happy friday!

working, working, working...

happy friday!

fantasy land with flying critters

Small little guys on sticks. Plant stakes? Not really sure what to call them. They started out as hanging boggies, but once the stick idea hit me I couldn't let go of it. It's easier to control their position when they're on a stick than when they're hanging on a string. Cut out 30 of these little guys and now I'm in the process of getting them all painted and strung up with wings. So hard to know how they'll do at the bazaar. If they don't sell then, at the very least, they'll do their part in dressing up the table. I'm happy with several new little paintings I've been working on - my table should look like a wonderful little fantasy land with flying critters all around. Somehow I've actually managed to not let myself get too behind on my daily to-do lists. If I can keep this up I'll show up in San Mateo with more product than I've ever brought to a show to date - that's my goal anyway. For anyone interested, I'll have bibs, booties, appliqués, fabric, pillows, paintings, prints and zippered pouches.

squeeze in what i can

I've created quite a workload for myself for the next 11 days - yep, the countdown to BazBiz has begun. Trying to finish up the last couple items from yesterday's to-do list this morning so I can begin to whittle away at today's to-do list. Can't fall behind.

Working assembly-line style on a lot of things... like these zippered pouches. I try to squeeze in what I can in the kitchen while the boys are distracted with breakfast, and then when I hit a point where I need to be back in the workroom I set it aside until I can escape. All the boys (including the husband) went to bed early last night so I had a chance to finish up these 9 zippered pouches:

Love the feeling of filling up my box of goods that I'll be taking up to the faire. Fill it up! Also love checking off things on my very long list. So exhilarating. Love working at night and listening to the sounds of the night - really love it when I can hear the freight train miles and miles away. Love the bay area and can't wait to head up. Love San Francisco and hope I'm not too tired after the event on Saturday and Sunday to head into the city.

Back to work!

small paintings

Working hard to squeeze in as much productivity as I can in between all the mommy duties. Finding that working on small canvases and wood blocks for paintings works really good because I can carry them around with me as I follow my crazy little boys outside the house, inside the house, outside the house, inside the house. This one here is painted on an oval wood plaque. I hope to have a collection of small paintings by May 3-4 for the BazBiz @ Maker Faire. My focus for the next 2 weeks: bibs, fabric, mobiles, appliqués, pouches and paintings. Yeah, that's a lot. Well, we'll just see what I can do. Thank god the table is small so there won't be as much space to fill!

buttercream

~cupcakes with buttercream frosting~

Don't think the kids are going to let me sit here and write much, but I had to post this picture of the cupcakes I made over the weekend for my Mother-in-Law's birthday. After "cupcake week" on Martha I'd been itching to whip up some buttercream - YUM!

get my focus back

Starting to wonder what I was thinking when I applied to be a vendor at the Bazaar Bizarre @ Maker Faire. I haven't done a thing in days and the list I generated when I had six weeks to create stuff has barely been stabbed at and now there are only three weeks left. I'm going to have to start drinking Red Bull at night or take ginseng shots or something to get me working on stuff and not falling asleep on the couch immediately after dinner.

I was surprised to get a minimal amount of silk-screening done the other day. Gotta just jump on that wagon and get moving. Now that the little one isn't in constant needy mode (molar is finally breaking through) and is enjoying playtime with big brother I might just be able to get my focus back. Go, Dawn, go! Okay, so why am I still sitting here?

Check out the Bazaare Bizarre Vendor List!

talk and clip coupons

I have a problem - I'm ready to admit. Not really even sure how to put this. You know the saying - "My eyes are bigger than my stomach"? Well, my wishes, my desires - my intentions - are greater than my days, my hours - the time I have to actually do all the fun things I like to do. I know this is worded awkwardly. (The journalism teacher in 8th grade often wrote "awk?" next to a lot of my sentences) Yep, Mrs. Adams, I agree, this is an awk. But, you know what I mean? Case in point - my scrapbooking tote is busting at the seams with supplies I can't stop myself from buying and I have yet to complete my second ever scrapbook page. Going to the art supply store yesterday (a long haul down to Little Italy in San Diego but I figured that would be easier than waiting for much needed silk-screen supplies to arrive by mail) I found myself throwing cute little 4x4-inch canvases in my basket. It was only on the drive home that it occurred to me that I had done it once again. I spent money on supplies that I probably won't have time to use. I mean, sure, someday I'll have the time... but where does the consumption of art/craft/sewing supplies stop?

