I will be taking the handmade pledge this year, which is worth its own post. Last year I was struck by the fact that I was getting ready to sell my work at a craft fair, showcasing my prints as a great Christmas present, when I had already bought all the presents we were giving out this year and wasn't giving any art. I wanted to remedy that.

So this Christmas, I asked everyone we usually gift if they would like an original painting instead, of their very own. As most of them are kids, we've gotten some really interesting replies! I'm so excited to be spending my time making something from my heart for the people I love best. I'll be painting everything from soccer balls to sheep wearing boots!

Meanwhile, if you would like to give artwork this year (or heck, just keep it for yourself), since I haven't set these up in the store yet, I wanted to post these paintings here. If you want one, email me with your info, and leave me a comment here claiming it as your own. One's gone already!

(I should also note, I should be getting in posters any day... here's hoping they turn out well, if they do, I'll post them!)

The sets: three matted prints in a white wooden frame with glass. Images measure 4.675" x 6.675". Entire piece measures 10" x 20". Each piece is $40 (+ $10 USPS Shipping: Priority Mail, Insurance, and Signature Confirmation. )



Framed and matted prints in black wooden frames with plexiglass. Images measure 5" x 7". Each is $15 (+ $5 USPS Shipping: Priority Mail.)



Framed prints in wooden frames with plexiglass. Image area is 5" x 7". Each is $10 + ($5 USPS Shipping: Priority Mail.)



Framed prints in hand-painted wooden frames with plexiglass. Image area is 4" x 6". Each is $8 + ($5 USPS Shipping: Priority Mail.)

Yesterday was such a historic day! We took the kids right into the voting booth with us so they could be a part of it all. I told them that they were going to see history being made: we were either going to see the first African American president, or the first female VP. I was so proud to be able to share it with them. I hope so much that they remember it all.

On the Craft site, I found the Color Your Own Electoral College Mapto color as the results came in, and I printed a bunch out thinking I'd do it with the kids... and then realized that they'd all be in bed before the polls closed! So we gave some to Paul's students and parents, and just colored them and had fun. This morning, Paul gave them some more blank maps - and let me tell you, do kids ever love to color in maps! Sophie filled in all the states herself, but what I really enjoy is the creative spelling (which I suspect was entirely on purpose). My personal favorite is "Pencilvania," followed by "Minasoda".

You know what, I had a thoughtful post about voting, but as I already sort of wrote about it here, watch this instead while you're waiting for all the election results to come in! This is a hilarious take on what has to be hands down, my absolute favorite 80's song and video... tell me you never wished this could actually happen to you!



ps ~ By the way, we now call doorways at my house "magic frames".

Today while walking with the kids to deliver a new batch of prints to the post office, Angela found one of the strangest leaves I've ever seen. It looked almost as though it had been tie-dyed. The only explanation that I can think of is that another leaf laid directly on top of it while it changed color and blocked the sun in parts, or that it underwent some sort of trauma to make it change its color so dramatically.

Which makes me wonder about the times when I've been blocked from the sun, and the sorts of patterns it's created in me. I'd like to think that in the times that I felt the most cut off and alone, I was working inwardly on something beautiful to show when the time was right.

Today while Sophie had CCD class (Paul's her teacher), Peter and Angela and I went to return a video to the library. Can I just interrupt my story before I even start, by saying how awesome the library is? It's the greatest deal in town. I ♥ the library so much.

Instead of driving, we decided to walk, and turned it into a nature hike. We gathered as many different kinds of leaves as we could, just scooping up any leaf that grabbed our attention. We found tiny red leaves the size of my thumbnail. Big, feathery lemon-yellow leaves the size of my outspread hand. Long leaves, football-shaped leaves, and the most delicate, lovely, tiny oak leaf ever. (I have a thing for oaks.) At one point we wandered under a maple so gorgeous I almost knocked on the door of the house it was in front of to ask exactly what kind it was. Its leaves carpeted the sidewalk and patterned the grass like a riot of tulips in June. Some leaves were all red, some were red with yellow hearts, and others flirted with shades between the two. By the time we got home, my pockets were full of leaves, Angela was holding seed pods, and Petey clutched a stick in his hand, which he referred to as "a piece of tree."

