What I did on my snow day.

Before snow day. 

After snow day. 

My art studio is a long narrow room in the basement that was originally meant to be my ex-husbands 'Man Cave'. But recently all it's been is a storage room for art supplies. I decided I would be more inspired if the room were more.... inspiring. My manfriend was kind enough to buy a gallon of paint a few weeks ago and with nothing else to do today, we used it!

I was inspired by this Simply Color post on Design Sponge:

I think with a few more weeks of organizing, spray painting and decorating, I'll be crafting in a retro inspired art studio in no time! Of course, I will be sure to keep y'all up to date!

Animal Art!

I have a bi-polar kitty named Grace Kelly (because she is our little princess). While her random attacks and constant complaining about the unsatisfactory conditions are annoying as all get out, we love her very much. I’ve been thinking that I should create some pet art to honor our furry friend and went poking around for inspiration. Oh and inspiration I did find!!

Guinea Pig Pirate!

 Matreshkas by Irina Troitskaya

American Gothic by VL. Desgins

Needle Felted Fox by GERRY Poseable

Pug Bride and Groom

Final Turn by Ron Krajewski

Elephant and Antique Hot Air Balloons!

Golden by Rob Kelly

Pulp Fiction cast by The House of Mouse

What I’m Reading!

I’ve been an avid reader of Make  and Craft for some time now and have become huge fans of their founders – Mark and Carla Frauenfelder – through them. First of all, isn’t that the awesomest thing ever? Husband and Make, Wife and Craft? I love it! Second of all, I read on BoingBoing (another Mark project) that Mark had written a book. I put in a request at my local library and picked it up last week.

Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World is quickly becoming my manifesto. Not only does he touch on the history of a consuming society (it’s a new concept! People are naturally DIYers, but advertising has trained us that store bought and brand new is better.) but he also goes onto describe the parts of crafting I love – the pride, the learning process, the community, the therapy.

In reading this book, I have been inspired to do things I was too scared to do in the past (tear out my back yard and start a garden oasis) and things I never knew I wanted to do (keep chickens). This book is a perfect start to 2011 “Catch Up!” for me!

Interested? You should be! You can read some chapters for FREE here.