Spelling JOY

About a month ago I decided to purge the magazine pile.  A fun afternoon activity, mindless really.  I casually flipped through each one before tossing it into the recycle pile.  I pulled this from Country Living Magazine in March of 2007: 

"How do you spell joy?  Joy springs from creativity.  So, tap into yours.  See in new ways, work in new ways, and delight at being unique.  Creativity is all about new beginnings.  Spell joy your way-and follow it with your heart. "

This school year has really started me down a path of renewal for what I am doing as an artist.  New products are being made, painting compositions are spilling into my sketchbook, the sewing machine has made its debut on the art table and jewelry inspirations are tacked to the window.  Yes, it's a time where following my heart is an easy ride.  And joy, well if you take a peek at any of my work you can see that joy is something I do not have a problem sharing.

So tell me, how are you spelling joy right now?

A Little Birdie on the Shelf

This morning after my boxing class totally wiped me out I decided  therapy at the local Books a Million was totally in order before the day went any further.  If you've ever read my "about me" page you know that this is where I go when I need such therapy and it is always accompanied by a cup of super hot coffee (and today a raisin cookie...shhhhh..)  While cruising the crafty rack, which is super low for some reason, I spied this magazine in the racks and did a little happy squeal!  Which btw in a bookstore is kind of like squealing in a library and totally frowned upon.  Oh well.....

Yep.  There are those super darn cute birdies again!  This time for celebrating a special occasion.  Cake toppers are always a treat to make.  I've made several wedding toppers, baby shower toppers and soon a custom 1st birthday!  Please feel free to send me an email if you ever need a silly bird to adorn your cake!

And how ironic that the check came in the mail today for this article...woohooo.....And I'm making more birds right now too!  Crazy signs. 

Something You Don't Know

So today I thought I'd share something about me that you'd probably in a million years never guess that I like.  Here's a hint:

I didn't remember to bring the good camera along, so these are fuzzy cell phone pics.  Can you tell where we are?  I forget sometimes how lucky we are to be Atlanta suburbans.  I get so caught up in my little slice of the world, forgetting that Atlanta is minutes away.  At least I do, my husband goes there everyday to work.  Atlanta has EVERYTHING you could ever want to do or see:  largest Aquarium, World of Coke, first class museum, theater as good as New York, professional baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, IKEA, beautiful parks and the Altanta Motor Speedway.   Which brings me to this photo:

Last night Billy and I attended our first night race.  I am thinking I like the night better than the day!  Races are an amazing experience....the noise alone can make your head spin!  Billy is not the biggest fan of going to these, but he knows I do, so when we are given an opportunity to attend, he always says yes.  By the way, the headphones are not for noise control.  Sitting in the boxes you don't need ear plugs.  Those are scanners headphones.  You can listen to your favorite driver talk to his pit and hear his eagle eyes telling him where the cars around him are.  It's pretty cool.  I don't really know anything about the drivers, except who is really young and who is really sweet on the eyes. 

I enjoy it because it tickles all 5 senses:  the ears (no explanation needed), the eyes (OK, race fans are fabulous people to watch), nose (between the concessions and the car fumes your nose is in hyper drive), taste (where else can you drink beer and eat cotton candy?), and touch....well the cars you're not supposed to touch in the garages but I sure want to feel the slick metal under my fingers!  Anyhoo....I just thought I throw you off a bit and share something about me I know you'd never guess that I like.  Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day!!

What's in Your Hair?

So what do you have in your hair accessory drawer?  Well, you NEED a Chevy for sure!  These will be available at the Naked Art Gallery and Norcross Art Festival the first weekend in October!!

Grocery Shopping with Artist Hands

Earlier this week Mailey and I headed to the store to "pick up a few things".  I have routines for this sort of errand (Mondays for instance are my errand running day). So night time grocery runs are not part of the routine, and usually end up costing me more than planned.  BUT, Billy needed something or another so I asked Mailey if she wanted to join me.  She eagerly said "YES!"  and scurried away.  I found her in the art studio cutting this paper and writing in big sharpie the following items.  Her grocery list that is. 

