a little break and some regrouping

well, the time has come for me to take a break from this space (as if you couldn't tell by my lack of posting these past few weeks).

the reason? simply that my heart isn't into it right now. at this moment, my mind is going towards a new path in my artwork and i really want to take the time to focus on that. do you ever feel like you spend all your time on social media promoting a product that you actually don't have enough time to make anymore because all you are doing is the business end of your business? yeah, that in a nutshell is me.

i will still stop by from time to time to show you some new projects i am working on, and when the time comes and i am ready to come back here full time as i have been for the past 3 years, i do hope you all are still around. however, if you love my slice of life on Linwood Avenue, and still want a play by play, please check me out on instagram or twitter @ linwoodavenue.

and don't forget about the very exciting art retreat i have planned in january - www.southerncircleretreats.com. check it out, so much goodness will be happening and i would love to see you there!

nesting bowls and nesting

there are some things that i just can't leave a thrift store without even though they match nothing that i own and i have no need for them. one of those things happened to be this set of red enamel nesting bowls that are covered in tiny white polka dots.

luckily, the next week, they found the perfect home in a friends red kitchen. i love when i can pair treasures up with people!

festivals and craftiness

as i said, lately the words just aren't there, but at least my craftiness still is!

i have been in clutch making mode lately after i realized how easy they are. this is the third one i have made as a birthday gift, plus two more for me - i am on a roll!

if you want to see more of my craftiness in person, i am involved in two different shows this weekend:

the first is the whimsical wares pop-up shop in marietta, ga. i was so honored to be asked to be a part of this group show and i know it will be a huge success! the great thing about it is that the two wonderful ladies who run it do everything. yes, everything-which leaves me free to be at the country living show in stone mountain, ga, friday through sunday. i will be helping out in the modern june booth working the oilcloth table for the second year in a row. at the country living fair, you will also be able to find my aprons, tinsel hearts, embroidery hoops, lamps, etc.... inside modern june's double booth.

three cheers for festivals!

swag and squeals

 

one of the things i am most excited about with pulling together our upcoming SOUTHERN CIRCLE RETREATS is the swag bag creation. jenni and i are brain storming tons of ideas that will make the attendees ooh and ahh. we might even hear some squeals - in fact, i'm counting on it!

send me an email at: info (@) linwood avenue (dot) com if you would like some of your goodies included in the swag bag. only 12 attendees this time around, so not much to donate, but definitely a great advertising opportunity!

halloween and decorating

at the nagging of my munchkins who say that our house is seriously lacking in the halloween decorations, each year, i try to step up my game. this table in my entry hall typically serves as my decoration spot throughout the holidays. the problem with halloween is that it is so close to thanksgiving, so i prefer to have decorations that do double duty. the vintage bridge tablecloth will carry through seamlessly and i will just have to trade out a few of the added decorations.

my newest purchase is the glittery owl under the dome. i got him at target and i hope that every target across the country have lots of these in stock because they are seriously one of the cutest things i have ever seen and you all must go see them for yourself. this guy is wearing a top hat with a silver glittered band. also for sale is a owl wife for this guy. she faces the opposite way and sports a pointy witch hat. so very cute!

i whipped up this boo banner with a circle punch, some glitter and some black and white bakers twine from may arts. i still need to add some cobwebs, but after that, it's pretty much done! now i have to get the munchkins approval

a studio and a house tour

welcome to my studio - my favorite stop on the house tour.

not much to say about these pics except - holy crap, i have a lot of stuff! i swear, it is not hoarder central in person, it is a warm and cozy room which i love being in, i swear ;)

this peg board wall is the perfect place to display what i am currently working on. plus it is the great storage spot for all my may arts ribbon. i need to buy better pegboard hooks and then all the ribbon you see leaning against the chair on the right will be on the wall also.

these book shelves have slowly transformed from holding books to holding art supplies.

my double long desk is from ikea and is genious with a top layer of glass that has a shelf beneath it. this pic would have been beautiful had i thought to take out the trash before photographing the room. and while i am looking at it, i could have paused the episode of project runway that i was watching as well. geez, way to have attention to detail!

