Reed College Canyon

This is where I am going today. I loved this place two years agao when I went regularly with my son's class when he was in sixth grade. Today I am going along with his class now that he is in eighth grade. Hoping it clears my mind.

It's Studio Sunday Again

Here's what has been in my studio most recently (as in today and yesterday): 

This is the latest bedroom door sign I've gotten to do. This time for Adam. It is on it's way to California. 

I took one of the leaf photos from yesterday's blog post and played with it, adding a phrase I remember a friend of ours sending to her then boyfriend (now husband) with a note and a leaf... and added it to the shop. Planning to hang it in our golden yellow living room soon. Here's hoping both leaves and love are in the air this autumn.

Next up should be pendants. I got chains to go with them but they are 24" long and that just seems too low to wear with most outfits. Someone tell me if I'm wrong. I'm hoping to return for shorter chains but for now I may just sell the pendants, allowing folks to add to chains they already own or going out and finding ones they love to go with my pendants. 

Hopefully 3rd time is the charm. I've had two attempts so far following a tutorial. First time didn't work well at all but I figured out that I needed to work on wax paper and hadn't been told to cut the photo quite a bit larger than the glass and cut down later. 

Second time was better but I found that the way the tutorial told me to trim the photos didn't turn out as well as I liked. Luckily, I experimented and got one good pendant (Country Door) and figured out to use my matte knife rather than scissors or nail clips for my trimming. Wish me luck. If they work out, a handful of pendants just may show up in the shop this week. 

Ciao for now, 

Mama Zuzi 

Ode to Autumn

It is a gorgeous autumn day in the NW. Sunshine and 71 degrees. I am busy but still wanted to snap a couple shots that remind me of this time of year. I want to go out in search of a lot of differing colored leaves but for now I found these on our in-need-of-repair back deck:

 

And then there's Penny, our rescue dog. Something about her Golden Retriever color just always says autumn to me... but especially when she is falling asleep on the deck in the October sunshine. 

Hope you are enjoying a nice fall nap or some time in the outdoors. 

Ciao for now, 

Mama Zuzi 

Studio Sunday - It's August Edition

It is indeed Sunday and of course I have some projects I'm working on. To be honest, I have been spending more time today on my computer or at my desk than actually in my studio. 

I have been working on some cards and have listed a couple of new ones for the early birds among us... you know the ones who have all their holiday/Christmas shopping done before we are even ready for Halloween or Back to School! 

I am considering free postage for early bird shoppers who order in August or maybe even September but I haven't decided if I'll do that yet or not.

I need to make a set of signs "The Bride" and "The Groom" for a start but am holding off to see if a couple of other pending orders come in any time soon (or not). I am also working up some Halloween sign ideas and will need to get down in the shop to make those for listing sooner than later. I am already starting to see Etsy sprouting lots of holiday items.

My Halloween projects so far include: 

And while we are talking about studio work, boy howdy does mine need some... I am so jealous of artists and crafters with gorgeous studios like Kim's (on Everything Etsy): 

and this one from housetohome.co.uk:

and this one from thehouseofsmiths:

It looks as though I need to start with some white furniture! I'll see if I can't work on that. Well it is Sunday night and I need to do more laundry and clean the kitchen, so I'm checking out for now. Enjoy! Hope you'll visit again soon. 

MamaZuzi

What a Shot Wednesday is here! Feeling Orange

Today I'm feeling inclined to the color orange! A few of my own favorite shots along these lines (or color) include: 

I also like these oranges from the Colour Junkie blog! 

and this awesome retro orange phone from anthropologie -- sadly no longer available but if you go to the link you can see the glorious range of colors it used to be in! I want one dang it! 

And so this ends my first What a Shot Wednesday. I have a meeting so I've got to cut this short. I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to share your favorite orange images some time! 

Things I'm Liking Sunday - Memorial Day Weekend Edition

1:   I'm really liking organizational tools for crafting studios. Mine is a stuffy hole in the basement with a giant desk with loads of potential but in need of some serious design, planning, organization and love. 

Pinterest is bursting with ideas for organizing a crafting space. There are tons of images pinned there that I would be thrilled to emulate in my studio such as these: 


















2: I am also in love with the fact that the British TV Series "Doc Martin" is going to start running from the very beginning on my local PBS channel every Saturday Night. What a perfect excuse to get caught up before the next season airs! I just love watching this show set in Port Isaac, England (which doubles as the imaginary Port Wen)... it's gorgeous.

3:  This wedding blue color (I need to get some craft paint in this shade and ribbon too) for bridal signs. 

& 4:  I'm also pleased and liking the newest sign I'll be adding to my shop for boys' (and girls') bedroom doors: 

Available in the shop now, just click HERE!

Happy Memorial Day weekend and please remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. 

Ciao for now, 
Mama Zuzi

Perk up a room

I am certain that just the right photo can perk up a room in no time and for not a lot of cost. That is part of my thinking often times when I look at my own photos. Funny thing is that I've been so busy that I haven't really decorated any of my own walls with photos since the ones I took of my kids that are in our bathroom (and that's been awhile). 

