monkeys and aha moments

so, the paper folk art continues. this time, monkeys! kahlin "helped" me pick out the colors for the first draft. still needs some tweaking, but thought i'd share as sometimes it's fun to see how things start.

also, the video for my aha moment i talked about in the post pa, aha moment and other updates is up on the site! click here to check it out. (and feel free to share!)


any hey! imagine gnats is now on facebook... click here to check out the page and become a fan to get updates about what's going on here in the studio and, who knows, maybe even some discounts :)

have a great weekend!

all in a weekend's work

well, i feel like lately i've had vastly more inspiration than time or energy, but i pushed through and (somewhat optimistically) cut out seven bags this past friday night. three are complete and i also took a little break for some more works in paper (whales!). i completed two new brooksher bags, one in leafy shades of blue and another in a conservative black & white with a contrasting vibrant lining. i also finished my second small craft bag (first made for mothers' day and i don't think i ever posted... hmmm). it's a variation of the dori knitting bag, but a better size for smaller projects, like needlepoint for example. i always laugh when i look at it b/c my dad refers to it as the "crap" bag, which works rather nicely, actually... in my head it's now become the "cra(p)ft" bag. not sure that would be a big seller though :) anyway, the first one i finished up this weekend is made up of some lovely riley blake prints i recently got in from cherry lane textiles (big thanks to both!). here are some pics:

pa trip, aha moment and other updates

lots of great things going on around here these days! just returned yesterday from a few days back on the east coast where we saw lots of sights and visited with friends and family. i got to be there for the lovely meg's first birthday, have dinner with my grandparents and siblings, spend a whirlwind afternoon in philadelphia, and relax poolside with some of the greatest friends a girl could ask for.

after we got home yesterday afternoon, i headed into downtown dayton to track down the aha moment's airstream trailer and share a little bit about me, my inspiration and the importance of creativity in my life. should have a video link within the next 30 days or so, and i'll be sure to share asap! until then, here's a little snippet of what an aha moment means to me:

"i'm a single mom, which has been at once the most wonderful and terrifying experience of my life. i spent the first four years doing (or trying to do) all of the things that i thought a mom was supposed to, but found that i was left with very little to really call my own. when i decided to make my daughter a doll around the time of her fifth birthday, i certainly didn't expect to get that out of it. she loved the doll (even the incredibly sad first version that she still sleeps with every night), but what i found was something even greater. i found that through acknowledging my creative spark, i get to live every day as a model for her, to show her how much one can accomplish when you harness that creativity, letting life inspire you and putting that inspiration back into your life. to me, an 'aha moment' is when something you've created becomes so much more, shows you a part of yourself you didn't know existed, when you push beyond your limits, challenge yourself and realize how much you much you really can accomplish."

coming off of yesterday's excitement, i spent a good portion of today updating and reworking the blog. we've got a new look - hope you love it! - and lots of updated photo albums. in the last week, i've gotten in a bunch of great new fabrics and they've all been added to the in-stock fabrics slideshow. frankly, they offer so much inspiration that i'm not really sure where to start. i've gotten a lot of great feedback on both the fabric and paper folk art pieces i worked on last week, so some more of those are certainly in the pipeline. also, more kids' bags coming soon and who knows what else? if there's anything you'd like to see, please let me know!

i'll leave you for tonight with a few pics to sum up the last few days... hope your summer is just as lovely as the one we're enjoying here!

vacation's back on!

so, i suppose i shouldn't complain about work and chores and life driving me crazy, considering that my last blog post was entitled "vacation's over" and now i'm embarking on another little jaunt. so i won't (but it is!).

instead, i'll post a few pics of the things i've been working on over the last week. i took a little break from the bags and dolls (though i do have some new items listed on etsy!), and created a little folk art.

first in fabric:



then in paper:




anyway, i'm supposed to be packing b/c we leave (really) early in the am to drive to pa. so have a nice weekend!