Open Your Own Artfire Studio

I’m excited to share that I have opened my own Artfire.com Studio. What is Artfire? Here is how the company describes itself on the site: “The premier online marketplace for handmade products designed by artisans around the globe. Our free community is designed for artisans to buy and sell their works, while celebrating unique handmade items and designs.”

Similar to Etsy, in that individual artisans have their own shops, the beauty of Artfire is that it is searchable through Google and there are no listing fees. It also links easily with other social media, like Facebook, Etsy, IndiePublic, and my blog, making marketing much easier. In addtion, there are also no expiration dates on the merchandise listings, which makes it much easier to manage than the 3-month Etsy limit.

Light blue and turquoise MP3/Cell Phone Case

I found the product uploads much faster and easier with Artfire.com than with Etsy. If you’re a crafter or artisan, I invite you to try ArtFire, as they’re running a special for $7/month for life, and that’s the only fee you will ever have!

In the shop are 14 products that have never been listed before, including arty business card holders, cell phone/MP3 players, ablums, and a painting.

This week, I hope to get additional pieces up in the studio. Today is my IV treatment, so I’m sitting here with the IV while I type this!

Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France

No, not me. And not the Musee d’Orsay (pictured to the left as some eye candy!) My blog! A big thanks to Tracey, owner of eeep! productions, my web designer. Tracey and I realized that it had been two years since I changed my blog up. TWO YEARS! That’s far too long for a site to go without a bit of a touch-up. And besides, my art has changed so much in the past two years. So, we decided it was time for a change. So, here we are. New banner, new format, but the same art and purpose. I hope you’ll continue to visit and see what I have been up to!

I did start to put together a tote for a friend. I cut the fabric, fused the fusible fleece, and pinned the fabric to prepare for free motion quilting. I hope to do that tomorrow so I can start to pull together the bag. I’m planning to put one of the portraits I painted on the bag, but a print of it. I placed an order with Staples to be delivered tomorrow, since I usually don’t drive for at least 5 days after my treatment. I hope to finish up additional journals and the tote tomorrow. If I don’t, that’s fine. I can go slowly. If I only complete one or two more of the journals, that’s fine, too.

I don’t think I mentioned that I have put some cabinet cards up for sale on this site. I love to shop for things like good photos of cabinet cards, but I have not used them. My new rule is that if it’s not being used, it’s time to pass it on. Take a look at what I have to offer. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, let me know. I do have quite a few others that just haven’t made it to the page. It’s a long process, and since they’re all one-of-a-kind, it’s a lot of work. Note, please, that you are receiving the original cabinet card!

I’ll let you know when I update with more. I hope to do some of that tomorrow. I have over 100 cabinet cards. And that’s not even looking at any of the vintage postcards I have! Fran’s cleaning out the studio, so keep watching!

Andrea had music, art, wine, massage and food in the store for the opening. She and I both took photos. She was kind enough to shoot one photo of me with my art. It’s to the right. The art was well-received. We didn’t expect (but had hoped) for sales. We had some good traffic and a great turnout. None of the art sold, but it was admired, and that was fun. I got to talk with a lot of people who don’t know me, don’t read my blog, etc., but liked my art. That was new for me! For close-ups of the shop, you can view my Bisbee Flickr Album.Andrea had several of us come down from Phoenix. We all went out to dinner at Cafe Roka, a very nice restaurant with a casual atmosphere – just like the rest of Bisbee! We had 8 pm reservations for 12, but the party who had our table before us took an hour longer than the restaurant anticipated and we sat in the wait area for an hour. The hostess was so upset! The restaurant apologized by giving us some wine and appetizers to keep us going and covering our table with more appetizers upon our seating. The food was lovely, but quite heavy for a 10 pm meal. We were all exhausted from the events of the day, but we talked and laughed and finally left the restaurant with the staff trailing behind us!

The opening was great fun; however, it took a lot out of me. I think I need to spend some time at home for a while. Today, however, I have a bookbinding class at The Creative Quest. We’re learning a technique that allows you to bind each page individually. This would be great for journaling, since I prefer to work on individual pages and then put them together. It also allows me to bind together some collages that I did when I started back to art full-time. I’m looking forward to this low-stress class and the time with friends.

And today, Angie came over, which always cheers me up! We both needed a connecting day, since I’m headed to Bisbee on Friday through Monday and she has a friend coming into town *and* her son’s birthday. It’s a lot coming up for both of us, and we’ve learned that we both lose it if we don’t see each other regularly!

