"flowers" + a giveaway

Tonight is our June meeting for the East Valley Artisans but, I'm bummed that I won't be there. I am heading to NY tomorrow morning for a friends wedding and it was just too tough for me to get there tonight.  I am there in spirit though!  Our EVA May theme exchange was flowers. I was the lucky winner of the pretty dandelion necklace by Kandes (see #6 below) and wanted to show off all the exchange pieces made last month. Everything was pretty and of course, very flowery!

1. Earrings by Melissa - The Silver Nest
2. Glass Pendant by Jeannie - Jean's Beads
3. Earrings by Jill - Jill Helms Studio
4. Earrings by Jennifer - DogMa Creations
5. Flower Pin by Renee - Renee Lareine Jewelry
6. Dandelion Necklace by  Kandes - Kandes Lee
7. Earrings by Marci - Niall9
8. Soldered Flower Necklace by Trish - Little Silver Stars
9. Flower Magnets by Kristen - Creative Stash

Don't miss the magnet set giveaway on our EVA blog ... Only 10 days left to enter! A winner will be chosen on June 27th!

East Valley Artisans is a varied mix of artists from painting to paper to sculpture and jewelry. Please support our economy, support local business, support our artists. Become a fan on Facebook!

guest blogging

Hi! I'm guest blogging on Soft Flex Company's blog today. Today's post is about being open to possibilities and uncovering hidden opportunities along the way. I will be posting there monthly about small business tips for design, marketing and motivation. Hope you will join me!

easy pesto pasta

Pesto is great.  It uses lots of basil, tastes delicious on pasta, garlic bread and sandwiches, it is super easy to make and uses ingredients you probably have on hand.  I found this Easy Pesto Recipe on allrecipes.com

 Easy Pesto

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place almonds on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
2. In a food processor, combine toasted almonds, garlic, basil, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Process until a coarse paste is formed.

Learn about the Meatless Mondays Campaign

ced: bliss in bloom

 

Here is a colored pencil sketch "Bliss in bloom" from my sketchbook for creative every day's bliss theme.   To see what others have been working on for the bliss theme, click here. 

ced: wedding bliss + tutorial

This month's creative every day theme is bliss. I made this picture frame gift for my sister's 1 year wedding anniversary - ahhh wedding bliss! My sister and her husband were married on the beach in Jamacia.  I wanted to incorporate that somehow so, I decided to take a photo of Jamaica's beach and made a clipping mask in photoshop with their initials along with their wedding photo inside of a heart and their wedding date. To see what others have been working on this week for the bliss theme, click here. 

Want to know how I created the initials with a clipping mask in Photoshop?  It's really easy!

Photoshop Clipping Mask Tutorial

Step 1: Create your new file.  File > New.  I sized mine to fit my picture frame size (3.5 in x 5 in). If you will be printing the image set your resolution to 300 pixels/inch and color mode CMYK. Choose a color for the Background layer and fill it in using the Paint Bucket tool.

Step 2: Select the Type Tool and type the letter and size it to your needs. This should appear above your Background layer. I choose a lowercase j in the font Elephant and sized it to 275 pt.

Step 3: File > Place > Browse your computer for the file you want to appear within the letter and click Place. You can size the photo if desired.  Then click the Move Tool, you will asked if you want to place the file.  Click yes.  This image should appear above the letter layer.  Click on the photo layer to highlight it as shown in the picture above.

Step 4: Now you can right click on the photo layer and select Clipping Mask or you can go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.  That's it!

kids art as gift wrap

My kids love to create and I am always looking for new ways to use their artwork instead of tossing it.  Our painting sessions on the easel create some pretty large masterpieces so, I started saving them to use for gift wrap!  I think its a fun way to show off their creativity while being resourceful. Family members, teachers, artists or just about anyone would enjoy this twist on traditional gift wrapping.

roasted veggie pasta salad

I haven't done a Meatless Monday blog in awhile and a friend recently asked me if we still have meatless meals.  We certainly do!  I think we just got a little lazy, we weren't doing it every Monday and many of the dishes were simple or dishes I have already blogged about so, I stopped writing about it.  It may be the warmer weather but, I have been craving veggie meals lately!

