Painting a Story and Little Birdies

I just wanted to show you a sneak peek at the classes I'm teaching this week!!  This class is Saturday and I think I've got a class full of eager painters!!  Many are blog followers....which makes me so tickled!  I finally get to meet you!  And hear your real voices, not the typed ones.  Woohoooo!!  So if you are coming Saturday, don't forget your paints, brushes, collage papers and special elements.  Oh, and an apron.  I've been known to splat a paint drop or two.  hehehe...

And yes, you get the frame and all in this class.  They shipped last Thursday. And are guaranteed Thursday delivery.  Yep, cutting it close.  I know.

On Friday a few sweet friends are joining me to make fabric bird friends.  I love making these babies so much and can't wait to share my process for pattern making.  We'll be making a hoopy cage and of course some with crazy long legs on a jello mold! 

If you are joining me this day, don't forget your needle, thread, felt, fabric scraps and fun embellishments!!  We are going to have such a fun day sewing together!!  Like an old fashioned sewing bee.

So.....I guess I'll be back next week!!  It's going to be an AMAZING week.  I am so, so, so looking forward to it.  Meeting new faces, seeing some old, and making art with those old and new friends.  See you there...or here next week!!!  I am sure I'll have some crazy stories to share.  My trips never go without hitches.  Later gaters!!

PS....If you want a sneaky peaky into the fun check my FACEBOOK page...I'll be instagraming the entire trip.  Luv me some instagrams!!

My Life...in HD

I recently posted a comment on Facebook that I really did not need to see the new movie with Sarah Jessica Parker.  Yeah...nope.  You see, I live that movie daily.  In High Definition.  With mac Daddy 3-D glasses, a giant buttery popcorn and occasionally a yummy box of Dark Chocolate covered raisins.  Yum, right??  This past week has been such a whirlwind of getting ready for next week.  And what is next week you ask?  Well, I am leaving for Portland, Oregon to attend and teach at Art and Soul!!!!  Woooohoooooo!!  I am like in pinch me mode.  It's here.  It's here!

I love to teach.  And this type of teaching is my dream.  I know I talk alot about my art and the shows and the teaching, but I'm not so sure I've really shared my dreams for my business.  Perhaps it's because I'm afraid that people will laugh out loud at some of my dreams, or tell me that it's not such a great idea .....or perhaps I'm afraid that I am just not good enough for the dreams.  But I think dreaming is great.  I certainly do alot of it.   And last year I stepped out and decided to make some of those dreams come true.  You know sometimes when you speak the dream out loud, it does comes true.  Our family has been a huge recipient of this very act over the past month, so I know it works!


So back to the teaching, this week I've been a very busy girl getting ready to go.  In fact, if I wasn't so organized my supplies would not have made it.  I went to UPS today and my 4 large boxes will not get there until next Thursday!  Talk about cutting it close.  Geesh.....So all the supplies for the classes are on a truck along with lots of goodies for vendor night.  I'll be sharing more about my classes later this weekend, but I wanted you to see some behind the scenes.  Tile frames were cleaned and tiled, tiles were printed, magnets printed, and goody bag items gathered.  (Seriously fun goody boxes peeps....serious)

So all I have left to do before I leave is gather the supplies for the classes I am taking and make finishing touches on some felted friends for vendor night.  And get a pedicure, get my hair cut and colored, pack lots of fun clothing, grocery shop for the family, prepare meals for family, laundry all done, substitute lessons finished and samples made and get with sub....you get the idea.  Like I said, I am wearing serious 3D glasses here this week.   But when I get through to this time next week I will get a dream come true.  And that's worth every ounce of energy I've expended the past week.  Yep.  Sigh.

Girl Scouts and Flags

It seems a tad late to be sharing these, but you know me....I just gotta sometimes sneak a little of my family into the blog.  And today is one of those days because I just got to these on the camera card!  So 9.11.  I know.  There was so much this year at the mark of the 10 year anniversary.  I bet each of you reading this blog can carefully articulate what you were doing the moment you heard the news.  I do.  Vividly.  I was teaching art to 5th grade at The Heritage School.  And I was getting very irritated that my student were checking out left and right, and that parents were interrupting my valuable teaching time.  I had this little "art hut" that was totally separated from the rest of reality and I had NO idea what was going on.   Literally...no clue until I ended class, went to the office and said, "what is going on? " and the news was more than grim.  And I stood still thinking, "my God, what have we done to deserve this tragedy?"

