Finally - New Work is Here!!

Well, life has been relatively crazy lately with work and all so I haven't had the time to post any of my new work. I'm really excited about a new scrappy, Remains-of-the-Day- type of journal that I just posted in my Etsy shop.



It's sort of a shabby chic design. The cover is made from recycled denim from old jeans, cotton batik, cotton twill, laces and trims.





The cover has a hook and eye closure and a handmade denim and lace flower decorates the flap on the cover.



There is a denim pocket on the inside of the front cover which would be great for keeping pens, pictures, ephemera or notes.






The signatures are hand-sewn.



The pages are made of a combination of Strathmore 80 lb. drawing paper and a few sheets of lightweight Rives paper.



For added character the pages are of differing widths and heights.





I decorated the pages with stitched-on laces, trims and watercolor and drawing papers which have been splatter painted with acrylic paints.

New Work Coming

I've been working all weekend on something new. It's almost finished and I like how it's turning out. Can't wait to show you all!

Living the Creative Life

My FibR group met tonight for our monthly meeting. Late last year we decided to choose a book on creativity and begin working through it during our meetings. We chose Living the Creative Life by Rice Freeman-Zachery. So, in January we started going through it on our own (chapter by chapter) and then discussing it in our meetings.

Tonight we talked about Chapter 2: The Creative Childhood. So, what types of creative activities did you do as a child? Were you free to create and engage in creative activities? Was it encouraged?? Interesting things to think about . . .


Some of my daughter's chalk art created when she was three.


And thinking of spring!

Sumptuous Surfaces

In an attempt to catch up on posts about art related stuff I realized that I never blogged about last year's FibR art show at the Tippecanoe Art Federation (TAF) gallery in Lafayette, IN. FibR is a a group of fiber artists from the Lafayette/West Lafayette, IN (and surrounding) area. We have quilters, mixed media artists, basket makers, gourd artists, wearable artists, dyers, jewelry artists and more in our group. We meet once a month at TAF to talk, learn from each other and showcase our work. For the past two or three years now we have had a juried gallery show at the TAF galleries. These are a few pictures from our 2010 show entitled "Sumptuous Surfaces; Layers of Meaning".




The two pieces on the left are by Anita Krug. Leaf wallhanging by Sabrina Cassidy. Beaded necklace by Cindy Anderson.



Both of these pieces are mine. "Blooming" on the left and "Temperance and the Hierophant" on the right.

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.