Art by HLM

Baby Advent

2012-02-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

I had a productive day in the art room today! Here are some works in progress of the two designs I'm working on for baby advent calendars. They are of course generally based off my Christmas calendar design, but with fewer pockets and using some different ideas to set the two designs apart. I xeroxed and increased the size of the dictionary page with the definition for baby in the pink one, so that it uses only that part of the dictionary page rather than the whole thing.

In each pocket will be a prompts for an activity for the expectant parents to do that week (something to make their preparations more meaningful than just busy) or blank papers for writing one's own message on (whatever option the client desires).

Also today: the pant legs for 3 display legs for bike bands in shops, the completion of two aprons a friend commissioned from me (similar to the one in this post), a nose sewn on to a cute stuffed cat doll, and the conception of my card swap card design. It was a great day. I wish I wasn't tired, so that I could carry on in the zone. But I can truly only go so long.

Commissions & Card Swap!

2012-02-11T15:55:00.001-08:00

4 Wonky Squares aprons, 30 bike bands, a set of post-Valentine's Day cards, even a new advent calendar design! These are the things people have been requesting from me lately. I have to say, it is flattering and fun to have such fans. :)

Here is a collage that I made that my sister commissioned from me for Christmas. (Please note that it is her photo, with her most excellent camera and her photographer's eye... I wish all the photos of what I make could be this high quality! Click on the image if you want to see it closer-up, and you can link to her blog here.)

She requested that I make a collage integrating the words of a poem she loves by John Keats. I intended to give it to her in a shadow-box frame, but we never had the time to make that project happen. But at some point, it will look even more elegant than it already does.

Announcing this year's 6 Degrees of HLM International Card Swap! Please email me (see email address at right or leave a comment below) if you'd like to participate this year. The lowdown:

You'll make 10 cards. They can be blank, themed, big, small, professional-looking, your first try, whatever you'd like to do. All I ask is that you do your best, have fun, and let me know you're joining us.
You'll send them all to me in April with envelopes, postmarked no later than April 16th (or we can rendezvous in person if you're in Fort Collins). I got a couple of comments last year that this deadline is right at tax time. I considered changing the time of year that we do this, but it is really the best time of year for me. I hope you can still make it work. Get going on it now! There is a lot of time between now and then.
If you'd like, you can attend a work party at my studio to work on your cards and enjoy some yummy snacks and the company of other card makers in the swap, Saturday afternoon, April 7th.
I'll send you back 10 cards that other people in the swap made, sometime in May.

It is so fun and inspiring, and you will love what you get in return. The only cost to you is the amount you spend on your supplies and the postage it takes to get your cards to/from Colorado.

I would love to have you join us! If you'd like to be inspired by what people made last year, click here.

Works In Progress

2012-02-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last night, my friend Katie said she'd like to see more of my works in progress. She pointed out that all I show you are finished items, but she likes to see and hear about the process along the way. So for today, that's what I'm showing: something I've been working on for a long time.

This is what this piece of paper looked like in July 2011 (I had painted it this way at least one year earlier):

Since then, I've made some considerable adjustments. Now this is what it looks like!

I know, a total 180. Literally, too. The paper has been turned 180 degrees and re-painted. You can see a hint of the orange from the top right corner on view #1 underneath the purple at the bottom left of view #2. And a tiny amount of bright pink from the lower left corner in #1 survived up near the wing in #2. If you're able to see the underneath layers in these images (click on the image for better views), you'll see similarities there too. There are certain underlying things that I still very much want to show!

Hmm... where will I go next with this one?

Please take my poll to the right--I'd like to make this blog more of what you want to see/read.

Becoming a Professional

2012-01-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

This card was made for my mom's 66th birthday! One of my favorite cards I've made recently, I think because of how the paint looks, how inspired it was (I realized she was turning 66 and the wheels in my head began to turn), and how personal to her it is. Along with this card, a donation was made in my mom's name to the Route 66 Preservation Foundation, and the guy who runs the organization, Jim, called her up that day and sang "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66," which was originally sung by Nat King Cole (you can here Cole singing it here).

The card measures about 4"x7" and is made of construction paper, gesso, paint, craft sticks, a straight pin, permanent pen, and distressing ink. Now, my mom isn't necessarily a Route 66 fanatic, but she does love to travel (driving is her main means of transport), and there are some other connections I was able to make. Plus, I love what Route 66 represents: travel and road trips (and everything that is good and bad about them!), nostalgia, a piece of American history, supporting local businesses, and an appreciation of the big expanses of nature and countryside that make up the United States, especially the West.

Small accolades story: When my mom received the card (which she loved, btw), she was with some in-laws. She reported that one of them (who I've only met once) said, "This is the best card I've ever seen!" Yay!

This weekend, I've been working on creating my very first art resume, for submission to an organization that is hosting a professional development workshop for artists that I'd very much like to attend this spring. The concept of writing this resume was intimidating at first, but I have to say that now I'm doing it, it is fun and validating! I have really come a long way since August 2008, when I started this blog and first started thinking of myself as a professional. This process makes my dream seem one step closer to reality. I'll keep you up to date on the process.

B-day Card

2012-01-27T12:55:00.000-08:00

Thought you might like to see a fun b-day card I made for my friend Phuong. The button has a hook underneath it, which, when the card is folded up, slips into the tiny circle to clasp the card together.

I love being able to see the sewing lines on the backside of the front.

Here's a close-up of that hook.

Holiday Time Creations

2012-01-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! January is usually a big month for regrouping and getting back into my routine, and seeing as how this is my first post of the new year, this January has been no exception. I think since our birthdays are in mid-January, that the holiday season feels like it extends a little longer. There's still celebrating to do, after all!

Below are some photos of this year's Christmas card! They were inspired by the pop-up card I made for last year's card swap, but these were a whole lot simpler. The third photo is a variation I made with some scraps, which I thought turned out just as cute if not as cool as the original idea.

At the Fine & Funky Art Show, my new friend Jennifer sold pendants that she made out of fabric, lightweight wooden discs or squares, and epoxy. I was inspired to try to make them myself, just as a fun project to do with friends. So my friends Katie and Haley and I made these one afternoon in December, along with some Christmas cookies (not pictured!). Mine are the two in the 2nd photo. The rectangles are about 1.5 inches high.

You know how much I love aprons, and I've made many an apron similar to this one but with white instead of black. Haley said, "I wouldn't wear a white one because I'd be too afraid to get it dirty!" This comment inspired me to make this black one this week. I like it a lot! (Secret: there's a pocket behind that orange square!) The black poses a different problem, almost as annoying as dirt or stains on the white one: lint, fluff, and pet hair. Thank goodness for lint rollers! Check out my Etsy shop if you'd like to buy this (or any) apron!

And so, I'm back for 2012 and I plan to post at least once a week starting today. In 2011 I had 37 posts, and I aim to beat that in 2012! I also plan to host more giveaways this year, and offer up a few video tutorials. Please save my blog address as a favorite so you can be sure to come back each week to see what is new. I'm looking forward to having you around.

Pinwheel Bag

2011-12-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you today! I just wanted to post photos of the most recent creation I made, a bag for a colleague of mine, who was assigned to me as who I should give a gift to (we all drew one name) at our office party. I was inspired by a trip to the quilt store (that is often all it takes). I saw a Christmas quilt with this pinwheel design. They actually pop up and out of the seams, and you have to iron them flat. Kelly (my colleague) noted on her slip that she liked purple, pink, and blue, and so here is what resulted from the direction I had.

It is never interesting enough to line a bag with black, and it is easier to find your things when it isn't so dark in there, so here is the inside fabric! Both the purple and the pink plaid were garage sale finds, and the pinwheels were made of 16 of my most favorite fabrics.

I wish you a lovely Christmas today. I'll be traveling for the next two weeks, but when I'm back in January, I'll post my Christmas cards and anything else that "pops" up (that was a hint) between now and then.

Thank you for a most excellent 2011,

HLM

Toiletries/Wine Bag

2011-12-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

10 years ago, I loved Pottery Barn stuff so much that I received their catalog regularly in the mail. Of course, I could only afford about three things in their whole inventory, so one day I bought one of those three things. Ladies and Gents, meet my toiletries bag! As you can tell, I've taken it on every single trip since then.

It actually is meant to be a wine bag. How it became a toiletries bag is a mystery to me. Maybe I loved it so much (velveteen outside, silk lining) that I couldn't bring myself to gift it, so I thought of other uses? Who knows. Anyway, it is threadbare now and needs to become a fabric scrap. So today, I made a new one! Since it is meant to be a wine bag, I couldn't help but show the new one with a bottle of wine in it, but it will absolutely serve (hopefully for the next 10 years) as a toiletries bag.

The fabrics are both heavy duty IKEA fabrics. I got the blue stuff on sale at $4 a yard, which seemed like a steal. What's interesting about this is that I chose to make a bag exactly that size and shape again. At some points over the last 10 years, I've thought that it is too narrow and deep for toiletries, and it is sometimes annoying for that reason (there is a limit to how much can fit in there). However, I opted to go for the same design because the narrow-ness is actually helpful in keeping my toiletries from taking up too much space in my suitcase! It is also without a zipper that could break, and it is easy to carry around when I'm in a space-not-my-own. Plus, those annoying TSA regulations have made it so actually, all my stuff does actually fit in there.

My day today started off with a custom Etsy order for some bike bands with this new ribbon I got last weekend. They will be a Christmas gift for a woman in Virginia who just got a new bike. Her daughter says she has been frustrated that she hasn't been able to find these invaluable accessories anywhere, and of course, nothing as cute as this anyway. (Ok, I threw that last bit in---the daughter didn't say that, or the word invaluable either.)

Today, my biggest task was finishing up making my Christmas cards. You know I won't spoil the surprise here, but here is a little teaser of some of the parts. I will of course post the final product after Christmas day.

And The Best Selling Item Was...

2011-12-04T15:12:00.001-08:00

Advent calendars! Hooray! Out of the 11 I made for the season, I have sold a total of 9 this year. So cool. A close second was the bike bands. If you are reading this and you didn't get a chance to buy this weekend, but you would LIKE to, please visit my etsy shop here. (If you're in the Fort, I am very happy to rendezvous with you in town to avoid shipping costs.)

Excellent things about this fair:

I was in a good location for customer visibility and light!
I had a cozy corner to set up a little table in, where I was able to work on a couple things to pass the time. Indeed, I designed my Christmas card for this year!
My product fit in with the theme of the fair: fine & funky. Customers were hip, the kind of people who would go out Christmas shopping in Old Town Fort Collins (local) despite the fact that it had snowed 3 inches the night before and the temps were in the 20s-30s for the whole day. Other sellers were great too, selling lots of interesting and very original things. No knitted coat-hanger covers.
I made a new friend in art! Jennifer owns Quay & Co, and she and I clearly have similar tastes! She made the cold and the slower moments bearable. Check out her excellent etsy shop! (I particularly heart her camera straps.)

Things that were tough:

I was right next to the door, first booth, and please note the outside temperatures I mentioned above.
For having stood in a cold location for 12 hours, I didn't profit quite as much as I would have liked. But, exposure is a big reason I was there, and I think lots more people know about me now. Nice!

Here's a photo of what was directly across from me (aka what I looked at all day), the art of William Pilch. His stuff is really dimensional and vibrant, and he is a character too.

Both evenings, we were serenaded with carols from some costumed carolers. Here they are in my booth, singing Noel.

This week: I plan to work on Christmas cards and a new toiletries bag... for MYSELF! (Amazing, I know.)

Fine & Funky This Week!

2011-11-30T17:31:00.001-08:00

The Fine & Funky Craft Bazaar will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year at the Opera Galleria in Fort Collins, THIS WEEKEND! And, yours truly will be there with a booth, joining an awesome group of artists for the first time. I am pretty thrilled. I've got lots of great things, including new framed collages and plenty of bike bands. Come on down!

Friday night, 5-9pm
Saturday, 10am-6pm

North of Mountain Ave on College, west side of the street.

