Signed Copies of My Book, and Sleepy Noah

I've decided to go ahead and sell signed copies of my book that include a limited edition print (one that nobody has seen before-not even me, as I haven't even made it yet!), as I spoke about a couple posts ago. It's going to be a very limited run, of twenty-five books/prints. I'm not sure of a better way to go about doing it, so here's how it will go. If you want a copy, please email me directly at appendageassemblage at hotmail dot com. Once I get your email, I will send you a Paypal invoice for $30 (the cost of the book, including shipping), and as soon as I receive the books, I'll mail them out!

The current date that the book is scheduled to be released is October 11th. However, I'm not exactly sure when I will get my copies, so I can't absolutely promise that by ordering it through me, you'll get it earlier than through Amazon-sorry... Soooo, order away!

Beyond that, I had time the other day to do a spread in Noah's book. I've had this crib "diecut" from the scrapbooking section forever, and figured I should use it before he outgrows his crib! So I compiled a group of photos of him asleep and talked about how much I like to look in on him while he's sleeping. Babies are just the sweetest when they're asleep, aren't they? Even if they're driving you crazy throughout the day, they always look like they're so good when they're asleep....

That's all for today! Let me know if you'd like a book- first come, first served- when they're gone, they're gone!

Grabbag Winner & Babies in Pockets

And the winner is.... Kari from ArtsyMama! Congratulations, Kari! I hope you like your collage pack! Kari's favorite word was "bliss". It was really fun reading everyone's favorite words- so many interesting choices! I realized that I never told you what my favorite word is-it's "cloister". I love the sound of it and the meaning- "a secluded, quiet place; a sanctuary". (On a side note, my sister lives on Sanctuary Way- isn't that a wonderful address?)

For those that didn't win, I do still have several collage packs left if you were waiting to hear whether you won or not. I haven't had time to get them up on Etsy yet, but I can sell them to you directly if you don't want to wait. Just email me at appendageassemblage at hotmail dot com.

So, in artsy business, I've been working on a couple different things-some stuffed owls for birthday presents and a page in my "Me" journal. We've got three birthdays in our family within a couple weeks- a niece who will be four, a nephew who will be two, and Riley who will be two (my husband's birthday is also in there, but he doesn't count!), so I decided to make some stuffed animals for the kids. I also made one for Noah, so that he isn't left out! I came up with a design by looking at several different stuffed owls on the internet, taking a bit from this one, a bit from that one, etc. to make my pattern.

Knowing that a simple stuffed animal probably won't be enough to hold their interest for long, I wanted to think of a way to make them at least a little more interactive. So I came up with the idea of making babies that would go into pockets on the mothers' bellies. I think they came out pretty cute. We'll see if they pass the toddler test for interestingness though!

So I also did a page in my "Me" journal. I didn't have a lot in mind when I started the page, but I found these two cardboard little boys I bought a few weeks ago that I wanted to use. One is blond and one is dark-haired, just like my boys. I decided to use an image of myself looking down at the boys, and went from there. While working, I never actually attached the figures because I still wasn't sure where I was going to use them- in the birdcages? in my arms?

Finally, I got the idea of making little pockets for them so that they could go either place! Obviously, I must have been influenced by the owls I made! But I'm pleased with the results, and while I was working, I came up with the idea of making an entire book for these little guys, with pockets on every page so that they can go on different adventures! Wouldn't that be cute? I've got to think a little more about it, and see if I want to take another project on...

Okay, guys, have a great weekend! Let me know if anyone wants some collage packs!

My Book!

Well, as I mentioned, an advance copy of my book finally made it to me a couple weeks ago! What a wonderful surprise, as I didn't think I'd get to see it until it's released sometime in October. It's so exciting seeing what those many months of work all culminated to become!

Obviously, I knew what the text was going to be, since I wrote it, but I had no idea what the design of the book would look like! My designer, Amanda, did a wonderful job of creating a book that really melds well with my artwork. What a fun job she must have-taking an artist's work and trying to design a book around it! It's really interesting to look through and see bits and pieces of my art that she's used in the background or as accents.

