my new idea for a “pink Christmas”.

I just realized it’s almost a month since my last post! I don’t know what happened…too many things to do all the time, plus I’ve been having issues with getting decent photos to post (that’s why this post has none!).

Anyway, I decided to scrap my “pink Christmas” ornaments. I’m not completely happy with them – they’re a bit messy looking, they’re too big, and I’m just not loving them anymore. I still love the “pink Christmas” idea though, so I wanted to come up with another idea…

And I thought of making an inchie garland. I really like this idea – I so enjoyed making my Halloween inchies last year, and would love to make Christmas inchies. It will take a lot of inchies to make a decent-sized garland! But I think it would be so cool. I am not planning on having this done for Christmas, at least not Christmas this year!

Other than that I haven’t even done much arts and crafts. I’ve been working on my soldered pendants, and hopefully will have those posted soon. I’ve been trying to clean up my art space – it is so messy that I feel depressed every time I look at it. Time time time – I need more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dawne

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getting nowhere at the speed of light.

I’ve been frustrated lately. I feel like I’ve accomplished little so far this year. I did finally finish my March page in my calendar journal at least (two days ago!). And I got my Mom’s necklace done.

Sometimes I just feel like giving up my arts and crafts. But I know I would be miserable. So I will just have to keep going, little by little.

Here is my March page…I think it turned out really pretty.

I have an idea for a digital art project, and I’ve been slowly going through my collection of vintage photographs of women, looking for suitable photos to use. This will definitely be a long-term project; I don’t expect to be done until next year!

I’ve also been gathering supplies to make some Christmas ornaments that I am planning to submit to Somerset Studio. I’ve been wanting to make something for the Christmas issue for a couple years now, and I’ve decided to actually do it this time. Unfortunately our printer is broken, and I can’t do much more until we get a new one. Which hopefully will be reasonably soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

xoDawne

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a blank slate.

I’m so excited…I got my new calendar book for 2012!

Is it old-fashioned that I still write everything down? From birthdays and anniversarys to my weekly goals to the chores I need to get done on the weekend…it all goes into my calendar book, handwritten in purple ink.

I don’t care if it’s old-fashioned. I simply love the act of putting pen to paper and forming letters. Plus I have a thing for notebooks. And pens.

I suppose it would be easier to use technology to keep my life organized. For one thing I wouldn’t have to write down all the birthdays and anniversarys every year. Then again, I might not remember them otherwise.

I also love writing lists, and scratching items off of my to-do list. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.

I love my new calendar book. It’s so pretty. I can’t wait to see what the pages become filled with. Probably nothing very exciting. But there’s always the possibility….

xoDawne

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here, there, and totally all over the place.

out of focus
I am all over the place when it comes to my art&craft work. I’m trying to learn Photoshop. I want to experiment more wih collage. I want to make more jewelry and learn metalworking techniques. I want to try drawing.

I feel rather scattered.

I didn’t used to be like that. When I did my beadwork, that was all I did. Beadwork.

Now that I’ve entered this mixed media/collage/digital art world, techniques, ideas, and inspiration are rushing at me all at once and I want to grab it all. I don’t want to miss anything, and I want to do it all.

Is that asking too much?

There are so many techniques I want to learn and supplies I want to play with – metalwork, digital art, fabric, lace-making, beeswax, resin, painting, drawing, precious metal clay.

And I feel so pressed for time – the artful life is passing me by. I feel like I’m always five steps behind everyone else. I find it difficult to focus on just one technique or medium – is this normal? Maybe I should just go with it.

I do believe though, that if I simply keep taking it all in, learning everything I can and doing everything I can with the time that I have, that one day, some day, it’s all going to come together into something wonderful.

xoDawne

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just hanging on the vine.

hello again!
Once again I feel like it’s been forever since I last posted. ok, maybe more like three weeks. whatever. That’s a long time for me. I haven’t been working on much, which is probably the main reason for my lack of posting. Plus I’ve been super busy at work. Those are my excuses.

vintage delightfulness
I found this great website – Vintage Design Resource – chock full of vintage and vintage-inspired jewelry components. yummy! I ordered the Immaculate Ring Vintage Jewelry Kit and a length of chain. For starters!

bookmarks – why not?
For Somerset Studio’s literary theme I decided to make two collaged bookmarks, representing two of my favorite books – The House of Mirth and The Custom of the Country, both by Edith Wharton (one of my favorite authors). I’m not making much progress however because of printer issues. Almost all of the elements I’m using need to be printed out. Right now they’re trapped in my computer! Time is running out; I really wanted to get them done this weekend.

