Working It Wednesday: Website Building

So this past week I've been working on building my own website. It's something that I've been thinking about for a long time and I finally decided to go for it. Being that I'm one of the least tech-savy people I know, it has not been a quick process. Not totally miserable or anything, just not fast.

Why pay money and take the time to build a site? Well, it's something I've noticed that many of the artists I admire have. Sort of a place to tie everything related to my artwork together. I'll still have my Etsy shop and still blog here but my website will link it all together. My shop, my blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest all happily accessible from one site.

If you want, you can check it out here: www.wishesandwonderment.com

Keep in mind though that it is a work in progress. There are still a few glitches that I'm working out, especially on iPad view. Desktop and iPhone view seem to be okay though. And once I get all the little issues worked out, I'll fill it with more content and liven it up a bit. For now it's just bare minimum basic.

You may also notice that it has only canvas art featured. That's something I'm thinking of working towards. My love of art and crafting often have me doing a huge variety of things from painting rocks to canvases to glassware to gift tags. Personally, I like that I like a lot of different things. But I also don't like the lack of clear focus my shop and booth can sometimes have. And one piece of advice I've heard over and over is that I should aim for just one thing. I've been told this and I've read it and heard it in webcasts. I can easily narrow it down to two. Rocks and canvases. But the rocks have become a touch of an annoyance lately so I'm focusing on canvases for now. Back in July I hid a few painted rocks around town for people to find. Less than 2 weeks later, a group was started on Facebook called "901Rocks" where people paint rocks and then hid them all over town. And it went practically viral overnight. Initially I loved the idea and enjoyed watching people get so excited about painting rocks. I've even participated in hiding them around town. But then people at craft fairs began asking if I was the lady who started 901Rocks and when I said I wasn't, they ALWAYS ask if I took the idea from her. I didn't. I've been painting rocks for several years now. The thing about it that bothers me is I don't ever want people to think that I took someone else's idea, twisted it and tried to make money off of it. See, 901Rocks are supposed to be a free thing. My painted rocks are not free. So, until the luster wears off a bit for the whole 901Rocks thing, I won't be selling any individual painted rocks at craft fairs. I will still sell the sets of story stones that I have, including my nativity sets, but once they sell out, I may stop making them altogether aside from any special requests. We'll see. I just hate the thought that anyone could possibly mistake me for stealing an idea and profiting from it. In the meantime I think it will be fun to try and focus on just my canvas painting. It should bring improvements and strengthen my painting skills if nothing else.

I am also gearing up for a show this weekend. I'll be at Bartlett First United Methodist Church this coming Friday 11/4 through Saturday 11/5 from 9-5. My booth is #13 and is located in the corner of the gym. If you're local, stop by and say hi!
You can learn more about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/562359350639506/

Working It Wednesday: After the show

Last Friday and Saturday was the Bartlett Hills Baptist Church Annual Craft Fair and it went really well. This was my first experience with a 2-day show and I think I like them better than single day shows. I also was allowed to set up tables the night before which I loved since it gave me a chance to see the space I'd been assigned and decide on my layout. Plus the added benefit of having one less thing to unload and set up on that Friday morning. I lucked out and got a corner space for this event and was able to try a new layout that pulled traffic through the booth rather than around it. My next event already notified me and told me that I've gotten a corner booth so I plan to use pretty much the same layout again.

As expected, my Nativity sets sold the best, followed by my gift tags. I did sell two canvas paintings as well but this event was much more geared towards holiday shopping than art shopping. I did not sell individual painted rocks at this event like I usually would've. It can get confusing when I sell the individual rocks and sets of rocks at the same event. People never seem to understand the difference and it just complicates things. Since I knew I wanted to sell the Nativity sets at this event, I opted out of the individual rocks and did a semi-mass production of some of my best selling sets. I stained wooden trays to display samples of each set on and then behind each tray I had a basket with pre-bagged sets of that sample. It actually worked well this way and I will continue to use this method of setup/display going forward. In fact, several of the customers who purchased sets of story stones actually asked if I sold the wooden trays that I was using as a display. Based off that, I've purchased a few more trays and plan to stain them and sell them alongside my Nativity sets at my next show. They're just simple, unfinished wooden trays from Michael's that I stained to match my other display props but they do look nice. If they do end up selling, I'll likely continue to make them. We shall see.

