New St.Patrick's day card, variety of spellbinders dies.
Some days I feel on top of the world. Mind strong. Body strong. That is how I felt a few days ago when I took this picture getting pumped up about our...
Making a huge additional for my workshop. I made this construction to make my work much easier while i'm working, now cable and all other things on their pla...
It's made by me and no one else! Please let me know if you see someone taking my work. I do things similar to this and I take suggestions.
I Just Want To Work In My Garden Funny T-Shirt Where can I find other i just want to work in my garden funny designs? Expand or collapse section. In addition to i just want to work in my garden funny designs, you can explore the marketplace for i just want to work in my garden gift, i just want to work in my garden dog, and gardening garden plant designs sold by independent artists. What material is this item made of? Expand or collapse section. 100% combed ringspun cotton. The perfect fabric for a graphic tee and the softest in the business. (Due to product availability, cotton type may vary for 2XL and 3XL sizes) Learn More » What USA ship methods are available? Expand or collapse section. Standard (5-8 Business Days) FedEx Air (4-6 Business Days) Estimates include printing and processing time. More Shipping Info » What is the Return/Exchange policy? Expand or collapse section. We want you to love your order! If for any reason you don't, let us know and we’ll make things right. Learn More »
Hi! This is my recycling project blog. I will be creating a piece of art work made out of recycled materials and things you would usually throw away.
Geometric Cardboard Lamp: One of the things you may notice from all of my projects is probably my love for cardboard and lamps :)My new creation mixes both these things, so working on it was really fun! I made some mistakes at first, and that made the work even longer, but t…
Happy Christmas break! We made it! Kids did all the winter concert things, you did the parties, you got those cards out (or did you?)? You did all the things! (Ok, I've done some of the things). But we made it. I recorded my temporary greeting at work and updated my Out of Office autoreply.
All the work I now engage in is informed by all the work I have made in the past. Every ‘mistake’ I have made in the past was not a mistake at all, but rather a way to understand the making of things better. Through this understanding of creativity, I acknowledge the importance of my…
I’ve put together a little collection of things made from my patterns – I love seeing these – beautiful work and tons of imagination. Thanks for sharing your photos! A dear lamb b…
We all get into design ruts from time to time, when everything we do begins to look the same and doesn't excite us in the usual way....so what do you do when this happens?? rut 1 (rŭt) n. 1. A sunken track or groove made by the passage of vehicles. 2. A fixed, usually boring routine. When you do this design thing as a sole income business it becomes incredibly important to give the market what it wants because you need the sales but it can be awfully self defeating and drive your muse into a rut. Sometimes I find I need to consciously move away from myself....I look at the colors, shapes, styles I've been doing and toss them aside. If I've been on certain shape, color, style kick I forbid myself to use any of them. I consider what would be the opposite and challenge myself to create it. Now, I'm not saying this is easy....it isn't! But nothing worthwhile ever seems to be easy and, trust me, it is worthwhile. As many may know January 2013 saw my work change in a big way....it went from safe bronzes and subdued colors to wild and crazy primaries. I had quite literally escaped my box by moving states from Utah, where I was miserable, to California, where I am loving life. When I look back at my work pre-California and post-California I can see that I was in there, trying to get out but the general state of depression I was in came out in my work. It came out as playing safe, muted, tight designs. Now, in the midst of this period I didn't recognize it, you don't really....it's not until you stand back and do your own retrospective show. The Amazing Suzanne Golden...my muse, my hero I was happy to be back in California and I really wanted it to show in my work and that sent me looking at other designer's work to see what made me happy, what made me smile...and why. I credit Suzanne Golden with getting me out of my rut, it was her work that made me smile and I decided that I wanted to design something that would, hopefully, make her smile in the same way her work made me. We share a love of black and white with punches of color...wild, primary, jewel tone colors...and that's where I started. I had my goal. I was inspired. I was challenged. And, oh boy, I was scared! But I created something that did what I wanted, I created the "Carousel Series" and it did indeed make Suzanne smile. It also has made us firm friends and we even work together on things via e-mail. She gave me THE biggest compliment by telling me that after her recent hip surgery when she felt her design muse had left her my work got her back on the horse and gave her her mojo back. I count that as one of my biggest life achievements because the design world could not loose her genius! I can also say my new, full color designs were received very well and my sales rocketed telling me that this was the right path for me and I haven't looked back. My work is a lot more adventurous these days as people have seen with my new "Rotator Cuffs" and will see with my upcoming "Amusement Park" series. I have a color palette that makes me happy, my designs are fun and they will get to be more fun as I'm designing things with moving parts. Again....I am escaping the box, tackling challenges and doing the difficult scary things. But, you know, you have to. Growth doesn't happen in that box....there's not enough room to stretch yourself. So....if you think you're in a box and it's become suffocating for you....open the door, step out. Find someone who's work you admire, whose work makes you think "I wish I designed that" and be inspired. Ask yourself what it is you like so much....take notes. Compare your own work looking at the details, what does their work have that yours doesn't? Don't copy their work, ever! But learn from it....take your notes and apply them to your own work. Learn something new...a new technique or stitch can jumpstart your designs....even a new bead, maybe one you've been avoiding because you didn't know what to do with it. I refer back to Neva's post about contests and challenges...they do stimulate us, make us stretch ourselves but remember.....the only person you really need to beat is yourself. You need to make yourself proud and you don't need to win to do that you just need to create something you feel good about, that takes you a step forward on your design path :)