I made this roasted veggie pasta salad for a play date picnic recently and it was good so, I made it again for dinner.  I found this on the Taste of Home website.  This dish has all my favorite veggies: eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers and onions. I omitted the squash and substituted the spiral pasta for penne since that is what I had in the house.  However, I prefer the spiral pasta, that is what I used for the picnic and it does a great job of holding onto the dressing.

See Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad Recipe

Learn about the Meatless Mondays Campaign

gypsy earrings + guest blogging

Bohemian gypsy chandelier earrings now for sale in my Etsy shop!

I'll be guest blogging over at the East Valley Artisans Blog this month.
I hope you'll join me!

monthly goal meetup

JUNE?! I can't beleive it's June, school is out, summer is here and it's a new month which means it's time for the monthly goal Meet Up with Athena Dreams. 

Here were my May goals ...

1. create & add copper necklaces to etsy shop - added 3 copper necklaces and 2 new earrings!
2. blog about magnet favors & add option to etsy shop - done
3. blog about wedding invitation designs & add samples to etsy shop - still have to do
4. get started with quickbooks! - i started but, am unsure if this program is right for me.  I think it is way more then I need right now.  will check into more this month.
   
5. continue web site freelance project - in progress
6. continue scooby painting - in progress
7. get to the gym at least 3x a week! - okay went 2 times, better then April but really need 3 for June!
8. gift packaging idea & photo for etsy shop - done
9. Oh and I redesigned my blog!  I am still working out the kinks but, I really love the new look.

And here we go into June ...

1. add new rain drop, starfish and believe earrings made to etsy shop
2. blog about wedding invitation designs & add samples to etsy shop
3. guest blog at East Valley Artisans for the month
4. Favor cards for Laraine's wedding
5. Baby Shower Invitations for Jenny
6. joined LinkedIn and now need to work with it a bit.
7. continue with quick books
8. continue web site freelance project
9. complete scooby painting
10. gym: monday, wednesday, thursday and saturday

Wishing everyone a creative and productive month! If you would like to join in the Meetup fun, head on over to Athena Dreams to read more about what we do and how to join in.

dreams and transformation

 Snake Skin Butterfly

A couple of weeks ago I dreamed of a snake shedding it's skin. In my dream, I never saw the snake but, I did see his old skin lying around. I searched for the snake out of fear it would creep up but, I never found it and I was at peace not finding it - thinking it simply moved on. I don't remember dreams often but, this one was vivid and stuck around even after I woke up so, I had to check into it.

Before I get into the meaning, here is a little back story ... I had this dream a few days after I applied to a drawing teacher position and was offered an interview.  So, I has all these feelings of excitement and opportunity with a heavy dose of fear.  I haven't been on a interview in about 10 years.  So, I was a little anxious about it.

Okay, back to the dream meaning.  This is what I found ...

Snakes shedding their skin is a symbol for ridding oneself of what one no longer needs in favor of accepting something new. The process of shedding skin is not simple for a snake, nor is it so in our waking lives. Snakes speak to transformation, death and rebirth, the taking on of a new skin, new roles, responsibilities and even attitudes...snake sheds its skin and grows new skin; shedding the old, new growth. A snake appearing in your dream may very well be telling you that despite the temporary discomfort you must go through, it may be time to release old relationships, careers, or habits in order to renew and reclaim your life. Lastly, when you dream about snake skin it could represent that you are identifying differently with your process of creativity.

How spot on is that?!  I had my interview, was happy to learn more about what the program was all about and was offered a job with the Young Rembrandt's program.  I will be teaching drawing to elementary aged children after school starting in August - woo hoo! The idea of trying something entirely new in my art career is exhilarating and I am up for the challenge.  I am not sure exactly where this opportunity will lead but, I do know that it will be a wonderful experience and will answer questions I have about the possibility of continuing my education to teach art in the future.