Red Shoes blog

Art And Soul.....

My Kids had the day off from school yesterday (again)

...So we decided to head out and about on the town......going to different Vintage stores, Urban Outfitters, back alleys, and art supply shops.  we had a great time!

 My daughter always likes to park at the tippy top of the parking structure and look out high above our town....

my son just likes to be goofy.

  Such a great town we have...so diverse, colorful,  and fun.

we love poking around the alleys,  looking at all of the colorful graffiti....

my son loves this kind of stuff,  and so do I......such free spirited art...this place is more like an art installation,  than a mere alley with graffiti...

This wall in particular amazed me...completely covered in little pieces of chewed up gum,  each one painted.....

and applied just so.

  (i know I'm weird,  but I like these kinds of things)

This places is huge.....long alleys,  with walkways overhead..

grungy, dirty, colorful...just like I Like 'em!  ;)

 such a cool place!

  we headed on over to my favorite Vintage store on State street called "the Get UP"

i love it in there,  they have an amazing selection of vintage cowboy boots,  great shoes,  and fantastic jewelry.

  I ended up scoring a vintage brown acetate dress with tiny little rhinestone buttons.....

 

from the 1950's!  so cool...and after my next stop to the thrift shop to get more wool sweaters to felt for pillows,  I scored some brown shoes in the EXACT shade as my dress,  for $3 bucks.....ha ha!

i'm so lucky,  I didn't even go in there looking for shoes ;)

  I also nabbed a vintage camera for $15...I don't know if it works,  but it looks like it has a nice lens... I would really love to take some pictures the old fashioned way, with actual print film.  so we shall see....

I actually love taking pictures,  and photography in general,  a complete amateur that's for sure,  but I love learning new things each day.  I spent the most of last night taking digital pictures of Jewelry to load up onto my website.

 I found that natural light works best,  and LOOKS the best.

here's natural light....

and here's indoor light....with strong spotlight..

see what I mean?  out doors is best.

Also, if it's one tip I could pass along,  it would be to NEVER EVER use flash.

ever.

period.

pictures just look better without it.

 SO earlier in the day after we picked our supplies we headed home to be creative...

My son playing his new Birthday present that he got this weekend.....

 

because in our household,  you cannot create with out music,.....  really you cant do ANYTHING with out music in our opinion!

 So Fiona and I got down to creating...using our new super colorful chalk 

and making our own graffiti on the kitchen blackboard walls...

so fun!  that chalk is really amazing!

(now I think I might paint my living room wall in blackboard paint,  just so we can doodle)   :)

  Our next project was to create our own self-portraits on tiny canvasses.  It's a project I want to do as a class at my shop,  so I tried it out first with my family.

  each one of us getting our own little 4X4 square.

 Fiona made hers...

Jackson his...

and mine....(I think I'm from Avatar)

well...the kids could not WAIT until their dad got home to paint his......

as soon as he walked in the door they told him what was expected of him...now mind you,  the man does not paint,  or draw, (except for the SHOE he always doodles...Check above blackboard pic for his shoe doodle)  don't ask me why he doodles shoes, but he does....everytime.....

so the man is not really creative,  unless you consider building things like furniture,  well then,  he is amazing...but this was different.

so he sat down to do his self portrait.....and I about DIED.

first off,  he is actually REALLY good,  and second

the fact that his self portrait reminded me of this guy,

had me DYING laughing!

 do you remember the MOD Squad?

I LOVED that show as a kid!

well,  now I cannot get it out of my mind.  too funny!

So here's is Ian's finished piece,  i am still laughing......

so SUPER FLY!

 (the kids think he is DYNO-MITE!)  hee hee hee.

Isn't he great?

he might have actually found a new calling...I am thinking so!

  So on that creative note....I am off to the shop to work on more pillows...

I have been a machine lately...creating pillow after pillow...all of them sold,  but more on the way I promise.

hope all of you are having a creative and wonderful day....turn up the music,  and Have some FUN!  I know I will ;)

XOXOXOXO

My Boy Is 12 today!

   I spent the better part of today going through a giant bin full of old photographs....going back in time before the digital age, where photographs were printed the old fashioned way..some on polaroid,  the colors fading just so......my life for the past 24 years in a box in the basement.

  I was digging through there so I could pull together a little journey documenting my Son's arrival in this world. How 12 years ago today my beautiful Boy Jackson was born,  and life changed for us.

  It's hard to remember back then, even though it seems like just yesterday ...only my memory is slightly fading like those polaroids.

 Pictures of Back when Ian and I were just kids ourselves.  Meeting in Highschool,  then getting together when we were 20 years old.

how old?????   yes...shocking. when we are about to turn 45! ;)

 We never really discussed having kids,  it wasn't something I really ever thought about.  so we started with baby steps and got a dog first, right after getting married.

 We lived happily in our little apartment for 8 years...raising that little dog Ike. It was right around that time that we decided to take our first trip together out west to Arizona....seeing the desert,  the Grand canyon,  Sedona.

  It was an amazing trip in more ways than one.  