My eyes are starting to feel cross-eyed when I paint. I've always had perfect vision. But now I find myself squinting when I do detailed work. Yikes. Suppose a visit to the optometrist couldn't hurt. Years ago the optometrist told me my eyes were lazy and that I needed to do exercises - shifting from focusing on something up close and on something far away for 10 minutes a day. Just give me glasses. If I can't find time to paint or scrapbook or use all this fabric then I'm surely not going to find the time for eye push-ups.

Speaking of surely (Shirley), I had dreams about my Grandma Shirley twice this week. In the first, we were sitting at the kitchen table talking. She told me she had run out of coupons, so I grabbed the paper and we were going to clip new coupons. Just talk and clip coupons. Then I woke up and instantly realized what I had been dreaming and tried to quickly go back to sleep so I could return to the coupons and talk. No luck. A few days later I dreamt we were walking together at a street fair. She stopped to try on a necklace. I helped her look at it in a hand mirror. I told her she should buy it and she said she would if I would let her buy me something too. Then we walked on, arm in arm. That one was nicer because it had an ending. I just hate it when a dream ends before something has really happened.

put a cork in it bub

If only this were the way things were more often. Seeing this photograph sends me into a blissful state unlike the one I am in most of the time these days. Feeling like I'm completely on edge lately and would love nothing more than to enter into a vow of silence off in one of those meditation retreats up in the hills. Yeah, I could get into sitting for hours to meditate. Little boy has molars coming in, so he's fussy and noisy. Big boy is just plain noisy. Screaming! Where on earth did this screaming come from?!? I thought little girls were the screamers and I'd been patting myself on the back for having boys. When I hear screams it rattles my skull - sends shivers through my brain and makes me feel like my eardrums are going to burst. Can't stand the screaming. So, we're trying to learn that we don't go crazy in the house. "Crazy" includes laughing maniacally, running in circles, screaming, tackling and any kind of behavior that is generally hysterical. There's been a lot of crazy going on and I can't figure out where it's coming from. I know, I know... he's a boy. No quiet tea parties and afternoons slumbering about in dress up clothes. Most of the crazy I can sort of put up with. But not that screaming. Put a cork in it bub or you're gonna send your mama to the crazy house. Needless to say, no crafting or creativity going on round these parts.

poppies

What do I love more than being able to barbecue dinner outside with daylight still to spare? Painting outside with daylight still to spare? Or maybe the way these poppies came out...

Still resenting the way the mornings fly by now that I've lost an hour, but LOVING that extra hour of sunshine in the evening.

should be busy

So behind - so behind. Here it is at last - the giraffe painting with wings. It's been done awhile, it's been photographed and even uploaded to the computer for awhile. But I just haven't been sitting down in front of the computer much these days. Little boys don't like it when Mommy is at the computer. It's times like this when I really miss the laptop. The younger one is finally asleep for nap now and all I've gotta do is try to keep the older one from waking him up. A challenge to say the least.

Our wonderful friends are expecting their first baby soon and have been using my designs to decorate the nursery! Check out these photos!

It is official... Out of the Box*California will be at the Maker Faire's Bazaar Bizarre in San Mateo this May. Things should be busy in my little workroom. Should - key word here. Will they? Well, with the stars aligned just right, with happy little boys not having temper tantrums and a whole lot of luck I just might be able to make time for some new things. So, the Etsy shop may not have any updates for a bit so I can get some inventory built up. (like I update all the time - believe me, I always have intentions of updating) Ah - big boy woke up little boy. I probably jinxed it by writing that... time to go be Mommy again.

don't you worry

No, this guy does not have wings. But he'll get wings, so don't you worry. It's a new idea, new concept - but the wing portion of this brilliant new idea happens to be in the car with the husband and the kids who are off having a good time and giving me, mommy, a break here at home. So, stay tuned for the winged version of this painting...

single swipe of the brush

I've been experimenting with a Chinese Brush Painting kit I got for Christmas. (yeah, it's taken me that long to break it out) I love the ability to go thick and thin in a single swipe of the brush. I usually stick to ink when I make my originals before scanning them into the computer for digital manipulation. But that's limiting, and when I want a thick line I'm forced to fill in by hand or in Photoshop. So let's see how this works out... start with some ideas from the sketchbook:

Then I take some of those ideas and try them out with the brush:

After I scan it and start to work with it in Photoshop (I love the filter,"stamp", to smooth everything out), I can start to build my drawing. This is what I've come up with so far and I'm interested to see what this looks like in a repetitive pattern. But I think I've gotten just about as much time as I'm going to get this morning sitting in front of this computer. Time now to clear out those breakfast dishes and get these boys outside. I'm actually surprised they've let me sit here now for almost an hour. Wow - a WHOLE hour!

