It's the new & improved Art Barn!

When we first moved in, the poor place was a disaster! If we weren't sure where to put it, it ended up in the barn. Piles and stacks and bins, oh my! See the Disaster Site.

I did finally get a bit of organization going, setting up a sewing area...see, it was my Little Slice of Heaven!

Well, things have REALLY changed! Last Black Friday-day after Thanksgiving, my baby brother pulled up with his truck & trailer and unloaded a ton of wood & tools. We built a loft! Or as he calls it, a mezzanine. It is gorgeous! Sturdy, BIG, proper stairs, tons of space for storage!
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Dear daughter & I spent the next 6 weeks hauling stuff to Goodwill, to the trash, organizing, emptying bags, boxes, tubs and bins. Hubby installed the new eco florescent fixtures baby brother gave me for Christmas, and a great shop fan. And now.....


Unveiling the new & improved Art Barn!! There is a lovely seating area, with a coffee pot next to the furnace & fridge. There is Floor Space! There is organization! I actually KNOW where things are, and more importantly, can GET to them! Storage bins are upstairs, labelled. The only bins I still need to empty & organize are the fabrics, although those are semi-sorted already.



Room for cutting tables, all the supplies sorted and grouped together, Ana has her own area, plenty of room to move stuff around! My jewelry bench is finally put back together. Okay, so that area still needs sorted out, but at least it's all in one place! Stereo equipment & speakers are hooked up, and the CDs are actually right next door. I can put things AWAY and find them again the next time! Room for visitors, classes, parties, it's so wonderful!



Yes, I have been working, although most of what I've been sewing are UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) getting them done and tagged & properly put away. It has been really great to work in the new space, and I kind of hate to mess it up! That pile of tubs in the back, near the overhead door?? Empty!! There are still a couple items that need to go to Goodwill (anyone want some GIANT speakers?) but my, it is so awesome!

Smarty pants with no smart phone

I don't have a smart phone....I'm not really smart enough! But I have been fascinated with the cool-looking photos people post on Facebook, taken with Instagram. I like moody, misty, washed out, photos. Romantic, spooky, they just speak to me. But Instagram is only for Iphones, and I don't have any cool graphic design programs like Adobe or Photoshop, so what's a girl to do?

My favorite tool that comes with PCs is the Microsoft picture manager program; I like it alot better than the Windows manager that comes up on my home PC; I end up opening Microsoft manager there, too. It's easy, basic, I feel like I can handle it!

Sooooo.....I thought I'd explore a little more. I mean, I've used the tools to increase brightness, contrast, color on photos that I'm using for my Etsy shop, to enhance or correct. But I thought I would take it even further, and see what happens!

So let me show you:

Here is the original pic of my Kashmere Kitties, made from recycled thrift shop cashmere sweaters. I think it's sweet and endearing!

and Here is the pic with a bunch of the contrast and color taken out.

And the Last shot, I took the washed out version, and slid the hue and intensity over to the blue side! I think I like the middle version; it reminds me of a black and white photo with just a shot of color!

Ha! Now I can instagram, too!

First day of Autumn (where did my summer go?)

I don't know about you, but it almost seems as though I completely missed this summer. June went by in a blur, July was a week long, and I don't even remember there being an August! And now, it is Equinox, and the leaves are falling, and I dumped out my leggy petunia pots to get ready for pumpkins.

I have been busy, though, and it looks like I'll be stitching night and day from now until New Year's!

Beehive Bookstore is now selling "D-Town Totes...locally made bags for local folks"; yes, Red Panty tote bags, mostly made from scraps of upholstery fabrics given to me by an interior designer friend.

December First Friday here in town will be the opening night of a joint art effort between myself and supremely talented Cyrus Fire. I'm created plushies based on his paintings. The first is a character he painted as a label for a new, local beer brewer. Evil Cupcake Ale! See the pointy teeth?? See the disgruntled cherry on top?? Bad cupcake! I'm going to sneak some of my own plushies into the show, too, especially the Li'l Devils and Ghost Kitties. Maybe they will feast on zombie santa??

Re Vamped Hoosier Cupboard DIY!

