movin' on down the road

Hello!

Guess what?!? I've moved.

My new site is up and running at http://applesandorange.com

If you're a subscriber, you can change your feed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/applesandorange/ioSc. If you're not, I hope you pop on over and check it out. If you like what you see, I'd love to hear from you.

Spring Into Action!

The gorgeous ladies over at Spring have put forth a challenge for the month. They're posting a question per week and have asked readers to respond in their own way. This week, the question is:

I believe humans are all inherently creative beings. All of us. Every last person. It's funny because a response I get to my work is so often something like: "Wow! that's cool. I don't have a creative bone in my body." or "I can't even draw a straight line!" You know what? Neither can I. If I want a straight line I use a ruler. Anyway, I've always been so surprised by this kind of response but I think it comes from a common misconception of what creativity really means.

To me, creativity doesn't just mean painting a picture to hang on the wall ... "creating art" ... it has a deeper meaning. I think our brains have a tremendous capacity for creativity. Problem-solving in any way is creativity. People amaze me with their abilities to solve their own and others problems. That is the height of creativity in my mind.

You are already a beautiful, creative creature. You don't have to "create art" for that to be true.

tap tap tap ... is this thing on?

Well, hello there! I've been a little scarce lately. The fact is, I've been doing some behind-the-scenes stuff, personally and professionally.

I've been thinking about this here blog and I've been wondering what I should post about. Part of that behind-the-scenes stuff has been working with Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach. We're about half way through our sessions and the experience has been a m a z i n g. It hasn't been what I expected; I had it in my head that we'd do the weekly consultations and I'd have my business all figured out and be well on my way to developing my product line and have my Plan.

It turns out that we needed to dig a little deeper first and work on my Procrastination issues (yes, capital P). Procrastination has been getting in the way of actually working on my business for real.

I was getting in my own way. There. I said it.

This will probably always be a battle for me, but already the wins are getting easier. I believe that, eventually, the battles will get smaller and farther apart.

I've been spending more time in my "studio" (extra room) and have taken real steps towards that product line I dream of. I still have my moments where the Procrastination itch gets scratched, but it's not nearly as defeating as it once was a few short weeks ago.

So, getting back to my opening statements: I've been wondering what I should post about. Originally, my idea was to write about my journey. That's only partially happened and not with any depth or consistency. So I'm going to put it out there to the Internet universe and see what others think.

So here are my topic/series ideas:
1. my personal journey from a dreamer-with-a-day-job to being my own boss
2. things I learn as I hone my printmaking skills and do product development
3. tutorials of what I learn
4. things that inspire me along the way
5. resources I discover
6. reviews of crafty business books (which I'm reading most of the time)

I know that I probably can't do all six of these with any degree of quality. What do you think? If you had to pick three of the things you were most interested in reading about, which would they be?

Feel free to comment here or send an email to me at info [at] applesandorange [dot] [com].

burn baby, burn

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen this already. I wanted to share a quick photo of my screen-burning. This is the third time I've tried this one and, while it's not perfect (yet), it did work. 

I did a test print, but I don't want to give away too much too soon!

This is my screen-exposure "unit" set up in our guestroom. I can make the room super dark so it's the perfect place.

skills

So I've been slowly working on a new project. Before I can print it, I have to polish my screen emulsion and exposure skills.

This is what happens when your emulsion is too thick. It "blows out" the stencil. Hopefully the third time will be a charm.

Passing Along Some Sunshine

Because we can all use a little more sunshine, right?

As part of the award, here's what's I shall do:

Put the logo on my blog or within my post.
Pass the award to 12 well-deserving bloggers.
Link to the nominees within my post.
Let them know they received it by commenting on their blogs.
Share the love and link to the people who gave me the award.

Thank you Bobbi for spreading the sunshine! It really did make my day.

Here's my list of sunshine:

Julie of Random Meanderings
Art by Nicole Duquette
Lu of Summersville
Jessica Swift
Tiffany of Crafty Fanny
Megan Auman of Crafting an MBA
Jen of Indie Fixx
Michelle Ward of When I Grow Up 
Katherine (and Mingus and Dottie) of Phetched
Alicia of Posie Gets Cozy
All the folks over at Spoonflower
Danielle of Danielle Stewart Design

Pen Pal Love

Sending out some love ... I have really been enjoying my pen pals from the Indie Fixx Pen Pal Project. Here are a couple photos of what I've received from a couple of mine.

 The garland is from Bobbi. Isn't it cute on my manzanita branch?

This cute whale drawing is from Nicole. It's like she knew my bathroom has turquoise tile! So cute and perfect.

Slices of Sunshine

I've updated my Flickr album with some new stuff.


What do you think?

Pen Pal Project

The wonderful Jenn at Indie Fixx has started the Pen Pal Project. I've signed up (I'm number 27 in the comments) and I'm so excited to begin. What a great way to inspire each other!

one great reason

This post from the gals at Rock Scissor Paper is an example of why I should have my camera with me at all times. It's a great reminder for me because one of my New Year's Resolutions is to take more photos to help me *see* all the beauty and inspiration that is around me every day (Which, by the way, I've failed so far).

Images are the property of Rock Paper Scissors.

How fabulous are these colors. Enjoy this little dose of inspiration and creativity.

recent favorites

I thought I would share some recent finds on Etsy I'm coveting.

Printable DIY Gable Box from Finch & Hawk

Burnt Mango Orange Stacked Deco Silk Screened Slip Cover from erin flett

Tealeaves 6-color screenprint from jackiepeppermint

Bouquet wall clock from decoylab

screenprinted folk bird tree tote from dutchdoor

Poison Arrow greeting card in the New Wave Victorian line from thespottedsparrow

All images are from their owners' Etsy stores.

before and after

I have a little before-and-after for you today. A little art for my husband as a Christmas gift.


I found these pseudo-oil paintings in a thrift shop. They were labeled "French, 1950's". I think the frames are beautiful and were exactly what I was looking for.
So, I primed over the prints, painted the frames with a lovely brushed nickel spray paint (Valspar, I think) and transferred the silhouettes I did of our two pups and painted them with gouache. I added monograms for them too. "A" for Addie and "C" for Conner.


Ta-Da! They're hanging in our living room next to my Keep Calm poster (in Apples and Orange orange, PMS 151) from sfgirlbybay.