Happy 4th of July!

ICAD3 :: JULY 4, 2013
Marker, ink, gel pen on 3" x 5" index card
©2013 Victoria Porter/In My Head Studios
All Rights Reserved

My Index-Card-A-Day for today is all about celebrating our country's Independence Day! Stars, stripes, and good old red, white, and blue!

I have been diligently working away at my index cards and {be creative everyday}. They are not up here on my blog or at flickr yet because I had slightly-emergency surgery last month. I apparently rock so hard I can grow my own stones! Gallstones, that is. 

It was horribly painful. I am still recovering. My surgeon said the biggest of the stones was a whopping 1.8 cm. That's almost an inch wide! Yowza!

So today I am also celebrating independence from my gallbladder and the associated pain. Unfortunately, that means my picnicking food for the fair today won't be anything fried or fatty. Gee, what's left then? Snow cones. The beer tent. Grilled chicken. Cotton candy. Yay. 

I hope you have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July! Go enjoy your hamburgers and hot dogs, clam bakes, and gooey desserts while you still have a gallbladder (if you still happen to have one)!

- Vickie

Holiday Craft Show Schedule 2012

Time to get your handmade holiday shopping done! I'm here to help with Tiny Works of Awesome from In My Head Studios! 

Want to know where I will be vending? Here is a handy list! Or you can print the above image to keep in your calendar, pocket, purse, or file of awesome things to not miss out on. 

Since I don't have a lot of work listed in my Etsy shop, these shows are the only places to get your Tiny Works of Awesome this season! Don't miss out!

I will update these listings as Facebook event pages become active so you can invite your pals.

Next week kicks it all off! See you at St. Rita's!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

St. Rita School Craft Sale

9:00 AM – 3:15 PM

St. Rita School

1008 Maple Drive, Webster, NY 14580

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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Holidays in the Vineyard

10:00 AM – 7:00 PM

* Plenty of time to shop after work! *

Casa Larga Winery

2287 Turk Hill Road, Fairport, NY 14450

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Saturday, November 3, 2012

Mayday Underground!

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Main Street Armory

900 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14605

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Saturday, November 24, 2012

Irondequoit High School Craft Sale

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Irondequoit High School

260 Cooper Road, Irondequoit, NY 14617

- Vickie

Happy Father's Day : A Card

We are so blessed to have Mr. M's father in our lives. Father's Day has been hard these past two years since I lost my dad. But Mr. M's dad is such a wonderful guy that I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate him! 

Most of the time when I start working on something I really don't have the "Finished Piece" visualized in my head. There may be parts of it or just a color scheme to begin with. For this card I was reaching toward handsome and manly. Mr. M's dad is an outdoorsman and enjoys fishing. So I went with earthy tones and unusual textures. 

I started with a blank piece of ivory cardstock, cut it in half, and folded it to make the card part. Using a foam blending tool I inked the edges of the card with some brown inks. Using two shades adds a lot of dimension and is worth taking the little bit of extra time to do so. 

Next up was my choice of papers. Pretty much went all out brown on this one. Using that large of an area of bold vertical stripes was stepping out of my comfort zone. I like swirly backgrounds. But for a guy simple and stylish is the way to go. I distressed the edges heavily. Even tore some off to make it look really tattered. Then I inked the distressed edges to, once again, add more dimension. 

At this point a plan does need to begin forming. I pulled out a couple scraps of paper and moved them around the face of the card until it looked pleasing, and I could decide where I was going. Eventually I chose a strip of map paper, a dark brown cardstock, paper that looks like burlap, and the sentiment printed from my computer that I designed in a font that looks like tire treads meets tweed meets stenciled lettering. How manly is that?!

I wanted a layered look so I put the strip of map paper between the two mats for the sentiment. That helps tie the elements together. 

When deciding to use my sewing machine on cards I find that if I don't really have a solid plan from here I mess the stitching up. Or sew the card itself shut. (Come on. Don't act like that never happened to you.) 