on the table, i have a wire basket which holds my most frequently art supplies.

on the side table, there is a drawing station set up which holds my journals, colored pencils, ink, rapidio sketch pens. really anything i need.

last but not least, my hanging white shelf has slowly been taken over with my 5x7 paintings. love seeing them when i am working on my computer.

art and illustration

i recently got this sweet print in the mail today for my art illustration wall in the laundry room. LOVE it!

check out emily mcdowell's etsy shop to see more of her beautiful work...

a dining room and a house tour

i'm back with more of my house tour!

here is the dining room which is the first room to the left when you walk in the house.

the room is a perfect square which fits my circular dining room table perfectly. i love this round table so much for dinners with friends and game night. a round table is so much better than long rectangles because you can see everyone and talk to everyone.

the blue cabinet between the windows holds my ever growing milk glass collection. on the doors i have taped some watercolors i did on old book pages to bring a bit more art into the space.

i painted the room white so all my treasures and trinkets would pop. this wall is filled with some family pictures, a fabric covered M and a few etsy photographs i have picked up through the years. i cannot believe my munchkins were once that little. at 9 and 7, they still resemble these pics, but i have a hard time seeing the baby faces that are reflected here.

this room is full of thrifty finds which include the blue milk glass cabinet, the recently painted blue low and long buffet, the mirror above the buffet, the chandelier and this white cabinet. oh, and pretty much everything in the cabinet from the gold rimmed china to the bridge tablecloths folded in the bottom section. yay for saving money through thrifting!

words and beauty

i haven't been feeling very wordy lately... as if you haven't noticed!

i go through ups and downs with my flow of words and right now, i am in a down swing. i am really loving beautiful pictures more than beautiful words at the moment. i guess that also explains my addiction to instagram (@linwoodavenue).

my husband teased me the other day that i talk in my sleep. he said i kept saying "oh, that is beautiful". it puts a smile on my face to know that i even dream about pretty things :)

handmade sewing and somerset holidays & celebrations

today has been a fantastic magazine month! i swear, i will never tire of seeing my name in print. when i buy a pub that i am in, i have to try really hard to stop myself from telling the cashier all about my excitement!

i have talked about this before, but if your dream is to be published - what is stopping you? send in those submissions, write that story, it really is easier than you think!!! and the high you get from seeing the printed piece is indescribable.

a daisy and a muted palette

here's a new painting i made on wednesday of last week. this is my third flower painting with scalloped fabric at the top. for some reason, i need to do everything in threes.

each canvas is finished off with vintage trim that i found stuffed into a manila envelope at an estate sale. yep, i am the girl who finds stuff to do with the things people stuff in envelopes waiting to be taken to the trash.

ohio and country living

 

i feel like these days that i am one day late for everything. i have things planned, but oops, i missed whatever by a day. so weird! to honor this time in my life, i am a day late with this post letting you all know that i sent a box of goodies to travel with Modern June to the ohio county living show this weekend. 

if you are in or near columbus, ohio, take a day to explore the show - you will have the best time and will see the most amazing hand crafted work by all the creative vendors.

sculptures and frogs

another trip to the atlanta botanical gardens yielded some more pics.

they went through a large renovation a few years back and on my visit before last i could not find my favorite sculpture. i was honestly depressed about it's demise for the entire day. but do not fear - on this visit, i found it! there is a small pond on the right side of the building with a tiny waterfall. behind the waterfall are these beautifully sculpted faces coming out of leaves and blossoms. the largest face on the left utterly captivates me every time i see it, i have no words for why, aside from its obvious beauty.

on another note, frogs are all over this place. this little bugger stayed still long enough for me to snap his pic. i'm in love with his coloring.

brushes and bathrooms

do you follow donna downey? i discovered her free weekly video tutorials a few months ago and have been hooked. i love seeing how someone uses a product, especially when it is in a way that i have never thought of before.

a few weeks ago, she moved into a new studio/shop location and announced her altered brush project. the short story is she has two large blank canvas bathrooms that need decorating. which is where we come in. you order a paintbrush from her site, decorate it however you want and attach your biz card. the paint brushes she receives will decorate the walls. it's a fun, unique idea, plus it's great advertising!

