Pages

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Arts in the Park: The Poster

I was truly honored when I was asked to provide artwork for the 2017 Arts in the Park Poster.  I don’t just make jewelry.  I do lots of other creative things as well.  The jury selected one of my favorite puppy pastels.


Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with the pastel medium.  It’s a very unforgiving medium in my opinion.  You can’t make one mistake because there is really no good way to erase or go over anything.  But when I’m having “pastel luck” (which is what I call it when something actually works out well) the result is really cool.   And this piece was truly the result of one of those “pastel luck” moments.

Arts in the Park this year is Saturday, April 22nd from 10AM-5PM.  I'll be there along with many other talented artists and many much-appreciated patrons.  Hope to see you there.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Doing What I LOVE to Do


I love the spring and it is on it’s way.  It means there will be lots of art festivals.  I love working at the festivals because I love meeting new people.  So, it’s a very happy time of year for me.  :)


















Sunday, March 12, 2017

Cleaning in my Studio: My Button Box Tells a Story



Hi Everyone,
I’m a little obsessed.  Well let me be more specific, because I’m obsessed with a lot of things.  My intention here is not to talk about all of them all.  It’s to talk about one in particular.  I’m obsessed with sorting, purging and organizing things. I read something very interesting recently in a little book about clutter management. It was a passage that explained that if you love buying items intended to help you get more organized then you may need to consider that you are possibly a bit of a hoarder.  Not sure if I buy that analogy but when I read it, I must say, it gave me a bit of food for thought.  I mean I do love buying items that help me organize things like drawers and closets.  Is that so wrong????
I think not.  Anyway, I want to tell you about the fact that I’m obsessed with cleaning up and organizing in my studio.  I’m not sure if it’s that I like doing that part necessarily.  But, when I feel a little stuck and basically just not really in the mood to sit down and create something, I like to go into my studio and tidy up.  I feel all the good mojo in there whenever I’m in the room.  So, it’s a way to soak that up and feel like I’m at least being somewhat productive.

I started simple purging mostly envelopes and papers that had been lying around for years in my closet.  Soon a bag was filled, then two, then three.  You get the gist.
Then I dug a little deeper.  I looked inside the plastic boxes I keep in my closet. The button box was out of control because I have quite a stash of buttons: 1,000’S of buttons.  Hmmmm… hoarder?  Do people who are not hoarders keep 1,000’s of buttons on hand?  Well, in my defense, I do use them for my jewelry creations.  I love my button necklaces and I fully intent to make more - thus the problem.
  
I found a button attached to a cute little tag that I totally remember keeping because I thought it was a cute tag.  I looked on the back of the tag.  Size 7???!!!!!  Uhh, I think the last time I was a size 7 was maybe when I was in the 6th grade.  Okay.  That’s it.

 Hello, my name is Marcia and I AM A HOARDER.  I just realize that now.  Who keeps a tag that long because it’s cute?  Even worse – now I don’t want to get rid of it because I like remembering that I once was a size 7.

You know what else I found in that stash with all the buttons?  I found a pair of google eyes!  Nope.  I’m not too mature for a fine pair of google eyes.  I love them!  I’ve been known to use them around the house, at times, putting them on anything and everything, especially during Halloween.   Good times.

Now, let me be clear.  The reason I’m trying to write a blog is to help keep everyone motivated to create.  I guess the gist of this one is to tell you yes. I get stuck all the time when it comes to being creative.  There are many days that I just don’t feel like making things.  But, for me, cleaning up in the studio is still part of the artsy process.  Next time you feel stuck, I mean if that happens to you, don’t stress over it.  Take the opportunity to just hang out wherever you create and tidy things up a bit.  It really works for me and I bet it will work for you too.  Maybe, if you try this, if you’re really lucky, I mean if all the stars line up just right, you too might even find pair of google eyes.

Wonder if I have any more in there anywhere?  I’m gonna’ go clean out a few more boxes and hope for the best.
Thanks for reading.
Marcia

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Wrapping Paper Tutorial

 
If you’re like me when you wrap a gift you want it to look…well….adorable.  I don’t know what it is about wrapping presents but typically I really get into it.

This idea came from the amazing Alisa Burke.  I want to be sure to give credit where credit is due.

First I started drawing flowers.  I’m totally into flowers right now because I’ve been following Alisa’s blog and am feeling seriously affected and inspired.
 Then I started adding color with water color paints.  I love working with water colors.
 Ultimately I added a little more definition with the Sharpie Pen and a few colored pencils.
 I took my finished piece and photographed it in the sun to get as bright a shot as I could.
I uploaded the image into Photoshop and started manipulating it by mirroring the image and then mirroring it again until I was able to make it the size it needed to be in order to upload it to the wrapping paper web site.
  
I uploaded it to a web site called "Spoonflower" and ordered a roll of wrapping paper made out of my image.
Arrived:  My own personal floral wrapping paper.











Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Winter at our Beach

Happiness is a winter afternoon by the sea with Nick, Chinese take-out and a bottle of champagne.




Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Happy Valentines Day to You - Welcome to my new On-Line Shop!

Hi Everyone,
I'm so excited about my new on-line shop.  Check it out!

My On-Line Shop

I've been selling my jewelry at shows since 2009.  I've also been selling in a few shops and galleries.
Ever since I started making jewelry people have been E-mailing me asking if I sell my work on-line.  And I’ve kept telling people that setting up an on-line shop is on my to-do list. So, Taaa Daaah!!!  Here it is.  My new on-line store!!!!!!!!  Yay!  Can I please get a high-five…or maybe even two??!!  Boy what a process it was.  Setting a beefy E-commerce shop up is a lot of work.  I had to make sure I had enough stock on hand to do this whole gig.
 I had to make a few phone calls and get help figuring out which format to use for my E-store.  “Photobiz” hosts my web site and I can’t say enough good things about that company.  Their customer service is top notch.  And for a girl like me who’s not the most technically savvy it’s great to know there’s a place I can call to get answers quickly.
Next step….  Figure out how the heck to take decent pictures. It’s taken quite a lot of time to figure this out and I still have a lot to learn in this department.  There is placement and lighting and photo one-O-one, etc.  There’s a lot to it.  I’m just sayin’.
I had to figure out the cost of shipping and handling.
I had to write descriptions of each pieces.  Not just descriptions you know.  I had to come up with good descriptions.  I had to really tell the story for each piece.  This ended up being a bit easier than I thought it would be.  I think that’s because there really is a bit of a story for each piece of work that I create.  Let’s just say, my MAC and me were very close buddies for quite some time.
--> So all in all it was a monumental accomplishment for me– opening up this E-store.  I want to share my excitement with you by doing a celebratory thing.  I feel like I need sparklers or something right now to tell you about it.   If you buy from me this month – any day this month, February 2017 - you’ll get a free gift from me.  Let’s say it will be your Valentines Day present from yours truly – AKA “me”.

Happy Shopping!  :)

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

My Messy Art Room

A messy art room is the best kind of art room.  It's a sign and it means that creation is happening.  Important things are getting done.  I'm getting ready for my spring shows.  They will be here before you know it.