We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway! I really appreciate the support and encouragement. As always, I will be posting pics of new work on facebook and making most pieces available through my Etsy shop until my new website is ready.

and the winner is............................

Nat!

congratulations Nat! you will receive a separate email from me to arrange delivery :)

What inspires you and informs your art?

I have always been inspired by lines and texture of all kinds and I'm constantly looking to see what I can find that I might be able to translate into something for my fiber art. If I can't get a picture of it with my phone or camera, then I sketch out the idea on whatever paper I have with me. Sometimes it is the way lines are intersecting on the ground, or the space between tree branches that gets my attention. 

I also search the internet for images of the universe and microscopic images of all kinds. I am amazed with how some microscopic images of plants resemble knitting! In fact, I created a series of work last December for a solo show called "Inside / Out" and many of the pieces were inspired by microscopic plant images. What inspires you?

Here are just a couple images I took recently:

Water condensation on the outside of a dumpster. 

The scuffed floor of the theater where my kids perform. 

5 ways to enter my first giveaway!

Welcome to my first giveaway! 

I really love sharing my art and ramblings with you all and I truly appreciate everyone who has connected with me through Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Etsy, Tumblr, my online workshop, this blog, and my website. I have been focusing on creating new embroidery pieces, hosting the online workshop, and meeting so many new people online and I wanted to take a step back and give back. I have been enjoying all the conversations online lately and I think this is a great way to show my appreciation :)

The Rules:
There are 5 different ways to enter this giveaway and a total of 8 possible entries for each person, so the odds are pretty good! I am using the Rafflecopter widget, so it should be really easy - just follow the prompts on the widget below and your entries will be tallied automatically. If you experience a problem, please let me know right away. There are no exchanges. When you enter, you are agreeing to be included on my mailing list - if you never want to hear from me than you probably wouldn't be here in the first place, right? So, good luck and thank you :)

The giveaway starts on Sunday September 8th and ends on Friday September 13th, 2013. Yes, Friday the 13th! Free shipping to where ever in the world you are :)
UPDATE: The end time for the giveaway is 9/13/13 at 12am, that is midnight on Thursday night. The winner will be chosen and announced on Friday 9/13/13.

Here is the prize: an 8 x 8 inch fiber embroidery piece - blue cotton embroidery thread on vintage cotton fabric with mini yellow flower pattern that I hand-dyed with silver spray paint -
the final piece is on stretcher bars and ready to hang!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

routines are a good thing...

So, we made through the first week of school and everyone is doing well, but tired. The need to get up early is a little challenging right now, but we're making it to the bus on time. The routine of school has made me realize that I have been neglecting a routine for myself. I was in the habit of waking at 5am to get my work started while everyone else was sleeping, and this summer I skipped that more and more as the days came and went. I did get work done, but I know I can get so much more accomplished with even one extra hour each day. I also know I can get a lot done when I have a plan, so here goes - this week / month I will:

• Wake up (and actually get out of bed) at 5am and work on fabric pieces
• Prepare my fabrics for projects by washing the fabric, dyeing or printing on it, putting it into an embroidery hoop, picking some thread colors...
• Plan to finish at least one piece per day
• Write better description for my art that is posted on Etsy 
• Prepare all art work images and text for new website
• Prepare new online fiber workshop for FAMM, similar to this one
• Re-establish by health routine: running, weights, and meal planning
• Continue posting images on Facebook with descriptions, not just sharing without comment
• Clear the clutter - this proves to be so difficult for me... sad to say I haven't made progress with that this week
• Go to more gallery openings - in fact, tonight I am going to two: Live Coal Gallery and the Grosse Pointe Art Center member show in which I will show this piece:

Vintage Burst, 20" x 20", cotton and acrylic

Maybe I need an accountability partner or group... How does everyone else stay motivated and consistent?

back to school indifference

I'm not sure how I feel about my kids going back to school. Other people seem to be excited about getting back to the school routine, but I'm feeling a little sad. I've enjoyed our slow mornings without an agenda, plenty of time to work on projects, read, play Minecraft...

Yesterday my daughter spent over three hours making a pair of goggles out of supplies she found around the house: thick cardboard tube, leather scraps, elastic, scraps of silver and copper from my jewelry supplies, and clear plastic. She took time to measure the how the tube would be shaped on the side of her face, she made a paper pattern of the tube so she could cut the leather to cover it perfectly. She is so proud of her creation. I asked her why she was making them and she explained that when she looked through the cardboard tube she was inspired to make goggles. Even a great art program at school wouldn't have all those materials and definitely would not allow the time needed.

And last Friday my daughter  spent hours writing about a world that has become a blog for role playing called Medieval Roleplay: The World of Ebryettan.  Then both kids spent about three hours with a friend planning, acting, and recording the first installment of their role play game.

Minecraft has become a favorite game in our house and my son decided to record a vlog: My First VLOG (video recording and editing help from dad).

Hopefully school doesn't suck all their motivation and inspiration but instead fills them with more ideas and friends to share things with.

goodies in the mail!!

I opened the mail today to find this bag of fiber goodies! Over at my Stitch Therapy online workshop on FAMM (Fiber Art and Mixed Media) website a few members participated in an exchange of scraps to inspire each other. I can't wait to incorporate some of these pieces into my work. The workshop has been such a great experience for me, and I've thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone who has joined. There is still time to sign up for this workshop. The last to do register is September 30th. It is divided into four sections and designed for you to work at your own pace. The conversations developing on the discussion board have been inspiring. All are welcome to join us.

inspiration image

I love all the inspirational quotes floating around the internet and I've been wanting to make some of my own. This is my first attempt:

a little more progress...

It may not seem like much, but I did make a little more progress on this new piece. Now I need to put in some more hours on the large burst embroidery...

organizing, clearing clutter, and focusing

I've been trying to clear out and organize my studio so that I can actually find things that I know I put away... I have more supplies than storage space, so something needs to change. I'm trying to figure out if I need to just focus on one thing - like the fiber art - and get rid of everything else - like the collage supplies for my Daily Visual Journal (which doesn't happen daily anymore).

I often feel like I would like more time to work on my art, but when I do have time I don't know where to start because I have so many projects in progress. My studio and office space is cluttered with papers, books, supplies, half-finished projects... I'm surprised I can get anything done. As I write this I am getting annoyed just thinking about how much clutter I accumulate. I tell myself I'll be able to focus better with a clean space, but somehow immediately after I clear everything away, different things appear in it's place.

I'm going to try again. I'm going to clear out my studio and put back only fiber related supplies. My collage supplies will be relegated to one box. All my unfinished projects will either be scrapped or put in line to finish. Time to get serious!

here are the before pics of my studio (slightly embarrassing but now I must get it organized!):

Starting a new fiber composition.

I decided to start a new fiber painting composition to take a break from the burst stitching. These compositions are much more intuitive and organic, which is a welcome departure from the very specific and controlled pattern of my burst pieces.