Shebrews

The Nina Doll

2012-02-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

This is a doll that I want to make for my little Violet. I have a whole book of different styles, but I think it would be a fun hobby in all my free time. The instructions are all in Japanese, but, no matter, the drawings are quite detailed. Maybe if I get started I can show you pics as I go.

You are probably wondering where I have been. ........It was a very busy Christmas time because I work at the Kristmas Kringle Shoppe. I love, love, love all the sparkly, pretty things. I mainly do personalizing on the ornaments, but, working with the product is also something I really enjoy.

The show applications have been pouring in. We have made a decision to cut way back this year. It will look something like this:

Minocqu- June 3
St. Germain June 9
Arbor Vitae July 7
Artarama July 14
Land O Lakes July 22
St. Germain July 31
Mercer August 1
Minocqua August 2
St. Germain August 6
Green Lake August 11-12
Eagle River August 15
Wales August 18
All these are tentative, and I will re-affirm them as I get them out. I have significantly cut back on shows. I will not be doing as many Flea Markets in St. Germain as I have the past couple of years. Things just are not what they used to be, and I must pick the very best to go to this year.

I need to take some time to play with my new grand-daughter, Violet.

Getting Ready for Christmas at the Kristmas Kringle Shoppe

2011-11-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's been fun this year decorating trees. I have learned a lot about christmas trees doing this. There are some trees that are just beautiful undecorated, and when you add the ornaments, they just dazzle you. There are some trees that are not so decorator friendly. I am showing the best of the best, of course. This is a tree decorated with a wine theme. It has frosted pointsettas and lots of brown, copper and white.

This is a tree I dreamed of when sorting through ornaments and noticing so much teal. I originally wanted to combine teal and brown, but this is what evolved. This tree is now called the Peacock Tree. It does even have peacocks on it. There are some exotic porcelain doll ornaments, and some peacock butterflies. This tree is actually more decorated than what I show here. I may need to take a current pic. Anyway, that's what I have been up to. I will be in the studio as soon as possible and let you sneak peek next year's offerings.

Meanwhile visit Kristmas Kringle Shoppe at Facebook and "Like" us for all our current happenings!

Week End In Conover and Cranberry Festival Eagle River

2011-10-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Eagle River Cranberry Festival Set Up Day (Friday)

Cranberry Festival in Eagle River showed up in its usual form. We can always expect to work for our money. It is either windy, raining, snowing, freezing and if we are really lucky, sunny and warm. We can always count on weather. Any kind of weather.

Well, I know this is probably an uninteresting photo, but you see, this is what greets us when we get to a show. You always see everything already set up. I got between rain clouds and got a pic before we got things out of the trailor. However, I never got a shot after that. We got things up as fast as possible and I forgot to take the sequence pics I planned on taking.

This is the road to our friends' home. We were lucky to get to stay there for the weekend. It is mostly past peak colors, but, there was still a good show at Joan's and Nancy's.

This is their driveway. I KNOW. I thought the same thing as I was going up it. Gosh. The color, the sounds, the smells, the sights........and then.......the friends. We had such a good time and felt so lucky. More pics to post. You just bask in them. I did.

The Tree

2011-10-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

Progress on the Tree

Close up of the Tree

A Daunting Job

2011-09-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

I worked on this a lot today and I am no where near finished. I am glad to be working in such a fun atmosphere. Now I have to go and rest so maybe, I can finish it tomorrow.

Decorating Christmas Trees

2011-09-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

I work part time at a Christmas Shoppe and have been decorating trees. This one in particular is huge and daunting. I usually decorate a tree in three layers, starting from the inside and coming out. I try to put the boxes of ornaments out and look at them on the floor for balance and color. I try to place them symetrically around the tree as I am working. This particular tree, I am putting an accent ribbon on first, to guide me the rest of the way.

Here I have applied the ribbon and some of the ornaments. This took one day at work to do this far. I will post more pictures of my progress as I go.

I suppose you can see the detail a little better here. I will try to take some close ups, I just wanted you to see how big this tree really is.

Alright, now you can see what I am doing when I am not doing shows. This weekend, one more trip Up North to Eagle River Cranberry Festival. If you are up there, it is my last trip, so come and see me on Saturday or Sunday. I will be in front of the tent behind the chocolate.

Where has the Summer Gone?

2011-09-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

Jen is smiling but she is cold. She is my potter friend.

