A Tiny Bit of Fall - Works in Progress

I just wanted to share a few of the things I'm working on for my upcoming shows in September and November.

I've got 2 shows in September; 1 is in Murfreesboro, TN at Paisley and Plaid's Fall Market on September 10th, and the other is Sweet Tea and Shopping's Fall Frenzy in Gallatin, TN on September 16th (preview night) and September 17th. Then in November, it's Paisley and Plaid's Christmas Market on November 12th (also in Murfreesboro, TN). They should all be fantastic shows and I'm very excited to be a vendor and be part of these holiday events!
So here are a few quick pics to bring you up to date;

First my helper. This is Lucy, my Staffordshire terrier and helper extraordinaire. Always by my side now that Freckie is gone, and willing to lend a paw. LOL!

Papier mache pumpkin on a wooden candlestick base. I'm excited about this one! I haven't done papier mache in awhile and I think this'll be fun when it's all finished. I'll post a finished picture. Update: Last night I finished the head. I painted it a warm buttermilk color and did the facial features in a deep brown wash instead of the usual black, and then antiqued the whole thing with a nut brown color. I am loving it! Hope you will too.

This is the start of a wooden and paper clay wire witch. I'm going to be sculpting the witch head out of clay, painting it, then stitching up a fun pointy witch hat. She'll have wire arms as well, perhaps holding a bucket of treats or maybe a magic wand, we'll see. Another project that I think will be really cute when it's finished.

And finally, here's one I'm just not sure of. I want to do a set of Dia de los Muertos wine glasses, and I'm not loving the paint. It's hard to cover and streaky. Painting glass may look simple, but in reality, it's not, at least for me. But again, we'll see how it turns out.

Ok, back to work! And feel free to leave a comment, I love to get feedback on my work. Keeps me on my toes!

Heat and Bugs and Art

Well I want to start out by saying, "I HATE BUGS!!!" Oh lordy, I have NEVER EVER seen so many heinous varieties as I have here in the South.  Like right now beetles are banging against the window of my craft room. Go to sleep you hideous things!!! AND these - bright red velvet nightmares they call "Cowkillers" with a sting so vicious it can kill a cow supposedly. I actually saw one on my driveway the other day. Heaven knows where it was headed. Ha!!! Not on my property you don't! DEAD (I think...) AND these -  the biggest black wasps I've ever seen anywhere, the size of a hummingbird that continually burrow into my barn floor no matter how many gallons of insecticide I dump down those holes. Lovely eh?  I'm supporting the local hardware stores here in town with all the wasp spray I'm buying. All I can say is be careful what you wish for! I wanted to move here so I better just shut the front door and get on with it!

 

OK, now onto art and what I've been working on. Painting. Lots and lots of painting. I've also been working on an interesting collage thing with spooky houses that I'm really diggin! (Diggin. Isn't that like a word from the '60's? I LIKE IT!)  Anyway... I've been working on all sizes of canvases from 2x2 on up. My subjects have mostly been snowmen but I have started to do more Halloween as well. I'll post some pics here in the next day or so.

 

Jewelry: Oh boy. I think I have a love/hate with it. I'm not sure why exactly. Well wait, yes, I do know why. The wire wrap ring thingys. I forgot how to do it and can't seem to find my way back to knowing. See I took this amazing class from this gal in Bonney Lake, WA, named Kara and she was just this great teacher and made it super easy. I didn't practice enough and now that I need to make some, um...I forgot. So here I am now in ol' Lewisburg, TN with no (anything) craft or bead stores so I head on up to Berry Hill, TN with a friend and we go to a bead store there. No names mentioned. This lady at the counter who attempted to show me and my Andre-the-Giant sized hands, how exactly to hold the correct tool, well I swear she served in the German army - you WILL hold the pin THIS WAY!!! Scary!!!!  Needless to say she didn't teach me anything. So after that I've just been muddling my way through putting stuff together.  I have been making some things and they're not half-bad. I don't know. I love dangly things so I did some of that off the chain, but then I wanted beads too so I did part beads then a crimp bead, then the chain and so it went... 

 

I did make some of my own pendant charms out of Sculpy - a day of the dead skull and also a heart with a witch/broom. They're "OK". Eh. Maybe I'm my worst critic. Sculpy = love/hate as well. I'm going to do something with them as in add beads, chain, etc. and then decide if I'll list them for sale or not. Yes yes I'll post pics.  

 

Here's something I am excited about! This Fall/Winter, I'm planning on doing some craft fairs.  I think up in Nashville at the Expo center and then maybe some others in some smaller towns. I was going to do one in Bell Buckle but not sure and the deadline is fast approaching to decide. My goal is to get more work out there and build my By Way of Salem presence here in the south. I'm working getting as much done now as I possibly can and also getting my booth display together. Just that alone and being all creative and enticing to get people to come in is work, but it's very fun too.

 

I'm happy that I'm back creating and blogging and settled in pretty much here, so get used to seeing me!!