Blog Move & Update

Dear bloggy followers,
I Just moved my blogger blog over to Word Press. Needed a change of venue. My art career has been on a hiatus for awhile. I just did a long distance move from cold Upstate NY all the way to the opposite extreme of sunny Florida! I grew up in Florida so this has always been home. Lots of perks to moving back South including being close to most of my family, in-laws and BFF’s. Most are within the vicinity. I do terribly miss my adorable niece and nephew, brother and sister-in-law who are still in NY as well as my unborn nephew and his parents in Washington. Life took some major twists and turns in the last 6 months. We sold our first home in 3 months which was nothing short of a miracle, we lost 2 cats, I lived away from my sweet baby girl and hubby for almost 2 months during this process, we lived with my in-laws for a few months until we got a rental. Quite a long process and I’m glad that it’s over and we’re starting to get some normalcy. Before that craziness we were busy getting our house up to par to sell. It’s been a nutty year. We have been blessed to live in a wonderful city and have an amazing rental house. My studio is almost set to go and then I can create!! I think the last time I created something was in January 2010! Too long to not be creative!
Here’s a few things I did within the last 24 hours as far as anything artsy goes:
I reopened my Etsy shop – Still working on inventory for my ArtFire shop, may just keep that on hold.
I opened a Red Bubble Shop – I sold 8 cards today too!
I started my new/old blog here on WordPress
Onward and upward! I hope you continue to follow me here. Please change your links for me. Thank you. You can also find my FB fan page Mazerdesign.
I’ll leave you with my favorite art quote:

“Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.”
~Andre Gide – French critic, essayist, & novelist (1869 – 1951)

Seriously???

I haven't blogged since August?? Crazy! I'm sorry, my life has been insane. I am now officially moved to FL but still waiting to get in our own place. My life is scattered right now. Waiting for some normalcy while living with the in laws. Grateful to them but ready to move on. Anyways more about all of that later. I'm blogging about a fabulous giveaway on Allen Designs. I love her art and I'm a proud owner of one of her clocks for my studio! Check it out! You could win a $100 shopping spree!!

Stop by her blog and show her some love!

Hope everyone in the US has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Gaea's Ceramic Bead and Art Studio Blog: Green With Love... A Stringing Blog Hop and Giveaw...

Check out the amazing work of the Stringing contributors this Fall!! They're having a fun blog hop and you could win some prizes as well. I'm just drooling over the fabulous pieces!!! :) Enjoy!

Gaea's Ceramic Bead and Art Studio Blog: Green With Love... A Stringing Blog Hop and Giveaw...: "As a contributor in the fall issue of Stringing magazine, I was invited with other contributors to participate in the Stringing blog hop. As..."

It's official!

We're on our way! Well not literally yet.

I'm sure you've noticed the sound of crickets here on my blog for quite some time. I've missed blogging but haven't had much to say or share for a long while. My studio has been packed up for months! Well we have been diligently working on fixing up/staging our house to get it on the market. Today was the day it was officially listed. Nervous? A bit. Excited? Yes! We're moving back to sunny Florida and we are super excited! We've lived in Upstate NY for the last 6 years but things changed rapidly for us. Most of my family up and left town and either moved to Seattle, WA or various places in FL within the last 4 months. I have one sibling who will still be in the area with his family and it's going to be so strange for us all to be missing. I am sad to leave them and my sweet niece and nephew. Getting together is going to require much coordination on all ends once we're all in our new places.

Change can be good but it's also been hard. Hard to leave loved ones and hard to say goodbye to friends. NY was a fun ride while it lasted. I watched my brothers get married, I learned how to ride a motorcycle, have my license, owned my own bike, have traveled to NYC numerous times on whims, bought our first house, had a baby, became an aunt, found my passion in art and even exhibited locally and in NYC, made new friends, enjoyed seasons and so much more. I will NOT miss slush, snow, taxes, our dinky little mall, the crazy Quebec drivers, the lack of healthy restaurants. I know we were hear for the right season and we're moving on to a new one. Pray for us on this new journey, wish us luck as well. When we're all settled again I will FINALLY unpack my studio and begin creating again! I miss it!!!

XOXO

Gardanne Beads Giveaway!

Check these beauties out!