My neighbor Mr. P remembered me saying ages ago, that if they ever got rid of their Hoosier cupboard, to let me know....well, a couple weeks ago, he called, and so on my back patio there's a cupboard!











Now, it needed a bit of a re-do, so I washed, sanded, primed and painted it with the help of Dear Daughter & Hubby, and now...Voila! A fresh cupboard in my blue room!

Originally of moderate quality, probably always painted, now super sweet! I ordered jadeite green glass knobs and they got here on the very day we were ready to move it into the house, yay! Dear Daughter "fluffed" it when she got home, so it's all done.

Now, I'm going to paint my OTHER cupboard to fit into the kitchen....I'm thinking red glass knobs this time!

a little Red Panty for me!

Lately all the Red Panty clothing has been for the shop...even the pieces I made for myself have sold! I did manage to "steal" one away, then promptly got grease on it, so it's ruined, drats!

But last week, I finally had some time to myself, and dug thru my box of thrift store finds for some cool fabrics that spoke to me! Tried out a new style for summer, and now I've got 2 new pieces for me!

I started with a Coldwater Creek linen wrap skirt, in a medium, ha! Green linen with wonderful dark pink roses in a faded out print. Almost despaired of finding something to pair with it, then, Voila! A Chico's linen shirt, also a medium, ha ha, but put them together and I have something great!

I actually tested the fit out on another top for me, from a black printed jumper, not shown here, but it's fun for summer. Straps to allow me to wear a proper bra, because no one wants me without one! Me either, though!

The pink & green number is nearly a dress, although I usually wear shorts or leggings under even in the summer: hate to chafe!

What?? Ghost Kitties & Devils in a movie??

Yep! That's taken up a good portion of my time lately! Well, that and Dear Daughter's Graduation from College, yippee!

alright, movie talk: I sell my Ghost Kitties on Etsy (love etsy!) and on the evening we got back from DD's graduation, had a message asking if I could make a quantity of L'il Devils and Ghost Kitties to decorate a set for a movie being filmed in Louisiana. My response: uh, YEAH! So, after a day or two working out the details, got the order for 2 dozen assorted!

Of course that meant I had to quickly make 10 Black kitties and 10 L'il Devils. Devils made of fabric that's out of print. So I dyed some, and finished them this morning. UPS'd them to Louisiana, and am hoping I will be told the name of the movie eventually, cause I certainly want to see these guys on the big screen!

May is for Beginnings and Endings

It's May, and I'm not sure where April went!

The Red Panty trunk show at the City Art Center was a success from my point of view; lots of ladies came to check out the clothing, try it on, and purchases were made!



Trista Hill & I led the First Ladies Night ART evening at the http://www.cityartcenter.org/. We had 6 participants, and through centering, expressive movement, drawing and observation exercises, opened up our creativity! Trista & I will lead another Ladies Night ART on Friday, May 25th, so don't miss it!

Over the weekend, I spent 2 days at the College of Wooster; Friday was IS presentation day, and of course Ana was fabulous! She's so natural, you don't even realize she's reading from her notes. Then Sunday the Equestrian Team had its first ever Rodeo, featuring dressage, hunt seat, all types of stirring horse & rider drills set to wonderful music. The Western riders gave a calf roping demo, and Ana was the first to snag hers! She looked so good! I didn't get to take a single picture myself, since I was the announcer reading the script that gave the riders' bios, horse information, etc. But it was a gorgeous day, and a lot of fun!

What's up next? Well, in the next 14 days, I'll hang 2 quilt shows at work, dismantle the senior art show on graduation day at OWU, see my beloved daughter graduate from Wooster (her father is wearing full Scottish dress, Prince Charlie jacket, Wallace plaid kilt!), move said daughter back home for good (for awhile), give a talk about my art quilts to a big guild in Columbus that I used to belong to, enjoy First Friday in Delaware, try to clean, organize, sort and get rid of some stuff around the homestead. In the meantime, still trying to exercise my thumb and get it fully recovered....I had no idea it would be such a slow process. It is, however, better than BEFORE the surgery, so I don't regret it. Apparently, I am old and do not bounce back from things like I used to!