I've got two more craft fairs this year and I'm currently working to replenish my stock. I painted more Nativity sets and I'm about to make more gift tags. I bought some new holiday rubber stampers so I can offer a bigger variety of gift tags. With Christmas only being 9 weeks away I figure these will be a good seller and at only $1 each they'll make a good alternative to my $1 rocks that I usually sell. Awhile back someone told me to always offer something at a cheap price point when I do shows and so far, that's proven to be great advice. Those little dollars here and there do add up pretty quickly!

I have started to receive notifications of events accepting applications for 2017 fairs but haven't yet signed up for any. I'd like to do more than I did this year but want to be sure I take my experiences and make wise decisions on which events are right for me. I definetly seem to do better with smaller school and church hosted fairs than massive community hosted events so I'll be giving those priority. I'll keep you posted here as I start scheduling those events.

Working It Wednesday: Instagram Giveaway

This week I've got a lot of small projects going, most of which aren't all that exciting. Fun, but just not anything you all haven't heard about before. Rock painting, booth planning, and so on. But the one thing that is exciting is that I'm currently hosting my very first Instagram giveaway! Several of my Etsy friends have done them and I've always liked them so I decided it was time to participate and host my own.

The giveaway is a set of my Nativity Story Stones. It began on Monday and runs through 10/7/16 at 8pm CST. Complete contest rules can be found on my Instagram page (@Wishesandwonderment) 

If you haven't entered yet, be sure to hop on over to Instagram and check it out! 

Working It Wednesday: Holiday Season Prep

This week I've been getting a jump on something that I completely missed the boat on last year. Holiday items. More specifically, the Nativity Story Stone Set that I make every year.

Last year, amidst moving to a new state and taking on the largest commissioned project I've ever had, I missed out on several chances to sell Nativity Story Stones. I had several people request them via Etsy and Facebook that I unfortunately, I had to decline simply based on the time I had available. I hate turning down any chance to create something for someone. So this year, I've decided to get a head start and I've been pre-making several Nativity sets. I know it's early in the season for holiday items but I really regretted not having them on hand, already made last year. I'll be selling them at all my Fall Craft Fairs as well as through my Etsy shop.

The Nativity sets are a favorite of mine. And a best seller in my shop. Since I began making them, several other Etsy shops have started making them too but I'm of course partial to my own style and design. They're simple and childlike. Bright and colorful. Perfect for those little ones with curious, need to touch everything hands. Definetly more durable than the porcelain set my mother had when I was growing up! If you want one of these sets for your little one (or just for yourself!) you can find them in my shop here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com  or if you're local to Memphis, pick one up at one of the following Craft Fairs:

Bartlett Hills Baptist Church Fall Craft Fair 10/14-10/15
Bartlett UMC Fall Craft Fair 11/4-11/5
St. Louis Catholic Church Annual Holiday Craft Fair 11/19

Or, if you want to score one for free, follow me on Instagram (@wishesandwonderment) and watch for a giveaway coming soon!

Working It Wednesday: Defining Success

Well Cooper Young Festival has come and gone! First and foremost, let me announce that it did NOT rain. Almost all week the forecast showed high chance of thunderstorms and rain and I was super panicked that the event would be rained out. Thankfully, all my prayers were answered and it didn't rain. There was a very light sprinkling around 10am that lasted maybe 5 minutes at best. By afternoon it was all sunshine. Lots of fiery hot sunshine.