First I adhered the map strip to the dark brown cardstock with the dark brown behind the map paper. Then I adhered that to the card. Time for the sewing machine! 

I stitched all the way around the card twice and then ran border stitches along the map strip edges. On cards like this where distress is good neatness doesn't count. I wobble the line a bit. It's more interesting. 

I glued the sentiment to the burlap paper and then glued that down over the map strip and stitching. See how planning ahead on the stitching prevented me from sewing through the sentiment? :) 

(Can you tell I'm not a seamstress? 99% of the material put through my sewing machine is paper. I think the only fabric I stitched was my craft show tablecloth hem.)

I love using buttons on cards, and for guys it's especially appropriate. I chose an assortment of brown buttons from my extensive stash. Whenever I use buttons I pretty much always add thread through the holes so it looks like it is stitched to the card. Buttons on my cards without thread look "unfinished" to me. Again since I was going for a distressed look neatness didn't count and I left some straggly threads hanging on. 

I adhered the buttons to the card using Glossy Accents. I did so because it is wicked strong at holding 3D embellishments, and it dries quickly. Regular white craft glue would take hours to dry in that situation. This took 15 minutes. Joy! 

I thought at this point I might be done, but there was this big blankness in the bottom right corner. It looked unbalanced. I had to come up with something to put there. Digging through the piles of paper options on my messy work table I came across a coffee shop cardboard cup sleeve that had been striped down to the corrugated inside part. Texture! And brown! Perfect!

I'm in love with bunting and banners of any sort right now. I thought this corrugate would make a cute flag. I trimmed it down to size and clipped the end to make points. The edges were inked in a dark brown and a little black. A tiny voice in my head wondered what this would do if I ran it through the sewing machine. Hmmmmm. Tiny Voice, you may have a good idea! 

I tested it on a small bit of scrap corrugate. The heavy flattening power of the sewing machine foot smushed the wavy texture down. But it was usable by bending it back into shape. Then I stitched the one for the card. 

The card still didn't seem finished at this point yet. Hmmmmm. What to do? What to do? 

DYMO! A solid go-to when stuck! I punched out the word "hero" and then used a regular 1/4" hole punch to pop out the letters so they would fit my flag. I glued them on lined up with the stitching. 

I have a thing for using odd numbers of items in my design. "Hero" is four letters. Gah! It had to be balanced out so I added the three hearts. Ahhh. My OCD is calmed.

The spot where the flag met the seintiment mats looked stark. Another solid go-to for masculine cards is raffia. It's a good, natural material to get away with making a bow not look too foofoo. And, yes, I did ink the raffia a bit to make it look old. Once again, the Glossy Accents is the glue to use for sticking raffia bows to cards.

I'm wishing ALL the daddies out there a very Happy Father's Day!! I don't care how tough and gruff you are. If a two year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it! :) xoxo

For the rest of you, have a shiny, sparkle filled Sunday!

- Vickie

It's A Craftmas December!

The Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) has a month-long party of handmade goodness planned for December! I'm at a loss for words when it comes to describing my joy about these events. This is going to be gooood!

Several months ago the RNEST team decided to rent a space for a month somewhere in Rochester to hold shows, workshops, and community building events. The Hungerford Building became available to us a few months ago, but something fell through with that. Instead that was a blessing in disguise as now we have the space for December and we can focus on holiday shows and winter fun.

The extra exciting, really cool thing is that Etsy gave our team a grant to do this. Yes! Etsy gave us money to put all of this together. How cool is that?!

We've met. We've talked. We've planned. Now it's time to reveal the crafty month-long RNEST party we have in store for you!

All events are located at The Hungerford Building, Door 8,
at 1115 East Main Street, Rochester, NY, 14609. 

Craftmas Events are on Facebook! Click the links below to RSVP, then share with your friends!