The trunk show at Wadoo was a lot of fun (and mildly profitable). Here are some photos of my set up, right next to the chocolate and champagne table across the hall. I did manage to only have one glass, but those handmade chocolates made by the chocolatier down the street fresh that afternoon were really hard to resist. I think all of us feasted on them for dinner!

See you this weekend!

Trunk Show Prep & The Beckoning of Lovely

2011-11-16T12:55:00.001-08:00

Here is a photo of the "booth" I hope to have at tomorrow's trunk show! (Pardon the bookshelf and yellow framed art on the wall--they will not be part of the display!)

Any feedback?

Come on out tomorrow night! It is a private event but you're invited! You'll need to either get a copy of the invitation (contact me for this) or RSVP by calling Amy at Wadoo at (970) 223-4012.

Last week was 11.11.11, and if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may know already about The Beckoning of Lovely. My friend Katie and I flew to Chicago to attend Friday's last BOL event with Katie's Chicago-native friend Lindsay. The event was led by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who describes herself as "a person who likes to make things" and truly has some inspiring ideas that validate the ordinary, simplicity, humanity, kindness and friendship. The final BOL movie has been pulled from YouTube today, since it appears that she needs to tweak it, but perhaps that is for the best. I'd love for you to see the video of the event last Friday that we attended, and I suspect that that, along with the adjusted movie, will be available in another month or so for you to see. I will make sure you know about it!

I am so glad that I attended. :)

Finally, I heard about something on the radio today that I want to share with you. StoryCorps is a great organization advocating for people to share stories with one another, and in some cases, larger groups. StoryCorps records people's stories as oral history. They sponsor a project called The National Day of Listening. This year, it is next Friday, November 25, the day after Thanksgiving. I think this is a great opportunity to be mindful of time spent with family and friends, and to really listen for people's stories. If you'd like something fun to do next weekend, I suggest recording a few stories of your own! The StoryCorps website has some great guidelines and a way to develop a good list of questions.

Trunk Show Coming Up!

2011-11-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

As I said before, Christmas is upon us! Well, upon me anyway. I've been invited to participate in a Trunk Show on November 17th! What is a trunk show? you ask. I had to look it up for the proper definition. Here's Wikipedia's version: a trunk show is a special sale in which vendors present merchandise directly to store personnel or select customers at a retail location or another unique venue. In many cases it allows store personnel to preview and/or purchase merchandise before it is made available to the public. It is particularly desirable to have the actual designer present at the event. Most small businesses do this to get more buys.

And so, time to prepare!! My friend Katie helped me organize my bike band supplies. Here are all the components:

And voila! Here are 29 newly made bike bands, made over the last couple days. This photo is missing the ever-popular Giraffes, as I ran out of turquoise thread. They, however, will be sold at the show! Tonight I plan to trim all the threads while watching a movie. Nice.

Also, advent calendars will be on sale, along with aprons and Christmas cards. If you are interested in attending, let me know and I'll forward you the invitation! It'll be from 4-8pm at Wadoo on College Avenue, across the street from Oak Street Plaza.

And here are the final three recipe cards I made for my friend Barbara's birthday advent (see last week's post):

Speaking of Advent...

2011-11-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

My friend Barbara is the first one I tried out the idea of a non-Christmas advent with, 9 years ago almost exactly. Her birthday was a few months after we met, and we had a major interest in common: quilting. This was exciting considering that in Germany, quilting as I know it is only done amongst a handful of people. (Cotton quilting fabric that you can buy for $3 a yard here in the US is a minimum of $12-19 over there.) I was also new in town and only had to work about 20 hours a week, so I had time on my hands to get creative. And so I designed an advent calendar for the week leading up to her birthday. It was the first time I remember designing something considerably complex, and it worked!! It was really something. I credit those two years in Germany as a time when I really took a step forward in becoming an artist, from art-for-fun to art-for-real.

I actually managed to just put my hands on some photos! I took these with my very old SLR camera in November 2002 (click on the photos for a close-up.):

Once you opened the door, there was actually a little pocket that a tiny gift could fit in in there. And so that year, Barbara received not only this calendar, but a individually wrapped chocolate each day at school delivered by a person we knew in common (teacher or 8th grader or her husband), and a little trinket in each pocket. It was a lot of fun.

The next year, I made an advent calendar for my Christmas card called "An Advent Calendar for the Rest of the Year." One of the most complex cards I've made in bulk (not counting the pop-up card this year), only about 20 people got one of those, and to this day it is one of the highlights in my memory. (Does anyone still have theirs? If you do, can you scan it and send it my way?)

Nearly every year since 2002, I've given Barbara 7 things each year, and lucky for me, she has actually done the same! I've given her jelly beans with inspiring quotes, sewing supplies, random trinkets, and cooking gadgets. Last year I got 7 things for the bathroom (nail brush, nice soap, tub mat, lotion, hand towel), and one year she gave me one recipe a day to create a 7-course menu by the end. (We also have a love of cooking in common!)

This year, I'm also sending her a recipe a day, but one with embellishments--a mini art piece in itself. On weeknights, Germans generally eat a cold dinner of bread with stuff on it (meats, cheeses, veggies, spreads). Well, I thought I'd send her recipes of various ways to spice up those weeknight meals. She now has a recipe for a new spread or dip or salad to add to what they already eat for each weeknight leading up to her birthday. Here are the first four cards:

I'll post the final three next week! As a bonus for today's post, since you had to go so long without a post from me in October, I thought I'd include one of these recipes for you to spice up your own weeknight meal. This is one of my very favorites:

Walnut Sauce (the one from the orange card--I know it is from a wonderful cookbook that I don't own, perhaps my friend Kyran can help me out with the citation?)

You'll need:

¾ cup walnuts

1 clove garlic

2-3 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

boiling water

In a food processor, mix the walnuts, garlic and ¼ tsp salt until finely ground. Slowly add oil while still mixing. Pour in a small amount of the boiling water to reach desired consistency. Sauce thickens as it cools. Season with pepper. Yields about 1 cup.

Serve atop whole-wheat pasta topped with some micro greens and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Leftovers are also great spread on toast!

Advent Calendars

2011-10-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I've been absent from my blog these last 3 weeks! All I've been doing is working on ten new advent calendars. I just couldn't see that getting on just to tell you that that's all I've been doing would be very inspiring! I thought I'd finally get back to you today to report that they are here. When they're finished, they actually feel like they're worth all the effort, but making 10 in a row, assembly-line style doesn't show results till the very end--it was hard to not get bored and stay inspired. (Click on the photo for a closer-up view.)

If you're interested in buying one, please see my Etsy shop! Believe me, they are even better in person. :)

As an artist, I'm already thinking Christmas! It is a strange thing to prepare for such a thing in October.

My "Other" Life

2011-10-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

You know I love being at my art table. Love it. Period. And yet, my "other life" (like "the other woman") takes over sometimes. I found myself having to look at my archives for something to post today, because it feels like it has been ages since I've made something significant enough to show you. These are cards I made recently, but still, nothing this week. Sigh!

The card above was made for a dear colleague on occasion of her retirement, and I have to say, it's one of my favorites of all the let's-combine-scraps-in the-right-order-to-make-something-aesthetically-pleasing cards I've made in this Denise Schmidt fashion.

I particularly like that I elaborated on the theme for this birthday card for my step-mom in the message I wrote inside. Things like, "You deserve to stop that negative self-talk," "You deserve to eat an entire bowl of strawberries," and "You deserve to have kindness in your life."

And this was a variation on a theme from the bat card I showed you a couple weeks ago. It is more vibrant and contrasting when you look at it in person, but at least this photo gives you an idea of it.

My friend Brittany emailed me saying that Advent Calendars are "hot" this year. That's what I've been working on in my limited art time these days, especially as the one I've got on Etsy has received hundreds of hits (people looking but not buying). I definitely need to post more on there.

A small celebration: I sold the giraffe bike band to a stranger on Etsy last week!!! Special thanks my new Sunnyvale, CA customer!

A Long Time Coming

2011-09-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

You may remember this excellent creature I made about a year and a half ago?

(Click here to return to the post about it, and to see the hilarious video we made!)

Well, it turned out to cost hundreds of dollars to ship abroad, so we saved it for the day that my niece would someday visit us here. Well last week we presented it to her (she is now 4½) on day 1 of her visit, and she was delighted! At first, she named it Helinka, and all of us shook our heads at where she came up with that name. But a couple of days later, she declared it had a new name. No idea how one would spell it in Spanish, but in English, here's my best attempt: Juvia. Turns out Juvia is the name of a horse in a very popular horse story at home (I suspect similar to Black Beauty here). Here is the very satisfied customer, riding Juvia with her best friend Teddy.

Inspired by the pillow I made a couple posts ago, here is another one, made with the leftovers from that one, and gray scraps from our newly-fabric-covered closet doors (in our bedroom).

Today, I've otherwise been working on business stuff (possibly getting a marketing/PR intern in January??) and assembly line production.

A Thank You Gift

2011-09-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

As a thank you to the folks who participated in my 100th blog Etsy activity, I made these fun miniature collages and turned them into wall-hangings.

What I liked the best is that they were all created (as is my style) from one larger collage, then cut up and embellished. But this time with small collage things. Each overall piece measures about 4½" square, so the collages are only about 2½" square. In total I made twelve but the 12th one didn't get photographed.

This butterfly one was one of my very faves, so I thought I'd give you a chance to see it close up. Remember to click on any image for a closer view (right-clicking and opening in a new tab helps to not navigate away from my site).

More Things

2011-09-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

Since I outgrew trick-or-treating, I haven't been a great fan of Halloween. Scary things, hype, kids eating too much sugar, and the thought of older kids stealing little kids' candy have kind of rubbed the thrill away for me. However, other people LOVE Halloween, and The Eyes Have It is asking for more cards (yay!), and 'tis the season, I guess, for Halloween things. So I miraculously got inspired today during an art date by this textured purple paper, and it reminded me of my favorite Halloween costume I had as a kid: a bat. My mom made the costume. I was so cute. And so, I made this pretty cool two-tone card.

Another recent arting adventure has been with more of the watercolor-painted paper bags. I made these lovely leaves, and think they are beautiful!

My cousin had a birthday this week, so I secretly sent her this creation I made from some brightly-colored scraps. I am inspired by this project to try making an apron like the white ones on my Etsy, but with black instead of white.

Here it is in her house, and miraculously, it was meant to be together with that neat bird tray she has...

This Week

2011-09-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

This week I've been working on some assembly line stuff: First, I had an idea to make these tiny postage-stamp sized quilts. I was going to put them on a card, but the one I did turned out so boring-looking. So here they are. What do you suggest I do with them? They really are so cute.

Then, you've seen cards like this before, except the difference is in the colored paper-bag paper! The backgrounds are paper bags that I painted with watercolor paint to get the desired colors, and they totally make the collages pop out more. Sorry to say it, but this photo does not do these cards any justice. The one on the left is actually blue in color, rather than gray.

Cards such as these two will be available at The Eyes Have It in Fort Collins in just a matter of days! Come on by to buy one!

The Next 100

2011-08-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry to keep you waiting over the last week, loyal readers! (Pesky day job getting in the way of creative time.) I've been working hard on getting my surprise giveaways finished and sent out to those of you who left a comment on my 100th blog post. I didn't want to post those photos just yet, so I thought I'd show you these neat little cards I made up in a quick minute today. They are just leftover bits of collage that I had from previous projects, and leftover white watercolor paper from making my sister's wedding invitations, and voila! 10 handmade note cards in a jiffy. Perfect for a little tiny hello or thank you or love note.

Here they are spread out like playing cards so you can see that they are actually very small.

For the title of this post, I thought that you may be interested in what lies in store for the Art By HLM blog. I definitely plan to continue showing you what is going on in the studio on a weekly basis. I would like to expand a little, and provide some tutorials (in video?) of how to make some great stuff. I am really trying to increase my readership, and would love to hear ideas you may have for attaining that goal. I hope to make the blog reading experience somewhat interactive, so you easily remember to come back often.

Honestly, I'd love your ideas! Post a comment below, or email me using the contact info to the right.

Now that school is back in full swing, I hope you'll start seeing me at least once a week now. And, in case you missed the awesome article that was published about yours truly at Brittany's Best, please pay a visit and read all about it! I'm famous!