So how did the event turn out? Well, that depends on how you look at it. Or rather how you define success. If success is defined by making a profit, then yes, it was a success. I covered all my fees and still turned a profit of a few hundred dollars. That should make me very happy but it doesn't really. More like it leaves me feeling kind of blah. See, everyone I'd spoken with who had participated in the event before swore that this was the most profitable event they did all year. They told tales of bringing in profits in the thousands. I knew the event got major traffic. Like 130,000+ each year. So with that in mind, I imagined this being my most profitable event as well. Now my items are very inexpensive so I wasn't expecting to make two grand or anything but I did hope to get close to a thousand. I didn't. I did sell the highest amount I ever have before but after the high booth fees (which I normally don't have) I fell just shy of the $400 mark.

I also spent a significant amount of time preparing inventory for this event in comparison to the others I've participated in. I also had to get significant more help with the event than ever before. I had so much inventory and so many booth props that it required multiple car loads. My brother had to get up before the sun and drive downtown to pick up a shelf and stool that I couldn't squeeze into my car. My sister had her car loaded to the brim with all my inventory. And then my husband, both my siblings and their spouses spent part of their day helping set up, work and break down my booth. I always have some help at a show but never have I needed that much assistance. I'm very grateful for each and every one of them and all that they did to make the day run smoothly for me. But having to have so much help and having to spend so much time preparing inventory made it feel like an unsuccessful event when I counted up the money at the end of the day. If it'd been a smaller, less help needed event, I would have felt like it was more of a success. The booth next to me had a serious abstract artist who sold several expensive paintings. One of them was $2,500. Yep, $2,500 for a single, abstract painting. That in and of itself can make one feel a tad unsuccessful. As a side note, this artist did paint very beautiful pictures.

But I did take away some valuable lessons from the day. I should not participate in events that have such high fees. It's not practical given that my prices range from $1-$40. By the time I've earned back my booth fees, there isn't enough left to make a happy profit. I should stick to the smaller, free and cheap events. I also learned that the amount of traffic doesn't always equal sales. The festival was packed but I saw more people with beers and pronto pups in their hands than artwork. I may do better at events geared more closely to art than to festivities. I also confirmed that I need a better way to show my paintings. I've got to figure out how to get more of them upright and vertical. I have some easels but not nearly enough. This is actually not a new thought but more of a confirmation. Oh, and I also can't be the person responsible for taking pictures. I didn't take one single picture. All that work and I didn't take a picture of the tables. I'm also starting to think that I need to narrow down my niche'. Most artisans have one specific thing they create and I'm still doing variety. Perhaps I'd do better to focus on just one type of art. I'm still thinking on that though.

So what did sell? I sold out very quickly of my Memphis skyline canvas paintings. I actually wish I'd had more of them to sell. Also sold out of my 901 (Memphis area code) wine glasses and mugs. Wish I'd had a few more of those too. As usual, I sold lots of my $1 painted rocks. I sold a few other small paintings too. And I had someone who saw my work at the festival send me an email about potentially doing some custom work for them.

So what's up next? Well, I have the Bartlett Hills Baptist Church Craft Fair in October and the Bartlett First United Methodist Church Craft Fair in November. Both are smaller than Cooper Young but are regular annual events so I expect good turnout. Both were cheap to participate so I'm not worried about covering my booth fees. And best of all, they're indoor so I won't have to worry about weather at all. Overall, I'm optimistic that they'll both be good events.

For now, I am busy updating my Etsy shop and painting some Nativity Sets for the upcoming season. You can check out my shop here if you want to see what's new: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Catching Up

As you may have noticed, I was MIA last week. Where was I? Well, I was lucky enough to spend my week volunteering as a camp counselor at New Hope's kids camp. It was so much fun and I really want to do it again next year but after taking a week off work I am running behind on creating inventory for Cooper Young. So all in doing this week is playing catch up and trying to paint as many canvases as possible. I only have 37 canvas paintings in hand right now and I really want more like 75 on hand when show time rolls around so needless to say, I've got some serious catching up to do! No time for blogging, must paint now!

