What's Next... Penelope

I am doing a series of portraits of the women from Homer's Odyssey. I have already done Circe, the sorceress/goddess who liked to turn men into animals. Now I am working on Penelope, Odysseus' faithfully, waiting wife.

Sketch first. I wanted to show her waiting, because that's what she did. And, somehow, I'd like to show her attachment and love for O. I've got a few ideas. After the sketch I picked out colors and fabrics and began cutting and pinning.

The reds and pinks were chosen to show her ardent love and faithfulness to her husband. The blues (there will be more blue showing up) are to symbolize her sadness because she misses O and sometimes wonders if she'll ever see him again.

Penelope is a bit of a change up from my usual creepiness, a refreshing change up. But not for long.

Christmas Decorating- The Master Bedroom

That's right! I am finished with the master bedroom. I cleaned it yesterday and decorated it today. I always start with my bedroom (it's my favorite room in the house). I keep the decorating relatively simple, playing off of what I already have in there. Here it is...

Next I'll be tackling the upstairs hallway and the upstairs bathroom. Stay tuned!

Christmas Planning Begins

As I alluded to yesterday, I am ready for Christmas!

Well, that's not quite right. I am ready to get ready for Christmas. Yes, that's better! I am ready to get ready. Ready?

So, each year I strive to get a bit more organized. Not that I 'm not organized. It's just that I am also a procrastinator. An Organized Procrastinator. Who loves making lists. Who love-loves crossing things off lists. There you have it!

Anyway...the other day I decided to make myself a new Christmas planner. I hemmed and hawwed over just how to make it to suit all of my list making needs. Well, there just isn't a planner big enough. So, I made two!

The first planner is a binder (red and white, of course) that I divided up into a Nov/Dec month-at-a-glance section, a day by day section, a meal planning section and a project/decorating/cleaning section. I also have folders for patterns for gift making and a folder for catalogs and Christmas-themed magazines.  It is basically an organized notebook to help me keep my thoughts and notes...organized.

The second planner is strictly for gifts; wish lists, shopping lists, coupons, receipts. Wanna see it?

Do you love it? I had seen these little planner/journal things in magazines before. They are made out of a file folder! I did a search for directions on how to make one and...volia!

I wanted something smaller for my gift lists so that I could take it with me when I shop. I also wanted to be able to hide it easily from various prying, blue eyes.

 It opens to four pocket sections; one for gift ideas/info and one for coupons and notes...

 

...and one for shopping lists and one for receipts.

What's next? Cleaning, of course! All signs of Halloween have been eradicated. Now it's time to clean, clean, clean. To Christmas music! ;)

*The lists are from here. Ideas for making and decorating the planner were found here. Enjoy!

It's November...

...you know what that means? Time to decorate for Christmas!!!

Call me crazy, I don't care! You know what I did yesterday? I put on Christmas music and backed away all of my Halloween decorations. Yes, I said Christmas music.

What's next? As any good elf knows, it's time to make some lists. Not just gift lists either. That's what I've been doing today, making lists. Cleaning, decorating, gift making, decoration making lists. Because I like to make list almost as much as I like to decorate for Christmas.

Are you getting ready for Christmas yet?

Happy Halloween!

When my sweet boy, Nathanael, came to me and said he wanted to be a Vampire for Halloween...I never felt so proud! Finally a chance to to convert one of my sweetest creations into something a tad creepy (minus the sewing). And what a Vampire he makes!!! There's only been one, minor hic-cup....

That's right! No teeth!!! I mean, seriously now. How effective is he going to be?!? And the freckles! I've never had to work so hard, covering up those freckles. Eek! Actually, as I sit here, staring at his adorable face, I'm feeling inspired... Halloween 2012, look for a portrait of a toothless vampire! In the meantime...

Happy Halloween!

How was your weekend?

Mine went by in bit of a whir. Nathanael had his first sleepover at a friends house Friday night. I didn't go to get him until two o'clock which made the day feel like a week day, when Nat. is at school. It seems that, more often than not, I haven't a clue as to what day of the week it is. It is getting better now that school has started again but soon they'll be sure to throw a Monday off at me and I'll be all mixed up again.

Last week I was commissioned to make a custom portrait for a lovely lady who contacted me through etsy. She was interested in Romeo and Juliet and, because the originals are not available, I got to do a little re-imagining. So Saturday I sat down with my sketchbook and here is what I came up with:

We decided on one large portrait with both Romeo and Juliet, same timing as before- Juliet discovering Romeo dead.

Sunday was nice and easy going. It was a blah fall day but my boys made the best of it. At one point, I saw Nathanael raking leaves into one pile while Asher sat on the hood of Dave's car picking off the leaves that had collected there. Next thing I know, they're yelling for me to bring out the camera....

It's like a cheesy-grin-a-thon!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

So, earlier this summer I heard from a man who was going to be opening a gallery in Charlotte, NC. He said he had come across my work on-line and liked it and wanted me to send him a few pieces to sell there. I expressed my interest (read: freaked out) and a bit of concern because, at the time I had a couple of shows I was preparing for. In the end, he suggested that I send 1-3 pieces as soon as possible for the craft gallery and then he would schedule an exhibit of my work for the month of October. (!!!!!!!!!)

In case you've been wondering what I have been doing with myself...there you go! I've been sewing and framing and packing and mailing. And printing. The owner of the gallery (Plaza Muse is the name, check out there website) suggested that I make my little ACEO's into greeting cards. Brilliant, no? I think they look pretty good so, as I continue to get my butt in gear, I'll get them up on etsy for sale.

I've also been getting back into the school routine with  Nathanael and spending lots of time with my parents. My folks got here (from Florida) around July 7th and they won't be going back until December 28th but, boy, does this time just fly! I wish they could be here all the time but I've got Michigan weather working against me.

I would really like to get back to blogging and facebooking and I still need to figure out twitter. So now that, as of yesterday, I have mailed out the last box of creepies for NC I am going to re-enter society. :) So much has been changing in the world of social networking! Oy!

While I re-acclimate, enjoy some pics of the portraits that I made for Plaza Muse...

 This is "Frankenstein's Monster". Do you love the hair?

 And, this is "The Monster's Bride". Again with the hair! I just love looking at her. The look on her face, those red, red lips and the hair. Love it!!!

 And, "Lenore", of course. From Edgar A. Poe's poem, "The Raven". I can't go to long with addressing Mr. Poe. Because I looove him.

 Nor can I go long with out addressing the fabulous month of October. These lovely ladies are "Opal and Calendula, the Misses October 2011". The first time conjoined twins have won this honor, by the way!

 "Virginia". Inspired by Edgar's first love.

And, "Boris" (aka my new crush). If you are a devoted fan of "Young Frankenstein" by Mel Brooks (my other crush), that daisy is for you.

And this, this is the awesome announcement for the exhibit!