30 July 2010

bring me the list and no one gets hurt...

I'm a big list maker. They make me feel organized, they make me feel like I will be fully prepared and that there is no way anyone can mess with me because I HAVE A LIST. The list keeps everything running smoothly.

I spent an extraordinary amount of time creating this beast because August is going to be a test of my sanity in pretty much every way possible. But there is a lot of really good stuff happening in the next four weeks so I am determined to not get sucked into the stress side of it so I can actually enjoy it as it goes whizzing by.

The list was concise. And pretty. And very comforting.

I put it on the coffee table.

And now it is gone.

I asked mom if she's seen it. She said no. I questioned Dooley. He had no time for me, he promptly turned away and curled up on his crochet blanket.

I think the reno ate it. It seems to be consuming everything - including my ability to be calm and reasonable when something as simple as a piece of paper wanders off on its own.

So now the list is gone and there is this impending sense of doom just around the edges. I could make the list again but what if I forget something? What if I leave off something really important? If I do, all I'll be able to think is: "This wouldn't have happened if I had had my list."

I'm going to build it again but this time I'm going to type it. That way if it disappears into the black hole of the reno going on in the house, I can just re-print it and feel like a genius because I had enough fortitude to make it digital and it would take a mighty brave and strong person to separate me from my laptop.

Oh and a quick side note - if you've been trying to email me at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net and its been bouncing back crabbing at you that it can't be delivered, that's totally my fault. I have a couple email addresses and that one is my "professional" one that I hand out to anyone who asks. All the email from there gets automatically forwarded to my personal account. Which means I rarely log into it because I see all everything you send there.

Apparently the light bulb never went on that I should occasionally pay it a visit and three years went by without me logging in to it.

There were 5,000 emails in that inbox and it was at 103% capacity. Which means it was choking and refusing to take any more abuse.

I cleaned out the whole mess and found messages from 2007 in there. It was appalling and fascinating all at the same time.

Now its squeaky clean and will gladly accept anything you send there. I am going to make it a weekly practice of cleaning out that inbox so that doesn't happen again.

In fact, I'll add it to my list...

29 July 2010

would you like to be lectured?

No, not that kind of lecture.

A cool kind of lecture. About Modern Quilting and everything that that means.

It will be on Sunday August 15 at 2pm at the Northville Art House in Northville, MI. There is a fee of $15 payable in advance (this is how you guarantee your spot).

Rossie will lecture us all (in an awesome way) about Modern Quilting, show her work and let us ask her questions. It promises to be quite cool and a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

If you're interested, give me a holler to reserve your spot.



**I know I've had nothing artwise to show lately and that's mostly because the reno has finally advance to my studio area. Just window replacement and a couple other odds and ends but it has banished me from that room and made me twitchy in a completely unreasonable way (you don't think they'll touch my stuff, do you?). So for now all I have are reminders and generalness to post about on the blog. But I hate leaving it stagnant so I think its better then nothing. Don't you? I'm babbling. Okay, I'm done now. Come to the lecture, it'll be fun.

28 July 2010

tspau - do you belong?




I've set up a little flickr group called thermofax screen printing addicts unite! I know there are tons of screen printing techniques out there but this group is for people who can't get enough of thermofax screen goodness.

Its a new group. Only myself and the fabulous Judi Hurwitt of Approachable Art have images up so far but I know there are more of us out there, lurking in our studios, hunched over thermofax screens, printing with a maniacal grin on our faces as we bend fabric to our will...or is that last part just me?

At any rate, if you have anything that you've made using a thermofax screen (doesn't matter if you bought the screen from me or not), please come share your addiction. Its time we stood up and declared our obsession loud and proud!

Oh, and as an extra incentive - anyone who posts pictures in the group will be put into a drawing for some prizes later in the year.

Thermofax screen printing addicts UNITE!

27 July 2010

banished

This is what my bedroom looks like right now:



I'm sleeping on the sofa. (Discovered that Dooley love is a half way decent roommate. Normally he sleeps on the sofa at night but he gets the loveseat until I can go back upstairs. Although the little guy woofs in his sleep a lot which is sort of the equivalent of snoring - except way cuter.)

