It's almost time! See you Monday!

I am so excited to be finishing up my packing and getting ready to tour Southern California! What a great way to meet some new friends! I will be at the Moores sewing Center in Mission Viejo, Huntington Beach, Orange, Corona and Victorville next week I hope you will get a chance to come and meet with me! I am bringing lots of goodies to share and I have some great giveaways too!

A wonderful, whimsical week is in store for us three!

I am so excited to be traveling next week to five of the Moore's Sewing Centers in Southern California. I will be giving a talk at various times through out the day at each store. I will have freebies, give aways and drawings for some of my new fabric!  I will be showing my patterns and I will even be selling my newest patterns that aren't released yet!  I am also bringing along some of my art quilts to share with those art quilters out there! I will be teaching several of my art quilt techniques this year in Fallbrook and at the San Diego Quilt show.

We will be at the Moores in Mission Viejo on Monday and Tuesday morning, then off to the Moores in Huntington Beach on Tuesday afternoon and Wendnesday morning.   Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning we will be in Orange at the Moore's there then on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning we are at the Corona store. Last but not least we will be in the new store in Victorville/Apple Valley on Friday afternoon and hopefully Saturday morning if We haven't had to return home to recover! I hope that anyone living close will get the chance to come by and visit. We would love to meet each of you and share some gifts and products with you!

I have been working on some samples to show you at each store!  And who is the "we" that will be with me? Of course I will be bringing Jennifer and Chloe with me just to keep me in line. If you all are really good we might get Chloe to do some tricks for us!  Or we can do some trick for Chloe! Hope to see you there!

My website is up.

My new pattern website is up finally. I had been working on a new layout and site when it suddenly went dark right before the holidays. It has been down for months, ever since Yahoo decided to change all the small business accounts without letting us know. It threw us all into a tizzy as we tried to scramble and regroup somewhere else. Not a Yahoo fan at all, but with that said it forced me to buckle down and finish my website. I had been just limping along when Yahoo lit a fire under me and got me  moving and forced me to finish up.

My new website, I hope you will stop by and take a look.
You can read more about me and my team  on the "About Us" tab.

I will be moving my fine art to another site and will let you know where that will be soon. This will allow all of my quilting friends to follow my quilts, patterns and fabrics and all of my art friends to follow my art specifically. I hope this makes things easier for my customers to buy their favorite patterns, kits, workshops etc. I will also be offering freebies on my website along with my Newsletter so I think its a good change all around. I hope you will take a few minutes to visit and let me know what you think!

Things that inspire- what does that mean to you?

What inspires you? I am often asked that question. The " normal" response would be nature, the people around me and my life situations and those things are all true, but there is also something that keeps me going, that keeps me excited to keep doing it again. There is something that is stirred deep inside that makes creating art so satisfying.  It's more than the painting itself, the paint to paper is only a small part of the magic.

I put together a few questions that I think might help you zero in on what inspires you and what takes your inspiration away.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself. There are no right or wrong answers.

1. Is it the planning or the finishing of a piece that is most exciting?

2. What makes you happier, giving something away to a grateful receiver, selling something or doing something for yourself ?

3. What excites you to action, a scene, a color, the lighting, a subject, make a short list of things that have excited you into creating art in the past few months.

4. What things steal your groove, zap your creative energy and make you feel defeated?

5. What areas of your art leave you frustrated and feeling inadequate?

 

Here are some of my thought about myself.

1. I love the planning or designing phase of art. My mind has so many ideas that for me it's not coming up with a project that is challenging but the execution and completion that is most challenging. 

2. it is the excitement of seeing the face of a client when they buy a piece of my work that thrills them. It is a phone call of thanks from a card I have sent someone or the excitement on the face of my granddaughters when they try on a skirt I have sewn them. So my happiness comes from sharing artwork. Whether that is posting online and reading comments, sending art cards, teaching or exhibiting. For me art is best when shared. When I sell a piece I get a feeling of worth and I feel that my art is valued. When I share my art for art sake I feel blessed and satisfied that I am sharing a gift only I can give.

3. I love color and value! I love extreme lighting that allows for a glow. The subject is secondary, it's capturing something special. I also love to tell a story, the story can be the best part of art for me. For myself I know I also get great joy in having something published and seeing my hard work in print. It can be a painting in a magazine or book or It is handling and feeling the fabric I designed on paper come to life as fabric. It's the excitement of sharing my story with others.

4. For myself I think social media can do two things, it can inspire or create anxiety. I love to see what other artists are doing and creating but with that said I can easily be overwhelmed and start to compare myself and my accomplishments with other artists which is only defeating and feeds that negative voice I fight to keep quiet. I also find that being too isolated can make me unproductive. Keeping a balance of art and work and other outside activities helps me stay energized. I also believe in eating well and pampering myself by indulging in good things for me instead of bad.