 A month later after our trip (on my birthday to be exact), we found out we were having a baby!  I will never forget the night we found out..... I burst into tears..... a million emotions running through my body...tears of Joy,  and fear,  and all of that 'holy cow,  can we really do this?' types of feelings flooding in.

  There was no turning back now. 

 We found out when the baby was due,  had ultrasounds,and tests  but I didn't want to know whether it was going to be a boy or a girl,  I wanted it to be a surprise.

 Because I knew in my heart what I was going to have,  sure as the sky is blue,  I KNEW I was going to have a boy.  so I really didn't need them to tell me anyways.

 They gave us The due date Feb. 14th....he was to be my little valentine baby.

 Well things didn't quite turn out like planned.  I ended up having to be induced because evidently this baby was quite large...so on February 10th 1998,   my 9 pound 11 ounce baby boy was born!

  He was honestly the largest baby I had ever seen,  he came out all plump and fat,  just like I like 'em!

  And my Heart has never been the same.

 Nobody ever told me how much you could love a person. (or if they did,  I just didn't get it.)

  My heart just burst every time I held him. 

 I mean,  all I was used to loving was my family, my husband and my DOG!

( I used to hand make toys for my dog,  that's how cuckoo I was about that dog)  :)

  So here comes that baby and everything changed....

.............for the better.

my little Valentine baby,  It's funny but hearts actually follow my boy wherever he goes,  seriously!

  We find heart shaped rocks everywhere,  there will be a heart shaped bubble on his shower door,  or a heart shaped potato chip on his plate.  we even had a heart shaped piece of MUD land on his car window when we were flying down the road,  seriously! 

  I always tell him, it is a sign you are truly loved.

 and he is,  that is for sure.

  so here is our little journey,  one that started 12 years ago today........

 
a plump little big baby...

and two very, very tired parents.....:)

 

 

a sweet little bright eyed boy

always curious

 

and full of adventure....

with a little wild side.....

and a thoughtful one mixed in too.

a boy full of wonder and compassion....

(photo Taken by Myraklarman.com)   

 
 

 

humor and style......

maybe even olympic bound someday.....you never know! ;)

Happy Birthday to My amazing sweet boy, you have the best taste in Music,  have your own personal style,  can operate anything technical like nothing I've ever seen, and are an amazing athlete.

  I am so proud of what you have become so far...I can only imagine what the future has in store for you!

So happy Happy 12th birthday to you,  I love you more than you know,  and with all of my HEART. that is for sure.

XOXOXOXO

digging deep..........

This time of year always has me a little low.....the lack of sun,  the cold weather, it all makes this girl move a little bit slower.

 SO I have to dig deep and find motivation!

 These past couple of weeks I have been moving my studio back up onto the first floor of the shop,  a large endeavor that's for sure,  because yes, I am a pack rat and I have tons of stuff to schlep.

But!  the move is pretty much complete, and in the process I have un-earthed some old supplies and tools I forgot I had!

   I found an old bin full of my old jewelry tools,  the heavy duty ones I used to use when I was in college for Metalsmithing.

  Old hammers and bench tools, heavy duty vises and jewelers saws...

sheets of sterling silver,  and wire....all languishing in a drawer.

  I was very inspiring to see these things and get back to them after about, oh say 18 years!

  So these past few weeks,  I have been working with metal again,  very simple stuff.....but good to be working with my hands....

I managed to turn out about 8-9 pairs of little Sterling heart shaped earrings,  3 have sold already,  but the rest are at the shop...

simple little things,  but fun for me nevertheless.

  It's been good getting back to this,  I am happy to think of what i'll create in the future...

and interesting to see what I used to make in the past....

Very organic in my roots...

how styles change.....and grow....

nice to be in my studio once again,  ABOVE GROUND...surrounded by light and color.....

 

lucky to be able to create and have my studio right downtown in the heart of the city, where you cannot help but feel the vibe and fast paced-ness of it all!

 Because in reality, my whole life is face paced!  as wonderful as it is to be able to create in my studio,  I am only able to do it for about 3-4 hours out of my day.....rushing here and there picking up kids,  and juggling the other part of my life.

 Right now my life is wrapped up in swimming with my kids...

we are moving into championship season,  my sweet boy having his personal best this weekend at a meet,  solidifying his times, and getting himself signed up in the Junior Olympics and State Championships with qualifying times!  I am SO proud of him!

 

and my Little Fiona,  teeny tiny new swimmer in the State 1 league!  SO proud of my little fishes!

 I also have been busy writing for the local Newspaper,  and recently found out that my shop will be featured in a New Magazine called Flea market Style due out at the end of this month!  I am BEYOND thrilled and excited!

 I also found out that my art work actually made the COVER of a book

that I participated in due out in May!  I am SOOO excited I still cannot believe it!  but I will let you know how you can buy this book very, very soon!

 So even though these cold winter months can be grueling to the psyche, 

the lack of sun, the absence of green things,  not being able to get out into the garden...all tough.....yes....

but good things DO happen.....

things are waking up deep inside the earth....

getting re-charged inside the mind...

all wonderful things that grow start in Dark places....

I know this!

and I'm excited to see what will bloom!

:)

XOXOXOXO