The Last Week of School...

...is this week. We have 4 more days to make up from our snow days.  So this should be our first week of summer but its not.  I will be getting back to the studio full time next week.  For now, I'm currently still listing new things in my Etsy shop and finishing up the school year.  I am also working on creating a website that I hope to get up soon.  So for now...

...Have a great Memorial Day!

~Beth

'It takes a Village'...

Row Houses
On Etsy

Create a Village
with HeartHomes

Lime Green HeartHome
On Etsy

...well I can make a village! I love to create these little houses and never run out of ideas to add little details.  Shown above are a set of Row Houses that I recently added to my Etsy shop.  Also shown are several houses and other buildings that I've created. I've even created some trees to go with the houses or village, if you decide to collect some houses.  I've sold most of the trees that I made, so as soon as school is out next week, I'm going to start making some new accessories like the trees.   I have plenty of houses to list, but need more accessory pieces and other town buildings.  I've made churches, a school, and downtown buildings that I will be listing soon too.
     One more week of school and I will be finished until August.  I'm looking forward to getting into my studio and painting, drawings, and creating more village items.  Check back often to see what I'm working on!   For now, I'm looking forward to a 3 day weekend.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
~Beth

New layout and new listings...

Purple Cottage Heart Home Clay Tile
5 x 5 inches
My Etsy

Blue Cottage Heart Home Clay Tile
4 3/4" x 4 3/4"
My Etsy

 I am slowly getting back to listing my clay items in my Etsy shop. I listed these two tiles today.  They are the most recent tiles that I've created.  I love the cottage feel of these two houses. If I could build a house anywhere and anyhow I wanted, it would be a mix of these two houses.  And I would build it beside a lake, with a little workshop/studio in the backyard, right beside the pool!  Yes, I'm dreaming, but its okay to dream. 

Also, I've been playing around with different ideas for the layout of this blog.  Its difficult for me to just leave it black.  I feel like it needs 'decorating'.  So I've added this background from Shabbyblogs.com. 

I just love how rough and soft it looks at the same time.    So what do you think? Does it work? Is it easy to read and look at? 

Where would you go? What is your dream?

~Beth

What's New?

New hanging HeartHomes that I will be listing on Etsy

The Birdhouse and the Small brown Doghouse are already listed on Etsy. I hope that you will check them out.  I started making beads with clay because I wanted to make these ornament houses, but they just didn't look finished hanging by themselves.  So I added the little mini dog bones and paw prints for the dog houses.  And little birds and eggs to the bird houses.  I really like making beads. I think I will be doing more of those.

Have a great week!
~Beth

Slowing down a little...

Hanging Birdhouse Hearthome

My Etsy

After the Dunwoody Art Festival last weekend, I had hoped to get some rest this week.  But this week my 'day job'...was very busy! As always, the graduating Seniors finished up earlier than the rest of the high school students.  Graduation is next Friday, so they had to take their finals last week.  Which means the senior grades were also turned in...so between testing the seniors, turning in their grades and doing my usual lesson plans, class instructions, meetings, etc...etc...it was a busy, busy week.  I'm very ready for the last week of school to get here!  Fortunately we only have 14 more days, including finals! So it will be here soon. 

For now, I will be listing several new houses,like the one above, in my Etsy store over the next couple of weeks.  I hope to squeeze in some time to work on some new project ideas too.  I get very cranky when I'm not able to work on some art projects, whether its clay, painting, or colored pencils.   So I will definitely work it in somehow.

On a personal note...my daughter came home to visit this weekend.  She seemed upset that I was out of town last weekend, on Mother's Day, so she decided to come home this weekend!  Today we had some Mother/Daughter time that was very nice.  She took me to to get a manicure and pedicure.  She cannot believe that I have never had either before now!  I've never really cared about having one before, but I really, really, REALLY enjoyed it!  One thing that made it even more enjoyable was the massaging chair that we got to sit in during the pedicure!  The whole proces of getting my feet and hands massaged and pampered was JUST what I needed!  So this is definitely something that I will try to do again!

How do you pamper yourself? or pamper someone that you love? Hope you are having a blessed weekend!

~Beth

Whew! Now I can breath a little!

Setting up my booth at Dunwoody, Georgia

A colored pencil friend, Cathy, stopped by!

I've been preparing for the Dunwoody Art Festival for 6 months and now it has come and gone! I had a great time, sold some things, and learned alot!  This was my first art festival and I felt like a true amateur...at least in the merchandising aspect of the show!  We didn't spend tons on our display, because I really didn't know what to expect or whether we would be doing this again or not.  So I have realized that if I do want to do more shows, I need to create a much better display for my booth.  My assistant (my husband) and I really enjoyed it, even though it was a lot of work! We are exhausted this week!

There were 148 other artist booths in the show.  I believe all of them were excellent at what they do! There were a few rookies there, like me, but many of the other artists were very helpful! They gave me lots of tips and suggestions on what I can to improve my booth.  Which is definitely what I need to do.

Although we are looking for art festivals closer to home, we hope to return to Dunwoody next year.  The festival was very well organized, with a lot of people coming through!  So, thanks to Francis for inviting me to participate in the festival!  I really appreciate your interest and support!

My booth needs work, but he kids loved it because the houses were at their eye level!

Check back soon to see what I've been working on!

~Beth