The Big One-O-O & One Last Giveaway!

2011-08-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

That's right, friends! Today marks not only the day that Art By HLM celebrates its 100th post, but also its 3rd year anniversary, and on the same day! Wohoo! Yeehaw! Yippee! (Imagine fireworks, if you don't mind.)

Three short years ago, I started this blog with some hesitation. I had no idea what kind of a commitment it would be, or how much I might like it. The fact that I've been posting regularly for three years is a testament to how valuable this tool and experience are to me. Not only does the blog help me to be accountable and create more stuff more often (no excuses!), but I just love sharing my work each and every time with you. If you're at all interested in a moment of nostalgia, you can read my first month's posts, from August '08, here.

A friend asked me this week how I was going to celebrate. I wondered, should I do something different? In the end, I don't think I will, with exception of a few ANNOUNCEMENTS (see below)! But before that, let me show you one of my recent projects: a pillow. This is not just any pillow, I tell you. This little thing taught me two big lessons regarding piping (that yellow line around the edge) and buttons--specifically made just for this project!

My friend Haley & I made this excellent set of flags to hang in her little one's room. She conceptualized and designed the whole thing--I just helped with the sewing. You may recognize the fabric from the quilt project we did together here. So as a gift, I wanted to make an accessory to the flags, and in doing so I tried out the new techniques on this pillow. This side of the pillow reflects a similar design to the flags (in between the letters).

The piping is something I've never done before, and thank goodness my aunt (whose birthday is coincidentally today--HB Annie!) was visiting just during that week, who had done piping before. She had some great tips, and reminded me that pins can be your best friend. I really love how it turned out, and will do piping again for sure.

I made the buttons using two wooden buttons I already had, then put a fluff of batting over them before wrapping them in the yellow fabric and sewing them closed.

The pillow matches the flags (and the baby's room) brilliantly! Hooray for a fun and unique baby gift!

Alright, onto the ANNOUNCEMENTS!

Announcing the winner of the 99th post giveaway! Tara, you are the one! Please email me indicating the one you like best in the photo, and the bike band is yours.
Announcing the OPENING OF MY ETSY SHOP!!! I have actually had it for awhile, but in honor of this occasion, my 100th post, I have packed it with fun things for you to peruse. Please come by soon and often for more that you can choose from.
Announcing a feature article about me and my work on another blog! Please pay a visit to Brittany's Best to read it and see what another great Fort Collins artist is doing in art and online.
Finally, announcing my last giveaway for awhile! There is only one way to win this one, and everyone who participates wins something!! Please visit my Etsy Shop, then come back here and post a comment with what your favorite thing in the shop is. If you do this, I will send you a hand-made surprise goodie, made specifically for this particular giveaway. I won't show you what it is--I hope you're ok with being surprised. But I'm sure that you will like it. :)

Before signing off, I want to say thank you to everyone out there who follows my blog and appreciates my work. It means so much to me that you are out there and that you care. Here's to another fruitful and productive and meaningful next three years!

Thanks for everything,

Heather Matthews, aka HLM

99th post: Professional Development & GIVEAWAY!

2011-08-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

This week, I met Kelly Kilmer, a mixed-media journal artist who I've known about for years. She led a class at the Artist's Nook called "Pen Work" and I attended and had a lot of fun. Here are the three collages I made in just under 2 hours.

If you click on them for a closer view, you'll see the details better. Starting with the first collage, Kelly challenged us to "be different" with our writing. Use different kinds of styles, including script, capitals, tiny, big, thin, thick. She had about one million pens that we could try out. She provided instructions all throughout, which I liked, about writing, techniques, just new ways of using pens. I didn't have to think about design, which for me takes a lot of time. She had designed a layout, and we interpreted her design in our own ways.

The third one was certainly the most different for all of us. Kelly said, "For this one, you'll need a face. One that takes up most of the page!" I've had an Anthropologie catalog in my stash for years that had the two ladies on the cover, so it was fun to use it in this new way. Kelly instructed us to journal on the faces (!) in small writing, and doodle. The best part: that it didn't have to be perfect, or that it was ok to write "I don't know what to write" if we couldn't think of what to write. At one point, Kelly mentioned that she hates how art journaling has developed a reputation in the magazine world that it has to be perfect, and it's not any good if it isn't. That isn't what journaling or being expressive is about at all. It is just about creating. Making mistakes, or doing things to experiment, help us learn. Kelly's instructions and encouragement really made me feel free. It helped me open up and not worry about the details so much. It was a lot of fun.

The winner of last week's giveaway: Steve-o! Steve-o won by liking me on Facebook. :)

This week's giveaway is a famous HLM bike band! You can buy 'em for sale on my etsy or in a couple of Fort Collins shops, or you can win one right here. They are great for protecting that pant leg when you're riding around town to your next destination. Here are some examples of what I've got in stock:

To enter this week's giveaway drawing, you can do one or more of these things:

1.) I re-opened my "Up-cycled Envelopes" poll to the right because I need more input! Fill it out and leave a comment below saying you participated (you can just type "I voted!"--otherwise I don't know who fills out the poll).

2.) Like Parsley Art Studio on Facebook! (Anyone new since August 3 will be entered.)

3.) Tell your friends! For anyone who either leaves a comment (and tells me you sent them) and/or becomes a follower, you get another entry.

4.) Leave a comment saying where you might next take a bike ride to.

Anyone can enter--I'll send a bike band anywhere in the world. This drawing will close at midnight (mountain time) on Tuesday, August 9, and I'll announce the winner in my next post.

Next week will be my 100th post, and you will NOT want to miss out on that one! Come back again to see what I mean!

98th Post: New/Old Projects & GIVEAWAY!

2011-07-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the week-long delay this time around! (I've had company.) Here are some more cards I made for some favorite peeps, once again out of the collage I made here. (Remember to click on the image for a better view.)

Today, I am making a few more cards, but more than anything I am hoping to get to this project. I started this painting about 2 years ago, and once I got it to this stage, I put it away, uninspired. My style has developed since then, and when I was forced to bring it out into the light a couple weeks ago, I hung it up and was able to see it with fresh eyes. I can't wait to get going on it again. I think it will look much different later on. Of course, you will get to see the final product when it happens!

Finally, the winner of the last blog giveaway was Kyran! Thanks for liking me on Facebook, Kyran!

This week, I am giving away 10 handmade envelopes. Many of you know that I have made envelopes out of old calendars for years. I blogged about it awhile ago, here. I am planning to share a booth at a craft fair in August in Aurora, and am considering selling these.

To enter this week's giveaway drawing, you can do one or more of these things:

1.) Fill out my "Up-cycled Envelopes" poll to the right and leave a comment below saying you participated (along with anything else you'd like to say).

2.) Like Parsley Art Studio on Facebook! (Anyone new since July 19 will be entered.)

3.) Tell your friends! For anyone who either leaves a comment (and tells me you sent them) and/or becomes a follower, you get another entry.

Anyone can enter--I'll send this set of cards anywhere in the world and include envelopes for each card. This drawing will close at midnight (mountain time) on Tuesday, August 2, and I'll announce the winner in my next post. Remember to come back next week for another giveaway (one each week through my 100th post), and good luck!

97th Post: Pretty Ice Pack Holder & GIVEAWAY

2011-07-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

What is it, you ask? Well, holding ice to your body is never very fun. Aside from the dripping bag (have you noticed even brand new ziplocs leak?), I find that it is simply uncomfortable to hold the ice pack--your hand gets cold and you're sometimes having to perform body contortions. Plus, every time you move, the ice pack falls out of place. Having a need to ice my lower back fairly regularly in the last few weeks led me to design this beaut. Here's how it looks tied on (notice my hands are nowhere near the ice pack!):

I've experimented and determined that it can be tied to almost any part of your body. The ice pack simply slides into the pocket at the back:

Close up of the tie--just a simple knot.

I think I might try to sell these on Etsy. They are quick to make, and I think some people might like the idea that they are certainly nicer to look at than some other products out there (including the wet ziploc).

Thank you to all of you who became followers or left a comment after last week's post! I made a list of each person's entry based on when you commented or became a follower (or emailed me when there was one day that blogger seemed to be having issues). I used on online random number generator and it picked Phuong as the winner! Congratulations, Phuong!

For this week's giveaway, I've made a set of mini cards from the paper I wrote about in post #95. The photo makes them look larger than they are; the tallest card (middle) is about 4" tall. Click on the photo if you want a closer view.

To win this week, you can once again do multiple things (though some are different from last week):

1.) Leave a comment on this post! Any feedback you can give on the ice pack holder would be particularly appreciated.

2.) Like Parsley Art Studio on Facebook!

3.) Tell your friends! For anyone who either leaves a comment (and tells me you sent them) and/or becomes a follower, you get another entry.

Anyone can enter--I'll send this set of cards anywhere in the world and include envelopes for each card. This drawing will close at midnight (mountain time) on Tuesday, July 19, and I'll announce the winner in my next post. Remember to come back next week for another giveaway (one each week through my 100th post), and good luck!

96th Post: Pop-up Card Story & GIVEAWAY!

2011-07-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is the story of the pop-up card I made for the 2011 Six Degrees of HLM International Card Swap! The idea came to me a few years ago--I wanted a challenge, and to learn about pop-ups. I borrowed some lackluster books on the subject from the library and scrutinized another couple of pop-up cards I'd received and kept from over the years. Then this February, I attended a friend's art night one wintery Thursday evening and developed this prototype (remember to click once on each photo for a closer view):

It didn't close properly, and the measurements were far from exact, but it worked, and it helped me to develop my design for the final card. So I began cutting out or creating the various components. Roads, buildings, trees, suns, lakes, sailboats, the grassy forefront, the blue sky, and fluffy clouds. Not to mention the base of the card, made of black cardstock.

Then I began to assemble.

I knew that I wanted it to be not only a pop-up scene but also an actual card, where a message could be written without obstructing the view (haha!). So I designed this tri-fold cover for the card. You'd unwind the string from the button, unfold the top flap to reveal the message first, then carry on unfolding to reveal the surprise that is the cityscape.

To hold the card open for display, you can fold the top flap back and re-tie it to the button.

Here is some detail:

And so, in honor of my approaching 100th post, I am offering you a chance to win one of these most excellent cards. If I were to try to sell this card, I'd have to charge some exuberant amount of money for the time it took to make it. So I'd rather not bother, and instead I'd like to make your day!

To enter your name for the giveaway, there are many things you can do. The more you do, the more times your name will be entered into the drawing:

1.) Simply leave a comment on this post. (For instructions, see right.)

2.) For an additional entry, become a follower of my blog! (Click on the Follow button to the right, right below my contact email.)

3.) Tell your friends! For anyone who either leaves a comment (and tells me you sent them) and/or becomes a follower, you get another entry.

4.) If you live nearby, signing up for one of my classes (click here to learn more) gets your name entered into the drawing two more times.

Anyone can enter--I'll send this card anywhere in the world and include an envelope. This drawing will close at midnight (mountain time) on Tuesday, July 12, and I'll announce the winner in my next post. Remember to come back next week for another giveaway (one each week through my 100th post), and good luck!

(Special thanks goes to my photographer sister Ashley for taking these fabulous photos! To see more of her work, click here.)

"Handmade" Paper & 95th Post

2011-06-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hey there art fans! In my last post, I mentioned making "my own" paper, and I wanted to show you what I meant. I got this idea straight from someone else, and despite being skeptical throughout the process of making it, I think the final product is brilliant The three little ones on the right are how I took last week's paper to the next step, having taped over the edges to make a frame and then painted. I don't know exactly how these will turn out, but have no doubt that you'll see it here for sure. The big one on the left I made today, with a different matte-finish

glue--which actually didn't work as well as the first one, with straight-up Elmer's.

I know the idea comes from an artist who was featured in a recent issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors, but I unfortunately don't know who (I only had a chance to glance at the article). The technique involves tearing up papers that look good together into strips, then gluing them down to a smooth piece of plastic (like a thin, malleable cutting board) with a brush. First, brush glue on the plastic, then lay down a strip, then brush glue over the top. Continue until the whole plastic sheet is covered, then leave to dry completely. Once dry, peel the whole thing off the plastic and there you have it!

