This reminds me of a time right before the photo shoot when I saw an article about front halls and how to make them pretty but also useful. It suggested that every entryway needs a coat rack, an umbrella stand, and a tray on the table to put keys and sunglasses in. Duh. However, it did remind me that I had to clean off the chest in my front hall for the impending photo shoot. Plus, you know, people were coming over and you don't want them to think you actually live like that. So Phil was helping me go through all the papers, mail, school projects, etc., that had piled up, and when he got to the bottom he said, "Hey, look! There's a tray under here! We could use this to put our keys and sunglasses in!" (Hhhmmmmm. Maybe we should hire him at the magazine as a design consultant.)

Anyway, when he pointed it out to me, I was relieved to see that I had the right idea at one time. It's just hard to stay neat, clean, and well-designed 24/7, you know what I'm saying? But there’s nothing more fun than that initial burst of decorating when hopes are high and intentions are good—and an industrious bout of cleaning lets you experience that thrill over and over again. I can't wait to see what wonderful things we'll discover at the next photo shoot! Stay tuned.

                    


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I decided that I wasn’t going to use the same ol’ tomato cages this year for my plants—I was just tired of looking at them rising out of my tiny garden like rusty metal girders. I wanted a support structure that looked more natural, so I was determined to come up with an alternate plan.

I searched the home and garden centers for a solution, but ended up finding nothing I liked or thought was reasonably priced. So I started thinking about making something, and flashed back to a program I’d seen on TV (the Discovery Channel, probably) about the natives of some far-off island who’d built their dwellings out of bamboo and strips of handmade rope. Maybe I could do something like that!

Well, I didn’t make my own rope or anything that complicated, but I did manage to make something my tomatoes could climb. I found some bamboo at a local dollar store and grabbed my trusty ball of twine. It’s far from perfect, but I think Gilligan and the Skipper would be proud.

Now, if I could just keep the squirrels away…

For tips on growing tomatoes, see:
forums.gardenweb.com/forums/tomato/

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This time around, I really enjoyed meeting Amy Rice, a Minneapolis-based artist who is so honest about the ups and downs of the creative life. “One of the best things about working in the visual arts is that they’re, well, visual!” she says. “People can see what I do; my grandma can show it off to her friends.”

But there’s a flip side to that kind of visibility: “For me, the worst thing about being an artist is that, when your work is out there for everyone to see, you’re very vulnerable to rejection and criticism. I tend to be shy, so gallery openings and other public events where everyone is looking at my art—and at me—can be very stressful.”

Amy stays grounded by getting involved in her community. “Three days a week I work at a nonprofit arts organization called Spectrum ArtWorks, an award-winning program I founded for artists who are living with mental illness. We assist them with their artist statements and bios, take photos of their art for submissions to exhibition venues, work on grant proposals, and give feedback on their work in progress. In return, we get inspired and laugh a lot. It’s a great job!”

She’s particularly interested and excited about the role art can play in opening dialogue between cultures and communities. “There’s a uniqueness in the way we can communicate our vision or story or culture through the arts,” she says. “There was a time when what was considered art was dictated by institutions and an elite group, but that’s changing. More and more these days, art is coming to, and from, the masses. With the internet, a lot more people are being exposed to a lot more art—and privy to cultures and communities in new ways.”

Links:

www.spectrumartworks.blogspot.com/2007/02/one-love.html

www.egg-basket-full-of-hollyhock-dolls.blogspot.com

 

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Their engagement was nine months—very short by today’s standards. There were many decisions to be made in preparation for the wedding and reception, but one decision was known right away: Libby and Greg’s reception would be at our home, as was mine and Frank’s (my husband) and my parents’ (Frank and I live in what used to be my grandparents’ home).

Libby was in her spring semester of her senior year at UGA when we were making plans.  Tuesday nights were reserved for our long phone calls. We brainstormed like no other creative think tank, laughed a lot, got off track, and sometimes worked through some tough compromises. I now look back at those hours of planning and cherish our undisturbed time together.

