cards and tools

sometimes i get a bug into me where i have to sit down and zone out for a few hours and make cards. i have never been into scrap booking, but i do love some good scrap booking tools. hole punches, sticky back paper, glitter - i love them all. they are perfect for making one of a kind 4x6 works of art.

my rack is stuffed full of cards for the show this weekend, so if you are in the norcross area, swing by to stock up.

art and supplies

i'm taking another art class at callanwolde fine arts center which starts this thursday. its focus is strictly on colored pencils, so i hope to find out tons of new tips. from the class list, i know the teacher is very serious about technique which makes me ecstatic. my last class was great, but it turned out to basically be open studio time, with very little instruction.


the same thing goes as my last class - i will post everything i do, good or bad :)

flowers and 5 days left

my felt flower ornaments are complete and i have five days to finish everything up before my weekend festival. i am so excited, i can hardly stand it. the bonus is, this time, i got a hotel room right next to the festival site, so i won't be driving back home exhausted. it will be a little mini vacation without really going anywhere. double bonus!

flowers and festivals

this past weekend was the start to fall festivals and it was so much fun. i actually didn't set up as a vendor, but helped my friend joyajewelry out at her booth. the crazy thing was i randomly ran into 2 followers of my blog who actually knew who i was. seriously, it was so exciting!!!

as a blogger, you are constantly putting things out into the universe with little or no feedback. many of my days are spent in my studio making things, so i often live inside of my computer. i was thrilled to find people who are actually reading and more than that, like what i have to say. on that note, i wanted to say thank you very much if you are a follower. and if you're in the atlanta area, come out to see me at the norcross art festival the first weekend of october. who knows, maybe there are more people out there reading than i think :)

chaos and order

this is the chaos that happens when i take product shots for etsy. i have tried shooting in the back yard, in the garage with the doors open, and now i have moved into my front entry hallway. it seems that there is no place where i can get consistent light for an hour at a time, so i have resigned myself to the fact that color correcting will have to be. and if you have been reading this blog for a while now, you know how much that frustrates me.

i would love to pass this job on to someone, but the truth is that the quantity of shots i need are either too expensive to have someone else do it, or i have nothing to barter with. so for the time being, me as photographer = me being my own worst enemy.

luckily i do have some photoshop skills to clean up the horrible images i take which gives me an end result of this...

i am head over heals with this lamp. i think it would look great sitting on top of a big chunky vintage desk. head over to my shop to see more lamps. it feels really good to get my shop stocked. woo hoo!

september and december

it may be september outside, but it is december in my studio. i am debuting new stockings for the upcoming holiday season and here is a sneak peek. visit my shop to see the whole line of stockings that include stars, christmas trees, ornaments, bows and bells.

yard sales and anticipation

this morning, i am headed out for what will probably be my last yard sale excursion of the season. since it is my last trip, i am guaranteed to find something fantastic, right? the anticipation is killing me!

scarlet and sitting

last night i got sucked into Gone With The Wind. 4 solid hours of couch sitting, and movie watching, but not popcorn eating because my husband and i are competing in a weight loss challenge with some friends. but that's a whole other post :)

on a recent thrift store trip, i found some great sweaters to felt - butter yellows, purples, bright reds and a teal. since my poinsettia ornaments were such a big hit last holiday season, i am moving forward this year with more felted flower ornaments. if you haven't guessed it, flowers are kind of my thing!

so, i spent my 4 hours of downtime cutting and cutting. now the magic can happen - i can't wait to embroider and add button embellishments. if you would like to make some of your own, download my poinsettia felt flower tutorial listed to your left.

sundays and sewing

even though i have had a headache for 4 days now, i managed to layer the back and batting with my quilt top yesterday. for the back, i chose a vintage sheet i had which is a pink floral. you can see it in the top left of the photo. the quilt is now on the hoop and hand quilting has commenced!

my husband's football starts this weekend, so you can be pretty sure i will be snuggled on the couch most sundays working on this.

a friend and an interview

hi again! the talented jenni horne interviewed me for her blog today and i couldn't be more excited. check out her blog to read all about linwood avenue and while you are there, spend some time learning about her whimsical life along with her sidekick mattie.

i close the interview with this, but it couldn't be more true. thank you, thank you jenni!...
"i can hardly believe all the amazing artists i have met through this online world we live in. it is a constant source of inspiration, encouragement and opportunity for me and i don’t know where linwood avenue would be without it."

reds and oranges

nothing much to report here on linwood avenue. i'm just staying steady busy with my day to day life while sprinkling in a few new projects. we spent a fantastic 4 days at the lake as we said goodbye to summer, now i am ready to start enjoying the reds and oranges of the autumn leaves.

and it's finally finished

over a year ago, one of my brothers asked me to make a quilt for him. i said sure, and in a few months, it was time to put my sewing machine to work. i must admit that this particular quilt was much harder than i expected and has taken close to half a year to finish. a combination of very thick fabric and a large size meant some struggles for my little home sewing machine. but i chugged on and can finally say it is finished. is it perfect? no. do the little imperfections seriously offend my crafting OCD? yes. but in the end, it's made with love and that's all that matters, right?