The Owl Eyes Have Spotted Me!

A few days ago I was contacted by a very nice student from the University at St. Andrews in Scotland asking if they could use a photo of my "Road Trip" Domino Keychain for an article about a trip through the southwest of the United States. 

Of course, I was thrilled to be asked, especially after looking through their wonderful online magazine called Owl Eyes. The writing is excellent, and it is a fascinating look into life at "uni" in Europe. 

St Andrews is Scotland's first university and the third oldest in the English-speaking world, founded in 1413. They celebrate their 600th anniversary this year! 600?! Wow!

"Road Trip" Domino Key Chain
Mixed media and paper collage on a domino
© 2013 Victoria Porter

I highly recommend reading some of the articles to get a feel for the life there. The Big Top Ball is a good read and shows how different US and European colleges are in relation to student activities (and drinking on campus).

Reading through the article That Time I Went to A 65th Birthday Party In Spremberg had me laughing! How I would love to hitchhike in an event sponsored for charity! That doesn't happen here in the States. 

It makes me want to go to University at St. Andrews! Or at least visit Scotland - that is on my bucket list. I'll need an amphibious car to make it a road trip, though! 

- Vickie

"Put A Bird On It!" :: RNEST Challenge

It's time for another Rochester NY Etsy Street Team Monthly Challenge! November's theme is "Put A Bird On It!", which is more in reference to the delicious and varied poultry we will enjoy on Thanksgiving than the current cute trend. 

Personally though, I love putting birds on anything. I adore little birdies. If I could be any animal it would definitely be a little bird!

My "Party Bird" domino pendant was created with ridiculously tiny, hand-cut pieces of paper that I painted myself. Even the little poofy part on top of the hat is hand-cut! 

Head on over to the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team's blog to cast your vote! You have until November 14th at midnight.

You can also head on over to In My Head Studios' Etsy shop to buy this dapper little fellow for yourself! 

- 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

Double Your Fun! : A Giveaway!

I am super thrilled to announce another event I’m doing with my local Etsy Team*, the Rochester New York Etsy Street Team (RNEST)! We are a group of artisans living in or around Rochester, NY, joined in a common cause, creating handmade items that we share with the world in our Etsy shops. This is a fantastic group of folks to work with. They are fun and knowledgeable about the business of handmade. Plus they are seriously generous! There is a giveaway on our team blog every week!

Michelle from The Quilted House and I decided to double-team y’all for the holidays. We are offering a great big giveaway! A full gift ensemble… wrapping included!

I am giving away a domino pendant in one of my favorite designs – the “Home Sweet Home Nesting Bird Collage” Altered Domino Fine Art Pendant.

The collage on this domino pendant is a print of a larger work of art that I made specifically for my domino jewelry. The original is 6” x 3”, about the same proportion as a domino but bigger. I sent the edge of the house layer through my sewing machine and am delighted that the detail of the stitching came through in the tiny print on the domino. The text “home sweet home” is itty bitty text cut out, backed with red cardstock, and glued to the little print. It has quite a lot of dimension for being so small.

The winner gets their choice of black waxed cotton cord, ball chain, or ribbon for the necklace as well as their choice of length for the necklace. Keep reading for the details about how to enter the contest.

Plus, through December 31st, entering the coupon code RNESTROCKS will net you 10% off everything in my Etsy shop! [Shipping deadline for Christmas is December 20, 2010] 

Michelle, as you can maybe tell from the name of her shop, The Quilted House, loves quilting. She loves to create useful quilted items such as qPouches for your music player, gorgeous notebook and journal covers,  and awesome stockings and ornaments that are beautiful and will make you smile every time you use them. Her shop is currently chock full of fun items for the holidays and beyond!


 

She is giving away a cute little quilted mini gift tote! This little quilted gem is the perfect size to hold a few truffles and a gift card, earrings, a ring box, or the fabulous domino pendant you just won. The recipient can then reuse it the next time a gift-giving occasion arises - the gift that keeps on giving! How cool is that?!

I can personally attest to the precision with which Michelle creates her works of quilted awesomeness. I’ve never seen such neat and tidy seams and hems! Don’t get me started about her folded corners on her line of jotters! Whoa! You cannot go wrong with purchasing a bevy of gifts from her shop!

The coupon code RNESTROCKS will give you a 10% discount in The Quilted House, too!

Ok! So you are saying, “Shut it already! How do I win this pot of gold??”

Go to the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team blog and get the details, which involve the usual things like hearting my shop, following the RNEST blog, and bonus entries for tweeting and blogging the giveaway. The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, December 14th and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring on the RNEST blog on December 15th.

Good luck! I can't wait to see who wins! I get excited about giveaways! 

Happy Holidays!!

