Guest Post at Handmade Business Today!

Hey folks! I almost forgot to share but I have a guest post over at Handmade Business today! It's titled How Becoming a Mother Helped Me Make the Leap from Baby Bottles to Professional Artist. I had a lot of fun writing it and hope that it encourages all the other mothers/mompreneurs/artists/crafters out there. The post relates how I believe becoming a mom was actually responsible for me daring to reach for that art career. How the combination of roles can benefit all of us, and how if you look at something from a slightly different angle, you can really appreciate how wonderful it really is.

SO please, hop on over to Handmade Business and read the post. Thank you!!!

PS- if you'd like here are a couple of links to my past posts that are about the mama/artist connection!
My Mama is an Artist
Art Biz Mama's Interview
Interview with Shop Bug
The Creative Process- It Gets a Little Messy

"My Mama is an Artist"

Photos taken by my son- J. Swift, age 5

I wrote this post in my head last night while I was putting my son to bed. I was thinking about a moment earlier in the day when he had my camera. He was snapping pics and said in this oh so serious voice, "Now I want to take a photo of the Artist with her Art." At the time I just thought how cute his little voice was when he said it. But later, as often happens, he was going to bed and I was going over the days moments in my mind. Suddenly I began to think of that comment in a different light.

My son is 5. He has never known the mama that was too scared to call herself an artist. The mama who wanted more than ANYTHING in the world to be an artist. He never knew the frustrated me who was always out of sorts because I had a dream with no idea how to realize it. He never knew the mama who was, honestly, scared to reach for her dream because there was risk associated with it.

The mama he knows is an artist, who makes art every day, who has business cards that say "artist" under her name. The mama he knows wrote a book about her art journey. He doesn't know anything different. I think I'm very glad that the mama he knows dreams big and reaches for those dreams. He's seen my work in magazines, he's seen me excited, he's seen me selling my work and goes with me when I ship it to places like Vancouver, Singapore, and Australia.

I wonder if he'll grow up ready and expecting to reach for his own dreams someday because of this. I wonder what kind of influence this mama will have vs. the me that existed before. And I wonder if maybe the timing of it all wasn't due to the fact that this me had become a mama. There's something about becoming a mother that clarifies your view of the world. That makes you more ready to stand up for your family and your self as an extension. Truly, I wonder if I would be the artist I am today if I hadn't become a mama first.

What about you? What has changed your life and are you ready to grasp your dreams? Will you be the person you want to be or the person you don't? What kind of mama or papa will your child know? Will she be an Artist? Will he see you frustrated by life, or reaching for your dreams in spite of the daily frustrations of life?

As always I'd love to hear what you think- so please leave a comment!

Tutorial: My Catch -All

Artists' Journaling is a new publication by Stampington that has just appeared on the magazine rack at my local B&N. I was glancing through it and thinking how beautiful these journals were as works of art. But completely impractical as a working sketchbook. My sketchbook has always been utilitarian. I think of it as my catch-all because I need it as a place to store my ideas until I'm ready for them. There are times when ideas have been flitting through my head all day and if I don't collect them they are there buzzing loudly all night as well. For the last two months I have been without my sketchbook and have really found it frustrating. SO today I decided to bite the bullet and purchase one. I had ideas about a lovely hardcover bound beauty but frugality stepped in and I opted for the cheap paper covered model. Still I wanted something a little more sturdy so once home I altered it a wee bit.




First I glued a piece of fabric to the front cover. Then I tore the cover off of a musty old book and using gel medium glued that on top of the cover.




On top of that I added a couple more pieces of fabric, a ribbon, and a fabric cut out of a butterfly. I wish before I glued these down I had added some stitching- but I was in the groove and wanted to just go for it. Alas.




Then, to reinforce the cover I punched holes in all the corners of the hardcover and added grommets.




Finally, I added some details. The "My sketchbook '09" with colored pencil, some stick on gems, and a few rub-ons. I also cut scraps of fabric and tied them to the wire binding.




Voila! Completely personalized as well as a bit more durable!