Creative Project #1 for February

In my last post I told you I had joined a new group, called *Create!* A Project a Day - February*, on Flickr and the challenge was to create something everyday for the month of February.  I had three ideas this morning.....a bag pattern from Fat Quarterly Magazine, an apron pattern from the same magazine, or some crocheted jar covers.

The bag won!

If you didn't already know, I have a bag fetish!  So I should have known the bag would be first.  The pattern is by Monika Wintermantel.  She is a flickr friend and I have admired her work for a long time!  Check out her blog also www.monaw.blogspot.com, she does some amazing work!

This is the front of the bag.  I basically followed the pattern for the this side.  For the back I added my own touch.....

As well as some ceramic buttons that I made.

I am hoping this group keeps my inspiration in full gear since I have some upcoming shows to work towards and I have had a blast the last few weeks creating new items for the last show.

I'll be back tomorrow with a new creation!

Awesome Art Show Weekend

The weekend sadly came to an end.   It was filled with great sales, lots of laughs, chats with other artists and spending time with friends.  I could not ask for much more.

This was the opening night.  My jewelry table is behind me.

Now I need to figure out how to stay motivated and inspired!  I was on quite a roll producing new ideas and I would like to keep that up.

I joined a new flickr group called "Create - a project a day - february 2011".  Maybe this will help me stay motivated.

Of course I will be blogging about this adventure so stay tuned!

I never got to show you the chair that I did for this auction, in addition to the bar stool.

A very exciting bidding war went on over this chair, and it got the highest bid out of all the chairs.

Pretty neat to watch people react to your work like that!

There were a couple chairs that did not find homes that night and I got elected to paint them so they can be sold for the Bahamas National Trust.  I have all sorts of neat ideas and cannot wait to get started.

At my dining room table I have 8 different chairs which are painted eight different colors.....it is my other fetish besides for the plates!  I am still planning that blog post about my plate collection, so I will include the chairs in that post.

Have a great week and I will see you tomorrow with a new creation for february 1st!

something for me :)

The other night when I took my journal covers over to my mom to ask her advice on pricing, my husband looked at one with a bird on it (i think it was in the last post) and said that the bird needed a sign that said, "eat more veggies".

That night when i went to bed a design popped into my head, and i sat up and sketched it out right then!

Here is the front:

This one is mine for sure!

The back:

The entire cover opened up:

I really love this one!

I am wrapping things up for the show now.  The last pottery load is in the kiln, which just shut off, so now I get to wait for it to cool.  Hopefully late tonight i can peek inside.

This afternoon I will finish the last few pillows and try and get everything in one place so the transport can start.  

If the sun ever comes out here I need to take pictures of my new jewelry pieces which I keep promising to show you.  Hopefully that will happen this afternoon.

back to work............... :)

kiln is FINALLY done!!

The absolute worst part of pottery is the waiting time....waiting for the greenware to dry so you can fire it....waiting for the kiln....waiting for the paint to dry so you can glaze, waiting for another firing!

This morning I was finally able to pull out the platters I put in yesterday morning!

"Morning Song"  This one matches the table, a pillow and some artwork that I have made.

They were worth the wait.  I love all the colors!

"Owl and Friend"

So then I loaded the kiln back up with some greenware that need to be turned into bisque, and needed something to occupy my time  so I made some journal covers for the show this weekend.

These are a few of my favorites.

There are a  few more small projects to finish for the show, price everything, pack up my show supplies and then enjoy the weekend selling and talking to artists and customers.

Hope you are all having a great week!

getting somewhere......

Work continued today on the table and a few other things that I probably shouldn't have started.

Look at how dirty my fingers are.....i dove into the bag of clay!

Now the big kiln is on and I love the smell of that firing!

I guess you all want to see the sofa table.......

It matches one of the pillows I have made and also a few pieces of artwork I have done, but i think I am going to use this to display my jewelry on.  Which reminds me....I still need to show you some new jewelry pieces!  In an upcoming post for sure!

I am still painting away on the chair.....I think I made it way too complicated, but oh well, I have to push thru and finish it now.
I took a few minutes today to make some vegan brownies.....

They are so moist and chocolatey ~ you cannot tell they are vegan.
You can find the recipe here.  They whip up very quickly.  The hardest part is waiting for them to bake!
Enjoy!

work....work.....work.....

I am on high speed right now with my work.  My imagination is on over drive.  This always happens when I have a show on the horizon.  I wish I could stay this motivated all year!

I got it in my head to re-paint a table that I had.....like I need something else to do!  

This table was painted for a special order, I  packed it up and shipped it to a show where the customers were supposed to pick it up and pay me for it....well they changed their mind!  Lesson learned....get your money up front!

The table looked similar to this one, but not exactly:

After I attacked it with the sander and some primer this morning it looks like this:

I have a birdie design in my head......we'll see what happens after lunch!

At the same time I am also painting another chair for the auction, "Take a Seat for Conservation".  This one is going to be pretty funky....with a mermaid....but not all painted.....can you guess what I have in mind?

Then of course, since my creative juices are flowing, I had to be a little distracted and sew some cute little bags that were in the Cloth Paper Scissors Gift 2010 issue.

The pattern is by Jennifer from Jangles.

I used the little houses from my fabric fritters for this one.  Been wanting to make some of these since before Christmas and finally did it!

Okay....going to grab lunch and get back to painting!

Have a great weekend!

Cooking and Creating

I have been pretty stressed and busy preparing for my upcoming art show next weekend, which means I have needed some comfort food, and boy did I ever find it!

Vegan Eggnog Cheesecake!!!!!  This was so amazing!!!

I found the recipe at the Fat Free Vegan website.  Go and check out this recipe and others on the site.  There are lots of amazing recipes!

This beauty sliced up better than any non-vegan cheesecake I have ever made in the past and you could not tell the difference.  I am now inspired to try out different vegan cheesecake flavors also!

One of my latest creations for the upcoming show was a bar stool that I painted for an auction that will be held at the show called, "Take a Seat for Conservation"

There will be almost 30 chairs and bar stools, painted by artists, up for auction.

I am looking forward to seeing all the chairs and stools all together.....what a pretty sight that will be!

The art show is a show called, "Art for the Parks".  It is put on by the Bahamas National Trust and is January 28th, 29th and 30th at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour.

If you are in the area I hope to see you at the show.  There will be so much more there than art......crafts for children to do, a mural painting area, chalk art contest, an awesome food court, the art booths and much more!