Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Heist - Sneak Peek

Tomorrow I'll be at the DC Craft Mafia's craft show Holiday Heist!! It'll be my first foray into Virginia, so if you're in the area please stop by and say hello! To further entice you, I'm posting some pics of some new items that will be debuting at the show. I've made lots of new stuff, but I haven't had a chance to photograph and list them, so for now Holiday Heist is the only place you can get them. No worries though, if you aren't in the DMV (DC/MD/VA) as I'll be listing the new stuff all next week in my Etsy shop. If you can't wait for me to list something, feel free to contact me and I'll get one out to you! Let the Sneak peekage begin:

A new series which expands on my "Closer Look" Ring design and was further inspired by mushroom gills. This series features earthy colors, chunky components and lots of texture:



Looking at them all together is making me want to create a wall piece. Perhaps after the holidays!

Here's kind of a mixed bag of items featuring sticks in autumn colors, shimmery branches and pinecones, fanciful raindrops, more earthy Queen Anne's Lace and really big floral pendants:


New updated retro tree pendants:




And some new winter cuties - The Smitten pendants:

Be Inspired by the Process - Part 2

Here's part two of my "Be Inspired by the Process" post.

A little more paint porn:



If you haven't already noticed, I have a thing for paint straight out of the bottle. Check out my "paint porn" set on flickr. Despite it's name, it's totally G-rated!

Lots and lots of tiny bubbles. I was trying a new way to make texture. It didn't work, but I did get a great shot of the cool bubbles it created!



Texture:


This collage has a lot of interesting components that look great together or alone:




Sneak peak at the finished collage. Hope to have it available in the shop in the next week!


Remember to enjoy the process and to look for inspiration along the way!

Be Inspired by the Process

Creating is something that I can't live without. If I go too many days without creating something, I tend to feel anxious and disjointed. For the past week, I have been working on stock for the holidays and upcoming shows, so while I was re-creating items, I didn't have time to make anything new. After about the fifth day, I knew I had to take a break from the sweat shop and make something new. I spent the morning creating and felt renewed again. I was so excited to be creating that I decided to really take the time to enjoy the process and make notice of the small inspirations that sprung up along the way. Here's what inspired me:

Some lovely shapes and the shine of the light



































Suddenly a window appears













Brush strokes, shine & the wonderful texture of canvas


































A circle of light

















I have more pictures from my creative whirlwind, but I'll save them for my next post. Take some time this week to be inspired by your creative process. Sometimes I think we focus too much on the final product and not enough on how we got there. Pay attention to the different texture, shapes, colors and images you create in order to get to that final masterpiece.

Be Inspired to Create a Hybrid

While looking though our collection of nature treasures this weekend, I was inspired to combine some of them to create a hybrids that exist only in my mind. An acorn hat and Japanese Cypress cone made a "pinecorn"



An unknown pod shell found at the Naval Academy combined with 3 unknown seeds from our local park to become a delicious mix of texture, shape and color.





Here's a Fall princess I made a couple of weeks ago from a gourd, a pumpkin and a corn cob we got from a trip to a local farm.



I combined some moss, a snail shell and some other finds to create a whole other world that exists in my imagination:
















And Finally I combined Butterfly wings and rose petals with a pod to create a new kind of butterfly.

































Take some time this week to think about combining different items together to create your own hybrid. It's a good exercise to keep your mind open to all sorts of possibilities. Feel free to share your hybrids in the comments!

Just a Little Reminder

Don't eat too much Halloween candy!





What can I say, I've got boys!