I got nothing

I've been repacking and organizing everything I need for sundays Patchwork show. Wish I had more to share with you today, but it just wasn't that exciting. How about a picture of some of my most coveted collections? Will that tied you over till monday?

I've been collecting art pottery for years. I had so much at one point that I decided to sell off a ton of it only holding on to my favorites. I have to credit the feng shui book "Move your stuff, Change your life" for getting me on tract when it comes to collecting things. It's such a fun book to read and it really helped me from becoming overwhelmed by my stuff. I have since learned to "keep the best, get rid of the rest". The best part is that it's so much easier to clean my house. For the past few years I've slowly been purging and organizing everything in my house right down to the tupperware drawer. Sure I still buy things that I love, but I'm trying hard to be a much more conscience consumer these days. I'll never live in a total minimalistic house, but I've noticed that having less clutter makes it so much easier to keep things organized. Those who know me well know that I love to play musical furniture in my house. It's a great way to experiment with what you have and fall in love with your stuff all over again.
You know those inspiration walls that you pin all your ideas on? Do you ever get bogged down, energy zapped when they get too full with pictures and bits of stuff? I have to clean mine off every six months or so to keep the juices flowing. Enough rambling for now, I hope everyone has great weekend. Karin

Robot Party

I've been working on some art work for my little nephews party invitations. He wants to have a robot party. I wonder if we're supposed to come in costume? Do you like it Anica? I think it would be cute on a turquoise card stock background.

The rest of my day was spent weeding and breaking open the poppy seed pods for next years spring display. It's so sad when all the poppies dye back, but they were beautiful for several months. Here's a picture of them when they were at their best. Karin

New wood Blocks

I bought some birch wood blocks recently from Plywerks to paint on and I'm really happy with the results. They are super smooth and have a keyhole in the back for mounting flat against the wall. Jena from Modish turned me on to these and I'm so glad I finally tried them out. I'm thinking this could be a nice product to incorporate in my classes as well. Not sure if I should varnish them or leave them be.

Here's a picture of the elephant mural project in stage 2. This guy only has a base coat and a little detail. Next week I'll add many more layers and highlights. Carol and Francesca have only applied one coat to theirs but will be working on their elephants next week. I have to stay a few steps ahead of them so I can help them with theirs during class.

Karin

A Fabulous Weekend

I want to thank all of you who stopped by my little art show this weekend at the Pannikin. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again in August for the Leucadia Art Walk. Here are a couple pictures I took of my set up and one of the cutest little boy "Fin" who came to visit. The red umbrellas belong to the owner of the Cafe. Aren't they fabulous? I wish they were for sale.

It was so nice to be able to sleep in this morning, drink coffee till noon and finally do some laundry. I also pulled out my sewing machine. It's time to use up some of my fabric stash I've been hoarding for so long. I sorted everything by color, cut up all my scraps and now need some inspiration. We'll see what happens.

A big Thank you to Jerusalem, owner of StoriaHome and new blog friend of mine. She just sent me a note letting me know that she featured me on her blog. if you haven't checked out her Etsy shop yet, you're missing out. She makes really beautiful party banners and other decorations that will blow you away. I have my eye on one of her glittered Eiffel Towers. My friend bought one for her "Paris" party and I've been wanting one ever since.

Next Sunday I'll be at the Patchwork show in Santa Ana. I've heard so many great things about this show and can't wait to be apart of it. I think I'll just leave every packed and ready to load in my car till then. Take care, Karin

Random Paintings #3

Here are a few paintings I thought i'd share with you before I pack them for a show. I spent the day making candles and gathering all my goodies and props for this weekends festivities. My studio is completely trashed right now. I was about to take a picture of it but it's too embarrassing. I'm the type of girl that has to vacuum and tidy things up before a friend comes over. My sisters are probably reading this right now saying" yeah right" because I don't clean up for them.

Cinco de Mayo!

I hope everyone had a fun Cinco de Mayo yesterday. I took the train up to L.A. and had a great lunch with my Gramme, sister Catharine and her knuckle head husband Zuri. We ate at Elements Kitchen which is my new favorite place in south Pasadena. It was a little noisy this time due to the ice cream maker they had churning, but the food was worth it. Look at this adorable picture of my Gramme Jo! She must be drinking some special fountain of youth potion, but she'll never tell. If only we could all look this fabulous at 95.

The rest of the evening was spent drinking margaritas with Zuri, Cat and friend Jen from Zuri's personal Tiki bar. Here's a shot of them posing for me. I wish the picture was better, but it was indoors at night.

The train ride was very relaxing, and I worked on some new sketches for a painting I hope to start soon. Karin

Busy, Busy,Busy!

This has been one of those weeks where every second of everyday seems to be full of work and responsibilities. Art's been at a Solar Living Seminar for the past three days leaving me as single mom to our 3 dogs and 3 cats. At the same time I've been pet sitting for my neighbors 7 chickens, a parrot, a lizard and a super sweet dog named Tanner. Technically I don't have to feed the lizard but I've been keeping an eye on him anyway. I just can't feed a live cricket to another animal. Kind of freaks me out. I've had painting workshops, kids art classes, a show to hang and I'm trying to finish up some more fabric designs for the shop.

Tomorrow I'm off to Los Angeles to have lunch with my Gramme who's turning 95 this year and I'll be staying at my sisters for a little cinco de mayo celebration. Then it's back to San diego to get ready for a two day show on Mother's Day weekend and the Patchwork show on the 17th. Whew! I'm tired but looking forward to sitting still on the train with my sketch book.

Here are a couple pictures of my new animal friends. I love the one where it looks like Tanner's laughing at the camera. Isn't this the coolest pot of strawberries? I had to snap a picture of it too. I'd love to have some of these in my garden. Take care everyone, Karin