Belated Birthday Gifts and a Work of Art

Before I get into anything else, I must first make sure to acknowledge my friend Taiya, whose birthday was June 24.  It's not really that I haven't acknowledged her birthday, it's just that I am terribly late in making her birthday gift.  Seeing as how she's probably my biggest and bestest fan (aside from my hubby) and my best marketing tool (read: brag book) I have to make sure that her presents are always special.  So after more than a month of brainstorming, You Tube-ing, and driving my husband crazy with indecision, I finally came up with the perfect idea for her present.  Only I haven't had the time to make it yet.  The foundation has been laid (hint-there are three envelopes glued together), but so far schoolwork and studying has kept me out of the studio.  So I've decided on a new tactic.  I will leave clues as I get a step completed.  This way by the time it is finally complete and it arrives in the mail she can't help but be excited to see it.  Sounds like a good plan to me.  :-)

The other topic I wanted to cover during this blog update has also been pushed aside due to studying.  Has anyone else been watching Bravo TV's Work of Art?  Think Project Runway meets the art world.  I think it is Bravo's attempt to reclaim some its glory since losing Project Runway this past year.  The show's not half bad, though I never would have known about it if I hadn't been watching something else on Bravo.  It didn't help either that the series premier came on at 11pm.  The show as settled into it's regular schedule of Wednesday nights at 10:00 est.  As I said earlier, it's not half bad, but it certainly leaves some things to be desired.

If we're considering Work of Art to be a Project Runway replacement, I think a simple comparison between the two is the best place to start.  And when you think of Project Runway the first person you think of when you think of is Heidi Klum.  Work of Art's answer to Heidi is China Chow and Heidi Klum she is not.  I don't blame China, it's more the fault of the writers.  China has the attitude, but she lacks the catch phrases that Heidi is known for.  As a result it leaves her looking meek.  No "You're out."  Instead it's "You're work didn't work for us."  What's that supposed to be?  And while we're on the subject of tag lines, they didn't do much better for Simon de Pury, the Tim Gunn of Work of Art.  There is no "Make it work."  There is no anything.  He speaks and the artists don't even realize he's leaving the room.

There is a good side to Work of Art.  You get to see works of art in progress.  With Project Runway everyone is sewing.  Great.  It's the finished product you're looking to see.  With Work of Art you actually get to see it being made.  You get to see the thought process and the design process of the different artists, all of whom work in different ways.  My only complaint about that is that there is not nearly enough time to explore them all and really get an in depth look at what they're doing.  I'm sure as the number of artists is whittled down we'll get to see more.  For now what we'll have to do with what we get.

Despite its faults, I do enjoy Work of Art and would recommend it to others.  It's a bright, creative spot on the summer line-up.  And we can always enjoy some creative television.

~Jennifer Gayle

What to do? What to do?

I'm sure this question has been asked by all of us at some time. There are so many ways out there for us to express our creativity, too many for me to possibly name. I've tried a bunch of them. There were some I didn't particularly like--doing watercolors is the first that comes to mind. I still remember vividly the class I took one summer. My Mom and I lied to the rec center where the class was being held. The age limit was 15, but I had just turned 14. Needless to say, I was the youngest in the class. The instructor had a tendency to treat me like the young student that I was and was fondness for taking my brush out of my hand to show me how I should be doing things. Perhaps it was this that turned me off of watercolors, or maybe its lack of instant gratification. All I know is it's not something you'll see me doing anytime soon.

I may not be doing watercolors, but there's no telling what you will see me doing. I have a voracious appetite when it comes to learning new things. I played four instruments in three years of marching band. I've been fortunate in the past couple years to be able to take advantage of stores like Panopolie (I'll have to hit up Ornamatea now that she has closed) and Archiver's. I've dabbled in jewelry making, metal etching, and have been shown card making techniques that would have made my Mother's head spin. And the DVR has exposed me to even more art forms than I could have imagined.

But that's the problem--there's more. There's so much more. And I want to try it all. I don't necessarily have to become a master at it. Take weaving. I don't really want to be a weaver, but wouldn't it be cool to say that you've actually done under-water basket weaving? There's a really cool pair of earrings that I'd like to have, the only problem is that they only exist in my head. So, why not learn how to make them? Maybe someone else would like to have a pair just like them, so I'll make a few. Maybe I'll dislike the process so much that they become true one-of-a-kinds. But I won't know until I try, will I.

So, I ask myself the question, what to do? Alas, I don't think I'll ever find a final answer to the question. At least not as long as there is some form of creative expression I haven't tried.

