentock. It is filled to the gills with gorgeous photos of jewelry, inspiration and articles by 42 different artists! I am honored to say that I am one of the lucky artists invited to participate in this lovely project!


I played with recycled sari silk yarn and this was the result. ;) I am so in love with funky fibers right now. And a "sea theme" was on my mind with Artfest just around the corner. Hence the octopus necklace and the floaty mermaid fairy, and lots of BLUE.

The zine is for sale on Catherine's site and copies will be available at Artfest (if they don't sell out first)! You can by your copy HERE. It is truly a feast for the eyes and creative spirit. I am so impressed with Catherine and Deryn's hard work and determination to put this gorgeous collection together. And I am also awestruck at the immense and diverse talent of all of the artists featured in the pages of this amazing zine!

Studio Recovery

Ok, I let my studio get into a total state of chaos!! For weeks, I just let it sit there...piles of random supplies strewn about the floor. Projects started and unfinished...supplies haphazardly stuffed into paper bags all around the room. Ugh! It got so bad, I was dragging supplies into the dining room and taking over one corner of the table. I know we've all been there.

Inspired by Chrysti Hydeck's video tour of her studio and organizational tips (thank you!), I decided something had to be done! I don't know if it's the nesting instinct finally kicking in or the fact that we were housebound due to the rain. But I finally mustered the courage and energy to dig my way out of the mess! It all starts with baby steps. If you've found that your studio is starting to look like a rat's nest or a tornado swept through it, just sit down in the middle of the chaos and start making little piles of things that go together.

I started with whatever was on the floor and went from there. I sorted things into like piles and then began to store them from there. I also put two grocery bags nearby: one for trash and the other for recycle.

After about two days of digging and sorting...voila! I could see the floor and I could locate any item in my studio without grumbling or frantically searching through endless piles of chaos! Maya helped celebrate the "new" studio with a little mosaic project while I flitted about the room, putting every last little thing where it belonged. (It helped that I already had somewhat of an organizational system in place)

Baskets and drawers for little things all grouped in some kind of theme (adhesives, inks and other misc stuff in the baskets...brads, eyelets, small punches, etc in the drawers)

I picked up this wire rack at a thrift store and used my pretty Cavalini folders to store my collage sheets and clip art. I labeled them by their source (ex: Artchix, Paper Whimsy, Crafty Individuals, etc) so I can always go back and order more.

I love these magazine holders...most of them were purchased real cheap at IKEA. Some come from Target (on clearance ONLY...don't pay more than $5 each for these!) I use them to store magazines and craft books.

My table could use a little work still...(looks cluttered, but there is still plenty of room to work. Right now, my daughter's mosaic frames are drying in the middle there). I keep some pretty ceramic latte bowls full of colorful things just for inspiration. (You can pick these up in all sorts of colors for just $4 at Anthropologie) I've got empty spice jars filled with buttons, ribbon scraps, colorful staples, etc.

My wallpaper lady can breathe again! She is my muse and watches over me while I create. (I made her last September at a 2-day class with Anahata Katkin).

So don't lose hope if your creative space has turned from inspirational to intimidating. It is possible to dig your way out! And it's not as bad as it looks. I thought for sure I'd be shoveling through crap for DAYS before I saw any progress, but I could see the floor within minutes. So if you're in the same boat, just jump in, crank up some of your favorite tunes and go for it! It's worth it in the end. Now I can't wait to get back into my studio and start making more messes! This time, I might learn to put things back when I'm finished and try to clean up at the end of the day (hard lesson to learn...even at my age!) ;)

I would love to see photos of your studio in a state of chaos, in-between, or totally fabulous! Please feel free to share.

sweet baby love

My gals are putting together a baby shower for me and my little-girl-to-be and they made the sweetest invitations!

It's little things like this that make me realize that soon there really will be a sweet baby here...maybe even sooner than I think I'm ready for! 3 months and counting! Time to do some serious nesting! (The cute little angel baby x0x is a stamp by Traci Roos)

Collage Inspiration

I've been attending a weekly book club over at A Work of Heart every Thursday night. We're currently working with Traci Bautista's awesome book, Collage Unleashed which is filled to the gills with colorful and inspirational techniques. We've been arting up watercolor paper, paper towels, linen, freezer paper--you name it!--to eventually make into a sewn, stitched and bound book! Next week we break out the sewing machines. I'm so excited!!

Last night, we took some of our collaged papers from the last few weeks and arranged them into a collage using ONLY masking and electrical tape! We will be stamping and adding more layers on top, too. I love that I can also scan or take photos of my papers and then print them out for use in future projects. The possibilities are endless!

Quilts for my little girls

I took Maya to the craft store the other day to pick out fabric for her quilt. I thought it would be a nice project for her to get ready for her own room. To get her all excited about it, we're going to make a quilt together for her new bed and we'll fill the room with bright colors and whatever theme she wants. The theme for her room, she says, is "Nature." So the colors she picked for her quilt represent each season (red/autumn, blue/winter, green/summer, pink/spring--all her idea!) So sweet.


She helped pick out colors for the quilt for her sister (due in May). (I guess it's still possible it could be a brother. If so, the quilt will be a gift! Someone I know is bound to have a little girl some day!) I can't wait to get started. But first, I have to sort out my studio! It has become such a nightmare, I don't even want to walk inside. But the sorting must be done because we're all switching rooms around in preparation for our little one's arrival. So it cannot be avoided any longer!

Love is in the Air...

valentine fairy
image courtesy of Artchix Studio

lovers card xoxo
image courtesy Artchix Studio

lovebird tag

valentine door hanger

Black and White

Here is my entry for the weekly art challenge over at Helga Strauss' blog, My ARTistic Life. This week's challenge was to make a twinchie (2" x 2" collage) using only black, white and gray. It was hard to stop at just one...so I made a few more!!

Check out Helga's blog each week for new Artchix challenges, specials and fun! (Black and white images are from Artchix collage sheets!)