Ms. Messy Comes Home

10 Months.

I can hardly believe it’s been that long since I blogged here.  When I popped in to harvest some photos from this blog and got looking back at the postings, I realized that I miss Just Make a Mess.  I miss it a lot.

So I’m back.

I’m afraid I got terribly sidetracked.  I looked at the post about how I over-analyze and second-guess myself at times, and that’s certainly the case with this blog.  I thought maybe I should do a different blog.  Different name, different focus, different format. I created a blog for my art studio and there it sits…sad, lonely and pretty much empty.  I tried another focus with a Homesteading theme.  It’s ok but nothing special.  Here are some of the other things that were a result of this wandering journey:

I started teaching art classes…

My band played some gigs….

I even planted a garden…

Oh…and I’ve lost 93 pounds.  Yay me!

So I dabbled with other sites and flirted with different formats, but I have come to realize that I need to just stay here.  I like it here.  It’s home.

And there’s no place like home.

Doggy Bag

Because I have to divide my time between my home studio and my work studio, I end up having to haul a lot of stuff back and forth.  If I intend to get anything done it’s necessary that my art and jewelry supplies follow me around.  What this mostly means is that I cuss a lot because something is invariably missing from my bag because I forgot to pack it.  I am very, very good at sabotaging myself, apparently.

I do, however, have a wicked-cool doggy-bag to haul all my stuff around in.  This is one of my Laurel Burch bags.  Yes, one of them.  I also have a purse and a suitcase designed by Laurel Burch.  It’s not all that surprising that I’m drawn to her work…just LOOK at those colours!!  A bag like this can lift your spirits from the depths of the doldrums and put a definite skip in your step.

What came out of the bag at home today:  gesso, acrylic retarder, impasto medium, iridescent medium, camera, large tube of acrylic titanium white, large tube of an amazing copper/burgundy/metallic gold acrylic paint.  I don’t remember what the colour is called but it’s the kind of colour you just want to squeeze a glob of into your hand and smear  all over your canvas….or your face.  I know.  I’m weird.  But this colour is THAT yummy.

What went into the bag to come to work with me:  my journal, my sketchbook, watercolour pencils, 6 x 6 watercolour paper, letter-sized watercolour paper, water pen, scotch tape.

Things that stay in the bag all the time:  archival ink pens, drawing pencils, a small ruler, gum eraser, white eraser, a very basic drawing pad, a bottle of masking fluid, and my camera  manual.

This poor bag has a constant ebb and flow of supplies.  Things go in, things go out.  It’s like a daily tide of supplies and goodies.  Sometimes everything stays inside because I don’t get to it or my Muse takes a powder, but sometimes…..sometimes magical things happen when things come out of the bag.

Now a question for all you creative types out there:  Have you ever bought an art or craft supply just because you fell in love with or were intrigued by it, but didn’t have a single clue what you were going to do with it?  Something you just HAD to have that you may or may not have ever done anything with?  Sort of like a tube of amazing copper/burgundy/metallic gold acrylic paint?  Let me know in the comments.  Come on….fess up….have ya huh?  The lady with paint all over her face promises not to laugh.

Introducing Firefly

When I made the decision to focus on my own jewelry I also made the decision to let the Cara Luna name go dormant for now.  I needed a name that encompasses the new direction my jewelry designs are taking.

The new name  is a hint.  I’m not quite ready to reveal the new line as I’m still doing some research and trying to budget for the new tools I need.  Suffice it to say that it involves melting something.  Glass to be exact. Oboy, oboy, oboy!!

I’ve started the website that will feature the new line.  It can be seen HERE.  It’s just the flash intro and the “Coming Soon” page, but it’s PRETTY.  Yellows and oranges are my thing these days;  I think it’s tied to my fire obsession.  This page will ultimately link to my Etsy store and should be up and running as soon as I have enough product to post.  So check it out and tell me what you think.

While you’re at it, leave me a note here in the comments if there’s something specific you’d like to see in the new line.  I want the line to reflect the tastes of those close to me.  I’m not terribly interested in designing for anonymous people whose tastes may or may not even resemble my own.  Let me know what you like.  Who knows, you might see it here soon!

In the meantime, dream of Fireflies.  They’re magical, mystical, and miraculous.

JUMP!!!

Ever feel like the fog has finally lifted from your brain?  That’s me right now.

For the last 2 years I’ve had my jewelry in a local business on consignment.  When I started putting things there, there were the remnants of my old stock from my storefront that consisted of a lot of imported jewelry.  It was affordable and sold well, but it wasn’t a lot of my own designs.  Things have changed markedly since then.  I don’t want to sell a lot of imported stuff.  You can buy jewelry from Nepal and Mexico everywhere and unless you know a lot about your supplier, you’re likely buying jewelry made at virtual slave wages in abysmal working conditions.  I was lucky enough to have great suppliers but I want to sell my own jewelry now.  I no longer NEED to keep large amounts of stock to fill store-shelves, so I can concentrate my energy and finances on building my own line.

