Wordless Wednesday

The Clock Strikes February

So it's Jan. 31, 2012, roughly 10 minutes away from February, and I'm looking back on the month, feeling, for the most part, satisfied with what I've accomplished with the first month of my new year. Have to be- no turning back! I can say I'm thankful for everything that I've enjoyed this month, from new friends and fun, to progress in my work, challenges that forced me to "up" my game, and plans for new projects. A major accomplishment for me personally, especially looking to the next 11 months, has been greater organization and time management. I know it sounds hum drum to some folks, but everything I can do to make it easier, happier, more efficient and more fulfilling to do my creative work and make a living at it, is a good thing. Heck, a great thing.

I am a dreamer with a realist streak, and while I have big dreams about all the projects I'm anxious to complete, and all the ideas I'm itching to share with the world, I have to also be a doer. For this reason I am so thankful for a God-given passion for creating. It's one thing that I could have never learned. It had to be there from the start to whisk me off on the road to these dreams. And now it's midnight, and February is here. I'm looking forward to all the opportunities and inspiration that await. Are you?

Hello!

So, my 2012 is starting out on bright notes, with lots of plans, ideas, and big hopes. I don't know why, and I keep saying this, but I've got a good feeling about this year, for all sorts of lovely things. It's probably helping this outlook that the weather in my part of the country has been beautiful this first week- as though it's setting the tone for a brilliant, sunny, happy year. I've already anxiously started on my mental and written lists of things to do, and I'm loving the feeling of accomplishment! Wonder if I'd feel this way if this had been a rainy, nasty week? Yeah, probably, but I might have tackled projects a little differently for lack of light.

Anyway, I'm not a superstitious person, but I did get in the traditional black eyed peas (for good luck) and collard greens (for money) as part of my New Year's day dinner. And I ran into something else that's supposed to be a good sign:

hello there!

All things point to the amazing, including my expectations, so let's do this! A very happy and prosperous New Year to all! :o)

The Joy of Low Key

I have not been ignoring this blog. I have just been thinking about it from afar. While I do lots of other things. The good thing is that they were fun, creative, productive things.

*Yawn* K, so it's the week of Christmas, and I've kept the hustle and bustle to a minimum. Well, at least outside home. I did all my hustling and bustling here, away from the crowded stores, running around in my socks, finishing some creative projects and pieces, shipping others, and starting still more. Anyway, today (a beautiful day) has been some of this:

And a lot of this, as the day wore on:

I'm getting some work done, but the sound of that rain getting heavier outside as dusk sets in is making me think about some of this:

And maybe a little later:

A book and a nice fire to read by could be nice, too. Okay! Back to work, lol.
But later maybe...

Wordless Wednesday

A Creative's Collection

So, as a creative person, with all kinds of ideas and inspiration constantly running through my bean, I have been known to hoard things, both in my head and in my physical space. I'm drawn to things that have a unique beauty, and it's a bonus if they have a little story attached to them, or just a little mystery that prompts me to create my own story for them. I don't really consider myself a collector, though. In my mind, when I think of collector, I think of the people you see on t.v. with rooms and rooms of stuff that all follows a {sometimes} strange theme. I don't have anything like that, just a few treasured things that have some meaning for me. One of my favorite personal collections is my handkerchiefs. I don't have a lot of them, but I enjoy them for their pretty colors and the stories behind some of them. I inherited most of them from my grandmothers, but some of them were just gifts or lucky finds at vintage shops.

I know these are the days of kleenex purse packs, but when I remember to, I like to drop one of these in my purse to use. It's a bonus if I have one that goes with what I'm wearing.

One of my grandmothers, who was a part of the era of women who wore hats, gloves, and carried hankies on regular days. Most of these were hers.

This one is a favorite, for its color, and its cut-out leaf design. It's one of the inherited ones and was once lost, I thought forever. I had left it behind at a wedding reception, and when I realized it, I called the hotel, but no one seemed to have seen it. Over a month later, it showed up in a little white envelope that came in the mail. I was SO relieved- and I felt like Nana must have helped it find its way back to me herself, lol.

Anyway, I don't really care about adding to this collection, and I think my grandmothers would be pleased to know I'm actually using them, not letting them sit in a box somewhere, hidden. The best part of collecting is enjoying your treasures, right?

Wordless Wednesday: Window Shopping, Wishful Thinking

Package Envy

The designer in me has a weakness for

beautiful packaging. I admire innovative,

creative, compelling design, but who doesn't?

It's human nature to be drawn to things in pretty packages. I will admit to desiring a product (or a man, lol) solely on the merits of the package design, knowing full well I had no use for the object(s) inside. Anyway, I love to incorporate special touches in packaging my own handmade things. In my humble opinion, it's part of the fun of a unique handmade item for me, and I hope, for the customer or recipient, too. It definitely sets the tone, telling the end user, "this is something special". Here's my latest prototype, packaging for a magnifying glass and letter opener set embellished with my handmade recycled paper beads:



simple, designed to showcase the product inside

 

a descriptive label I designed and printed from my laserjet onto cardstock

a larger label on the back, with more details about the product

This project was something I had been meaning to get around to but didn't until a customer ordered it for an anniversary gift (possibly for their "paper" anniversary??) and requested gift wrapping. I will make some tweaks (because I'm just anal like that) to the design and use it to package more sets. Here's how the gift wrap came out:

Learn more about this item: http://www.etsy.com/shop/artspell/search?search_query=magnifying+glass&search_submit=&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5360184&shopname=artspell

Things I Make for Me

This is a "two-fer" today, because I'm sharing two things I made just for moi. I continue to stay happily busy creating things for my online shops and other outlets day in and day out, but, thankfully find time to make things for me. It is definitely part of the joy of creating. So, have a look. The first item is a sort of cork tile o' inspiration that I mounted in my bathroom. It's a fun thing that sorta took shape around something I was gifted. A friend gave me some of her late mother's collection of vintage buttons, which I knew I could find a use for, easy. They sat around for a while until I got the idea to glue my favorites onto brass tacks. From there I decided they were just too pretty for my regular bulletin boards. I also had these pretty, dark cork tiles doing nothing.

