In the Kitchen

Those of you who know me well, know that I am not a very good cook, nor do I particularly like cooking. So why did I spend a good portion of my time last week in the kitchen? Crafting of course!





I have been very busy whipping up some new batches of what I am calling "Silky Bath Salts", which are a mixture of salts and oils, as well as making some scented Hot/Cold eye pillows and neck pillows--sewn with my own hand dyed Sateen or Silk/Cotton Radiance fabric!

Here are some of the blends that I've been "cooking up":
Lavender/ Pink Grapefruit
Desert Sage/ Sandalwood
Vanilla/ Lavender
Peppermint Stripe and
Holiday Blend (gingerbread, cinnamon, and vanilla)

What I don't sell at the craft show will make great Teacher Gifts, I think!

CED Day 5--Much Better!

...Some recent painted canvas pieces. I'll use these for book covers, bookmarks, jewelry, and maybe even a purse.

Oh, what a difference a day makes! My son was sick last night, but today--all better! I don't think it was a full stomach flu, just some little bug. So, thankfully, we are all currently healthy in this house.

Plus, I had a more creative day today. The two boys ( age 4 and 6 months) and I "played" outside this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, about 68 degrees, just perfect weather! I got out some dyed scarves that needed a little something more, and was able to stamp metallic copper leaves on about 7 of them. My 4 year old played in the mud, made mud pies for me, and instructed me in playing a Goblin Trick or Treat game, which I could do while I was painting! I hung up the scarves to dry on our awning, so that the baby could watch them float in the breeze. My scarves do have a few little mud splatters on them, when my son got a little to enthusiastic with the mud, but I think they will wash out, if not, I'll keep them for myself!

And, I will catch up a little here, posting some projects that I've been working on this past month.


Fabric Earrings for the "My Favorite Things" swap on Adornmentz.


Dangles that I made for a swap on Art Charms--I used polymer clay beads that I have made.

CED Days 3 and 4

Well, yesterday was NOT the most creative day ever! Got off to a bad start--my son's preschool called early to cancel school for the day due to the teacher's having the stomach flu. While I am glad that my son didn't get it (knock on wood), it was kind of a bummer because that meant I had to miss my monthly Mixed Media Mavens meeting, which I was looking forward to. Can't expect a 4 year old to sit quietly while a bunch of women gab about art!

So, I had my hands full with the two little boys home, then early release day for my daughter. The afternoon was spent gathering up my supplies and samples to teach my Art Quilt Embellishment class last night. I am always frazzled getting ready for a class like that! It was fun, but a little stressful from a teacher point of view--I always want to make sure I am not forgetting anything! We played around with different ways to embellish with beads and buttons, plus Shrink Plastic, Fun Foam buttons, Model Magic and rubber stamps, wire wrapped beaded dodads and more!

Home by 9:00 to finish getting the kiddos off to bed and feed the baby. By 9:45pm, I was out in the garage finishing up a quilt on my longarm machine for a customer. I have a bunch of work deadlines looming and am feeling stressed about that. Back inside by 11:15, just in time for Baby to wake up again! Off to bed at 12:15, having done no real creating except for the few minutes that I was demo-ing during class. I guess that that will have to do!

Preschool was canceled again this morning, so I do have the two boys at home. But I am going to try to sneak in some creating after lunch, before I pick up my daugher from school.....

....Later that day.....Oh no, my son has the stomach flu! It came on this afternoon. He hadn't eaten much all day, said his tummy hurt at lunchtime, and was a little "off" all day. It came on just after dinner. He is sleeping now, but I am on alert.

On the creative front, I did get a few minutes to work on my daughter's Christmas present pink, white and black quilt before my son got sick. That's something!

CED Day 2

No pictures again tonight, you guessed it...sleeping baby in lap. But, I did have some creative success today. Fletcher slept for 1.5 hours this afternoon--woo hoo--so I took advantage of that quiet time to sew some art journal covers. I am using a couple of them as examples for my embellishment class tomorrow night, and also making them for the upcoming craft shows. I used some of my rust dyed fabrics, and on others my silk or sateen hand dyeds! It was great to get my hands on some fabric and sew again. It feels like its been awhile.

Create Every Day (CED) Day 1

Not able to take pictures just now (sleeping baby in my lap), but I did want to report on Day 1 of the Create Every Day Challenge.

I was able to squeeze in a little bit of painting on canvas today. I work on pieces about 15 x 20 inches or so, just painting "art cloth", not a picture of anything. If I leave the piece on my kitchen table, I can add layers to it throughout the day. Usually I do 3-5 layers. Using acrylic paint, it dries very quickly in between layers. Each layer takes no more than 15 minutes, so it is the perfect way to sneak in some art time in between chores, or when I only have a few minutes.

If I can get the baby to stay asleep, I can sneak in another 1/2 hour of art time before my bed time!

BTW, I have a link section off to the right of other artists who are participating in the challenge. Go check them out! And if you would like for me to add your link, leave me a comment here.

Create Every Day

Peggy K. has issued a challenge to artists to Create Every Day during the month of November--read more about it on her blogpost here. I am joining her challenge!

Usually, creating something, however small, is part of my every day life as it is, just to release the stress of the day and refocus my energy. I feel better when I am creating. This past year, I have found it difficult to create every day. First, with the pregnancy, I was so tired and something had to give just so that I could keep up with the basics. Now that I've got a 6 month old, my creative time is still pretty minimal, but I am finding ways to work it in--like taking the kids to McDonald's playland and bringing along my supplies to make charms while they play!

So, I am making the committment to create every day for the month of November. I probably won't blog every day, but I will be sure to give you a run down of what I've been working on. I've got lots of projects lined up:
Autumn Charm Swap
Blue, White and Silver Charm Swap
Class Sample for Embellishing on Art Quilts
Hand Dyed Scarf Swap
plus, making lots of goodies for two craft shows coming up in November and December. I've got my work cut out for me!