So I quit my job the other day………. Yup I know scary right? So now what do I do now?

Money wise we will be okay for a few months. We won’t even notice the difference until October or November and with our vacation coming up in the first week of August I have decided this is not the best time to go job hunting. “Yes sir I would love to come to work for you but can I have the first ten days off please and thank you?” Yup that would not make a very good impression. So I have decided to take a long needed break and not even look for work until after vacation.
That makes the month of July and half of August my time to create. The studio is not completely finished but we will just have to put up wall board and paint around my projects. The flooring is in and most of the insulation is done. So I am getting the supplies organized and out to the studio.
More importantly though the Muse has taken up residence out there, I don’t know what wonderful Fairy spirit it is that has decided to make my studio its home but whenever I go out there it seems like I get a rush of creative ideas that about knocks me over.
I am working on an art journal or several actually since I use old children’s board books and there are just not enough pages for more than a week’s worth of ideas. I have decided to make it a page a day project and I will post some of the entries later in the week.
I am not attempting to make “ART” with my journals…whatever your definition of art is. I am trying to explore how I feel about my world and how the outside world effects the inner me. I am trying to get some kind of insight on what it is I would say to the world if it did start paying attention to me and my art work. The saddest thing in the world would be having nothing to say that was worth listening to.
In celebration of my sudden massive vacation/creation time I will be posting a craft grab bag give away for the month of July. It will include lots of beads and crafting supplies to entice a muse to set up residence in your studio too. I will be adding something to the box each week so come back for sneak previews. All you have to do is comment on my July 4th blog post and leave me a way to contact you if you win. Of course there is no cost to enter and I will do a random draw for the winner on August 10th.
I will announce the winner by the 15th of August.

And if you live in the La Porte Texas area keep a look out for my workshop and class announcements. I will be starting these up this fall. They will be small classes of no more than 5 students and will cover drawing, painting, collage, mixed media and basic jewelry making. The classes will be inexpensive and most will have no or a minimal charge for supplies. It will depend on my work schedule of course but I plan both day and evening classes and workshops. So come out and get creative. You know you want to and yes you do deserve it.

And the winner is..........

Well I have picked the winner using random.com and it is....drum roll please........
Roberta Cohen


I will be dashing off an email to her tonight.

Be looking for a new giveaway starting on November 20th.This was just too much fun to not do again.

When you can't sleep......

Create something, clean something, resolve something...just don't sit there and play video games. The message was meant for me but if it applies to you feel free to feel guilty at my expense. Better to blame me than yourself...LOL
So I woke up at five this morning and in an effort to take my own advice I have been researching the web and my own books and photos to get some inspiration for the brown purse I am making. So far I have decided to go with fall leaves sprinkled on the front of an half circle shaped purse with a generous handle. I have some pieces of yellow and orange felt that I felted myself to work as the base of the leaves and I sorted out my beads to come up with some to accent the design.

Fall Creative Boost Giveaway

While I was sorting through my beads I decided to have a giveaway. I hand picked a nice collection of sterling charms, connectors, toggles, a 20 inch sterling chain and a leaf pendant in sterling. I also added clip earring findings. To those I put a collection of pressed glass, lampwork, polymer and wood beads all in fall colors with 10 scrabble tiles thrown in the mix just for fun. As you can see there is enough there to make several Christmas presents for your friends and family. The estimated value of it all is 70.00
All you have to do is add a comment to the bottom of this post to enter. You must enter by November 14th at midnight central time. You must be 18 years old to enter and there is only one entry per person and the winner will get all the beads and findings shown in the first photo. I am even going to throw in a mystery bonus gift when I ship the package. I will announce the winner who will be chosen using the Random.org random number generator by November 16th. You do not have to buy anything to win just click and add a comment to this post.
Make sure that you have a way to contact you in your comment. If you keep your profile hidden I cannot get back to you if you win. I will post the winner here if I cannot send them a message if they do not get back to me in three days another winner will be chosen.