Substitutions allowed

It was time for dinner...since we plan out a rough menu for the week, I knew that I'd be making Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe - a great recipe from Everyday Italian by Giada DeLaurentiis.  I love all the Giada cookbooks - simple recipes that are easy to make and taste fantastic!

As I gather up ingredients, I find I don't have everything the recipe calls for...no problem.
Instead of broccoli rabe, I had kale.
Instead of parmesan cheese, I had blue.

Instead of orecchiette, I had farfalle. 
I always have garlic in the house.

Calvin enjoys eating the kale stems - anything green & crunchy is a treat for him.

Dinner is served.  Instead of red wine, I have white.

Instead of stressing that I didn't have the right ingredients, I had substitutions.  Cooking/Art - sometimes with a little creativity and a change in plans, you can have a great outcome.

And if you haven't entered my anniversary giveaway, there's still time...all the details are HERE!

Getting back in shape

It was time to get back in shape...I don't mean me (though I could use some of that too)...I mean my art studio...it was neglected all of last year...I just kept throwing stuff in piles and when those got too big, I just piled stuff on the floor...it was not a pretty picture (and so this is why there is no "before" shot!)  I vowed to get my space under control for the start of the new year.

Working in multi-media collage means that I have a little bit of a lot things and have to have some plan for keeping the chaos at a minimal.  Though I haven't tackled every nook & cranny, I did manage to make enough progress to see the light ahead.

Ribbon and fibers are a fetish of mine - to keep them under control, I devised this storage system made from plastic rain gutters.

The plastic gutters come in 8' lengths and can be cut with a hack saw; caps snap on each end and hide your saw marks.  The brackets to hold the gutter in place are simply screwed onto the wall and the gutter fits snugly into the bracket - its easy and economical storage!  Remember to use your level when hanging the brackets so that everything lines up straight and even!

Underneath the two rows of ribbon gutters, I hung two shoe caddies from IKEA.  Using cup hooks made installation a breeze.  I like the neutral color and the ability to fill the caddies with all sorts of odds & edds but still have everything in sight.

Wallpaper books are a treasure trove of color and texture but a bear to store - heavy and clumsy, they never seem to stay put anywhere!  I had several milk carton bins that I stacked on the opposite wall to store picture frames and metal findings.  With one bin leftover, it was the perfect size to corral those big bears and fit just right on the lower shelf of my work table.












Further along this long wall of my studio I hung two large boards - one a whiteboard for sketching out ideas and compiling lists, the other, a corkboard, serves as an inspiration canvas.





















Though I haven't completed my studio transformation, as anyone knows who tries to get back into shape...it didn't get out of shape in a day, so getting back into shape will take time...but I'm on the way to recovery...or at least, better organization!

I'm linking this project to WhisperWood Cottage's 1st Project of the Year party - get all the details on how to link up yourself plus see many inspiring projects by clicking the button below.  And don't forget to enter my Anniversary giveway by clicking here.

Happy Anniversary!

It's been one year ago today that I decided to jump in and write a blog.  For me, its been an online artist journal where I can share what I'm working on as well as what inspires me...and in the process hopefully inspire others.
It has been a rewarding experience...it has cultivated my writing skills, sharpened my photography eye (which still needs more work!) and focused my intentions on what I want my art to represent.  And, most unexpectedly, it has exposed me to a community of talented and caring individuals who likewise are expressing themselves through this relatively new phenomena known as blogging.

So in honor of my first year anniversary, I'm a having a giveaway...
First - for everyone who leaves a comment (along with an email address if your blogger profile doesn't list one) you will receive a set of my art photography note cards with my signature motif of clocks.

For those who leave a comment and become a follower (or if you are already a follower just mention this in your comment), not only will you get the set of note cards but you will be entered into a drawing to receive a copy of Where Women Create Book of Inspiration.  This book provides a look at the studios of 23 talented women, providing insight into the creative process and the surroundings that envelope each artist.  In that I have received so much inspiration from my year of blogging, I wanted to pass along a guidebook to inspire others.





















But wait there's more - there will be a second drawing and the recipient will receive this original piece of artwork created by me as detailed in my posting here.