The wood floors will be sanded and re-stained starting wednesday (stink fest here we come). The window guys are currently having a contest with the heating and cooling guys as to who can make the most noise. The paint samples for my bedroom are trapped in connecticut (I had to mail order them, finding an orange that isn't little kid or super dark is no easy feat) and I've been battling a mutant spider in my tub that keeps crawling back up the drain even though I've drowned him with about a million gallons of water.

I'll be thrilled when my bedroom is finished. It will be autumn all year round in there. The floors will look beautiful. And all the other work will be worth it.

But now? Now I'd like to go upstairs and hide out in my studio. Only that spider is up there. I think its plotting its revenge. The thought did occur to me that it may have friends hanging out in the drain. He's of the big chubby body variety, the ones that look sturdy and like they have enough room to have a brain. Zombie spiders? Maybe they are just zombies. I need to google how to kill zombies....

26 July 2010

want to join the Beaker Team?



I feel like an evil genius (especially at 2am) and have several new ideas of products I'd like to put in the etsy shop.

But I'd like to have some testers. People who would be willing to take said product, use it, wear it, give it a test go and let me know what they like best, what they like least and if there are any issues that need to be improved.

You may not test every product but you'll get to goof around with some of them.

If you're interested, leave a comment on this post and I'll randomly select three people on Sunday August 1 to become official testers. (I MUST have a way of contacting you so if you leave a comment with no link back to a blog or an email address, you won't make the cut. Sorry.) Of I should say, you'll be a member of the Beaker Team but with less oddities stuck all over you.

25 July 2010

where i stand sunday


Its more of a suggestion then a barrier. Loose rectangles sitting in lopsided columns stretch around metal rods, marking its territory with a perforated flash of neon. It draws me in closer, wanting to see what its attempting to shield, making me curious about the space it encases.







Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

24 July 2010

new video tutorial - creating repeat prints

I'm happy to say that the bubonic looking plague hand has completely left the building (black dye takes an exceptionally long time to get rid of, just sayin') so I re-shot the video I did a few days ago on creating repeat printing with thermofax screens.

Repeat printing is basically taking a screen and printing it multiple times to create an overall pattern on your fabric or project. Its not terribly complicated but it did take me a couple of tries of messing up perfectly innocent fabric to get the hang of it. So I made the video to help rescue unsuspecting projects and fabric from a similar fate.

You can view the video below or pay a call to my YouTube channel to see it in a larger format. Happy printing!


23 July 2010

and so it goes

My back is crabby. Which can sometimes make me crabby. Not this go 'round, though. Its sort of good timing, gives me an excuse to chill out for a couple of days while I wait for it to un-crab itself and allow me to get on with business.

I have done a couple little things here and there. I've been contemplating my umpa lumpa apron. I'm concerned about being assaulted by little orange men so I got to wondering how I could un-lumpa it. I decided Leann's pile-o-skullies design would do the trick:



I printed several repeats of it along the bottom, just under the row of pockets. I like the way the lime green paint shifted on the violet color, it has an understated glow now.

Maybe it will ward off the lumpas, sort of like garlic and vampires.

Cathy stopped by for a couple of hours on Wednesday night for a brief visit while waiting to do a pick up from detroit metro airport and we stuffed wishing owl bodies:



I love their chubby little bodies.

I think I'll concentrate on finishing up only three or four at at time rather then doing all fifteen at once. The last time I made these buggers I did almost twenty and by the time I sewed on the final button eye, I was ready to feed them to piranhas. I do love them but they are very time consuming so I think this time I'll just do a few at a time.

Cathy also brought me a tube of her reduran. I'm not bubonic plague looking anymore which means once my back allows me to get going again, I'll be doing a couple more videos on using thermofax screens. I've got several in the queue that I'd like to make.

I've been reading a lot too. I'm currently working on this book:


I'm really enjoying it so far. Its good to sit still long enough to really become absorbed in a story.

This book came in the mail today:


I've been a huge fan of Mochimochi for a while now. She's a never ending bundle of creativity with a side of smart alec - a most awesome combination. So far my favorite patterns from the book are The Grouchy Couch and Pigs with Wigs. I'll be making these for sure.

Having a laptop comes in handy at times like these. Although its more like a bellytop since that's where I prop it while I'm laying down.