Today marks my 95th post, which means that I'm five away from 100! Wow. I'm amazed to have carried on this long. So, to celebrate, starting next week I plan to give something away every week to a randomly selected reader. Please come back weekly for the next 5 weeks (I post on Wednesday or Thursday) to find out what's on offer and how to win.

2011-06-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today I spent art day doing all sorts of things: making Grandma's b-day card, shipping some stuff off to Dad, talking the business of art with my friend Brittany (who came over to share art day with me), trying a new technique for making "my own" paper, setting up a Parsley Art Facebook page (Like me!), and creating my first ever e-Newsletter! If you didn't receive this in your inbox today, contact me (using the address to the right under "Contact"), and I'll put you on the distribution list. You'll get the newsletter once a month, and I vow to not pass your information on to anyone else.

If you are arriving to my blog to learn more about my Here and Now in the Studio, see below for more on the skirt, and I'll post very soon some good photos of the pillow and the gray quilt-pieced thing, which is actually an ice pack holder.

Long Time Project

2011-06-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

I bought the fabric for this skirt two years ago, inspired by warm weather, a need for some new clothes, and a desire to become the ultimate skirt-maker-ista! This week, ahem, I finally did it! I am particularly proud of the invisible zipper (photo #2). There are certainly mistakes in the skirt, but I learned a lot, and it is wearable and fits me perfectly! The pleats are an idea I borrowed from another beloved skirt, but they don't really show in this skirt due to the busy-ness of the print. That's ok though. I know they're there, after all. :)

Painting Skills

2011-06-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

This is a scan of my first successful painting in the style of Gaelle Boissonard. In my painting lesson, I wanted to learn how to do shading and background texture, and Barbara and I created this background together using gesso, a comb, the opposite tip of a paintbrush, a meat tenderizer, and splotches of watercolor paint. The green paint itself is a mixture of watercolor and acrylic!!! I never would have thought to do that.

The main lessons for me in this project were the use of white to create depth in the body, and having the patience (aka taking the time) to make different shades of the same color to get the shading right. Working on a painting really takes time. And you can't do it all in one sitting.

The scan didn't capture the entire painting, but I'm planning to keep this one to hang up in our house so maybe sometime you'll get to see the whole thing in person.

A week later, I continued on the theme and created this card for my friend Katie who got a job she really wanted! After hanging up with her on the phone when she announced the news, I couldn't stop smiling! I felt like it was almost my own accomplishment! So that is what the card says: Friendship is when another's victory feels like yours.

Finally for today, here is me at last week's First Friday, with my "sculpture" and wearing a "featured artist" button. The leg fit right in to the bike-themed show, and I had a lot of fun just being a part of any show at all. You can see it on display throughout the month of June at the Poudre River Arts Center at 406 N College Ave in Fort Collins. Of course, you can see replicas at a Brave New Wheel (105 E Myrtle St) and at the Cycologist (217 Linden St), and you can buy fashionable bike bands at any of the three locations.

Card Swap Cards Revealed

2011-06-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Six Degrees of HLM Card Swap has finally come to a close, and I have been looking forward to sharing with the world the handiwork of all the participants. Please invite your friends and family to stop by my blog for a look, and everyone who reads this is invited to participate in the swap next year. Click on any of the photos below for a closer-up view.

Here is a photo of everyone's cards lined up on the floor:

Below is Ambra's card:

Andrea did two designs:

3 of the 4 images used in Anne's cards were taken in India last January:

Deborah's pocket design was the base of each of her cards, but each one had a different greeting, and she made all her envelopes:

Here's my card--come back to the blog in the next couple weeks to learn about the process and see more pictures of it, and maybe even win one of my extras!

Grace was inspired by a vacation she recently took to Florida:

Haley wanted to create a 3-D card, and the printed paper she found made her think of the wind:

Jenn's beaded cards took hours of hand sewing, but resulted in an exquisite final product:

The little heart comes out of the black fabric pocket on Jennifer's, and they're sewn around the edges:

Katie experimented with what I recently learned is called Iris-fold, and combined the folding process with her own photography:

Kiara made 10 unique watercolor paintings:

Kyran pulled inspiration from her love for cooking for her card, and made all the envelopes too:

Mivvy's cards were all Christmas-themed, and most (if not all) were photos from where she lives in England:

Nancy made and colored all her own paper (except the card stock) for her cards:

The cards Paige submitted were similar in theme, based on the quote she found, featured in the bottom two:

Tara's been doing tons with small quilting projects lately (she recently had a project featured in 101 Patchwork Projects and Quilts--click here to read about it and see her cute name/gift tags). She was no doubt inspired to carry that into her cards:

Another great year of the Card Swap! And if you'll do me the honor of coming back to visit my blog again soon, you'll have a chance to WIN one of my pop-up cards to have for yourself!

Whoa, I'm In A Show!

2011-05-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I had another excellent session with Barbara McCulloch, a Fort Collins painter. For the first hour, we discussed business stuff (taxes, marketing, etc), and then we went on to painting techniques. I have been re-inspired by Gaelle Boissannard, the French painter Ambra and I discovered in a card shop in Nice in 2009. Check out her blog and scroll down to her May 11th post to see "Progression," which is a series of photos of how she made one of her paintings. Love it! (I wish I could speak French.) I am hoping to do some painting a little bit in her style, and tonight!

Back to the title of this post, Barbara's studio is in the Poudre River Arts Center, and they're putting on a show in June called "Get On Your Bike and Ride It!" Barbara encouraged me to submit my bike bands display leg as art in itself, so I did, and lo and behold, it was accepted at the last minute!

So! Come on down to First Friday, June 3, from 6-9pm, at PRAC, located at 406 N. College Ave in Fort Collins. If you can't make it to First Friday, the show will be up throughout the month of June and you can stop by anytime the gallery is open.

I decided to make one design of a Father's Day card that could work to sell in The Eyes Have It, and am pretty satisfied! The card features a pocket on both sides. In the front pocket is a paper airplane made of dictionary pages, and in the back pocket is a card insert for your message, as well as hand-drawn instructions for how to make your own paper airplane. These planes fly surprisingly well, too! I have to say, the scanned image isn't anything compared to the real thing. Head on down to Old Town if you'd like to see one for yourself!

This photo shows the whole package, front and back of the card with pockets emptied.

Betcha Couldn't Guess... Cards!

2011-05-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Eyes Have It eyeglasses shop called and asked for more cards to sell! Here are three new designs I took over to them yesterday. The first two were inspired by other cards I saw recently in the card aisle--here are my takes on those ideas.

For the card swap, Katie used this awesome technique, called Iris-fold. (Come back next week to see her card as well as all the others!) I learned more about Iris-fold in the Fall 2010 Fun Folds edition of Card Maker Magazine, a publication my step-mom introduced me to last month (can I just say OMG!?). I knew this was something I needed to try out, so experimented with some of my scraps and came up with this super-fun design.

As I left the store, the owner called after me to come up with some Father's Day cards. Yikes! Now there is a challenge: making cards for this very specific target audience. Hmm, how to make a card that the random dad (not my dad) will appreciate, and one his child (male or female) will be enticed to buy in the shop...

Window Art

2011-05-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend's baby shower was a huge success! 17 people came, the weather was perfect (high 70s with a very light breeze), there was ample delicious food, fresh flowers, none of those stupid shower games (instead, different fun games), a meaningful group art activity, and an amazing cake!

Katie and I planned for awhile what our group might be able to do to make something for the new mama/papa-to-be that would be their style and artistic, but not asking too much of non-artsy people of the group. She had this old window that we got Paul to fix up, to which we added a back and hinged it. So cool-looking! So we asked the guests to each decorate a 4" square with whatever they wanted to do, something to do with what they would wish for the new parents. There were poems, quotes, meaningful words, photos, stickers, a crocheted soft thing, a quilt square, and someone even used highlighters (that's all she had!). There were also some tears as people presented their squares. :) Then we combined the squares under the window. The photo above shows the basic idea, and this weekend we'll stick all of them down for good, so that it can be hung on the wall and viewed for years to come. Then we ate cake (also featured), with candied lemon daffodils as garnish--whoa! (Cake courtesy of Kyran, the ultimate cake-baker.)

Below is my contribution to the window art. My mom sent me this poem a few weeks ago and it seemed so appropriate for this. That it is about little things, nature, love and kindness, and that it came from a mom. The border is an homage to the invitations.

(Remember to click on the images for a close-up.)

Cards Are My Life

2011-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd show you some of the interim cards I've recently made while in the midst of my card swap. This first one was a birthday card for Katie, and a joy to make. It is inspired by my advent calendar design, and the orange background is fabric that I painted over with gloss medium. Whoa! That made for a cool effect. Each of the little papers in the 4 pockets are able to be taken out, and each one offers a birthday wish I had for her. The card is meant to hang, and the back is just a flat bit of light purple cardstock to cover up all my sewing marks. (By all means, click on the image for a closer-up view!)

My friend Haley is having a baby shower this weekend, so here are the invitations that Katie and I made for the occasion. The back is entirely collaged, so if you could lift up the words paper, you would see that each one is different and colorful. I also distressed each one around the edge with a light green ink to give them some definition.

I must admit that this has been a busier spring than I anticipated!

Fitting It All In

2011-04-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

This is me at my desk last weekend, which is where I've been during any moment that I haven't been at work, at pilates (strengthening that core), or at a planned outing in the last 4 weeks.

You can catch a glimpse of what I've been working on: Card Swap cards! This year, I'll be honest, I've bitten off a bit much. They are going to be amazing cards, but wow, they have already taken hours upon hours!!!

Below is a photo of me, Haley, and baby Indigo in upstate New York last month, and the quilt that Haley and I worked together on for awhile for her. It was the first time I've made a quilt totally of someone else's design, Denyse Schmidt. We loved the colors. The title of the quilt is Ice Pops, and in the instructions, the colors are not orange, yellow, brown, etc, but pineapple, banana, sand, and coconut, to name a few. We loved that. You can also see the back, which Haley and I designed to use up some of the leftover fabric we had.

Time Capsule

2011-03-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

My friend Diana commissioned me to make a pretty box for her to use at her sister's baby shower as a time capsule. The guidelines I had to go on were the size and that her sister likes green. Otherwise, I was given free reign!! Here's how it turned out (click on any of the images for a better view):

This is the box's bad angle, but I did want you to see the felt-covered bottom:

The box actually proved to be a challenge for a couple reasons. First, the entire thing was paper. With all the boxes I've made in the past, I have used fabric to line the inside. That makes the paper-covering part simpler and fast, and the end result is very satisfying. However, since the inside of this box is lined with paper, I had to be very precise in my cutting the paper to size and the gluing! Second, I had to make a lid! Only once before have I done this, and the construction of it, plus getting it to work in the way I wanted it to took a lot of thinking. Ultimately it taught me a lot and I would do it again with a few tweaks.

My favorite parts about it: how the outside and inside papers complement each other, the felt color (and just that it adds some softness to the box), the gold over light green ribbon to make the ribbon shine instead of disappear into its sheerness, and the buckle. A time capsule ought not to be super easy access, right? There should be some mystery to it, don't you think?

It was very well received by Diana, and I am looking forward to hearing how it goes over at the shower.

Ribbons Class

2011-03-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

This Friday I will be teaching a class about how to use ribbons in unexpected ways, to make three small, functional, and pretty take-home projects. Last night I practiced teaching the class to my two patient friends Katie and Haley, and we had a blast! As you can see, the projects include a headband, a leg band for when you ride your bike, and a small purse. I could tell that the best part about it was how instantly gratifying it was for them at the end of each half-hour to have completed something! The class lasts 2 hours and will take place at Mama Said Sew this coming Friday, March 25, at 6:30. Call MSS at (970) 493-0623 to sign up!

See you there!

It's Official!