This was before I had Mailey, before I had the art studio, before the Vintage-Flea, before the notion that I could be an artist and thrive, before my life became so twisted and turned that I had no idea which way was up.  I like to think it was simpler before that day, but I have a sneaky feeling that I am blocking the memories of Junior League and church volunteering out of my brain for the time being.  And simply imagining my life with three hats on....Mother, Wife and teacher.  Because sometimes unfortunately I have to be reminded that those three hats are indeed the MOST important hats to wear...especially #1 and #2. 

So 9.11.  Mailey wasn't even born then.  She was in the belly.  Kicking and carrying on as she does still to this day.   Her troop was asked to take part in a very special Flag Folding Ceremony for a 9.11 rememberance here in Newnan.  It was interesting talking with the girls about this day.  Because none of them were born, but know that it has forever changed their lives.  Honestly though, they have no clue as to the real why and what it has changed about their little lives.  Because they don't know the before.  It's the now for them.

Watching her group fold the flag so attentively and with such purpose and pride I was proudly reminded that no matter how old or how young, the flag is a very precious symbol for our people.  And her taking the time to be a part of this ceremony on a miserably hot day in a rather lengthy ceremony (over 2 hours)....without ONCE complaining well, made me realize that although the world has changed......our hearts have not.  And that little precious heart I hope never has to experience another 9.11 in her lifetime.

Sometimes...

Sometimes I find myself in a creative lull.  Yep.  Been there done that, right peeps?  Other times it's like the ideas come so fast you get in total freak out create mode.  Right?  And then there are the moments that you hear the angels singing.  You know what I am talking about you just are flat out afraid to speak it!!!!  Well, not this chick.  Man, this is my favorite idea to date.  Really. 

Ok, I love painting.  Love the campers, nests, bikes, etc....  But this idea with the flower cabochons.  I just LOVE IT.  I took Stephanie's soldering metal class.  I did.  And I made the nests like she said, and I added the brass components like she said, but still.....how do you find your own voice when there is a choir out there already singing the song with you?  I really don't want to be a part of a choir when it comes to creating an authentic art voice.  Of course with mediums you kind of have to.  It's not like I am a scientist that can invent a new form of paint or wax.  It is what it is.  But the ideas I take to the canvas or to the soldering brick, well honestly I try very hard to make them authentic. 

It's hard though.  There are so many artists out there making stuff.  Lots of stuff.  And sometimes ideas are so floaty that they get into other people's heads too which makes them seem less special.  It's like ideas are universal....like we are all speaking the same arty language at the same time.  So when I hear the angels singing, well it makes me grin from ear to ear.  And this is how I feel about the Flower Garden Series below.  I can not wait to make more and develop this line of jewelry further.  The best part is that I am finally using all those flower cabochons I've been hoarding for a rainy day.  I can not get enough of them.  Nope.  And now that I have the idea for them....well.  It's a garden growing sorta day in the Horne House!!

So, have you heard the angels singing lately?  I sure would like to know the ideas you are busting at the seams to share!! 

The Mantel

Hey guys....I continue to "nest" here in the house.  I can not help myself.  I'm like the Energizer bunny on chocolate lately!!!  So, the mantel.  Always a test to one's decorating skills.  Especially if yours is like 3 feet deep and has a half moon shaped window in it!  Yes, I said that right.  I totally forgot to take a pic before I filled it with my Grandmother's mirror.  But seriously it's the strangest thing I've ever seen.  And thus far, every house I've toured in this neighborhood has this window mantel thing.  It must have been the builder's "signature" mantel.  Urgh.  I've got big plans to have it stack stoned and close the "hole" in eventually.  But for now, this is my simple solution.  The trick to this mantel is layers.  So I started with the mirror.  Which I do believe weighs as much as I do.  And somehow it hung on the wall in her home until she passed away.  Dad asked me if I wanted it and I said of course!!  And now I have a safe place to rest it. 

The next layer is this adorable wooden shelf unit that was hanging in the kid's bathroom at the old house.  On it I have all our names in typography letters, a few nest and birds.  A wooden H rests against the mirror.  Just one of the growing collection of H's.  My favorite part of this vignette are the old clocks.  I saw an idea one time where you put on a broken clock the time your children were born.  I've literally had these clocks 5 years and finally looked up their birth times.  Which look.....Mailey was 6:40 and William was 6:42!  How in the world does one have two children at practically the same time?   

