Time to oganize again....

This week I will be making a blue bracelet for the

  7000 Bracelets of Hope Blog Hop 

along with all these other participants:

http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2011/04/bracelet-blog-hop-7000-bracelets-of.html

thanks to Lori for the information- 

The bracelets are given to one of 7000 families 

having children with rare diseases to show them love and support.

Come back on Saturday the 16th and follow the hop if you want to, 
I will post my bracelet then. 
For now:
Friday April 8, 2011
"Some days are just like this", I say to myself. 

I can feel the weight of the universe pulling me in a thousand directions 

and I feel like I am being sucked into a black hole-
Dizzy and confused,

Amazing Black Hole- can you feel the power in that gravitational pull?

Why? 

I have "Pyle's" (piles of stuff)

(my married last name- probably the curse that started this) LOL, 

of materials for this and that, (and more STUFF)

many unfinished projects in process and so many directions I could go each day 

sometimes I just go nowhere.  

I decide to sit down at my computer 

and connect with the rest of you and see what you are doing. 

I am so grateful for all the bloggers out there that share their joy and angst.
You help me feel normal.

For now I don't seem to have any problem with inspiration 

it is organization that makes my head spin.

No this isn't me I just feel like that. 

Hit play to hear my theme song. 

PS We do a routine to this at Zumba Class. 

My inner critic looks a little like this guy, tough, inflexible and bossy. 

I want him to go away but he stays and nag, nag, nags....

"Why haven't you finished that? 

What about that over there? 

Why is this room such a mess?

Will you ever finish that thing over there?

.....

so the black hole actually looks inviting.

At least I won't be able to hear him anymore. 

I do wish my head wouldn't spin though

I feel dizzy and sick. 

OKAY,

Saturday, April 9, 2011 

I wrote this yesterday before I went to lunch with two of my friends to celebrate Barbara's Birthday.

We went to our new favorite haunt: " Nora's "  Great italian cuisine.

We shared stories, ate, laughed and then went back to my house 

so Barbara could choose one of my new cuffs as a present 

and 

Teresa bought one too! 

so 

We took a picture with our cuffs on to commemorate the day 

Cool Cuff Girlz

We giggled a lot as we strategically worked on the camera set up 

so we could hide the muffin tops we all had from the delicious pasta lunch 

and giggled even more 

while we practiced how I would run into the picture 

after activating the shutter timer

and then we zoomed off to Teresa's for 

The Best Chocolate Cake and Coffee I have had in a long time!! 

You know what- the Black hole is gone,

I don't feel dizzy and my mind totally cleared -

I feel GREAT!!

Girl Time is Great Medicine!! 

and for me Chocolate is a drug of choice.

More Seratonin baby!!! 

Thank you to my two wonderful friends.

I have just been holed up in the house too long or 

frantically carting my treasures about to sell 

and needed this little mini-vacation.

So here are the two new Cuffs I made this week:

You can find these in my Aquariart Etsy Shop .

This color palette is one of my favorites 

so I had to make two cuffs that were similar. 

The first is hiding the polymer clay button I made. 

I am also working on a surprise project I can not talk about yet.

Come back later (August) to see that. 

Hope your weekend is wonderful. 

Monday is my husband's birthday so I got tickets to see a comedy show tonite.

Laughing is also good medicine. 

I hope I made you laugh a little too! 

I am going to take a bath-

MARABS Challenge and 15% off coupon available to celebrate First Friday in April May and June

If I don't post this weekend please forgive me as I have had 2 craft shows in a less than a week, 

already posted twice this week (BLAH, blah, blah)  and had several deadlines to meet. 

One of which was the 

March ABS Challenge:
(click above to see the inspiration and links to see all the entries)

 Here is my "Tahitian Dreams" Necklace 
inspired by Gaugin's Painting: "Sacred Spring, Sweet Dreams". 

Doesn't it just make you want to dance barefoot on a tropical island 
and swing those hot colored beads around your head? 
It is a very long but adjustable necklace.
 32 inches around!! 

Those tickly little fiber tassels land right on the collar bones 
looking like whimsical little flowers, semi-lai-ish. 
When I uploaded my pictures to Flickr I wrote wonderful long descriptions of my process. tags...
and guess what?
I forgot to click save (imbecil- me not you) 
so they are magically gone. 
I am a little miffed so I won't do it again today, maybe tomorrow, but not today. 
Hate that!!! 
Love this:

The good news,
I had one really long bead making day yesterday,
8 am to 12:30 am got up this morning and added the finishing touches
photographed before 10 am and uploaded to the Art Bead Scene Group on Flickr  
with a few minutes to run to the store for creamer 
before my friend Diane was arrived for a visit at 10:30. 
(for rarely am I not the Queen of the Last Minute, Race to the Deadline Gal)
and this time I left some skin on my finger tips when I sanded and buffed my beads with my dremel.  Last time,  well I will spare the gore and say: 
"I didn't know that sanding could remove that much skin" 
and my husband said: 
"Is that the Michael Jackson look you are trying out?"