2011-03-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

Today I officially registered my trade name! I am officially Parsley Art Studio! There is a long way to go from here, but I feel very accomplished in having done just this one thing. Figuring out exactly what one has to do to be official about owning a business seems complex and overwhelming at times. But I'm trying to network and ask people who've done it before and persevere through all the information.

Thanks to Ange at Mama Said Sew, I also recently learned about the most wonderful resource: the Small Business Development Center. There are centers all over Colorado, and one right here in Fort Collins, where I will attend a workshop early in April to get the basics. After that, I will sign up for a one-on-one counseling session, in which I can learn specifics from someone else who's been there. I can't wait! I can't believe I didn't know about this before. Finally, someone to ask rather than having to figure out everything on my own online.

Here is what I worked on today: a display for my bike bands! Two (so far) bike shops in town are going to carry my bike bands! So of course, we needed a great way to show them off. Shawn at The Cycologist suggested having a foot of some sort for the bands to show their actual function, so I took his idea and ran with it. Clean shoes and jeans from the second hand store, a 2x4 and a couple of screws (again with help from the main man) and voila! An enticing display!

And for laughs...

Fun with Ribbon!

2011-02-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Click here to see the flyer for my Ribbons class in March!

Here are photos of 3 small purses I made out of ribbon recently. I love the little brown one for its size: perfect for an ID and your iPod. I'm thinking of combining that with the bike bands (see next post down) to make an iPod holder for when you are working out. Wouldn't that be so much nicer than the boring ones they sell at the Apple store?

Taking (and Giving) Lessons

2011-02-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

I've recently had to pay some visits to a chiropractor (unfortunately), but something more than just relieved back pain has come of it: a new art relationship! Barbara McCulloch is a local painter, and four of her acrylic paintings hang in the waiting room of the chiropractor's office! These paintings are so beautiful and lovely, with one or two white aspen tree trunks in the foreground and bright sky-like backgrounds, with colors like purple and orange. They really spoke to me. Her contact info was noted, so I emailed her, which led to our first encounter this afternoon. We talked for an hour or so about the business of art (she's got some excellent life experience) and then delved into making art! Below is what resulted from her lesson to me:

As you know if you've been reading this blog for awhile, I value professional development and I have always felt a desire to get back to basic foundations. Well, today we started very much at square one (right where I needed to be) with oil pastels and watercolors, two mediums I've never loved. Barbara said that she could see my artistic skills lie in design and precision, so she challenged me in this oil pastel exercise to be inspired by certain phrases and create each piece in just two minutes. We did four pieces, and it loosened me up a little, forced me to use my intuition and emotion rather than my brain. I found it to be pretty fun, actually! The final product looks very elementary to me, but I really appreciated the exercise. At first, 2 minutes fled by and I felt like I'd done almost nothing. By the 4th one, my brain engaged a little more and the 2 minutes felt a lot longer. I could think a little, and that led to the one I like the most (bottom right: "Dancing alone at home").

Meanwhile, I am thinking lots about teaching my own classes, and I finally have a date for a Ribbons Class(!) at Mama Said Sew: March 26. Tell your friends! To market the class, I just had to make samples of the projects we'll make (poor me) out of some of their ribbon. Aren't these leg bands (for riding your bike) SO GREAT?????

Valentines For Sale & Card Swap Time

2011-02-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

One of my fave holidays is next week: Valentine's Day! Why do I love it so?

How can you not love a holiday that celebrates the people you love in your life? Yes, V-day has baggage, especially for people who are uncontentedly single, and the day has been over-hyped to become materialistic and too sappy. But I try to look past all that and think of it as a way to tell the people I love in my life just that.
It is a big card-giving holiday, which for me is excellent considering my love of making cards!

You can find 4 different designs of my beautiful handmade Valentines for sale in Fort Collins at The Eyes Have It in Old Town, just north of College and Mountain on the west side. One of the designs is above.

Speaking of LOVING making cards, this year's annual 6 degrees of HLM International Card Swap is officially announced! It consists of this:

RSVPing to me that you want to participate by next Wednesday, February 16.
Using the following 8 weeks to create 10 cards (usually identical, but not required) that you'll enter in the swap.
Sending me your cards by the postmark date of April 15.
Receiving 10 cards made by other participants around the end of April.

If you'd like to participate, please send me an email (noted to the right), and I will send you the details. Fu-un!

Another Scrap Project

2011-02-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

This week I wanted to sew some more scraps, so here's what I came up with, as a lightweight, flat, just-because gift for one of my quilt loving friends in Germany (I had some other, not-so-exciting stuff to send her and wanted to spruce up the package!). I took the pictures of these coasters at night so the flash or available light doesn't represent the actual colors very well, but just know that in person they are delightfully bright!

They each have a letter embroidered on them, a 'B' on one and a 'D' on the other. I made the 'B' one first and noticed that the second one had a more polished look, after I'd initially designed and practiced on the first one. You can see that I also used variegated thread around the edges.

The final look, with a cup of cocoa! (This awesome mug was made by my friend Micah.)

In the crafting world, I've noticed that crafted coasters have come to be called 'mug rugs.' I think that is a little cheesy myself.

Regrouping

2011-01-29T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, and happy 2011! I know it has been over 4 weeks since I last posted, but I have been working hard behind the scenes to regroup after the experience that was November 2010 and the craft fair. I am slowly, slowly, slowly making my way through piles of paper scraps and fabric scraps and cardstock and buttons and pens and receipts and books and magazines and ephemera and on and on to RE-ORGANIZE my art space. So I haven't been creating a lot lately. My mission has been to figure out how my space can work even better for me, especially considering my un-tidy nature. Along the way, I've made a box of "half-started projects" that I aspire to work on every once in awhile over the next few months. Shorts and socks to mend, a snap to put on a shirt, a few card fronts to be sewn to cardstock, my very first paper-piecing that I never did anything with...

Sometime in the next month, I hope to show you a progression of what I've done to my art room. But for now, I'll show you the one project I have done: an art pillow for my mom, made completely of scraps. This is how it started:

This is what happened!

Here is the view of three sides of the pillow. That was actually one of my favorite parts, the surprise of the way the sides came together.

Please stick with me for the rest of this post to hear about two things I can't wait to share: I Am, a most amazing documentary I saw last week, and the latest development in The Beckoning of Lovely project.

The film I Am was created by a guy who is famous in Hollywood for directing lots of comedies, especially with Jim Carey in them. He had a bike accident, and his injuries afterward got him to take action to share his thoughts about the world before he died (something he thought was soon to happen). He spoke with researchers, scholars, religious leaders, business leaders, and scientists to ask, "What is wrong with the world?" and "What can we do about it?" I got to see it with three of my close Fort Collins friends, and we were overwhelmed by how much it affected and inspired us. It gave us all hope. While watching it, I cried, laughed, cringed, smiled, nodded, and cried some more. I wanted to see it immediately again, and I can't wait till I get to. Please at least go to the website to watch the preview, and I implore you to find a way to see the movie, whether it is at a screening in your city or, if we're lucky, it comes out in mainstream theaters. Because of this movie, I want to strive to be a better person, love more, be kind and compassionate, cooperate and build even more community, and love my enemy. Incidentally, the director recovered from his injuries while he was in production. Here is the website:

www.iamthedoc.com

You've heard me talk about The Beckoning of Lovely project before. There's a link to their site on the right side of this blog. I recently saw the video of their 10/10/10 event in Chicago, and it is right in line with what I Am is about. There are people out there making a lot of right in the world, and I hope you'll take the 10 minutes it takes to watch this video on YouTube. It is so so worth it. You will be so glad you did.

The Beckoning of Lovely, 10/10/10 (10 min)

If you want to see the original video, or the one that happened in '09, here they are too, for easy clicking/viewing:

The Beckoning of Lovely, 08/08/08 (7:15 minutes)

The Beckoning of Lovely, 09/09/09 (2:35 minutes)

I am definitely considering being in Chicago on 11/11/11. Wanna come with?

Other People's Presents

2010-12-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

My project last week was exactly that: commissions from others for full-sized aprons, for them to give to their loved ones. I love the polka dotted one the most! On a person (rather than on a dress form) they come to life, and brighten up the kitchen quite a lot.

Wishing you a most lovely Christmas,

Heather

Now available at a shop near you...

2010-12-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

Now that the craft fairs have been accomplished, I've decided the time has come to get some local shops to sell my stuff. And so, you can now buy some of my creations at Mama Said Sew and The Eyes Have It, both near Mountain Ave and College, in Fort Collins! I'll have a photo hopefully next week for the product that is in Mama Said Sew (you'll remember the mini-quilts, though), and the other photos below show the presentation at The Eyes Have It (yes, an eyeglasses shop!).

Mama Said Sew is located at 121 E. Mountain Ave in Fort Collins.

The Eyes Have It is located at 107 N. College Avenue, also in FoCo. Click on Events on their page and you can find my name along with the other artists being featured.

Below, the boxes are mine at the top of the photo. Wouldn't you like one of these fine boxes for cleaning up the clutter on your shelf?

And here you can see my card display and gift bags to the right in the baskets. The owners suggested the idea of Valentines to fill in once Christmas is over. I've got my work cut out for me for January! Good thing I love to make Valentines.

This week in the studio, sewing some commissions for full-length aprons (for Christmas presents), my own Christmas cards, and working with a graphic designer to get my Parsley Art Studio logo spiffed-up. Also, I'm doing some mental projections of what 2011 will bring for me, especially creatively, but also business-wise. I look forward to sharing those ideas with you soon!

Another fair this weekend

2010-12-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Just a quick note to let you know that I'll be at another 1-day craft fair this weekend! There will be about 15-16 other vendors, food, and live Christmas music by a local group.

Saturday, December 4th

Immanuel Community Church

1725 W Mulberry

(near City Park Lake, across from Little Caesar's Pizza)

Fort Collins, CO

9:00am - 3:00pm

Hope you see you there!

New Year's Res Accomplished

2010-11-28T17:41:00.000-08:00

Wow, what an experience! If you look back to my New Year's resolutions, you'll see that something I wanted to do in 2010 was participate in a craft fair. Last Friday and Saturday, I did just that!!

My mom and I worked 8-10 hour days for 5 days straight to finish up with the production of all the product I hoped to sell. We set up the booth (handmade by my handy husband) in the living room and tried out all different ideas. On Thanksgiving day, we rested as much as we could and enjoyed a feast with friends (I supplied the apple pie and pumpkin roll). Then on Friday, we were up at 6 and out the door by 7 to head to the Fort Collins Senior Center. We used photos Mom had taken with her iPhone to set everything up correctly, and posted the last of the pricing signs right at 10:00, as the doors to the public opened.

Here are two photos of how all my product could mostly fit into two Rubbermaid tubs(!), and the clunker truck we borrowed to get all of the "set" to the stage.

Across the aisle from me was another first-timer, Rachel, who makes colorful headbands from lycra. (Visit her shop at www.thesportygirl.com.) She and I cheered each other along the way, and worked to manifest more people on day 2 as well as a younger crowd (Friday provided many 60+ers and we figure both of our audiences are younger than that). Other vendors around my booth sold things like fleece hats with ears, emu oil/soap, knitted coathangers/sweaters/necklaces, and jewelry. While there were other people who sold cards, nobody had anything that looked like mine, which was a relief!

