girl power party....

Oh my....what a fun day!!!! My sister Cheryl and her family are in town visiting. They are currently stationed in Japan where Ken serves in the US Marines. Let me tell you, they are quite an adventuresome family. Usually they fly commercial but on this trip they jumped on a military cargo plane. The way they describe it...it sounds just like a warehouse with wings. The stories they tell are so much fun! It has been great visiting with them and catching up. My niece Jen is 9 and Jess is 12; and I really miss them when their not here. So, while they are here, I thought it would be fun to have a little creativity get together. I immediately started working on a little project we could do together.

Well, today was the day all six of us girls got together and had a "Girl Power" Party! In attendance was my mom (Carolyn), my sister (Cheryl), and my nieces Jennifer, Jessika, Summer (who lives close to me thank goodness), and me.



I went through my stash and pulled out anything and everything that had a retro, hippie, big daisy, girl power look and feel. Then I got my hands on pictures of the girls and photoshopped them together into a funky retro background. I thought it would be fun to use their picture, because they are the girl power in my world. Also, they are best of friends and I thought it would make it special for them. A keepsake!



I prepped everything ahead of time and put it all in individual kits. This way we were able to jump right in and start playing. I did have it set up so that everyone could pick out their own fibers and beads. First we sponge painted the tin with alcohol inks. Then we glued the picture of the girls into the tin. Next we eembellished with yarns, fibers, pearls, bead fringe, rhinestones, paper daisies, tiaras, and all things girly. Ahead of time I had cut out just the headshots from a copy of the picture. We then used double stick foam tape to stack the headshots onto the picture in the tin. This created a really cool 3-D effect. The girls put little rhinestone tiaras on the heads and then we covered the whole picture with triple thick glaze. They really turned out cute.



The girls! (left to right: Carolyn (my mom), Jess, Cheryl, Summer, Jen)



Let's get this party started!



Here the girls are painting their tins with alcohol inks. They thought it was pretty cool. They really like the way it looked. Jen thought they were a little stinky, while my mom liked the smell. Mmmmm...not sure what that's all about?



We had to take time for a little bit of mustache fun....



You could just feel the creative energy in the air....the estrogen flowing too! The boys all went to Fry's Electronics while the girls played.



My family is quite creative. My sister homeschools her girls, loves counted cross-stitch, crocheting, and scrapbooking. My mom has many talents - florist, quilter, plant guru...just to name a few. Mom is the one who taught my sister and I how to sew and crochet. Like I said many talents. My mom and grandma are the two people who continually nurtured my artsy side. I am very grateful!



As you can see the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Jen loves to draw. Her GP Tin turned out beautiful! She is very proud of her accomplishment and so am I!



A close up of Jen's GP Tin.



This is my mom's little work of art. I love the fringe at the bottom. It looks really cool!



My sister's GP Tin. I love the way the fibers make it fuzzy!

Summer and Jess' tins are still a work in progress. Summer had to leave the party a little early to go to softball practice. She was feeling a little sad because she had to leave early. But Jess said she would wait to finish her tin until Summer got home. They wanted to finish them together. Told ya...best of friends. Jen is holding up Summer's tin for her in the picture below. I will post pictures of there tins as so as they are finished!



A good time was had by all! It was special day for us. It's not often we have the opportunity to ALL be together and CREATE! It was a very good day!


Hugs,
Cyndi

help me name my mermaid.....

I have a new workshop!
Her debut will be with the Rainy Day Dollmakers in Sitka Alaska in March. I just love her and wanted to share a few pictures!



Her face is made using my "Jubilee" press mold.



This is an altered tin doll. Her center is filled with pictures, shells, pearls, glass glitter, and marbles. Yummy!



Lots of fun yummy fibers used for her tail fin and then embelished with beads and shells.



I need your help!! She needs a name....what do you think? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

ENJOY!
Cyndi

a work in progress....

I have a new critter in the house. Quick get out the bug spray. Just kidding! He's friendly! I've been working on this spider....he's a little scary....but spiders this big usually are! You now the saying "a face only a mother could love". I just love him!

I started working on this guy over a year ago, but then the inspiration dried up and I packed him away for awhile. I finally got the bug (pun intended), to pull him out of hiding a couple days ago and start playing. It always amazes me how some projects can just happen overnight and others take a little longer to decide what they want to be. Here's a few pictures of my spider and his little handler. He's still a work in progress.....

My thoughts, when I first started, was to JUST a make a spider. But then it started growing, and the whole process took on a life of it's own. This is how it happened....I had this really fun nest that I had bought somewhere just because it was so cool, and I started thinking wouldn't it be fun to strap this to his back as a little carrier for a faerie? So I did that. Then it wasn't enough to just have a nest...as you can see it got bigger! So, that's when the whole "treasure keeper" theme started churning in my head. At first I was going to put a tiny faerie in the nest...but then I started thinking nest....birds...EGGS!

Okay so I had the "spider carriage", I had the "treasure", now I just needed....a "Keeper". So I made this little guy. At first I was going to have him stand beside the spider. But plans changed! This is how it happened - I had the little guy on the counter beside the spider and when I looked down at him it dawned on me that the way he was posed was just perfect for hanging him off the side of the nest. He looks so spunky this way....it just worked so well. I love it when that happens! I do believe this is where he'll stay....but who knows!