When we got home we gathered them all in a basket and took out our tree manuals to look them up. While we couldn't find all of them, I looked up to see the new trees Paul planted this summer out in the yard - two maples and two pear trees. Right outside our dining room window, we now have a view of our own gorgeous autumn blaze maple that's already lived up to its name. Out of the next window, we'll see flowering pears in the spring. Surrounding myself with trees - that's something that makes me happy.

What made you happy today?

Boo!

I know it's November and all, but I couldn't pass up the chance to post these little ghostie finger puppets I made for the kiddos one night while watching Grey's Anatomy. We're still in Halloween mode here, which is fine with me - I've never been one to rush holidays. In fact, I'm rather annoyed that there are Christmas commercials on NOW, when, as Sally Brown says, "I haven't even finished eating my Halloween candy yet!" One of the main reasons I'm bugged by it is because I am starting to work on Christmas stuff and I like to feel like I'm getting a jump on the competition. :) My goal is to handmake as many things as I can - but more about that later, that's its own post for another day.


Angela, poster child for cuteness.

As stated earlier, I'm going to be posting every single day for the entire month of November. My (rough) theme is The Month of Magical Thinking, where I will make the most succulent and alive choice every chance I get. So far this morning, that meant staying in bed a little longer, reading a book and watching the autumn morning light shine through the maple leaves and turn them golden; choosing a mug with gorgeous Van Gogh purple irises for my morning coffee, chocolate chip pancakes, and a sparkling fairy pin on my long grey belted cardigan. Everyday things hold magic in them. That's one truth I know for sure... will you look for the magic around you today?

Remember when I promised some Mahna Mahna? After much sewing, hot-glueing, and dancing around and singing, the kids' Halloween costumes are finally finished. I am SO happy with the way these turned out (and so are they)! Paul already has the video loaded onto his iPod (which has speakers) and will provide a soundtrack - or an explanation as needed - when we go trick or treating. And instead of "Trick or treat" they can say "Mahna mahna."

I had the best time making these! I didn't have any kind of pattern, I just made it up as I went along. And now it makes me want to go back to making puppets even more.

For those who need a refresher course on Mahna Mahna and the Snowths, watch this. And crank it up!

Remember when I posted recipes for parfaits and sun tea this summer? Someone said, "You really oughta have those published." Well, thanks to the super-fantastic people at Craft: Magazine, this one is! Yay!

Click here to see the full illustration, where you can zoom in and see it in greater detail than I could ever fit on this blog. Go, enjoy, and most of all, please go make your family some ratatouille because I promise it's absolutely delicious.

View my profile on NaBloPoMo




Hey kids! It's NaBloPoMo time again! I've done it since (I think?) year one, and it's lots of fun. Every day in the month of November, I will post something new. This year I'm going to have a theme; The Month of Magical Thinking. As in this post, I will be concentrating on making what's usually a pretty hectic month a magical and joy-filled one as I make a conscious decision to make the most succulent choice every time. Friend me up and I will link right back to you, I would love to hear how your journey is going. :)

And this year, I'm going to give a prize! Just sign up at NaBloPoMo headquarters and post every day to qualify.

ps ~ This isn't this month's badge, but it's my favorite one. :)

Found this lovely film via CuteOverload. My mamacita's birthday is today, and we will be calling her soon to sing at the top of our lungs as we do for all birthdays. Watch this, then call your mom and tell her how much you love her.

It's been an exciting week - I have two paintings up at the Westfield Art Association's Autumnal Exhibition going on right now at the Community Room on East Broad Street (in the same building as the police station, next to Mindowaskin Park). I know not all of you are in town, but in case you're passing though Westfield, you might want to check it out. It's running from October 19, 21, 22, 25, and 26, from 1pm - 4pm. It's free and open to the public, and you could see the Blossom Fairy and Storytime in person!

The kids had their own art show up at our house as well - our walls are covered with even more than the usual amount of drawings! As soon as I can set up a little photo album, I'll publish both our sets of gallery experiences - together.

Things have been ca-razy busy here, and I apologize for not posting more. I've been working on new illustrations I can't show yet, knitting and crocheting just because it's fun, working on the kids' Halloween costumes, and oh yes, there's that day job. I'm also getting into gear for NaBloPoMo in November, are you?

