Too Many Pots on the Boil?

Like most artists I know (heck anybody probably, artist or not), I've got lots of things on the boil - some things that have been tried but come to naught (like my pirate knitter collage, alas).  Or I've got stuff that is percolating and not quite ready for prime time (like a wedding gift for a certain happy couple in North Carolina).

And there are the Christmas gifts and cards that are scattered all over my kitchen table.  Well, not really.  I've got that fairly well organized, it just seems like it's overtaken my kitchen table.

A page from the 1st calendar I ever made

The gifts are often handmade calendars that I have created for 5 years, I think.  They are so popular that each fall someone with pleading eyes will ask me if they're on the calendar list.  They get kept year after year for future giggles, which is a great compliment.  And new people do get added to the calendar list too.  I'm doing 10 this year.

Other special people in my life get other handmade gifts appropriate to their interests.

There's one family of cats (5) that is getting a set of small crocheted sleeping blankets, for example.  I figure the cats won't mind that I'm not the best of crocheters.

A select few will get store bought (mostly Etsy-bought) gifts that are carefully selected to suit their interests.

And everyone will get handmade Christmas cards.  And I hope that the non-calendar recipients know that I really appreciate and love them too.  When I told someone that I was doing 90% handmade this year they remarked that it was a good way to save money.  Hah!  Not true.

Getting back to the calendars, they're a hell of a lot of work to be frank.  My therapist (one of the calendar recipients) and others have urged me to make them for sale.  The amount of work that goes into them, however, makes that cost-prohibitive.  Just taking the time spent into account would make them at least $50 each and that's not even counting my materials.  I could try to have them printed but that's just too much work and, besides, I want to keep them special, one of a kind, just for the people I care about.

In this post I'm showing you the front of monthly pages from past calendars.  However, there are two special features that recipients love.  First, I include a list of anniversaries for the new year.  These are researched online and I choose a few that interest me or are a bit weird.  Sometimes they're serious anniversaries - this year's list includes the end of World War II and the anniversary of the ending of the Civil War.  This list is glued to the back of the front page.

The second feature, something that is especially anticipated by my therapist, is a monthly list of bizarre holidays for the month that I glue to the back of each month's page.  I don't include the whole month - that would be way too long for the size of the page - but again I select a few ranging from bizarre to serious.

So, I've included samples of past years' pages in various states of completion in this post.  I should note also that the bases for these pages are often upcycled postcards, either the free postcards one used to find in nightclubs, bars, and elsewhere (but seem to have disappeared), or watercolor paper cut down from large sheets.  And though the design may seem simple, it's still a lot of work.  And of course the completed pages contain the usual Rhodyart caption.


Even though they do take a lot of time (I start working on them in June, usually), I enjoy doing them, especially because I know how much pleasure the recipients get from them.

And that is reason enough for me.

later,
lin

A Happy Project

I occasionally do commissions and I enjoy them because I'm able to tailor the project to specifications given to me by the buyer.  Plus, it's often for a happy occasion, such as a birthday or Christmas.  

Twice in 2014 I have been honored to do cards for gay weddings, both commissioned by the same person, Stacie.  First it was a card for friends, and most recently a card for her niece and her partner who got married last weekend here in Rhode Island.

The first time I did a card for Stacie, I finished 7 cards.  I then had her choose her favorite, as well as a personalized caption, which included the couple's names.  I listed the remainder in my shop, and these are a couple of them.  You can check out the listings by clicking on the caption.

Card #1

Card #2

The couple loved the card and had it framed professionally.  I know several other recipients of my cards who have done the same, and it's a huge compliment.

In August, Stacie mentioned that she had another wedding coming up -- would I mind doing another card?  Absolutely!

This time around, I gave Stacie a larger role in the process.  I made 10 different card fronts, 5 silver and 5 gold, and had her choose which one she wanted.  Unfortunately, I didn't scan the fronts for you to look at.  You'll see the final result momentarily.  I then told her that I would pull together a bunch of female couple images and get them to her to choose from.  

Some of her choices included:  

It took Stacie a while to choose the couple she wanted.  In the meantime I was deciding upon additional ornamentation, and was thinking about turning the remaining card fronts into romance/wedding/anniversary cards - which I haven't finished doing, and may not for a while.   I also gave her a list of possible captions, using her niece and partner's names or not.

Non-sequitur:  I have to say that I'm very thankful that Etsy exists as a source for finding things to use in my work.  Ebay used to be my go-to source but it's so difficult to find things there these days.  Etsy has loads of sellers with the types of items I need, ranging from images to ribbon to papers, although I also source my materials from quite a number of companies, ranging from local fabric, art, and craft stores to large companies like Home-Sew.  Some of my favorite paper companies are no longer in business, alas, so I've had to scurry around looking for new suppliers.  As it turned out, none of the items I bought from Etsians were used on the card, but I had a ball looking for things and I have several items (bows, ribbons, paper etc) I can use for future projects.

In any case, Stacie finally chose a couple and a caption, and I finished the card.  Exit a happy customer with this card:

I saw Stacie last week, and she said while she hasn't heard from her niece about the card, it was admired by everyone who saw it - and hopefully some of those folks will wander over to the shop.