Here are some of my favorite photos from that special celebration:

                       
                      
Over 150 lanterns were hung from strings of lights inside the tent. Colors ranged from mango to tangerine to red and sizes from 18” to 36”.  Libby’s friends from UGA filled our screened porch with the lanterns and helped put them together.

Our florist, Barb Wehking, was wonderful and so creative (www.bloominbuckets.com/). On one of her visits to our home, she spotted these baskets and suggested using them to hold the flowers. They were perfect!  

                                

I saw the button on the escort cards at Tinsel Trading (www.tinseltrading.com/) and knew we needed to use them somewhere. Marcia Ceppos, owner of Tinsel Trading, dyed them herself, twice, to get the right shade of red. Now that’s a friend and an artist.

Instead of round tables, we opted for long tables that sat 48 people each. Tables were covered with burlap along the sides and rolls of vintage hemp were placed as runners.  Dinner was served family style, with a green salad placed at each place and platters of caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes, grilled vegetables, and breads. Meat and seafood were passed by servers. Place cards were 1” x 4” cards in varying shades of orange with one pinked edge. We needed to keep it simple—we ran out of room.

Years ago I bought 24 vintage beach chairs with wonderful stripes. We wanted to use them for the wedding, but the colors didn’t work. I didn’t want to cut off the existing fabric, so we opened up vintage grain sacks, pinned them over the fabric, and tacked them in place. In doing so, we saved the wonderful stripes and added more stability with the added layers of fabric. The pillow was dyed—my first attempt in dying fabric. After two weeks of procrastination I finally started, and now I’m a master at it.  As intimidating as it may have been for me, I now really enjoy it. Kantha throws from Jeanette Farrier (www.jeanettefarrier.com) were placed on chairs.

Libby was the happiest I have ever seen her, so calm and so ready to start her new life. Greg and Libby had a great time at the reception surrounded by friends and family.

The other day during an infrequent burst of housekeeping, I found myself poised to throw away a big handful of too-small coffee filters. Being a packrat and mixed-media artist, it kills me to toss any potential art material. Just as the filters hit the trash can, I remembered reading a fun technique for creating coffee filter flowers in Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall.

Pulling Carol’s wonderful new book from my bookshelf, I was inspired to make use of the filters and design something inspiring for my July class in one fell swoop. How I love multitasking!

Creating coffee filter flowers is an easy craft that’s perfect to do with school-age children during the long summer break. I began by putting some basket-style filters on my nonstick craft mat and spraying them with coordinating colors of Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.   

When the filters dried, I folded them in half and in half again, then cut a wide band along the top ruffled edge and took a running stitch to the inside edge with needle and thread. I pulled the thread ends to gather into a circle and secured the thread. If you want to take the gathered flowers a step further, stitch the outer edge of the paper flower with a running stitch and gather as before. Quilters know this technique as making fabric yo-yos.

Fair warning: these little flowers are so easy and fun to make, you won’t be able to stop at one. I paired them with some patterned paper, buttons, and rickrack to transform a dollar store frame. I’ve also adorned cards and scrapbook pages with them.

                                  Photo 1 of finished projects:

                                 
Jen transformed a few craft supplies from shabby to chic. Handmade filter flowers are fun embellishments for a variety of paper arts projects.
 

                                 Photo 2 before frame and filter:

                               
Sometimes the best craft supplies are things that cost only a few pennies, like a dollar store frame and some plain basket-style coffee filters.
 

                                       Photo 3 colored filters: 

                    
Jen colored her coffee filters with a few spritzes each of Tim Holtz' Adirondack Color Wash by Ranger Inc. and Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.

Links:

www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_paper_crafts/article/0,,hgtv_3287_3086797,00.html

www.rangerink.com

www.mytatteredangels.com/

www.getrealscrapbooking.com/

 

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