Lessons learned, from this experience as well as tips from more seasoned vendors:

That you can use a smart phone to do credit card transactions! It seems super easy, and low cost. Might be time for me to upgrade.
A fair with 90 vendors might be just too big for someone like me, who is asking a lot of money for fine-detail work. Figure that the average customer has a budget, and that they do a once-around the whole fair before spending any cash. What are the chances of them making their way back to me? And justifying to themselves that $5.25 for a card is a wise purchase? If they had fewer choices of where to spend their money, they might be able to find me again, and feel that my product is a good choice if their other choices are limited.
There are 5 million ways to market a product! What will work and what won't is anybody's guess, but we certainly thought about it a lot, and made adjustments throughout.
(Not the biggest epiphany:) Very few people (in this crowd) will pay a lot for a card. Even if they LOVE it. I knew this, though.
People of my mom's generation and older don't want to buy aprons. Aprons mean work, scrubbing, stains, cleaning, whatever. They don't see aprons as a fashion piece or spunky uniform as I do. Some people are astounded that I own something like 10 aprons and use almost all of them for various different tasks in my life.
I think I should reduce my product to one or two things. Maybe three. Six was too many. Well, maybe.
The best sellers (again, with this particular population): mini quilts, advent calendars, and cards. Fabric-lined boxes didn't sell at all, and aprons were the second to last. Gift bags weren't too poorly received, though. People liked the concept of them (reducing gift wrapping waste, yearly re-use, etc), but lots of folks knew they could make their own at home.
There were a lot of people who liked my stuff but the economy is rough right now and it sucks that just now is when I'm trying to stick my foot into the mix!
To keep trying! Try another fair, another day, a different group of consumers! Adjust my prices, adjust my inventory, stick my neck out. Keep going. This is one of my favorite lessons of the weekend.
You definitely need a buddy. I was super lucky to have such an enthusiastic partner as my mom. We could each take turns having lunch or breaks or shopping excursions to other booths. And she had so many great ideas that really enhanced the booth. That along with all the grunt work she did to help me finish all my product, I couldn't have done it without her.

Thank you to everyone who supported my endeavor, by coming to the fair or by purchasing something I made. I am so glad that you found something worthwhile in my work and I look forward to sharing the next adventure with you.

My Studio This Week

2010-11-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

In my studio this week, there has been a lot going on. I feel like I'm working 7 days a week! But at least 3 days of the week are in the studio. While I am having fun, I am definitely tired out. The photos above show from L to R, starting at the top:

Bases for more mini quilts
Aprons in the works
Wooden discs we drilled holes in to make buttons for...
Gift bags (never buy gift wrap again!)
4 more advent calendars
Folded white cardstock (for when the Christmas cards below get to that stage)
Christmas cards in their early stage and a fabric covered box
Paul making a "wall" for me to hang stuff from
Inserts for the advent calendars
Envelopes stuffed into clear plastic protectors
The new Parsley Art logo!
Christmas cards design #2

As usual, you can click on the image above to see the photos a little bigger.

Here are two photos of my studio right now.

Finally, I bought my domain and website for www.parsleyartstudio.com! (If you go there now you will not see much more than an intro page... it will be another few weeks before I'll have the proper time to give to it.) And my new business cards came this week too. They are very fine!

Better in Person

2010-10-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

I sent the little 3-flowers card you saw in my last post to my sister last week, who, upon receipt, exclaimed over the phone, "It's so much better in person! The photo doesn't do it any justice!!" Even if I had a professional photographer, I think I would need an actual photography studio to get anywhere close to actualizing the reality of my work (you know, like you might see in an art book). My work is so incredibly textural that you have to see it and, if you can, feel it to really get it. I wish you could reach through the computer and grab the stuff I make to see it in person for yourself, and touch it. But since you can't, take my sister's word for it!! It is even better in person.

This is a first design I came up with for an advent calendar after the happenstance circle storage system I developed, which you can see in my last post too. Surprisingly, I hadn't thought of an advent calendar, and then Tara suggested it! Thanks Tara! The pockets and background are all made from THE dictionary, and then sewn to a bit of scrap fabric (which I incidentally got at a great garage sale last week). Inside the pockets are little notes, one for each day leading up to the big event.

Now, if you click on the photo for a closer look, you can see that the word 'advent' is at the top, kind of as its title. At the bottom, there's the definition. Did you know that advent doesn't necessarily have to pertain to Christmas? So, while this initial design is obviously Christmas-y, not all of them will be. What do the notes say? Your choice! I'll have some pre-made ones that can be bought (jokes, quotes, etc), and also some blank ones for people to write on to make their calendars more meaningful and personalized.

You can see, feel, and BUY this piece and/or others like it if you come to the Holiday Craft & Food Market, November 26-27, 2010, at the Fort Collins Senior Center. I hope to see you and your family there!

Work-horse

2010-10-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

I seem to remember this happened last fall, and the fall before that too. My life has been far too busy for my liking! Sorry for the more than 3 weeks since my last post. Besides having some long-term company at home, it was also my 10-year college reunion at the start of the month (hooray for Mills College!), and my day job has been considerably more demanding these days too (actually always the case at this time of year).

I have been a work-horse in the art room. The photo above shows what I feel I've been doing for a month: circles and quilt squares. You can see what will become of the circles, and the quilt squares will become aprons, as seen in a past post. When my mom saw that purple square, she said she just wanted to lick it, it reminded her of candy!

In the lower left corner, you can see what I devised as a storage system for circles I have purposefully paired and prepared to become flowers, but there are so many of them that I won't get through them all in one sitting. So I made these little pockets out of scratch paper to keep them from getting separated or mixed up, and I like the look so much I'm wondering if I can put the idea into something sell-able. What do you think?

Work Day and Name Change

2010-09-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

I've officially been accepted into the Ft Collins Holiday Craft Fair over Thanksgiving weekend! Hooray! So as you know, I have some work to do, and today I invited three helpers into the art room to help me with some of the grunt work of mass card-making: Mivvy, Haley, and Katie.

We worked for a good 4 hours (with a gourmet snack break half-way through) to do all the finishing on my non-Christmas cards. The photo below is the pile of cards we completed. I'd done all the design, painting, gluing, layout, etc. beforehand. Then today we sewed on buttons, beads, and other embellishments while keeping each other company and laughing at the chickens clucking right outside to screen door. We accomplished so much; that was 16 hours of work that the four of us did in 4. Fantastic!

Now, a story: when I was in Oregon over Memorial Day weekend, I stopped in a great quilt shop in Hood River. I was explaining to the woman there the type of art I did and the reason I was there to buy buttons (for 2 cents a pop from their bulk basket), and she asked if I had a card, so she could visit my website when she got home to her computer. A week or so later, she called me(!) and said she'd had problems finding my Etsy shop, Follow Him.

Whoa.

And so, I would like to announce the transition to my new studio name: Parsley Art. I am still working through the details, but you will see that it is a good fit. "Fresh art with lots of taste," you know, something along those lines. Katie came early to our work session today to do some photography with freshly picked bunches of parsley from my garden. We experimented with all sorts of things to integrate the parsley and some of my art supplies. You'll see more of those photos soon. For now, here are a couple...

Without Meaning To...

2010-09-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

...I recently learned some new techniques! The other day, I was in the scrapbook store by happy accident, and since I had no agenda or no project to buy specific stuff for, I could just look around. Well, I got inspired, as usual. And I saw some stuff I'd never seen before. Handmade paper ribbons, ruffles, and flowers. So I asked the lady there how to do them. Here you can see my own successful attempts! (They're pretty easy to do, just something new and different.)

This menu features the ruffle (under the bow) and a couple of the flowers. I just love how much the ruffle looks like fabric, but it's paper!

Aren't the flowers just so cute? In person, you'd see that they, too, have a fabric-esque feel and look to them.

NEWS FLASH: I applied to the Fort Collins Holiday Craft Fair and although I haven't heard back officially, they did cash my check. Soooo, I'm thinkin' I might be in. Below is my list of things to make before Thanksgiving weekend. I've got my work cut out for me but boy am I thrilled!

Food Art

2010-08-15T19:20:00.001-07:00

After a hiatus from the blog for a few weeks, I'm back to share the latest project I've been working on: a party! My vision: in the back yard, fairy lights, white table cloths, candles, friends, and above all, delicious food in seven courses. With lots of help from my sister, bro-in-law, husband, and friends, the loveliest of parties was most certainly accomplished. Here are some photos of the star attractions (my foodie cousin Lindsay will be proud):

Appetizer: Stuffed mushrooms with a balsamic reduction and herbed goat cheese puffs with a peach glaze.

Soup: Roasted red and yellow pepper

Risotto: Browned butter with sage -OR- pesto risotto

Salad: The $23 Heirloom Tomato Salad -OR- Spinach salad with cilantro, walnuts, and brie

Main: Lamb sliders with yogurt cilantro sauce -OR- Pot de Aubergine, served with a lima bean parmesan salad

Cheese: three different types of cheese, served with a warm rosemary-orange-cured olive salad and homemade herb crackers

Guests had a lovely time... hooray!

The lights were wonderful as the sun set.

Dessert was finally served at 11:00pm! (Unfortunately no photos of that though.) There was a tall and glossy über-chocolate cake, a blackberry fool (mousse), and a cherry clafouti (hats off to Julia Child).

Hot!

2010-07-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, today it is supposed to get up to 92 degrees, but more than that, I feel like this project is H-O-T, hot! To have made all these at once really feels great. I've got 10 to show off and sell so far! Here's photos of them in their penultimate stage:

Here they are finished!

Close-ups of a couple:

Last weekend we went to a most excellent wedding in the mountains, at a beautiful mountain chateau in Estes Park. Katie and Adam put their hearts into the look and feel of the ceremony and dinner reception and we had a wonderful, fun time (there was even a bear sighting during the ceremony)! Below is their card-turned-art piece, made from the dictionary! Check out the detail of the background page--of course I had to use the page with the definition for "marriage."

Production

2010-06-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Check out this dictionary!! Copyright 1952, rescued by my sister from a classroom purge in California, and sent media mail for just over $8 to me in Colorado. The pages are perfectly suited for tearing out (no gasping allowed... remember, this was saved from the landfill!) and using as collage material. As you can see, I started using them today.

I'm working this week on pumping out some product. The application deadlines for two craft shows I want to participate in in the fall are in July and I need to show that I can fill a booth with my goods. Whoa! Plus, I'm working on making those wall hangings that Angela at Mama Said Sew will sell in her shop. So today I finished the 10th mini quilt and wrapped each of my 10 boards in pattern paper (below). None of them are finished yet, but at least you can see part of the process.

My friend Katie volunteered to be my guinea pig student in teaching an apron-making class. You saw my version of this apron in my last post, and here she is with her completed apron (her honey had her pose with kitchen items...).

I learned a lot from teaching this to her. She was a great student, with patience, enthusiasm, and basic sewing skills. She helped me to remember that things always go slower than you anticipate, and I learned that this apron is a little too complex to teach to someone who has beginning or probably even intermediate sewing experience in just 2 hours (my time limit). She also suggested that I have the project in its various stages already sewn to show as examples along the way, a la Martha or cooking shows. Finally, she suggested I write a take-home guide with instructions to hand out to students for them to refer to later when they want to make the project again. I thought both of those were great suggestions.

Moving Along

2010-06-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Below, a few cards that I've recently made and have been looking forward to showing you:

My friend Katie said I need more stuff on my etsy shop! So I made these aprons (below) to put up. She also suggested more of my collage work so I'll get on that soon, too. Good news to share: I approached the owner of a new fabric shop in Fort Collins, called Mama Said Sew, about selling some of my stuff. She loved my mini wall hangings and will put them up in her shop on consignment! I am thrilled. :) Plus, she loved the white apron especially and when I asked whether I could teach a class at her shop, she liked the idea of me teaching her and her staff this apron, kind of like an audition, before creating a class to teach to the community.

The white apron was totally inspired by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts. She uses a lot of white in her quilting, and makes regular vows to use up scraps in her stash before buying more fabric. (I can't tell you how hard that is!) The red/brown apron below was inspired by fabrics that accidentally fell together while I was going through my own stash recently. If you like these aprons, check out more photos of them at my online shop.

What to make for a 3 year old?

2010-06-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

My young friend Sonia turned three at the end of April and lives abroad. So, I pondered for awhile, what could I send her as a developmentally appropriate gift that was flat and light-weight to send in the mail (for a timely arrival)? I came to the conclusion of a paper doll! (Click on the image for a closer-up look.)

Each of the outfits are drawn/colored on white cardstock that's been reinforced by clear packaging tape on the back. I used tracing paper to create the outfits after first creating the doll herself. That old trick of drawing something in pencil onto tracing paper and then flipping the paper over and going over the lines again to get a mirror image on another piece of paper is how I did it. One of the funnest parts was actually designing the outfits! It was like being a fashion designer! What would Sonia wear? What would she want to see herself wearing?

