pamgarrison

um, wow

Wow. Thank you so much to all of you for commenting or emailing me with such kind sentiments about my crafting and blog, especially the house project. I can not tell you how nice it is to share with people who "get" me and understand me and are even interested in looking at what I'm making. This blog thing is a wonderful way to connect with others. I highly recommend it if you are debating whether to blog or not like I was (for about a year).  I have discovered so many great artists and met new friends already and  I've only been blogging for two months. I truly appreciate it. Isn't it wild? People that have never actually met have found an appreciation for each other all through the computer. I know that people say that we lose personal contact with others due to computers, but we certainly also make connections that way as well. It is a joy, I am grateful. A wish come true. (The wish box above is something I'm working on for artfest).

Just today I received this wonderful treasure from Corey Moortgat, someone who's work I've always loved, but never really knew her, the artist, until blogs. Isn't this "visionary" piece beautiful? So is her adorable business card, and what clever wrapping. Love the embossed wallpaper and love that cool little number tag...don't think I would have ever thought to use it as she did...so love being inspired by others. Thank you Corey, I LOVE little "visionary" child.

I spent some time today  working on my self-portrait collaborative page. This month I received Anne Bagby's submittal. She created a really cool book by making all sorts of papers and attaching them with big rings. Everyone has  picked a page that they want to work on from the incredible selection offered. The page I choose was made by layering patterns and textures in small squares with an overall pink feel.

 

I have to admit that when I was first invited to participate in the self-portrait collaborative I was of course thrilled and honored, but also scared...self-portraits?!?... Colors? Yes! Alphabet? Sure, I love letters! Self-portraits? Gulp. I have been so happy to find that I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge. I am surprised each month by what arrives in the mail. Since I have no idea what's coming, I can't plan anything...that seems to go a long way to keeping my head out of the way. Sometimes I am stumped and think that I'll not be able to fit into their style, their art. I am always surprised by what "shows up" when I sit down to work on my entry. Something always does appear, and no, it's not always my favorite creation, or even something that I know that they will love (although of course I aim to please), but there is always a little piece of me (my page), incorporated into a piece of them (their submittal), that appears none the less. Here's my double-sided page for this month. Neither page is done, more embellishing needed, more artsy, messy stuff, but at least you can see what I was up to today. I'll show them again when finished.(photo of me taken by Tara Whitney, printed on a transparency here over a piece of Peculiar Pair Press note card)

 

After playing around for a few more hours:

 

friday night "in the house"

Hello friends old and new. It's Friday night and I am just hanging with my family; glad that we're all in for the night nice and early. I am tired because I was up until 2am trying to figure out flickr. I think all this computer stuff may get in the way of me ever creating again. Not really, but uploading photos and posting can sure take up some time, not to mention the steep learning curve that exists with all things computer for me. Sheesh. So I was trying to add my "corners of my home" photos to the actual group. After many hours I was able to get some uploaded. Of course, it's just a beginning with my little files, but there are soooo many cool and creative people out there with so many photos...it could take a lifetime to get through them all, but there  is certainly inspiration there for the taking. You can go to my limited photos here. If you are brave enough to risk addiction you can see the few people I discovered last night by clicking on the "profile" link to the right, then scroll down to the little pictures of other people...then you  can see their photos and their "contacts"...it's a never-ending thing I tell ya...don't say I didn't warn you.

I thought I'd share a project that I loved working on and still love at least 2(?) years after finishing it. I thought that you might like to see it because it began as a kit that I bought from Michelle Ward,so you too can make one of your own. Once you are at her site click on house book samples under Gallery heading. (I tried to link it for you, but it's not working-it's worth the effort of finding your way.) You will see the original book she created, her kit available for purchase, and some samples from other people that took her class. I first saw her house book when she taught it at artfest a few years ago, and although I wasn't in her class I knew I wanted to make one of my own. The kit is great. You will see that I deviated from the materials in the kit a bit; Michelle has a more architectural aesthetic in her sample. Anyway, I ordered the kit and I thoroughly loved creating a book about our home. It was also a really fun puzzle -like project with the two sides opening to a third middle section...I loved how she numbered each page and after making my own I realized how necessary those numbers are to keep the book in order.  Here's my book:

Man, that was a lot of photos! Thanks for sticking with me. I probably should take some down  and move to flickr...but not today!

