Work-A-Day Wednesday "Whimsical" Mixed Media



Some fun pieces I've been working on for a while.

Can't wait to get the real photos taken and welcome them to the Etsy Shop.

Have I mentioned how great it feels to be working again???

Work-A-Day Wednesday

It feels so good to have a work table full of projects again! The little ones are getting to the point where they amuse themselves for more than 30 seconds at a time. And Mike's been my "bouncer" keeping distractions away from my workroom during "working hours". It's so hard because they all love to "help" and be creative. But they are learning that there are times when they can help, and times when Mama just needs to focus on the work.

This week's work table has a folk art doll and a few paintings in progress. I'm trying to take a tip from an online friend and teacher, Mystele of Little Glimpses. She teaches a lot of classes on what she calls "gut art", and story telling through art. I'm trying to "listen" to the canvas, and let the inspiration come from within the layers, without any expectations of what the finished product "should" be. In some ways I'm loving it. But it's new for me. And the finished product of a girl I just worked on is not what I envisioned at all. I can see that this could be fun. I just have to let go of coming to the table with any visions... LOL. This way of painting allows me to use many more colors then I usually do, and I really love that. I don't worry about the "norms", and just have a blast with all the paints, pastes, brushes, and fingers :)

I still prefer working in graphite with a color wash, so I'm sure those will not disappear, but it's good to explore. My girls think this latest painting looks like a mermaid, so even though that was not my original intention, we may go with that... LOL!

  



Work-A-Day Wednesday / Getting all "dolled" up :)

"Mara Keziah"

9 Days 'til the big opening of  Doll Town, and I've been spending my "work-a-day Wednesday" getting Miss Mara ready for her big evening. She will be mingling with lots of lovely ladies, fine fellows, and colorful critters of variable designs. She, herself, is a humble maiden, but still.... I think her skills would provide for a lovely self made garment ;) Sketching the face on a friend for her too... Then some fun and funky friends with colorful hair made from the lovely wool roving that came in this week!

"Happy Creating" friends!

 

Website Info

Life being what it is... My "Tips and Tricks Tuesday" post didn't get started until almost midnight on Tuesday. Thus, it's actually going to be posted on Wednesday, which is usually my "Work-A-Day Wednesday" post. Then I figured, what the heck... since it's my website I'm working on anyway, it all worked out in the end! Have I lost you yet? Well, stay with me. I'm excited to share some neato info with you :) If you want to skip my drama charm, you can just scroll down to see where the info on customizing the free website is!

Working on my website has been one of "those" exercises for me. Once again, it involved a little fear, a little letting go, and (thank God) a little leap of faith in something new.

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You see... when I opened my website, almost 4 years ago, my main focus was the world of Primitives. And one important factor in that online world is to create a warm atmosphere. Each primitive seller wants to reflect the same feeling for their customers that they would in a brick and mortar shop. Heck... if we could add an app that allowed for a scented candle aroma, we'd all have it!  Since I also design web graphics, I worked and re-worked my little site a few times until I finally had just the right look. But then...

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Well... a few things happened. Because of ebay's change in policy, I virtually stopped selling my templates, which were the largest part of my business. Then I discovered I was expecting a baby. My age and illness made for a difficult 9 months, so I took that time off. Most of you know the tale of the last year, so I won't bore you to tears, but I've been more than a little busy caring full time for my baby, and my grand-baby who is 2 months his junior. Why, "yes" my gray hairs have been filling in a little faster. Thanks for asking. Nothing a little Loreal "Warm Maple Brown" can't take care of ;)
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During this crazy wonderful time, my focus has shifted. While I still love primitives and intend to continue making the time-worn items I love... I have really fallen in love with sketching and painting again. And I am continuing to fall more and more in love with digital photography, and the layered art of it all.

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Ok... time to shorten this 'long story'. I love graphics. I am a graphics NUT, in fact. But... I find that when one is selling art, a solid background makes more sense for a presentation. I don't want my art to compete for attention among the checks, stripes, and florals, you know? I went "white" with my blog a while back. I may mix things up by doing black now and again, but I really like the white for now. I wanted my website to reflect my new focus as well.

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So, easy/peasy, right? Well, for most well-adjusted folks maybe. But not Linda Pinda. Nope. You see... 4 years ago, when I opened my website, I chose a free host. At the time, it was Freewebs dot com. One can operate the free site which contains ads. Or... for the low fee of  $19.95/year, you can register a domain name, and POOF, no more ads! (I think for an even lower fee, the ads can be removed, but who doesn't want their own domain name, right?). I really loved the site, but the template choices... though many... didn't quite fit the specialized/unique look I wanted. Because my focus is much more on graphics then on the technical knowledge of HTML and CSS, it took me forever... but I did it! I took a basic template choice and chopped the heck out of it, until it "fit" me.
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Along came a change. Freewebs dot com became Webs dot com. Don't you know... these folks had some new fangled ideas. ugh... When I went in to modify my site, the editing was all changed. AND... the ability to work on the CSS in the way that I had is no longer available. Mind you... there is an entire CSS template, but one has to have a much better grip on the tech side of things then I do to use it. I had the option to choose a new template. But it was clear that there would be no going back. I would lose everything I had personalized. So... there my site sat for a LLLLOOOONNNNGGGG time. I was afraid to lose the unique look I had. A look I wanted to change. (I told you.... to a well-adjusted person, this would have been a much simpler task).
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Well... this past week, the "obvious" finally hit me like a ton of bricks. What sense does it make to hold onto something for fear that I'll lose it, if it's not even what I want anymore??? I guess it was just letting go that was hard. It had been quite an accomplishment for me, and remembering those long nights just made it too difficult to "delete" so quickly. But alas... moving forward is ALWAYS better than looking back. I did it. With one click, my CSS was gone, and I was faced with the possibilities of disappointment and confusion.