Identity Crisis

One of the great advantages of taking an e-course with hundreds of people is that you get to share in the creativity of those hundreds of people. Every one has their own take on the same thing. For a while now I've been kind of bored with the look of my blog. It needed something, I just didn't know what--or how to achieve it for that matter. Then at the beginning of the Flying Lessons course by Kelly Rae Roberts all the participants took the time to introduce themselves and share their websites and blogs. All of a sudden I was inundated with designs of all types--elegant, fun, wacky. Above all they were creative. And I was dying to be one of them. Lucky for me the blogs weren't the only thing that was shared. A few generous souls were kind enough to share how they came about designing their unique blog. So for the past few days I have been playing around with the design of my blog. The current look is from a website call ShabbyBlogs.com. They've got some great pre-made blog templates. Before that I played around with an image that I had created years ago. I've also used a couple templates provided by Blogger. For now I think I'm going to stick with the glitter heart design from Shabby Blogs. The glitter makes me think of Mom, since she was often known to have glitter in her hair. I'm sure, however, that I'll be playing around with the design again before too long. I guess that's one thing about being creative--I'm always working on something new.

Mommy's Day

Felicia Gayle Hudgins

November 26, 1959-May 30, 2004

Today is what I label on my calendar as 'Mommy's Day'. While it is the anniversary of her death, I choose it to be a day to celebrate my Mommy and all that she has done for me. Anyone who has had the opportunity to read the entry on why I named this blog (and my upcoming website) Mommy Moon knows that my Mom is the one who taught me what I know, and who instilled a sense of curiosity and creativity in me. I would be nothing today were it not for my mother and the way that she raised me. So today I celebrate my Mommy. I celebrate what she was and what she made me. Whenever we lose a loved one we have to remember not to dwell on the day we lost them but on the days that we had them. Therefore I mark today as Mommy's Day. She is in my heart always, and I think of her constantly, but instead of making today a day to mourn her death, I make it a day to celebrate her life! I love you, Mommy!

Going Flying

It's kind of fun to see life at work. A little over a year ago a friend of mine sent me a book that she thought I would like. It was called Taking Flight: Inspiration + Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings, by Kelly Rae Roberts. It's part companion, part guide, and part journal. It's the kind of book that makes you want to run to the craft room and lock yourself in until you're covered in paint and have little scraps of paper stuck to various parts of your clothes. I was all raring to go when I was hit with my ten-month forced hiatus from creative life. The book, along with many other things, got packed away and moved.

Fast forward to last week. The same friend sent me a link to a website. She had seen an artist's work in Hallmark and fallen in love. She wanted to share the artist's site with me because she knew I would love her work too. As I started surfing through the site I realized that there was something familiar about the artwork. Low and behold, the artist who had caught her eye was also the author of the book that she had sent me last year--Kelly Rae Roberts. I would say it's a small world, but I don't believe in coincidence.

I am at a point in my creative career where I could use some guidance. I've mostly decided what I want to do, and where I want to do it (read: new website coming in the near future). But I'm not too sure on the how. I can build a website, I can write a blog, but how do I share it with an audience. Enter Kelly Rae. As I was browsing her site I noticed a page for her e-course, "an inspiring and informative e-course where I share everything I know about how to start, grow, or expand your creative business." It was everything that I have been looking for. Depressed about not being able to afford to go to CraftyCon this fall, I was elated to find a source for all the information I've been looking for and it was only $99. Again, Kelly Rae is going to be a companion and a guide to those of us who want to share our creative spirit with the world (or at least the parts of the world who are interested in wearing things like Lego earrings).

I am totally elated, and grateful, that I have this opportunity. I look forward to learning all that I can, and hopefully someday I will be able to share my expertise with a whole new generation of crafters.

-Jen

Say Cheese!

As promised, I present one of my new creations. What is it, you wonder? It is the mechanism that sheds light on your photos. Yes, that's right, it's the flash unit from a disposable camera. And I must say that this little beauty wasn't taken without a fight. The way flashes work, both big and small, is that they pull power from the battery and store it so it will be ready to go when everyone says "Cheese!" Well, I forgot this little lesson from photography school when I removed the batteries from the camera. I continued dismantling it thinking nothing of it. Well, I received quite a shock when I touched the contacts on that circuit board. Needless to say that was a lesson I didn't need to learn twice. But I survived, and now have this lovely pin to show for it. I hope someone else will enjoy it as much as I.

A New Place To Shop

It's been a while, but in my absence I've been working on some new creations. One of my favorites has been my Lego earrings. Everywhere I go I receive comments on them from people who remember playing with Legos when they were kids. I decided I would have a go with selling them in my online store. But since the store that I had already created was dedicated to my photography, I created a new one. You can find it on Etsy at MommyMoonDesigns.Etsy.com. Make sure to make the shop one of your favorites because I'll be adding new stuff in the coming weeks. Enjoy!