Art to be Auctioned

Hello out there,
I had a fun experience yesterday. I had a woman call me the day before asking if I would like to donate any of my art pieces to their auction with all the proceeds to benefit the local school of the arts in our town. They had seen my name in the brochure that had been published for the studio art tour that I had participated in last fall. I thought it would be a really fun thing to do and hopefully would help their school. So I proceeded to look through all of my collages and I decided on this one. It's a pretty large canvas and I had wondered recently how would I ever ship it to someone through the mail as part of it is really fragile. So this was a wonderful way to give it a home and at the same time help a worthy cause.
So I jumped in my car picked up my mom(thought she'd like the country drive) and headed out.
I had never been to their school before and was so wonderfully surprised.
The woman who greeted us in the lobby was so friendly and she loved my collage (thought it was way underpriced, so that was a nice compliment). And she asked us if we'd like to have a quick tour.
It was so exciting!!! I wish, wish, wish that when I had been growing up that there had been a school like this one that I could of gone to. Every subject is centered around art! It was on the school hall walls, and in all their projects. We got to go into the main art studio and I was just in awe! Everything looked so organized in an artsy sort of way and fun. The woman taking us on the tour told us that the childrens grades are on track with the public schools and even above in some instances. But being a charter school means that only the government funds the schooling part but not the building, so that was why they were having an auction fund raiser to help pay the huge rental fees.
I can't wait to go to the auction, enjoy the art, listen to the music, and eat the hor'dourves but most of all I will be so honored to know I am contributing to this wonderful art school. Hope my collage finds a good home and is enjoyed.
talk to you soon,
deborah

Women Entrepreneurs

Hi out there,
I just bought this new book called "crafting a business, make money doing what you love" and it's really wonderful! It is made up of a group of women who have all started their own business.
Some of them are quilters, some are doll makers, some are cake designers. The list goes on and on. And they also each give out a trade secret, for example, advice like: take the time to get away from your business, travel somewhere to revive your creative spirit, or it's drive, not luck, that fuels a successful career. Also at the end of each artists section they write what their dream is for their business.
The photos are great in this book and we get to see the artists creations as well as their work environment. Also at the end of the book are all the artists web sites so you can find out more about their work.
The book also includes a section on "your business plan", financing, presenting your vision and more.
I'm really enjoying this book because it really inspires me to not give up and just keep on doing what I love. For me, it really helps to see how other women started out and what keeps them going.
talk to you soon,
deborah

Women Entrepreneurs

I just read the most wonderful article in Country Living magazine regarding women entrepreneurs. There's a whole section on women artists and it is really inspiring.

There's also an article on vintage jewelry further along in the mag. and one of the artists is also on etsy. Her shop is t8designs.etsy.com. Check it out, her creations are really beautiful.



I am so excited about my etsy shop because I now have a starrydeborah banner. My daughter has been working on it for me and I just think it is so beautiful. It's a close up shot of one of my collages and it really has a 3-d look. I now feel totally official as an etsy artist.

I've been working on a few new creations, one is a round hat size box that I am giving a vintage aged look to and another is a small cylinder container with a yellow cream color theme and when I'm finished with these two items I am going to focus in on making a few all occasion cards. Actually, making cards is what I totally love to do. Every christmas I make over 40 handmade cards for family and friends. It can be kind of stressful because I tend to procrastinate and wait until the last minute to make them, but otherwise I really love it.

All my creating lately is done at my family room table. I have a trailer studio on our property but it is not heated so in the winter I have to bring all my supplies inside where it's warm.

My hubby is going to build me a cozy artists studio this summer so eventually all my creating will be away from the main house. But for now, as you can see in the above photo, it's in the house for all to see when they come to visit.

Okay, it's to my creating I must go now, talk to you soon,
deborah

Hello, Hope you all haven't given up on me! I've just been trying to get all my other
sites up and running. I now am a part of the group cottage style too. It's http://etsycottagestyle.ning.com/?xgsi=1 . When you get a chance check out all the wonderful artists, it is just mind boggling.

Hey, I just read the most wonderful article on women entrepreneurs. It's in the March issue of Country Living magazine and it is so inspiring. And then further on in the mag. is an article about vintage jewelry. I was drooling over the charm bracelets. And one of the designers is an etsy member, t8designs.etsy. Isn't that cool!?!

I don't know about you but I am so excited about all of this creativeness! It just gives me this high that I can't explain. It reinforces my belief that anything can happen if you go with your passion. Love what you are doing and everything else falls into place. I'm not saying it will all be easy, but you'll be able to endure because it's what you love and you believe in it.
Sometimes it's difficult to really know what your passion is, but if you just step out and start doing something towards what you love, that's all you need. One way or another you will narrow it down to what it is you are meant to do. But you can't just sit around daydreaming forever about it, you have got to take a chance. Oh, yes and those chances can be soooo scary. But it's up to you! No one else will or can do it for you! Start small or start big, you know what's right for you and jump in!

Speaking about France....