Indeed, I had to give the birthday girl herself something to wear that would match the Tinkerbell outfit. :)

This gift was made to be played with and, if it comes to that, totally destructed! Hey, as long as she has some fun and knows her Auntie Heather was thinking about her, that's what matters to me.

Announcement!

2010-05-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

Announcing... the opening of my Etsy shop! www.followhlm.etsy.com!!

Would you like to buy an HLM creation? For example, this fine (small) piece of wall art?

Or this one:

Or maybe even a set of 3 to decorate a narrow bit of wall in your home:

You could also pick one of these excellent blank cards to send to someone special:

Or even a set of 4, offered at a discount!

Please come by today! (Free shipping for anyone I know personally!)

The Most Amazing Cards

2010-05-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for months to post about these! I am so excited to share them with you. This year, I hosted the 3rd annual 6 Degrees of HLM International Card Swap, and this post represents my contribution. Overall I have to tell you that all the cards were amazing. 20 people participated, and all 20 produced high-quality cards. No one flaked. Everyone put their heart into their work. So, a special thank you to all of you who participated!

For my cards, I wanted to try out some new techniques and I was (as usual) inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts. And so I began, first by covering a large piece of watercolor paper with papers that inspired me:

I treated the collage all over with matte medium before painting over it and strategically wiping away. Then I used a Shiva Artist's Paintstik to provide a white base layer for faces. These paint sticks are oil paint mixed with wax so that they dry faster. Kelly Rae swears by them and uses them for her faces.

I then cut along lines I'd drawn on the backside, and again into two pieces (depending on where in the square the faces ended up), and finely detailed the faces.

After that I got so busy that I stopped taking pictures! But as you can see from the final outcome below, I then cut out individual outfits from more paper I loved, cut out two layers of flowers and sewed them on, and individually stamped each letter. The words were inspired by a long, hand-written letter I received from a friend. I afforded myself the permission to buy some new pens to complete the faces and hands, and some hemp string (a new material for me), as inspired by another card swap participant's cards.

The cards are tri-folded and the blue string holds them closed. It wraps around the back of the card on the outside, then pops through to the inside on the folds and out through two small holes to form the bow in the front.

Here are all 12 of them together. I like seeing them together because of how different they are, and how each lady turned out with such a different personality from the next.

In total, I put more than 30 hours into these 12 cards. And I loved them. I was so happy to send them off and share them with the swappers, and yet sorry to see them go. I learned so much with this project, and look forward to the ways in which I can apply those lessons to future projects. I don't think I could sell these babies, for two reasons: 1, they took too long to make to sell them as cards. Perhaps as little works of art, framed, then I could get money back for the time I put into them. 2, I'd be worried about copyright. Kelly Rae writes a great word about what is and isn't ok copyright-wise, and to replicate her style and try to sell it as mine would a violation. Not that my style looks so close to hers, but they were inspired by her style, and I wouldn't want to disrespect her work or aspiration in any way.

Special thanks to my sister Ashley, for her fine photography of my work.

And last but not least, a photo of all 200 card swap cards on my studio floor!

Come back later this week for another post... I've got lots more to share.

Hobby Horse

2010-04-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hullo, how do you do?

I made this fantastic hobby horse for our niece! Her birthday was in March (ahem!), but since she's just turned three, hopefully she won't notice our belatedness! (Click on the photos if you want to see them closer.)

Below: the side view, then the mane (Paul picked out the yarn for it, and I threaded in each "hair" individually), and then the view from the bottom, as the head connects to the stick.

And, for a laugh, press the play button below... (thanks to Marilee for the hat!)

Mini Quilts, Mounted

2010-04-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Long ago, Amb said to me, "How can you charge more for your quilted cards?" after she came to see the time that goes into each one. So she suggested I frame them. After lots of thinking about it and some experimenting, I have finally arrived at this:

What do you think? Funnily, I like the texture of the background the best!

Imagine three of these hanging side by side or vertically on a thin section of wall between two doors or on a staircase. Either complimentary colors or all different, contrasting...

Fleur de Ashley I & II

2010-04-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Last November, my sister asked me to make her a collage. So I started in December, even worked on it while she was visiting over Christmas! Well, finally I finished them, framed them, and shipped them, just a few days late for her birthday!

If you refer back to my blog post about the new table, you can just slightly see the piece in its first stage of life! Below are close-ups of each one in its final stage. They are sister collages, and can be displayed separately or apart. Click on the photos for a closer view.

It's hard to pick a favorite of the two. But one of my favorite places is the lower right corner of the second one: the yellow and pink shading over the list and the old advertisement, and the photo of the dog popping out over it.

Below you can see how they looked before I framed them. The collages are mounted onto quarter-inch plywood covered in pecan, which is what makes the stripes. We treated the wood with tung oil before mounting the collages.

I was inspired by a flower I saw in a piece of fabric I'd used in another project, and to make the piece a little less busy and more focused, I used the flower as a centerpiece. It helps bring all the colors of the various components of the collage together. Components include an interior paint sample card, picture and article cut-outs from a catalog and a magazine, two photos Ashley herself took, buttons, paper flowers, a doily, pattern paper, butterfly ribbon, felt flowers, a page from a dictionary, and some quotes that seem to fit Ash's personality.

You guessed it! Here are photos of the collage in her house!

And to give it a little scale, the final product with the artist. :)

Assembly Line

2010-03-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

Over the last two weeks, I've timed myself on how long it takes to do one part of making a card, but 6 times. I've added up all the minutes, and it ended up taking about 2 hours to create these 6 cards, for the most part identical:

Inspired by the card I made for my mom for her birthday, I thought these would be good things to sell on etsy.com and at craft fairs. I think they turned out so fun. I plan to make a series of these and then sell them individually or in bunches.

Please participate in my poll to the right about how much you'd pay for one of these cards.

Meanwhile, in an assembly line of a different sort, for the 6 Degrees of HLM International card swap, I've started working on the ten cards I plan to swap. Below is a teaser of the papers I'm using. Hmm... what will they become? I can't wait to share! Postmark deadline is coming up in just over 4 weeks, so hopefully you're off to a good start too.

Old Into New

2010-03-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

The time is now to start teaching. So Wednesday I developed 4 classes that I could teach.

Sewing cute aprons
Cardmaking with collage
Fabric-lined boxes
Paper piecing: Not just for quilters

Through the City of Fort Collins, I can hopefully teach some or all of these this summer. I'm very excited by the idea! Meanwhile, I thought I'd best practice making the stuff I want to teach. It's been over a year since I covered an old box up to make it pretty, and I had one on my shelf that was super ugly, holding aprons. So I made this out of it!

I've been spending some of my art time actually moving in more to my studio (y'know, upacking boxes from our move in October, moving storage off the floor and paper away from the windows, etc). Here's how one of my shelves is looking so far. Oooh, I spot antoher box that could stand being covered!

Not this time

2010-03-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

Just a short update: I didn't get accepted into the art show. Apparently, this is the biggest turnout they've had in their 5 years of the show. They had 150 works to jury, and in the end they chose 40 to be featured (less than a third). I'm not surprised that I didn't get in, since when I went to turn my piece in, I got to see some of the stuff I was up against. And it seems that the program is focused a little more on arty science than it is sciency art. I am really glad that I put myself out there, and proud of the piece I submitted. It felt like it represented me and my style really well. So, onto the next challenge!

Envelopes?

2010-02-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

Today I had a new thought. I've always been one to cut up old calendars and turn them into envelopes. I have all these calendars saved up in my studio. Could I sell envelopes? So in an hour, I turned two wartime airplane calendars into envelopes. They're all huge, but I think someone out there could appreciate them.

What do you think? A dollar each? A set of 8 for $6? What would you pay for a set of envelopes of all different sizes but you could pick the theme? How many would you put in a set? Would you expect them to be lined, so the gridlines of the actual calendar wouldn't show?

Also today, I finished the piece I'll submit to the Art & Science Exhibition. The piece is entitled Anatomy of a Collage, using a scientific diagram to make it "science-y." The collage itself is called Fortune. Click on the photo for a closer-up look! I'll know by next Sunday whether I make it into the show. You'll be the first to hear. (And if I do get in, I'll share my "artist's statement" with you. Fancy!)

What I loved most about this was that I worked on it over a long period of time. A month full of Wednesdays? I like how the time allowed my brain to process it, and I came up with new ideas throughout. Also, I matted the collage myself, which was a great learning experience, and helped me to see how I can inexpensively frame my work! It produced a cleaner-looking collage, helpful for making it look less elementary, more sophisticated.

Please leave a comment with your take on the envelope questions!

Time For Cards

2010-02-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest (unfinished) drawing from my art class, an exercise in contrasts. Absolutely no grays or shading.

I obviously have a ways to go (lots of black to color in), but at this stage I can tell you I think I've learned the lesson! The right side of the face was the most challenging, since the photograph is steeped in black. It was neat to see the face come together one shadow at a time.

In honor of this year's 6 Degrees of HLM International Card Swap, to which you are invited to participate, below is a photo of the card I made my mom for her birthday. I'm very excited about the design of this card, encompassing fabric, paper, pen & ink, and doodads!

Please email me at artbyhlm at gmail dot com by February 18 if you haven't received a personal invitation to my card swap already and you are interested in participating. This is the third year in a row and it is very fun!

New challenges

2010-01-27T20:47:00.000-08:00

A new installment from my drawing class. Frank (our teacher) pulled this picture from the newspaper. He made copies for each of us to use and instructed us, for time's sake, to trace it first using pencil, then spend 30 minutes a day over the next week to "ink" it.

The hard parts were coloring the horses in (you'll notice both are the same color in the photo) and discerning their straps. Same on the sleigh: how to evoke various shades of the sleigh's panels while still showing the contrasting driver's coat and passenger blanket? Here's a closer look (and you can always click the photo too):

It was very interesting when we all got back to class last night and had a look at each other's versions of the same thing! Everyone's was different--how we all did the coloring in, the contours of the horses and sleigh. And we all had completely different backgrounds. I wish you could see what I mean for yourselves. This week, an exercise in all black and all white, no grays. You'll see what I mean in my next post!

Here's a fun banner I made for Paul's "birthday card" of 2010. It measures about 18 x 21 inches. (Can you believe I have a wall that color in my house????)

Today in the art studio I began a project that will hopefully lead to exhibition in the Art & Science show at the university, a small annual show sponsored by the college I work in at my day job. It is a show for scientists to show the art within their work, or for artists to demonstrate the science of their work. It took a lot of energy today to develop my concept, but I think I've got something I'll be proud to submit for jury, if all goes to plan. Don't worry, you'll hear all about it if I make it in. :)

Pinwheel Pinwheel Spinning Around

2010-01-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

Did you ever watch that show as a kid? That's where I learned that there isn't a word that rhymes with orange. The song pops into my head often. :)

Last night I went to the first of 5 pen & ink drawing classes I'll be taking in the next few weeks through the city's recreation programs. An old guy named Frank is the teacher and clearly loves to draw. Our first task was to practice drawing lines close together, then farther apart, then close together, and so on, to learn about control and the ability of the pen. A good lesson for me was to go slow. What's the rush, afterall? Frank encouraged it, and even the back of the package the pen came in even says, "Work slowly. Strive for quality. Speed will come when strokes are mastered." Wow, mastered. I've never before used a pen that you dip into ink. It is surprisingly nice. It feels so Harry Potter-ish, which makes me like it even more! By the end of class, Frank moved us on to drawing a chair, and the photo above is my attempt. Frank's recommendation to me was to "keep it loose," probably the most important lesson for me of the night.

When I got home, I resolved to practice a little every day, and so that was this morning's first artistic venture (with a cup of tea, of course).

Click on the photos if you want to see closer up. I think the iron actually turned out ok, especially since now the day has passed since I looked at it last. A little space from a project always offers renewed perspective (and appreciation!).

After that I had to answer the call of my sewing machine. I've been doing so much more pasting and painting lately, I haven't touched my sewing machine in, ummm, over two months(?) to actually sew fabric. Pinwheels have been in my head for a couple days, so I just decided to go crazy and make more than one! I even have the pieces cut out to make another one, but three was a good place to stop for today. Then the lighthouse scene was a fun diversion, something new. I got the pattern out of a paper-piecing book. That little baby has 19 pieces in it! Each of these are all around 5 inches square.

