Blustery. That is the weather outside today. It's so windy that the windows rattle and it chills you to the bone. Maybe it's the winds of change.
Aries asked me to teach her how to sew. I was hoping this day would come. So tonight she gets to rummage around in my fabric cabinet. We will start small with a little pillow - nothing major.

I noticed the bleeding hearts were in bloom other day. They are bringing some much needed color to my kitchen windowsill. Wish there name was different ....to me they look more like hearts in flight. Little heart balloons drifting up, carrying wishes.
Hope they are carrying your wishes ♥ Have a lovely weekend.

Spreading Cheer

Things are looking up here and I hope they are where you are. We are looking at homes, getting interviewed for positions, and promising not to start any new projects. Well at least that's my promise to myself. The studio is getting overwhelming. Filled with items that have either been started, or are just hanging around.
So while cleaning up and starting to pack, I came across some of my finished projects that need a new place to call home. The first thing I spied was this flour sack dishtowel with an embroidered red barn on it. I'm not sure if I intended this to be for me, a farmer's market, or the shop. But I can just picture a freshly baked loaf of bread wrapped it in, ready for a summer picnic.

Now the second item I found I completely forgot about. I started making this shirt for baby Odyn right after he was born. It's size 6 months ...and now Odyn refers to himself as a big boy who is 3. He never wore it, only because by the time it was finished he was wearing sizes much larger. When I folded it away I pictured giving it as a gift at a friends baby shower, but it has stayed there.

Until now!!! I'm offering these goodies up to you :) 

All you have to do is leave a message on this post telling me which prize you would like. 

Also if you are a follower of this blog (anyway - bloglovin', GFC, Twitter, FB, Etc) 

leave another comment for an extra entry. 

Giveaway will close May 3rd.

I''ll pick two winners one for the dishtowel and one for the shirt on May 4th.

 Please don't forget a way for me to contact you!!!

Keep Shining

The sun is shining today! Things are on a up swing, which is much appreciated around here. I started working on more hexagons last night. They're part of a quilt I have started...well kinda. I've promised myself no major projects for a month or two.
Yesterday I reached 200 sales in my Itchin' Stitchin' Shop!! Even more reason to celebrate. Kids and I are going to play outside, eat ice cream cones, and make some puddles with the hose. Have a great weekend.

Small Surprises

These are a few of my small surprises:

1. Pretty blooms from the neglected garden.

2. Full unopened packet of seeds from last year.

3. 5 leaf clover! Found while outside with the kids.

4. Small bird card found in a used gardening book purchased from the book barn.

Quiet

I've lost my crafty mojo. I'm sure I will find it again but right now it's been put high up a shelf somewhere in my brain. Usually when I'm stressed, it all kind of goes away. No matter how hard I try, I can't reach it. It's been quiet here lately, probably for the same reason.

Not that I don't have lots to share but more so that I only like to share positive happy things. I will be the first to admit life is not always sunshine and rainbows... and for those brief moments when you are drenched by the black cloud hovering over you, it's okay to keep to yourself. I would hate for anyone else passing by to be struck by it's lightning. I'm sure soon the sun will break through, blue birds will fly again, and all my craftiness will be back.

Knitting Paper Winner

We have a winner for the Knitting Paper Print!!! Thank you all for entering. This time I went with a different way to pick a winner - a happy spring Easter ... candy ... way. I put 56 pastel jelly beans, for the 56 entries, in a cute little lotus bowl.

Miss Aries, AKA Candy monster, wanted to help. So I advised her to pick out some jelly beans. Grabbing a handful - we counted how many she took. The total would be the lucky winner.

She picked out 20 exactly! Congrats Jeri! Stay tuned for another giveaway... because isn't it just wonderful to feel lucky :)

Candy!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. The bunny left lots of baskets filled with goodies in our house. It truly brings a new understanding to the term "hopped up" on candy.