So, don't you want to make one of your own? Fun, fun, fun! Have a good weekend. xo

another corner

Another "corner of my home" for Thursday. This is the corner of my vanity area. These are little home-made jewelry hangers. My friend Kelly (miss you Kel) made the one on the right which inspired me to make the one on the left.  They are just fabric and paper on wood scraps with old knobs and finials attached. Don't you love the wallpaper on the wall? Yeah, that's actually the backing from the wallpaper I pulled off the wall when we moved in...um...fifteen(!!) years ago. How's that for honest? It's just brownish plain paper so there have been many other things that have needed attention first over the years...and then there's the whole, "well, if we're going to work on this master bath then we should do it right, but what is right? add on? work with what's there? blah blah blah,"  the bizarre perfectionism that sometimes paralyzes me, which ended us up right here, 15 years later with wallpaper backing walls. I try to see it as a funky Anthropologie treatment, but it's losing it's appeal...maybe this year (stop laughing, it could happen). Other corners of my home here.

i'm goin' in

Today I think I'll go into my art room and clean up a bit (wink wink).  Maybe it'll get those juices flowing. It's just so strange how uninterested I am in creating right now. I am glad I can step back and marvel at the oddness of it. I did go to the doctor yesterday; I have bronchitis. Let's blame it on that. Anyway, it's no surprise to anyone how much I love Wendy Addison. Thankful that I bought this dream swag when I did since I don't think they even sell it anymore. It hangs off to the right above my head when I create at my desk; which is to say when there is room on my desk, and I don't have to create on the floor. Like I said, I think I'll go into my art room today and clean up a bit.

i lost my crafting mojo

Where oh where has my creativity gone?  I have no idea, but it has definitely flown the coop for the moment. I know it will come back, but it always surprises me when the well just dries up, out of the blue. I suppose it's not out of the blue really.  I have been really sick ever since I got back. Just can't shake it, and it's exhausting me. I know one thing that is anti-creativity for me is being worn out. It's rare for me to not want to create, usually I'm having to rein in my desire to work on something as I go through my other parts of life, but this weekend I had some free time and tried to create - nothing would come.  What did was forced, unfinished, lacking inspiration.  I miss my creative drive when it is gone. I used to worry it would never come back, but have experienced it enough to know now that it will. So today, I tried to cajole my creativity into coming out to play, and get some other things done that I have been putting off. I went to the local nursery and bought some much needed plants for the pots out front.  As I write this, I realize that much of the country is still under snow. Sometimes I envy the big changes of seasons in other parts of the world than mine, but every now and then I remember to appreciate the good in what I do have; the good in small seasonal changes is that flowers are available much of the year.

I finally planted the French drain (I think that's what it was-anything French, even a drain, has charm to me) that I bought at a flea market. (If you want to see the most fabulous French finds, go see what the incredible Corey shows of her life in her beautiful blog)  I have always loved these, and finally broke down and bought one. It's not the most fabulous one, so many have details and designs on them and many don't have such an obvious drain at the bottom. I brought it home and hung it on the wall next to  the garage.  My husband says it looks like a urinal. Ew. Gross. That took a bit of it's charm away for me, but I think once the Bacopia has grown down it will help fight that. Just around the corner from this wall we have a faucet hidden behind some boxwood plants. The kids use this to wash their hands and fill water balloons etc. The little one across the street came up with the idea that I should hang a soap dish there, which I think is brilliant and I will do as soon as I can find a nice old one. Her Mom, (who had previously been asked if she too thought it looked like restroom material and sided with me on the no) promptly replied; "perfect, than everyone can wash their hands after using the urinal". Ha ha, very funny. Care to add your two cents? For those of you liking more traditional planters, I also planted an urn out front.

 

 

 

what lies inside

For "corners of my home" Thursday, I've taken a photo of a cupboard in my art room.  I love this cupboard with it's peeling, slightly chartreuse, paint. On the outside hangs a Wendy Addison star from last year (that was the top of the tree this year), a cool little collage that I bought at Artfest a few years ago from an artist named Phoenix Forrester, and an invitation to a party that my friend Amy and I made together and sent out. Underneath you'll see baskets and boxes and containers that have ribbons and laces and sewing notions inside. 

 

Inside the same cupboard are lots of baskets and boxes and tins that hold buttons, millinery flowers, millinery fruit, old hats, sequins, buckles and small odds and ends. Although I love little boxes and baskets, the truth is that it's not the most practical storage system and sometimes I don't use things because it is too hard to find them in there. It's always a struggle for me; the desire to be totally organized, yet not wanting to use new, more practical systems, like plastic storage containers. Hm.

This old heart shaped candy box is on one of the shelves. I offer it up as a belated Valentine's greeting.  Hope you had a lovely day. I thought I'd share some recently discovered blogs I'm reading here since I can't figure out links on the side yet. Hope you enjoy! :
Nina Bagley, Corey Moortgat, and Lauren Mumford

look who flew south for the winter

I am so happy to be one of the lucky ones to have received one of Alicia's handmade birdies as a gift (!) in the mail. This is how it was wrapped...so cute, such attention to detail...love it.  Love the seam binding, love the tags, the millinery flower, the deli string (I don't know what that stuff is officially called), the pink crinkle etc...The card was written in a beautiful tiny script that looked so perfect it almost seemed printed.  Then there's the birdie itself.  Ah....so sweet. You can see where she has made her nest now.  Thank you Alicia, the oh-so-talented, always inventive, beautiful writer and generous soul, I love her!

what i made on the trip

To the left is the folder I whipped up before leaving so I had somewhere to keep maps/class info/notes/registration all at my fingertips.  It's my favorite thing that I made in those few days. A simple pink file folder with some music paper and vintage wallpaper sewn on, papers attached with seam binding and some doodles colored in. 