I do have some new posts up at Miomarmo (where we'll also be doing NaBloPoMo, which should be really fun!). In case you missed them there, some recent ones are...

♥ Turn an old shirt into a new skirt. Creative recycling! As shown above
♥ Do you walk enough?
♥ Proposition 2 (or, 67 Square Inches). Proposition 2 "stops cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can't even turn around, lie down or extend their limbs."

A new painting, another learning experience!

I've been trying (and not too successfully) to paint every day, and so I've been using photos from my idea folder to work with. That way, I don't think "I don't know what to paint," I think, "Okay, let's do this one today." I'm trying to not overthink it, just to get messy and just jump in. So... here's the original photo of Miss Sophie out in the yard, and yes, there is a story there, and you will all hear it one day, and I did make the wings myself and will try to post instructions when I get around to it, I promise:



Trying to be faithful to the photo, I did a pretty tight sketch and started to do some watercolour washes. But the spirit of it just eluded me... every time I would put down a color, I'd blot it back up. I was being really timid about paint, which just ain't me.



It was starting to be pretty, but that wasn't what I was going for. So I put it aside, and thought about it, and realized what I was doing wrong. Like this painting, I was trying to do watercolor "right" and try new techniques out I wasn't comfortable with, but it instead was losing the whole spirit. Remember when I did the painting of Angela in the grass and I said, "I did the background first, next time I'll do the subject first"? Well, that's what was missing. The point of the whole painting is Sophie, the fairy girl.

And more about that - I'd decided early on that I didn't want this to look like a little girl in a costume in her backyard, but that's what it was turning into. So I stopped thinking of her as Sophie. And that helped immensely. I didn't worry if her coloring looked right, or her hair, or if she looked age-appropriate blah blah blah. I was painting a fairy, and that meant I could get as wild as I wanted!



Before... I'm trying too hard to make her look natural and as lovely as she is.



After... while it may not look precisely like Sophie, it captures her spirit so much more vividly (and accurately).

I wound up erasing all the pencil I could, leaving just what I needed for the barest guidelines, and went to town, splashing color all over the place. You all have no idea how much I had to fight myself NOT to go in and do perfectly rendered veins on the wings, to do her eyelashes and hair perfectly, and to make the lines in the watercolour set perfectly straight. LESS IS MORE, remember? I'm so proud that I refrained from overworking it all.



Take this down: It doesn't have to be perfect.

The last thing I'm really proud of is the background. All those trees, and the path, and all that stuff - not necessary! And it was pulling my attention away from my fairy. So instead I erased everything, and wet my background area with water and a brush, being verrrry careful to only put it where I wanted paint to go. And then I color-bombed it (ala this one). I lifted up the paper and let the color find its path, staying only where the paper was wet. (Mind you, you only want to try this when everything else on the page is dry.)

I am just so happy with those edges where one color bumps up against the other - back in the day, I would get that kind of contrast with a very sharp pencil or fine pen. Now it's nothing but pure color. (Ooh, I'm getting shivers about it again.) And the hair, I'm quite pleased with that. And especially the edges of those wings becoming organic and leaf-edged - I couldn't have made that happen if I tried.



(Petey wants to know, when is it my turn to have a painting?)

I'm trying something new - my first ever poll!

While it's partly because I just like to try new things, it's also prompted in a part by a spate of image-grabbing that I'd like to put a stop to. I'm thinking of blocking all of my images from Google's image search, but not if that's how most of you found me! So, cast your memory back there, lord, and see if you can remember how you got here. Please select one of the buttons below. Thanks!

Congratulations to all of you who knew that this painting of Persephone was done with juice from a pomegranate! I actually was worried I was beating you all over the head with it, but I guess not. :) (Please read the above links if you didn't get it, they're fascinating.) This was so much fun, I think I'm going to do contests on a regular basis!

Our winners, pulled randomly out of a hat by my three lovely assistants are:

♥ Kim K. in Western PA
♥ Robyn
♥ Stephanie B.

Please email me if you are one of the lucky three so that I know where to send your print!