Craftmas: Etsy Style! First Friday Holiday Craft Sale
Friday, December 2nd at 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm 
Saturday, December 3rd at noon - 4:00 pm 

A Handmade Holiday hits the Hungerford Building! Come shop from a selection of quality items made by local artists. Give the gift of handmade this holiday season!


Clothing Swap 
Monday, December 5th at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm 

It’s time to clean out that closet! Bring in your unwanted clothing and take home some new-to-you pieces for your wardrobe...all for free! RNEST artists will also be available to teach demos with techniques for altering and upcycling your clothes into fun, new items! *Any clothing left over at the end of the night will be donated. Nothing will go to waste!


Creative Play Session 
Saturday, December 10th at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm 

Creativity boosting activities and exercises to spark your artistic inspiration and get out of a rut. Come with an open mind and leave with ideas for new projects! (For ages teen and up)


Open Craft Night: Etsy Style! 
Thursday, December 15th at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm 

Demos: glass pendant soldering, knitting, bead weaving and MORE! Everyone is invited for a handmade, fun-filled evening of simple planned projects and unstructured time with RNEST artists. Bring your crafty works-in-progress, share our supplies, experiment with our tools, and ask us about tips and techniques. A small sampling of our works will also be available for sale.

I am part of the planning committee for Open Craft Night. We have a lot of cool projects lined up that are easy as well as more intermediate and low cost to make. No art experience required! Just watching all the demos alone will fill up the night. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait!!

Direct questions about any of these events to me at inmyheadstudios [at] gmail.com

We hope you can make it to at least one of these events! They will be a lot of fun simply because our team is a lot of fun!

What now? Head over to RNEST on Facebook to RSVP, then share the events with your friends! 

xoxo

- Vickie

St. Rita's Craft Sale: This Saturday

What a busy week! I am gearing up for this Saturday's show - the first one of my season. I always get a little nervous about the holiday craft show season. It means I have to leave my studio and talk to people. I'm just a tiny bit socially awkward. Shhhhhh... don't tell anyone. That's between you and me. 

So if you want to find some of the best handmade around, you can find it St. Rita's Craft Sale - where you will also find me being socially awkward behind my table. :)

Saturday, October 22, 2011
27th Annual St. Rita School Craft Sale

9:00 am – 3:15 pm
St. Rita School
1008 Maple Drive, Webster, New York 14580

** Our booth is located in a classroom, Room 14, this year (not the gym) so be sure to check out the classrooms, too! **

 

Now more than ever, I believe that supporting local small businesses (that includes artists and crafters) this holiday season is that can help our community become stronger economically. 

Your dollars could be making a day job out of a part-time art gig. That, in turn, not only makes the dreams of an artist come true, it helps families in our community to pay for food, housing, or medicine. It also creates jobs for your neighbors, family, friends, and maybe even you. And right now, Rochester needs you. 

Please think about how spending your holiday shopping dollars at the big box chain stores or the big online shopping sites means those dollars won't be supporting the "little guy" in our community.

A handmade gift, even if it wasn't handmade by you, is always a classy, gracious, and generous way to go. It means so much more to the recipient when you give handmade, especially these days where gift cards and electronic gadgets rule. Yes, that new gadget may say "I love you!" to your loved one, but wouldn't a handmade gadget case be a great choice to go with it? 

Giving handmade is giving love. Love to your loved one, and love from the artist who put their hard work, time, and energy into the creation of something out of nothing. With your purchase of handmade you are also spreading joy to the artist so they may keep spreading joy and love in an immeasurable way. 

See? It's not just about money. 

See you at St. Rita's!  

- Vickie

Upcoming Shows: Get Your Tiny Works of Awesome!

While I grieve summer's warmth ending, the cool, crisp air of October heralds the art and craft show season here. This is a busy time in my studio.

The finished dominoes start stacking up. Sometimes I want to line them all up in a long, winding row like I did as a kid and then knock them all down. They are just too stinkin' cute to do that though!