Working It Wednesday: Memphis Rocks

I'm not feeling so hot today so this week's post will be short and sweet. This week I've taken a break from canvas painting and worked on painting rocks instead. As I've mentioned previously, at shows I sell my story stones individually for just a $1. For Cooper Young I want to do a special theme of "Memphis" rocks so I've been doing a big variety of those in addition to my regular rocks. Here's a sneak peek of what I've finished so far.

Want to show your Memphis love with one of these rocks? Well, you'll just have to come see me at Cooper Young in September! 

Working It Wednesday: Booth Planning

It's still early but I've started planning out my booth for Cooper Young. If you've never done shows then you'd probably think all you have to do is design your booth one time and then just use the same game plan each show you do. That would be nice but it isn't realistic. See, every show is different and every show has different booth factors. The sizes vary, sometimes you get a corner booth, sometimes you're squished between two other booths, and so on. For Cooper Young I will be between two other booths and the booth size is 10x15 instead of the standard 10x10. 

In the past, I've had lots of brilliant ideas for booth layout only to discover at set up time that the brilliance of my idea didn't quite fit within the confines of my allotted booth space. That's never a fun moment. So, to plan more appropriately this time, I've devised a new plan. I created a grid of 1x1 blocks and measured it out to 10x15. Then I cut out tables, chairs, shelves, etc.that I often use inside my booth. Now, I can play around with my brilliant ideas and make certain they'll actually fit in my space instead of waiting until event day and hoping they do. I still haven't nailed down my dream layout but at least now I can play around a little more easily until I do. There's a picture below but it's hard to see since I used white paper for both the grid and the prop cutouts. And I also Threw in a picture of one of my usual front view sketch of my booth ideas. Once I get my ideas finalized I'll be sure to post a picture of the layout and the sketch. 

Working It Wednesday: Abstract Art

After taking a few days off to relax and rest after all my VBS work I did some abstract canvas painting.

I've always been somewhat torn about abstract art. Is it really art? Can't anyone do it? Well, yes. Yes to both of these common questions. But even though I know the answer is yes, sometimes I question if I'm doing anything special and wonder if there isn't something better I could do with my time. And then I decide it doesn't matter. If I like it and think it's pretty then that's really all that matters. So I painted yesterday, spreading random colors of paint across the canvas until I decided I was happy with it and this is what the result was: 

One thing I do disagree with is the idea that abstract art is worth hundreds of dollars. I hate when I'm out somewhere and see a painting priced at like $750. If you're famously known and renowned that's one thing and totally understandable but the average unknown artist charging those kind of prices drives me crazy. You'll never find me selling art at those sort of prices. I'll probably end up selling this one for $40 at a craft fair or possibly in my Etsy shop. That covers my canvas and paint costs and provides a little profit. 

Working It Wednesday: Watercolor Pencils

This week I played around with watercolor pencils for the first time. Until recently, I'd never even heard of them and had no idea such a thing existed. They're kinda cool in that you can use them dry just like regular colored pencils or you can wet them and they turn into watercolor paint. There are different ways to get the wet effect. You can dip the pencil tip directly into the water and then color on the paper or you can color dry on the paper and then brush water over the paper. I tried the second, using a paintbrush to spread water over the paper.

Here's a step by step of what I did:

I started by sketching out my picture. I used watercolor paper and dry watercolor pencils. The pencils genuinely feel like plain old regular colored pencils when you use them dry.

Once my feather was sketched out, I added a short quote.

Then came the fun part! I took a clean watercolor paintbrush and carefully brushed water over the paper. You have to be extra careful on this step because using too much water will smear all your colors together. Sometimes this could create a nice effect but in this particular case, I didn't want all my feather colors blending together so I tried to use my water sparingly. On the short quote part I used the water a little more liberally and you can see in the picture below how the color spread nicely across the paper. 