Hi,

Since I was talking about Paris France alot on my last post I thought I'd continue on that thought. Here are a couple more photos of my Paris bedroom.I try to keep a balance on how I decorate the area. There are so many pieces I could use to fill up the room but I want it to have a calming feel so I tend to not put out every Paris collectable I have at one time. Some of my treasures are stashed away waiting for the day when I decide that I need to freshen up the look. I really don't want the room to have a cluttered store appearance. This is a difficult task because I have many beautiful pieces that I want to display but if I put them all out at once..... chaos!

I find that for me, decorating with less is better. I'm not saying this is true for everyone. I was perusing another artists blog the other day and her home was filled with art! On the walls, on the furniture, it was amazing. If I can get her permission I'll put it up on my next blog so you can see it too. It will astound you! When I see artists homes that have taken a chance and let their inner creativity outside the box, it really inspires me to not be afraid with my own creative process.

Here's my thought for the day, whatever your style of decorating is, whether it's sparse or eclectic, or super artsy etc. don't be afraid to just take the leap and go with what makes you happy. Our homes should bring us a sigh of relief when we walk through the front door not a sense of dread. Make your decorating a statement of who you are, not of what the world thinks it should be. And most of all, have fun, remember it's only paint!

deborah

Hello,
I just want to say there is so much talent in the artist community that sometimes it boggles my mind.

I recently placed an order from lynetteaprilarts one of the artists on etsy and when it came in the mail I was so excited! Inside the box were three french inspired tags and a sweet artsy valentine. I was so thrilled that I couldn't help myself and had to let out a squeal of delight. Now, for those of you who don't personally know me I must tell you that I am a total France fanatic and these paris tags just made my day. So hope you enjoy the photo and seeing what I was and am so excited about.

Speaking of France, a couple of my artists friends and I are going to go to Paris in October of this year and we are so full of anticipation that we almost can't take it. I've been to France twice already but this time I'm specifically going as an artist. The first time was to celebrate my husbands and my wedding anniversary and the second time was with my daughter and neice. I really wanted to go back sometime as a painter and spend many hours in the museums etc. so that's what my friends and I are going to do. We will bring our sketch books and paints with us and visit the Louvre and the Orsay and just absorb the art vibes and hang out with the art.

We really don't plan to take any trips (except maybe to Monets garden) but to just stay in the city of Paris. We hope to get an apartment really close to the hub of it all and that way we can walk everywhere and not have to depend on transportation. The walking is a great thing because then we can eat all the chocolate croissants we want!!

One last thought. The other day I was reading from the etsy forum of past comments and one of the shops artists,SadieAndLeo, had the most touching words. The conversation was regarding sales and how many items were shops selling everyday and SadieAndLeos words struck me so strongly that I have to share them with you, they said"goals are good to have but at the same time some goals can actually detract from the main goal and that is being creative and expressing ourselves." Isn't that wonderful. It really put things back into perspective for me. It's so easy to always focus on the sales and forget that I am doing this because I love to create and I love using my talents and sharing them with others. Sure, I want to make an income with my art but that's not what should drive me because then it seems it's too easy to get off the track of what my passion really is, and that is to be an artist.

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about lately and hope you enjoyed my words as much as I enjoyed writing them.
deborah

Hello,
I'm am so excited! My son showed me how to add photos to my blog and I tried it and it worked. Whew, that was scary! Anyway, here's a photo of a corner vignette in my home. It's best when you have a collection of items to display them all together and not randomly scattered around the room. Because when they are all over the place it tends to look like clutter but when they are all collected in one place they look like a collection. This is my collection of old and new perfume bottles.

The vase of flowers is an arrangement that was given to me as a thankyou from a tea where I gave a talk and demonstration on my vintage collages. Actually there wasn't a lot of talk because that is definetely not my forte but I loved demonstrating how I put my collages together. I also met my etsy friend sadie at this event. She has been a total inspiration to me in how she juggles family and art all together. Check out her site sadielouwho on etsy.

talk with you soon,

deborah

what is my art worth?

Hey,
Just thinking about pricing my art creations,and
I always find this the most difficult of all the aspects
of being an artist.
I know that I need to get back what I put in for materials
etc. but how much do I charge for my time and creativity?
I was showing my artsy daughter-in-law, Kate, something
on etsy yesterday. It's a beautiful fabric, yarn bracelet cuff.
I just am in love with the design and the colors but it's pretty
pricey. I'm not saying it's not worth it, it's just a bit too much
for me right now to spend.
And that is the dilemma I have with my own creations when
I am pricing them. What I've been doing is asking myself if
I were to see this art piece in the store, what price would
I personnally pay for it? I don't know if this is the best way
to price my creations but I just don't have any ideas on how
to do it other than this for now.
I just know that I love creating things and I hope others
will like them too.
If you have any suggestions for me, I would love to hear from you.
Go to starrydeborah.etsy.com and leave a message. or just blog
me.
By the way, the sight with the fabric cuffs is " greavesdesign" on etsy.