i've been featured . . .

on an etsy treasury!  check it out . . .

HERE


enjoy!

jo

you don't wanna hear my excuses . . .

and i don't want to have to give them.  i have all but abandoned my poor blog.  i am sorry.

tis not for lack of craftiness!  halloween brought out some real creative juices, and i'm working on photos to share those gems.  today i am merely popping on to let you know that i am still alive and still making stuff.

jo

my hamster wheel

the little man of the house has reached the 4 month mark!  he is laughing and jumping and making sounds . . . and sucking the life force out of me!  don't get me wrong, cause i love my little dude way more than i ever thought possible, but he is an energy drain like i have never experienced.  and these days he is learning to play, which is seriously infringing on mommy's creative time.

so i have been absent as of late, and i do apologize.  i've been putting some time into etsy and promotion there.  i have also started pushing christmas orders and they've already started coming in!  oh, and did you know halloween is next week?  yah - so i've been toiling away on pumpkins and costumes and and and.  breathe.

tonight i finally finished fixing my headband model pics.  my little girl has been my model for, well, ever.  she's getting a bit more attitude about helping me out with this so it's taken a bit more bribing this time around.  alas, i bribed, she posed, i photographed, and here they are:

it's dinner time and i gotta get crackin'.

jo

where does it go?

i do not understand how i have whole days that simply disappear.  what did i accomplish today?  anything?  geez.

today i did spend a bit of time working on a bulletin board for my daughter's school.  i signed up to be a room mom, and while there are 3 other room moms for me to be working with none of them seem to be stepping up to any of their responsibilities.  so there's this bulletin board that each grade gets a turn at and october is our turn.  yes - october is half gone.  i had hoped that with all the craziness that october has brought me that somebody else would have taken this on.  i'm done complaining, i promise.

so i've been preparing to put this bulletin board up, but you won't get to see that until it's done.

so into the archives i dive . . .

i made these as an experiment in embroidering on paper:

i have since turned them into brooches - soon to be found in my etsy store!

it's been a long day.  see you tomorrow.

jo

joyful exhaustion

wow.  a weekend of sheer exhaustion.  if there were no children in this house i imagine i would still be asleep, but if i had no children i doubt i would be so tired.  hmmm . . . children both cause tiredness and prohibit sleep.  who came up with this?

anyhow.

it is unseasonably warm in st. louis right now - shocker!  st. louis having weird weather - who'd of thunk it?  so all my adorable matching family outfits for the 2 weddings this weekend didn't happen.  i'm still bitter, but perhaps they will be even more awesome at thanksgiving.

i have recently taken up a new craft - knitting.  it is one still that has long eluded me and i have completed a hat and a scarf in the spare moments i've stolen since thursday.  i am quite impressed with myself.  i'd love to show them to you, but i wanna make them a bit more special and awesome before i show them off.

so today i've fished around and i've got one of my all time favorite drawings to show you.

balance

pencil drawing

2007

balance detail

this is another example of my scribble drawing style.  i don't know if there is a straight line in the whole picture.  i don't recall the exact measurements, but i'll guess it at 22"x36".

the image i drew this from

ah!  it's 3!  this day has all but disappeared.  much to do . . .

jo

holy headbands, batman!

i've always thought that my little headbands were a little, well . . . boring.  it appears that i am mistaken.  at the art walk this past weekend they were an oober-hit!

don't get me wrong - they are cute.  even cuter on the right little (or big) head.  i try really hard to come up with new designs and to make each one totally different.  i think that makes them tiny, wearable pieces of art instead of just accessories.  anywho, here's some new ones:

 i had some scraps of this little funky birdie flannel - too adorable

using more fabric scraps.  that's being green, eh?

fun colors!

orange and pink.  hot.

another funky birdie

sweet purples.  that's another bit of scrap flannel - purple with little turtles

this one is already sold.  apparently somebody else thought it was perfect for fall, too.

this one is my favorite.  if it hadn't sold i would probably have made it mine by now.  this shade of blue is one of the colors i used in my wedding, so it is dear to me.  i used french knots instead of plain stitches on one of the circles - i'll be using that little embellishment more in the future.

i'm gonna get cracking to recoup my headband inventory before december, cause i am wiped out!

this weekend is a bit insane for us - 2 weddings and a rehearsal dinner in 3 days!  i'm sleepy just thinking about it.  don't be surprised if i am scarce the next couple days.

oh! and the featured artist questionnaires are ready and some have been distributed.  that means you'll be seeing those posts soon!  i can't wait!


jo

what a wednesday!

so, so many things going on today.  so many things going on all month, for that matter.  october always gets crazy here.

i've been working hard on making my etsy listings.  items will be added to my shop slowly, so keep checking back if there is something you are looking for.

today i want to introduce you to wanda.

i started with this lovely orange background and no idea of what to do with it.  i've been having a love affair with purple lately, but wanted to do something fun.  so, what better than a purple robot?!?!  wanda is pretty awesome, if i do say so myself.

you can pick her up now in my etsy shop!

jo