In other news, we had a sick chick here last week (not me, Angela) which seriously put the kibosh on any free time I had planned. So if you've ordered prints from me, I completely apologize! Your prints have been all packed up and delivered to the post office today, and you should be receiving them soon. Sophielicious was off from school today and wanted to help, so you'll be seeing her handiwork in your package as well.



Doesn't she look so professional? I think I should give her a raise.

UPDATE: We have winners! Three lucky people who guessed correctly are going to get a free print... details later tonight! :)



Who can guess what this was painted with?

Leave me a message in the comments: I will randomly select three people who comment (with the correct answer, of course) to win a free 5" x 7" print of this painting!

Closeup:

I'm going to submit work for my local art association's member show this October. I can submit two paintings, and I (thankfully!) don't have to sell them. They might not use both, depending on space. There are awards to shoot for, but I mostly just really want to see my paintings up on the wall, eat cheese and crackers, and mingle with like-minded art lovers. Soooooooooo:

Suggestions! What should I send in? I have till maybe over the weekend to figure this out (gotta get framing!) Thanks!

♥ This just in: The incomparable Martha Stewart has a new blog. This is a Good Thing.

I've been exhibited at Gawker Artists!

Gawker Artists promotes the works of artists of all mediums. Participating artists receive free profile pages and a select group have their images published on Gawker Media titles. When you spot one of these images, click on it to read about the artist or browse our collection by artist name, medium or location.

Go click on the page and spread some love - maybe I'll move on up to the homepage, or just maybe someday you'll see my paintings on your favorite Gawker Media site (mine is Jezebel).

From my homepage of 9/11/02:

This is what I wrote one year ago; and I painted to get myself through my grief: a series of self-portaits of what I saw reflected in my studio window, some with my thoughts from each day written across them. I thought maybe I'd share them someday.

I still can't.

Which is why today you should go over and visit my brother's site and read his post; he says it better than I ever could.

Today it's the twins' turn.... All three children are at school right now. Something I have waited, literally, YEARS for. Me, I'm going to run outside and have myself an adventure. As long as I'm back in time to pick them up....

ps ~ Isn't Petey a heartbreaker in his new glasses?

Holey cannoli, we just waved goodbye after putting Sophie on the KINDERGARTEN BUS. When it pulled away from the curb, we could see Sophie and two other girls sitting together in a three-seater, with the rest of the bus pretty much empty.

Empty bus.... but my heart is so full.

My new favorite video. Feist is new to me, but after seeing her sing 1234 with muppets I had to go look up her other songs (and I figured out where I'd heard that song before) and I was completely sold on her. This video in particular is so totally me - a little quirky, girly and magical, and hello, flying toast! I love it.

We'll collect the moments one by one
I guess that's how the future's done.

ps ~ I have been drawing/painting a bunch, but I can't show you! It's for an upcoming job, and I'm super-excited about it, and all will be revealed at the proper time. (I love sounding mysterious.... )

A few days ago I wrote some haiku poetry. Here's that post, courtesy of Wordle, "a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide." They go on to say, "The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text." Hmmmm. Please, indeed.

♥ If you're coming here from Pioneer Woman, hi there! She so totally rocks.

...according to my children. I doodled this and took notes while the kids were expounding upon their theories, which went something like this:

When you eat a tomato, the fairy takes your tooth and puts it in the tomato to keep it healthy. Then they pass it on.



There is also a lamb in the tomato (who is also a fairy). The tooth fairy brings the teeth to the lamb. It's the lamb fairy that makes you healthy.



(I asked how they get out, do you eat the fairies when you eat the tomato?)

The fairy cuts a little hole, then it gets out with the lamb and then they close the hole. Then they go to another house, where someone else has a loose tooth. It takes a very short time flying.

Imagine tons of giggling going on, and you've just about got the picture. I hope they never lose that sense of wonder and creativity.

Why are you so loud?
Wish I had a volume knob.
My ears are bleeding.


Please please please please please
Please please please please please please please
Please please please shut up.


I never realized
Until you yelled together
How thin these walls are.

Test-driving the new machine.

