me likey

i wouldnt dare cut this one up to make a skirt from it but it's fueling an idea for a really bitchen panel skirt. me keepie. its hanging next to the last few.

it has a matching crepe de chine scarf (that i'm keeping)

these will come in small doses

did some pics of a few different ruanas, as you might expect there's one i'm holding back and i'll show it off later..

this one started as a complete muddy flub but magically i was able to dye over it again and paint some bitchen gold streaks in it. i'm obviously very drawn to the desert and all its magical copper and earthy colors.

the universe works in peculiar ways

I'm within weeks of holding a nurse license again yet as I step closer to that 'back up' plan , akai pulls me back in. I did not decide to go back to nursing because sales are suffering. They are down from last year but not enough to affect us financially..and last years I was still actively running auctions on ebay so even though I'm only mostly on etsy now, the drop in sales has been minimal. I think partly due to the growing demand for the clothing pieces.

Just had two inquiries this past week that should make life very interesting. One order is enough to provide residual income for the entire summer. It's a store in Italy. They like the uniqueness of the items. I suppose that is why I am such a bitch about maintaining originality and politely knocking someone in the head if they are making items that closely resemble my own. Go find your own coconut tree.

Nah the interest in returning to nursing has been purely challenge based. I love managing a company and really love that I know enough about dance to have intelligent helpful conversations with full time dancers about it. But there is an academic challenge to nursing that I crave. And of course the pay is excellent.

We'll be analyzing if it's more cost effective for me to stay home with JR and save the cost of daycare, gas, car expense and wardrobe or work pt as a nurse which is pretty consistent pay but will require daycare a couple days a week. Preschool is coming soon, I want to enjoy what time is left.

The summer appears to be a choice between beachgoing with Zachary and dabbling away at dyeing or putting in some time at the agency. I do think the first one sounds more appealing but we'll see. Maybe i can do both.

Macabre is staying with me

just a looksie blog post to show the one i'm keeping at least until i make something else that will take her place

shades of fire in all it's burning stages ..very characteristic images of the Vorpal bunny on each 'sleeve' area. only students from my tenth grade computer class would know what a vorpal bunny is .

rocksalt silk ruana

am undecided whether or not this one will be for sale..love how this one turned out

Shades of Green

photos of silk crepe de chine wrap in shades of green

fresh produce!!

I have new art supplies arriving shortly. Both soap and veil stuff. Yesterday after spending most of the day packaging sales from the Obama sale, the baby played on the floor while i whipped up a batch of the most gloriously beautiful mahogany colored soap. It's swirled with brick red and burgundy, has a thick layer of black gold, then topped with a thick layer of gold dust. God i love micas. Mixing soaps brings me back to the primitive joy when I first discovered mixing dyes for veils and the colors that would come about with experimentation. The past few years I've missed that aspect of it because if you have a best seller, you make the best seller. People want the best seller. Of course the artist wanted to make what the artist wanted to make but best sellers have their purpose huh. I had to mix in what I wanted to do with what I should do. With what made sense to grow this into a business that helps feed those growing boys.


So anyways working with the micas make my eyes round out and mirror with glee. I mixed a METALLIC cappucino color and showed it to Zack like..WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT. i immediately thought of my dye artist friends and wished they were here with me in my kitchen looking at that color.

Unfortunately i didnt have enough to make full bars so i made a thin layer of guest tray soaps. Later I may cut them and stack them and glue them together with a thick layer of another color but I'm afraid to touch them . I've been thinking lately about making rock soap, soaps that resembled different types of crystals and rocks. Of course everyone wants more merkaba soap cuz it sure is cute with a merkaba scarf and rub and dub dub but come on i have new shit to play with!! wheeee!!!!