As a final touch I took an extra fine sharpie pen and went over the lettering and the stem of the feather to make the detail pop a little more. Here is how the finished project turned out:

All said, I liked how the lettering turned out with both the pencils and the sharpie. I think this would be a great technique for me to make some greeting cards with. I will need more practice playing around with the pencils and water on the multi-colored pictures. Not over watering the colors and blending them together definetly takes practice. In the meantime, I may take a few quotes and paint them/color them onto blank greeting cards and list them in my Etsy shop. You can watch for them to appear in the shop here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Just For Me

This week I've been working on a little something just for me! Several years ago I took some sharpies and wrote all over a canvas some of the cool things I've gotten to experience in my life. It wasn't anything fancy but I've always liked looking at it, thinking back over fun times.

Since I created it, I've done so many more things since then (I've lived in 4 states since then!)  that I decided it was time for me to create a new one. And this time I wanted to make it prettier.

I started by painting a few bright watercolors on a blank canvas.

Once that was dry, I used a sharpie paint pen to put an Oscar Wilde quote in the middle. It's one of my favorites. I could've just used a regular sharpie marker for this but the paint pens have a glossy finish that will make the quote stand out a little more once it's surrounded by a bunch of writing.

Then, I grabbed a sharpie marker and got busy writing my life experiences across the canvas. This is where I messed up by assuming I didn't need to use a ruler. I always need a ruler yet always convince myself that I can freehand without it and still keep my lines straight. In truth I could've used a larger canvas as there were many things I wanted to add but couldn't because I was out of room. I may end up re-doing it on a larger canvas and with the help of a ruler, but for now, I'll just let it hang as it is on my art room wall. So, imperfect as it is with my uphill slanted handwriting, I still like it. For someone like myself who loves taking trips down memory lane, this is just perfect.

Working It Wednesday: Mother's Day Gift

This week I've been working on a little gift for my mom for Mother's Day. I'm actually giving it to her today so that's why I'm able to blog about it without ruining the surprise. Awhile back I'd seen a picture of an angel on a greeting card on Pinterest and immediately thought of my mom when I saw it, planning to paint it for her at some point. Well, with Mother's Day around the corner, I figured it was a good time to paint it. 

I began by painting the backdrop of the canvas. This is probably one of my favorite parts of canvas painting. I absolutely love how the paint colors blend together. I used dark brown, tan, emerald green and turquoise to create the background of the 12x12 canvas.

Once the background paint was dry I started working on the angel. The picture that inspired this had a beautiful pale blue on the dress of the angel but I prefer turquoise (and was also out of pale blue paint) so I started with that and then slowly blended in touches of the emerald green, brown and gold.

Once the angel itself was dry, I painted a clear gloss finish over the whole thing. This is something I just started doing in the past year. It gives the painted canvas a nice, completed feeling and helps the colors stand out better. I'm pleased with how her painting turned out and I'm sure she'll like it!

Then I wrapped it up, adding one of my polymer gift tags to the wrapping. I am NOT a present wrapper and am in fact, Queen of the gift bags but canvases always look nicer when wrapped in brown butcher's paper so when I give paintings (or sell them) I usually wrap them. Under normal circumstances though, if you get a gift from me it will either be in a gift bag or not wrapped at all. I'm incredibly terrible at it, ask anyone in my family.

Anyway, I've also been working in my Etsy shop this week, getting things replenished now that I've gotten a few craft fairs out of the way. I'll be adding a few new paintings this week so if you like my work, feel free to check them out here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Watercolors

First, let me say that last Saturday's V and E Artwalk was a success! Sold lots and lots of rocks as well as paintings! Definitely learned a lesson about doing back to back shows though. You shouldn't do it unless you have really built up your inventory. I sold through nearly all my canvas art at the East Buntyn Walk and even though I spent hours on end painting replacements, I still don't feel I had enough stock on hand to really make a good showing at V and E. I did good but could have done even better if I'd had more paintings and rocks on hand. If ever I do this again, I'll prepare far in advance!

Now, on to what I've been working on this week...

After taking a day to rest and recoup, I decided to try my hand at watercolors. I own plenty of them but aside from childlike play with nieces and nephews, I've never done much with them. So today I dabbled in it and for a first effort, I'm pleased. I will probably need to watch some tutorials and such if I ever expect to do anything worthwhile with it though. It was fun to try my hand at something new for a change and who knows, perhaps I'll discover a new talent within myself. 