I'm writing a guest post for another blog so that's the number one thing to finish up on my to do list today. Luckily there is plenty on that list that I can do with the bellytop so its not a totally unproductive time.

19 July 2010

evil thy name is...

...a broken dye glove (that you don't notice is broken until after you have plunged it into a vat of black dye and now look as though you have the bubonic plague)

...a cardboard paper cut that you got while outside and shouted obscenities at the exact moment a lovely elderly couple saunters by on a serene walk (the gentleman gave me a "shame on you look")

...a westie who has eaten dinner but gladly eats a second when his sister does not realize he has already been served (it ended badly, let's just leave it at that)

...shooting another instructional video for thermofax screens, feeling rather good about it and then realizing on the playback that you did not actually aim for the camera and much of the important bits are out of the camera's view (and said video cannot be re-shot until the bubonic looking plague hand is dealt with)

...becoming spoiled by the auto save feature on my website software and forgetting to save what I was working on in my writing program

...being daring and walking out to the mailbox at the end of the driveway barefoot - on blacktop - on an eighty degree day - choosing to hop onto the grass and stepping in mud...only it wasn't mud at all

...chasing a moth around the house with my sandal like I'm some kind of inept commando force with the westie running behind me barking and nipping my ankles until I accidentally run into a wall because I'm too busy looking up instead of forward

...got all geeky and stupid when I realized that Scream 4 was filming in my little town this afternoon. Of course, that was after I asked the police officer why the park was decorated for Halloween already.



This all happened today. I checked to see if there was a full moon. There wasn't one. Which means its just me. I think I'd rather blame the moon...

18 July 2010

where i stand sunday


It was there, posed in just that spot, sitting there in that exact manner. It was left behind somehow, no doubt in the wake of shrieking child. I imagine a little girl chasing her brother down the street after he's stolen her favorite teddy, a mother surrendering the battle of keeping footwear on a squirming little one, a baby girl who loves the feel of her bare feet on the ground. I imagine at all the places she will stand in her life.








Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

17 July 2010

paging violet beauregarde

I've been looking for an apron for a while now that I can use to stop the ever growing supply of studio work clothes I've been creating. You know how it goes - you think, "Oh I don't need to put my work clothes on, I'll be careful" and two screen prints later, you've added a new member to the paint shirt brigade.

You wouldn't think finding an apron would be so hard but when you're short and not of the very skinny variety, its not the easiest. I finally located one I really like. Its a natural canvas color (something of which I am extremely fond of) and I've been happily using it since I picked it up.

But to be honest, it was beginning to look like some kind of bizarre graffiti experiment - and not in a good way (particularly after the lime green paint incident of which we will not speak). So I decided to dunk it in some dye using a packet of violet dylon dye:


I like this dye for quick one off projects when I don't feel like hauling out all the procion and chemicals.

Plus it gave me an excuse to christen my new friend in the garage:


This utility sink was hooked up about a week ago and I've been looking for an excuse to use it ever since. Violet dye is a brutal way to begin but hey, the little guy's gotta have a strong backbone if he's gonna play with me.



And that's when I began to wonder if I should have chosen a different color. Visions of Violet Beauregarde sprung to mind. But the only other colors I had on hand were red (which I was worried might fade to pink) and yellow (which would either make me look like big bird or like I had jaundice). Violet seemed like a no brainer.

After half an hour of mushing it about and then tossing it through a wash, I had this:


Warn me if you see some umpa lumpas coming after me, will ya?

14 July 2010

(again)


I was all happy and content with my decision to paint my bedroom a warm pale pretty gray. And then I started thinking about it...(which never leads to anything good.)

I went to the paint store (again) and picked out samples (again). Now I have no idea what I want (again). The gray has been kicked to the curb and I've decided (at least on one thing) that I'm going to leave the chair rail up on the wall so I can paint the bottom half a nice bold color and the top half a neutral so that my artwork will show up nicely against it.

Now I just have to pick the bold color for the bottom. Really - picking paint colors shouldn't be this hard! This goes a little bit against my nature because I'm not really an indecisive person. This is honestly making me crazy (again).