I got an awesome birthday present - a new sewing machine! It's a pretty simple machine, but it's going to be able to do the things my old one doesn't - namely, it works. I have a beautiful old incredibly heavy, built-into-a-cabinet machine that belonged to my Grandma, a professional seamstress. When she passed away, it was the only thing I asked if I could have. I just love the idea of placing my hands where my Grandma's were, and creating something new like she did. Unfortunately, over time, either my ineptitude or just time has made it harder (and incredibly frustrating) to use. It's in real need of a tuneup, so in the meantime, I have the much simpler little workhorse to feed my sewing needs. And in time, Grandma's will be restored to its former glory, and hopefully I'll be so much of a better seamstress that I'll know how to use the myriad of attachments that it has!

I have so many projects that I've either had bookmarked or socked away (or worse - tried to do by hand) that now I just can't wait to get to. Like...

Halloween costumes! The kids want to be these guys this year, and I am just itching to get to it.



I'm starting to scout around for fur (maybe shaggy blankets will do in a pinch?) While this trio gives it a good shot, I think have a better way in mind. I want to make the Snowth heads as hoodies, so I can place the horns and the eyes in the right place, and then the kids can peek out the mouth holes. As for Mahna Mahna himself, the whole hoodie can be orange fur, and Petey (or Angela, currently the jury is out on who gets to be the leader) can wear round sunglasses with a nose attached. (Yes, we have given this a lot of thought.) Instead of doing trick or treat, they can say "Mahna mahna!" when someone answers the door.



Remember these? Waaaaay back in the day, I wanted to make each kid a doll to dress up that looked like them. We wound up getting t-shirts that we dyed in tea and they're a lovely natural color, I got embroidery thread that matches their eyes - but the machine didn't work, so I never made a pattern or anything. I am SO looking forward to making this trio (and their clothes!) This pattern looks easy enough to start with.

And then there's...

♥ Angry Chicken's 5-Minute Skirt.

♥ How fun is this Bird Mobile ?

♥ I like my skirts fast and cheap.

♥ Some wrap dress patterns here.



♥ One more link: photos of the DC trip are here. Enjoy!

Me, Kermit, and Jim at the Henson Memorial Garden on Wednesday at the University of Maryland, following a trip to Jim Henson's Fantastic World at the Smithsonian. Naturally, I'm wearing a green dress.

Today's my birthday, and what I have learned about this year is that I have so, SO much more learning to do. And dreaming. And creating. And you know what? I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's to the lovers, the dreamers, and you.

We are so totally loving the produce from our garden, scanty though it is. I'm rejoicing in every ripe tomato. (This one fell off when we were painting the side of the house.) I refuse to eat tomatoes in winter, because that's NOT a tomato.

The other morning I took a work break to grab a bowl of granola while the kids were eating breakfast, and I was singing the song that had been playing on the Beatles station, "Three Cool Cats*." As I was adding the strawberries, I sang,

Well up popped that first cool cat,
He said: "Man look at that.
Man, do you see what I see?
Well I want that middle chick."
"I want that little chick."
"Hey man, save once chick for me!"

And so on, about the three cool cats and the three cool chicks. So of course, the kids want to know why cats and chickens are eating potato chips.

"No," Paul explains, "It's slang. The cool cats are three guys and they're calling the three girls chicks, but you shouldn't do that, it's not that nice."

"I don't know," I said. "There are worse things to be called, like a tomato. Unless someone calls you and a friend a pair of gorgeous tomatoes, that would probably be okay. And in England back in the day if someone liked a girl, they would say they fancied that bird."

The kids by this time are completely confused, because honestly, they could picture actual cats and chicks walking down the street eating potato chips, that would be just fine with them, but now we've muddied it all up with people being called animal and vegetable names. They shrug it off and go back to their granola, because Mama dancing into the room singing, getting something, and dancing out is a regular occurrence and really not a reason to stop chewing. I'm just waiting to see the pictures they're going to draw based on this.

*George sings lead, and Pete Best, who got canned on my birthday, drums. I have a cassette from high school fished out of the discount bin at Sears that honest to God, says "The Silver Beatles" on it, and until the Anthology stuff came out, nobody else I met had any idea what I was talking about. As best I can figure out, it's a selection of songs from the New Year's Decca recordings. I like it better than the versions on the Anthology set which seem too subdued. My other fave would have to be their cheeky yet delightfully smarmy rendition of "Bésame Mucho" (cha-cha-boom!)