My first attempt at a Memphis skyline silhouette.

Single sunflower.

Working It Wednesday: East Buntyn Artwalk

So I didn't post last week as I was heading out of town for the Guns N Roses (soon good by the way) concert in Las Vegas. We got back Monday evening and I've been in "let's get ready" mode, preparing for this weekend's East Buntyn Artwalk. From gathering everything together, to pricing it, to to planning out my displays, it seems as if there is a never ending list of things to do.
I am worried that I don't have enough inventory and so I've been working like a madwoman trying to create extra pieces. More paintings. More gift tags. Wine glasses. More of everything.

Today, I'm working on individual story stones. They're one of my best sellers at shows and I sold so many at the Beeline Bazaar last month that I just felt the need to make more. I sell them for $1 a piece and kids usually love them while any parent is happy to let their kid have a dollar. It adds up fast! And I never sell them individually in my Etsy shop so it's the only place you can buy them this way. 

I don't have much blogging time today so that's it for now but if you're local to Memphis, don't forget to come visit me on Saturday at the East Buntyn Artwalk! You can get all the event info here:
Www.eastbuntynartwalk.com

Hope to see you there!!!

Working It Wednesday: Hand Painted Wine Glasses

Several years ago, inspired once again by Pinterest, I began painting wine glasses. This week, as I continue to prepare for next month's East Buntyn Artwalk, I'm painting new glassware. Not just wine glasses, but beer steins, martini and margarita glasses too!

Painting them is easy. All you need is the right paint, clean glasses and an oven. And depending on the design, perhaps a little patience too. I've done a few that seemed to take forever and ever because they were so detailed.

I use inexpensive Libby brand glassware that I buy from Dollar Tree. There are two different paints I use. One is the same tha I use on my story stones-Sharpie brand oil paint. This paint is easier to use and I feel like it glides on the glass a little more smoothly but once finished, these cannot be washed in a dishwasher. The other paint I use is Glass Enamel paint by Folk Art. This one feels thicker when I'm painting but seems to be much more long term durable than the Sharpie brand. And this one can go into the dishwasher and the paint won't chip or fade. Personally, I'm all about using the dishwasher and you'd be hard pressed to find dishes in my house that aren't dishwasher safe. I hate hand washing.
I'm doing a little of both types of paint this week since I have both on hand.

I don't usually sell my glassware in my Etsy shop simply because it scares me to ship them in the mail. I'm sure there are perfectly safe ways to ship them but it just makes me nervous. So, if you want to buy any hand painted wine glasses you'll just have to come see me at the East Buntyn Artwalk on April 16th!!

Working It Wednesday: Event Booth Prep

This week I've been working on my booth for my upcoming events. The event I have later this month is the Hutchison School Beeline Bazaar, which is an indoor event. I love indoor events! That means my booth doesn't need a tent and I don't have to worry about wind or weather situations. 

I haven't participated in any events since last April and that was an outdoor event so needless to say, my booth needed some re-vamping. I started by sketching out the vision in my mind of what my "indoor" booth should look like. Here's what I came up with:

How I hope the booth will look!

I still had all my old signs from events I'd done last year but they were the wrong colors so I repainted them and am so much happier with the new color scheme than my previous one. My previous colors were more primary colors and now they're more of a beachy pastel scheme. Yellow, Coral, Aqua and Light Grey. I also used my newfound skill of hand-lettering to redo my chalkboard sign. My writing still isn't where I 'd want it to be but it's much better and will do for now until I can sharpen my skills.

My pile of table fixtures and signage, all freshly painted!

Next, I needed a backdrop of sorts. I already had tables and shelves but have never had a backdrop because I've never wanted to shell out the money for one. Everything I found that would work in the past has been upwards of $100 or more. I hate spending a lot of money on display stuff and just won't do it. I'd rather put money into my products. Luckily for me, I scored a wonderful shutter folding screen on a yard sale site for only $40! It was old and dirty as the previous owner had used it outdoors but I figured it was nothing a little elbow grease and painting couldn't fix up. 

