Back to work...

This past week I have enjoyed my first week-long vacation of the year. I used this time to complete my Etsy store Laurengstudio.etsy.com and work on some artwork for an amazing musician (and my Auntie and roommate) Sarah Alicia. You can find her at www.sarahaliciamusic.com and listen to her music for free at http://soundcloud.com/sarah-alicia/. Her EP is available on iTunes and her full length album comes out very soon.

Take a listen to her single "16":

01 Sixteen by Sarah Alicia

The gorgeous scenery you see in the background is the Cayman Islands where she was born and raised. She is actually there now to do a concert. As I said her full length album comes out very soon. I did a multi-medium piece for the inside leaflet of her album. I'll post pictures of it after her album is released. I don't want to spoil it for everyone! I am honored to have been a part of it and I had a lot of fun working on it.

LaurenGStudio on Etsy!

Yea! Yea! We are finally up and running. Check out:

http://laurengstudio.etsy.com/

Go there now! Thank you mother for being such an excellent wrist model. As always, I welcome custom orders. Ok, now I'm off to make more!

Mariah, you are the Christmas music queen

Christmas music in my home is in full swing. I feel as though this season has crept up quite quickly so I need to make up for that by playing Christmas music 24/7. I downloaded Mariah Carey's new album and oh my... let's just say keep those kleenex handy! Once you get to O Come All Ye Faithful... (I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it.) It's like you try to keep it in as the choir chimes in but by the time they get to the "glory to God" part your eyes just give out and tears start streaming! I've listened to it 5 times now today just to see if I can get through it without crying and I can't! I'm sure I'm just crazy but Christmas just means so much to me. It really is my favorite time of year.

ANYWAY, I've got my Paypal business account up and running and I've secured my LaurenGStudio name on etsy.com. The store policies are being drafted and logos being created. Exciting!

Coming soon to Etsy

I've decided Etsy would be the best place to post these bracelets for sale. I will direct you to my shop as soon as it's up and running. It's quite a process, but that's expected. As always, if you have any questions just e-mail me! Have a lovely day.

What make the best gifts? Handmade gifts of course!

Reasons to buy handmade:
1. Handmade gifts say, "I really put in the time to find you something unique."
2. It supports artists doing what they love.
3. You can be green by buying local.
4. Avoid a crowded mall.... (what other reason do you need?)
5. It makes you feel good!

Stay tuned for Lauren G. Studio's collection of handmade bead-woven bracelets!

Friday morning coffee and muffins from scratch!

I really don't like my 1pm - 9pm shift but today I love it because it allowed me to wake up early and make chocolate chip muffins and a cup of coffee, catch up on my podcasts, and post some pictures here. By the way, if you're a creative person, the CraftyPod podcasts http://www.craftypod.com are a GREAT source of inspiration and encouragement.

My latest set of projects have been beadweaving projects. I am certainly a beginner and I have only conquered one type of stitch but I've found this to be a very fun and portable craft. I purchased the book 200 Beading Tips, Techniques, & Trade Secrets by Jean Power that has the best illustrated instructions I've found. I have also used the assistance of videos on YouTube. The combination of these two have been most helpful to learn stitches.

This is a peyote stitch bracelet. This is the second one I made. Good materials are essential. Fireline is a must for the thread you use and invest in quality seed beads. I've quickly found out how cheaper beads are not always uniform size and it makes your bracelet uneven and you waste time trying to pick out bigger or smaller beads to use in a particular area. Also JoAnn Fabrics is not a good place to buy seed beads. I bought some shiny blue ones and it turns out the beads were really clear but had just been coated with the blue and it ended up coming off all over my fingers and now it just looks clear anyways! Hobby Lobby has a better selection. I'm sure a bead store would have the best but if you don't have access to one or don't want to wait and pay shipping by purchasing online, Hobby Lobby has a much better selection.

Peacock Cake

Daniel couldn't figure out what he wanted for his birthday so only a few days to spare, he sent me a text saying he wanted a peacock cake from the Cake Boss. You know, the one from TLC. He was of course joking but he does not know me very well because I will take it as a challenge almost always! Ah Hah! So....my first attempt at cake decorating:

Luckily my boss told me about an awesome store called Country Kitchen which has practically everything for cake decorating. I found edible glitter for the center of the feathers. I got a completely plain, uniced round cake then I created the peacock body out of rice krispy treats. I frosted it all then mixed my own colors with food coloring and decorated! I wanted it all to be edible but couldn't come up with what to use for the small feathers on it's head. I asked the airhead at the cake place to help me with ideas and she replied, "Uhhhh I don't know what a peacock looks like....hahahaha". Weirdo. So Mom and I decided fancy toothpicks were the only way to go. The last photo is the finished product before lighting the candles. There was no way 24 candles were fitting on there so I just made the numbers out of them.

Yum.

Negative Space

Progress....I was thinking this was going to be a quicker process but this painting has a mind of it's own and just when I think I know what I'm doing, different things appear that make me change my mind. The thing I love most about this painting are the negative spaces. The spaces and shapes created where there are no flowers or leaves. I've been totally drawn in by these. LOVE it!

Iris

A work in progress... hoping to have it done by the July 10th deadline!

Iris update

I am in the middle of working on flower placement. It's one of the hardest parts. The background is finally done so I'm pretty pumped about that. Had to get more paint to finish that. I personally think odd numbers of things are more visually pleasing but this particular painting will have an even number of flowers. I have mixed feelings about it right now but I'm having a hard time figuring out where the last one should go so sometimes it's just better to go with what you've got and know that you will make anything work. Sorry no pictures yet. I'm not ready for that. So happy to have my apartment back together (sort of) and to work on this!

Kroger Design a Reusable Bag Contest

My entry:

Winners are based by online votes. Here's what you need to know to place a vote:

Go to: www.kroger.com/green

Near the top of the page click: Vote for a Design

On the right side of the page click: Search Bag Designs

A green box will pop up; my Bag Number is: 46019

Or you can type in Lauren M. and my design will appear. Click to VOTE!

You are allowed ONE VOTE PER DAY so PLEASE vote often!

The top 5 winners get their design put on a bag. I'm atleast hoping for that since the person with the most votes has accumulated over 1,000 votes. That has to be cheating. I just don't see how that's possible because the voting period hasn't even been that long. The most votes drop after the top two entries so I'm hoping to get in there somewhere in the top 5 with my core of faithful voters! I wish winners weren't all based on votes. This allows some pretty un-original designs to win. So let's step up for the orignal designs and vote for mine!

Iris & Ostrich

Some things I did last night:

"Mista Ostrich", marker and watercolor

You can see the watercolor line. I started out with watercolor because I thought that's how I wanted it but then I decided to just draw him. My lines were way off at first.

Iris study. Prismacolor markers are the BEST! More to come...

Mandala for Phyllis

Mandala for Phyllis - 12x12'', 2009

Last night:

"Corks" - 8'' x10'', Conte & pastel, 2010

I was telling my boyfriend last night some people feel most alive dancing or singing or being on the water or in the snow but I feel most alive when I'm drawing.

A New Year

For my birthday I purchased myself a new set of soft pastels. Here's the first two things I've tinkered around with:

"Peacock" - pastel, 7'' x 8'', $25

"Big Jake" - pastel, 8'' x 10'' - SOLD

And here's a painting not for sale. For Christmas my mother instructed me not to buy her anything. So I didn't, I just painted her something. This is our dog, Baby. She's an old woman but we still love her... the dog, that is. (Ha!)

Hope you all are having a lovely new year. I think mine promises to bring some changes... which I need badly! Please e-mail me at myerslg@verizon.net if you have any questions about my artwork.