Monday, October 22, 2012

So Excited!!!

The Grand Reopening at The Art Studio is happening any minute!  To tide you over until I can post more details, please stop by the The Art Studio blog and take a peek of Halloween inspiration. I have some vintagey Halloween cards posted and quick basic directions on how to make them.  I hope you will stop by and say hello!  As a little teaser, I am sharing some pics of the wee little mini books I make.  More details later so stay tuned!!!



Sunday, October 21, 2012

Christmas in October :) and More!

Hello everybody!  I hope you are enjoying a beautiful fall weekend.  It was lovely here in lower Michigan, the fall colors are really peaking right now.  We celebrated Cara's birthday with a family dinner, and since she is such a Christmas fan, I decided to make her some snowman cupcakes, and wrapped her present in a Christmas style box.  Here are a few photos from our dinner tonight, focusing on the snowmen cupcakes and the cutie grandkiddies of course.

First, a photo of Cara and her snowman cupcakes (doesn't Hollyn look enthralled with the cupcakes?  he he).  Of course Jay's hair is poofing like crazy.  I wonder if he will ever decide to cut it, oh my   ~ 


Cooper gets right to work on his cupcake ~


 Kaya has to check out all sides of the cupcakes while she nibbles away ~ 


Hollyn is definitely enjoying her cupcake!


A close up shot of one of the snowmen cupcakes (thank you Cara!) ~


I have been working on gifts, as I mentioned before.  I have lots of little zippered bags done or almost done. Here is one of the fun little snowmen zippered bags, using some fabric I have been hoarding for years because it is one of my favs.  I promised to start making things out of favorite fabrics instead of just saving them forever.  I am happy to say, I didn't even wince when I cut up part of my stash for this project!  This is a Deb Strain by Moda fabric from the It's Snowing line, doncha love it???  ~


I also made Holly a trick or treat bag.  I made one for Cooper and Kaya several years ago, so it was definitely time to make one for sweet Hollyn too.  I used some more fabric from my stash, a fun Halloween print, and some of my beloved Bali or Batik fabric.  I have to say I did wince a weeeeee little bit when cutting up the Batik fabric, but since it was for Hollyn, it was just a teensy wince and then I got to work.  ~ 



I have also made a few Halloween cards recently, here are a few ~


You will see a lot more at TAS very soon. We have exciting stuff happening over at The Art Studio  beginning verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry soon!  Stay tuned for details, there will be contests, a blog hop, chances for prizes and all sorts of fun stuff.  I will have a wee contest on my blog to celebrate too, so check back for details.  

I wish you all a joyful and creative day ~ Pam 




Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sewing Time! YAY!

Hello everyone!
My word, I spent some time this weekend sewing several projects.  I really should have been working on the buffet I hope to refinish into a kitchen island, but I couldn't help myself.  It seems like all I ever do is work, work, work, and I had a project that I promised to donate, so I went to town.  I still have several other things to finish, first a wee little trick or treat bag for Miss Hollyn, and some cute little zippered pouches.  I am donating a few, and trying to do some for stocking stuffers and gifts too (shhhhhh, don't tell!).  I need to have my donations done by Friday, so hopefully I will get a bit more sewing time one evening this week.  Not sure how I am going to squeeze it in, but I am going to try.  Anyway, here are the 4 bags I made this w/e ~

a closer peek, I totally LOVE this printed duck fabric and how these darling totes turned out ~


 Some of my favorite canvas/duck fabric that I have made several other totes out of.  This is a messenger style bag, with an internal pocket, and a zippered pocket in the flap  ~


bit more of a close up, these bags were a giant patootie pain to make, the pattern was super duper vague, I completely winged it on most of the design.  I also broke 3 sewing machine needles due to the thickness of the fabrics, and fusibles, yikes  ~


But they are finished so YAY!  I am going to donate one of the paisley totes and one of the save the planet messenger bags to a raffle that will be held at Notre Dame after the Biology Club there hosts a 5K walk on campus to benefit the Foundation Fighting Blindness in 2 weeks.  One of the organizers is an ambassador at Memorial, and she is just a great, kind, and caring person who helps out with a variety of other projects in addition to juggling her full class load and other responsibilities.  Her birthday is the day of the walk, so this is my way of helping out and saying happy birthday at the same time!  If you would like to participate (and maybe win one of these lovely bags or some other great item) mark October 28th on your calendar, and show up at Notre Dame and follow the signs.  Registration is from 12 - 1 pm, and the walk begins at 1:30.  There are guest speakers from 1 - 1:30 too.  Registration is $15.00, t shirts are $11.00, and you can purchase fun neon sunglasses for $2.00.  Each of these items earns you a ticket for the raffle.  I know there are other raffle items too, but I don't know what they are right now.  Stay tuned, I will try to find out for you.  :)  I plan to walk with those in my family who can attend, hopefully some of you are able to attend too.  Let's enjoy a beautiful day outside and help a worthwhile cause too!   

The Art Studio has some exciting stuff coming up very soon!  I can't wait to share it.  Hopefully I can in just a few days. 

Well, I need to gather my stuff together for the week.  I have a crazy chaotic week coming up, so I need to get ready for it. I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

How did I come up with Pam's Eclectic Stuff?

Pam- that is me. :)

eclectic --adj.- selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
*Since I like a huge variety of arts and mediums, this seemed perfect, we will talk about the best of various styles or ideas.

stuff- The noun stuff has 7 senses -
1. material, stuff -- (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object; "wheat is the stuff they use to make bread")2. whatchamacallit, stuff, whatsis, sundry, sundries -- (miscellaneous unspecified artifacts; "the trunk was full of stuff")3. stuff, clobber -- (informal terms for personal possessions; "did you take all your clobber?")4. stuff, stuff and nonsense, hooey, poppycock -- (senseless talk; "don't give me that stuff")5. stuff -- (unspecified qualities required to do or be something; "the stuff of heros"; "you don't have the stuff to be a United States Marine")6. stuff -- (information in some unspecified form; "it was stuff I had heard before"; "there's good stuff in that book")7. stuff -- (a critically important or characteristic component; "suspense is the very stuff of narrative")

*What more needs to be said? I really thought about using Pam's Eclectic Sundries, but I thought that might be tough to remember. :) Stuff is easy and conveys a variety of meanings. I like the definition- miscellaneous unspecified artifacts. I also liked whatchamacallit, but that is a lot of typing. :)

So there you have it!