But, guess what? It took me only a few moments to realize that the changes Webs.com made were wonderful! In just a few clicks, and a little trial and error, I found the perfect template for my banner and the layout I wanted! Now, the site's CSS is much more like what blogger uses in it's design page. You just click on the section you want to change and can preview it all there. You can upload ANY background, and use any banner. Depending on the template, you may have to play around a lot to get the banner to fit just right. But the one I chose has a huge header, so I can't image not being able to customize this a million different ways.

Below is the template I chose. It's called "Colourise". It's available in a few color combos. I chose black. Then I went into CSS, and added my banner, changed the background colors, fonts and font colors, and added a sidebar.

And now... It looks like this:

 

I still have a lot to add to it, obviously. But let me tell ya'... Webs.com sure has made it easy to add everything you could want. From the sidebar customization, to the store/selling pages, the form element pages, the links page (AMAZING!!!), photo gallery pages, and even an Etsy Store page!!! Wowza... I am so sorry I didn't dig in sooner. It's so easy to use. One other thing offered on the site is "membership". Thus, it can be used as a group/social network/workshop type site. The membership info will show up on the sidebar, but all you have to do is "uncheck" the box for the homepage, and other pages, and it will "disappear" :) But I'm glad to know it's available if I should ever decide to give any tutorials, etc.

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I've always been happy with the site, and customer service and support has been wonderful. I've paid the $20.00/month for a primitive site through one of the DIY prim site builders, and I found it to be so much more difficult to navigate. For the same price FOR A YEAR, Webs.com is really keeping me a happy camper. Someone once warned me that a downside to free web hosts is the possibility of them closing down. I suppose that's true. But in the four years I've been with this host, I've seen two of those $20.00/month sites close and have had friends scramble to find a new host and set up a new site. I guess there are no guarantees. But if you do a little research, I think you'll see that Webs.com is growing a respected reputation and is offering an amazing product for the money.

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There are other ways to stretch your dollar, and still have a nice site. When I discovered a couple of years ago that some of the group merchant sites were actually created using blogger, I did a lot of online digging, and found great resources to figure out how to make a static homepage, and create buttons to link to the other pages, etc. Here's a link to a sample site I created using blogger. Of course, it does not have a unique domain name attached to it because it's just a sample. But it shows that you can indeed have a lovely little site without breaking the bank. Sample Blogger . There's a lot more you can add to it, but this shows the basics of the static page, and how to use the "labels" to create the link pages for buttons. Once all your buttons are created, you just remove the "labels" element and the buttons do the work instead of the text.

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***I am in no way affiliated with webs.com and have not been paid for this post, or even asked to write it. I am just a very satisfied customer sharing what I hope someone else may find to be valuable information :)

  PS... Aww... come on... did you really think you would escape without one picture of my kids? LOL!Thought you'd get a kick out of a kid who actually reads the birthday cards :)

Some Art and Giggles... JUST LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE!!! LOL...

I thought I'd share a few attempts at actually getting some work done during summer vacation with 3 kids who don't quite "get" mommy works from home, as well as caring for a 10 month old, and 8 month old, and having a house under massive re-order. (translation=6 people camping out in a living room awaiting bedroom reconstruction and decor). Hopefully it will be finished before Hannah leaves for college in 7 years. : P

I've been taking a wonderful mini course with Little Glimpses Studio, which has been a delightful experience. I love challenging myself to make art in ways that are not my usual style. Exploring different techniques, colors, and themes always gets those creative juices flowing!!! Below is my "Storytelling Painting" in which the subject is just "pulled" from the abstract layered background. The process was fun and enlightening. Mystele is a fantastic teacher and inspiration. I would recommend her videos and classes to anyone who loves art and/or wants to learn more as an artist.

"Enter The Journey"... (almost finished... LOL)

Below are some sketches I'm working on for my shops. I've never done so much detailed pencil sketching on canvas. There are things about it I love, and the jury's still out on some others. But I'm excited about the process and looking forward to working more on these later when the kiddos are settled in.

Lastly, I wanted to share my interim studio... AKA the kitchen table. As soon as we are re-established upstairs in our bedrooms, we will be reorganizing rooms downstairs. The family/play room will become my studio. I CANNOT WAIT!!! But until then, I work where I can... sometimes the sitting room (which will become the new living room). And when it's really hot... the kitchen (where the only air conditioner is).

You can see that no amount of special effects could make this any prettier... LOL! Yes... those are dishes in the sink, and on the counter. Yes, those are baby bottles drying on the rack behind Jake. Yes, that is peanut butter right beside my easel... yes, right near the portable cheerios that I keep digging into to appease Jake. And yes... that "IS" Jake looking at me like he has had ENOUGH of this!!! (I love that rascally boy).

Oh, just a sidenote... See those cupboards over Jake's shoulders? Ya. Those are the ONLY cupboards in our entire kitchen! Yep. True. And to boot.... the drawers below the counter are broken, and useless. (Gonna take a cue from Miss Mustard Seed). I figure if she can take useless drawers out of bureaus and create this lovely shelving unit, I can do something similar with these old cupboard drawers!

Not sure why I love this old house... but I do. And if I never win the lottery and buy that big ol' lake house... that's ok. As long as there's a little roof over us where we can paint, sew, sing, and play goofy games together, I'll be happy.

Of course... if you're reading this Mike... I'll be lots MORE happy when I've got my studio... ;)

Love you, Sweetie xoxo