So while I am crafting like crazy here, you can take a moment to pull your calendars out and schedule trips to my upcoming shows.

We (I say "we" during craft show season a lot as Mr. M helps and other family members do, too) won't be going far from Rochester, NY and the surrounding suburbs for shows this year. If you live within 50 miles of Rochester it's really worth it to come to these shows. Some fabulous artists will be there!

In My Head Studios' 

Upcoming Art + Craft Show Events

Saturday, October 22, 2011

27th Annual St. Rita School Craft Sale
9:00 am – 3:15 pm
St. Rita School
1008 Maple Drive, Webster, New York 14580
Our booth is located in a classroom this year (not the gym) so be sure to come look for us!

 
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Mayday Underground Crafts + Art
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
The Main Street Armory
900 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14605
The BEST indie craft + art show in Western NY
First 50 people to arrive gets a FREE swag bag of handmade goodies! 
Get there early if you want swag. There WILL BE a line.

Thursday, November 10, 2011
Holiday in the Vineyard Art and Craft Sale
10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Casa Larga Vineyards
2287 Turk Hill Road, Fairport, NY 14450
Open until 7:00 pm so stop by after work! Wine tastings!

Saturday, November 26, 2011 
35th Annual Irondequoit High School Art and Craft Sale
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Irondequoit High School
260 Cooper Road, Irondequoit, NY 14617

The Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) is potentially cooking up some hot, hot, heat for December events! Stay tuned for more about our plans for world domination extreme crafty fun soon!

Giveaway Alert: Click over to the RNEST blog to win one of my handmade domino pendants! The giveaway runs until Tuesday, October 11th!

Happy Friday!

xoxo

- Vickie 

It Worked!

Guess what. Nobody noticed! Or if they did then they didn’t let on and gave me gifts anyway. They love me anyway – no matter how I feel about myself. And quite possibly in spite of how I feel about myself just to prove a point because they are cool like that.

My last post was about wanting a certain thing for Christmas and how my self-esteem issues get in the way of feeling like I deserve nice things at all. So I set an intention in order to try to enjoy this holiday more and not become tangled up in my own emotional baggage. My intention is:

This year I am going to make a conscious effort to pay attention to feeling good about receiving. *

Receiving is really all about the love. Taking in the love. My family took the time to think of gifts I would like, went out and bought them with hard earned money, boxed them up, wrapped them ever so carefully (my mom even makes her own ribbon bows!), and presented them with this look of hope in their eyes that I would like them. Add up all that effort and love. That is priceless!! Then repeat for each and every gift.

Would they do that for me if they hated me as much as I hate myself? NO. They. Would. Not. So there, self-hatred! Take that!!! You got a big ol’ LOVE whooping!

It felt great! It felt really uncomfortable! I was squirmy in my seat. I had to keep reminding myself to have a good time. Oh, yeah, right, take in the love. That was the plan. I opened each gift deliberately and slowly trying to take in every electron of love I could handle.

The Result: JOY. Relaxation. Appreciation for how lucky I am. Fun. Happiness. Gratitude. My Love Tank filled up.

This little change in my thoughts about receiving made a HUGE difference in my enjoyment of the holidays this year. That’s all it was. A change in my thoughts. I changed “I am doo doo.” to “I am loved.” and it made all the difference. How simple. How completely complex.

I hope your holidays went well!

- Vickie
xoxo

*I’m including 2011 in this intention. 

In the photo above I admit I am not as happy as I look. I didn’t want to have that photo taken, but I needed an image for this follow up post. Yes, I do need a scarf at my mom's place. That's a patio door behind me and the cold blows right through it. It's about 30 degrees where I am sitting. :)

Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2008

There is still time to buy for yourself or loved ones in my Etsy shop. The Christmas shipping order deadline is 2 PM EST on Saturday, December 20th. Order by then and I will scurry to the Post Office. They tell me you will have your packages on time for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I think our plans include going to my mother’s for Christmas Eve to open gifts, then to my sister’s house for Christmas Day. My sister is making the traditional homemade pasta sauce with all the yummy meats cooked in it for a long time. So delicious! She is such a good cook because she learned from the best – my mom!