- Vickie


*What are Etsy Teams? They are an Etsy.com community feature where one can gather at the crossroads of the handmade marketplace and community, meet people with common interests, and collaborate. The Teams feature makes it easy for you to join an existing team or to create, maintain, and promote a new one. It's also a way for shoppers to browse by theme or location and find shops that might interest them.

Attention To Detail?

Attention To Detail?
Originally uploaded by In My Head Studios

Or maybe "How To Know You Are Getting A Quality Product From Me".

Also known as "How Anal Retentive Am I?"

Gimme a break! There's like 50 years of yuck all crusty in there! This is a very old domino with great relief carved out dot dimples.

The dots on the regular black wood dominoes don't need much cleaning. The plastic dominoes do need a little TLC having the dimples cleaned out.

[I posted this straight from the flickr/blog interface. Not sure I dig the layout.]

Happy Friday!

~ Vickie

I've Been Examined by The Examiner

You can’t make art in a vacuum. I firmly believe it takes community. Rochester, NY has one of the finest art communities in the nation. Having made the foray into doing local art and craft shows, I have had the opportunity to meet many fellow local artists. I find this group of people to be excellent networkers, sharers, and cheerleaders. I can’t believe some of the opportunities that have come up for me as a result of all this art love here.

Today I am especially grateful for a local connection I made with a reporter named Kathleen Landers from The Examiner at the MayDay Underground Arts + Crafts show in May. Kathleen has written a deeply humbling story about my artwork and me. She really took the time through phone calls and many emails to get to know me and what fuels my artistic passions. I could not be happier with how her article turned out. Click the screenshot of the article above to go read it.

“Kathleen is a Rochester native who owns her own decorative painting business and displays her work in local shops and art shows. Inspiration is fostered when seeking out area talent and she loves sharing concepts she's learned.” - Kathleen’s Bio on The Examiner

The Examiner consists of local news, events and attractions, real estate, shopping, and more where you can find local top breaking news and perspectives by trusted local experts. The Examiner serves 240 markets in the United States and Canada. The site is broken down into local pages, such as the Rochester, NY Examiner. There is probably a local Examiner for your area.

To keep the celebration going the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) is holding a giveaway on their blog for one of my new domino pendants (pictured below). Check out the post on Wednesday, June 16th for details and a chance to win! Many thanks go out to Michelle of The Quilted House for organizing the RNEST giveaway and blog post!

"Sophisticated Squares" Altered Domino Pendant you could win. The contest starts on Wednesday, June 16th on the RNEST blog.

This domino pendant was created from a larger original work of art I made especially for my line of domino pendants. It is printed on high quality photo paper and ink. This process allows me to create stunning detail on a small scale.

So hop on over to The Examiner post and get to know me better! And don't forget to enter the RNEST giveaway on Wednesday! I'll post about that again so you don't miss it!

Have a happy day!

Textured Dominos – New Work

Much of my day is spent staring down a pile of dominos trying to figure out what to make them into. About a week ago I came up with one of my best ideas ever. Yes. Ever. And I would love to share the details of what I came up with, but I don’t want anyone to copy my idea. So I’ll share the pictures of my new work instead, and you can try to guess at how I did it. :)

These domino pendants still need the final glossy coat, a bail, and to be strung on a cord and beaded. I’d love to know what you think about them.

New Dominos

I’ve been really busy in the studio this week cranking out work for consignments and an upcoming show. Here are some sneak peeks to what I’ll be posting in my Etsy shop soon!

This one was made with a lot of little paper scraps I save from making other things. I hate throwing out good paper. There are quite a few containers of little paper scraps in my studio. I think this one is my favorite out of these five.

The one was created with a vintage air mail stamp and some collaged paper. The postal cancellation is a rubber stamped image.

Hopefully I'll get these posted to my Etsy shop soon! Call dibs now if you want something you see here!

Shameless Plug:

I will be at the
First & Last Arts & Crafts Show
May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
5 – 10 PM
Spot Coffee
200 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14604

Home Show Success

Altered Vintage Domino Pendants

Altered Vintage Checker Pendants

My twin sister, Valerie, had a home show party last night at her house. She invited me to bring my jewelry to sell. So I have been working my butt off getting more domino pendants ready for the show. And it was a good thing too because we did really well. Might have been our second best show total ever, mind you we’ve only done a handful of shows. The domino pendants and Scrabble tile pendants were big hits. I also sold three microscope slide glass collage pendants, which surprised me. Almost everyone who came bought something from me. Two people came back for more! A custom order might come from this as well.

The girl who was selling purses bought two domino pendants. She showed them to the shop owner she works for. The owner loved them and called me this morning to ask if I would like to sell in her shop! I meet with her tomorrow! Now I have to figure out how to transport these things without getting all the necklaces tangled up.