Then, finally I determined it was time to do something with these scraps of magazines I had lying around. I had torn out pieces with different makeup looks to try because I love to experiment with color, outside my studio, too, lol.

So this thing came from all that. Interestingly, that is how many projects come together for me, especially when I acquire something I love, or have a stray idea. I don't always know what things will become, but when I love them enough... and if I set them aside long enough, they find a purpose.

The other item is a fun tank top that was ridiculously cheap and easy.

The tank was under $5, and the shimmery peacock feather applique was, like, 50 cents. It took all of 10 minutes (if you don't count me moving it around to different spots on the top to decide where I wanted it) to iron it on. And it's adorable on. There you have it.

Days, Numbers, and Times

As I inch up on my 37th (sheesh) birthday, I've been doing some reminiscing on and remembering my life so far. I have plenty to be thankful for, especially good memories. One of my favorite memories of my childhood was when I figured out how to make myself a cup of coffee, lol. I know that sounds strange, but I was a strange kid (and that has not changed much, lolol). Sometimes I think I started out a little old lady, and as I grew up, I went backwards, something like Benjamin Button. These days people seem to mistake me for someone in her twenties, not late thirties (which is totally okay with me).

Anyway, I remember my mother's old coffee percolator, with its little glass bubble on top, where I could watch the coffee gurgling up as it brewed a pot of coffee for she and my dad. And I remember having my own little Raggedy Ann cup and saucer, and a tiny folding table and chair. My mother would set up the table and chair in front of the big old television set in the living room in the mornings and I would have my hot cereal and a little bit of coffee in my cup while I watched the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.

On Saturday mornings, like most kids that age, I was usually up and ready to go long before my parents felt like being disturbed. So I would get up and quietly watch my Saturday morning cartoons. By the time I was 6, I could reach the counter in the kitchen, and one Saturday morning in particular remains in my memory. I guess I must have seen my mother and grandmother do it enough that I decided to go in and help myself. I remember putting a spoonful each of instant coffee, sugar, and creamer into my Raggedy Ann cup (I still have a fuzzy picture in my mind of the little brown and white mountains of crystals overlapping in the bottom of the cup), and I guess I added hot water from the kitchen tap. And voila! I remember how excited and grown up I felt, as I drank my coffee and watched my cartoons, lol, and how I couldn't wait for my mom to get up so I could tell her.

Anyway, savoring memories from the various stages of my life definitely causes me to look forward to those I have yet to create. We often talk about how good things "used to be", and "the good old days", missing them, wishing we could somehow recapture them, because we might appreciate them so much more. But every single day has the potential to stick out in our minds as a great time in our lives. Reminiscing this way could serve as a reminder of how important it is to live and take advantage of every single second, savor every moment, stop and notice how many good things, big and small we are blessed to experience, whatever part of our personal journey we are on. And to make now the good new days.

Trial and Error

I like trial and error. I do. It is a necessary process that elevates my understanding of various media as I learn the quirks and oddities that make up the properties of a material. Yeah, whatever. As valuable as I know trial and error to be in creating, sometimes it just iirrrrrks me so bad!

Yesterday, when I discovered a drying process gone awry on a piece I had eagerly and excitedly painted the day before, I wanted to kick something, hard. Luckily no one else was around.

Some fluke crackle effect where I didn't intend it to be.
really? GRRRRR!!!

Yeah, it's a pretty big buzz-kill on that whole fulfilling creative process thing when green dries blue, stuff warps to look stangely like crap, or a tool fails just minutes away from the completion of a major piece, all but totally destroying
weeks of work.

super.

Seems like it happens the most on stuff I am really looking forward to finishing. I'll be cruising along, moving closer and closer to the finished product I picture, when, wham, a lil ol' monkey wrench in my plan. Most times whatever has gone wrong is fixable, and teaches me something I can use to my benefit on other projects. In fact, the errors sometimes equal happy accidents. Sometimes it will change the vision for what the finished product will be. Bring out my inner scientist when something doesn't work and I'm forced to rig- er, formulate a new method.

how many times do I have to mix paint
to get the right pink? we are not going for
pepto bismol here...

But often, it is a setback, adding additional
step(s) and an additional day or more to a project. And, who are we kidding, when you are creating for a living, the "time is money" thing definitely applies to you. In the end, I try to make myself feel better about extra time I have to spend fixing or re-doing by thinking about how much faster and more efficient I'll be able to get that same thing done the next 5 or 10 times, knowing what I know. It's awesome in the same way as getting your taxes done.
Back to the drawing board...

A Feature

I've been featured! Cassandra Tomlinson of Tomlinson Photography was so kind to do a feature on her blog about me. Here's the link: http://creationsbycc.blogspot.com/2011/10/multimedia-artist-renee-parker-owner.html. Please check it out and share her blog, if you're so moved. ;o)

And please be sure to check out her studio on Artfire while you're at it- she creates some beautiful things herself! http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/Tomlinson_Photography_and_Design

Thanks again Cassandra!