I'm leaning toward the combo closest to my foot in the picture. Its Lost Kiss red and Westhighland White (no, it has nothing to do with the fact that I have a westhighland terrier, how could you imply that?)

I'm a fan of arts and crafts colors, its my favorite architectural style/colors. Which is probably why I like nice the rich bold ones. Since I'm only painting the bottom of half of the wall a color, I feel like I can get a little wild with it and not worry too much about it being overpowering. My bedroom furniture is a blond color so it will really pop against a rich tone.

Any opinions are most certainly welcome.

Perhaps I have color on the brain because I've been working on this quilt:


I can't show you the whole thing just yet. Once the opening reception has passed I'll post a complete picture of it. Those are sacred hearts that Leann drew for me and I made thermofax screens out of. I'm really pleased with how the fine detail of her drawing came out so clearly.

Dooley is completely unimpressed with my color dilemma and current quilt project:


Can't you just feel the boredom radiating off him?

Back to staring at colors. I have to decide soon before the painter decides to flee the house in frustration...

11 July 2010

open for business!!!


I've been talking about it ever since Open Studios in April. I've been working on it since I got home from Rosemont. And now? Now its finally up and running...



My etsy shop is stuffed full and waiting for YOU to pay it a visit. Here's what you'll find there:

(1) Some more of my 8x8 wall art pieces. There are only a couple up there now but there are more waiting for me to wrestle good photos of.

(2) Thermofax screens galore! There are 17 ready to print designs all set to be put to work printing your items. The designs come from your's truly, Leann Meixner, Jackie Lams, Michelle Sposito, and Jeanelle McCall.

(3) And if none of those designs strike your fancy, there are plenty of opportunities to make a screen from one of your own photographs or drawings.

(4) Tons and tons of paint colors. I sell Plaid's Simply Screen screen printing paint - my personal favorite and I hope it will soon be your's too.

(5) A frequent buyer program - buy five screens and get the sixth one for 50% off. There's also bulk pricing for those of you who want to buy 10 or more screens at one time.

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Don't have an etsy account?

And don't feel like registering for one? I'm happy to do any sales through personal email as well. Just contact me at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net

All the prices and descriptions found in the shop apply so please still use that as reference when ordering.

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Basic screen printing tutorial

Always wanted to do screen printing but think there is some sort of mysterious secret to it? I'm here to tell you not true. Its super easy and to prove it, I made a video showing you how. Of course, YouTube put a wrench into my plans by not letting me upload the whole thing at one time (that pesky ten minute time limit is a bugger). So I had to split it into two parts.

Here they are (go here if you want to see them full size):





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Winners from survey

Way back in this post I asked you all to take a survey about what you were looking for when buying thermofax screens. You all did an awesome job! As promised, I randomly chose three people from the comments that were left on that post and each one of the winners gets to pick a *free screen* from the shop! They can be ready to print designs or a custom screen.

The winners are!

Joanie Boyce of Mixing it Up with Quilting
Diane Seamans of DSigns by DS
Michele of Textile Traveler



And there you have it. Lots of work getting ready but I think it looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Hope there is something there that interests you and as always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.


where i stand sunday


Its a permanent greeting, spanning all seasons and occasions. We stood surrounded by a garden on one side, a warm home on the other and a good wish beneath our feet. Welcome, welcome, always welcome.








Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

09 July 2010

this is what happens...


...when I have no concrete plan.

What you see above (in a somewhat wonky photo with an inconvenient shadow from my hot and cranky car) is another stack of boxes intended to be used in the work for the assemblage show I am in later this year.

Have I mentioned that? Can't remember. So hey, guess what? I'm going to be in an assemblage show later this year. (I walked around an art fair today and I think I may have sunburn on my brain cells - its like the sun sees me walking around and shouts "There's a pale one! Get her!!!"...)

Leann, Joan and I are going to be doing an assemblage show at the Coffee Bean in downtown Plymouth. Our work will be there October and November.

And Leann has instilled a healthy fear in me regarding the timeline and amount of work that I need to get done. In fact, its sort of giving me a twitch beneath my left eye. I'll have to remember to thank her for that the next time I see her.

Leann has a theme. Joan has a theme. I have...lots of boxes.