My kids aren't as little anymore, but when they were, I loved handmade play food. I made a few little things for them. I mostly made up my patterns, but some amazing pattern designers have done the hard work for you, and they are worth every cent for easy-to-read, easy-to-make play food amigurumi. *Disclosure: some
One of my favorite things about my work office is my bulletin board. I recently installed one and it’s made a total difference. It helps me stay organized and on top of my tasks, plus I love pinning up little notes and reminders throughout the week. But, after a few months now, I’m thinking my […]
yesterday i continued to work on things for market. i am doing a school house with Aurifil threads and i will be showing off a few things i’ve made (including this little bag) with my line of threads with them. one person asked if i did the embroidery by hand. uh no. but thank you […]
I work in lots of different sections of my school and get asked to do lots of lovely things for different teachers through out most year groups. As you have seen before I made a huge giant for year 1 - and I think he was one of my favourites that I have done. I…
I have been asked how I store my children’s art. I came up with a solution last year. I hope you will check out the art storage binders we made for last year. The basic concept is that I want to be able to keep things for my kids – their school work and art...Read More
After finishing the three sopranino kanteles, it was time to take their picture. I always forget this step and before you know it the things I just made are gone and I don't have a picture to show my work. I dusted off my Appalachian dulcimer and tuned it to DAD; the sopranion kantele tuned…
Doilies have to be one of my all time favorite things to work with. I like both paper doilies and crocheted doilies. These darling Christmas trees made with paper doilies are easy enough to make a …
Almost exactly one year ago, I posted my first blog post! *insert confetti and lots of cake* So, in the grand tradition of other “blogiversary” posts, I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned while blogging this year. If you don't take yourself seriously, no one else will I didn’t have a huge audience when I started blogging—or really any audience. No one was anxiously waiting each week for my post. No one would hold me accountable. Except for me. I committed to publishing a post each week, and I stuck to it. Because I was dedicated, my audience grew and I gained a readership, but only because I treated my blog professionally. No one is going to give you anything, so you have to set standards for yourself until you achieve your goals. But also, it's okay to take a break Okay, part of that paragraph above isn’t quite true—I haven’t posted every single week this past year. A few times, life got busy, between traveling, work stuff, and various other things. Still, my instinct was to push myself harder and get a blog post published. After all, I had made a commitment, and I should stick to it no matter what, right? Not true. Sacrificing my health or time with my family isn’t worth it just to get a blog post up. The tricky part is knowing yourself well enough to tell when a reason for taking a break is legitimate, and when you’re acting out of fear or laziness. Just ask. The worst they can say is no Y’all, I have met some cool people from this blog! Award-winning authors, writers of some of my favorite books who also happen to be social media darlings… I also have had the chance to read lots of my favorite books as ARCs, before they’re released. None of that would have happened if I had been too afraid to ask. It can be intimidating, you might feel like you’re being a bother, but you just have to go for it. It’s always worth asking for something you really want. You never know what might come of it! You don't have to do everything As I’ve grown Penn & Paper, there’s always that part of me that wants to do more. Should I start a YouTube channel? Maybe a podcast? I could start posting more than once a week. While all of those things would be amazing, I also have to take into consideration that I have a very limited amount of time. I work a day job, that I hope will soon be full-time, and I have lots of other activities in my life that take up time—including my actual writing! Beyond that, I only have so much creative and mental energy. While I hope one day to expand, right now I have to be very picky about doing only the things I truly love to do and that are within my limits. The overachiever part of me balks at that, but I’ve learned throughout my life and especially in this past year that, in the words of the immortal Ron Swanson, it’s better to whole-ass one thing, rather than half-ass a bunch of things. Take risks and challenge yourself Again, I’m sort of contradicting my earlier point. Even though I can’t do everything, I don’t want that to be an excuse to stay in my comfort zone. Starting a blog felt like a risk, and I want to keep growing and pushing myself. About six months in, I started an Etsy shop. I’ve really dedicated myself to growing my bookstagram. These things aren’t easy, but they’re challenging me in a different way than writing does—they’re more visual and about design, and I both enjoy that type of creativity and want to learn more about it. So don’t be afraid to try new things, because even if you fail, you’ll still have gained invaluable experience that can end up helping you down the road. There you have it! Truly, thank you to everyone who has read my blog, signed up for my email list, shared a post, all of it. It’s been such a great experience and I can’t wait for what the next year will bring! If you want to help me decide what the future of Penn & Paper will look like, fill out this survey! If you liked this post, pin it to share and save it for later! Featured photo by Corinne Kutz
It feels so long since I’ve made a post… But things are lookin’ up. *Weeeee* I finished my cluster analysis for work, so all that’s left for me to do is to present it to folks. (Eeeek!) I actually managed to leave work on time yesterday, for the first time in weeks! I was soo excited, thatContinue reading