I hope your holiday plans include loved ones and friends. Have a great holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope each and every one of you has a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving!!

As for me, I will be at my mom’s place eating things with lots of butter in them.

Shuffle Off to Buffalo…

… for the Buffalo Indie Market on Sunday, December 14th from 12 pm to 5 pm!! I’ll be there at the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery with my wares!


I’ve already blogged about how great the Buffalo Indie Market is at promoting indie craftsters like me. The show has been gaining popularity in its short run as a monthly handmade arts and crafts show. The organizer, Mary Stephens McGinnis, seems to work tirelessly at promoting and offering the artists in her area a chance to advertise and be part of something big! So that’s why I’m going to drive 1.5 hours to celebrate the holidays with the Buffalo Indie Market. Won’t you join me? Included in this fun day are live music performances and artist workshops and demos!

You may not know this but here at In My Head Studios, I make much more than just collage pendants, domino ornaments, and greeting cards. At this show I will have felted bags, bowls, necklaces, bracelets, and pins, a few pieces of fine art and collage, some ACEOs, and handmade glass tile magnets. There may be few more surprises as well!



1. Heart and Family Altered Domino Christmas Tree Ornament - Live Laugh Love, 2. Dove Altered Domino Ornament, 3. Fly Away Home Pendant :: Front, 4. Queen of Hats ATC, 5. Blue Sparkly Felt Bead Necklace, 6. "Coffee Lover" Double Sided Art Collage Pendant :: Front, 7. Bird's Nest : Felted ATC, 8. Weaved Felted Bead Necklace :: Close Up, 9. Pink Sherbet & Classic Beige Felted Wristlet Bags

If you can’t make this show then I will also be at the Irondequoit High School on Saturday, November 29th from 10 am to 4 pm.

Holiday Arts & Crafts Show at Casa Larga Winery

Altered Domino Christmas Ornaments

Yoo hoo to the local peeps in Rochester, New York! I’ll be at the Holiday Arts & Crafts Show at Casa Larga Winery on Thursday, November 6th from 10 am to 7 pm.

There will be wine tastings and a local food drive for the Perinton Food Shelf, Advent House and Pittsford Women’s Club. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will also be there! That’s classy! There’s no admission fee, and there is a door prize of a $25 gas card!!

Won’t you join me? Get your holiday shopping started early!

Happy Easter!

Plans for today: eat chocolate bunnies until they are ALL gone!! Don’t forget to intermix the chocolate with jelly beans to aid in digestion.

The only funny tale of Easter hilarity in my family that I can recall in my Sunday afternoon sleep deprived state is the time my sister made us all an Easter card that said “Happy EATster!!” I think we were only in grade school at the time. My mother probably still has the card. I guess her spelling slip up hinted at her desire to eat on Easter. We tease her about it to this day. When I see her today I will say "Happy Eatster!" to her without a doubt. Then I will cluck like a chicken from that Cadbury egg commercial. Bok Bok!!

Candy, chocolate bunnies, Peeps, Cadbury eggs, malted milk ball robin eggs, and peanut butter cup eggs were always plentiful in our Easter baskets on Easter morning. My mom The Easter Bunny made sure we didn’t want for anything. It was a dentist’s nightmare. My parents would actually let us just eat candy for breakfast. The baskets had enough candy to last for weeks.

I hope you have your fill of candy, food, and family today. We’re going to my mom’s for ham and lamb, which I sincerely hope that she wrapped one around the other before she baked it. It will be the new Turducken! We'll call it Hamb.