For what it's worth, the items used in making the card are as follows:

• gold metallic cardstock purchased at the Rhode Island School of Design store
• gold and ivory figured paper also purchased at the RISD store
• white tulle flower purchased in a small quantity from Home-sew
• gold foil (German/Dresden Scrap) embellishments from collagestuff.com
• female couple image from one of Dover Publications'  many fashion collections - I cannot remember which one, unfortunately, but their books are invaluable to me

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into the fun world of commissioned work.

later,
lin

Celebrating Pirates and Their Wenches

Today is of course Talk Like a Pirate Day, and it's my brother's favorite holiday.  He celebrates it as his birthday. (It isn't really) In fact, he thinks it should be made a national holiday where kids get the day off from school and are able to parade down the street dressed as pirates.  He also believes that Pirate-ese should be taught in school.  This should be easy, as I think there's only five words in that language.

I have of course created a card for him that suitably observes this very important day.  It's not for sale, of course, though I may have prints made.

When I was planning to create cards for Pirate Day, I originally decided to use pirate themed papers.  I was able to get some at Etsy that were downloadable files, and I didn't think they were too kid-oriented.  I also picked up some downloadable graphics.  I realized after I bought the graphics that they were just too kid oriented to be used in my cards.  So I managed to find some vintage maps from another seller that I decided to use instead.  I also had found a print of a treasure map made for kids that actually looked like something that belonged on one of my cards.  

I started working on the cards, and created one with the red paper and realized - no, this is not my style.  At all.  Perhaps I could have used it as a small accent somewhere but I didn't really like the look.  No picture, sorry, I tossed the card.

In the meantime, I had figured out where I'd hidden my copy of a Dover Publications collection of vintage pirate images.  There's lots of cool stuff in this book and you can find your own copy at Amazon here - you can buy it direct from Amazon or from one of the marketplace sellers, which is what I had done.  One of the cool illustrations I decided to use is this one -  You may recognize it on my brother's card.

My color schemes became mainly blue or brown, mostly brown actually.  I also sourced some vintage photo corners because I wanted to use these illustrations as actual art, and decided it'd be fun to attach them with the vintage corners.  I found those on Etsy too.

Here are one that is actually for sale in my shop, using the treasure map as part of the background.  You can click on the title to see the listing.

Pirates Go On Strike

Another one I created, this time using one of the maps in the background, is this

Pirates Can Knit

This originally was the card I had thought I'd give my brother.  I found the knitting pirate image on Etsy (of course - I find many of my materials there).  Just the thought of a pirate knitting makes me laugh.  I'm actually going to be expanding this piece for a 10x10 inch collage to be shown in a local exhibition (every piece has to be 10x10 inches).

You'll notice gold embellishments in the corners - those I found at Collagestuff.com.  They're German/Dresden foil scrap.  

You can find all of my current pirate related items at my shop in the Quirky Pirate Fun section by clicking here.  

And don't forget - if you meet someone dressed as a pirate - or a real pirate, for that matter -- the proper address is "Ahoy, matie!"  Do not ever call a pirate a "bilge rat" or he/she will be obligated to fight you.  You can find more information at this website. 

ARR!

lin

Time to Do Some Shop Hopping

As you know, I love to rummage through Etsy shops to find treasures, and I have four shops I'd like to highlight today.

We'll first visit Lisa Busch's Collage Stuff shop where you can find art on canvas and specialty printed papers that she made with a Gelli Plate that can be used for projects.  We are friends and I was fortunate to receive a small stash of printed papers as a gift.  I also am the proud owner of one of the canvases she sold in the shop.  This is another I particularly like

Collage Stuff

Lisa also sells collage and mixed media art supplies at her online store, Collage Stuff which you can find by clicking here.

Next, we're traveling over to All Thingz Sewn, run by Tania Connor.  Her shop is brand new and she's starting to add some really cute things that I think you'll enjoy.  This is one of the items in her shop that I like a lot

All Thingz Sewn

Click on the shop name below the photo to check out this cute frog.

Now we're heading over to North Carolina and vintage style, at Gypsum Moon Style, a great shop with vintage clothing and jewelry that can definitely liven up your wardrobe.  Owned by Cynthia and Kay Pepper-Jones, you'll find all kinds of treasures here - like this one

Gypsum Moon Style

I like it because I know I wore dresses like this one in my early career, and I really love the color.  It won't fit me, otherwise I just might buy it.  There's tons more cool clothing in the shop, so I hope you'll visit it.   You can find this particular dress by clicking on the shop name below the photo.

And last, but definitely not least, is the shop where I buy lots of the paper I use in my cards and collages, 32 North Supplies.  This shop is amazing.  Just the paper alone is enough for a collage or mixed media artist to pay a visit, let alone the other fabulous items for sale.  Right now I'm trying to decide what new papers I want to add to my stash, and one of them might be this design

32 North Supplies

The papers are from European nations such as Italy, and they are just colorful and lovely.  You can check out this particular item by clicking on the shop name below the photo.