I stumbled upon the lovely Gardanne Glass blog tonight and found out she's having a giveaway of some of her fabulous handmade beads!! All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog and:

she will randomly pick a winner this Friday, May 28th, at 9am.

Good luck!!

Wordless Wednesday - Switzerland

Photo ©Nathan Trudell

Happy Earth Day!

I made a bunch of jewelry last night with earthy themes. I do try and reuse old broken jewelry parts when I can. There was definitely a color theme last night, blue and green and I didn't even realize today was Earth Day till this morning. I know I'm bad with dates. Today is my brother Nathan's birthday, wish I could see him he just recently moved all the way to the west coast! Happy birthday Nate!

On a side note I will be offering some eco-wallets and bags in my shop soon made by my lovely Mama. These are so cool and I've been using my wallet for about a year now and I still get compliments every where I go. Look for them soon!

These are my latest offerings and remember this is jewelry with a purpose of helping others in need.

I'm in love with a monkey!!

Coral Reef focal

Coral Reef Necklace that started it all!

Yes you read that right! I'm in love with a monkey named Beady Monkey! I found her while browsing the supplies section of Etsy looking for unique beads. How unique are handmade beads made out of horn, with beautiful paper on top and a glossy resin finish? VERY!! I ordered a set of beads with a coral reef theme and she threw in a few freebies which got me started!! When my beads arrived I squealed with excitement! Well not literally but I was in awe, thought they were super cool. Immediately I started thinking about my designs with her super cool beads for my shop Impress 2 Bless (you can read about it more here).

These are my designs:

Hey Chickie Bracelet (the chic is a Beady Monkey bead)

Nature Girl Bracelet (bird focal)

Coral Reef Earrings

Coral Reef Bracelet

So check out her shop for unique beads and one of a kind jewelry!! You'll fall in love too! Check out her blog as well for other fabulous things.

Make me an offer cause Frida needs a home!

Frida needs a home! She's been homeless for quite some time well not exactly homeless but she's feeling pretty rejected. She's sick of staying here with me ;) Anyways if you like her and want her make me an offer I need to make some space around here.

A little about her:

"Feet, who needs them when I have wings to fly?" - Frida Kahlo

This piece is a 12 x 16 mixed media piece. I used ephemera, ranger adirondack ink, acrylics, beeswax, pen, conte crayon, oil pastels, stickers and more. It is covered with a thin layer of beeswax to seal it all so it has a nice scent as well. The flowers in her hair were cut out from a postcard from 1910. The original sketch of Frida that I collaged is my original sketch for my digital piece Frida I just painted over her. If you LOVE Frida like I do then you'll love this piece.

This piece will come with a (COA) certificate of authenticity signed by me. This will be shipped Priority mail out to you as well.

All rights reserved. All reproduction rights are retained by the artist. Unauthorized reproduction in any form is prohibited. All artwork and images are copyright Aimée Wheaton.

Bet you didn't know ...

I started a new Etsy shop. Yes I know I said I would cut back but this shop isn't really for me, it's for others. This came out of me wanting to help my friends and family in need. I have a lot going on on both sides of my family at the moment, people needing help and in financial difficulty. Major life changes are happening and we're not all sure we're ready for these things to happen. My art has kind of taken a back burner lately and I think this is one of the reasons why. I never have my own money when it comes to wanting to help others so I came up with the idea to make and sell jewelry and if it profits (I am praying it does) then I can help my loved ones. Every little bit helps right? I'm faithfully making jewelry in the evenings and spending time with my kiddo during the day. Next day if I can I post them in the shop and on my FB Fanpage. Please check it out when you get a chance. I've had one sale the second day my shop was running, boy was that encouraging! Another idea I had was to put one piece of art in this shop and the money would go towards a missionary friend I have who needs financial support. (still working on this one)
I've named my shop Impress 2 Bless. Please spread the word for me. I may do a giveaway from time to time on here as well. If you would like to donate old beads or anything jewelry related I would gladly welcome it and turn it into something new! Just let me know. You can follow me on Twitter as well @impress2bless

Deuteronomy 16:17: "All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God."

Here are a few of my favorites in the shop now:

And the winner is!

I posted a giveaway last week for an original piece of art and picked the winner today!! I used Random.org for a little help. The number was 2! AnoneMoose!! I will be in touch for your address! Congrats! UPDATE: can you email me? I can't find any contact info for you.