It was one of those days when you can't wait to go inside and warm up. Actually, I had dreams of a woodstove and warm soup. It is one of my last three trips Up North and it welcomed me good. I love going Up North and already am lamenting its end.

Well, we got new interfacing for our blogs and I am not quite sure how to use it yet. We will see. If this is goofy, its all their fault.....This is Robin, my good friend who does wonderful batik on shirts, sweatshirts and pictures.

You can see that people are dressed warmly. I had a very good day, anyway. Now, come and see me at Minocqua's Torpey Park for Beef-a-Rama on Saturday, Sept. 24, I will be along the parking lot by the Minocqua Brewery.

I didn't get soup and a fire place, but I made me some mean Sauerkraut and Pork when I got home. I can still cook......lol. Caramel apple time and hunting has started. It is officially fall, summer is over........

Blogging Blues

2011-08-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Show sales have picked up. I had so many shows in a row without being able to come home and make more things, and still, was able to have good shows. I worked really hard to have enough for this time. The Donna Lexa Memorial Art Show was very, very good to me. If you are looking for a Fine Art Show at that time, you should try it. (I do understand that not everyone was happy with their sales).
I also had a good St. Germain Flea Market after that. So much so, that we drove up just for the next Flea Market after the Donna Lexa Show. It paid off. I only have five more shows, not counting the two remaining Flea Markets. It's hard to believe that they are almost over.
I played the game that some of my friends do, waiting until the very limit of sending in money for shows, and because of that, I didn't get into Lake Arrowhead Show. I am very, very disappointed about that, as it was a good show for me last year.

Well, I will be in St. Germain on Monday August 29th for the Flea Market. Only two more left, so come see me if you are there. I am along the soccer field in space number 6 and 7.

How's Summer Going for Ya?

2011-08-11T03:55:00.000-07:00

I get asked this everyday. It's a subjective question for me. Some days good, some days not so good. I will admit to you that summer sales are not what they used to be, not by any stretch of the imagination. I feel for what is happening out there, that I am doing as well as the ones that are doing something. I have had to really work hard coming up with a reason for people to purchase for me when there is such an influx of goods for sale. I have never seen so many choices in all my days.
It's like taking someone out for dinner that has already eaten at home. There is almost no more appetite for things. Everyone is stuffed. Don't know if its my age, but it seems like I hear a lot of: "oh, I am trying to get rid of things, not collect them".
So, I cannot be just an artist anymore. I need to think about how they will choose my art over someone else's or the stores that are shelves and shelves of choices. (I am thinking Hobby Lobby, here, or Michaels, or Stein's.)

My dad always said, "there is nothing new under the sun", well, I have to think of something. Myself, I am always looking for something I haven't seen before. How many times people come in my booth and say, "I have never seen anything like this"---at this point, that is a high compliment.
Well, I have just two more days to make something special for the weekend show in Green Lake. This is always one show I look forward to doing because it is truly an Art Show and not a Craft Show. Certainly there are find crafts, but, I still consider them art, for instance, pottery.


St. Germain Flea Market

Of, course, although I love art shows the best, I have found a Flea Market that has been good to me. I used to be offended when people would refer to what I do as "going to flea markets" vs doing "art shows". They didn't know the difference, but, that made it even more offensive to me because it meant they didn't know how "valuable" (laughing now) my art is.......afterall, Flea Market sales are things you want to get rid of because you have no use for them, whatever would My Art have to do with that????
I will give you this: I am not mad if someone at a Flea Market asks for a "deal", I may not give it to them, but I understand their thinking. It's my fault that I am selling in that type of atmosphere. However, it is never good etiquette to ask for a "deal" at an art show, and you may get flogged if you do it......just sayin'.

Star Lake Train 1930's

I always get requests for train items. I made up a few yesterday. Today, I will have to get inspired for the next three shows, as I won't be home in between them. I am also doing the Paul Bunyan Art and Craft Show in Eagle River on Wednesday. It's always a good and big show. Plus I get to visit Soda Pops, one of my favorite stores in Eagle River.
Well, hope to see you at a show. Otherwise, visit me on Facebook at Shebrews Artistic Expressions.

Land O Lakes Wisconsin Art Show

2011-07-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

This is actually from the Artarama show a week earlier, but my booths tend to look the same. That show was disappointing for me, but I heard that some people had good sales.

