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Showing posts from 2015

Craft Fair Update - Samantha Smith Elementary

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My two tables (yes, I was lucky and got two!) I had a FABULOUS time at the Samantha Smith Elementary School Craft Fair on Thursday night (December 3rd, 2015)!! I was able to share the evening with one of my best friends and her son (he's the handsome, young fella in red).  I sold quite a few items - which means I am able to fund my own holiday shopping (yippee!!).  Plus I got to meet a lot of really wonderful kids and parents at Samantha Smith! My new cart/display.  It's wheels actually roll!  Plus I can remove the wheels and base and have a shorter display if I want to!!  LOVE IT!!!! The school's PTSA provided vendors with tables, chairs, tablecloths, and even shopping bags for the kids!  AMAZING!  And even more - it cost nothing to be a vendor!  Seriously - it was a huge blessing to be able to participate!  So thank you to everyone involved!!! This craft fair was a great opportunity for me to test-drive my new set-up (the wire cart/card-display, the

Getting Ready For 2 Craft Fairs

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Well I decided (somewhat spontaneously), to go ahead and enter 2 craft fairs this holiday season.   I am going to be participating in the Samantha Smith Elementary Craft Fair on this coming Thursday, December 3rd, from 6pm-9pm.  It's really a fun event -- designed to be a safe environment where the students are able to buy presents for their families without their families being directly with them.  As a crafter, your responsibility is to provide items under $10 and help the students wrap up their gifts after they purchase them - so the parent's/family members can't see what they bought them. SO cute!  I did this fair a couple of years ago and had a blast!!! Then on December 11th from 10am-5pm, I will be doing the Swedish Hospital (Issaquah) Holiday Craft Fair (held on the Issaquah Swedish Hospital campus!).  I also participated in this craft fair 2 years ago - when it first occurred..and it was upstairs.  This year, it will be downstairs in the main lobby (ne

New Collaborative Piece - The Laundry Line

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A badly-taken picture of the laundry line picture (in black & white and in color) These are the 2 slices of the original inspiration photo. (I'm currently working on the right-side photo) As I mentioned in a previous post, I am supposed to be concentrating on painting a slice of the Laundry Line.   I was actually able to spend some time on it and have gotten to the point of being almost-done.   I will admit that it has been hard to get motivated to do -- it is not my favorite subject and I just don't find it inspiring.  Work has begun, the shirt and blanket are painted So you're probably wondering why the heck I agreed to do a section of the painting if I didn't care for the picture.   For 2 main reasons - 1, I like working collaboratively (it's so fun to see how other artists interpret the same image) and 2, I enjoy challenging myself to do something I wouldn't normally do (I think that's how we grow as individuals... by

Burien Arts Gallery - Opening Reception for Fiber 19's Bountiful Textures Show

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 Burien Arts Gallery - front window (my "Oh My, Camellia! is in the front on the easel!) Last Friday (November 6th), was the opening of the Fiber 19's Bountiful Textures Show.   The Burien Arts Gallery is a fabulous place!  It's located in downtown Burien - and wow has Burien changed a lot since I was last there (about 30 years ago)!  There was incredible appetizers, lots of wine, and lots of great conversation!  The show looks GREAT!  A big thank you to Louise Roby, Barbara Matthews, and Terry Berg for curating and organizing the   show!!  The opening reception Our show Bountiful Textures will be up from now until December 27th.  There is not only artwork available to see and purchase, but lots of wonderful smaller gifts as well! More of the reception AND a big thank you to the Burien Arts Center for offering Fiber 19 the opportunity to hold our show in their lovely gallery!!! _____________________________________________________

Michael Pinball Clemons Foundation Gala Pictures

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I received a message from Kalla at the Michael Pinball Clemons Foundation, saying that the Gala was wonderful and that my world globe bowls looked great (whew!). She even sent me a couple of pictures...  which I'm sharing here:   Thank you Kalla, for choosing my bowls for your event!!