"Just Sand it.....,Sand it....., this sure ain't how you planned it!!
Skin off the fingers, down to the flesh,
stings quite a bit 'cause these wounds are fresh...
Just sand it...., sand it........"
(to the tune of "Beat It")

(bandages and a couple weeks off from sanding and buffing- all is good)
Hope I made you laugh! 
Shop and Save!!! ARTS and CRAFTS Spring Shows

For Locals I am vending at First Fridays in April, May and June this year
right outside of Studio8ten on corner of S. Las Vegas Blvd and Gas Ave.
I can now proudly accept mastercard and visa and will be collecting sales tax for the state of Nevada.
Yes,  I am officially in business!!!

 What is First Friday?  

A potpourri of local artists, musicians and vendors all celebrating life and art in our own 

"Glitter City"

(Las Vegas)
Here is the flyer:

DIRECTIONS:

WALKERS- If you are concerned about walking over to Studio8ten from the Arts Factory area off Charleston watch for escorts.  There are volunteers who will accompany you all the way to and from the Studio.  PS They will have flyers with special discounts and free raffle tickets to entice you to come. 

DRIVERS:

Actually you may want to start there as the parking behind the studio in the Law firm parking lot on 4th is free.  If you take the 15 to Charleston heading east simply take a left on 4th, you will see a large law firm on the right a couple blocks down where the parking is free and the back door to the studio is right there.  Tents will be set up in back and walk through the studio to see several vendors including moi in front. 

There will be live music, raffles and children's art activities so you can shop without distractions.

Studio8ten is one location of the Transition Services Inc. non-profit organization that employs people with disabilities and you will be amazed at the products they make and sell too.  It is well worth the trip. 

If you attend First Friday and please do join the fun,

 I will be passing out coupons with the code for 15% off 

on online purchases from my two shops; Aquariart and Heatherp22 Shop.

Come by and get one - you will be glad you did because

  it will be good for any purchases made online 

the first two weeks of each month April, May and June 2011!!!

In addition I will offer 10% off anything you buy at First Fridays in April, May and June.

For my out of town Blogger friends- 

you can use this code to receive the 15% off the first 2 weeks of each month; April, May and June: 1stFriday15

I have to include you because, well 

I like you and wish you could all be there to celebrate with me.
Oh Happy Day!!
I am done talking this week!!!! 

Hey I am still here during the week... just busy

I stopped in to say: "Psst-

I am listing my New Spring Cuffs starting today on Etsy !!"

(click the giant sentence to go directly there)

I may put a couple in the Aquariart shop too as they qualify as Fiber Art. 

I hope to gather my audience around this concept of creating fiber art to wear. 

I know it is not just my idea.

It really is very comfortable to wear perhaps due to the fact that most of us 

(nudists and neanderthals excluded)- * read the fine print

 (no harm intended just a joke)

have already worn fabric most of our lives

beginning with the dreaded diaper. 

(Hopefully I won't have to revert to that style in old age!!) LOL

Also

I just happened upon a wonderful giveaway this morning over at

Marcie's - La Bella Joya
 She is celebrating her 300th sale on Etsy!!

 Wow! 

You can see why when you look at her shop 

She not only makes meticulously amazing beaded items 
but sells tutorials for her beautiful designs 

she has lovely fingernails-
I am guessing she doesn't work in clay! LOL
AND

she is having a sale too!! 
(click here to get a coupon)

Click HERE to find out how to enter the giveaway. 
DISCLAIMER: This post is purposely remedial for beginner clickers.  
Anything large and colorful will take you somewhere. 
Hopefully to the places I am talking about. 
I reserve the right to make mistakes though as I am menopausal... LOL
Have a great week- Back to work - it's a polymer clay play day!! 

Inspirations from Mother Earth

pink lame flower close up of beaded center

I have finished most of the cuffs I started last week for the Aveda Eco Fashion Show and Art Walk 

that I will be vending at this Sunday (tomorrow) from 3:00 to 5:00pm. 

 For locals the school is on Tropicana and Eastern in the strip mall on the NE corner.  

Close up of the Button

The Art Institute Students will be displaying art and 

the fashion design students will have created the items in the Fashion Show.  

I am very excited to see what all these young artists have come up with.  

So here are some more pictures of my finished Cuffs.

The entire cuff.

Closure  and beading details

Inspirations from Mother Nature, machine free-motion stitched, 

handmade organza 

and lame flowers

  singed with a tea candle, beaded and embellished with ribbons, pearls, frayed silk......

I also made three little flower pins.

Snake Woman Cuff

My polymer clay face beads were put to good use on a few of them.

This one is my favorite- The Apple Blossom Goddess

Back to work- I have to gather and organize all my inventory for tomorrow. 

Have a great weekend everyone!! 

Spring, Glorious Spring!!

I had a fabulously productive week inspite of two meetings I had to attend 

and some home service repairs going on, 

a sample beaded flower and two crochet patterns I needed to write up  chart and deliver, 

a belated birthday lunch with Barb and Teresa and 

I can't remember what else. 

Monday night was the Las Vegas Polymer Clay Guild meeting 

 I shared my knowledge and information about selling on Etsy with the group. 

