I love the country feel that these placemats have! Can't you just see them on your kitchen table with some warm cinnamon buns and lots of hot coffee? Go visit this lovely studio and remember Christmas is just a few weeks away... http://www.artfire.com/users/ShabbyBags

King Me!!!!

This is the coolest. It's cold, rainy and windy here in Hickory, NC today and when I saw this all I wanted to do was sit in front of a fire with some really good coffee and play checkers! Keep up the good work and keep the floats coming. Visit her studio to see the other really awesome handiwork.

This is the cutest!

I love this key chain. It would look stunning hanging from any purse. And would be a great stocking stuffer...and Hanukkah present, as well. Check it out.

Victorian Rose

This is another beautiful work of art designed by Melek. This reminds me of a beautiful Victorian Garden...Can't you just smell the honeysuckle? Keep up the good work!

Gorgeous!

This bracelet reminds me of gypsies. When I looked at it I immediately thought of flowing skirts, guitar music and belly dancing! This is a beautiful piece of art. Thank you for sharing your talent with us. Visit the shop to see her other original designs. No two pieces are ever the same. http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=389267

Stunning!

It has always amazed me how sometimes black and white photographs are a bit more stunning than color ones. This photo is titled Sutro Baths and it is absolutely beautiful. It takes my mind to the shores of Crete or Dubrovnik. If I close my eyes I can smell the salt air and feel the fine mist coming from the breakers against the rocks. Visit the studio of Leslie Payne and see her other stunning work. http://www.artfire.com/users/lesleypayne

Great job on keeping the floats going...the You Can Sell It Guild!

Great little stocking stuffer!

Purple being one of my favorite colors I think this necklace would look wonderful slipped into someone's Christmas stocking this year. Or it would be a perfect gift for Hannukah! These holidays will be here before you know it.

Go and visit her studio: http://www.artfire.com/users/JewelryWorksbyKim

"It's Delovely, It's Delightful"

This is MY kind of coaster!!!! Lovely work.

Go and visit http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=49840

Delovely and Delightful_Stitches...She does custom work also...These would be great stocking stuffers for all the coffee drinkers in your life.

New Attitude

Hi Everyone!

I am back...Let's just say that after several bouts with bad luck, I have survived and returned to make my way in the world.

I still feel like such an infant in this world of twitters, chirps, blogs, etc. But I am determined to succeed. NOTHING is going to deter me from achieving my dream. I have a little bit of a different attitude now. I spent three days with my daughter and my two grand-children. My daughter's husband's grand-father died and I went over to her house to help her out while he was out of town.

Funny how little faces give you a new perspective on life. My grand-son is 15 months old and unstoppable. We can't decide whether to dress him up like Bam Bam or King Henry VIII for Halloween! Both would suit him so well. When we ask his sister what he should be for Halloween, she keeps saying a chicken leg!

My grand-daughter will be three this December and is soooo independent. She can't decide whether to be a witch or an orange butterfly for Halloween. Hmmmm...wonder if I could make her a flying orange witch costume! LOL

I was pretty depressed when I went over to my daughter's house...just because life seemed to be working against me instead of for me. But, after spending that time with these beautiful, innocent little ones. These faces full of vim and vigor...Those eyes that look at you with total wonderment when you tell them something or show them how to do something that they have never done before...Well, it brings you back to reality and you all of a sudden become aware that your life is not so bad. Things are not as grim as they appear to be. They give you energy, they give you hope, they give you happiness. So, it is with that new found attitude that I have come back to this alien world. This cyberspace world that scares me to death. I mastered hang-gliding faster than I am mastering this. But I will succeed!

I am getting ready for "Holiday Fair" in December. A show in Greenville, SC on December 3, 4, and 5. Long show but the last hurrah for the year for arts and craft's shows. My goal is to come back empty handed after a 28 hour show. Been busy sewing, knitting with wire and working full time. Since cash is very limited I am forcing myself to use my stash as much as possible. Been hunting on freecycle for fabrics and craft stuff too. (Excellent site) Find myself pretty exhausted by the end of any given day, but I plod on. I have also been remiss in not posting as much as I should for Artfire, but since I am back I will try and catch up and post for my fellow members of the "You Can Sell It" Guild.