Shall We Play A Game?

So do you remember playing games as a child?  Man I do.  We'd head over to my friend Heather's on our bikes to play hours of Monopoly, hide-n-go-seek, Sorry and more!  I've had this memory game in my mind to make for ever.  And finally this summer I bit the bullet, chose the images, and ordered the cards.   The little canvas bags came this week so I was finally able to put the game together! 

There are 20 pairs to find.  I chose trucks, bikes, campers, birdies, birds in cages and more.  Such a fun game to play at any age. 

 I'll have these at the Country Living Fair and here in my etsy shop.  Cost is $14.00. 



The Studio Tour!!

OK.  Way too many boxes and a storage unit later, I think everything is in the studio!  Wooohooo!!  I love it down here in the basement.  And although it's an unfinished room, it feels rather cozy.  And the ceiling height rocks!  Once I get everything hung on the walls I think you'll not even notice the rawness.  For now though, I've got to get to work.  So I am done "nesting" down here and ready to go.  Let's take a peek, shall we?

So you enter the rooms through this little vignette.  Of course I had to make an entrance.  With an orange curtain.  And my mannequin Bertha with the OPEN/Closed sign from my old studio.  Love.

This room is going to be for painting and sewing.  It also has all the white cabinets the previous owner left behind chocked full of supplies for all my projects.  Everything that was in the old house garage and studio is now neatly tucked away in those cabinets!! 

I am super excited that some of my favorite pieces are now out of the garage and storage.  Like this flat file!!

I intend to use many of my display pieces in the room so I can see what I have and what I need.  Right now, looks like I need to paint.  This is all I have in stock.  Yep.  It was a good show season!

Of course little vignettes make it cozier feeling.  The pencil portrait I did as a child.  I found it in the move.  So sweet.

 Yes, I do know how insanely lucky I am.  Yep.  Smitten with this house.

Off the painting area is a giant work room.  I've set up my press area in here(because that's where all the plugs are).  Which is important to the success of the upcoming Country Living Fair.  The 250 frames I picked up and $1200 order from the sublimation company are all a part of the big picture too!!

All my display pieces have a shelf now so I won't buy something I don't need.  Well, in theory anyways I won't buy anything.  I do like my display pieces though!  It is nice having everything out of storage.  The bigger display pieces like the grids, tables, tent and shelves are in a different part of the basement.

And last, I was trying to figure out what to do with this area when it hit me....JEWELRY.  I am thrilled to not be using the painting table for this anymore because the soldering is messy.  And it's a perfect height for standing and stamping.  You can see in this photo how the rooms connect as well.  The other side of this room I've promised to my husband.  Yeah, I know.  I'll be sneaking over that way too.  But for now I am pretty contained. 

And most definitely content.



Haint Blue and Front Doors

While in Savannah this summer on a fabulous carriage drawn GHOST tour, Mailey and I learned that many people in the USA paint their doors certain colors just to ward of the spirits, or a haint.  Savannah is the second most haunted city in the USA...the stories are goose bump worthy.  One can not help but believe the tales. So in the tour, our guide said that painting your door red will ward of the haints as well as blue.  I can't remember why red, but the blue is because ghosts can not enter water.  They even place fish sculptures in their down spouts to keep them from entering their homes this way!  Anyhoo, while on the tour Mailey was very thrilled that we already had a haint painted front door.  See below our little cottage:

So when we moved into our new house, which ironically is the exact same color as the old one, the brown door had to go.

Saturday I spent near about all day patching the trim where we removed the rickety storm door, sanding, priming, painting and scraping windows.  What was supposed to be just painting the door blue ended up being an all day repair and paint job.  I told my husband he was a lucky man that his wife was a "painter".  He just laughed.  I am thrilled with the way it looks on this house.  Now, to paint the backdoor upstairs and downstairs.  And since I heard wayyyyyyy too many freaky sounding noises last night (since I couldn't sleep from excitement over the studio being unpacked!), I think I need to get the doors painted fast!!