Spring showers are among us this week. Today was our last day filled with sunshine till the weekend. The plants are welcoming the rain, and I am too. Everything feels dry. While the bees were franticly buzzing around before the storm, I was busy trying to get some shop pictures in.

I'll be embracing the rain. Doing some spring cleaning - including the candy wrappers that keep popping up - and working on some much forgotten projects.

P.S. Don't forget today is the last day to enter the Knitting Paper Print Giveaway 

Cast A Spell of Luck

Because we all need a little luck now and then :) 

Yarn Print Giveaway

I know I said last week I would end the week on high note with a giveaway - it's a little later than the end of week....oops. Better late than never right?!

So to promote my new line of watercolor prints I thought I would give you all a chance to win one! Starting today I will be adding prints into Print Me Out. Each print is printed on Premier Art Watercolor Paper with a Kodak Printer. Most prints will be in 3 different standard american sizes 4x6, 5 x7, and 8x10.

For safe shipping they will be shipped inside an envelope marked Do Not Bend, in a clear plastic bag with a white backing board. Each print will be signed on the back.
So with this giveaway this is what you have a chance to win:
One winner will receive a 5x7 inch print of my Knitting Paper Print. It features a lovely turquoise blue gray ball of yarn that is being knitted. There is a bit of an optical illusion in there - after all the knitting looks to be carrying on in the middle of the piece rather than the end of a row.

Here is how to enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would do with the print if you won it. Would you give it as a gift? Hang it in your studio?
2. If you follow my blog or would like to - let me know how you follow in the comments for another chance to win.
3. Pin any of these pictures to Pinterest  with a link to my blog - Copy the link to your pin and leave it in the comments.
4. Favorite Print Me Out on Etsy - Leave a comment with your Etsy name.

** Please remember to leave me a way to contact you if you win!** Giveaway is open to anyone worldwide. Winning this print does not transfer reproduction rights.CLOSED Giveaway ends April 10th, 2012 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random and announced here.
Goodluck!!!!

What Makes An Artist An Artist?

When I was younger I had a friend who had an above ground pool. In the summer we would run around the inside of the pool creating a current that would make a whirlpool. The random leaves that may have fallen would whirl around and get funneled into the center. We would stop running, hang onto the side, and feel the current tug us. Sometimes you could fight the current, try to swim against it but really if you just let go, relaxed, you went with the flow and enjoyed the ride.
There is a philosophy that if all good things were easy then everyone would have them. A philosophy I agree with - to a point. You need to make the effort, put in the work, and your time will come. But when do obstacles turn into battles?
This weekend Rob and I took a trip to see an old warehouse that is being turned into live/work space for artists in Lowell, MA. The lofts looked gorgeous online, and even better in person. I knew that there may be some obstacles if this was the place we decided to start our new adventure. For one we would both need new employment in the area, two we really didn't know this area very well, and three I would need to prove myself as an artist.

In a couple of days I put together my artist resume, figured out how to create a slideshow full of my work, and like most things I do put extra effort into it by decorating my applications envelope. Knowing I would need to fight the current a little on some of the other obstacles I gained up all my strength. We explained the effort we would put in, we advised that we would show them we could do it, we fought against that current.
But the real shock came when I was told I'm not an artist. What?! I don't have a college degree in art, my items haven't been in galleries, and someone who is recognized already as an artist in the art community needs to say I am an artist. This is the point where the obstacles became a battle.
Instead of trying to swim against the current I have decided to let go and enjoy the ride. It has made me ponder the idea, what makes an artist an artist? Is it a college degree that someone spends time and money to get? Is it the gallery that you pay to put your art on the wall to be viewed by others? Who decides if what you create is considered "art"?
My definition is if you create it, with your own free thought, it is art. It takes skills, imagination, and creativity. It's the original ideas and the way you interpret them that make you an artist. While the initial comment of someone telling me I'm not an artist hurt, I know in my heart that is just an opinion - it is not a fact!
Don't ever let anyone tell you who you are or are not. YOU are the only one who gets to decide that.