The shutter screen before my handy work.

Let's just say I had no idea how much work it would be to sand and paint shutters. All those teeny tiny wooden slats! It took 2 days of working on it to get it how I wanted it. Eventually though, I got it looking decent enough to make me happy. I was so happy to be finished with it that I actually forgot to take a picture of the finished product before I put it in my storage unit. I painted it a light grey and made sure it had a distressed and worn look to it. 

 Me, all smiles before getting started! I had no idea how much work was ahead of me!

I can't wait to see how everything comes together at my first event and I'll be sure to post lots and lots of pictures on here, Facebook and Instagram afterwards! If you're local to the Memphis area and want to come see the booth all finished and set up, please come visit the Beeline Bazaar on Saturday, March 19th! You can read more about the event here: https://www.hutchisonschool.org/beelinebazaar

Working It Wednesday: Record Bowls

So I haven't worked on anything at all lately because I was out of town for vacation. No worries though! I can still offer up a blog worthy post. Record bowls!

Last year I made a bunch of them and took pictures along the way intending to blog a tutorial about it but never actually did it. These are crazy easy to make and are a fun rainy day activity if you have kids. Super cheap with no mess.

You will need:
Old vinyl records (find them at Goodwill or yard sales)
Metal or Pyrex bowl (shape and size don't matter all that much)
Cookie sheet

To make:
-Preheat oven to 200.
-Place bowl upside down on the cookie sheet.

-Place record centered, on top of bowl.
-Place items in oven and watch through the window as the record begins to droop.

-Once record has drooped, pull cookie sheet out and pull record off. You may want to use pot holders when handling the record but I personally don't. It's too hard for me to follow the next step if I have oven mitts on. But for safety's sake, do what is best for you.
-Immediately mold and shape the bowl by pinching and bending the edges. The record will harden very quickly so you have to work fast.

-Let the bowl cool for about 10-15 minutes.

While these bowls are not food safe, they do make awesome decorative items. I've used them as a quirky catch all by the door for cellphones and keys and I've hung them like artwork on my wall. I've had a friend use one as a base for a cool gift basket. Every bowl will be different, no two alike. Whatever you use them for, it's sure to be a fun activity and create a conversation starter.

I'll be back in my normal groove of things next week and have a real post to share!

Working It Wednesday: Learning Hand Lettering

I am super excited about what I've been working on this week-Hand Lettering! All over everywhere I always see the prettiest script and I'm always jealous. See, my own handwriting is awful. I don't really print and I don't really write in cursive either. It's some hodge podge blend of the two and while my writing is legible, it's anything but pretty. Just ask my mom. She's a former teacher who grew up in strict Catholic schools so her handwriting is always, always picture perfect. As a child I can remember her buying handwriting workbooks and making me practice them during the summer. She tried but my messy, bubbly scrawl won the fight. And honestly, I never really cared all that much. Until I started seeing people do beautiful canvases and other art with hand lettered and artful script. Nope, then I was just jealous. I messed around with it a little on my own here and there, trying to see if I could figure it out but it was never what I would consider good work. 

And then I found, at random on Facebook, a local hand lettering workshop! Melody Tartera with Tartera Sign and Design was hosting the class and had just 2 spots left in the next class. I hesitated before signing up, not sure if I'd be good enough to learn how to do this in just one, 2 hour workshop. Finally, I decided to go for it, signing up for the class and handing over my $50 along with the hope that I'd get something worthwhile in the end. And boy did I ever! 

The class was great and I walked away with some great advice and instruction. During the workshop she taught us the basics of what we would need to know to get started and we worked on learning to write our letters. We were given pens and worksheets to take home and practice with. Much to my surprise, hand lettering isn't as difficult as I'd imagined it would be. It's certainly not easy but it is learnable and with practice (lots of practice) I am positive I will be able to do this well. 