And this is a card in my shop that features one of 32 North's papers in its design - 

Find this card by clicking here

That concludes this week's treasure hunt.  Before long, I'll highlight another four shops with wonderful items you'll love.

Feel free to suggest shops I should visit by leaving a comment.
later,
lin

The Game is Afoot

Once again, we're taking a trip around Etsy and visiting some shops that I particularly like.  I'm highlighting one item (always a challenge), and I hope you're intrigued enough to check out the other great listings in that shop.

Flea Fever is located in France, and is run by Myrthe Noordegraaf.  She loves to sell quirky, vintage items and the item I've chosen is certainly that.  It's an adorable, kitschy stuffie and so cute.  Click on the shop name below the picture to visit the listing and read more about it.

Flea Fever

You can find other items in her shop by clicking here

Another shop I've found that I like is The Old Block House, run by Gertie Tenilado.  Recently re-established, Gertie likes to sell vintage housewares and refashioned furniture.  There are all kinds of treasures in the shop, including these knobs that I like 

The Old Block House

You can find this item by clicking on the shop name below the photo, and you can visit her shop at this link.

My next shop is Paper Wood Vintage which can be found using this link.  Let's just say there's tons of stuff here, almost 600 items.  There's a wide variety of vintage here, and I picked out this French ad as one of my many favorites

Paper Wood Vintage

Click on the name below the photo to check out this item.  There's so much more stuff to salivate over too.

Our last stop, but certainly not least, is a fancy soap shop run by Silvia in Idaho.  I will be the first to confess that I tend not to buy fancy soaps that are handmade, gourmet in other words.  But I must say that Silvia's soaps may make me change my mind.  Their colors are amazing, some look like bakery treats, and her shop just has a bunch of colorful items that would be great gift ideas for your loved ones and yourself.  Find the shop here at this link.  

One of my favorite soaps is this one which looks just like a piece of cake.

SV Soaps

The description makes this soap appetitzing indeed.  Check it out by clicking on the name below the image.

That's it for this week's journey around Etsy.  If you have suggestions for special shops I should check out, please leave a note in the comment

later
lin

The Hunt is On

Keeping up my series of highlighting some cool things from Etsy shops, here's the latest installment.

When visiting Cynthia Pepper-Jones' shop, Gypsum Moon Vintage, it's rather hard to pick ONE thing, but I zeroed in on this lovely vintage plate with a cobalt blue design.    Click on the shop name below the image to check it out.

GypsumMoonVintage

My next stop is Hallingtons, owned by Kathy Chausse Huntington, also a vintage goods shop.  I had a similar difficulty finding just one thing to highlight but I did manage to find this cool cup by Galluba & Hofmann, most known for being the maker of Snowbabies, but also a manufacturer of porcelain pieces, like this cup.  To check out this cup, click on the shop name below the image.  

Hallingtons

One of my favorite Etsy businesses is run by Eve Damon, called English Shop.  Eve loves vintage and she sells items from all over Europe.  She's based in England and France which gives her a great vantage point from which to find fabulous vintage items, such as this adorable vintage English rocking horse.  You can find this item by clicking on the shop name below the image.

English Shop

Our fourth and final stop today is to Donna Batzer's store Beads and Beyond 4 You.  As you can guess, it's a jewelry shop but it also sells rosaries.  Although there's a small selection of items, they're lovingly created by Donna.  I admire good bead work, and this bracelet is a good example.  You can find its listing by clicking on the name of the shop below the image.

Beads and Beyond 4 You

That's it for today's treasures.  Tune in next time for the next trip around Etsy.  If you have any recommendations for shops I should visit, please leave a comment.

later,
lin

Looking for More Treasures on Etsy

I hope you guys don't mind that I do this sort of thing.  There are so many cool things to find on Etsy that I could spend years writing about them.  It's difficult to choose just a few to highlight, but I'll try

First stop is NyssaInk which has a wide variety of vintage things and art.  One of my recent favorite things from her shop are notecards printed with Nyssa's original designs.  They're just gorgeous!  NyssaInk is run by Nyssa Perrin Clark, in Oregon.

NyssaInk

Another shop I really like is French Fairy Tale, owned by Myrthe Noordegraff who is based in France.  One of my favorite items is this cute record book about the North Pole.

FrenchFairyTale

Evies Tool Emporium is a really interesting shop run by Michelle Larson.  It's a shop that sells jewelry and craft tools at great prices, and there are tools that you probably didn't know you needed.  Definitely worth checking out, although I'm not sure about this item - it looks too much like a set of dentist's tools.  

EviesToolEmporium

Our final stop today is at Elizabeth Bosek's shop, Cottage Crafts Online.  It's a great place to hunt for ribbons to use in crafts, and she also creates custom wreaths.  I don't use a lot of wired ribbon but I do love to look at the patterns Elizabeth sells, like this one

CottageCraftsOnline

So there you have it.  Another collection of fun items that I particularly like from 4 shops on Etsy.  Do you have favorite shops that I can visit?  Leave a comment if you do.

later,

lin