So here are some sneak peek photos of the results. To see more, you'll have to, as they say, "buy the book!" I've added an Amazon link over on the left. However, I'm also thinking of offering signed copies which include a limited edition print of a piece of artwork. I've seen that a couple other authors have done this. I would sell them for $30, shipping included. Is anyone out there interested? I haven't decided for sure whether to do this, so please let me know if you'd be interested- it will help me make my decision!

That's all for now. Don't forget to get your name in the hat for the give-a-way from my last post- there's still a few days left! And there are still plenty packs which haven't sold as well, if you'd like one!

Grabbags & a Give-a-way!

First, let me thank everyone for your well wishes for our sick family! Thanks to all the positive energy out there, everyone is physically doing much better, and Mommy is feeling mentally much better as well!

And next, I know that I said I'd talk about the advance copy of my book I received in my next post, but I decided to do something a little more fun instead! I spent several hours yesterday and today doing a massive studio cleanout. And I ended up with a pretty big pile of stuff that is pretty cool stuff, but stuff that is really not living up to its potential just sitting in the drawers and closets of my house!

So I've loaded up 24 9x12 padded envelopes with all this stuff (I said there was a lot!) and have decided to sell them for $15 each, shipping included (and they're kind of heavy!). Although I guarantee the contents are more than $15 worth, if bought separately. The photos here are a sample of what is in one of the packets.

Let me tell you what sort of stuff is in them. They each have most of these items, if not all of these items: vintage ledger pages, vintage flashcards, human anatomy book illustrations, vintage photos, vintage postcards, photocopies of vintage photos, german foil items, vintage game pieces, various metal and other three-dimensional items- filagree, numbers, stencils, and lots, lots more miscellaneous stuff. I tried really hard to make them all comparable, so certain ones aren't much cooler than others. And they really are full of cool stuff- these are all items that I bought at some point because I planned to use it in my own collage. But, alas, it never got used, and I just needed/wanted to do some paring down.

So, if you'd like to buy a pack, send me an email at appendageassemblage at hotmail dot com. I can take Paypal or check. I will list them on Etsy sometime next week if there are any left, but you can get them directly from me this way.

And, to add to the fun, I've decided to give away one pack as well! I've never done a give-a-way on my blog before, so I thought it was about time. You guys are so good to me with your comments that I owe you that! Here are the rules for the give-a-way. Leave me a comment between now and next Saturday (Sept. 15th) telling me what your favorite word is, and I will randomly choose a winner. It will be fun to read what people's favorite words are!

Good luck, let me know if you'd like to buy a pack, and I'll write again soon!

What a Week!

Well, it's been a tough few days around here. Both Noah and my husband are sick. Noah's got "hand, foot, and mouth disease", which is a virus that causes sores inside his mouth and a fever- ouch! The poor guy, it hurts his mouth to take a bottle, so we're having to try and mix formula with everything he eats, and even so, he's not taking in much fluid as a result. So he's been extra cranky and difficult to deal with. Then my husband has come down with some unknown virus which is causing his entire body to be incredibly sore and achey from a fever. While I feel bad for him, it's just made things incredibly difficult since he can't help take care of the boys! And Riley, out of nowhere, has begun waking up several times each night. All this results in a cranky and tired Mommy, for sure! The photo above is a pretty accurate representation of what the state of things were until yesterday.

But luckily, things seem to be on the upswing today, and it doesn't appear that Riley and I are going to get anything, thank goodness! So, I haven't been doing much in the artsy realm of things lately. Although I did force myself to create a spread in Noah's book yesterday, much as I really wanted to just take a nap! I just can't let myself get behind in the boys' books or I'll never catch up!

Okay, that's about all the time I've got today! Once things have settled down around here, I will tell you about the advance copy of my book that I just received!!!

Oh, and if anyone's interested, I'm selling all my back issues of Somerset Studio on Ebay right now!

Frames for Sale!

Finally this batch of frames is finished! I know it doesn't seem like much, but each frame just take lots of steps. And the final step is nailing the nails and adding the feet, both which I have my husband do because hammering bothers the carpal tunnel I have. And sometimes that last step takes a while to get done....ahem, if you know what I mean....umm, I guess I probably shouldn't say much more about that if I still want a helper next time, right?