Thanks for all the sweet comments all. I feel good about my decision. During this time though my spark for jewelry making came back so doing a bit of that with my daughter as well!

Can you hear the crickets?

You know the sound of those crickets in the summertime happily making their little noises after it's completely silent? Yeah kind of like my blog has been, silent and quiet. Not much has been going on my little art world. Life is rapidly changing all around me and I haven't been feeling inspired at all. Insert cricket sound here. Well after much thought I am taking an art hiatus, as if you didn't know that by the silence right? I was trying to balance mommyhood and my art "career" and just can't at the moment. My sweet daughter is taking up most of my time and we're having fun together and strengthening our relationship on a daily basis. I've gotten more hugs and kisses and random "I love you"s than I ever have gotten from her. She needs me and I cherish this time together. Sales have been way down and I have to admit I'm a little discouraged. I see all my cool artsy friends moving on with their careers, writing books, holding classes and selling a ton, I have to admit I'm a little jealous but I'm not at that point right now. I'm happy for them all but wish I could be a part of that world right now. The timing isn't right and I know it will be at another time just not right now.

Life at home has been nutso I've been a decluttering fool and that includes my art supplies and mixed media stuff galore! Last night I made 5 mixed media grab bags full of goodies! I'm selling them on Etsy and they are chock full of stuff! Check them out if you need a boost in your stash and little extras!


I've decided to have a little giveaway on here as well. I made this piece for Valentine's Day but will give it away to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment on here and I will pick a random winner using random.org next Monday.

Thanks for reading! As I write this I'm reminded of this scripture:

Job 1:21 (KJV)

"21... Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Bad Girls Project 52 - Challenge 11 Gods/Goddesses

Meet the Sea Goddess!

Challenge 11 – 3-D Figure (jointed, pattern, stuffed, simple/complicated, on stand, wall display, sitting, painted, glued, stitched, very open options, etc…)
Theme – Gods & Goddesses (human, animal, cultural myth, invented, etc…)
Required material – Fibers (ribbon, yarn, string, lace, floss, cord, etc…)

All I can say about this piece is that it definitely was a challenge to me. I had the concept in my head but wasn't sure how to go about creating it since I can't sew!! I did my best and that's all that matters, right? Since I can't sew I was stumped. Then I had an epiphany on how I was going to create a "stuffie" so to speak. I remembered an issue of Stuffed Magazine where Claudine Hellmuth demonstrated an easy piece of art using her Sticky Back Canvas. So that's what I did! I cut out her tail and started drawing on it with the neocolors to create scales and then went back over it with water to soften it. When that was dry I painted extra acrylic over it. I found the vintage image of the top of the mermaid's body and printed it out on the sticky backed canvas and from there just started cutting and creating the rest of the mermaid. This mermaid is definitely the American-sized one! LOL I didn't mean to make her so large she just turned out that way. I had some batting from a cheap pillow and stuffed her right up!

My concept worked mostly but then I realized I had to sew the top of the body (printed part) to the lower part, I hand stitched it and got lots of cuts! Once that was accomplished I started to piece her together slowly. Instead of painting the back of her (top) I used colorful/matching paper to add more texture and detail. The hardest part of this piece was making sure she stayed together and that's where the pins came in. I glued (with gel medium) her up all around the edges because the sticky part of the canvas wasn't enough to hold it all with the batting. Once glued I pinned her up like a pattern would be and let it dry for quite some time. This piece was constantly needing to be reinforced (PATIENCE)!! Once she was put together I started embellishing and painting. The embellishing was the most fun. I found jewelry findings that fit my theme and just started playing around. I painted in her face and added more details, glued on the fibers for her hair and even gave her a sparkly ring! The options are endless. Just have fun in the process and remember to stay patient if you try this at home. I was super frustrated and uninspired at times but I think the outcome was worth it! What do you think?? If you have any questions feel free to ask me!

Supply List:

Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas Size 12 x 12
sewing pins
needle/(heavy duty) thread
scrapbooking paper
fibers for hair and belt
digital vintage image to print on the canvas
stick on pearls
Martha Stewart Luster Glass Microbeads in Feldspar
Stick on gems
Pearl Ex
Sparkly glitter glue, used an aqua color
Acrylics - I used Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints and Steward Gill Byzantia paint
Black pen for details
Caran d'ache Neocolor crayons for the mermaid scales
paint brush
jewelry findings
Golden Gel Matte Medium
batting
Left over Christmas Ornament
LOTS of PATIENCE!!!!