It was a really tough decision to let the storefront deal go but it was a necessary one.  They offered me a place to sell when I really had no clue what to do about storefront space and I am very grateful for that, but I want to access the global marketplace.  I do a lot of shopping online for items I cannot purchase locally so I am well aware of the power of the internet.  I’m  a Facebooker and if you’re reading this you already know I’m a blogger.  In order to sell online I need constant access to my stock.  It would be a bad, bad thing to have an online customer purchase something and then to discover it had just sold at the storefront.  It’s a simple case of “either-or” and the decision had to be made.

So I’ve done a ton of research and have made the leap.  I’m setting up an Etsy store, have signed up for PayPal, have registered my domain name and now I’m telling YOU.   As we work far less in the summer at our music studio, we’re also going to look at selling at Fairs and Farmer’s Markets.

I’m so excited I almost can’t stand myself.  I feel inspired again.  Maybe it’s because it’s spring.  Maybe it’s because I know you guys are going to support and encourage me as you always do and I love you SO MUCH for that.  Maybe it’s the sense of anticipation.  You know….the kind where you’re on the high rocks at the river….you’re looking over the edge….you’re thinking the water looks sooooo cool and inviting…..

………you’re thinking “OMG that’s a long way down”………..

……………………….”I don’t think I can do this”………………..

…..”but I really WANT to do this”…………………………

…………………………………………………………………..so you take a reeeeeally deep

breath, close your eyes……..and

……..

…….

…….

JUMP!!!!!!!

Kid Art with The Keaster

I spent yesterday with one of the coolest kids on the planet.  Keaton’s mom is a good friend of mine and suggested that he and I should do an art afternoon.  I see Keaton fairly regularly and know he’s a very artistic child and he and I have developed a bit of a connection.  Besides, when Mom emails you in the morning to tell you he’s sitting at the window watching and saying  “When is she going to come? Huh Mom?? When is she coming??”, you just know it’s going to be a good day.

This is Keaton with the Leprechaun Trap he built.  I was informed, however, that the sneaky little Leprechaun escaped.  He moved the ladder to the inside and crawled in and out that way instead of jumping down the trap-tube.  At least he left some chocolate behind.  It must have fell out of his pockets in his haste to get away once he realized it was a trap.  He also left the recipe for Stardust.  Keaton had told me about it and when I arrived I was gifted with a fresh batch he had whipped up just for me.

Mom printed the instructions as were dictated to her by Keaton.  Apparently I can grow plants in it as well and then they will be magical.

So I asked Keaton what kind of art he wanted to do and was informed that he wanted to learn how to use chalk pastels.  He’d had some in his supply stash for a while and hadn’t used them yet.  We had a blast smooshing and blending and getting pastel powder everywhere.  He really liked rolling the black ones all over his hands and putting 4 colours together to draw with all at the same time.  I just realized now, writing this, that I don’t have pics of the pastel work.  I’ll have to rectify that soon.

The other thing we did was a little thing called Spin Art.  Do you remember Spin Art?  They used to have these things at carnivals and fairs where you could pay a couple bucks and make your own masterpiece.  There are now kid-versions of this.

OMG….you wanna talk fun??  There’s a little spinner-handle on the side you flick to make it spin.  You just drop runny paint on this and give it a whirl; the centrifugal force pulls the paint outwards.

You can mix colours, blend colours, swirl colours together with a stick or a brush.

You can drip water on it to make things more runny.  Ohhh the possibilities.

This photo amazes me.  When it was taken, that piece of paper was spinning so fast it was a blur.  The camera actually caught the paint as it pulled to the outside.

These were some of the finished pieces.  And this next one….the MASTERPIECE!

Isn’t that just totally cool???  This is why I love Kid Art so much.  There’s a freeness and spontaneity that we as adults often try to work hard at because we’ve forgotten it’s ok to just let things happen.  We get all bound up in “Is this good, is this right?” and don’t allow ourselves to just let art BE.   Thank you for the lesson Keaton.  I learn more from kids than I have ever taught them.

I know I’ve got to do this again.  It was the most fun I’ve had in ages.  Besides, when you have a partner in crime like Keaton, who at 6 years old did art with me for over 2 hours…… 2 HOURS (much longer than most kids would stay focused on any one thing), you just know you’ve got to do more.

I have to go.  I need to find that old box fan I know is hiding around here somewhere.  Did you know you can make a Spin Art from an old box fan?  Yup.  The internet rocks for that kind of stuff.  Now….where’s that hubby of mine…….