I sold so much that my Etsy shop looks empty. My mission is to get photographs taken so I can restock my shop. I have to make more domino pendants to do that because I’ll be dropping off about 10 to the shop. So keep your eyes open for new additions to inmyheadstudios.etsy.com.

You should check out what my sister is selling and give her some love!!

Domino Charm Swap

For the December swap in the flickr group Altered Dominos & Other Altered Game Pieces.

This is a vintage wood domino altered with paint, paper, pen, vintage text pieces, beads, and wire. It’s sealed with Mod Podge and spray acrylic gloss sealer. So now it is off to the Post Office to ship to prpldy15. I’m a bit late for this swap due to my wrist injury.

I know I have been a bit lax on the blogging. Not much has been going on so you have not missed anything. My wrist is slowly healing and is almost pain free. I feel like an athlete on the bench with an injury… cannot work the way I want to and for as long.

My holidays proceeded with much fun and joy. Our New Year’s was a bit low-key and made me feel, well, old. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was filled with rock bands I have not heard of before. Is that how you know you are out of the pop culture loop? Is this how my parents used to feel when I was a teenager? I mostly listen to my CD collection of mostly independent musicians. I rarely hear pop radio because I cannot stand listening to ten minutes of commercials between songs. Maybe I’m just too cool to listen to pop radio. Yeah, that’s it. If you need me I’ll be rockin’ out in the studio to something obscure.

Featured at Bloomacious!

My altered domino ornaments are featured on bloomacious.com today!

Carrie Leber, Editorial Director of bloomacious, contacted me last week after seeing my dominos on flickr. She wanted to know what my inspiration was! Go check out the post to read more about it!

I’m so excited! Can you tell? So many wonderful things and connections with my online community have been happening this week. I feel so blessed to have my work validated in this way. After a couple lousy craft shows this year I have been asking myself “what am I doing wrong?” That’s when I decided to let go of my expectations for this business and just do what I love doing. What happened? Sales online increased, several great opportunities have come my way, and I’ve made many new friends online. Who knows what will happen next?

New Custom Domino Ornaments: Moose & Puppy

BellaTuJewelry from Etsy asked me to create two custom domino ornaments for her. She requested a moose and a black lab puppy. I love doing custom orders!

The moose was a bit tricky. Lots of antlers and little space to show them.

So you know… the deadline for all Christmas custom orders is December 10th. It’s approaching fast! Get your orders in now. The sooner the better!

New Product Launch – Altered Domino Christmas Ornaments

I’m so excited to be rolling out a new product line today! Aren’t you excited, too?! I can feel that you are!





Ta Da! Altered domino Christmas tree ornaments!

Several years ago I mentioned to my eternally-garage-sale-going grandmother that I needed some dominos to make art with. She promptly found about 700. What to do? Make lots of things with dominos.

Some of them are very very old. The wood ones are all vintage antiques. The bigger dominos are the plastic kind.

I’ve really enjoyed making these. I was hoping my canvas would be expanding from 1” x 1” to something bigger. But these are still about the same size only a slightly different orientation. For some reason I gravitate towards making things that are really small with tiny bits of paper. My eyesight isn’t going to tolerate this much longer!

I have about 20 of these made so keep watching my shop for new additions!

Road Trip, Anyone?

I was invited to join a group on flickr called Altered Dominos & Other Altered Game Pieces. This group has some very talented people involved, and group forum discussions are lively and helpful. To be totally honest I had not altered a domino yet when I joined. The invitation to join was based on my bingo collage pendant, as it is an altered bingo card.

One of the group discussions was that of a swap for an altered domino keychain. The theme for the swap was “travel”. I signed up because I had yet to participate in a swap of any kind and have really wanted to connect with other artists like this for a while. I guess I jumped into this group with both feet being new to both domino altering and swaps. But I needed a challenge so I went for it.

My grandmother gave me about 700 very old black wood dominos to work with as well as some plastic white dominos. But they have collected dust in my studio for years. Now I had a reason to bust them out and get to work!

When I think of travel I think “road trip”. My parents had this huge old station wagon when I was growing up and we would take road trips all over the place in it. I practically grew up in the back of “Old Blue”. So my travel domino needed a car image.



I found a clip art piece I really liked and colored it in using Photoshop. The words came from an old book. The back of the domino has a map collage. The Route 66 charm is actually a button I’ve been hoping to use in my art for some time. It was just waiting for this project! I ordered the little license plate charm from theginghamgirl on Etsy as well as the keychain part from SimplyCrafting, whose shop has since closed. The domino is sealed with Mod Podge first then a generous coating of clear acrylic spray sealer. The blue on the domino is made with alcohol inks.

Off into the mail it went yesterday to takeabreak, the organizer of the group on flickr. I hope she likes it as much as I had fun creating it! I have signed up for more swaps in the future so I’ll have more dominos to share!