All Things Paper: A Feature (From Long Ago)

I made an oopsie. One I feel quite badly about. So let's fix it, shall we?

It's no secret that I love all things paper. And I love "All Things Paper" quite literally, too! It's the name of one of my very favorite paper artists' blogs! Ann Martin is an amazing quilling paper-whirler extraordinaire.

Quilling is the art of coiling and shaping narrow paper strips into designs. Often these designs are quite intricate and fancy. The paper strips are usually only about an eighth of an inch wide. That's not much to work with! To top that the strips are glued to the background on their side edge. Yeah, the thin edge of the paper. The one you can barely get any glue on.

Did I mention this is a very fiddly art?

Ann makes it look easy... and that's the sign of a truly skilled artisan.

I must admit that her Twitter Fail Whale is my favorite piece. I love when old school art and craft meets pop culture. When it is done with such skill as this it makes me really really happy inside.

You can imagine my astonishment when Ann emailed about wanting to feature my work on her blog!

Huh? What?! Ann Martin knows who I am?

She found me through my good friend Stefani's blog, Pine Tree Designs. This was waaaaaaay last August 2010, just after my bout with that hemiplegic migraine. I totally had a blog post drafted up about her feature about me, but it got lost in the shuffle of trying to catch up after being ill. I was doing some back end blog maintenance and came across the draft post this past weekend.

I get a fail whale of my own!

So I didn't want to be horribly remiss and not thank Ann for her generous, kind words! Better late than never, right?

Thank you so very much, Ann! Your post came at a low point for me and was a very encouraging bit of attention in a much needed place. You rock! xoxo

- Vickie

Backlink: all things paper: In My Head Studios: "You may have guessed by now that I love wearable art. It's no wonder then, that the work of today's featured artist, Vickie Porter, from Rochester..."

I'm A Winning Winner!

Each month the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) has a challenge. The theme for May was "lilacs".

Rochester, NY is famous for having the largest lilac collection in the world with over 500 varieties and over 1,200 bushes at Highland Park. We have this fabulous 10 day festival that kicks off the summer festival season in early May each year. It is filled with art, music, and oh so good food.

Guess what I made? Yup. A lilac domino pendant!

Much to my surprise, I won the voting! So I get my Etsy Mini at the head of the RNEST blog for the month of June! Yippee!!


The RNEST blog is full of giveaways, tips, and local fun. You should follow or pick it up in your RSS reader. We have a very active team!

- Vickie

Birds and Bees

I am thrilled to be in this beautiful Etsy Treasury curated by Honey From the Bee! It features members of the Etsy Twitter Team.

That's my "Home Sweet Home" Domino Pendant in the second row, second from the left. That design is made from a larger image I created specifically for my domino pendants.

The original artwork is about 6" by 3" - roughly the dimensions of a domino just bigger. I collaged the house and stitched around the edges of it with red thread. Then I adhered the bird and nest to it. I scanned this larger work into my computer and shrunk it down to domino size. I printed "home sweet home" in a really tiny letters and backed the words with red cardstock to add more dimension.

This domino pendant is one of my favorite designs! I have a thing for birds and houses lately.

- Vickie

Some Works In Progress

A sneak peek at a few domino pendant works in progress...


Isn't she the cutest little fairy?

These will be ready to go for reHATCHED: Female Artist Showcase Series this Saturday at the Tango Cafe! Hope to see you there!

- Vickie