I kind of sort of have a theme but even that is feeling a little shaky at the moment. I have to make seven pieces and I'm totally undecided if I want to do them all in a common theme or bounce around making whatever strikes my fancy. Not a good place to be in when I have so much work to do.

The stack shown above is the third haul I've drug home plus I just ordered a bunch of craft plywood to build my own. Which I thought was a wicked smart genius move on my part - until I went to a killer yard sale at a barn today and found all those boxes above.

This happens every time I lack focus in what I want to do. I wander about consuming every little thing I can get my hot hands on "just in case" it will be the very thing that will make or break the project.

So let's take stock, shall we? So far I have procured boxes from the following places:

1) The local cigar shop

2) a couple garage sales

3) materials to build boxes

4) the yard sale at the barn today


I'm full up on boxes. I just need to make the assemblages now.

Maybe my theme should be boxes...

08 July 2010

calling all surface designers - don't miss your chance!


a portion of the 2009 Blurred Boundaries exhibit
see the full post here


The deadline to enter Blurred Boundaries, the exhibit I curate for the Fabrications Retreat, is fast approaching. But don't fret, everything is done electronically so as long as you get your entry in before midnight on Monday July 12, you're good to go!


This year we seek to feature artwork that incorporates surface design techniques. This includes (but is so not limited to since there are so many to choose from!) dyeing, monoprinting, stamping, painting, screen printing and anything else all you wonderful creative people can think of.

Do you like to create art cloth? Then we'd love to see entries from you as well! We have an art cloth category this year as well.

For the full prospectus and entry form, visit the Fabrications Retreat website. Its available for download right there on the front page. If you have trouble accessing it or have a questions, don't hesitate to contact me at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net .

This is a wonderful exhibit opportunity. It is a juried show and we are extremely lucky to have Jeanne Williamson as the juror for this year. The show runs for the full week during the Fabrications Retreat (which is all kinds of awesome and you should totally come if you can). Your work can be for sale and there are three cash prizes this year.

Never entered a juried show before? No worries, I am here to help you get your entry together if you're unsure how to go about it. Entering a juried show is not as scary as you would imagine and its a great way to get your exhibiting resume started.

So don't hesitate! I can't wait to see your entries!


07 July 2010

30 happy things in june


This is a couple of days late but none the less happy. Above is the month of June from the 365 Happy Things Project.

If you're not aware of the project, I'm doing a daily photo essay showcasing something that made me smile during the day. I maintain a separate blog for it because I thought it might drive those of you who subscribe to the blog mad if you were getting multiply updates a day in your inboxes.

Please head over and take a gander at it.

05 July 2010

a cautionary tale : how glitter drove her mad

There once was a woman who detested glitter. She thought it a vile thing, not because it was sparkly and that wasn’t her preference but because she felt like it was a plague - once it got on things it started to spread over every surface, it refused to uncling itself.

One day this woman decided it was time to take down a display of porcelain christmas houses that had been up for years. She loved the houses so but thought it would be nice to take down what was up and perhaps put up different houses in their place.

She set about busily finding each box. She pleasantly and carefully selected each house from the shelf and gingerly packaged it up. She hummed to herself while she did it, thinking “This isn’t so bad, why did I wait so long to do this?”

It wasn’t until the dog wandered by that she noticed something strange.

He sparkled.

Dogs shouldn’t sparkle.

Upon closer inspection she noticed that it looked like a disco ball had exploded near him and now his fur was full of little dust puffs of sparkle.

This made the woman frown. She didn’t like dust puffs of sparkle, especially not on her dog. Then she noticed her shirt.

She too was covered in sparkles.

The intense fury against glitter began to rear its ugly head as she attempted (full well knowing it wouldn’t work) to brush it off her clothing. She abandoned this attempt at cleaning when she realized it looked as if she was beating herself. The lovely man painting her foyer seemed genuinely concerned about her mental health, looking at her sideways, attempting to avoid eye contact.

Understanding that there was no turning back, she continued on with her task. House after house went into boxes and more and more layers of glitter continued to accumulate on her like an unholy plague.

She grumbled and cussed and wondered if the person who invented glitter was still living so that she could pay him/her a visit and give him/her a well deserved smack upside the head. (It was this fantasy that helped her complete her task, she grinned maniacally as she imagined the encounter and for a moment didn’t mind as even more of the stuff found its way onto her skin and clothing.)

