New Lamb

Still playing and fiddling...

Where have I been?......

New lamb in the works....a few other animals to come.

Buried under a pile of work in the studio....lots of new things on the go.  Stay tuned....

And the winner is.................................

He'll be flying off to his new home shortly.

First off, a huge thank you to all who participated in my sweet birdie giveaway.  You all helped to spread the word about tonight's CraftCast and I am grateful beyond words.  I feel truly blessed to have such connections in the nether regions of cyberland.

First, a peak into our highly scientific, much sought after method of randomness, here in the wilds of Puslinch...

All of the names went into a bowl...about 100!

Charlie listened for any snap, crackle, popping!

He stopped to wonder if he was getting paid for this?

Annnnnnnnnd........the winner is..........

MOLLI KOLTUN!

Come on down and claim your sweet little bird!   Please contact me, Molli, and I will get your birdie off to you immediatement!  You can simply comment on this blog, go to my website and contact from there, or msg me on Facebook.....or Faceplace as those wacky Genoa City Young & the Restless types call it:).  Oh.....and an extra special thank you to Angela B. Crispin as Molli's 'like' came off of her post:)

What inspires me

I've got some idea's re ballet shoes and knobby knees.

I have been so over-the-top inspired in the last 2 or so weeks that I feel like I'm literally sprouting new ideas.  Also, this inspiration has led to so many creative breakthroughs that it has had my right brain also working overtime.  

I think I've made it clear that the typical artist statement is something that makes me crazy. I actually just wrote a whole blog on my disdain for them, then deleted it because it simply serves no purpose.  I really would like to hear what honestly makes people tick and create.  It just seems too coincidental that so many artists are inspired by the ethereal colours of the natural palate found in the beard of transsexual billy goats.  Hmmmmmmmm.....you know who you are:) 

Here's an odd statement.  My artisitic inspiration oftens comes from education.  I just realized this.  Whenever I have some new technology to learn and play with, my creative juices overfloweth.  Aside from salivating at the thought of learning something new, the new 'thing' always ends up informing my  art somehow.  It may be invisible to you, but to me it's there.

More knees.  I sooo hope they work out.

Just fiddling with my Paper 53 app has inspired me to develop some new dress silhouettes, narrower, shapelier, and some knobby knee creations.  I simply don't come up with this stuff by doodling because I need there to be some sort of tech involved.  I'm also going to explore adding a bit more colour, which I didn't even know I liked till I started using Paper...we shall see.  There is so much work in exploring these new techniques...I don't typically use them the same way others do, so I have to get some supplies, throw all 'how-to's' out the window and experiment.

I've also just jumped onboard Adobe's new creative cloud method of using their creative suite.  I wanted to upgrade to CS6 from CS4, and Adobe does NOT make this easy or inexpensive.  A part of me is furious, but they are such powerful programs that I understand.  I also understand that the theft that goes on in Adobe world adds to their expenses.  I love open-source, but people simply have to be paid for the genius that goes into this stuff.  I think I know 2 people who have ever paid for Photoshop. Come on, people.  We're not just giving away our art, so don't expect others to.

I'm also chomping at the bit to get to my Lynda.com tutorials for InDesign.  I use InDesign, but there is so much more I could learn, and it just speaks to me.  I love the Lynda.com format.  I know there are many other tutorial sites out there, and 1000's of free tutorials on YouTube, but this just works for me.  I'm doing the 7 day free trial then will probably purchase another month.  I've got so much to brush up on like using Bridge effectively, and really getting into the trace and paint features of Illustrator.  I can use all of this stuff, I just get off on delving in to greater detail. 

Online learning really is the future.  This all became more apparent to me as I was looking at my local community college for classes in InDesign.  All of the sudden I thought 'Why am I searching for what fits my schedule?  Why am I not just doing something online where I can work at my own pace and skip stuff or review stuff 1,000 times?'  Yes, there are times when community and connection are very important to the learning environment, but not all the time.

Don't forget!  Giveaway and Craftcast on Wednesday!  Can't wait to share my precious little ladies.

Art is a Way...

A.R.T.  Do ya see it....do ya????

I've recently falled in love in that forever kind of way with Elsa Mora.  She is one of those artists I aspire to be....just so talented in all areas, yet with a sharing, caring spirit.  I can't do much about the multi-disciplinary talent (I simply can't draw or paint in any respresentational manner), but I can open myself up to being more caring, sharing, etc.  Btw, I'm trying to figure out a way to swing her paper cutting class....so divine.

She founded a project, Art is a Way, with the idea that:

Each one of us is unique, therefore, each one of us has the power to do something unique, not only in art, but in all areas of life.

You'll have to read her blog to understand more of all of this, but for some reason it has profoundly affected me.   I've been working so hard on preparing my Craftcast presentation, and through building it have fallen in love with my dresses again.  I think I shall prepare a little dress vignette to meet the Art is a Way guidelines.  It just makes me happy.

I'm feeling so inspired at the moment.  The next 10 days brings completing a custom order, a short vacation, the live airing of my Craftcast, then..........creation!

I also jotted this down...

The birdies were nestled all snug in their beds.... This one's
just begging to be made.

I've had it in my mind for quite a while that I need to crochet 30g fine silver wire to make some comfy dresses and bags for my little souls (ok...so they are headless, but I still think of them as beings).   Stay tuned.

Special thanks to Vickie Hallmark for bringing Paper 53 to my attention.  As I mentioned, I don't draw, but I love this app, and it makes me feel like I can:)  At least, the sketches come out like I envision them in my mind, and help me to see new details that I might incorporate into the completed vignettes.

White smoke up my chimney!

On a very happy note, I finished filming my upcoming Craftcast today!  Praise the lord....and all that jazz.  Perhaps I shall send some white smoke up my chimney to signal to the world that I am done, done, DONE!  Well, I actually still have to do the write up.  Nevermind.  It was a monumental task.  Can't wait till it's live.

I know you may all be sick of this, but remember my refrain...'It's my blog and I'll post if I want to':)

I thought I got the perfect shot for my skill level, then noticed that the hanger needed to be pushed back a bit...it's falling forward.  Ahhhhhh!  That is how anal I am.  These little things drive me nuts, but I don't have the patience to get the shot again.  But, boy am I enjoying this whole adventure!

I downloaded Aperture.  LOVED the tethered shooting.  Only thing I don't love, though, is that I can't shoot in live view, and I also can't zoom in to focus.  If anyone knows how to do this please let me know.  I think there may be a plug-in or something?  I tried Sofortbild a while back but didn't love it for some reason.  I think I'm just an Apple girl at heart, and Aperture just makes sense.

update:  Just discovered that Control My Nikon software will have a Mac version later this year....hopefully.  They have live view tethering and control.  I'll wait for that unless anyone has any other great suggestions that require no Macgyvering.  I like when things just work:)

Gossip Girls

Do you think they're talking about her?  Hmmmmmm..........

Yes....definitely.

Find out how I make these sweet little silver dresses on March 27.  Craftcasts are fabulous learning tools.  Sign up, sit back and enjoy:)  If you can't watch it live, no bother.  You will receive a full recording of the event to watch over and over and over and over....