How fun is this?

I saw this little coffee cup and instantly thought of this idea. I just love how it turned out. So perfect for that coffee obsessed person in your life! Get it at the shop or shop at the left on etsy!

Fall Art Tour

Don't forget to get out this weekend and do the Fall Art Tour! This tour is going to be a good one. It kicks off with a reception at Petals Plus at 7014 Center Road in the outskirts of Manitowoc. We will have a pumpkin carving contest (weather permitting) live music, refreshments and lots of art chatter. It is sure to be a great time. Any questions visit our blog or give me a call at the store!

920-684-3006

I will be closing early on Friday too so come to Petals Plus...not Persimmons tomorrow after 5:00pm.

Saturday you get to tour my studio! Yeah you get to see my organized chaos with your own two eyes. I am sure it is a sight you will not soon forget. You may even look at me in a totally different light knowing what my favorite space in all the world looks like???? I have a lot of stuff.

Board Books.

I got a bag full of tiny board books a few weeks ago from Vinnie's. I looked at one of them the other day and decided to tackle it. I started by giving it a coat of primer. I just used the primer from our walls instead of buying gesso. Works just as well. I let that dry and then added a coat of yellow acrylic. I stuck the pages together while they were wet and then pulled them apart to give the inside pages a cool veined effect. See it in the corner of this picture...Then I came up with a theme. I decided to go with follow your heart you'll love where it takes you. It just so happened there were just enough pages to fit a word a page. I started layering papers, stamps, labels, paint, oil pastels, ink and whatever else I grabbed. I got lost in this project and didn't want it to end. After I got the ephemera and art just so I drilled a few holes to add charms and such. I put some yarn in the spine...using leftover pieces from crochet projects...never throw anything away...and hung all different fun things from the ends.

I could have kept going but decided to stop and call it done. It was lots and lots of fun and I can't wait to make more!

Studios

I recently saw a blog that had a woman's studio that was just unreal. It was huge, had tons of storage and looked really organized. Mine is quite the opposite. My studio is about 200 square feet and it usually looks like this. I would like to have a bit more organization but overall I like it like this. When it is clean and tidy I can't work. You can always tell when I am productive by the state of my studio. Right now it is super duper messy... I am having fun!

If I could start over I would paint it a nice turquoise and accent it with red and cream and have a new floor. Maybe some day? I am secretly hoping some HGTV show will catch wind of this and come and help me out?????

mmmmmmmm.....

I love beer. Not cheap beer but good beer. I was really excited when I found this roll of vintage tickets at a local antique mall yesterday. I also got some orange star ones that are almost as cool but not quite. What a fun kitschy item for all your crafting needs. Get them HERE.

Treasures galore!!

I hit the best garage sale today!!! Plus I went to a pretty great estate sale last night. Look at this great table of loot! I love those sales that just make you lose track of time and how much you are spending. I got a lot of great pieces to use in my assemblage stuff. I cleaned the studio yesterday and just kept thinking I have too much and then I go and buy more?? It's a sickness but a good one.

So here is my fav....

Of all the pendants I made the other day this is the one I adore the most. I liked most of them a lot but this one is hard to part with....

I love using the Loteria artwork. My uncle is from Mexico and whenever they would go to visit family they would come back with all kinds of candy and games. My aunt recently went to visit my uncle...he now lives in Mexico but she lives here??? and brought me back a well loved Loteria set. I just adore the colors in Mexican art. Come to think of it I just adore Mexico. I want to go back. Maybe live on the ocean? Dreaming.

Rainy Days...

Are so good for production! I got 28 pendants made today. I am kicking back and taking a break after that with a yummy cup of Alterra coffee and peppermint mocha creamer...yum. It will be a short break though because I am excited to turn these babies into some kick butt necklaces! Watch the etsy shop....

Fall

These little creatures I just listed in the cheapoldcrap shop remind me of fall. I love fall. I love the crisp cool air, I love the color, I love wearing sweaters and huge socks. Actually if it could be a cool 55-60 all the time I would be very happy. Molly and I were walking to the car today when she screamed out "look mama it's still fall!!!" and ran through the maple leaves. It made me think about how nice it is to be a child and just show your love for the season with so much enthusiasm. It is really nice having a kid to remind you of things like that.

A good day.

So I got Jesused today. I got in my car and there were little God books in my cupholder. I love that you people love Jesus but you basically broke into my car to spread that love. I felt violated.

I took a drive to Sheboygan today to the Kohler Art Center (amazing place). I need to go back because they have a assemblage/collage exhibit right now that made me get crazy huge goosebumps. But I went to meet Faythe Levine and Courtney Heimeral the authors of the new book Handmade Nation. I have been following Faythe's DIY journey for a couple of years now and looking forward to her documentary coming out. We got a little sneak peak tonight and it looks fabulous. I felt very at home watching it and seeing other people like me with nice messy studios and crazy ideas. Make sure to go get your copy of the book as soon as you can. And support this movie by shopping in the etsy shop!