Three hours of touching glitter infested objects drew to an end. The task still was not complete but the worst of it was done.

She settled into a chair and slowly twisted her arm to watch it reflect light. She thought of the graphic novel X-Men and the girl with the diamond hard skin. But this was different. This was freakin’ glitter, the bane of the craft world. It would not repel bullets. It would simply sit there and create a fury in her that even hell would fear.

But still...it was sort of mesmerizing. The way she had turned into a living rainbow. She bent down to pet the dog. Oh! She could get even more glitter off of him! She sat down on the floor and pulled the dog into her lap when suddenly the urge to sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” came over her. It felt appropriate. She hummed and pet the dog and gazed up at the mountain of boxes that contained the glitter houses and noticed that they looked a little bit shrine like all piled up like that.

It wasn’t until her mother entered the room, commenting that there was glitter all over the rug and sofa and coffee table that the woman snapped out of her sparkle induced insanity. What had just happened? How had she gone from hating the sparklies to feeling some affection towards it?

Glitter has mind altering powers.

That was the only reasonable explanation.

The woman huffed as she stood up and surveyed herself and the room. Utter destruction. She glared at the glitter. She pondered the various ways she could make it meet its demise. She knew that vacuuming didn’t always work. Then she thought of it. Eureka!

She raced upstairs and returned to the battle armed with a sticky roller used for removing lint from clothing. Surely the glitter could not escape from sticky - sticky must be the secret weapon!

She crouched down and swiped the roll across the carpet. She gleefully noted that it quickly became encased with the enemy. She imagined each little glitter flake screaming in terror as she lowered the roller back down to the carpet.

Two hours later, the roller - and she - was exhausted. She and the roller had battled the whole room and she sat down to her laptop to enjoy a break by surfing the internet.

And that’s when she saw it.

Glitter on the keyboard.

It was reported on the evening news that swearing and screaming could be heard all throughout southeastern michigan. The source was never identified but speculation swarmed around the woman who had a breakdown from some sort of craft project (they never got it straight that it was porcelain houses, not crafts).

Proceed with caution when using the sparkly stuff. That way lies madness.

04 July 2010

where i stand sunday


Its a simple act : brushing new paint across old surfaces. But the change brings a new pulse of energy, a new face to bear the passing of each day. Excitement brims around the edges at the transformation, eager and expectant.







Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

03 July 2010

...and the winner IS!





...comment #9 which is Judi Hurwitt of Approachable Art!


Dream Time Graffiti #4 (seen below) will be going to live with Judi. Congrats Judi!


Many thanks to everyone who posted a comment on my 4 year blogiversary post - you're all awesome!

01 July 2010

lazy studio day


The tearing up of the house is in full swing. All in all its not as disruptive as I imagined it would be (although the random use of the nail gun in the foyer is enough to keep me on my toes...) but it does have me fleeing into my studio to escape. There is great comfort in knowing that room isn't going to be touched.

It feels a little bit like autumn today here in Michigan. Its cooled off considerably and there is a breeze moving through the house. I love it - but its made me a little bit too relaxed.

My work table above is what greeted me. Its relatively organized but I took one look at it and decided I didn't want to "work" today. I wanted to do something fun.

So I pulled out a tiny whack of fabrics and began tracing Wishing Owl bodies. (If you follow that link you'll see my sale table at the Running with Scissors holiday bazaar last November. If you make the picture bigger you can see a few owls stuffed into a basket on top of one the gray displays.)

Here is a view of the little guy that I decided to keep for myself:

And those are 18 new friends waiting to be stuffed and have their wishing pockets sewn onto their bellies. (They are rather flat and uninspiring at the moment.)

They also give me an excuse to buy some of the really cool graphic prints that are out there on the market. There is so much fabric that I love but I know I won't use in my more serious artwork. So these little puff balls give me an excuse to play with all that fabric.

I plan to just putter along with these when I feel like them. I might toss them up into the etsy shop when I finish a few. They are sweet little things. The idea is that you write down your secret wishes and put them into the little felt pocked on their tummies and they keep them safe.

Just a lovely little lazy studio day....