It took me forever to set up the show at Land O Lakes. I felt like I barely got set up, went and washed up and did my hair and makeup, returned, had two hours of sales and the sky opened up and the rains came. Now, normally, rain does not deter this crowd, as we have it quite frequently at this show....see last year....

But this year, the threat of serious weather just had us all packing up as fast as we could. As it was, I did get some damaged pieces as the water came in so fast and wicked on the back of them. The next day, at Nancy's we just put the tents up and the curtains and got them dry for Monday's Flea Market, which was not very good, either.

It's gonna be a tough year, and I am not sure which direction to go at this point. Well, this week I will be up North all week, doing Mercer, Minocqua, Lakewood and then, St. Germain.

It goes like this:

August 3, Mercer Loon Days

August 4, Minocqua Torpey Park

August 6, Lakewood

August 8, St. Germain

St. Germain Independence Day

2011-07-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it was an absolutely beautiful weekend. The night before this show, I watched St. Germain's fireworks from my RV while lying on the bed. It was an awesome display, and I haven't seen live fireworks for 20 years.
Sales were disappointing, and I don't know what to say about that. Things seem a little depressed this year, yet. I thought this would be the weekend to kick it all off. I feel like I did get a good response on the new things I have been painting, and so, I am thinking that I am going in the right direction.
I have a new button to "Like" me on facebook, so be sure you use it, it will let me know you are keeping up with me. Thanks.

Getting Ready for July 4th weekend

2011-06-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that I have slowly been braver and adding more details. There is constant thinking about this and how I can make a story from various images combined in one piece. It reminds me of cooking sometimes. I made meatballs tonite for supper, but was perplexed about how to serve them. I didn't want the traditional "spagetti and meatballs", and finally decided on making them like appetizer meatballs. The recipe with grape jelly. Looking it up, I found that the other "secret" ingredient was chili sauce. Hmmm....I just googled substitute for chili sauce and it gave me a recipe to make my own, as I didn't have any on hand. Then, the chili sauce called for cinnamon, cloves, and one other ingredient......I didn't have any of those, but I had chinese five spice---pretty close. They turned out awesome, and I discovered that it is much like what I do in the studio. Grabbing things and putting them in the "pot" and seeing what it becomes.

This one I decided to actually do a little minnie painting, but because it was so little and detailed, I actually drew it out first in india ink and then painted the rest afterwards. I zoomed in on the painting so you could see.

I love everything about this one. I am getting more familiar with what works, and more relaxed about it. Another little drawing/painting, and I am learning to let some things just interpret themselves. I had planned on painting in the lake, but realized that it says it all without doing the. I like the layered textured background. I really enjoyed doing the little sign on the right. I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but everytime I see those signs on the roadside, I get happy. There is so little left of the days when I stayed in those little rented housekeeping cabins. They are slowly being replaced by condos. Seriously, why would you want to duplicate the big city life? If you want luxury, don't go for the Northwoods. I am against all this modernizing, it defeats the purpose to me. Keep it simple and fun. A cabin for 7 people should only have 7 plates, 7 forks and 7 spoons. A small fridge, just enough beds and a fishouse on the property. OOOOOOkay, I will stop now...don't get me going.......
These are my latest up to now. Today, I began painting on metal pieces. You shall see them next. Thanks for stopping by, and do leave a comment. Don't be afraid....there are no blogger police in the recesses of the internet waiting to grab all your information.

Working Hard for Art Shows

2011-06-25T18:54:00.000-07:00


Plum Lake Public Pier with vintage Girl Swimmer

I was really happy with the results of this picture. I have had the print of the girl swimmer for quite awhile and knew that I would know what to do with it when the time came.

You will see how my work evolves as I show you the next few paintings.

The last time I did these collages, people seemed to like this dark background the best. However, I have experimented with other colors and think people will like them also.

I like to paint the postcard into the picture if I can. It is difficult to write on paintings, so, if I can, I also add pre-lettered verses instead.

I like the use of vintage maps and I actually found one that listed the resorts and put them on the map where they were. This is helpful in my research when doing these pieces.

This is the map that listed the resorts. I tried to make it a bigger picture so you can see it. I really like working with fishing and canoeing themes, but I have plans to explore other subjects as well.

I had a lot of fun creating the background for this nice piece. I enjoy using the illustrations of women in these themes.

Well, that's about it for now, but I hope to make a lot more this week. I will post them as I do them. I will be in St. Germain on July 3 and 4. Hope to see you there!!

