still here

So for all who have inquired, I am still here, I am still feeling totally swamped and I have a lot of new work going on in the studio, just don’t seem to be able to find the time to make work and blog, and with so many shows coming up this year I just feel like I need to get in the studio. I did decide to cut my hours at the print shop, and I guess I am still sitting on the fence really, afraid to let go of my security blanket but becomingly increasingly stressed as the days go by.

I am still working on the books from my card swap partners, above are two little tiny baby board books, featuring card swap ephemera. I am also working on some bigger pieces for various shows, but none of them are camera ready yet!

On a happier note just want to take a few minutes out to brag on my baby who won an internship in a “sew-off” this weekend, you can read more about it here and here is a picture of her winning dress! I am so proud of her and how hard she is working to make her creative dreams come true!!

papers swap three, the package!

I am embarrassed by riches today! My package arrived from Jill and what a wealth of fabulous-ness was inside! So many beautiful treasures, so bright and colourful! And perfectly timed as I spent 4 hours at the dentists again yesterday and was feeling a little sorry for myself, the good news is that half of my mouth is now reconstructed, of course that means I still have one half to go!

It’s a  busy week this week and I find myself scrambling to be ready for my classes this term, despite all the prep time I put in over the holidays I am still struggling to feel well enough prepared. I feel very strongly that this is another cosmic signal that it is time to jump from that 9-5 security blanket and trust the universe’s plan for me, even my long-suffering hubby is telling me it is time to jump. I am just feeling very conflicted about walking away from a job with unemployment rates so high… so if you are reading this today, please offer up a little prayer for courage for me, I’d appreciate it!

Paper swap #3 – cards

So… I made a whole set of ATCs for Jill my paper swap partner this month, and I lost them. So this week I made a whole new set, so on their way to Jill are these cards, and lots of other stuff I’m not going to post, just in case she stops by and sees everything and it ruins her surprise!! Next months swap is a surprise “crazy swap” so head over to Lawendula’s blog to sign up if you want to play too.  It is really stretching me trying to make stuff that I don’t usually do, and as you can see I even tried to break out of my usual colour palette as Jill is a very colourful gal. Boy was that hard work, but I think they’re OK.

So now I am going to spend the rest of my day organising my files for the classes I am teaching this semester, and putting all the old notes etc away. Then later I am heading out to the Wright Gallery downtown for an opening with my recovering artist friend Tina. The show is a group one, The Active Artist’s Alliance, featuring some friends and former students, it will be an eclectic mix of work, I’ll let you know what I see!

Fame!!

So it never rains but it pours, the local paper wrote an article about my visit to the high school you can read it here if you are not already fed up with reading about how fab I am!! Meanwhile, back in the studio I am working on cards for my paper exchange, I hope they will be finished by tomorrow and on their way, so maybe a picture then! OK time to fade back into obscurity people will be expecting things….

how do they do it?

Today I spent the school day in the library of my local high school talking about my work to english students who are reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper, I am hoarse and exhausted! I don’t know how K-12 teachers do that everyday!!! The students were very curious and at least pretended to be pretty interested in what I had to share with them. The local paper was there too, so I am feeling quite the celebrity this week! And strangely for me, not apprehensive at all, have I finally made peace with the idea that I am an artist after all?? Hmmmm.

More pictures, and an interview

So just for LaWendula here are some more pictures of the flag book, and if you go here, there are some instructions for how to make one…

Also the interview with me was published in Chautauqua Word this week, if you’d like to read it you can do so here. Steve did an amazing job of not making me sound like a rambling idiot, which is more difficult than you would think! And I’d also like to thank Don Hill for taking pictures of me I actually like (even more difficult than making me sound coherent!!)

call for work

Sheree is hosting a series of on-line exhibits this year, if you would be interested in playing along, follow this link, and have fun! Sheree is an AMAZING woman, and her blog is one of the most honest, open gutsy things out there in the blog-o-sphere. She really tells it like it is and I admire her for that. When I was studying for my Masters in England and was feeling sorry for myself she could always put things back into perspective for me, for which I will always be grateful… I’m not sure what I’ll submit, but I’m going to make something! Watch this space I guess!

flag tag book

I’ve been wanting to make a flag book for a while now, just to see how it would turn out. When my tags came from Lay Hoon, they seemed like perfect candidates for such a book. I used the other papers in the bag to complete the book and make additional flags, the covers are a little crooked, I always have problems with any form that starts as an accordion fold, if anyone out there has a clever tip or trick, I’d love to hear it! That’s Molly my daughter’s cat whose little demon eyes you can see in the picture!!

Happy New Year!

So for all of you who doubt my crazy suburban mom stories, here is a picture of my living room filled with teenagers (only 2 of whom are mine!) as the new year rolled in last night! There were even more kids in the room next door by the way!!

So resolutions… Yesterday I discovered that the stress of juggling too many things and my general neglect of myself has led to some serious (and expensive)  issues with my teeth and jaw. I’m going to spend the next month having a LOT of work done in my mouth – so my resolution is to move myself up on my list of priorities! Always putting myself last has finally come home to roost! Not just my physical self, but my creative one too, feel like I am moving closer and closer to letting go of my financial security blanket and diving in head first.

On a happier note, while I’ve been gone my next paper swap package arrived from Lay Hoon in Malaysia, here are my tags and some fab ephemera that she sent to me!

Also this week, I was interviewed by a local arts magazine and today a photographer is coming to take my picture for the article… not sure that hung over on new year’s day was the best timing for that!!

Hopefully I will be back  to blogging next week, I’ve been busy with family stuff and with more renovations in the studio, I may even get walls by the end of the month.

So happy new year one and all, miss all my blog friends, looking forward to catching up with everyone soon.

welcome back light…

So I am so busy, but I just wanted to take a second to wish you all a happy solstice… the year turns, we walk in friendship back into the light. Thank you fellow bloggers for your time, compassion, wit and wisdom this past year, it means a great deal to me to have this circle to turn to in good times and bad. Looking forward to my winter break and hopefully some time in the studio to work. Talk to you all soon….