White house

Well, not THE white house.

In the spirit of all things paper as well as the fast-approaching holiday season, I made this little white house as a Christmas ornament, created from recycled white cotton linter paper scraps. The photo does not capture it well, but the roof is covered with very fine frosty white glitter, and the walls have an ice blue glitter. I know that glitter can walk a fine line between kindergarten craft and something artistic, but I think I met the balance here. Hung against white Christmas lights on a tree, this little house dances and sparkles. There is something about the shape of a house that people are always drawn to, and especially me. (Look at my Pinterest favorites and half of them have some kind of house in them.) I think it's because a house symbolizes family, warmth, coziness and love. I hope your house feels that way now and always.

More tree toppers!

These tree toppers are going to my artisans cooperative. I have to say, it gets very challenging to make sure two stores — my online store and the artisans cooperative — are both fully stocked all year long, but especially around the holidays. Whew.

Energy begets energy

My mom always said, "Energy begets energy." The more energy you expend, the more you create, so you have even more to expend again. I think she was trying to get a lazy teenager to get up and do something but she was right. I notice that when I am creative and step outside of the usual repetitiveness of making the same things, I produce more creative thoughts and energy. I have been making lots of things lately that are pushing my creative forces and the energy is coming out in many directions. Yesterday, I sat down and banged out some new tree toppers. Their purpose is to hide the raw top of the Christmas tree and put that extra piece of jewelry on the Christmas tree to make it look really special. I use empty weaving cones. (The cones are recycled from when I use up all the wool off of a spool in a weaving project - I just can't throw anything away.) I have made many different themes in the past. Last year I made a single one with polka dots and it sold immediately. It was too late in the holiday season to make another but I catalogued the idea for this year and am making many more. The polka dots are made of recycled scraps of handmade papers from my studio, and the paper star at the top is made from pages of an old, damaged dictionary. (I made sure to use the pages that featured words like handmade, star, Christmas and other words relevant to the holiday season. I have to admit that I found my name in the dictionary, so I snuck it onto one of the double-sided stars just for fun.)

I am selling this one on Etsy to show my diversity, but the rest of them are being wrapped up for delivery to my artisans cooperative for our big holiday display and show. Then maybe I will see what it feels like to sit down and let relaxation wash over me. Or maybe not.

Yoga

Yeeeeeeeee! I am buzzing around with excited, nervous energy. I applied to exhibit my work at a gallery and was juried in and accepted for a show in the spring. This is the first time I have stretched myself in this manner and it will be my very first gallery show, a show where an entire room will be devoted to only my work for an entire month. That’s crazy!! I am so excited that I actually made about 14 pieces of art already in a three-day I-can’t-go-to-bed-because-I-am-so excited creative spurt! The show’s focus will be on my Petal People, the figures I make entirely out of pressed flowers, plus the greeting cards that are prints of the original artwork. I am trying to ride the creative wave and keep producing lots of new work before I get bogged down in the details. There are so many. Holy cow! I have to host an opening reception…


Maybe a little yoga will calm me down. Standing forward bend, with a little knee bend and stretch, anyone?

Crazy cat lady

I have officially become one of those people who post photos of their cats on the internet. I can't say that I am proud. And I know that nobody else will appreciate how cute he is, but I can't help myself. I burst out laughing when I rounded the corner and saw him sleeping there, so relaxed that even his tail was hanging limply.

A piece of me

Papermaker

Just because she is such a neat little thing, I thought I would share a picture of this … doll? Well, not a doll or a play thing, kind of a little muse. Maybe just art. She is a little papermaker made entirely out of handmade papers (except for her string hair), made by hand and gifted to me years ago. She holds an envelope with a real letter inside in one hand, and the other hand has three bags: one of shredded paper, one of leaves and one of the finished paper. She has a body with legs under her dress and holds rolls of handmade paper, tucked under her arm. I love her. She hangs on an antique lamp right next to my computer so I can see her all the time.