Fun Collaging

2011-06-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be collaging and painting again. I feel all giggly about it and at the same time nervous. I am nervous because I cannot plan my art as it takes on a life of its own. I have an idea, but it takes things out of my mind and runs with it. I don't have so much time to create, so I don't want things to not turn out. I need them to turn out everytime......silly, I know.

My computer is acting weird, but I suddenly have the ability to make my photos larger.......I have another I can try to post, but so far it isn't letting me.

2011 Art and Craft Show Schedule for Wisconsin

2011-06-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my schedule for the 2011 season. I have left a couple of shows out, and can talk about that in the future. I will be doing as many of the St. Germain Flea Markets as I can, if I am Up North at the time. I can let you know before I go, or email me for specifics of the shows.

I wanted to keep my schedule as small as possible, but I may find that I left out too much information. We will see.
Now I wanted to show you what I worked on yesterday.

This one I have to look at awhile because something isn't quite right with it yet, to me. But, for the most part I was really happy. I think I have a good momentum and plans to do about five more before the next show.

I really liked this one especially, and so did my husband, who encouraged me to paint a few more with fishing themes. He especially likes the idea of the woods and cabins. I plan to try to replicate a few vintage postcards of area resorts. We will see how that works out. That's it for now. I have a busy weekend. Please let me know what you think. You will feel like you are having to fill out too much stuff to comment, but trust me, it's safe. Thanks. Eydie

A Walk in the Woods Art Show

2011-06-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is the part of my display that I highlight my Wizard of Oz things. It is amazing how popular these things are. I noticed that in Minocqua there is a store that carries WOZ things, and Lucy, and Snoopy, John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Three Stooges, Betty Boop, and a few other classic themed things. I would have bought a Beatles thermos had they still had it, but there were none left. They also carry the Beatles things.

This show turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I am hoping it is a sign of the other art shows to come. I did better than I did last year. I felt that lots of people attended and they were buying. The weather was unbelieveably perfect. This is a fine art show, so no crafts. It is relatively small, around 50 exhibitors, I think. I wonder about doing it, as I do a lot of shows in St. Germain, but this crowd is different.

I had lots of display space as I had two and I was an island. There was an aisle in front and back, so I just left it open both sides. At this point, I really don't think there are any bad spots. Eventually, it looks like they want to run them through the woods along the trail, but I am not sure any of us want to be in there because of the mosquitos.

I am off for the next two weeks, but then I will be in St. Germain again the 3rd and 4th of July. Come and see me there!

Things One Does At the Early Art and Craft Shows

2011-06-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

If you are a seasoned art/craft show exhibitor, you know of what I speak in the next few sentences. You get to your show, check out you spaces assigned, figure out how to work around the others also figuring out how to work around you, watch the sky, or listen to the weather scanner, or ask anyone who had access to the tv weather forecast the nite before to see if there are any winds to worry about.

This particular weekend, we also were faced with the first outcroppings of giant Northern Wisconsin Mosquitoes. They were vicious. Sigh.

Well, tents are up, neighbors greeted and we are ready for customers. Where are the customers? Oh! A few stragglers, oh, they are only other exhibitors scoping out their competition, or shopping from their favorite artists. Sigh. Right about now, it would be time for that first cup of java. Hmmmm, thinking about it. But, alas, not to be. I have just been put on a restricted diet, which does not include caffeine of any kind.........Sigh.

Nothing happening yet. Hmmmmmm, I will go and see if "so and so" is here today. I'll be back to check on the sales in a little while. We have a family, you know. A "work" family. Some we see almost every show, some we see a couple of times the season. We can't wait to catch up on what has happened in the months since we last parted.

There are signs you know. Signs of a good show or a bad show. This is where we start reminiscing. (sp?) We share some funny antedotes to keep hope alive. Oh, remember when people were waiting for us to arrive and we couldn't get our tubs out fast enough, and they didn't wait for us to hang our pictures, but began going through them before we got them on the panels? Remember when there were two people wanting the same picture, and waiting for each other to make a decision? Remember when there were lines in the checkout, and some people carried two or three pictures at the same time? Sigh.

Those signs were from the good old days. The days when the art shows were not infiltrated with "buy and sell" merchandise. When the people who attended them could be sure they were purchasing from the artist who made them. It has corrupted now. Very few of us remain who truly still do our own work. It is maddening, but times they are a'changing.......soon, I fear, the art/craft roadshow will go the wayside of malls, which were once incredibly popular.....

