New wreaths coming soon

Beach Blues
Black and White

ZZZzzz...

Off to bed. I sold two wreaths. Thanks Creature Comforts and decor8. I have a request for more. I will be making more but I am hoping to find boxes locally for shipping. So far we recycled boxes for shipping which is time consuming. Checked on line but it costs 40.00 just to ship them to me. Ughh. I hope to find an easy solution since I don't want to spend a fortune on boxes but it would be so much easier just to have the boxes ready to go and then ship.

Swim Fish

decor8 Blog

decor8 Blog also featured my Spring Fling wreath!! WOO HOO. Very exciting. I have been a fan of this blog for so long. And she mentioned that seeing my wreath on the Creature Comfort blog inspired her to do a round up of wreaths on decor8.



Here is the link.

http://decor8blog.com/2009/03/26/wreath-round-up-your-opinion/comment-page-1/#comment-44917

ABC Collage

A little ABC collage I am working on.

Creature Comfort Feature

There were a huge number of views to my Spring Fling wreath yesterday. I thought maybe it was on Etsy's front page. I checked the Flickr group to see and nothing, then I checked Google Analytics and it takes a day for the info to show up. So today I checked again and found out my wreath was featured my Ez from the wonderful Creature Comforts blog. I was super excited!! She did a feature on Peach and Aqua and my wreath received many great comment which I am so thankful for. It looks like a sale may be coming from this post too. Thanks so much Ez!! I really appreciate it!
Here is the link if you want to check it out
http://creaturecomforts.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/today-i-love-retro-aqua-peach.html

Kids

Kids are amazing. How do they know to say the right things at the right time? I was feeling a little blue this morning when I told my son it was great when he waited to use the potty and he says "And you do a great job taking care of us and I love you". And then gives me a big kiss and hug. So sweet. It is really true that those moments make up for all the other more difficult ones.

Little Collages

I am dreaming of summer.

Ruling Pen: Favorite Old/New tool

This was a tool we used in college to hand paint our plaids. I just recently thought about it and I didn't find my original one but this one came with my compass. You just fill it with paint and draw. It is very fun. I can't wait to play more with it. Do a search on line for one. They are pretty cheap.

Dip/Drop Dye Coffee Filters

I needed to make some flowers for my wreath AND I wanted to a fun thing with my son so we dipped and dropped some dye onto coffee filters. We folded them up and dipped a corner in and then unfolded and dropped some dye on. It was fun for the both of us but we quickly ran out of space to place all of our creations. Maybe this would be good for an outside activity with a clothesline to hang them on. I think the colors came out great and I was able to use them to make some flowers.
Ryan dropping the ink on.

Getting ready to dip. One on table open after just dropping the dye on.


I needed to make some flowers for my wreath AND I wanted to a fun thing with my son so we dipped and dropped some dye onto coffee filters. We folded them up and dipped a corner in and then unfolded and dropped some dye on. It was fun for the both of us but we quickly ran out of space to place all of our creations. Maybe this would be good for an outside activity with a clothesline to hang them on. I think the colors came out great and I was able to use them to make some flowers.

I used LUMA dye. It is pretty old. I used it in college. You can use any sort of watercolor with a dropper. The colors of LUMA are very vivid and you don't need much to get a great vivid look.

Treasury

Thank you copeland89 from somewhere special for including my CREATE mixed media collage in your Create treasury!!! Link is to the left if you want to see more items!

In the shop now...

New Wreath

New wreath available in the shop Friday 3/20.

