Do you believe in Fairies?

"She kept watch over the garden..."

If you are very still and you truly believe, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the fairies that watch over the garden.

5x7 mixed media collage of paint, paper, glitter, ink, etc on canvas board. Hangs from a pretty beaded wire. Available at www.pinkkittydesigns.etsy.com

Revelations...

I always wanted to be an artist. I've been making stuff since I was old enough to hold a crayon. Throughout my life I've explored all kinds of creative expression... drawing, painting, fiber arts, performing, writing, etc etc. But I never went to art school and I always had a "real job" so I never called myself an "Artist". I created things for me, because it was something I needed to do and I did eventually start selling my stuff at craft fairs. When I had my children, I gave up working "real jobs" and I started listing my occupation on various forms as "homemaker", which always made me cringe just a bit. Now, PLEASE don't email me about how being a homemaker is a real and valid job, and it's the hardest job in the world, blah blah blah. I know all this. I've been a stay-at-home Mom for almost 8 years, and although I LOVE the job of being a mom (I even homeschool my kids, so they're with me 24/7!) there was that little piece inside of me that said, "But I wanted to be an ARTIST when I grew up!" So, yeah, listing my occupation as "homemaker" always felt a little weird to me. Over the past 8 years I've still kept "making stuff" and I've been selling at craft fairs. I eventually went all official by starting Pink Kitty Designs. I began selling through boutiques as well as fairs, and for a little over a year now I've been selling my work directly online. So I had a little revelation recently, when asked my occupation. I make stuff, and people buy it, hence I am being paid to make stuff. Ones occupation is what one is paid to do. I am paid to create art. What is my occupation? I am an ARTIST.

I achieved my childhood dream, but it took me a while to realize it!

I am an artist.

My "Nanny"

When I was a little girl, I spent lots and lots of time at my beloved grandmother's house. I called her Nanny, and she was one of the most special people in the world to me. One of my favorite childhood memories is of her giving me bits of stale bread, and sending me out into the yard to feed the birds. She had a lovely fenced-in yard, with nothing but woods behind it. I loved being out there, amongst the flowers and grass and trees, and I loved the way the birds would flock around to snip up the bread. Before coming back inside, I would always gather up as many dandelions as I could hold and bring them inside for Nanny. She would smile her big smile, and thank me and find one of her prettiest little vases to put them in, and then place the vase carefully on the kitchen windowsill.




This collage was inspired by my wonderful Nanny. It was created from paint, paper, vintage fabric and stickers on canvas board. The vintage floral fabric in this piece was from my grandmother's own fabric stash, which I inherited after she passed away.

A Better Way to give Gift Cards...

Every once in a while, there is a person on your gift list for whom it is simply impossible to choose a gift. Whether they are the type of person who has everything, or the type of person who just hates everything... we ALL have been there! The solution for those hard-to-buy-for types is usually a gift card to a favorite store or restaurant... but then the dilemma is, how to personalize such a gift? Here is the answer... handcrafted holiday GIFT CARD HOLDERS! Each one is lovingly handcrafted by me out of fancy card stock (the red has a lovely linen texture!) metallic inks and pretty organza ribbon. Just slip the gift card into the little glassine pocket, write a little message, tie it up and it's ready to give! These are currently available in red linen cardstock with gold stars or in blue with silver snowflakes. As always, custom order are more than welcome!

Holiday Cards, now listed!

I'm the kind of person who hates to think about the winter holidays until after Thanksgiving, but in order to stay competitive in the retail market, it's sort of necessary to start early! So.... Today I finally got started listing some Holiday Cards on Etsy! Just 4 designs, so far... more to come soon!

Wish...

New Collage! It's now up for sale on Etsy! **wink**
Funny Story about this one... (I wrote about this on my personal blog already... so if you read that one, forgive me for repeating myself!) As I was working on this one, my five-year-old son came in to chat. He looked at what I was doing and said, "MOM... the moon is REALLY much bigger than that... and besides... you CANNOT go on the moon ALMOST COMPLETELY NAKED! That would be impossible!!"


My son, the art critic.

In other news, I'm working on a set of notecards from my collages, and I'm STILL working on getting my Holiday stuff together to put up on Etsy. Busy Busy!

Stitchin' news...

I've FINALLY learned to knit! I tried before, last year, but I gave up. then my sister and I took a knitting class together, and this time I've gotten the hang of it! As a lifelong crocheter, I found it hard to adapt to knitting at first, but now I'm really getting into it! I've been knitting like a fiend (in between crocheting and painting and cutting and gluing!) Perhaps one of these days Renegade Stitches will feature some kind of lovely knitted something...


And speaking of Renegade Stitches... This week I listed a NEW item! It's a hooded scarf, made from a beautifully textured handspun hand-dyed Peruvian wool. The color is hard to make out in the photos, but it is a gorgeous purplish brownish burgundy sort of color, with the subtle color variations throughout that are characteristic of hand-dyed yarn. The design is simple and I left it without any kind of fancy edging, to further show off the glorious texture of this yarn.