The other signs we watch for are the food lines, the women's bathroom lines and the bags being carried around of purchases. When you don't have to stand in line for either of the two a fore-mentioned things, it is not a good show. If people are not carrying bags, you are entertainment. Sigh.

We talk about all these things, each and every time we are having a slow show. We also talk about "why". Why are there not people? If there are people, why are they not buying? It's the weather, the economy, the advertising, the promoters, of course, never, ever our product.

Well, this weekend, it was the weather (it was too nice), the economy (people just looking), the fact that there is still school in the lower states for kids--so no vacationers, yet. There were no lines for the women's bathroom. I suspect there was lots of corn on the cob left as I saw no food lines. There was parking available----this is truly a bad sign.Perhaps the worse, is when I saw exhibitors playing scrabble........oh, that's a slow show....

Well, here are my husband's wonderful bird and toadhouses he makes. He did sell some of these this weekend, I was happy about that. They certainly are pretty and different.

We enjoyed seeing our friends again after a long hiatus of winter. Some of the shows are really all about getting to be with certain people, or visiting with them for a short time. Thinking of you Nancy and Joanse, and praying that you will get some healing real soon, and we will get together again, then. Love you both.

Barb's Crazy Quilt Project

2011-06-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have made Barb wait almost a half a year for this. I sometimes have to think about it a long time before it comes together, however, I think this frame made this piece really special. The middle crazy quilt is raised from the other background about an inch or so. It gives it depth and motion. Barb gave me a box of things that she collected and said, "Here ya go, do what you think." She left little pinned on notes to some of the fabrics telling me they were from grandma's wedding dress, or her wedding dress, or her daughter's wedding. There were matchbook type things from a Fond du Lac Laundry, that contained little sticks to apply to nylon to stop it from running--I wonder, nylons?....there were the needlebooks, and she gave me three buttons, But a piece this big needs more than three, so I picked out of my vintage stash to add. The little chicken fabric was from her graduation dress. There was one photo, of which I included of her daughter's wedding party along with the lace. I hope to give it to her this weekend. See you next week!!
added this:

New Postmark Art for Spring

2011-06-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

These are the new postmark pieces I made recently. I am excited to take something different to the show this weekend. I will be in Minocqua on Saturday and Sunday, and then I will be in St. Germain on Monday.

Hopefully the weather will be much better this time, as last weekend we got rained out. Rain is never helpful for good sales.
These new pieces include hand drawn illustrations and some calligraphy. They will be about 15 dollars each. Email me if you see something you like. See you after the show.

Flavor for Mixed Media

2011-05-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

I think I found my soulmate in art.

Yesterday, I found this new publication at Michael's. I have lots of tutorials, and instruction/recipe type books for collage, but this artist, Mary Beth Shaw actually stole my heart with her musings.
"A feast of Techniques for texture, color and layers" the subtitle says.

Mary Beth talks very much about the similarities of art and food. The introduction page starts:Art and Food "Two of life's most sensory pleasures and certainly two of my favorite things."

I have told people lately, that if I hadn't discovered art, I probably would be an accomplished cook. I didn't realize the connection, until I read Mary Beth's descriptions of the similarities, ie, creating art and cooking. Collecting. Gathering. Combining. Tasting. Visual. We often refer to visual stimuli as "eye candy".

Mary Beth's book turns out to be a series of recipes, both food and mediums for art. She walks you through various projects, introducing you to various artists along the way. I loved her description of using everything in some way, and having a hard time throwing stuff away. It has been driving me crazy. Mary Beth tells of being accused of collecting trash off the street, as she saw it for her next collage.....lol.

Right now, I can barely move around in my studio, because what once went in three rooms is now in one. I have shared as much as I could, and taken some things to resale places, but I still have stacks and stacks of things to collage. My family thinks I am over the top with it, but they don't know that everything has a reason.

Let's hope this summer season warrants collecting it all. I am looking forward to sharing some of my projects and their processes with you. Hope you come back and see me.

Welcome to my New Blog

2011-05-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, its me. I have decided to try Blogger this year. I have been over at Typepad since 2007. I like what I see when I visit blogs from this provider. I don't have a lot of time to post, but I wanted to get set up as soon as I could. I will be back with some exciting adventures, soon.