Sesame Street season 39 kicks off August 11! Check out the highlights reel from the press kit and meet the first Indian cast member, Leela.



More Muppety goodness to tide you over till Monday:

All the brand new clips that have been circulating on YouTube gathered in one place (I agree with my brother: the Swedish Chef and Beaker doing Carmen is the best one)

Other Henson projects in the works: Sid the Science Kid and (cannot wait for this) Where the Wild Things Are.

And my Muppet news sources and references (be prepared to lose a few hours) Muppet Central
Muppet News Flash
Muppet Wiki (best. logo. ever.)

Enjoy!

Many times I share a new painting because I love it, but this time it's more that I'm posting a painting that was frustrating but taught me a lot. (Which of course, I will share.)


Miss A, reading, on a blanket, in our backyard.

Most frustrating thing: after looking back at the lemon painting I had done with watercolour pencils, I decided that they were just what I needed to create a great texture for the line of arborvitae in the background. I spent ages blending colors, putting in shadows, blah blah blah, only to start adding water and realize that I was nowhere near the effect I wanted, and it was going to take another week of meticulous pencil blending. I said phooey to that, grabbed the paints, and started splashing them around. I was done with the trees in one night. Not only were the watercolour pencils a waste of time, but why did I start with the background and not with Angela, the focus of the whole thing? I was so in love with the idea of the prickly branch effect that I went straight to it. Next time, Angela first. Background later.



With my copy of The Watercolor Bible in hand, I decided to really try to apply the examples rather than just looking at the pictures. I read

"Remember to paint only as much detail as is needed to tell the viewer what an object is. Too much information is difficult to paint and makes it hard for the viewer to know what you intend as the focal point of the painting."

This is so different from the way I usually paint (anal-retentive amounts of detail) that I literally sat for a minute with the book in my hand, staring at the painting and wanting to throw the whole thing out.

But clearly, I didn't. One detail I do really like is the book in Angela's hand - there's no pencil work there, all edges are created from the edges of two colors meeting. Hand on leg, arm behind - edges of color to define them, and no leaning on an outline to separate them.



I sort of have a technique I use for hair, and it works for me. But I decided to go with the book's sample, and do washes instead. I didn't do the exercise, or use the colors they listed, just went with the general feel. Angela is in bright sunlight - you can't even see the difference between her skin and her dress at some points - and her black hair has to show it. Parts are black, parts are brown, parts are white, and parts are sort of some non-descript-un-color. I kept everything soft and built up the layers of color from lightest to darkest, adding touches of black at the end. I also added a wet brush and lifted color out in spots. And that sweet face! I went in only around the edge of the face with a sharp pencil just to provide extra definition. Had I been a better planner, I would have had that same definition of color I had around the book.



The grass was, at one point, painful. If I was really going to do it right, I should have masked some blades out. But then again, that might have been the detail-overload way. At one point, I could see myself grabbing the watercolour pencils again and making billions and billions of blades of grass.... I also was doing my media fast, remember? I usually work with the TV on in the background (I don't face it, but it's on as background noise); instead, I was so frustrated by the quiet on the first night that I literally couldn't work. I wound up putting on iTunes, standing up, and singing while I flung paint around for the grass - I had to work in a completely different way to break through my old habits. I do really like how the grass came out, though one teeny-tiny bit of masking fluid in retrospect wouldn't have been unwelcome. I like how it came out a little Brian-Wildsmith-y.

The whole painting is more in the feeling of this one - more loose, more fluffy, more flowy. I have been painting in watercolour for over 20 years. And I have so much, much more to learn about how to paint.

And how fantastic is that?

I'm going on a media fast for a week, which means I will be going online only for work. No blogs (sob!), YouTube, movies, video games, TV, newspaper, or magazines allowed; and I am going to see how long I can hold out before giving in to my regular radio station (which is commercial-free.) The rest of the Miomarmo gang and I have been working through the Edit Your Life series, and this is the last part. I plan to use my new-found time on painting, spending more time outside, and taking naps.

See you in a week!

ps ~ The month of July is my webaversary; I've had this site for 9 years now. Remember what it used to look like?