I'll pick the winners next Sunday, January 16th so you have until midnight Saturday, January 15 to leave your comments and become a follower...and thanks for your support!

Unexpected delight

While out and about with the holiday shopping crowds, I spied this magazine among the racks at Borders...at first I thought it was a parody of those high-end lifestyle magazines...but as I looked closer, it was the real thing...

Garden & Gun magazine's tagline is the Soul of the South - the people, the places, the food, the music, the art that celebrates all things Southern.  Now the reason why I was even drawn to pick up this publication is that the plan here is to move south in the next two years...and I don't mean moving to Portland!


My partner in crime, Monty, is a southern guy...and wants to return to his roots.  Me, I'm a northern gal...and though I love to visit Wisconsin now and then, I have no desire to move back...nothing against the people or the place...I'm a weenie now and can't tolerate temperatures below 30 degrees!  Before I met Monty, I had never been to Florida.  Over the years, we have travelled to Florida, Georgia and North Carolina for family events and I have seen a fair share of the area driving around all three states...and I liked what I saw.  So when the topic of retirement came up (for him, not for me - I'll be working forever!) and he said he wanted to move south, that sounded like as good a plan as any to me.

We bought a copy of the magazine, took it home and read it cover to cover - interesting stories, great writing, wonderful photography.  My favorite article was their Made in the South Awards - "twenty remarkable entrepreneurs who are keeping things local, small-batch, and made-to-last".  Two winners really appealed to me -
Red Bird Ink with their letterpress stationery

and Star Provisions Furniture with their salvaged wood farm tables.

Needless to say, we subscribed and look forward to discovering what the good life has to offer south of the Mason/Dixon line.  To pique your interest, visit their website at Gardenandgun.com.  
all images in this post courtesy of Garden & Gun website.

A clean slate

After putting away the holiday decorations, I feel that I need things to be more uncluttered...but I also did not want to take a lot of time re-arranging everything...so I re-used elements of my christmas decor in a pared down manner for the winter months ahead.

I took out the silver sprayed poppyheads & the pheasant feathers from my "christmas tree".  First I lightened up the front hallway - poppyheads in a clear glass vase, simple sewing items to complete the picture.








I like the shimmer of the silver paint in the afternoon winter light.

In the dining room where the "tree" was, I kept the bird theme - I replaced colored glass ornaments with bird feathers in the tall glass vases.  A special highlight for the vintage bluebird game card; my sister gave me this set of Parker Brothers Game of Birds for christmas- each and every card is a treasure!

My copy of John Burrough's Birds and Bees completes the setting.

Next its on to my studio space in the basement - its been neglected for over a year - I really need to get a better system for organizing all my odds/ends/leftovers/snippets/just plain junk so I can let the creativity flow and not be stymied by..."now where did I put _____ (fill in the blank with the item you have been looking for but have yet to find and which drives you crazy and just intensifies your search to no avail)"
Amy over at Whisperwood Cottage is having a link-up starting on January 11 with "First Project of the Year"  I think my studio space organization qualifies...but I need to get started!  Find all the details on the link-up at her site -  time for me to get busy!

Change!

Its a new year, a clean slate, a fresh beginning...whatever you want to call it, change is in the air!  As you can notice immediately, I have changed the look of my blog.  Since I have been blogging almost a year now...

an aside...my one year blogging anniversary is next week...I promise there will be great giveaway that you won't want to miss...

...I feel that I have gotten the hang of this blogging thing - both the creative end (topics & ideas along with photographs) and the technical end (though the blogger software can be frustrating at times!) so wanted to veer from what I started and inject a little more interest and info into my blog.  The new header features my artwork and will change with the seasons.  I've streamlined other topics along the right side of the blog.

But the biggest change is the inclusion of "Pages".  I've discontinued my website and folded all the relevant information from my previous website into one of the "Pages" listed on the right hand side of my blog.  Now there is one definitive location of four corners design!  I will be adding more information in the form of additional "Pages" in the future such as a calendar page of events/shows and a page with updates about my space at Faded Elegance.

Thanks for stopping by...and as I mentioned earlier, I'm planning a great giveaway next week to celebrate my one year blogging anniversary...more details later...