Okay, that's it for now. I hope you liked the sneak peek! I'll keep you posted. ENJOY!

Hugs,Cyndi

happy New Year!

I AM OFFICIALLY SELF-EMPLOYED! I'm in my studio full time now! My last day at my "job" was Thursday, December 18th. This was about the same time my fourteen year old son went on Christmas break from school, and I primarily served as taxi mom. It was a fun two weeks and my family and I had a wonderful Christmas. So, I have marked January 5 on my calendar (and my heart), as the first day of my new adventure! I am so very excited and feel blessed to have the opportunity. I believe this is where I belong, and what I am supposed to be doing!

The Joy of Jubilee

(new workshop)

I'm looking forward to 2009. I have workshops on the calendar, new online classes scheduled, and lots of new projects in the hopper!

I have been working on my studio area. I don't have a lot of space so I needed to really work on organization and making the most of the space I do have while making it look pretty. It's gotta look pretty because my studio is my dining room.

I have two book shelves. I put the pretty stuff on the top shelves and the not so pretty stuff on the bottom shelves hidden behind curtains. Wire baskets work great for organizing all my fabrics and boxes hold a lot of my trims, trinkets, ribbons and such. I found the wire baskets at Staples Office Supply and the pretty little boxes at Joannes Fabrics. They work really well - pretty and very functional. I Just love them. Of course I got out my label maker so I could mark what is in each of the boxes. Believe me...that's really helpful.

Between the two bookshelves I have a dresser, and stacked on top I have these fun wood box units that I found at Michael's (on sale of course). I'm trying to decide what color to paint them. I thought green, as you can see, but I'm not sure. The color will probably change. Maybe I'll cover them with a neutral paper collage type of thing. I also want to make knobs with faces to go on all the drawers. I think that would be fun. Also, I have a shelf for all my favorite magazines. You gotta have those you know!

I have lots of nooks and crannies where I stash the things I'm working on, and all my little treasures.

I do have a closet in my work area. It is crammed full of tubs, racks, and shelves. They are full of all my paints, wire, glues, batting, and other utility type items and tools. I am grateful for the closet - it holds a lot of stuff and I can just close the door and hide it all!

Now the picture above shows my true nature. This is my workspace! I didn't clean up after I was done working and all the stuff that doesn't have a home yet gets dumped there. But, I have decided that I really do like being organized. So, I'm going to crack that whip and keep myself on task. It is all still a work in progress; my studio, my career, my art, my life.

Thanks for joining me on my journey. Have a blessed, safe, and wonderful 2009! Enjoy!

Hugs,
Cyndi

creative cloth explorations - Patti Culea's newest book!

Creative Cloth Explorations

by Patti Culea

On Saturday I traveled up to Piecemakers Country Store (a fabulous Quilt Shop + more) for their annual "Teachers Open House". I had the absolute pleasure of carpooling up to Orange County from San Diego with Patti Culea. I truly enjoy hangin' with Patti - she is generous, sweet, talented, gifted; an absolute delight. I just love her!

So, have you all heard that Patti has a new book? Yep, she does, and boy are you all in for such a treat!

I've just just been dying get my hands on a copy! Well this weekend I drooled all over a copy....OH MY GOSH!!!!! IT IS SO YUMMY! Patti invited me to make a doll for her book - somebody pinch me (but not to hard okay). So, in addition to looking at all the yummy projects stuffed into this book, I also had the thrill of flipping through to find my little creature. It was so exciting to see my doll "Darcy" in print! She looks so pretty.

So a great big thank you to Patti for this really cool opportunity, and a super duper thank you for sharing her talents and gifts with us all! The book is BEAUTIFUL!

Spring is in the air.....

There is a really special phenomenon that takes place at my mom and dad's home. There home has become the hottest nesting spot for local birds. It is so FUN! My mom loves plants and she really has a gift and passion for horticulture. She has all these huge beautiful Staghorn Ferns hanging everywhere...the back porch, the front porch, the side porch. The birds love them! They're like little 4star resorts for birds. The picture above is a little family that has temporarily set up residence in one of my the plants. My mom and dad live about 10 minutes from us and we are blessed to be able to visit often. Each time we visit, it's fun to check and see how many eggs have hatched. We also enjoy watching the babies grow and learning to fly. What a wonderful picture of spring....

I have had a little extra time to work on a few projects. I work part time at a school and I have been on spring break for the last week. What a joy! I've been wanting to put together a few new workshops and finally I've had the extra time to work on them. One is a little faerie workshop. I'm looking forward to sharing her with you. Her face is from a pressmold I've made. Pressmolds are new for me...I plan to offer the press molds with the workshops. These little faces are so addictive. You can't make just one....

This faerie has closed eyes and sculpted feet and hands. Doesn't she look like she is sunbathing?

And this faerie has her eyes open with fabric wrapped hands and feet. They have a wire armature body which is covered with batting and needle sculpted.

I've also been playing around with altered "Altoids" cans. My oh my, what fun...they are equally addictive! Here are a few pictures of one of my altered tin dolls. Her face was made from the pressmold I used on the faerie with closed eyes. I will be offering a doll similar to this one as a workshop. Very fun!

Well, thanks for letting me share. I hope you all have a wonderful spring...Enjoy!

Big hugs,
Cyndi