My New Etsy Shop

I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop for several years now and I finally decided to just do it. I put my first items up for sale yesterday. Some of them are new designs that I just started on right before Christmas. I'm really excited about them. I have some of my work at the gift shop at Gallery 510 in Decatur, Illinois and my New Year's resolution was to branch out to other galleries and venues this year. My new Etsy shop Polkadot Possum is a start! Now I need to keep the momentum going.



New collection of mixed media heart pins.







Framed, mixed media heart pictures.







Mixed media, framable art cards.


And there's more to come!

Need to blog more often . . .

I have been absent from my blog for quite awhile. I am really going to try to blog on a more regular basis. I have recently finished knitting a pair of socks from Nancy Bush's "Knitting Vintage Socks". The pattern is Lichen Ribbed Socks. They are knitted in Australian Merino's Needful Yarns. The color is #1007. The toes were knit in the same yarn but a contrasting color. The color is actually correct in the first photo.

Remains of the Day Journal #1

I have finished the construction on my first Remains of the Day journal that I am making with about a gazillion wonderful and creative people in Mary Ann Moss' latest online class. Hurray Mary Ann!!!! She is a hoot and I have enjoyed every class I've taken with her so far. Here is a video showing the constructed (but as yet unfilled) journal. Enjoy!

Remains of the Day Journal #1 from Cindy Harwood on Vimeo.

Remains of the Day Class

Okay, so it's been awhile. Life caught up with me and passed me by but I'm trying to get back into control again. I've managed to get the twins half-way through first grade so maybe it will be smoother sailing for awhile.

I've just started taking a brand new on-line class from Mary Ann Moss of Dispatch from LA. The class is called "Remains of the Day" and it is journal-making at its finest with paper, fabric, stitching, ephemera, etc. Mary Ann is a great teacher. I have taken two other classes with her and I really enjoy her style and quirky sense of humor. Hopefully I will get around to posting some of the works in progress from her previous classes that I took in the summer.

Our first assignment involved making a scrappy cover for our new soon-to-be-made journals. I used a piece of home decorating fabric that I had overdyed as my cover base fabric and I machine appliqued tapestry, silks and other fabrics to it to make a scrappy chic looking cover. I even made a tie closure with tapestry fabric and several different types of yarns. Then I free motion stitched over parts with fuchsia rayon thread. YUMMY! Here are some pictures but the colors are a bit washed out. I took these in artificial light.

Dingbats spotted!

Well, this studio journals class has so many interesting lessons that it's hard to keep up. This past week we have been working with dingbats (computer dingbats, that is). I made a few designs using dingbats and then played around with some positive/negative imagery. Here's what I came up with:






They aren't works of art but they are fun.

Kaleidoscope Mania!!

I have been taking an online class on Studio Journals with Sharon Boggon. The class is through Joggles. It's a great class so far, even though I was on vacation for the first few weeks and I have fallen behind in some of the exercises. But Sharon realizes that students have to work at their own pace and she knows that life sometimes gets in the way (understatement of the year)!

Last week's exercises were about working with patterns and Sharon introduced us to a wonderful and additive website: http://www.krazydad.com/kaleido. You can use it to make kaleidoscope images from pictures of your own or others on the web. It is fascinating and I am getting lots of design ideas from this. I can't wait to try some out!

Here are some of the images (along with the original pictures I took) that I have created so far.

Original image. This is a picture of a palm I took while on vacation on Galveston Island, Texas a week or so ago.

Kaleidoscopic images.

Original image. This is a bromeliad that we saw in the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens on Galveston Island.

Kaleidoscopic images.

Original image. Cactus seen at the Indianapolis Zoo in the desert (reptile) exhibit. I think these kaleidoscope images are amazing.

Kaleidoscopic images.


Okay, now the following images just blew me away. The originals are detail shots of some of my art quilts. The kaleidoscopes from these are fantastic!

Original image. Detail of Deco Dot Polka.

Kaleidoscopic images.

Original image. Detail of Beginnings.

Kaleidoscopic images.

Original image. Detail of Deco Study #2.

Kaleidoscopic images.



There are many more but I'll save them for another time. I gotta go do some art now!!!

If it isn't broke . . .

BUT IT IS!!


Shelby has broken her arm! The reason: Cheerleading!


Well, not really. It's true that she has started cheerleading at a local cheerleading gym. It's also true that she was attempting a cheerleading maneuver when said break occurred. But the two were entirely separate. She was attempting a running cartwheel in the living room (against house rules, I might add), without the knowledge or aid of any adults. She twisted and landed wrong. One should also mention that she has not yet mastered a regular cartwheel, let alone starting one at a run. The fun never ends in a house with two four-year-olds!

A broken arm certainly hasn't slowed us down any! Last weekend we attended the Mushroom Festival in Mansfield, Indiana. I bought a (very) small bag of morels at the auction. Here we are with our booty (and our brand new Purdue sweatshirts)!


We saw an old grain mill.


And one of Parke county's famous covered bridges.


The view from the bridge's windows was great!