New Show At The Burien Arts Gallery

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Hi Everyone!  I'm excited to announce that my fiber arts group Fiber 19, is having a new show open at the Burien Arts Gallery! The show is entitled: Bountiful Textures and runs from November 4th, 2015 through December 27th, 2015.  The opening reception will be Friday the 6th of November from 6pm to 9pm at the Burien Arts Gallery .   The Burien Arts Gallery is located at: 826 SW 152nd Street,  Burien, WA 98166.  Their contact phone number is 206-244-7808, and their website is www.BurienArts.org Artist in the show include: Sally Anaya, Debra Calkins, Deborah Taylor, Barbara Matthews, Louise Roby, Kaylin Francis, Joan Schlichting, Liz Poulos, Terry Berg, Mary Auld, Nikki DeRelle, Jan Fisher, and of course - ME! We would love for you to come and see all the fabulous works of art!

Hoorah - they received them and are starting to work with them! (them being my world globe bowls)

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The florist has started experimenting  WHEW!  My packages containing my 55+ world globe bowls finally made it to my clients in Toronto Canada.  They had a slight issue with incorrect address (sigh, not sure how that happened). But it appears that they all made it there in good shape.  Hooray!! Collaborative Inspiration Photos Now I can focus on other, more-pressing matters.  For instance... a collaborative project (of which, I stupidly agreed to paint 2 art pieces) . Fungus reference photo A new silk painting based on fungus (sounds wierd, but I'm hoping will be really cool!).    Silk Bowls - the beginning And silk bowls (combining silk and resin) - which is my current favorite option! (look for a new post about this soon!) Best wishes to the Michael Pinball Clemons Foundation - I hope the Gala goes incredibly well!!!!

There's nothing like waiting for your customers to receive your packages!

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When you ship something you made to a customer, do you watch it travel via the tracking information?   I DO! I've checked on my 5 boxes of world globe bowls every day! They started off in Issaquah, WA (that's the nearest post office to my location). Then off to Kent, WA to begin their journey (I'm assuming it's a big hub for the Seattle area) Next it was down to San Francisco, CA (Ok, I'm a bit confused by them going south!) Now they've arrived in Canada... in VANCOUVER, Canada (which is a short distance from Seattle, but quite a long haul from San Francisco!).  It does make you wonder how that makes more sense to the Post Office to send all 5 packages south only to then basically retrace the route back north.  I can't wait to see where they go next (something tells me it might be an interesting choice)!  (their ultimate destination is Toronto, Ontario Canada).

World Globe Bowls Final Update - THEY'RE DONE!

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5 boxes ready to ship to Canada! It is with a sigh of relief, that I can tell you that I have finished the 55 world globe bowls (plus 2-3 extra).  FYI - 58 world globe bowls fit nice into 5 heavy-duty, medium-sized boxes.  HOORAY!!!!   I am so glad to have them done.  Now I get to wait and watch them via USPS's tracking service... to make sure they are delivered.  And I am waiting with baited breath, to hear if the client likes them (I have my fingers and toes crossed!). NOW I can get back to work on silk painting!   Ok first I have to clean up the mess that is my studio space --- 55 world globe bowls took up a LOT of space and made an incredible mess! But in spite of the cleanup I still need to do, I feel very excited and motivated to get back to my true love - silk painting!

A Week of Ups & Downs

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It has been quite a week… full of downs and ups and downs. Just a few of the world globe bowls As you’ve seen in my previous posts… I seem to be forever-busy with the 55 world globe bowls (57 now, I decided to make 2 extra).   Every night, I busily work away at those ( and have half of them done and packed for shipping now - HOORAY! ), but the life of an artist (and any human) always seems to have lots of other details that want to get in the way.  Cat-fighting cousins This week, there are 3 details.  1 and 2 are actually different sides of the same coin.  Cousins in fact.  Both are head-strong and lovely women – who are USUALLY relatively rational… but due to conflicts over how to handle my 97 year old grandma, they are now in the battle royal (with me smack dab in the middle) OY.   This situation has been occurring since June, and EVERY time I think it’s all settled, one of them decides to create new-and-exciting strife (sarcasm!).  And I must say, that o