But anyway, please leave me a comment with your email address if you'd like one! I can take Paypal or check by mail. Shipping is $9 for priority mail.

In a few days, I'll put those that haven't sold up on Etsy.

SOLD $38- 4 x 6" photo size- "learn"

$43- 4 x 4" photo size- "adore"

SOLD $30- 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" photo size- "afternoon"

SOLD $33- 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" photo size- "sweet"

$43- 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" photo size- "play, smile, sing"

SOLD $38- 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" photo size- "goodness, sweetness"

$35- 4 x 6" photo size- "heart, soul"

SOLD $38- 4 x 6" photo size- "just because"

SOLD $30- 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" photo size- "fly"

Wow-ee!

Riley's at the age now (almost 2) where he is beginning to relish new experiences. Things that I wouldn't think twice about fascinate him, and it's so fun to be able to look at the world through those kind of eyes! For example, climbing on a tractor and playing in a cardboard box "house" both elicited great excitement recently.

Our favorite expression of his these days is "Wow-ee!", which we hear quite frequently during these new adventures. "Oh yeah!" is a close second, and just as endearing. It's a gift to be able to see this wonder, and to be the ones who show him these new experiences.

I'm very pleased with the way these pages came out. I followed the color cues from the photos, and I love the pallette as a result. It also helps that I had such a cute subject to inspire me!

Sweet Slide Show!

This slide show makes us tear up every time we see it. The music is so hauntingly beautiful, combined with the photos of the kids....sniff!

I'm going to be gone for about a week, but when I get back I'll have photoframes for sale! Have a great week, everyone!

Six Months Old!

Well, it's hard to believe, but Noah was six months old yesterday! How did that happen? I swear I was just pregnant yesterday! On Riley's six month "birthday", I did a spread for him with a poem about a mother and her eldest child. Here is that spread:

So I thought I would follow suit and do something similar for Noah. Hmmm, easier said than done. Apparently nobody out there has written a poem about a second child! I searched on the internet forever, and couldn't find anything suitable. So, change of plans. Since I couldn't find a poem, I decided to just write a little bit about him instead.

He's becoming such a happy little boy who does a wonderful job of keeping himself busy, which is certainly a gift when I've got a 21 month old running around, demanding my attention. So I wrote this on his pages, to remind myself of what his personality was like at this stage.

The pages came about a little differently than they usually do for me. I can't remember the last time I didn't partially paint over a patterned paper to mask it somewhat. But on these pages, I didn't feel the need to cover the pattern on the right-hand page -- maybe since it's such a subtle, vintage-y feeling pattern. It bothers me a touch to have the mass-produced paper so visible, but oh well, I guess I just need to trust what the artwork tells me, and don't mess with it if I don't need to.

Happy 6 months, little Noah!

Self

Just a quick post to show you the next piece I've done in my "me" journal. This one doesn't necessarily have a story behind it, other than lately, I've had the urge to do some painting. Every so often, I get this urge, and self-portraits have always been a favorite of mine. Mostly because they don't require any thought- just set up a mirror and you're ready to go!

I tend to like the crop of just my eyes and nose the best, as those are the features that I think I've captured most accurately. I know that a lot of people have difficulties with eyes, but for me, that's the one feature that I'm able to capture every time. The mouth is a different story- and the hair- those two things stump me every single time!

It's been fun hearing from those of you who share some of my bizarre traits (from the last post). I have a feeling that maybe a lot of us artists are probably more similar than we realize, personality-wise. Especially regarding the shyness. Isn't it interesting that a lot of us are shy, yet we choose to be so "assertive" with our artwork?

Eight Things and a Spread for Noah

Well, I've been tagged again, this time by Tonia! Last time it was only six bizarre things about myself, but this time it's eight. I had to think real hard to come up with eight more weirdo facts about myself- not! In fact, my whole personality is made up of strange traits, as those who know me can attest, so it was actually quite easy once I started thinking about it. So here goes:

1. I hardly ever drink alcohol, not because I'm opposed to it, but because I absolutely cannot stand the taste. I actually like the feeling of a good buzz, but having to drink the alcohol in order to get it usually is just not worth it to me.