5. Frustration comes from over committing and a lack of production. I needn't I make the time to make the art. Filling my day with the sand leaves no room in my day for the big rocks of production. 

So take a minute and ask yourself what is it that lights your creative fire and identify the things that are counterproductive. When we take time to identify the things that make us excited and the things that take away our muse we can better equip ourselves with the tools to combat those dry periods in our life.I would love to hear from you! What is it that makes you excited to do your art? I want to know!

                                     

 

Chloe's page in Quilting Arts Magazine

As many of you already know, my daughter Jennifer, trained and certified her own service dog. Chloe does so many things for her and happily! They are inseparable and go everywhere together so when Quilting Arts had a readers challenge about bestfriends I couldn't think of anything else. I did her little quilt. I used raw edge appliqué, paint, pencils and then found a little love charm that worked great for her tag!

Chloe

This month the Quilting Arts readers challenge came out and I am thrilled that Chloe got a full page! 

                                  

Jennifer is thrilled and the little quilt now hangs in her room! Lovin these little projects! #littlequilts, #littleprojects

Small little projects that feed my creative soul.

I have been enjoying painting and sewing some small little projects lately. I think the fact that they are manageable and doable right now allows me to fit them in. Sometimes life can get so busy and complicated that by allowing ourselves the luxury of completeing some smaller projects we can continue to create without being overwhelmed. It's okay to just do what we can at that moment in time. It is finding that balance that will keep us moving forward and not running dry.

This is my 25th Anniversary piece for SAQA, shipped and received! 

Here is a new project I am working on for a new workshop. I am enjoying the hand sewing and embroidery stitches, its been awhile!

This is a photo transfer of a watercolor painting I did, then I added more paint, stitching and its done!

Are you struggling to start 2014 creatively? Why don't you just have some fun and create something small!

Another fun Chalkboard project

I wanted to share this before anymore time goes by. I did this over the holidays so I am late in posting but it would be perfect for your Parties and get togetherness this year! For Christmas I made my Grand daughters framed blackboards for their rooms. I then got a small bucket from target and put the command strips on the back and stuck a bucket to the frame for their chalk.

The girls chalkboards all ready for them on Christmas Morning

They loved them! Megan is trying to copy her Name like I wrote it on her chalkboard

I got the chalkboard at Home depo, they carry chalkboard already made up and they are happy to cut it up into any size you like! Do you have an old frame you want to use? Great, just have your chalkboard cut the size you need and you have a cheap new chalk board for your kitchen, kids room etc! So from my granddaughters Christmas gift I had a piece left over and at the last minute on Christmas Day I decided to do a Christmas dinner Menu.

Isn't this fun! Everyone loved it and read it when they came into the kitchen. I am now using it for my Bocce Ball scoreboard! I am using the chalkboard pens available at Micheals and regular chalk for the score. The chalkboard pens do come off with water but are a bit more permanent than plain ole chalk! Let me know what you do with your chalkboards this year!

It all looks perfect from a distance

My little lemon tree looks so pretty from a distance. The leaves are green year round and it is either in bloom while also holding lots of beautiful lemons. I love to paint in my yard which also allows me to really notice things when they go amiss. I see this lemon tree everyday, walking by it several times without really noticing a problem.

I know, so you're thinking big deal, if you've seen one lemon tree you've seen them all right!? Well, as I got closer to draw and paint it, I could see the twisted, discolored leaves. From this closer position I can see the lack of fruit and blooms. I can see the twisted curled leaves and weird growth. I notice it's stress and see that something is terribly wrong. Since I have had this little tree for many years I know it suffers from an internal parasite called leaf miner. Leaf miners wait for their opportunity to attack a tree and then wreak havoc unnoticed unless you're looking for the signs.

This little tree is a lot like us, a lot like me! From a distance we may look fine, attempting to set fruit and bloom as usual. Trying to appear like all is fine but underneath something might be terribly wrong. Unless we are willing to get close enough to see it, it will go undetected. At the same time the tree has to be willing to allow people to get close enough to see the problem which it is working so hard to cover up and deal with alone.

The good news is that it's so treatable with some extra attention my little tree will be well on its way to a full crop of lemons. As the tree grows it gets stronger and the ugly curled up leaves will be replaced by green glossy ones. 

More lemons

Now you have to figure out which one are you, the little lemon tree or the artist painting the tree. Maybe, today you're both. If you are the tree you might need to allow people close enough to see you, exposing some of your weaknesses. If you are the artist you might need to really see the problem and be able to offer some help in the supporting the recovery or solution. The blessing from the experience is that the tree produces more fruit from which the artist, the tree and others gets to enjoy!

