Take a Class!

In the last few weeks, I've been working on a new kind of advent calendar. It was made as a gift for two friends of mine on occasion of their wedding in Illinois this weekend.  It was so cool.  Something to use at any time of year, incorporating the seasons, the moon phases, the couples' names (in case of birthdays or other person-specific special occasions), and the equinox/solstices (they were married on the fall equinox).  Then, I wrapped it and gifted it and remembered later that I FORGOT TO TAKE PHOTOS!  Ack!!!  Hopefully, once they're back from their trip to Vegas, I can get them to send me some photos, so I can post them here for you to see its awesomeness.  :)

Meanwhile, here are some prototypes of the advent calendars (for Christmas) that I've created to teach in a class!  Yes, indeed, you can take a class to make your very own advent calendar to use this December.

Please get some friends together and sign up to take a class!  Check out my website for more information (click on Classes).  You can learn either how to make an advent calendar or how to make a lot of Christmas cards (or other kind of cards--doesn't have to be Christmas) in one setting.  There are three dates for the advent calendar class, one of which includes wine.  

Sign up today!!

September Challenge

My friend Sarah and I have determined that by the end of the month, we need to have accomplished some goals.  My goal is to offer a class this fall in how to make your own advent calendar.  Another friend in art, Franklin, says: Participation Breeds Appreciation.  I love this.  The more people who participate in making advent calendars will then appreciate the ones I make and then become even bigger fans, and then will tell their friends (or buy advent calendars for them) and then I'll be an "overnight" success!  Right? 

So the question has presented itself: how can I teach (just) a 2-hour course on how to make a cool advent calendar to a potential person who may not know how to do some of the stuff I know how to do, and without sewing?  This has been a fun design challenge over the last two weeks. Here are the prototypes I've come up with so far:

Neither one is complete yet, but still works in progress.  I like how the red one has turned out a lot, although the process of making it wasn't simple.  So I have been working through how to make it easier and for the blue one, I've developed a simpler process (using stencils for creating the doors).  I plan to make a couple more prototypes in order to take good photos and then advertise the course around town (this is a part of the goal that Sarah and I have in common: flyers!).  One of the versions will be using pockets.  I just haven't figured out how to do that in a durable and simple way without using sewing.

In other news, check out my NEW ART ROOM SINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was lovingly custom made by my very handy husband.  I sit at my art table and find myself staring at my new sink with tenderness and love.  This is truly a dream come true. 

American Made

Even though I have never made an actual edited video before, today I managed to put this neat video together in about 4 hours, using some tips from my computer-savvy husband and the internet.  And hooray for free downloadable software (Microsoft Movie Maker)!

The story:

Martha Stewart is hosting a competition called "American Made."  I learned about it about a week ago and determined that I had mostly a complete application, thanks to the work I did in February for the Creative Capital application.  The deadline was today at midnight.  Due to demands of my day job at the beginning of the school year, I had no brain space during the week to consider it at all.  Thanks to supportive friends, though, I had confidence that I would be able to give it a shot this weekend, and so today I made this video, fine tuned some photographs, and uploaded a 1500 characters-or-less essay.

Words cannot tell you how proud I am of myself about this video.  I saw in the rules of the contest that it had to be a certain type of file (.mp4--check!) and less than 500MB (check!).  And so around 1:00pm this afternoon, I clicked 'submit' on my application, excited that I had a video to present, which most other applicants did not.  I thought it might set me apart.  

I got a pop-up message from the Martha website saying it would take awhile for my application to submit, with all the photos and stuff. For hours, I watched the little circle-cursor twirling round and round.  Finally, when I got home from grocery shopping at 8pm, Paul said it probably didn't work and I should try to submit it again.  So we did.  I uploaded all the stuff again and clicked submit.  This time, it did something different, indicating that it was working, but at the last minute, it said that my video had to be under one minute.  My video is 1:26.

Under a minute? I hadn't seen that requirement in the guidelines. Well, I had plans this evening with friends and was already running late, and I was so happy with the outcome of my earlier efforts that I couldn't imagine shortening it in the time I had.  So I had to submit my application without the video.  As we clicked 'submit' this time, Paul noticed the tiny grey font next to the "Upload Video" button that said, "less than a minute, this kind of file, and under 500MB."  Boy, was I ever disappointed.

After time spent with some lovely people this evening and a couple glasses of wine, I am less frustrated.  I am proud of my application and I figured I'd put my video out there anyway on my blog, website, and Facebook.  This way, in case someone clicks on the links on my application page, maybe they'll get to see the video after all.

You'll be the first to know if I make it to the top 100 that the MS staff will select.  :)  Here is my official entry: Parsley Art Studio for American Made.

Gifts

August happens to be a month in which many people I know have birthdays.  I'm impressed that so far I've remembered all of them (that I know of, I hope!) with at least a card.  One top of that, I'm trying out some new sewing & painting projects to formulate some gifts.  Plus, I've got a wedding to go to today!

Two of my former students from CSU are getting married today, and they were sweet enough to include me on their invitation list!  (I think this means I've really made it as an advisor,don't you?)  I considered my role in their lives and thought it would be appropriate to continue "advising" them.  This time, though, on what I've learned about marriage.  Artistically inspired by the page I made for my friend's Mom Book a few months ago, I made this neat thing:

In the pocket is a letter to the two of them with brief elaborations on my tips and some examples from my own experience.  They'll get some neat stuff from their registry, too, but at least this suffices for a card.  

Also, Martha Stewart recently sent me an email (you know how tight we are, Martha and I) that included instructions for this very cute bag.  It is considered a simple sewing project, but it was actually a good challenge for me.  I watched the video that Martha did on TV and liked that this bag "locks" by just slipping one handle through the other.  As you can see, one handle is actually longer than the other just for this purpose.

Here is the link if you'd like to try making your own: Martha's Reversible Purse.

New Card Series

Today I was looking through my card archives and came across two cards that inspired me to then head to the art room and make these five cards.  The first two are my faves.

Coming up with designs that sell is an interesting way to think about card design.  I have to consider why the general public are willing to purchase cards, and those moments tend to be inspired by life events, especially birthdays.

This was a leftover inspiration from my previous post, a tri-fold card that ties shut. 

Then this idea came from Card Maker Magazine.  You cut slits and then fold them over.  I was so inspired by this beautiful butterfly paper, I didn't want to do much to it other than display it.  The second image is the entire outside, laid flat instead of folded.

Finally, I made another cat!  When I made the first one in March, I actually cut out enough fabric templates to make 5, so you'll see a few more of these over the next few months.  I just donated this one to a fundraiser a friend is putting on in Portland, Oregon, to raise money for her niece's epileptic disorder.