So to translate my lefty, left brained, creative child's handwriting for you she needs the following in her buggy:  white cheese means provolone, gum is just gum, pufs are actually toddler sweet potato puff snacks, yogert is yogurt, gumyes are fruit snacks, and eney froot is any fruit.  So we arrive at Publix and she wants her own buggy for her food selections.  We cruise up and down the aisles together gathering our items on our lists.  For some reason she pulls up next to me at some point, looks down and exclaims quite loudly, "MOM, you need to paint your toenails!"  What?  I look down to find clean, unpolished toes just as I like them these days.  It's weird I know, but I am not into polish right now.  Mailey I say, my toes are just fine, have you seen my fingernails?

Yep, I think they may need a little help.  And Mailey definitely agreed. 

And the Winner is....

WOOHOO!  carlanda! 

she said the following in her comment:

I love your blog and all work work!  (me blushing) especially old trailers.  i guess right now it would have to be metal, since i am taking a metalsmithing class from stephanie lee.  way fun and different.  pick me please!!

So a funny story about this.....I printed out the comments, cut them up and placed them in a bowl, actually the first bowl wasn't BIG enough, so I chose a second bowl.  (I BIG puffy heart comments!!)  I tried to get Lily in on the drawing which only freaked her out.  So instead I sat down, closed my eyes and picked.  And then giggled, because this sweet lady I met in Las Vegas at Art and Soul.  We took Lisa Kaus's class together.  We just happened to be getting our supply of paint at the same time, and unfortunately for her the red I chose was really excited about the class as well because upon opening it it exploded.  Literally up and all over Carlanda.   Well Carlanda, I guess this is the dutch door theory in action, we opened the top half in Vegas, the bottom half today!  So congrats.  Send your address my way (again) and I'll get your truck in the mail Tuesday!!

Field Trip Friday...Intown Quilters

As a child, I LOVED field trips days.  I can still remember visiting the Barber's Ice Cream factory in elementary school.   At the end of the tour they gave us each a fudgesicle. It was the best fudge pop ever!  To this day the thought of heading out to knew places still holds an elementary school excitement in my heart.  So I've decided to start sharing these adventure with you!  I'm calling the blog series "Field Trip Friday".  Now, they may not be appearing every week, I do work ya know, but when they do happen, this is when and where they will be shared! 

Now a really good field trip is always accompanied by a friend.  And this week it was with my sewing genuis girlfriend Ashley.   Together we visited a quilting shop in Atlanta called Intown Quilters.  Let me prepare you for what you are about to see.....color schemes to die for, patterns, patterns and patterns.  Holy tamoly, it was heavenly!  It's in a cute little house.....so imagine room after room filled with patterns....patterns...did I mention PATTERNS?  I did one run through of the whole store.  Then I started pulling.  It was funny, at one point Ashley said to me, "sorry if I seem kind of out of it....I get that way in here."  I was too.  Seriously, I couldn't even focus on one pattern before my eye got caught by another.  I was speechless, which is so not like me! 

This was a bin of fat quarters at the check out area.  There were bins like this everywhere.  Like those little candy dishes your grandmother keeps out all over the house with candy in them for you to just grab one or two as you walk by.

Why do I need all this fabric you ask?  Well my friends, the new bird pattern I am making requires a patterned body and felt on the bottom (which is opposite of my old pattern).  And since in Newnan we have only Hobby Lobby for fabric buying, driving an hour north to this little fabric heaven was well worth the drive.

This is me in the Amy Butler corner.  And if you really know me, and my house, and my obsession with her and her fabric, I was a little AMY high in this corner.  Yep, could have crawled up into the shelves and stayed for a spell. 

There were samples of projects everywhere and more sewing patterns than you could shake a stick at.  And doll clothes patterns and little girl clothes patterns, and book, and trims, and ribbons, and zippers, and Yep.  I really was really really dizzy when I left.  Although I left without spending a fortune somehow....I was very discerning with my bird fabric picking.  I have in my head how I want them to look, so it was easy to say yes and no to the fabrics.  But for my house, I picked way too many for the number of rooms I have!

Lastly I choose a jellyroll of fabric.  I always wanted to know what those were for, they are so stinking cute.  But seriously, what can you possibly sew with a 2" wide long strip of fabric?  Um.....see those flowers above.  I know, I know....I love them too!!  I see flower pins for your sweaters, purses, scarves, etc.  I'm making them now as you read this I bet.  :)  I cut bird bodies out at baseball practice last night and plan to start stitching those tonight.  Busy fingers here in the Horne house this holiday weekend!  Hope you have a creative one as well!

PS......Give away announced later tonight.  So check tomorrow for the results!