My favorite quilting blog, one I've been inspired by time after time, has closed down shop. I was so disappointed about this news, although the author, Amanda Jean, will still post photos on Flickr, and thank goodness, she's keeping her blog up for reference for awhile. Her blog offers photos of some of the best quilts I've ever seen, and good tutorials for all kinds of projects.

Amb posted her goals for the next however long on her blog, so to close on this first post of the year, I thought I'd write mine down too, as they relate to art. For 2010, I hope to:

Continue with my professional development, especially with regards to building my foundational knowledge about art. Basic drawing and painting skills in particular.
Teach a class or two
Keep excuses at bay!!!
Build capital (as in quantities of art), so that I can...
Sell something online, have a show?, participate in a craft fair
Join an art guild to build connections with local artists
Continue to develop my own artistic style--have faith that it will start showing itself more.

New Year, New... Table!

2009-12-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

A big dream of mine has just come true! Here it is, THE table.

My amazingly talented husband made this for me as a Christmas gift, with specific size requirements from me, and it turned out perfect. Soon it will have wheels on the bottom of the legs, so I can wheel it around the room. Here are a couple pics of me and my sis working on it this week. We had so much fun!

Have a wonderful New Year's celebration! See you in 2010!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas Eve, and as promised, here are more details about the Christmas cards I made this year.

It all started with two huge pieces of construction paper, one about 3x4 feet and one about 1x2 feet in size. I learned about this paper from Lynne Perrella, who I took that fateful workshop with in August 08. You can buy this in large rolls for about $8 at places like Home Depot. I guess it's meant to cover floors on construction sites. Ha! That's why we call it construction paper!

I treated each of my two pieces a little differently, but the end result was the same: cover each one completely! The big piece was covered in sheet music (Christmas songs) first, then painted over in red and dotted all over with different colors of paint. The second was covered in various small green polygons. Good thing there was some good music on, as this was a somewhat not-so-exciting job which took 2 hours!

After brushing over them both with gloss medium (that's the "varnish"), I cut each piece into several little pieces. The red was cut into 45+ rectangles and the green was cut into the same number of triangles. Glue the green onto the red, sew the rectangles onto 45 blank notecards I bought at a garage sale last summer, write in them, stamp and seal, and voila! You're looking at the final product there in your own hands!

(Remember, you can click on the image to get a closer view. There in the background, you can see some of my other works in progress too...)

I was talking to my friend Diana, who graciously shared that she's kept all the Christmas cards I've ever given her (they're the only ones that get packed in the Christmas box and unpacked every year to sit on the shelf!). We got to talking about the technique and the high number of cards it makes, and then I thought, I could teach a class about this! So I am going to look into that for late summer or fall. It wouldn't have to be for Christmas cards, but for any type of card. Those of you who received our card last year can see how anything goes with this idea!

Today, I'll be working a little on another art piece, cleaning the house, cooking part of tomorrow's dinner, baking walnut rum cookies, and preparing our guest room for our first ever guest! My sister will join us just in time for Christmas dinner tomorrow evening. Tomorrow, a few presents, a hike (or snowshoe, as we just yesterday got a foot of snow), and some good eats!

I'll be back one more time before the New Year, so please come again sometime in the next week. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas to you!

With love,
HLM

No Spoiling the Surprise!

2009-12-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

I've been doing some pretty fun art stuff lately, including making our Christmas cards, always a big creative undertaking! Well, I've finished them and started sending them out, and I'd rather you receive yours in the mail (if you're one of the lucky ones) before I show them here. Please do come back December 24th and I'll post everything about them.

Meanwhile, my friend Amb received the birthday card I sent her, so here's a (somewhat sorry) photo of that. I was trying to get to the PO before it closed so I wasn't spending a ton of time on making a good picture of it for my archives. It was a lot of fun to use this bright pink paint and beaded fringe!!!! I got the fringe on sale at Joann's a long time ago, and it served well as inspiration for this card. The base is corrugated cardboard, to make it sturdy (and able to hold the heavy fringe), and in the end I punched a hold in it for hanging, if so desired. The card without the fringe measures about 7x5".

Two small paintings

2009-12-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Before Thanksgiving week, I had the pleasure of making these two pieces, both gifts for people, so there was a deadline motivator! I love this first one, made for a German friend who took me on a delightful hike to an old haunt when I was in Hameln this summer. The words, in order are: bees, truth, food, trees, apfelschorle (drink with apple juice and sparkling water), movement, beauty, and friendship. It measures about 10x6 inches.

This second one totally copies the idea of some of Kelly Rae Roberts' work (see what I mean here). It is a fantastic way to use up small paper scraps, and this technique has given me inspiration for my Christmas cards this year! So cool. I made this for my cousin in Cali, who turned 16 last week. The background is from an old copy of The Book of Lists, from the 1970s. It measures about 7x5 inches.

This week I've been pretty sick (laryngitis, bad cough), but I hope to feel better enough tomorrow that I can make (or at least work on) something. Happy December!

Works in Progress

2009-11-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

At last! A glimpse of my new art space! This is walking into it from the dining room.

Turn to the left and you'll see the great northern light I have.

The full-on view. Imagine what's to come: shelves above the desk and also a big ol' standing table (on wheels) in the middle of the room. That little window on the left looks into the kitchen. That was the house's original exterior wall.

180 degree turnaround. The green room is a half bath, and the wooden door leads to the master bedroom. You can see I still have some unpacking to do.

If I go out those French doors and onto the deck, this is part of my view, to the NW.

And finally, what I made Wednesday, the beginnings of what I hope will become excellent pieces. I don't know what they'll become, but I have words going around in my head about manifesting what I want and using doubt and insecurity to grow rather than being afraid of moving forward.

Wanna come over for Art Night next week?

Back to Show You More

2009-11-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

Today I finally write from our new home with recently installed internet! Hooray! Hopefully from now on I can keep up with my twice-monthly routine of showing you what I've made and updating you on my artistic journey. The photos below are all things I made in September and October.

This card is one of my very favorite things I've made in awhile. I was inspired by a rubber stamp I own, Amb's use of turqoise and circles in her recent work, and an old Anthropologie catalog I found in my collage drawer. The card measures about 7" square. Be sure to click on it for a closer view.

The card below I made for my dear friend Jennifer, who recently lost her dog, Licorice. I painted this first-ever pet portrait from a photo she had. Licorice, aka Louie, was a good dog. Small and quiet, yet she had a very strong personality and presence. She was with Jennifer for a long time and died pretty unexpectedly, so I thought the portrait might be a good homage to her in hopes of consoling Jennifer. The background was decided when I closed my eyes and imagined "the colors of Louie." My favorite part of the final piece is the ear that hangs over the edge. The card measures about 4x6".

The wall hangings below are the result of my mom and me visiting the one quilt shop we have here in the Fort when she came for a visit in early October. I eyed the pattern and she bought it, and we devoted a Sunday to working on one for each of us. Hers is the one on the right, for the most part complete. I love this pattern and think it is so cute, but I did feel a little disappointed creating someone else's design. In truth, I wished I had designed it! Once I finish mine, I plan to hang it in the new house. (We have so much more wall space here, it's unbelievable!)

Finally, here is an apron I made for my mother-in-law for her birthday. You may recall the card I sent her too The fabric is actually home decorating fabric, verging on upholstery. I found the print very classy.

I look forward to showing you photos of my new art space next time!

Delay

2009-10-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just a short update so that you don't just keep coming back, wondering when I'll post again! I am in the process of moving, so have no pictures to post today. :( However, next Wednesday I will be setting up not only our computer (currently packed away in storage) and posting with some recent photos of projects, but I will also be setting up my NEW ART ROOM!!!!!!!!!!

Features of the new art room:
- I don't have to share the space with anyone or (more importantly) anything
- It's a fantastic size, with some excellent light: 3 narrow (foot wide?) floor-to-ceiling windows and some beautiful glass french doors.
- I get to design the storage-to-be
- I'll never have to give it up to guests
- There is a half bath (with a sink) adjacent to the new art room
- The view overlooks our large back yard and the mountains to the NW.
- It shares a wall with the kitchen so I can bake/cook dinner at the same time I create.

I can't wait to share photos!
Take care (heart).

Recent creations

2009-10-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of my recent creations! The first is a card I made for my mother-in-law, whose birthday is this week. I wanted to try the technique Kelly Rae Roberts uses a lot in her art, and it was a lot of fun: collaging decorative papers, painting a layer of medium over the top to protect the papers, and then painting acrylics over that and rubbing off where I wanted the under layer to show. I was inspired by Amb, too, who's been making some neat pieces that have circles in them.

Below is a piece I made last month, for my stepmom. She has a little corner in her room that has this wonderful orange chair, for which she spent hours perusing fabric samples for the exact right upholstery. The chair hides behind a screen she and my dad made of wood and fabric. And with the chair, there is a sense of peace and calmness in the corner. It is clearly a place of respite. I've wanted to contribute something to that space since it was created, and so I made this. The first image is the final piece, mounted, and the second image is the scanned piece, so you can see the detail more clearly. Remember to click on the image if you want to see close up.

I would make a few changes if I were to do this over again, but instead of pointing out what I see as amateur errors, I'll tell you what I love. I love the purple/green/tan background, the texture of the carpet, the little words, the places where "you" has been rubbed free of paint so that you can see the original collage piece that forms part of the base, and the postage stamp edges that add texture (under the chair).

Nancy loved it! She wrote this in reply: "I always loved your 'old style' of line drawings, they were the best. To combine a more mature version of that with your 'evolved style' of collage and painting turned out a great piece. Thanks so much. It evokes in me the same coziness that the physical place does. I call that little corner of my space my sanctuary."

Goals for today: an apron, another birthday card, further work on a piece-in-progress, and a letter to my grandma. Plus our new house inspection at 3:00 and a visit to the chiropractor.

Cards For Every Occasion

2009-09-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

A bit of show and tell here, of six cards I made last weekend, all with birds, and all from scraps. This view omits the wonderful texture they all have, of course, and the gloss finish each of them have makes them look very professional. The biggest one (the one with the tree) measures about 5x5 inches. To get a better view, remember that you can click on the image. Which one is your fave?

Blog Button

2009-09-19T14:57:00.001-07:00

My friend Tara (of Tinkerfrog) has organized an online quilting bee, for which I volunteered to make a blog badge that people could put on their blogs which would be hyperlinked to the project's blog. I thought it would be a neat project for me to try out. I don't know anything about graphic art, and our computer has yet to have Photoshop installed on it (oh what a dream that will be when it happens!). I thought I'd create something I could make in my art room, scan in, and resize to be the right size for a blog. One night recently as I was falling to sleep, an idea for it entered my mind: gessoed base with visible brush strokes, light green, then rectangular "patches" made of paper and fabric, and stitching. A couple days later, I gave a couple hours to it, and here's how it turned out:

I love it! I wish you could see it in real life--its colors are so vibrant, and the texture is wonderful. It measures the same as the little painting in the post below, about 7x10 inches. I added the blue border once I scanned it in... the actual piece stops with the green background.

So I sent it to Tara, and she wrote back right away to say she loved it!! I was so pleased. We talked about using the image not only as a button that people could have on their blogs, but also as a header on her quilting bee blog! How cool is that? I provided instructions for her to give to her quilting participants, and we called it a night.

Well, the next day, I was clicking around her blog and to blogs of the participants, and I TOTALLY FLIPPED OUT!! Four or five of them had added MY ART(!!!!) to their blogs! Heck yes, my art is out there in the world! Isn't that just fabulous?

Be sure to visit the quilting bee blog by clicking here. And if you want to see the badge on other people's blogs, you can click on their names. Angie, Elizabeth, and Melina for sure have it.

Bonus: last Wednesday, while arting away in my room and listening to the radio, I dialed the radio sation's number when the DJ announced a chance to win, and I was the requisite fourth caller!!! I won two tickets to see To Kill a Mockingbird at the local theater on September 29th!

A great week, plus more arting today...