Fab Shab Blossom in Artful Blogging

Only one more day until I hop aboard the train that'll whisk me away to the fabulous Silver Bella retreat. Aside from the fact my iPod will not cooperate with being charged and synced I seem to be fairly ready. I made a last minute run to the big M's last night to gather a few more supplies. I always love to check out their magazine selection, Stampington's lines being my favorites. I picked up the latest Artful Blogging because I knew Kari Ramstrom had written an article on her a Year of Color blog.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear... My photo, done for the fabulously shabby blossoms/nests tutorial on the blog, on the bottom of the title page!

My jaw hit the floor when I saw that, but the other shoppers at M's didn't seem to know that the whole world had stopped for a minute. Aren't they silly?

Go Make Art

There are so many lovely colors in the world's paintbox! While I enjoy a particular few (red, pink, robins egg blue!) as my go-to colors, I really do love them all. I have always had a deep relationship with colors, from my first crayon box to my many dyes. I associate many objects, ideas, feelings in my mind with their own color.

Magnolia and Marmalade

I am constantly running into color inspirations for my many projects. Sources are so varied, so I must keep my mind and eyes tuned to what falls into my path. For instance, Magnolia and Marmalade came from a lovely word association. My sweet daughter Carmen was telling the family a story of her stuffed poodle- Magnolia. Later that day I read about the store Marmalade in Stampington's Where Women Create magazine. Magnolia, Marmalade. Those words just BELONG together. They must be created with, side by side. I am almost feverish when it comes to an idea that needs to be created, sometimes dyeing several lengths of ribbon before I get what I am sure is the look I desire.

Easter Eggs Vintage Swiss Bird's Nests

inspired by the beautiful colors of spring

Magnolia and Marmalade ribbons in a pretty jar.

Hydrangea and Rose ribbons

inspired by watercolorist Marjolein Bastin

I love examining other artist's work- Marjolein Bastin (of Hallmark fame) uses the most beautiful combinations of colors for her works. I also enjoy Cicely Mary Barker (Flower Fairies). Nature itself can be most inspiring. I also love creating colors based on foods (what does cotton candy, circus peanuts, cherry bombs, mint chocolate chip ice cream make you think of?).

Magazines, catalogs, and other photographs are great sources as well. I love the children's catalog "Chasing Fireflys" with their pretty boutique clothing- lovely texture, as well. And check out Wedding Chicks ! Wedding photography is just teeming with gorgeous color combinations just waiting for the artist to lift onto their palette.

What inspires you?

Blue and White

Blue and white, white and blue. So are the colors in January's theme on Artsymama's A Year of Color blog. With her permission, I've added a line in my shoppe to feature A Year of Color. I'm very excited to work with this theme- although there are some challenges ahead! (I'm really trying to start thinking of what to do when the month's theme is polka-dots!). The first thing I want to share is something I'm happy to present- Spun Sugar Twists! I wanted a way to present seam binding that is different from what I've seen. I've used a double sided piece of paper and folded it into a three partioned card. Each partition will have seam binding on it- this set only the hand-dyeds are "twisted".

I labeled each ribbon color by stapling a piece of vintage bird book text (being careful, of course, not to staple the ribbon) and a pretty blue punch with the name on it.

I also added a few inexpensive items to my shoppe just for fun, like Giggle Twinkle Wings button ticket set. These small treats will go to the "Sugar Wafers" section, although the blue and white ones are currently in the Year of Color section.

And I did put together one Sugar and Spice Tin set for Year of Color. Loads of pretty blue images for crafting here.

I'm also lucky enough to be able to participate in the swaps available to a Year of Color blog participants. Our first theme is Valentines, and that should be so much fun to prepare a box for my Swap Sister! I'll be sure to post what I'm up to soon!