The other two photos are of what I made in the two classes I took.  Like at most creative craft retreats, time flew and I made not nearly as much as I packed :).  The first is a music box made in Romona and Thomas Ashman's class.  It was a fun class and they are a delightful pair.  The little face is a picture of my daughter. She sits on a heart shaped altoid tin and spins around when cranked.  I was excited to learn that you can scroll saw through plexiglass, and torching the altoid tins was fun too. I'm going to give it to my daughter for Valentine's Day. 

The second photo is of things that I made while in Susan Lenart-Kazmer's class. The class focused on resin and it's uses, seeing other things as bezels, and even making our own bezels out of rebar tie wire.  Susan too was fun and full of energy and a good time was had by all.

I'm not crazy about any of what I made, I was just feeling off, but I know I learned a lot in both classes and it will show up later in other things. It's always fun to meet other creative people, see old friends,and just be around a lot of people who love to make stuff. This time I had a very hard time with the guilt of leaving my family,

which wasn't helped by my 13 year old daughter calling one night crying hysterically on the phone; "I need you mommy...I have split ends...I still have to make lunch for my brother to take to school tomorrow, etc."---no, I'm not kidding.  Clearly she was in a 13year old girls' place of need. This too shall pass they say, man I hope it's soon.

treasures from the trip

So, I'm back. It's nice to be home. I love being home. I want to write about the trip and my classes and post photos of what I made etc. but I am wiped out. It will have to wait.

As I begin to unpack today, I thought it'd be a good moment to say hi and show you the fun things I found on the way.  Amy and I both share a love for antique shops and treasures waiting to be found.  Since we were driving we took a few hours to shop...you know, just trying to break up the trip-ha ha.  Look at all the yummy things I found.  They include:

a marble topped coffee table for the family room (much needed)
a matching end table (since it was cheap and it      matched-also because I have a thing for little tables)
an old French laundry basket
an ironstone dish
an old dresser/vanity box    
vintage seam binding packs
new hand soap for the kitchen
a new wire basket
some reproduction egg prints
some new twine
old  velvet scraps
a rhinestone shoe clip
old lace
new paper labels from Addison endpapers
glitter from Addison endpapers
old circus cigarette cards
old porcelain letters
vintage ledger
tattered old bullion tassels
paper ribbon
blue cigar box
a sweet old book
and an old Victorian box

 

good things, eh?

and yes, I kept the T.J. Max pillow as you can see on the couch in the background.

 

 

at least i'm thinking about the trip

Really, after I post this blog, I am really really really going to go pack. I am going to Art and Soul Monterey retreat.  I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up, but I am feeling all kinds of guilt and doubt about going now.  It's so hard to leave my family and stay-at-home mom duties. It is especially hard when I know that this is a trip for fun. For my own creative growth. For me.  Go I shall though, and I will take all kinds of pictures to share when I get back. 

Instead of really packing for the retreat, I am just beginning to think about the actual trip itself...my partner-in-art-crime Amy and I are driving up the coast tomorrow.  Actually, she is driving, I'll be sitting, so I hope to put some of that time to use.  Above is the bag I had last touched on my flight home from fiberfest last June.  Rug hooking.  Perfect road trip activity.

I took rug hooking from Tracy Roos at artfiberfest last summer. It was fun. I have always wanted to rug hook and this was the perfect way for me to start...a no pattern, no rules way. Tracy gave us each muslin and had us draw a design of our own on them.  Mine is of a big blue bird that has long, scroll-y (I know it's  not a word, just the easiest way to describe it) tail feathers, surrounded by circle flowers. It will say Mama Bird.  It's hard to make it out so far, but I think it will come together more and be more clear when I have finished. I think I'm going to use it to cover a book when it's done. I really enjoy the process. Tracy brought a bunch of fabric that we cut in strips to use...regular cotton quilting fabric, not wool. From there we were off! I even used some velvet ribbon I had with me. I really had fun in the class and appreciated how generous she was with her supplies. Tracy's blog was the first blog I ever discovered and read regularly, probably a couple years ago now, but that set the seeds in my head for sharing creative endeavors through photos and words on a blog of my own. Thanks Tracy!

Ok, off to pack.  Have a good week.