I spent this afternoon packaging the journals I made and pricing them for SunSpirit Studios. They’re to the left. All are wrapped so they make it to Bisbee dust-free! Tomorrow I do laundry and shop for some snacks for the car, since it’s a 4.5 hour drive! We plan to stop in Tucson for lunch, about 90 minutes from here when the I-10 is open. Unfortunately, the I-10 is under construction until the end of 2008, so we’re probably going to have to leave earlier than planned. We’ll be armed with lots of coffee and ice cold water to get through our desert drive!

More when I return. Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

In other news, I think I mentioned that I’m going to be putting some of my art in a friend’s new store/gallery. I’m pleased to announce that I will be the Featured Artist at the Grand Opening of Sun Spirit Studio in Bisbee, AZ! Andrea’s store is going to have her usual stock, but in addition, she is adding artists’ work. She asked me to provide her with some of my different mixed media work. The first group of cell phone/iPod pouches you saw were for her gallery. I’ve been busy working on other things, too.

I spent some time in the studio and I made some fabric collages and sewed them to cards and portfolio covers. Here is one example of what is going on.

		Each of these packets contains four cards. All the cards have different original collages on them. The portfolio cover also has a collage on it. All the collages in each stationery pack use the same fibers and fabrics to keep them a cohesive set.

I also had some gift albums from the days when I used to do scrapbooking. I took those albums and made small fabric collages on those, too. They’ll make great arty gift albums. To the right is an example of that. The one to the right is an 8×8 album, but I also have done some that are 6×6. Each features an original signed fabric collage in the front. I think they will make great vacation albums for the people who visit Bisbee.
So, I haven’t mentioned the CJ round robin I’m in in a while. I thought it was high time I share with you some photos of what I did in July’s claendar. Here you go!

	This journal was just a date book that had blank pabes and pages with images of Tuscany. It was a long month for me, so I was a bit stuck for most of the month. I also had been out of town for part of it, so I had to make up for the lost time. Deadlines are sometimes the greatest motivators!There were only four layouts to do. I took a photo from a magazine and then doodled all over it with my Sakura pens. I love my Gold Shadow Pens. That’s what I used here, along with some other Gelly Rolls.
	I followed the same basic idea here, but I also added some Permapaque Metallic pens and I did some journaling on her face. I had some fun with these.
	I loved this photo. It reminded me of photos of the Greek Isles. So I wanted to use an image of a woman as if she’s floating over the city. The image is from Anahata Katin and I altered it some by pairing it with other images and then adding some doodling and a sticker.
	This is another page that has Anahata’s images as its base. I had fun pulling together different pieces and then doodling over it.

So, there you go. That’s it for now. I’ve been busy creating lots of art, printing business cards, putting together my trades for Art Unraveled, etc. Everything seems to be ready for Monday’s class with Bev Brazelton. There will be many photos taken this week, and I’ll update when I can, but I do have a lot of artsy, girlie fun scheduled and balanced with rest time to conserve my spoons as much as possible!

I’m happy to say that Shirley is happy with the pouch. I will be sending it out tomorrow on my way in to my treatment.

Yes, folks, it’s time for my every-four-weeks infusion of the medications that keep my immune system in check, preserving my balance and my hearing. So, keeping my vertigo at bay in time for Art Unraveled is certainly worth the vertigo I’ve had the past two evenings. And yes, this means that I may be a bit less energetic and productive for the next few days, but I am so excited to be seeing my dear friends and to be doing art with them. Lots of girlie arty fun is ahead next week.

So for now, back to creating!

		This pouch is perfect for a flip phone or small electronics. This pouch features a vintage button, six pieces of vintage kimono fabric, and background fabric that was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching adds an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge. Purchase it here.
		This pouch is perfect for a flip phone or small electronics. This pouch features a vintage button, six pieces of vintage kimono fabric, and background fabric that was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching adds an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge. Purchase it here.
		This pouch is perfect for a flip phone or small electronics. This pouch features a vintage button, four pieces of vintage kimono fabric, batik fabrics, and background fabric that was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching adds an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge. Purchase it here.
		This pouch is perfect for an iPhone, treo phone, video iPod, or other small electronics. This pouch features a vintage button, five pieces of vintage kimono fabric, batik fabrics, and background fabric that was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching adds an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge. Purchase it here.
		This pouch is perfect for an iPhone, treo phone, video iPod, or other small electronics. This pouch features a vintage button, five pieces of vintage kimono fabric, batik fabrics, and background fabric that was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching adds an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge. Purchase it here.
		This pouch is perfect for an iPhone, treo phone, video iPod, or other small electronics. This pouch features a vintage button, five pieces of vintage kimono fabric, batik fabrics, and background fabric that was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching adds an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge. Purchase it here.