 We meet at a private school in the art teacher's classroom. 

She had a Mac (oh happy me!!) with the big screen in the room 

so everyone could see what I pulled up on the desktop.  

I quit teaching in the public schools 7 years ago

so I missed the boat on this fabulous technology that is available today for teachers. 

 Anyhow I think it went well, 

 perhaps more people in the guild will start up shops and sell their wonderful items online.

We also have a demo each month.

Here is one of the little boxes we learned how to make.

I only had a dollar and still won one in the raffle.  

My lucky streak is still going. 

Wednesday was our first "Art Quilt ect.."meeting at one of our local libraries 

that just happens to be only 10 mins from my house.  

With the escalating price of gas this is going to be wonderful for me and my mustang. 

We have a monthly challenge.

 I am behind one month but working furiously to complete them all.

 Be sure to check my new post on the Fiber Art page. (click on that word at the top of this post) Spring is here and the birds are singing. 

I have one little birdy who has a new home. 

Thursday while waiting for the air conditioning company to come 

and prep our unit for the summer 

I pulled out my silk paints, my metallic guttas, seta fabric paints, 

the wonderful adjustable stretching frame I bought from Dharma 2 years ago 

 and some great items to practice on. Here's what happened- 

First I set up outside in the back yard with the seta colors and some macrame purses 

my friend Margaret from " Art quilts ect" gave me 

because in her words "I knew you would do something fabulous with them."

They were part of the stash of former member who passed away.

She had donated her things to people in our group.  

I hope she is up there smiling down at me because I made them so colorful. 

When it got too windy and cold to be outside I moved in to the dining room table and set up the silk supplies.  

Here is my first scarf in awhile.  

First I created the flowers and leaves with antique gold gutta.

After it is all dry

this is my favorite part!!! 

 you fill in with the silk paints and play with water spots ect which adds texture. 

Oh the unusual colors you can create.  

I used only 4 colors of silk paint: magenta, yellow, citrus and  turquoise

to create all these different colors.  

So Fun!!!

Next - the tricky part- heat setting and steam setting the paints. 

Happy Weekend!!

PS for all the Bead Soup People - I am still hopping- I WILL GET TO YOU! 

Spring Fever Cuff Series

The scent of plum trees blooming,
pink petal rain on the bright green grass,
birds singing joyfully as the temperature rises,
warm sunshine on my face.
Spring is here!! 

Yesterday I spent quality time with My Muse. 

She takes me to really special places. 

 I have been sewing, inspired by our local quilt show.

 I am still determined to combine all my passions and make wearable art.  

So here goes.  

My new quilted cuff series in progress. 

There are four more!! 

I started with my husband's old jeans - I save them all in a plastic tub.  

I clipped, tore and frayed one leg into 3" X 8" pieces. 

Thinking I would make a comfortable quilted lining,

I practiced my free-motion skills on batiks and fun colorful fabrics lined with cotton batting.

 I liked the quilted fabric so much the lining became the new front side. 

Quilted Fabric "New" front side painted

After quilting and sewing these together they went downstairs 

to my dining room table for some paint applications.  

Using a brush, a brayer and my favorite Lumiere paints this is what happened.   

Denim back painted with brayer highlights the quilting stitches-
maybe they should be reversable?

Somewhere last week I stumbled upon a tutorial on making fabric flower petals.
I couldn't wait any longer to try that out.  

When suffering from Spring Spring fever 
(not really suffering just enjoying great weather- it was 80 degrees here yesterday!!)
One has oodles of colorful flowers on the brain. 

My husband actually remained calm last night 
while I played with the fire in the house using a tea candle.  
After melting, puckering and hand stitching with a sprinkle of beads 

this is what you get. 

Cheap Walmart red dazzly faux silk

Specialty Organza

I love them!! Aren't they gorgeous? 
Fortunately over the years I have collected tons 
of faux silk and organza fabrics I can make these with.  
I am so glad I did! 

The next step after they are all beaded and flowered up
is to make polymer clay buttons 
and braided elastic cord loops for closures.

The cuffs are almost ready for their journey.

They will first travel to 

The Aveda Institute Art Walk and Fashion Show 
on Sunday, March 27th from 3-5pm (for locals) where I will have a booth.

Then on to my Etsy shop in April if there are any left. 

Don't worry- I don't think I will get tired of making these for a long time.

Each one comes out so totally unique. 


While I have your attention I am also working on two challenges 
from my ArtQuilt Circle using the same technique.
Free motion quilting that is painted.

"Free motion Wood grain"

Here are the parts for the  "Shelter" Challenge. Can you guess what this will be?

additional parts

and
Here is the door for my "Favorite Place" Challenge in progress

Yes I have to hide all those threads between the fabrics, this is two sided; this side is painted with Shiva Oil Sticks using make up applicators and a stencil brush to blend the other side acrylic paints.

Did I make you want to sew, bead, burn fabric (carefully)? ... I hope so! 
I also hope your weekend is fabulous- 
I am off to go outside and enjoy the great spring weather here!!