2. I have a phobia of throwing up or seeing/hearing people throw up (good thing I don't drink much alcohol!). I will go to every length to avoid vomiting myself, and I have to cover my ears and close my eyes if I know I'm going to witness it (such as on TV). Strangely enough though, I have absolutely no problem with my cats or my kids doing it!

3. When I was about eighteen, my hair changed from straight to curly/wavy. The same thing happened to one of my sisters.

4. I hate scary movies. I cannot even watch a commercial on TV for a scary movie, because most of those are even too scary. In fact, if I see a particularly scary commercial, I will give myself nightmares because I freak myself out so much.

5. I was painfully shy as a child, and would consider myself socially phobic as an adult. I've definitely improved over the years, but social situations are extremely stressful for me.

6. I wish I had had the courage to color my hair some wild color like pink or blue when I was younger. There's a side of me that still would like to do it. I considered it a few times when I lived in Seattle, and should have just done it then. It would have been mildly accepted there since that's a pretty artsy city, but in Florida? No way!

7. When I was young, I absolutely hated that my name was also a boy's name. Being shy, it was terrifying to have to constantly correct teacher's, etc. who assumed that I'd be a boy because of my name. So why in the world did I doom Riley to the same fate?

8. I'm a serial returner. I return probably a third of what I buy. I have such a hard time making decisions that I constantly change my mind once I've gotten home. So I've gotten really good at keeping receipts and tags!

There you have it, another peek into my bizarre mind!

So, onto art news, thanks for all your support for my "me" journal. Sounds like there are a lot of you out there who can empathize with the feelings from my first piece. I look forward to doing more in the book, as soon as I catch up with all the other backlogged art that's awaiting me...

Speaking of which, Noah's almost six months old, and I'd failed to document a couple of his fifth month milestones until now. So I went ahead and did a spread noting his two biggest accomplishments from his fifth month- growing teeth and eating cereal!

That's all for now. I'm actually working on some more frames for sale, which should be finished soon. I'll post them here first, so you can all get first pick, before I put them on Etsy. Oh, and for those who have been keeping tabs, Riley's clavicle is completely healed!

A Book for Me

Yesterday was a tough day. As much as I adore my kids, I sometimes just have days when it just becomes too much, you know what I mean? Before becoming a mother, I never realized how hard it would be to literally put your life at the mercy of someone else's schedule. It is so draining to me not to have control over my life, or at least the kind of control I was used to pre-kids. Want to watch a show on TV? Sit down, get 5 minutes into it, oops! the baby's crying! Want to eat lunch? Get halfway through making it, oops! Riley's dumping yogurt on the table, don't get back to finishing it until half an hour later. Sit down to eat the lunch that took half an hour to make, oops! baby's crying again! Try to do something on the computer, oops! Riley is climbing on the table....

Anyway, you get the picture. We all have those kinds of days, and any of you who are mothers yourselves know exactly what I'm talking about! But the purpose of this wasn't to turn into a self-pity-fest about the trials of motherhood. I just wanted to set the stage for what prompted this piece I did last night, at 11:00, after the kids were finally asleep! I've talked before about wanting to start a journal for myself. Lately, the only artwork I do is in the kids' books or for trades/sale/etc. Other than my birthday piece, I haven't done much "me-centered" art for a while. And while I don't think every piece I do needs to be about myself, the main reason I do art is to keep a "journal" and to document my life. This is therapeutic for me, and I think it will be a treasure for my family in the future.

So last night I decided to finally begin a "me" journal, and here's the first piece. It's sort of a visual of me bearing a lot of weight on my shoulders, the weight being comprised of "kid stuff", thus the images of the little animals piled atop of each other. It reads, "Sometimes it's just more than I can handle." It was freeing to do it, especially after a hard day. I know there will also be more positive pieces in the journal in the future, but this was reflective of my mood last night. If I were to do a piece today, it would be much different, since the kids are doing wonderfully today!

Thanks everyone for the continued well wishes about my grandmother, and also the concern for Riley's broken clavicle. We are all doing great, and we'll find out this week whether Riley's bone has grown back together or not!