Four Days Till Forty

I will be 40. In 4 days. Age is an amazing thing. Where does time go? My 8 and 4 year olds make me feel young and old all at the same time. I usually feel like I'm a lost child of 12 until some adult thing brings me back to reality. Like the fact that I have two children and I'm the one driving the car. Age really is just a number. Until you overhear the 8 year olds talking about something ancient from... the 80's. As in "Man, that's so old! That's so 80's!" I hope you whipper-snappers are referring to the 1880's. Then I'm down with it.

I was considering a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. I thought twice. I'm sure Joelle is happy I did.

Here are a few drawings for our coloring book. I'm putting it together. I get the cover. I'm 40. Should I just start saying that. Like my 4 year old randomly announces her age? I'm not as cute as my 4 year old. Hmmmm..

Creative tornado!

The year is off with a bang and back into the work. I'm having a hard time sleeping with all the ideas and things going on in life at the moment! The Made In Ojai store is having an awesome event. If you are local, please stop by to see it...



For the event, I thought it would be great fun to ask other artists at the co-op to collaborate on a coloring book for the event. Just some simple line drawings put together to hand out as a fun "thank you" for being there. So far we have collected a few mermaid drawings which is fun! Another fun event will be our heart design challenge. We will be decorating these hearts and displaying them in the store then possibly auction them off for charity. I was really inspired by Cynthia Thorntons art clay locket from her book "Enchanted Adornments". If you haven't seen it, it's quite amazing! A secret hiding place in a heart! Love it! I'm really excited to get started on this!

Testing the waters...

Thanks for all the lovely comments! I really appreciate the kind thoughts! I've been getting back into the swing of things and have put one little button into my etsy shop to test the waters....

The star above is about 1 1/4" tall (I can't do the mm thing!) I'll get back into clay... soon...

Oh! Happy New Year!

With my grief came creativity.
I made 13 pieces the day my Grandmother died.... Here are a few....

Thank you! And sadness...

Thanks for all the comments on the previous post! It's a good reminder to be respectful of others. It is so important to be respectful out in the world. The topic has come up a lot lately. Maybe it's the season? The push to be generous turns into just a push? I am remembering to be respectful to others.

Our family had some sad news earlier this week. My grandmother passed away at the age or 91. She had a full life but was ill. It wasn't unexpected but it sure was sad. We were not on the best of terms at the time of her passing. I knew time was short and had tried to reach out to her. She was a flawed and beautiful person. I am taking time to think about what lessons I was to learn from our time together, good and bad. Remembering the great and sad times we had together, I will always be mystified by how things changed and why. She had some really great sayings that also contradicted her own behavior. A favorite of mine was "Shit on should!" meaning, don't let anyone tell you what you "should" be doing. She never did. She traveled the world in her retirement and always had a great story. I think we helped to show her the humor in life. She lived through the great depression, scarlet fever, a parents suicide, a dear brothers passing and an abusive marriage. I can see where her pain came from. I can sympathize. I will miss her.

What would you do?

What would you do if someone contacted you to make them some custom jewelry or art and after following their instructions to the "T" using some fairly expensive materials, agreeing on a price, spending many hours of your time working on them and they've seen what that item will look like in a photo, you send them out $270 worth of custom items. Upon receiving them, they email you and notify you that the colors are too bright and the length is too short and would like to return them for a refund. Upon agreeing to receive the items back you refund them the amount minus the $10 shipping, $9 in paypal fees and $10 in esty fees only to get an angry response threatening to report you and you are cheating them? Dear jewelry designers and artists, what would you do?

Mmmmmermaid!

These just make me say "MMmmmmmmM!"

They are a new color I made and remind me of the watery ocean depths, where a mermaid might frolic! Or how her tail would shimmer and glow in the water....

What is your ritual for Christmas eve? We make cookies all day and hot coco in the evening and drive around to look at lights!
Happy Christmas Eve!

Oh my STARS!

This stars button has been made into a button bracelet which I am particularly fond of. These little art clay buttons are fast becoming a favorite of mine...

So, have you gotten all your holiday ducks in a row? Mine are still woefully running amuck! I'm getting by on too much chocolate and gossip with friends (the friendly sort of course!) But I will tell you, this holiday season has been trying. I've been apologetic to people who may need to hear the hard truth. I'm hoping the holiday spirit stays with me to get me on through to the next year and beyond. If you are feeling the biting cold of the season instead of the warm glow, just know you are not alone and give yourself a hug!

Merry Merry everyone!

I Heart Hearts

To really drive home my love of hearts, I came up with this heart shaped wire hook. I also found my sticker collection from the 3rd grade and you'd never guess the predominant theme... hearts. Foil ones, rainbow ones, spotted and solid ones. Whee!

Love 2 U!

Free love...

Hearts. I Heart them. They have such a pleasing shape and say so much with so little. They can have wings, flames, cracks, flowers, stripes, leaves, swirls.... just love them. I'm also taking the time to enjoy how these themes can translate into the Art Clay medium. The smaller scale seems to make them precious in a way that ceramic clay doesn't seem to get for me.

Enough of that pity party...

I've got beads to play with! And jewelry to make. I would like to complete a December firing in a timely manner. I had an element go out in my kiln for the November firing. Not good. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that this firing goes better. It has been a serious struggle not to chuck everything out the window and play with the silver art clay. Can I just say that I've been having a great time learning my way around this new medium. I should have researched what stones will fire with the Art Clay before hand. I'm a gal that likes to throw caution to the wind. And make mistakes. And I'm lazy. And pressed for time. So here are a few triumphs. I'll be brave and show some not so triumphy ideas... later....




Love 2 U.

An open apology...

It must be that time of year. Time is running fast and nerves are frayed. We are only human. To err is human. To forgive is divine. The season is catching up with me and I'm always so grateful for orders. Truly, no order is too small. This time of year many small and wonderful orders can add up so quickly that I must admit, my head has begun to spin. Just a little. Unfortunately when I'm spinning like a top, mistakes are bound to happen. Detail fall through the cracks. Not to make excuses. So to you dear customer, I apologize and ask in this season of joy and light, you can find it in your heart to forgive.

More bracelet love....

Who are you?

David Bowie. Elvis. Henry Miller. Matisse. J. D. Salinger. Muhammad Ali. Dolly Parton. Edgar Allen Poe. Cezanne. Isaac Newton. J.R. Tolkien. Dean. Joelle. We keep good company... Capricorn's that is! Who do you keep good company with?

Fa-la-la-la-la

I took my girl to the park today! It was such a beautiful day and we needed the fresh air and play time! This also kept me from popping open the kiln too early! We had a great Thanksgiving and celebrated with a feast that we spent two days cooking! Life has become increasingly blurry as we approach Christmas and New Years... Time to get back in the saddle and ride! I've had my nose to the grindstone and am ready for some time off... I hope all are well!