I also pulled out some of the marbling tools I bought in a flurry many months ago and then never got around to. It's important to change your medium. Dyeing a rectangle piece of silk doesnt have to be the same all the time. Just one new type of dye can change the world. (put that on a coin). I'm still hesitant to indulge more into bellydance veils, any new things for bellydance veils will likely be a leftover recipe from dyeing what i want to dye..mostly more of those ruanas and a sleeveless one I'm working on and more dresses and god knows what since if we move to the desert again then 'm likely to be saturated with golden sandstone colors and bright wildflowers, sunsets, hey even smog is pretty with the right lighting.

so hey the etsy store is pretty bare right now. i still sell more scarves to stores and thru craft fair than thru the store but i dont think the phenom has caught on yet. maybe i'll have to lower the price to get people hooked on them. you wear one you get compliments. all women love compliments. there's so much to do .

whether or not i pack the etsy store again when we get back from az will depend on our moving date if and when we go. i HATE stock just sitting in a store. its like going in a physical store and seeing the same exact item on display and you wonder why it hasnt sold yet. i hate that i have some items in the etsy store like that. items should have a shelf life of a few weeks. no one wants stale merchandise. time to revise!!! that hot pink dress in there ..well she just needs a smoky black and pink cape to go with. (that cape sold). i have a rust colored dress not listed but it would go lovely with one of the ruanas not listed yet. so much to do .

if you are not excited about your art you need to get another job :)

ps this one sold

the art of wrapping layers

i wore a merkaba silk divinity dress out this morning..over a pair of jeans..it's all about the layers. these dresses will ride dangerously high for most tall women and even the petite women, a good hawaiian breeze will have the panty police talking. it's all about layers. it's NOT too long to wear over jeans, i just did it. or think slim yoga pants. if you want to shorten the top just tie the sides up then it becomes a camisole

i hope to explore this tomorrow as we are heading out to get photos of the dresses layered over the layered skirt. hey is that a double positive?

the local bleat

Sometimes i forget that there is a world out there..today i had to drop off some new silk items to the gal who sells for me at the local farmers market. items do suprisingly well. next week she is doing an arts and crafts festival in waikaloa, then going to waimea, so i had to bring her some goodies. this is a beautiful arrangement. she has fresh stock on consignment and i get paid. i love you Lynda!

today i was chatting with her about the contents of the box, i've discovered if you have items in a box when customers are shopping, they want to see what's in it. even more so if you say it is stock that is supposed to go to an art fair the following week. that hard to get element REALLY interests them. so we smile and say ok go ahead and look but really these items are supposed to go to the fair next week so they haven't been ironed and priced yet.

it creates a mini frenzy. they want what they can't have. they grab on to items and won't let go. the pile grows. you ask them cash or credit. you joke about how you'll have to go home and bust a nut to make more for the fair now, but here's my card and if you want any extras for gift items, feel free to email me. oh gift items? you mean you can make an extra custom one for me this week? i now have a two page list of custom orders.

this is from being there, in that booth space, for 20 minutes. i don't make many appearances simply because i'm usually too busy dyeing things. but i haven't been there in a few weeks and was on a mission to pick up sweet potato bread and chinese pretzels from some of the local farmers/bakers.

making an appearance is also an excellent way to get customer feedback, in a way that is different than etsy or email feedback. i see their eyes light up. i watch them walk to the booth and immediately start touching the silks. i hear a pretty blonde announce to her husband, "I WILL buy this" and he hands her his wallet.

a beautiful brunette was telling me about her recent trip to Vegas..she asked her husband to wait outside while she put on the new silks she had bought from Lynda a few weeks ago. she had the silk crepe de ruana wrap, with sarong, and scarf..oh and matching purse (she said that clenches it..i know NO one in that room would be wearing anything as cool as i would) she dreamily told me about the feel of silk, how it draped, how her husband insisted on taking pictures of her wearing the blues. it was their anniversary. she said she was radiant. i listened to her story and didn't let on that i was the artist until she was finished. again the light in her eyes sparked when i told her i am the artist. within minutes she was bringing her sister and daughter to the booth to meet me. what a way to make someone feel special.

whenever i think my items are not mainstream enough to appeal to a large audience i am reminded that their uniqueness is what gets them touched and sold. all ages of girls and women are drawn to the flutter of colorful silk. all ages and colors, shapes and intentions.

i'm filled with a very happy, light energy. i know my artistic path and enjoy it completely. i thank the many beautiful women who inspire me to keep going.