Etsy Shop Opens!

   I am happy to announce my Etsy shop just opened! The banner is coming soon but the shop is open and it has 6 items to sell. More will be coming soon! You can see it at www.etsy.com/shop/pathouse


Also want to remind everyone the Auction for the Karen Beasley Turtle Hospital is tonight at 6:30 p.m. Hope we raise lots of money for the turtles! I'm going to miss mine!

The Turtles are coming!


     A year ago I was  chosen to participate in a very special fundraiser sponsored by the Surf City Art Guild in order to raise money for the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Surf City, North Carolina. We decorated a 30" tall fiberglass sea turtle  to be on display this summer and then to be auctioned off to raise money for the new hospital. Last year, they had so many turtles that they had to move some to garages in the area. The hospital is just too small for all the great work that they do. It is my favorite news story to watch as they release the turtles back in to the ocean! Anything that I can do to help with that process is well worth the effort.

    Each Artist who participated had a business sponsor. I would like to say thank you to mine The Bistro at Just Baked in Surf City. Registers Auto and Collision of Hampstead, N.C. contributed the clear coating for each turtle. It was a very exciting thing to pick my turtle after it was coated and be able to see the other designs! Twenty two artists created turtles and each one is amazing! Also many other people helped with this, I wish I could list them all.

    This Friday, September 30, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. is the auction. It will be held at The Assembly Building at 720 Channel Blvd., in Surf City, N.C. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served and the public is invited. The auction will officially start around 7:15 p.m. We hope to raise lots of money! If you can come and see and buy. If not, you can contact Jean Beasley at 910-470-2800 to donate money.

I continue to work an hour a day on my big studio clean out. It has been a long drawn out process but I am having some good results. I took 10 boxes of stuff this week and donated them to charity! My goal is to continue this one hour a day until October 9th when the Ikea Space Challenge ends with www.Instructables.com. On that day I am going to declare that I am finished except for getting the new furniture and setting it up. I will then have a general maintenance plan so that it never gets like this again.

     I have learned from this experience that I have been living with the leftovers of my school teacher mentality. My years of using parts of my salary to provide supplies for my students taught me to live in a state of lacking. My mindset has been there will never be enough supplies so I should save and reuse. I have learned this past year that I prefer to live in a State of Abundance! So I am sharing my wealth with others who may need it and I am looking forward to winning the contest. I can finally have the studio I always wanted! I have cut out pictures for years of what I would like for my studio and it's very interesting, the look is always the same. I didn't even know Ikea existed yet!

     Two days ago I had a visitor in my studio who startled me with his unannounced presence. I went to lift a box and there he was and moving fast! I thought I would add his photo to the updated photos of my space so you can see him. He 's a pretty good looking guy and it is fun to watch him change colors when he blends in with a new background! I prefer no more surprises though!

So I'm off to do my hour. I'll crank up my stereo and get working! If you haven't voted yet I can really use your support! www.Instructables.com, Ikea Space Challenge! Thanks for your support!

Progress is being made!

   I have been working on my studio clean out for a week now and it is starting to show progress. I  learned that Instructables.com is having an Ikea Space Challenge Contest that starts today. You upload pictures of your space then show /tell how you could improve your space if you won the $1,000.00 gift card from Ikea. I have had the best time this weekend shopping in the catalog for furniture. It is so empowering to imagine a space that I create with real furniture chosen by me! Currently, I am using lots of castaways from various places. I am grateful to have all that I do have but, I would LOVE to be able to upgrade!
     In shopping the Ikea Catalog and my imagination, I created a beautiful space for my work. I see 4 Billy shelf bookcases on caster wheels to display my work. The shelves are movable and the bookcases can be used in picture number 3 to create a closet space behind them for storage. What you would see instead of those ugly plastic shelves is a white wall of beautifully displayed artwork. The other side of the room I would put 3 sets of Expedit bookcases with 8 squares in each one. Also on wheels, with baskets in every other hole. These shelves would store all of my mixed media supplies. Later, I would love to add more Expedit bookcases with a top to create a worktable. I did include a three drawer filing cabinet. My total without tax came to $1001.96.
      I am continuing to clean out and purge this space. I plan to prepare my entry for the contest and submit it this week. I am then going to send as much positive energy as I can into winning. Then when I do win, I will post beautiful pictures and a great blogpost about how wonderful this whole experience has been. Our local charity will be blessed with furniture that someone will be glad to use for their space. We can have a virtual party at my place to celebrate! Keep the prayers coming!  

Reinventing my Studio Space

       I have disrespected my studio space. It has been trashed, unloved, and just sad. My studio is a garage in our backyard that can be a nice space to work in. I have spent many hours working away creating new things. Three years ago, I did a crash and burn and became unable to work very much. I became adrenal fatigued, Vitamin D deficient, and totally out of sorts. Two years ago they decided I had Fibromyalgia. This story is not about me being sick, but about my journey now that I am better. I have steadily improved each year getting a little better and finally in January of this year I decided I was ready to take my life back!

      So I walked out to my studio and it looks like this! These are photos that should never be published because they are horrible. I am putting them out there so that you can see how I transform this space back to a useful and lovely place to work. I am doing it for one hour a day twice a day. I walk in turn on some peppy music and then turn on my timer and go! I use my journal writing time to dialog with myself in order to set my intentions for the next session. So far I am seeing great progress! I'll show my progress as I go. Please pray for my progress. I am going to need all the help I can get.