55 World Globe Bowls UPDATE

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Am I up to my ears in globe-bowls? YUP! I knew it was a lot of work when I agreed to do it, and like all big projects, I'm wondering why the heck I agreed to do this??  CRAZY! But I am pleased to say that I have been stepping through my to-do list in a timely manner - in spite of working full time, being a mom, a wife, and having lots of extended-family issues (oy). 9/28 update - All bowls have had their final white-paint coats done on the insides!  Labels are being added and I am working on touching up major damage to the map-surface (some of the globes were missing big chunks of map).  But for the most part, they are done - HOORAY!! So far I've completed steps 1-14 for all 55 bowls! (YEAH!!) __x_ Do I have enough globes? YES.   (Whew!)   __x_ Do I have enough bases? yup.   __x__Do I have enough hardware DONE .. thought I did. NOPE .  Gotta go get slightly longer screws.... sigh. I thought I had the right size, but didn't take into account that some of th

The Washington State Fair in Puyallup Washington - Fabulous Art Show!

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If you didn't have the chance to stop in and see the Fine Art Show at the Puyallup Fair (now known as the Washington State Fair) - you missed out on seeing some great stuff!  I have 2 friends that had works in the show (as I did - and I mentioned in the previous post). Teresa Palmer is a quilter and has only been quilting for a couple of years - but is creating amazing pieces!!  Her quilt won an honorable mention for this year's fair! Dragon Bowl - Sally Anaya The other artist is an INCREDIBLE weaver!  Her name is Sally Anaya and is is known throughout the country as an expert in her field! She's a lovely woman whom I've gotten to know when I joined the Fiber 19 art group.  I watched her work on her dragon basket for over 2 years.  She created the design herself and spent countless hours weaving it. It won "Reserve Grand Champion" - and rightly so! Isn't it amazing??!!! To find out more information about Sally and her art - cl

The Puyallup Fair & Fine Art Show 2015

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I had such a great time this year - visiting the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, WA (known until recently, as the Puyallup Fair)! This year, I applied for (and was accepted into) the Fine Art Fair which is held during the fair.  Both of my pieces made it in and it was a real thrill for me to go to the fair and visit my pieces on display!! Of course, I had to take pictures of myself with my paintings.  My two pieces which are on display are: Oh My, Camelia! and "Sweet Lil Tulips". We didn't just stay in the Fine Art area of course, we had to have the prerequisite fair foods (Scones with strawberries are ALWAYS a hit), ride a few rides (love the roller coasters, hate ANYTHING that turns upside down!), and see a few free shows (the hypnotist is always hysterical!). I ran into a couple of friend's pieces while I was there too - my next post will be about their artwork (which is fabulous, so stay tuned!) If you went to the Puyallup Fair, I hope yo

If You Grew Up Near Renton Washington, Maybe You'd Remember This!

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Vintage Sears photo courtesy of Anne Garber's Pinterest page . I grew up in the Seattle area - moving around a bit, but staying within the general area.  One of the things my family liked to do, was visit Newberry's and Sears in Renton, WA.  I have VERY fond memories of the candy counter at Sears - where a kid with a quarter could buy a little bag of candies...yum! Newberry's Soda Fountain Photo courtesy of The Daily Journal.com Newberrys had a soda fountain (cafe) which was my mother's favorite place to get a hot dog - because they made buns out of folded, toasted bread.  But my very favorite thing to do - was to play on the cement turtles outside.  There were little turtles and big turtles.  You could step from turtle to turtle and climb the big ones.  They were there for years, after newberry's left..and even after Sears left.  Then they disappeared. BUT guess who I found on the grounds of the Renton Highland's Library??  YUP! One

How to get a sink into my studio without replumbing

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I have a bit of a conundrum.  I rather desperately need a sink in (or near) my studio.  I must confess that my studio is currently a bay in my garage (with bits and pieces sneaking their way into the rest of the garage). My home is small, my garage is small, and my space is ...well... limited (and that's probably a mild understatement).   My garage has 2 bays (1 side filled with storage for the house and the other side is my studio) and the front part of the garage also holds the washer and dryer, and ironing board.  There is a shop area behind the garage which I am SERIOUSLY considering moving into (and moving the shop out into the garage bay).  But that will take a good deal of work. So how do I get a sink into an area that has no space?  Could I put it next to the washing machine and share the water lines and drain pipes? Not really - there's absolutely no room for a sink (the washer and dryer are wedged against 2 walls and surrounded by the only real storage we have for