Wow! It's been a while!

Well, what can I say? I've been in the process of moving!

We're still not quite finished with it all... there are still a good number of boxes that need to be unpacked. Most of them are filled with various bits and pieces of my art stash. I can't believe how much STUFF I've acquired over the past few years since getting back into art. Honestly, I have only been involved with art again for about 5 years (I've been an artist all my life, but, life's different ups and downs has made me more or less unable to give in to the artistic yearnings for a very long time)... and during that time, I've amassed enough stuff to nearly fill a 1 car garage.

Which is why the new house has a two car garage! haha!

Perhaps I will need to consider destashing in the next few months.

Anyway, over the past week, I've actually made some time to create in the midst of all the unpacking. I've been working to finish a swap commitment that I was unable to fulfill before the move (I tried to though!) I'm really glad to have these finished and mailed out now!

Artist's Trading Attire (ATA) -- Well, that's what I'm calling it anyway... ATD (artist's trading dresses) wouldn't work because they already use ATD for Artist's Trading Dolls... so I hope that ATA isn't used! These measure approximately 5 inches.

They were a lot of fun, if not a bit intimidating at first, because they forced me to step outside of my comfort zone just a little. I hope that the 3 ladies who will be receiving my dresses enjoy them.

~Anne

Owl inspiration...

For most of the people who will read this entry, you probably are well aware of some of the "standard" discussion questions asked in yahoo groups to keep the conversation flowing. One such question seems to be: "How do you get inspired to create something?" We've all seen that question, right?

For me, my process usually begins with searching for ideas. I don't usually just go blindly into a project... although, I must say, that it is the times when I DO enter into a project "blindly" -- or without a specific vision -- that I end up being the most pleased with my results. The reason for this, I'm sure, is because I entered into the project without expectations, so I did not have to attempt to exceed them nor did I fail to meet those same expectations.

Anyway, one of my favorite places to go searching for ideas lately has been Etsy. The more time I spend there, the more time I love the place! And I can find inspiration throughout the site, in even the most unexpected places. One of my favorite ways to waste time is to browse through the Etsy Treasury. Here you will find collections of 12 items available for sale on Etsy. These treasuries can be made by anyone who is registered on Etsy... the real trick with the treasury is being at the right place at the right time. They have a "limit" of 333 treasuries -- although this doesn't mean that there are only 333 treasuries at any given time, there are usually much more than that. But as soon as the treasury count reaches 332... then you have less than a second to type in a title for your treasury. Once you have a title for the treasury successfully entered, you will have a blank canvas on which to create your very own treasury collection.

I've managed to get myself in the right place at the right time, and create a few treasuries over the past few weeks, and it's very addicting!

But, I digress...

On my last visit to Etsy... I came across this little owl... now, I'm not usually the one to succumb to super sweetly cute, and to be honest, I don't know if I'd call this owl super sweetly cute (although one could!) I think I'd call him whimsically adorable, perhaps. Yeah, I think I like that better. What inspired me to sit here and write about this owl, though, is the fact that I know I will be receiving an owl deco within a few weeks to work in, and owls has never been a subject matter that I've ever attempted before... so I guess I was looking for some inspiration and ideas to get me started. Some sort of battle plan before I get that deco and get started...

I like to have some sort of battle plan prepared before I get a deco or altered book (or any other round robin piece) because then, when I'm shopping, I know what I should look for... or I can decide if I have the materials in my stash necessary to work on the piece without shopping for additional goodies. I usually DO have the goodies I need... but that rarely stops me from shopping with the excuse that there is something I need. ha!

So... I don't know that this blog entry is going anywhere... other than allowing me to get a bit drowsy so that I can get to sleep -- a big day of house shopping tomorrow! -- but, thanks for letting me talk you in circles, anyway... I hope you enjoyed it!

~Anne

NATURE Fatbook on Etsy!

Hello Everyone!

Well, last time, I posted all the photos of the tea fatbook I had, now I guess I'll post the Nature fatbook photos.

The Nature book was one of two fatbooks that my group, EccentricPastiche, created to donate to Robin Whittemore to assist her with her medical expenses. You can learn more about her plight here. Unfortunately, Robin passed away before we could donate the books and other things to help with her medical bills, so I decided to sell these items on Etsy and the proceeds will be donated to the Pickens County Bone Marrow Drive in care of the United Way in Pickens County of SC, in Robin's name, on behalf of the artists who contributed and of course, the lucky person who purchases the book!

NEWS FLASH: The tea fatbook that I published in my last blog entry has already SOLD! YAY!

Let's start with a picture of the front cover of the Nature fatbook:

Here is the front and back outer covers of the book scanned side by side while the book was open and flat on it's covers!

And here is the inside front cover, with the listing of contributing artists:

This is the page from Anne Grappo...

This is the page from Ann Cooper...

This page was contributed by Cindy Ericsson...

This page was contributed by Crystal Calhoun...

This page was contributed by Ellen Quigley...

This page was contributed by Fran Lainhart...

This page was contributed by Janice Lopez...

This page was contributed by Jeri Aaron...

The next two pages were contributed by me...


This page was contributed by Nancy Tasker...

This page was contributed by Susan Tidwell...

And finally, a page from Teresa Stebbins...

There are a couple of other pages that I couldn't scan... but, you get the idea, right? This book is phenomenal! I love it! I know that whomever buys it won't be disappointed!

To purchase the book, click here.

I hope you enjoyed this pictorial of the book!

~Anne