Maybe I'll start to pull all the silk-screening supplies out today. By doing so, it might force myself to actually start printing something, sometime. How many times have I said I was going to work on something and then never get around to it? I've started catching myself having these ideas and I'll say to myself, "Just do it now. Don't try to file it away in the back of that cluttered mind... just go on ahead and do it now." It's helping me to get things done, but at the same time I often feel so scatterbrained because I set off to do one thing, have this idea and convince myself to get that done and then hours later have to go back and finish whatever it was I was in the process of doing to begin with. I can't win.

little sandy monsters

Easter Bib in the Etsy Shop
*

I just realized I never posted a picture here of the Easter bibs. (Imagine that - something I said I was going to do and I actually did it!) Initially, the front of the bib was going to be just the printed design. A little jam in the printer left a black smudge on the right side of one print, so I fashioned this patchwork strip to cover it up. Liked how it looked so much that I did the same thing with the others even though those didn't get smudged. Error leading design.

*

It was another beautiful weekend here in SoCal. We found ourselves at the beach after taking the kids on the brand new Sprinter commuter train that started running yesterday. It was completely insane of us to try it out on the very first day - what were we thinking??? Not only were we smashed in there like a NYC subway during rush hour, but we also had the clunky stroller which I folded up and held for several stops until there was enough wiggle room to set it down. But when we finally got ourselves to the beach we saw what a gorgeous afternoon it was on the sand and it immediately made it all worth it. The tide was waaaaay out, so there was an endless expanse of sand for the kids to run on. Wet sand. These boys of mine love wet sand. The little one would scoop up sand, throw it down with a splash and then giggle uncontrollably. Fortunate for us, my parents live walking distance to where we were so we were able to get them over there for an outside shower. They were little sandy monsters.

*

So I've been inspired by several Aussie artist/bloggers who are into pattern design. (Lara Cameron, Aunty Cookie, Cheeky Beaks) I've been wanting to get back into some silk-screening and thought I should come up with some kind of pattern that can be repeated for running some fabric. Lara was awesome enough to provide this great illustration for creating a repetitive pattern. I've always loved the way a silk-screened image looks on linen fabric. So I've been sketching up a storm trying to design something that would print well. Even woke up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep the other night. Couldn't stop thinking of designs and finally had to just get myself up out of bed to draw for a bit before my mind would settle down and let me go back to sleep. So we'll see if I can come up with something. That'll be my project for the next few days.

whole bunch of time

Goody Goody Gumdrops pillow
available @ etsy

Keeping to my word on trying to get that little Etsy shop of mine stocked up. Trying to squeeze in some drawing and painting and sewing wherever I can. The other thing that's helped is the TV rehab I've put myself in. Such a bad habit to turn that sucker on as background noise. When I don't, my mind spins with ideas and thoughts and plans. So much better for me to be thinking about things I want to do than... oh, oh, what did Rachel say? I've seen this episode of Friends fifteen times, but oh, oh what did she say??? It's also been Diet Back On time. Lost 5 pounds last week - not bad, huh? Only 5000 more to go! So I've been finding that there's just a whole bunch of time to be had when I'm not standing in front of the kitchen cabinet/fridge mulling over what to munch on. And when I get that itch to eat I just sit down here and work. I should be hopping on that elliptical machine sitting not more than 30 inches away from me, but I'm just taking little baby steps here folks.

into the groove

Finished this painting I started last June. I remember we were camping on the beach and I was inspired by beach pebbles with circular patterns on them. All I had to do was finish painting the wings. Took me all these months to get around to painting those wings.

The weekend was nice - but I'm left feeling a little guilty that I'm the one here at home while the husband is off at the salt mines. I feel like I'm finally into the groove here at home - not falling too behind on housework, keeping up with the kids (getting them fed, entertained, bathed and to bed) and now finding time for some of my creative endeavors again. But when I'm having a good day - like today - always in the back of my mind is that the husband is off at the office head-high in stress. I wish we could both be at home, living as artists - he writing, me doing my thing and the kids finding their own creative outlets. I'm convinced that if we put our heads together and thought long and hard about it we might be able to figure out a way to do it. Can we?

Edit: Prints now in the Etsy shop!