i loved the idea immediately and don't think i have ever hit the purchase button so quickly. but then, i sat on the paintbrush for a few days, not knowing how to begin - it was the same kinda pressure of creating on the first page of a brand new journal. then one night, i was trimming up 40 aprons that were on my sewing table and looked over at all the fabric scraps and was inspired. the white banner is lined with wire which i bent into waves but you can't see that very well in this pic. i crocheted a bakers twine flower to embellish the brush and added a scalloped felt backing and i was finished.

my Linwood Avenue paintbrush is currently on its way back home - can't wait to see what everyone else does!

a known and an unknown

have you guys checked out my art retreat website yet? whatcha waiting for - only 12 spots are available, make sure one has your name on it!

in my previous post, i wanted to get the word out about the retreat, but today, i want to fill you in a bit on the makings of this retreat.

recently i received some not so pretty feedback of my work/art and i have to say it threw me for a loop. not necessarily the negative criticism, because i welcome that, i really do. i spent many years working as a graphic designer at an atlanta advertising agency where my work was constantly violated with a red marker. if that doesn't make for a thick skin, nothing will. criticism only results in a better product, i truly believe.

what threw me for a loop was the fact that i was judged for being a relatively unknown artist (i was actually told that) - not one of the power players that seem to populate the west coast of our country. i firmly believe that if you have a blind viewing of my art next to one of the power players pieces, that mine would hold it's own and therefore is just as worthy. yet, some opportunities are only given to the "popular" people based on who they are and how many blog followers they have and not what they create. which leads me to the question of how do you go from being an unknown to a known in whatever field holds your passion?

the answer for me is to become a doer. AN ARTIST. A DREAMER. A DOER - that is my new title for this little adventure jenni and i have created. yep, it is even on my business card.

have you ever tried to list your best qualities and worst qualities? chances are the worst column is easier to write. the one thing i know for sure would be in my best column is that i am a doer. i do not sit and talk incessantly about what i want to do. well, ok, i might talk for a few days, but at some point, i will go out and do what i am dreaming about. the only way to become and achieve what you want to be in life is to put one foot in front of the other and make experiences happen for yourself. make yourself be a "known" instead of waiting for someone to discover you.

which comes back to why i wanted to start an art retreat in atlanta. one, the southern states are seriously lacking in this department and if not us, then who is going to do it? and two, i absolutely cannot wait to help people discover a creative life. to show them techniques that work for me and products they might never have seen. to experience 3 days of creative bonding and friendship that will open their eyes and instill in them the creative spark which for me, is infinitely better and much cheaper than therapy!

an artist, a dreamer and a doer

this might possibly be the most exciting news i have written about on this blog. like. ever!

i want to officially announce a new art retreat – Southern Circle Retreats

after flying all over the country to attend art retreats, my friend, jenni horne, and i decided that there was a serious need for an art retreat in the south, atlanta to be exact since that is where we both live.

jenni and i are teaching 3 classes and have a full weekend of goodness planned for the attendees and well, you just need to hop over to the new blog to read all about it!

i am most definitely over the moon excited about this new path in my life as an ARTIST. DREAMER. DOER.

nautical themes and furniture

nautical themed nursery anyone? this hombre 3-drawer dresser and step stool has just been dropped off at the boneyard on raymond hill.

thank you all for your support of my new booth and retail location. it has been tons of fun creating special goodies to brighten up your home!

a laundry room and a house tour

next stop on the house tour is my laundry room or as my friend joy calls it - my galoshy room.

pretty basic rectangle that contains washer/dryer, microwave (because i hate having it on my kitchen counter), and hooks for coats and book bags. a few months back i painted it "marmalade" by behr and am still getting used to it. this room is definitely not short on natural light, so it is a bright space that definitely keeps you awake!

i again bought a grouping of 6 ikea frames and am slowly working on collecting illustrations i love. the current ones i have can be found here and here. 

for something a bit unusual, i hung this vintage yellow chandelier close to the ceiling (so my husband wouldn't hit his head :) with a teal painted ceiling medallion. the unexpected pop of color on the ceiling is what i love most in the room.