All week I've been doing my worksheets and practicing writing my name and address. Usually until my hand cramps, insisting I stop for the day. I've burned through not one but two Sharpies and countless sheets of paper so far. Next week I plan to start trying to letter on canvases and eventually I want to get some of my favorite scriptures and quotes written out and posted for sale in my Etsy shop. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress but I expect you'll be seeing beautiful, handwritten words in the very near future!

Practice will make perfect, eventually!

My pile of practice worksheets!

Working It Wednesday: Garden Markers

This week my new project has been making Garden Markers! Now, I am not, have never been and likely will never be a gardener. Nope. This girl has black thumbs. I can't keep a plant alive to save my life. But, other people like to garden and two of those people actually sent me pictures of garden markers over the past week and suggested I make some. I've even had a couple people tag me on pictures of garden markers on Pinterest too. So, I figure, why not? Let's make some!

Normally the stones I use are relatively small in size since I use them for story stones but lucky for me, I had a few larger stones in my stockpile. If I end up keeping these in regular stock in my Etsy shop, I'll have to find a local place where I can buy larger stones. The first thing I had to do was paint them solid, bright colors. This step ended up being slightly annoying to me because I'm so used to painting story stones which typically only have one side needing to be painted whereas these stones needed paint on both sides. That meant I had to be patient and wait for the first side to dry before I could flip it over and paint the back side. But patience is a virtue, right? So I waited for paint to dry, flipped them to paint the back and then did it all over again when I decided they needed multiple coats of paint to make the colors more vibrant. 

Once all that was finally finished, I got to start working on the fun part-The details and decorating! With these being my first pass at garden markers I kept them fairly simple in design. If they end up being a popular item I may make them more elaborate. We will see how it goes. Once I had them all decked out, I applied a clear sealant to protect against fading from the sun. Overall these were easy enough to make (if you take out my annoyance at waiting for paint to dry) and I could easily make more. 

Just starting the decorative part of the project!

Want to see the finished product? They'll be up in my Etsy shop later this week and you can check them out here: www.wishesandwonderment.etsy.com

Working It Wednesday: Vendor Events

This week instead of actually making some sort of art, I'm spending some time researching local festivals and events for 2016. I've done a few events in the past and have been successful at all of them but now that I'm living in a new area, I have to research new events to see which ones might be right for me.

Personally, I love an indoor event. It's cleaner, temperature controlled, no worry about rain, etc. So far, I've only found one upcoming indoor event and I immediately sent in my application. It's an annual event held by the Junior class at Hutchison School called Beeline Bazaar. It's being held on Saturday, March 19th from 10-4 and is free to the public. At this particular event, I will only be selling my story stones. All of my regular sets of themes will be available as well as single stones for creating your own mix and match variety set. You can read more about this annual event here:
www.hutchisonschool.org/beeline_bazaar

Outdoor events can be fun too so long as the weather isn't terrible. Some events offer rain dates while others have a rain or shine (read: no refunds) policy. Last year I lost money on an even that was "rain or shine" because it was raining cats and dogs complete with thunder and lightening so I opted not to attend even though I'd paid all my booth fees already. I have zero desire to stand in the rain and mud trying to keep my art dry while hoping someone will be crazy enough to come out and shop in the rain. No thank you. So, that said, I hold favor for events that offer rain dates. Through Facebook I found a local neighborhood event called the V and E Artwalk. It is outdoors but they have a rain date just in case so I feel like I have a safety net if needed. The event is being held Saturday, April 23rd from 11-6 and is free to the public. For this event I haven't fully decided what products I want to sell. I know I will have canvas paintings for sure and most likely I will also sell mix and match individual story stones. You can read more about this annual event here:
www.vandegreenline.org

My goal would be to find an average of 1 event per month that I could participate in. As I apply and get approval to participate, I'll be sure and post them to my Facebook page so anyone who is interested can stay in the loop. If you haven't yet "liked" my Wishes and Wonderment Facebook page, you can check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/wishesandwonderment