Paper Heart Project

Paper Heart Project-
So I had this idea after seeing a cool group project over on Flickr called The Paper Quilt Project
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperquiltproject/
I decided I would aim to make a heart a day. A small piece of art reflecting something from the day, a wish for the day, a memory. It had to be something easy to do since I am so busy with the kids but it is a way to try out different things while creating a keepsake for yourself and family. So I haven't done one every day. No big deal. I do it when I can. When my kids are eating a snack or playing or I do it with my 3 yr old son. I then just jot down the date and a couple of lines and done. It doesn't have to be perfect or pretty or anything really. I think it will be fun to go back and look at these later. I am thinking I may stitch them together at some point ( not sure how long I will keep at it) and frame them. I think it would be cool for others to join in. It could also be great to make a collaborative Paper Heart Project such as The Paper Quilt Project above. Any takers?

New wreath in progress

In my sketchbook now...

Doily Dishcloths

Aren't these beautiful?? My mom (the Carol of Dana and Carol) made these. New in the shop on 3/14.

Color Stories: Aqua Yellow

I love these colors together. So fresh, so springy. These dishcloths are going into the shop tomorrow. I will post another pic. They are so pretty!!

Sketchbook butterflies

Another post from my sketchbook with of course some butterflies.

Torn Paper Project

Some things I think are just great

I have been thinking about why I do this... make art that is and there are so many reasons and so many things I love about it. O.K. so these all aren't art related but to me they are just life and so is my art so they are just a few of may favorite things and inspirations.

Black and Decker

In challenging myself to work in my sketchbook/art journal I picked this logo to make a pattern. It is on my sons tool bench and what can I say, I am surrounded by toys all of the time and i thought it would be cute. One side is colored pencil on raw canvas and the other is Aida cloth with colored pencils. I think I like the raw canvas the best and hope to play more with this idea.

Hearts

I had lots of bits of paper that had been painted and recycled paper from envelopes (love the patterns on some) as well as some collage pieces. I wanted to use them up so I cut hearts. I have been creating lots in my sketchbook/art journal. I find it is so theraputic. You aren't pressured to create the "perfect" thing. You can play all you want. Try one thing then you get an idea for another. Mix this with that. Stitch this, cut that, glue this. I push myself to do/learn more. I do it for myself. I do it for fun. So all hearts were glued onto to kraft paper.

Being a mom and an artist

If you are a mom or a dad for that matter and you are an artist you know there can be little time to create. We have a second table in our dining room that I use to make things on. No, we don't have big dining room at all and I am kinda embarrassed to say that this extra table was used for Thanksgiving. We borrowed from my sister in law. I just sort of took it over after that. I love/hate that I always have it covered with stuff that I am working on but if my kids are playing nearby or if I have a brief second I like to be able to look at what I am working on, even if it is just a glance. I then may get some other ideas or a chance to implement them. So sometimes it drives me crazy to see piles of things laying around but it works for the moment. We do have another room that I have lots of crafty stuff in but it isn't always convenient with my two little ones. I did clear this table off so recently so my husband could return the table. He didn't do it fast enough so I just slowly started spreading out again.

Patterns and Color Stories: Apples (Green/Pink)

Apples, originally uploaded by dana.barbieri.

Somehow between "Mommy, my blankie" and a teething toddler I managed to have a dream last night and it included apples. I was woken up again at 4:30 a.m. and had to draw in my sketch book. After my coffee of course.
I really like the pink green combo on the brown paper.
Colored Pencils on kraft paper.

Inspirations: Beautiful color and silhoutte

Jan 29 2009 , originally uploaded by dana.barbieri.

Inspiration

I was asked not to long ago where I find my inspiration. And my answer was everywhere. If you are being aware of your surroundings and are truly present you will find inspiration all around you. Now I admit I am not always there. There are days where so many things are standing out to me and others nothing. But on the days that I am in the flow I may notice how two different colors look next to each other. How cool the texture on the bottom of my son's shoe is. I may love the way my fruit looks sliced up. I may hear a really great saying. I really try and be in the groove as often as I can because that is when the magic happens. That is when you say "AHA" I really want to try making a collage with those colors or I want to draw some fruit in my sketch book. So try as hard as it sometimes is to be aware because you never know where that next idea will come from and it inevitably will lead to more.