I finished all of the cases last night, when Angie called me to tell me about a sale at our local Sew n Vac. So, I headed over there. Just to look and test out some machines, and, well, let’s just say I did more than look. I purchased a new Pfaff ClassicStyle Quilt 2027. I’m in love. Now I’m heading back to sewing land!

		This stationery package has six different but coordinating cards. The cards are all handmade, each is a bit different, created with fabric and paper collage and sewn onto the envelope and cardstock. Envelopes are included.

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The other project I’ve been working on is pouches to sell in my friend’s store that will open at the end of the month. The store is being put together now. It’s in Bisbee, AZ, which is a lovely little tourist town with historical mining areas and lots of artsy stores. I decided to design my own after seeing others that just weren’t what I was looking for. Here are my results so far:

		This is the first pouch I created. I was determined to create someting that had all the colors I’m used to using, but that used my new surface design and sewing work. It came out a bit wider than I wanted, but at least I learned about the construction and was able to continue to refine the design.
		This pouch is the one that I use. I tried out other designs, but some were too long, others were too short, so I tested myself. It’s great for attaching it to my purse for easy access to my Treo. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge.
		This pouch is done in earthtones and uses fabric that I created with surface design as the background. I then used other fabrics to create a collage. Decorative stitching is ued as an additional elelment. The button on the front is a vintage button. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge.
		This pouch features two vintage buttons, two pieces of vintage kimono fabric, and other fabrics. The background fabric, again, was created with surface design techniques. Surface stitching add an additional design element. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge.
		This brightly-colored pouch is perfect for a flip phone. The background fabric, again, was created with surface design techniques. The additional pieces are added in a collage fashion and then surface stitched for an additional design element. Both buttons on this piece are vintage. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge.
		This purse is an earthy flip phone case. The background fabric was created with surface design techniques. Additional pieces are added in a collage and then surface stitched for an additional design element. The buttons are vintage. Each of the pouches has a clasp and two hooks – one in the center of the pouch or on the edge.

I hope you are having a great day and that you are enjoying some art and fun!

Now to a more personal discussion: Several of you have been kind enough to ask about my treatments and what I’m battling. I have a relatively rare disease, called Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED). AIED is marked by sudden hearing loss and vertigo. Many people who have this disease become completely deaf and require cochlear implants to hear. Others, like me, have hearing loss unilaterally and have other symptoms, such as vertigo, tinnitus, and hyperacusis. I am lucky that I am able to use a Baha, since I am deaf in one ear and not in the other. However, every time my symptoms come back, we worry that there is some damage to the “good” ear. I take immunosuppressants daily and I am also receiving additional immunosuppressive treatments intravenously monthly – the “monthly treatment” I talk about in this blog. I won’t bore you with the details, but if you’re interested in more information on my disease, the Baha, or the treatments for the disease that I have tried and am now on, please contact me directly. I will be happy to answer specific questions you have.

I write about this because I have had some severe hyperacusis the past few weeks. This morning, I called my doctor about the pain I am having with “normal” sounds. It has made normal conversation difficult. The television, which is usually my white noise companion during my day, is frequently off. If, however, it’s on, it is either.muted with closed captions or very low with closed captions. Sound is hard on me right now. Especially the sound of dishes clinking, silverware, beeps and other high pitched sounds. Tomorrow I see my doctor at 7 am. Yes, it is an ungodly hour; however, the sensitivity is worse first thing in the morning and late in the evening.

I doubt there is anything that he can do to help the symptoms, but I do want to make sure that there is not much, if any, change in my hearing. If there is, I will likely be put back on prednisone, the horror drug.

On the good side, I met a new friend today. Rosaland and I are taking Sue Bleiweiss’ Joggles Class together. We met up today at a lunch spot downtown, near Rosaland’s office to do “show and tell” and to get to know each other. It was quickly apparent to us both that this was going to be a good friendship! We’ll get together again after Dave and I return from a trip we’re taking next week.

Other good news (no, really, it is!): I put myself on a diet. I’m only eating complex carbs and protein. No rice, potato, sugar, or other quick carbs. I have not, however, given up coffee! I have just changed it up a bit so that I’m drinking almond milk rather than soy milk, saving over 15 carbs per serving! I’ve been doing this for almost a week and I feel better already. I also don’t crave things as much as I used to. It’s been a good transition for me. I’ve done this before with much luck. I just need to stick to it. And I need to start exercising. That’s the next step.

So that’s the story from artsyfran studios. Art to come tomorrow!