We all want to be a Happy Little Lemon Tree!

Being who we are meant to be means embracing a title

I think as artists we are blessed with this unsatisfiable need to create beautiful things from simple supplies. Just some blobs of paint and a piece of paper, maybe just a pencil and a napkin. I can't tell you how many times I have grabbed a napkin to do a quick sketch of something that had to be captured at that moment. We often are not understood and thus the crazy artist stigma.

This crazy behavior reminds me of the time a group of us artists were having dinner at a little restaurant in San Clemente. We had all ordered our meals and we were having a glass of wine and laughing when the sun came into the restaurant through a small window during sunset and lit up a shelf full of colored jars. As if we had choreographed it, we all jumped up at the same moment and ran to the shelf to start taking photos, trying to capture the moment, the light.  Well you can only imagine how we scared everyone in the restaurant including the chef and owner as they watched us all jump out of our chairs without a word and stood in a doorway taking tons of pictures. Within minutes the sun was gone and regained our composure and looked around to see everyone staring at us and we couldn't help but laugh. They had no idea what drove us to do that, they didn't understand that need to capture a moment. They were clueless and so we did look like a bunch of crazy people. I have so many of those crazy "artist" moments when I just have to pull over and take in the scene or capture a moment.

 I know that many of you, my artist friends, find it uncomfortable to call yourself an artist. That you can't even say the word, let alone feel like one. But why my friend?

Do you have that desire to create? Do you love to experiment and play with different types of supplies. Do you see a painting in every sunset and sunrise, in every tree, driving down the street or just sitting in a restaurant? Does it feel like you have all these projects or paintings inside of you and you don't have enough time to do it all?

Now ask yourself do you feel inadequate, untalented and not worthy of the title "Artist". Do you think people will judge you and you are not good enough? Well then congratulations, POOF, you are an Artist! You need to sign all your work and appreciate your talent now and use it more often. One of the biggest artist stumbling blocks is not practicing your talent! Go forth my artists friends and create! If you haven't viewed the little video on the right side of my blog you should take a few minutes to do so, it is well worth it!

A brand New Year, but first a look at the craziness of November and December

I love the beginning of the Year, it is a time to reflect on the things I accomplished last year and to set goals and make plans for this year. I haven't shared much this last few months as I have been deeply committed to finishing up some projects along with spending time with my family.

Last year I worked on revamping my artist look, redefining myself and my different looks as well as getting organized.  I took a few online classes, attended some seminars and that really helped me with the business side of my art, the uglier side of business that many artists, including myself try to avoid like money, expenses etc. I first took a class with Jennifer Lee called "The Right Brain Business Plan" the book is available on Amazon but its also as a online class. Great insights and help in tackling some of those business issues. Then to help conquer the "beast of STUFF", I took a great class with Alyson Stanfield on How to Organize my Art Biz, a step by step that really made my demons more manageable, like the monster piles of paperwork and piles of other things in my office that I don't know what to do with. I hope it will help to keep me better organized so I can be a better artist. The link is an affiliate link but I wouldn't recommend anything unless I truly believed in it. I am still working on completing many of the organization things I learned through out my studio, my closets etc. Its hard work but well worth the rewards. Check this out....

From this to...

THIS!

I know, impressed right!? I have more just like this but I will share later. I started this in November and worked on a new class every few days. It was great but tough during the holidays, I added some organizational apps on my phone too. Its all part of the new me! 

Before Thanksgiving arrived I made time to finish the new baby's room and mural! Barely made it since they were doing a C section the day after Thanksgiving. I did manage to find time to cook Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people and the next day welcome our newest grand baby to the family. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jennifer holding Bryce

I took some time to be with Melissa and the baby as Matt dealt with Blake being sick and then him getting sick. It was nice since I was so tired and needed the rest, holding the baby was very relaxing!

 Before the craziness of Christmas was in full swing I had a Art quilt show in Poway to attend, I had two of my art quilts accepted into this amazing show. It was a beautiful exhibit and I was able to connect with some very talented women! 

Then, in a flash it seemed like it was time for Christmas! Did it seem like that extra week we usually have between Thanksgiving and Christmas makes that much of a difference? It did this year, I couldn't believe how fast Christmas seemed to come. I managed to get a bit of baking done,snowballs and peanut brittle are a must have for when my mom arrives. Its her favorite and I love to have it ready for her, she always notices it!  I also received my Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments that hit the shelves for sale this year! I was able to get a few sets from the manufacturer and gave them to my kids for their family tree. I also got the ornament from the Riverside Art Museum that I gave them also, it was my year for ornaments.

Snowballs, a family tradition in our house!

