Just a Quick One!

I wanted to show you I wasn't a total slug on my vacation. I did work on some artwork and ATC's this week. They're still Works in Progress but here's one that only needs the Certificate of Authenticity adhered to the back:

It's an ATC titled, The Story of My Life. Reading, writing and creating have always been important elements for me, since I can remember. I'd drive my parents crazy reading billboards when I was learning the alphabet. I can't remember not having a library card. And I've always created things, from dolls clothes to flowers made of plastic and tissue paper and fabric to my ATC's and jewelry. For this one, I started with three Inchies (1" x 1" artwork) that I doodled with colored pencils. Then I punched out some stars and did the words on computer.

Soon to be finished, artwork with themes from Paris, The Little Prince and a black and white challenge for Somerset Magazine.

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Series Book Review~~Leslie Caine

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on my vacation, which made me think about blogging some book reviews. Lately, I’ve been a big fan of “cozies”, mysteries that take place in comfortable settings solved by people who aren’t detectives. The English started them but the last few years, Americans have chimed in with some fun series of their own. I’m going to give reviews of some of my faves over the next few weeks. Check ‘em out!

When I was in my home decorating phase, I discovered the Domestic Bliss series featuring Erin Gilbert, an interior designer with a rival named Steve Sullivan. Gilbert shares the beautiful home of Audrey Munroe, a design diva with a local cable show called, you guessed it, Domestic Bliss. Each book includes decorating tips from Audrey.

A very human character, Erin grapples with self-doubt, repeating a strengthening mantra before each appointment and loses herself in enthusiasm for furniture, accessories and design. Sullivan, her talented rival in their small Colorado town, is a charming and handsome guy who provides not only business friction but sexual tension, as well.

I’ve enjoyed this series for several reasons. Naturally, the home decorating attracted me but I really like Erin. She tries to do the right thing and of course it always get her into trouble. I find myself protective of her, hoping she won’t get into too much trouble, especially with her friend, Linda, a cop on the local force. Her relationship with her cat, Hildi, also rings true to life. Any cat owner knows, when we want our cats’ attention, they’re as likely to ignore us as not. But sometimes, Hildi offers her little furry body as breathing, purring comfort.

The mysteries themselves involve some interesting characters. A few have been truly malevolent and some have been annoying as hell. I was almost relieved when one of Gilbert’s clients in a later story turned up dead since she was such a pain in the butt. Erin’s family back story, the subject of the first book, has created ongoing conflict and some poignant situations.

These are great, comfortable reads made for the beach or a rainy day. Erin and her cast of amiable characters, while not offering the most intense mysteries on the shelf, deliver good, solid stories that involve you in her world of beauty and murder.

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New Things on Etsy and Day Job News

I’ve talked about my struggles putting new items on Etsy before, on my poor, ancient computer… I sweet talked it today and got a few things on. Here’s one I don’t think I’ve blogged about before.

First, let me say that The Four Agreements really have been a blessing in my life. If you haven’t read The Four Agreements, it’s really worth your time. The one I think has had the most impact for me is to not take things personally. I try not to let anger and frustration with other people linger too long in my head--we’re all in our own little worlds and sometimes the rest of us get the fallout.

Having said that, I couldn’t resist the play on words of The Four Disagreements. I’ve had it out at fairs recently and it’s gotten a few giggles.

And here are some new earrings.

Hopefully, over the weekend, while The Husband watches some sci-fi, which I usually like but not this particular movie, I’ll get some more things on Etsy, so keep checking in! And I’m planning a Summer into Fall sale in August on anything in my shop with autumn colors. More on that later!

And here’s my Day Job news. I do payroll accounting for the Pennysaver. I’ve been with the company 20 years (yes, they hired me when I was 12...) (and if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you!) and they’ve been very understanding about my creative journey. Recently, my hours were cut from 32 to 24 a week, which was a little nerve racking in this economy. This week, I’m on vacation (yippee!) but when I go back, it will be full time, for a while at least. I’ll still be creating jewelry and artwork but I’ll have to manage my time a whole lot better. So bear with me!

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Wow, It’s Neil Diamond! No, It’s Dean Colley!

Went to our first concert in the park of the summer tonight in Yorba Linda, to see a Neil Diamond tribute band. What a blast! The name of the group is Hot August Night (a line of my favorite ND song, Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show) and Dean Colley looks and sounds as close as you can get to Neil Diamond without a DNA test. These hard working guys played nearly two hours non-stop and they had the crowd on their feet by the last set of songs.