I’m afraid with the themes I tend to be very literal in my interpretation – is there a lack of creativity on my part? I wish I could be more abstract in my thinking.

time – why can’t we be friends?
oh time! I start off the year full of enthusiasm and eager to start on my goals for the year. Unfortunately the first two weeks of January are very busy for me at work, and I quickly start to feel as if I am accomplishing nothing. But the busy time has passed, so now I can focus on the other parts of my life! I have a variety of goals for the year, many of which involve re-organizing certain things around the house. I have some personal goals as well, and of couse my artistic goals. So I’ve got plenty to do!

I feel as though I did not accomplish much last year, in artistic endeavors (well, in pretty much all endeavors), and looking back at my posts from last year, I see that that feeling is correct. I did more than I remember, but not as much as I would have liked.

But that’s cool. Another year, another 365 days of opportunity! (minus 25.)

xoDawne

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well i know it’s just a spring haze.

it’a been a while!
I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted. I don’t know what to say other than that I’ve been….busy. I strongly dislike that word – busy. When people say they’ve been busy I bet they can’t really even say exactly what it is they’ve been doing. I’m not really sure what I’ve even been doing – taking care of Lily, housework, my job, stuff – but I certainly haven’t been creating anything or posting on my blog.

But all that is going to change, mainly because I’m about ready to go crazy! It’s been at least three weeks since I’ve worked on any projects – and that is simply unacceptable. No wonder I’ve been feeling so frustrated lately. I was put on this earth to make stuff and post on my blog – two of my most favorite things! So let’s get back to business, shall we?

a little help from my friends
I’m very excited about a new book I bought last week: The Artistic Mother – A Practical Guide for Fitting Creativity into Your Life, by Shona Cole. I first heard of this book a few months ago in the Postscript newsletter from Stampington. As soon as I read the title I knew this was a book I needed to get.

I had stopped in Barnes & Noble last week to see if they had Jewelry Affaire (which they did, and more on that in a minute). I’ve been trying to find some crafts that Lily and I can do together so I decided to check out the craft books. As I was perusing the shelves my eye suddenly came upon The Artistic Mother sitting on the shelf right in front of me.

Considering how utterly frustrated I’ve been lately with trying to find time to create, I felt this was a sign that I should get the book.

So now it’s mine and I can’t wait to get into it. Miss Cole covers some foundational topics (motivation, inspiration, creating your own space, planning) as well as some basics in digital photography, mixed media & collage, and poetry! (a forgotten art these days but one that I’ve always enjoyed)

I like how she uses an “art action plan” for each project, which breaks the project into small bits that you can fit into your day. I’m the kind of girl that loves a good action plan!

I decided to dedicate a half hour a day, at least, for creating. If I don’t create, I get downright ornery! Creating keeps me sane and at least a little more balanced. An unbalanced mother is not a good thing.

a jewelry affair

So I see the jewelry I submitted for the first issue of Jewelry Affaire was not selected for publication. Looking through the magazine though I can see that I was off in the jewelry that I made. I think my jewelry was lacking in imagination and creativity. The pieces I made were very pretty (and I’m looking forward to getting them back!), and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I need to ramp it up a bit. At least now I know better what they are looking for. The next submission deadline is May 15, I think, and while I’d love to send something, I’m not getting any concrete ideas and time is so short. Might have to wait until the next deadline!

~toodles~

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to taste the sweet of spring.

only five episodes of american idol to catch up on
I am soooo behind in everything it seems! Since getting back from Vegas it’s been rather difficult getting back into the swing of things. I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long without posting.

The last few days have been so lovely outside – spring is surely on her way. The snow is all melted, birds are making their way back here, the air smells fresh. I can’t wait to put away my winter coat! It seems like it’s been cold forever.

back to business
Anyway, I finished my digitally-altered book and submitted it to Artella’s contest. Click here to check it out. I’m pretty pleased with it. I think it came together really well.

I also attended an online class hosted by Marney (of Artella) and Annette, who designs many of the “papers” in the digital studio packs. The class was about making professional and polished-looking digital background papers (I guess they’re not really paper per se, but to me that’s what it is. Intangible paper.). I’m starting to realize that a lot of digital art is taking something ordinary and simple and applying different styles, layers, patterns, etc, using Photoshop (or whatever photo-editing software you prefer). So maybe this digital art thing is within my grasp. Now if I just had more time….

I’m having a lot of time issues again – feeling like I have way too much stuff to do, and hardly any time to myself. I keep going over everything I do, and I really don’t know what to cut out or change. oh well, I guess I’ll get it one of these days.

Anyway, the class was pretty cool. Annette makes such beautiful papers; I have admired her work for a while.

tactile art
I decided to scrap the mother’s day project I was working on. Once we got back from Vegas I knew there was no way I could make the March 1 deadline, and though I could certainly finish it and submit it for another deadline, I just am not feeling it. I still sent the birthday crown that I had made for my mom’s birthday (I am no longer allowed to say which birthday as I have gotten in trouble for mentioning it previously!) So we’ll see how that goes.

I have a ton of things to write about, not even counting our trip! So stay tuned for lots more rambling.

toodles~

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