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO CREATE!!! GO CREATE SOMETHING AMAZING!!!! I hope I inspired you!

Official Rules:

The winner of this challenge will receive a $20 Gift Card to shop like a Bad Girl in the Bad Girl Shoppe! Be sure to leave a blog comment here first!

Three Rules to Follow:

1. Follow the challenge guidelines exactly
2. Post your project in the specific "Project 52" gallery with the title "Challenge #11 - 3D Figure" before March 20th Midnight Pacific Time
3. Link your layout to the Challenge #11 Thread in the Project 52 forum

Bad Girls Challenge 9 Wood Blank

Seeing all the leftover Christmas decorations at Michael's got me started on this project. I think I paid 11 cents each for the silver leaves and fillers on the tree. This piece has lots of depth because of it. First off I knew I wanted to use some of my tree images I took a few years back to help the background pop. {1} I painted the 12 x 12 piece of wood with gesso to get rid of the brown of the wood and so it would have more tooth. {2} When that was dried I did an image transfer (I wanted to do my own tutorial for you but ran out of time, I do apologize) using Golden't gel matte medium with my images. Gel transfers are super easy you just have to have patience for them. Spread a layer on where you want to place the images you're transferring in my instance the trees. Place them face down onto the gel medium and let it sit overnight, make sure it's smooth and even. {3} The next day you will take your spray bottle and completely drench the paper (images) and start peeling up the layers of paper and you'll have the image left on the board! I didn't have the entire bottom of the trees so I had to draw and colors those in to blend so it looked real. I used my general's pencil as well as the caran d'ache neocolor crayon. {4} Once the board was dry I painted on a thin glaze of Payne's grey acrylic blended with the golden glazing solution. This is better then diluting it with water, gives it a more consistant layer. Payne's grey always reminds me of winter, it's bluish gray and perfect for this piece. {5} Once that had dried I gave the board some texture or snow as I call it. I created the main tree base with the light molding paste, I spread it on with an old burnisher to make it uneven and have ridges. I also added some to the bottom of the board for snow piles. Let this dry, if it's thin it will dry fast if it's super thick let it dry overnight. {6} Once dry I started ripping apart the Christmas ornaments, they are all on their own wires so I could bend them and place them where I wanted. I started layering them using the clear glue. Let that dry flat and overnight. {7} Next take the bridal garland and start snipping off the pieces you like and place where you like on the tree or below with glue. Let that dry. {8} Add some glue to the areas you want to glimmer with glass and sprinkle on the glass flakes. Let that all dry. {9} Next comes the embellishing, I used and opaque white pen to draw swirls all over, I added the snowflake pendant/charm to the tree so it dangled, I added the Jolee flat snowflakes placed with glue. Next I took the green distress ink and went around the edges of the quote. Lastly I placed the bird. Both the bird and quote were glued with the gel medium and glazed over with it. Once that was dry I traced around it with the sketch n wash pencil. Voila you have a gorgeous winter scene! Super easy!!



What you'll need:

12 x 12 Wood blank (purchased at Michael's)
Gesso
Golden Gel Medium Matte
Print out's of trees for background (will be used in image transfer)
Golden Light Molding Paste
acrylics ( I used Golden's Payne's grey, white), also used Claudine Hellmuth's light blue paint
Jolee's (snowflakes)
snowflake pendant
Christmas decorations (all the silver and leaves in the tree) they were on clearance at Michael's.
Bridal wire garland for the white flowers, heart and clear beads
White glass glitter for the shimmer on the snow (glass flakes)
Distress ink in green for around the quote
favorite quote
bird printout
clear glue
Caran d'ache Neocolors for the tree colors, chose sepia
General's sketch n wash pencil
White opaque gel pen
foam brush
Golden glazing solution
spray bottle of water

Official Rules:

The winner of this challenge will receive a $20 Gift Card to shop like a Bad Girl in the Bad Girl Shoppe! Be sure to leave a blog comment here first!