More great stuff from the hands of Artfire!

WOW!!! This clock is pure elegance...go to Grand Prairie Woodworks and see his other awesome stuff... http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=38246&op=new&body=1

A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!! Awesome!! Totally!!!

I have joined Twitter, facebook, and this blog in hopes that I am starting to reach an audience out there. Hopefully, I am doing some good for my guild members in promoting their products from Artfire. This lovely little cheerleading outfit is adorable!!! I have a friend at work that would simply love this. I will have to tell her all about it on Thursday, when I see her. Go to http://www.artfire.com/users/CutsiePoochie and browse--you never know what you will find. Remember, Christmas is coming sooner than you think.

I have good news to report. I met a woman through freecycle, here in Hickory, who makes jewelry and she is interested in doing a show or two before the end of the year. The next show, like I've said is Art In the Shop, in Taylorsville, NC on October 3rd. She is willing to put fort effort and she is very enthusiastic--quite a change from my other experiences. Sooooo, we're shooting for that show. Anyone out there close to Taylorsville? Come see Debbie and I.

Okay!!!! I can tell you that this little hoodie is all the rage. Every well dressed doggie needs one for the chilly winter nights. Just one question, can you make them for larger dogs too???? Go to http://www.artfire.com/users/CutsiePoochie and see what other items she has in her shop. Great job, Cutsie Poochie!

New Plans!

Okay...So, I've had a few setbacks and have had to come up with different plans. Remember I said that I WOULD do the craft shows? Well, as it stands now, they seem unattainable. I am without a vehicle of my own and because my daughter has two kids it is very difficult for them to cart me everywhere I need to go, including the craft shows.

My "friend" who used to do them with me, is no longer interested. She was keeping our banquet tables and the canopy for the shows at her house. (She has more room than me) When I went to get these items last Wednesday, she informed me that the canopy self-destructed. She was using them for her yard sales! I got that canopy off freecycle -- so, it was very well used when I got it. We both had agreed to only use it for the shows that were upcoming. Then this way, we would not abuse it and it would probably last. So, now, I have no canopy, no vehicle...still I was hopeful.

I work with a woman who offered me the use of her PT Cruiser. I thanked her profusely and again my hopes rose to new heights. But, alas, someone in her family is ill and they will need the use of the vehicle that weekend. Still, I was hopeful.

I thought, well, maybe I can rent the canopy and the tables and have them delivered to the show and then they will pick them up at the end of the show. After several phone calls, because of the times of the show, that proved impossible. Okay, so now I'm not so hopeful. Went through a bit of despair and anxiety. But, now, I've just decided to concentrate on the online stuff. I am still very upset that I cannot attend the craft shows the rest of the year, but hopeful that the Artfire site will prove to be beneficial. I took new pictures of my items and posted them all on Artfire. I am participating more and more in the You Can Sell It Guild that I belong to and hope to make a Halloween costume for a contest for another guild that I belong to -- all on Artfire.

I plan, now, to get out of debt...and as soon as I do that I will just have to go out and buy a car at a dealership, since finding a Point A to Point B car is proving to be impossible.

Funny, how things never turn out the way you plan. It almost seems that Karma is determining my every step. What I have wanted and what I have to do are quite opposed to one another.

So, for everyone out there that is in a similar boat as I -- don't despair, don't fret, just make other plans...don't be inflexible. Remember my motto....

Those who do not hear the music think the dancers mad. Keep on listening to your muses and move forward!

Just Ramlings in General

Well, it's Friday night, just 13 days before the show in Morganton, NC. I had to stop and do something else besides try and figure out what new items I want to make for the show. I've been taking inventory of the fabrics that I have and what I can make with them. But after a while, you feel like a dog chasing your tail. So many fabrics, sooooo little time. Sometimes I think it would be better if I just found the fabric, made one or two things and moved on, but experience has taught me that assembly line is the best way to go when you want to make a multitude of the same items.