Oh, and in case you want to paint your door this lovely shade, it's called Sunken Pool.  I think the chip came from Home Depot.  Although I always buy my paint at Lowe's.  :)

"Here Goes Nothing"

For some reason this quote is super stuck in my head, "HERE GOES NOTHING".  So I looked up the meaning of this expression and one compared it to this, "jumping out of an airplane and praying my parachute opens!!"  How funny.  Well, not really.  My Dad may have a thing to say about that too since he is a paratrooper.  No chute usually has a rather tragic ending!!  So I am thinking I may double pack my chute for the event I am gearing up for.

The Country Living Fair.  Oh my.  October 21-23rd. in Stone Mountain Park here in Atlanta.  3 days of total blissed out shoppers.  I know, I was one last year.  The booths are over the top.  I can not wait to be a part of this event.  But it's exactly 45 days from today.  I am not going to panic.  I am not going to panic.  I have a plan.  And it involves a parachute for sure.  And several friends who have already offered to come and help me assemble all the plan together.  Man, what would I do without my artsy peeps....that's a story for another day though.

Back to the "here goes nothing"....so what brought all this sudden panic about the show was my email to the show director.  You see, I've done a fair share of shows.  If you've read my blog for a spell you know this.  And I love doing shows and selling my work in a tent.  And part of the getting ready for a show is making a new business card.  Well, actually I always make bookmarks.  People like them, and so do I.  So I emailed the show director last week out of curiosity how many attendees there were last year.  I explained I'd never done a show with this volume of attendees and wanted to be sure my 5,000 bookmark order would be enough.  Well, I just about fell out of my chair when she replied, "We had 16,000 attendees last year and this year our pre-sales have far surpassed the pre-sales from last."  WHAT?????  So guess what?  I've now ordered a whopping 20,000 bookmarks.  That is going to be one freaking heavy box.  But look how good they turned out!!!!

Playing House

I can remember as a child playing countless hours of "house".  Hours.  In one house in particular Molly and I had an entire unfinished attic to set up house.  We had the best metal kitchen set...you know, the gold and brown set with refrigerator, stove and sink?  Table, chairs, high chairs, babies....we spent countless hours playing make believe house.  This weekend I have been in the total wonderment of playing 'house" again.   Unpacking boxes that have been stowed in the old house's attic for 16 years.  Um, yes.  I said 16.  I know the saying if you haven't used it in a year throw it out.  But this was important stuff peeps.  We've been hanging stuff up, making little quiet vignettes, and carefully putting our things away.  It's been a wonderful weekend of play. 

Today, I am playing in the studio.  Geesh it is a disaster zone.  It's such a big space that literally my studio is spread out in about 1000 sq. feet.  Yep.  I said that right.  My new studio, with the work room area and storage area is about as big as our old house.  Crazy guys.  And it rocks!!! 

Smitten

So, I am totally smitten with this new house.  Like freak out all I am thinking about smitten.  It's like a giant new baby.  I have to learn to love it's quirks, and embrace the challenges ahead. One.....step....at....a....time.  It took me 16 years to get the old house perfect.  Well, actually it was an evolving perfect.  Does that make sense?  For instance, I loved the terra cotta kitchen in the old house when I painted it.  And then wham!  I hated it and it had to be painted butter.  I know, it's only been a mere week and already I want it like my 16 year old house.  Full of layers, textures and cozy vignettes.  The boxes are making me nuts.  The tan walls even nuttier.  So, to alleviate the unwanted nuts (which in a mixed bowl are those ginormous things which I can only imagine a squirrel eating) I've hired a painter.  ekkkkk.....I did.  Money down thrown out the window is my old way of thinking.  I can paint myself.  Yep.  But seriously, no I can not.  Not right now.  And this artsy momma wants some color in her new house.  So, with all that being said the first walls were painted today.  Mailey's room is now 'inchworm".  Which translated means adorable green.  Her bath and my bath will be "birdsong blue" tomorrow and.......the drum roll please...........the dining room. 

Ah............the dining room.  The room I've dreamed of having because it can totally be over the top girlie fabulous.  No one really uses the dining room except at holidays.  It's a total wasted room in most houses.  So it can be fabulously decorated, because no one will be touching anything in it!!  The Amy Butler fabric above is my springboard for the room.  I will keep it a surprise until after it's painted.  But I'll give you a hint.....it's one of those fabulous colors.  But I bet you already guessed that.