tulips and paintings

happy wednesday - go out and buy yourself some flowers for hump day :)

sentimental sewing and boxes

my mom recently drove down and brought a bunch of boxes of things left over from my childhood. in it was some sweet doll clothing that my aunt had stitched for my mom in the 50's. sentimental objects like this are hard because you don't really want a child to use them, but what else are you going to do with them. because of this, they typically end up in a box where no one can appreciate them.

i decided to put this skirt and top on display by using a shadowbox i had lying around. first, i covered a piece of foam core with a vintage sheet, then i tacked the clothing to the foam core with tiny pins. i sealed up the back of the shadowbox and that was it.

quick custom sentimental artwork - definitely the best kind!

camellia and a canvas

i love my camellia drawing so much, that i find myself using it over and over in different applications. this is a 5x7 piece on a cradled canvas that i made a few days ago. i used vintage paper, golden fluid acrylics, a white gellyroll pen for highlights, pattern paper and...

vintage crocheted trim to finish it off.

now, the question is - what do i do with all these canvases i am making???

squirrels and a tutorial

well, my year on the May Arts design team has come to an end. i have loved working with their ribbon throughout the year and creating out of the box projects. my goal when starting this job was to transform the ribbon into something it wasn't originally intended for and i think i succeeded. for one of my final projects, i created a stuffie squirrel with a rather fluffy may arts ribbon fringe tail.

this is my first (of hopefully many) stuffie patterns, so bear with me, it definitely gave me some challenges :)

click here to make this cuteness!

a hall bath and a house tour

next up is my hall bath which is at the end of the hallway between the kitchen and family room. geez, it is hard to get a good pic of a room this size.

my mom painted the flower canvas probably sometime in the 70's and gifted it to me a few years back.

the lyrics to van morisson's "these are the days" line the length of the room. if you have the ability to create vector art on your computer, you can send artwork to someone who has a vinyl printer and get something 100% custom. i think this 8' x 4' sheet of vinyl cost something crazy like $35. now that is a cheap statement piece. just bring your patience to the table when you are installing text this long :)

probably too much info, but i think it is so sweet when i hear my munchkins reading out loud the words while doing their business.

above the toilet is a shelf that contains other family work. the watercolor flowers is a recent piece of my mom's and the smaller piece is from one of my brothers. he gave it to me for my 21st birthday and it is so very beautiful. i really need to take a close up pic, but it is an illustration of a deer sitting under a tree with clouds and birds in the sky. he then channeled william morris and created a wild flower border around the scene. now you know where i get it from, right???

kitchen and a house tour

next stop on the house tour is my kitchen. this was the first room to be renovated in the house. it had been an explosion of fake butcher block. literally, old, old, wood cabinets (not the pretty kind), fake butcher block laminate counters, plus butcher block wallpaper back splash. it was a sight i tell you!

my favorite part of the room is the vintage school house light we bought for over the island. it has an unusual shape you don't see often in these and definitely gets noticed by everyone who enters. the back splash tile is a nice iridescent diamond shaped glass that i installed. yep, i have a love affair with tile cutting saws and love to tile! i don't have a huge budget for any renovations we do, so i cut cost by doing a lot of the work myself. this kitchen probably costs about half of what it should have because we did a lot ourselves and didn't go for the extravagant extras like decorative edging on the granite or fancy crown moulding. adding open shelving into your cabinet layout is also a big cost saver, plus it breaks up boring expanses of cabinets.

this window looks out to the backyard and is semi curved around the table. right now we all fit in this space pretty well for dinner, but once my two munchkins grow a bit, things will be getting kind tight in that area :)

this wall houses our beloved fair fish "fred". fred has been with us for three years now and is hanging in there like a champ. (slight sarcasm:)

i painted a chalkboard section on the wall and displayed a vintage metal ice cream sign above that. the chandelier peeking out in this pic is a recent addition my mom just brought down to me. it hung at my childhood kitchen table and before that, it originally hung in my great grandparents home above the grocery store they owned in the 1920. lurve it!