I'm just a little down in the dumps because when I re-started to do the craft shows at the beginning of this year, I had a "friend" of mine who wanted to do them also. She crocheted the cutest little totes! But, she decided that she didn't want to do the shows anymore. I already had committed to several more shows -- she just didn't get the concept that you had to reserve your booth WAY in advance.

It was a perfect relationship for a craft business, I did all the sewing, hand-painting, quilting, etc. and she crocheted. No one was in competition and it brought diversity to the booth. Plus, I thought it was a lot of fun. My "friend" did not. She said the craft shows were too much hard work. I hope you noticed that I put the word friend in quotation marks. I have come to find out that the only reason she was my "friend"...well, not the time nor place for this rambling.

I am without a car at the moment and she had the van! Perfect! Now, I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to get three 6' banquet tables, canopy, and everything else needed for a two day show from Hickory to Morganton. My daughter and her boyfriend have a car, so getting the smaller stuff from point A to point B is not the problem, but the tables...Oh, well, I guess I'll figure it out. Wish I could just go to a dealership and buy a new car, but with the way MY economy is right now, it's going to be several months before I could afford that, unless I find a really cheap van or station wagon that I could just make small payment for a few months. Wonder if I could find a nice copper oil lamp somewhere and rub and rub. Ya' think the genie will come?

In the meantime, I will continue to work my full time job (at Cracker Barrel in Hickory) and sew, paint, etc. I WILL do the Morganton show and then the one in Taylorsville on October 3 (Art in the Shop) and then the Hickory Oktoberfest!!!!

"I think I can....I think I can....I think I can"

Lazy Day

My "weekend" started today and I decided that I should take a day to relax and not do much of anything. I should have done laundry, changed litter boxes and then gotten to work at sewing something! See, I have an Arts & Craft's Show in September. It's a local show in Morganton, NC, that's only about 20 minutes from where I live in Hickory, NC. I want to make so many more things but I have been tired, as of late. I could probably have slept all day if my daughter didn't need me to babysit my two grand-kids for a few hours. I did have a lot of fun with them!!! So, it was worth giving up sleep for that.

Tomorrow is my other day off from work and I WILL sew or knit or paint...Have to. If I don't the show will be here before I know it and I will be kicking myself because I didn't get as much done as I wanted to.

So, any of you that are out there in the area -- come to the show and come prepared to spend!!

Keep on creating!!

WOW!!! I am really green!

I thought that I was computer literate...Boy, was I wrong. I recently became a member of Artfire. You see, I am a crafter/artisan. I have been playing with fabric since I was a little girl. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to make a living selling my handmade items. Several times I have tried to start this cottage industry but life got in the way and it always got pushed back. Now, much later (I won't say how old I really am), I have decided that one way or another I will make this dream come to fruition.

I figured that the best way to sell my items would be online. I also sell at craft shows and I am trying to see if there are any local shops that might be interested. Anyway, I figured that becoming a member of a site such as Artfire...it would be oh, so easy...I just put pictures up and voila!!!! Boy, was I mistaken. I'm not a total idiot when it comes to computers, but I must admit that I've had to learn a whole new nomenclature. There have been terms that I've had to look up, just to see what the heck they meant. One of them was blogging!!!!

Now, sure, I've heard the term, plenty -- but I've always been too chicken to ask what exactly it was. As a member of Artfire, you can become a Maven...and one of the recent posts was to "make an artist's day". I thought, what a good idea! Everybody deserves a pat on the back. I've yet to meet someone who's ego wasn't boosted when told what a good job they did. We all smile when we are paid a compliment.

Sounds so simple...just find an artist and pay them a compliment...put a smile on their face...pat them on the back...pay it forward. I am writing this blog in hopes that other artisans/crafters find their way here. For all of you out there that have decided that art is important. For all of you who march to the sound of your own beat. I want to send out a general, "Hip, hip, hooray!!!"

My favorite quote is: "Those who do not hear the music, think the dancers mad". Artisans/Crafters, keep on dancing...