Post Holiday Letdown

The Holidays...

We rush around, making all kinds of plans, shopping, gift making, baking, planning meals, sending cards and letters, decorating the house...

An early photoshop project

I got creative, made gift tags and gift certificates for some creative thingies I had planned to stitch up for everyone the week AFTER Christmas, as I had the week off. Invited them all to New Year's Eve dinner at my house (what was I thinking?)...

This year's photoshop gift tags

Then I got a nasty bug and was sick all night on Monday. Tuesday I was pretty puny. Today I had just decided to go ahead with my plans, though the sewing was lagging behind. Then my brother, who lives in the other side of my house, told me he is sick now. That means his kids will get it and nobody better come up here!  It seems like everyone I know has had this 'bug' and we don't want to pass it around any more.

Yes, I can create

Yes, I have post holiday letdown. I don't feel like sewing or doing any more cooking or much else at the moment...

Cutting & pasting

But I still have 4 days left of vacation and have hopes that I will do something creative with that time.
I might finish the e-course in Photoshop Elements by Kim Klaussen, actually do the sewing projects, start cutting and pasting again and make collages, look into that etsy store idea more closely, do some housework...

Affordable art

Okay, that's better. I have a goal or 5 or 6.  I CAN create some value in the next 4 days, and hopefully continue the momentum into the new year. Though my Buddhist practice stresses goal setting, I often forget and "just go with the flow." But I usually try to come up with clear goals for the new year. What do I want to do this year? What can I accomplish? What would I love? What do I need?

Spread your wings and fly!

It's easy to forget ourselves to the pressures of life, family, work, etc. but making some clear personal goals is a gift we can give ourselves. What gets you motivated? What do you want? What do you need? What do you dream of doing, having, seeing? 

Spread your wings and fly!

Sherry

At home with Ralph

I'm home at last. Over the last 3 weeks, my kitchen became shipping and receiving, so I may take a few days to clear out the place and get back into collaging. My cats now have velcro paws and keep sticking all over me. They missed me! Last night I fell asleep on my giant recliner with fat Snuggles beside me and Fluffy stuck on my front. I had to peel them off to go to bed.

Saturday, I stopped at my favorite local junktique shop and found Vic, the owner, thumbing through an album. From the parking lot, I shouted, "postcards?"  He answered, "no, old photos." We looked it over for a while and I bought it.  I don't know about you, but I love old albums. They have so much to tell--about a time and a place and the people who lived there.

This album belonged to Ralph. Ralph took most of the pictures. He loved cars and there are many pre-1960 cars shown in all their finned and chromed glory. He also loved Dorothy, also called Dot. There are so many pictures of Dot, that there would be no album without her. I don't know if he married her or if she was his sister or a neighbor...there are no wedding pictures. Some of the last names are familiar to me as are some of the locales. They were of my parent's generation, and I didn't recognize anyone myself. Ralph must have ended his days in a rest home in my home town, as there are a lot of pictures of the place. Dear Ralph, what stories will we tell?

Whenever I make a collage, I start with a picture. I look for clues or I just start from scratch and make up my own story.  I picture Ralph as a bachelor who loved a good time and "the gals" and maybe drank and played cards often. He took some road trips in his beloved cars. Dot loved a good time too, and often accompanied him. Hmmm. Maybe a travel theme.

Vic threw this sweet vacation pamphlet in for free along with the album. Dated 1951, it should be right on the mark for a background piece.  Now for more travel themed pieces. Old postcards? Road maps?  But wait, this pamphlet has maps, pictures and advertising. This will be fun. I can't wait to begin!

I love traveling! Last year at this time I was deep into my plans for the Dream Vacation. Now, my 15-year-old niece thinks the world is boring and messed up. She has never really been anywhere but here, where she was born and grew up. This summer she and her Dad (my brother Jim) and I are going to Colorado and New Mexico to visit our cousins. I've been telling her about my favorite places since she was little. She is excited, but afraid it won't happen, so she doesn't have much to say about the whole thing. I can't wait to see her reactions to all the new sights, the beauty of the mountains and the desert--the country, the cultures and the city life. I hope she will be my future traveling partner and learn to love it as much as I do.

Where does your art take you? Though we're not all artists, we can imagine anything we want. Art, as well as travel, opens the doors to our minds and our imaginations. With an open mind, we continue to grow and keep a youthful excitement in life. The more I age, the more I feel that youthful spirit. And how wonderful to see it through the eyes of a 15-year-old!

I hope to have a new collage about this for you by next week. I'm pretty busy this week, but I have to create something soon. My brain is itching and my fingers twitching to get into another art project. Thanks for all of your encouraging words about my art and my often-daft ramblings!

As Ralph probably sang along with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, "Happy Trails to You!"

Today's topic: Craft Fairs, are they worth it?
I've been doing craft fairs for 15 years now. I have tried lots of different crafts over the years, with mixed results--very mixed! Last Saturday I brought my collage art to a small private fair that I have done every year, and didn't make my table fee. Is it the economy? Do I actually have to sell christmas stuff to sell stuff?

This is a big effort for no return. People like my collaged items, but the art is too expensive for craft fairs, and the ornaments are not Christmas, though they would be great on a Christmas tree. My line of cards is cute and catchy too, and people like them, but they are not selling either. I know a lot of people aren't "into" collage, but the ones who were oohed and ahed, and walked away.

So much for that fair. I have another this weekend that is two days and a different audience--I'll decide then if craft fairs are worth it. What do you think?

Hi out there,
My first blog, how exciting! I have so much to say that I don't know where to start. My name is Sherry and I live in a tiny town in Western Massachusetts. I've been looking for ways to show my photos to my friends, and to expose my art to a wider audience.

I turned 60 this year, a real shock to this old hippy! (I still look in the mirror and am shocked by all the wrinkles!) But it is a good year--I took one of my best ever dream vacations and really got into my collage art. I had my first ever art show this spring.

So I will begin by showing a few photos of my dream vacation, and then go into my art brain and get rolling.