Is anybody out there besides me addicted to podcasts?  Admittedly, this is a new addiction and one I find more productive and stimulating than Twittering…(no offense Twitterers, call me old and out of touch, but I just still don’t get it).  I say more productive and stimulating, because I can listen while I design, paint or sew and be inspired as well as learn something more than what somebody had for breakfast that day.

The great thing is you can choose from a large library of pre-recorded podcasts and listen at your convenience. Here are just a couple sources I’ve been tuning into lately:

Craft Sanity which currently has an archive of 97 podcasts from which to choose.

Craftcast which current offers 108 podcasts in its archives.

These podcasts are mostly interviews with artists, crafters, jewelry makers & designers and offer a glimpse into their professional journeys (which are usually just as fascinating as a glimpse into a studio).  What is intriguing to me is that I’ve listened to podcasts on subjects in which I never thought I be interested.  I reasoned, as I clicked “play”, that I can always click “stop” and move on to another if I were bored.  That has not yet once happened.  I find that I can learn something from each and every one, even if it is just a little snippet of a thought that stays with me.

Like when Meg Mateo Ilasco, author of Craft Inc. said, “Just because you head down one creative path, it doesn’t mean this is what you’ll do for the next 30 years, so give yourself some freedom to explore.”  (I am paraphrasing since I can’t recall the exact wording, but that’s the gist.)

I’ve listened to interviews with Jennifer Pagannelli, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Betz White, just to name a few, and one thing that strikes me with all of them is that no one has a magic binder filled with plans that say “Do step 1, then step 2, step 3, etc. to ensure success.”  They winged it just like we are.

Happy listening!

Just a quick post today to say WHEW!  The water came very, very close.  I was nauseous I was so scared. But luckily, the rain let up just enough that it stopped advancing.  Yesterday it had receded some what, although still raining off and on, and this morning we can actually see the street!  Happy Days!  Still some rain in the forecast, but less of a worry now.  Now to get my computer studio back in order.  I’ve never seen so many wires & cables….

It has been raining steadily since Monday morning.   And I don’t mean just a little light rain.  I mean constant, torrential rain for the most part.  Subsequently, widespread flooding - epic widespread flooding is occurring throughout the area.We’re watching the water rise in our yard, getting closer to the house than I’ve ever seen it in the 11 years I’ve been in this house - and that’s through several rain-making hurricanes and countless tropical storms. Getting nervous now that it is getting dark and it is raining hard again.  And tomorrow has a 70% chance of rain as well.  ::SIGH::

Ok, no fancy photo borders or anything here.  I am working on my laptop having unplugged and picked everything up off the floor in the computer room (and every other room in the house) in anticipation of the unthinkable.  I am really hoping my next post is not my flooded house…  

Wednesday 7:15 am 

11:00 am

11:40 am

noon-ish (the house with the trucks outside has water inside already)

1:00 pm-ish

Backyard…

We had a short lull in the rain and Captain Hubby waded out in the neighborhood…

Looking in the other direction…

Looking back down the street from the stop sign…our house is the last white garage you can see on the left.

Looking left from the last pic.  

And these are the streets outside my neighborhood… (and according to pics they’re showing on TV, other nearby streets are just as bad.  This is bad news since the water just has no where to go…)  

The lake in the park across the street from my neighborhood has no banks now..      

You would think, since I am just just learning to sew, that I would choose to make a simple pillow or perhaps napkins.  But no, I jumped right in with a challenge!

Even though our sailboat (Adios) has refrigeration in the galley we often take a cooler along for keeping the drinks on ice and handy.  The cooler is also very useful as a captain’s seat while on longer journeys.  However, its hard plastic top is less than comfortable for any length of time.  So I decided to make a cushion.

Of course, no pattern existed, so after many measurements and sketches, I made my own…

…and jumped right in!

We had a bunch of spare canvas that matched the rest of the canvas on our boat and I was able to cut all I needed from it - including making my own piping!  I was originally going to use Velcro to close the back, but in the end decided on the snaps.

It’s not perfect by any means, but I think it came out pretty good if I do say so!  I certainly learned a lot from this project and can’t wait to figure out what I am going to tackle next!

My current art spaces have undergone a few remodels and I am so incredibly tickled with the most recent, I thought I’d share all the previous versions…click on any of them for a closer look.

BEFORE BEFORE

These shots were taken in the summer of 2005 right before the first remodel.  When I moved into this house in 1998, I had a “real” job and was just freelancing some graphic design from my little home office.  As I returned to full-time freelancing and transitioning into art licensing in 2001, the office turned into a studio and became rather crowded.

Remodel #1 - The art room

I had reached the point where I needed an upgraded computer, but still wished to keep the old one to use for scanning, bookkeeping & a few other administrative tasks.  But where on earth was I going to put it???

After some discussion Captain Hubby and I agreed that it made sense for me to take over our third bedroom right across the hall from the office for my art space and convert the current office space into the computer room.

Here’s what the newly-remodeled and cleaned up art room looked like in 2005 (that’s Gracie sitting on the desk):

Remodel #1 - The computer room

And here is what the freshly remodeled computer room looked like in 2005 (and still does for the most part).  Captain Hubby (who is also Captain Handy), built the great counter desk that wraps around the room in a U-shape. We added the little desk return later.

The art room photos above do not show how much more cluttered the art room eventually became with samples, art supplies, art work, projects, etc.  I started thinking, “I am sure this room could be more functional…”

When I got my sewing machine for Christmas in 2008, I really wanted to use it, but had nowhere to comfortably leave it out while a project was in progress.  So I really started considering how to make that art room more functional.  After pouring over Studios Magazine and Where Women Create, I sketches out a few ideas, discussed them with my contractor (Captain Hubby) and off to Lowe’s we went!

Here’s what happened…

Remodel #2 - The art room truly becomes a studio space

I can’t even tell you how much I love, love, LOVE this room!  (Did I mention I love it?)  It is already much more a mess than these pictures, ha ha.  The peg board is almost full and the shelf above the counter is full, there’s thread all over the floor, etc.  I adore it all!

Since the pics were taken we added another long light (like over the drawing table) above the counter area.  And that dark brown cabinet on the left?  A fold-down ironing board that swivels recessed in the wall - how cool is that?? I was thinking of putting a little curtain over the shelves under the counter, but know that it would drive me nuts to keep moving them to get to my stuff, so for now that idea is on ice.

A big, no, HUGE thanks go to Captain Hubby for all his hard work & expertise bringing my vision (once again) to life. I think this room will serve me well for many years to come.

Here’s a sneak peek at my new fabric collections debuting with Studio E Fabrics at Quilt Market in Pittsburg next week (May 15-17).  I wish I could be there, but not this time…so stop by the Studio E booth (2620, 22, 24) and check it out for me and let me know what you think!

I bought a pair of these fun ice cream chairs at the Mt. Dora flea market several years ago.  I had good intentions of recovering the seats, sanding the rust and painting them, but something else always seemed to come first.  Other than stapling a quick piece of fabric over the original dirty, scarred white vinyl seats, they’ve been sadly neglected ~ until now.

Here’s a closeup of the metal before…

And after using my new sewing machine to create these seat cushion covers (my first sewing project!) and a few coats of hammered finish Rustoleum, this is how they look now.  Pretty cool, eh?

And this is where they now reside on our back porch, where we live most of the summer when we’re not on the boat.  I also painted the table to match the chairs!