Naturally the music, so familiar that we all know the words, draws you in but Dean Colley obviously enjoys singing and playing with the audience. The venue at this park is a small bowl stage facing limited amphitheatre seating, so the majority of the audience is behind and to the sides of the stage and he made sure everyone felt included.

The Husband, a musician himself, was impressed by the fact that Colley, singing such iconic songs, doesn’t try to “impersonate” and brings a little of himself to some of the music, not trying to make it sound exactly like ND. But he does have some of Neil Diamond’s signature moves down, as evidenced in this pic.

There were some problems with the sound mix, which most of us non-musicians don’t really notice but, again, since The Husband knows about this stuff, he understood them wanting to get it right. But the true test came when the electricity went out altogether in the middle of a song and the band just played acoustically while the tech fiddled with wires and plugs. We gave them a round of applause for keeping the tunes going!

My ears are still ringing and that’s a sign that I had a great time! And this is a total compliment--after seeing Dean Colley perform ND‘s music so well, I’d really love to see the real thing now! Going to a Neil Diamond concert is definitely on my Life List.

Here’s Hot August Night’s website, where you can find their schedule, bio and other info: http://www.hotaugust.com/

Next week in Yorba Linda, my friend Irene’s sons’ acapella doo wop group, The Alley Cats!

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Successful Show in Cerritos

Just got home from the Tall Mouse/Handmade Brigade show. I love it when a show is well organized, friendly and inside! (Inside means climate control and no breeze knocking over jewelry displays and ATC’s) Nina, from Tall Mouse, did a terrific job of communicating with all us vendors and setting up a great show. Here I am:

Hopefully we’ll be doing it again in November. I’d better get started on stocking stuffers!

Another fun aspect of the show today was meeting a lot of folks who sell on Etsy. The only purchase I made (believe me, at a show the biggest temptation is to spend all my profits so I’m very careful about not going overboard!) was from a fellow Etsian, Kelsodoesntdance, who makes beautiful fabric purses. I really like the one with three layers of ruffles! Here’s an example of what she’s offering.

What I bought from her are pins made of scraps of the fabrics she uses for the purses, which I‘ll be making into chokers (like my cowboy hat necklace, which I sold today). Talk about recycling!

Happy Saturday Night!

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Handmade Brigade Next Week! Fires This Week…

I’m suddenly enamored of buttons! I’ve been playing with all colors of stack earrings and yesterday I started making some fun necklaces, adding all kinds of sparkly things and bugle beads. I love making things that are a little off beat and that you definitely won’t find at Target.

I’ll be introducing all my button mania at the Handmade Brigade show next Saturday in Cerritos. It’s my first juried show, meaning I didn’t just pay for the space and show up. I had to send in pictures of my ATC’s and jewelry and be granted a space, so I was pretty happy.

July 12 Handmade Brigade
Tall Mouse Arts and Crafts
13233 E. South St.
Cerritos, CA 90703
11AM to 5PM

This is going to be a fun show, with a DJ and the first 50 people through the door get a gift bag full of goodies!

I would have taken a picture of one of the button necklaces, but it was so hot today, we just vegged, after spending the morning doing yard work.
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Hope everyone had a great Fourth!
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My heart’s going out to all the evacuees from the California fires, which are mostly up north. We actually saw a brush fire being battled near us, here in SoCal. Helicopters from the Fire Dept. fill their tanks with water from a lake at a nearby golf course and fly over the fire to drop their load. We didn’t realize how huge the column of smoke we were seeing was until the helicopter got closer to it. As the chopper progressed, it got smaller and smaller, until it looked like a mosquito in the huge fog of smoke.

God Bless our Firefighters!

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Meet My Friend, Barbara Bastrup

I met Barbara at the Bead Society of Orange County a couple of years ago. She’s so talented! Her paintings, assemblages and collaged art journals reflect her love of cowgirls, the old west and travel, among other things. I keep nagging her to send some things in to Somerset Studios because I’m sure they’d publish whatever she sent them. Here’s a perfect example.

© Barbara Bastrup 2008 All rights reserved

She’s such a fun person, her enthusiasm is contagious. Spend any time at all with Barbara and you know you’ll be laughing the whole time.

And here’s where you can see more of her work. Soon she’ll also be merchandising her cool jewelry, as well. http://barbarabastrupfineart.com/

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