Merry Merry

This would have been the Christmas card I sent out this year had they been finished in time. Somehow I didn't get a lot of Christmas things done in time. I really love Christmas trees, but we didn't get one decorated. In fact, no stockings are hung by my chimney with care. At least I don't feel scroogy about it. It is what it is. Too much too do and too little time.

We went to my mother's for Christmas Eve. She always puts out a fabulous spread of food. I had a few Kahluas and milk. Wheeeeeeee! My niece was jazzed up for presents and helpfully assured us all of some assistance with opening our gifts. Three and a half is a great age for Christmas spirit and she is full of it. I wonder if she fell asleep yet.

So, I wish y'all holiday cheer and time with family and friends. Be safe on the roads, hug and kiss profusely, sing, laugh, love. ♥!!

Take the Pledge

This year I took the Handmade Pledge. Have you?

Being an artist, I feel very strongly about supporting other artists. This doesn’t just mean I provide verbal or written support or encouragement. To me it also means I put my money where my mouth is. I personally (and thankfully) know the feeling of having someone enjoy my work enough to invest money in it and me. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. So why not spread the love and the wealth?

That’s why I took the pledge to buy handmade this holiday season. While I may not be able to do this for my entire gift list (because someone on my list wants a hot plate for candle making), doing some of it this way and doing it consciously makes a difference to artists out there. It makes a difference to people on my gift list, too. It makes a difference to me. Win, win, win.

When you buy and give handmade items, a little love gets passed through the object itself. It means more to the giver and receiver because it is a unique item and took time and thought to make and pick out. The person to whom you give it really sees that you “get” them and what they are into. Giving someone an iPod or a digital camera may say you “get” that person is into music or photography. If you give them a handmade iPod cozy with a rhino on it you are saying, “I know you are into rhinos and collect them. I value that in you as a person." If you give them a handmade pendant with a camera on it, you say more about the connection to the person that you share. You know them. You know what moves them. They and their uniqueness move you. And you took the time to find something that was “made for them”, not manufactured in an assembly line.

The massive consumerism that the more industrialized cultures of the world live with is causing us to lose our connections with people. We buy from faceless big-box stores and grocers. We shop like sheep for the next big thing. When was the last time you spoke with the person who made what you are buying? Personally, I really enjoy making that connection with an artist. I enjoy creating that relationship with people who invest in my work. Some love gets passed through this exchange as well.

That’s why I encourage you to take the handmade pledge, even if you cannot do it for your entire list. Some of anything makes a difference. Help me spread the love.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s a list*!

Etsy – buy and sell all things handmade
Trunkt – art and design buyers guide
i shop indie - supporting independent designers
Artisans Market - unique handcrafted art and gifts
IndiePublic: not an online shop but a great way to find independent artists to buy from

(*I am not officially endorsing any of these sites. Use at your discretion.)

First Snow of the Season

Happy Thanksgiving!

We got our first flakes of winter today. It did not affect travel too much so we made it to my mom's safely. She only lives about 20 minutes from our house.

Today was actually Second Thanksgiving for my family because we had the big Thanksgiving last Sunday so my sister and her family could be there, too. They went to her in-laws' house today.

Nobody felt like cooking again so we were treated to a free dinner at Old Country Buffet by the brother of a friend. I ate too much roast beef and then I ate too much dessert. My body has had its fill of turkey this week so I went for something different. It paid off as it was the best roast beef I've had in a while.

There are so many things to be thankful for this year, such as the healthy births of a niece and a nephew, the birth of In My Head Studios, learning more about myself as an artist, the ability to try new art techniques, finding Etsy, the continued good health of my family, the engagement of my best friend to a fantastic guy, and the continuation of my romance of a lifetime. I am so lucky to be surrounded by family and friends who love and respect me, the community of artists I have found in 3D and online, and the knowledge and experience we all have been sharing. Despite some tough times these past few months, things are on a whole looking good for me and I am VERY thankful for that.

I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!