I had a couple of my photos (from last year's Fizz show) up in our living room but honestly I need something bigger there and framed to fend off the misc. Nerf things that zoom through our air! There are certainly plenty of possibilities such as the orange tulip or even something from the ghost town pictures. 
My daughter took another smaller photo from the show and put it on her bedroom wall and it did look lovely until she had a tantrum at bedtime and all the pretty things on that wall ... well ended up not on the wall any longer. 

One of my goals for the year, along with reinvigorating both this blog and my Etsy shop, is to get more decorating done in my house and to that end, if I promise to share it here with you, then I just might actually do it this time! We have painted both kid rooms and the "family" room and our bedroom but we need to decorate more, especially the walls. 

Funny thing is that the very first image I want to frame and put on our bedroom wall is our daughter's art. The minute she drew this image, I knew it would look great against our calm green bedroom walls. 

I am committing to framing it and putting it up in our bedroom. The next question is just where it shall be placed. 

I hope to get more creative with our family photos and my own images, kid creations and other ideas so I hope you will stay tuned. 

How do you decorate your walls, if at all? 

For the 4th

Happy 4th of July to America! Happy belated Canada Day to our friends to the North... and just have a great day for every one else out there! 

Our 4th of July has been incredibly low key. We did a few fireworks at a friends last night and thus far today have cleaned house, moved a computer into our living room, washed our dogs and I did this: 

 

Thought both "Shine" and "Orange Tulip" would compliment the colors in our living room... which are currently bland, so bland. We need and want to color our walls in this room to be a golden yellow with orange undertones. Hopefully we can do that sooner than later. Other pieces from the show will start showing up in the Etsy shop soon but if you have one in mind you would like for your own, feel free to let me know at mamazuzi@hotmail.com.

But for now, the living room is bland (a wee less with these photos up) and it is the 4th of July at 5 p.m. Pacific Coast time. Soon we will heat up the BBQ, have dinner, watch some movies, eat ice cream and make some-mores! 

Every country could use a bit of improvement somewhere or somehow, and America is no exception. For today, however I celebrate our country's birth! Happy 4th of July. 

Tomorrow we'll celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. 

And so it goes... 

Mama Zuzi 

Hip to be Square

With a tween in my house, I'm certain with each passing year I become less "hip" despite no doubt having more hips. On that front (my hips), I'm adding a little Vitamin D to my diet in hopes that it just might kick start some weight loss but I am not (repeat not) holding my breath!

While I may not be as hip as I used to be (if I ever really was), I believe I am more at ease with myself and better able to fully enjoy the things I do... such as exploring my photography and ways to display it. I may no longer work and dine with the likes of INXS or Debbie Gibson or go dancing with Marc Anthony, but I'm more comfortable in my own skin.

And so I decided the other day that it was time to do some experimenting. I made a trip with my 9-year old daughter to the local craft store and the photo below shows just what made it's way home with us (other than some projects for the girl). 

Since my shot of purple flowers has been popular, I decided it might be fun to make it available on canvas. I'm going to try it on (as you can see) a 5"x5" size canvas and an 8"x8" one. 

Then the girl and I saw these adorable little cardboard frames that come ready to hang with their own twine and we just HAD to have them. Purple Blaze is a likely candidate for one of these as is Leaf Love. They might make the cutest little pics to hang in a child's room or a guest bathroom! Square artwork on wood, in frames, on canvas etc. do seem to be all the "hip" rage when I look around Etsy and the Internet..

Once I get my prints, I'll have to get a little Hodge Podge and some craft paint to round out my experiments. Soon enough we shall see if my photos can look "hip" in/on these squares! 

Now I'm going to go play a little Huey Lewis & The News. 

If you know who I am talking about, you may no longer be "hip" either! 

Back at 'cha soon.

Falling in love with pictures

I find that I fall in love with pictures. It doesn't take much and I never know just when it will be, but I do it pretty regularly.

This is the picture I am in love with today. I took it this evening. Points to Portlanders if you can tell me where I took it and just what's going on in that orb.

I am in love with the color and the shapes and the reflections.

I am in love with this photo and with taking photos. I don't love all photos, not even all my own photos. Sometimes I hate 'em.

But tonight, I am in love with this photo. So glad I thought to take it when I did.

Do you fall in love with photos?

Should this photo be more than just a blog post? When you fall in love with a photo or an image, must you have it? If you must, in what form?

Fall in love when you can... even if it is with a photo or art. Fall in love often and hard. Life is worth it and so are you!

Feeling autumnal (& a bit chilly too)

Another fall experiment

Having more fun with textured paper, printing and leaf images. I LOVE this heart shaped leaf card... so much I put it for sale as a mini-card set in the Etsy Shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/73024903/loving-the-leaves-card-mini-set-blank