One of my ornaments from my Twelve Days of Christmas design

My mom and sister came down from northern California to spend the holidays with everyone. It was wonderful to see them and to have a few weeks to just be with my mom! I would try to paint in the mornings but really I just spent most of my time with her, shopping, baking, visiting. She is such a blessing to our family and I love her so much! Here she is opening the gift the girls made at the ceramic shop for her and they are so excited to see her reaction.

Mom even got an iphone and finally gave up her flip phone. It is proving to be a challenge and we ended up doing lessons throughout our days together. Then my sister arrived and we all had some wonderful time together, visiting and baking and eating! After mom left to stay at my brothers, my sister and I sat outside in the sunshine one morning and I gave her an art lesson as we had our morning coffee. She loved it and took home her little masterpiece after first making it the wallpaper on her phone!

She was painting berries off of one of my trees.

Christmas Day was full of family and it was close to perfect. I managed to finish the painting for my niece and she loved it!  She is so beautiful and tall everyone thinks she should be a model and she is my moms shadow. She just sticks to her like glue!

I know you are thinking wow, how does she do it all. I am sure if you were to sit down and write down all the things you have done over the last few months you would shock yourself. You will now better understand my need to be very organized and structured. My time is so valuable and limited since I am a full time caregiver on top of it! Phew, enough already. Well with all that was going on I still found some time to work on my new website!! I am happy to see it become a  more professional looking site. After all is said and done it appears that I did manage to still have an artsy Christmas, full of blessings and creative energy. 

My new website for my patterns only is ready to launch and I will be working on my new art website soon, its all very exciting! I will be teaching more this year coming up with all new workshops and letting go of some other things as I make room for these new projects. I have been busy designing, creating and making art for some deadlines that are coming up but I can't share the details yet, its a secret!

I am so excited with all the changes and things that are happening, many blessing to all of you! I so appreciate your visits, the time you take to stop by and comment. To look at my art and read my thoughts. I hope that 2014 will be even better! More posts, more art, more insights and tutorials.
Blessings!

The Quiet after the storm

I don't know about you but the older I get the more work the holidays seem. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it, making dinner, having the whole family over, shopping, sewing gifts etc but that next day I find I just want to chill. This year our weather has been amazing, warm, sunny days and cool nights are perfect but you don't want to be inside around a fireplace! I dream of white Christmases but love the fact that I can still sit outside in the warmth on Christmas Day! Today is the 26th, the quiet after the storm of activity and the rip and tear sessions as we call it here. A day when all my guests can sleep in, where Randy and I could sneak out for our early morning walk, where I can grab my paints and journal about our Christmas together. After our walk I took my coffee and went over to the side yard where the trees are still colored up and dropping their leaves. Where the morning sun shines on the stucco wall and casts wonderful shadows from the surrounding foliage. It is somewhere I can sit in the dappled shade and enjoy the morning.

My mom and sister later joined me and we just visited for awhile. My mom asked me, "Does this relax you?" Yes, it does, I said. I thought about that for awhile. What is it that I do that totally relaxes me, takes me to a place of calm and quiet, a peaceful bliss. It is definitely when I am painting.

They both left to shop the sales but I decided to stay home, finish my painting in my journal and then play Boce Ball with Randy while I drink expresso from my new expresso maker!

It makes for a perfect day! What are you doing after all the rip and tear is over, after the busyness of Christmas day is over and the quiet starts to settle back into your home? For those of you who spend Christmas alone, do you look forward to the day after sales with all the commotion and excitement? For me, it is also a time to reflect and then look forward by setting some goals for the New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you that visit my blog, leave comments and have become such a special part of my life.

Merry Christmas! 2013 is coming to an end

With so many wonderful things happening this year I am taking the time to go back and take a look at all the things I have accomplished and look forward and make a list of all the things I will work on in 2014. So many blessings, my art quilts featured in a book, publishing my first quilt book, fabric designs, solo art exhibit at the museum are just a few. By taking the time to really look back at what I have done I can see where I have done well and where I need work. I am looking forward to bigger and better things this art filled year coming up, bring it on 2014. Here are a few of my holiday memories this year, tiny snapshots of life in December. Enjoy

The kids making mom a holiday plate

Our newest grandbaby was born, Bryce Scott

Kids making cookies

Chloe at Target pretending to be Santa

The skies as we did our Christmas Shopping

My Twelve Days of Christmas designs are now ornaments!

My mom being able to come down for the holiday and meet Bryce. 

Our Tree

My gift to Janae

Marta's beautiful Mantel

Snowball cookies waiting for people

Pillowcase gifts 

This is an actual picture of a rainbow over my house, I truly feel like the rainbow has left me a pot of gold. Merry Christmas to all of you who have made my year so special!