Three Rules to Follow:

1. Follow the challenge guidelines exactly
2. Post your project in the specific "Project 52" gallery with the title "Challenge #9 - Wooden Blank" before February 27th Midnight Pacific Time
3. Link your layout to the Challenge #9 Thread in the Project 52 forum

Let's keep things simple!

Hey all.

Just thought I'd share a few things with you. I am considering closing my ArtFire shop to simplify things this year. The only sales I've had on there are from friends who I've directed there, nobody random. I LOVE ArtFire and the perks it has with the verified account but my hands are in too many pots so to speak. I have to update so many sites, blogs included. Why not make my life a teensy bit easier. I haven't decided yet but I know I need to simplify somehow. I've had more success on Etsy but I've been on there longer. I would love your thoughts.

Next I've added 12 new items to my Etsy shop and they're all originals!! These are not 40% off because they're new for 2010. Various price levels and perfect little gifts. Check them out in my new section here.

Nextly two of my very talented artsy friends are having a little workshop at the Purple Cottage. If I could I'd be there. If you live in FL it would be an easy class for you to get to. Check it out! I'll leave a link in my sidebar as well! This is the first of many I'm sure! I took Carmen's Spill It Class online and I LOVED it!



Feel free to share or post this link on your blog as well.

My oodles and oodles of supplies came from Dick Blick last week!! Ready to start on some new series just have to find the time. I hope this year I'll knock your socks off with new art. Trying to freshen things up!! Speaking of that, remember everything but my new section in my Etsy and ArtFire shops are 40% off! Yes everything, till it's all gone!

One last thing, my little newsletter I had started last year that I have 20 subscribers to now, yeah that's one of the things going bye bye since I can't remember to update that. So you heard it from me first, my blog will be my updating hub. If I have news I'll share it here and also on my FB fan page (link is on the right) If you're on FB that's updated often.

Ok so this is a PS - I am sooooo excited to share and show you my latest Bad Girl creation. It will go live next Monday 12AM PST. Be on the lookout for it, you won't want to miss it. Once that's posted it will be for sale as well. If you're interested when you see it let me know!

That's it! Hope you have a fantabulous week!!

MAZER!

Honored

I am very humbled and honored that I was chosen to be EBSQart.com's blogger of the week! Another wonderful artist/friend of mine is one of their blog writers and asked me if I would like to be featured and of course I said YES! Amanda Makepeace is her name and be sure to check out her beautiful art too! She does some amazing work! I'm happy to say I won one of her ACEO's on her blog awhile back. I have it framed and it's gorgeous!

Lately I've found time to created some new little pieces. Yesterday I created a little series called "Little Houses" while Lorelei was napping. It felt great! Here's what I made.

I also ran into an idea on someones blog that sparked me to created this cool concept on colored Popsicle sticks. Basically it will help me to not run out of ideas. The combinations are endless. I wrote colors on the red sticks, subjects on the yellow, words on the blue and mediums on the green. I haven't used the system yet but when I randomly picked you can see the combinations!! So fun!! Can't wait to use it when I'm stumped! Check it out!

Melange on Etsy Altered Bottle Challenge

I was finally able to participate in another challenge put on by the Melange Team on Etsy. I am a member of this mixed media group and most of the ladies in this group have been published in the awesome mags put out by Stampington & Co. as well as Cloth Paper Scissors. I'm lucky to have such fabulous team mates!! You don't have to be a member to participate in the challenge. Check out the details here.


This bottle was found buried in our yard a few years ago when our water line broke. It was used as "clean fill" in the 50's. Yeah right! It's either a beer or soda bottle, my guess is beer because the way some of the things in our house was built, you'd wonder! LOL Anyways I've upcycled it and really like how it turned out. Hope you do too!

Now go alter your own bottle!!! :)

Art Binge!

Celestial Lovers

That's what I had tonight, an art BINGE!! Just hung out in the studio till inspiration hit!! I forgot that I made a bunch of clay pieces last year to use in my art. I was originally looking for my paper clay which I still can't find but ended up finding my bag of clay pieces! This is what I created tonight! I'll take better photos but for now you can see. It was fun having paint and gel medium all over my fingers!!

I should get to bed. I'm up late again and tomorrow is my baby girls 3rd birthday! Actually in about 45 minutes, 3 years ago tonight I had her! WOW!!!

Enjoy my binge!

Home is Where The Heart Is

Love is Patient Love is Kind