Oh Sugar Sugar...

 

Candy. I can't live without it. I LOVE it. It's in my namesake :^) It has been showing up in my art more often than not. Need I say more? Lol! On that note, I found an awesome lady on Etsy(Dreamlikemagic) who just created my new blog design. Yummm, I could lick the computer screen....but I promise I won't. So if you are looking for something new for your blog or Etsy shop, take a look at her work. She's very sweet to boot :^)

Just a few of my favorite things in the above collage (from top left)...
1. Artwork by my 8 year old son. He draws on anything. I found him doing math problems on his wall. Sigh. Lol. 2. Pile of sweet, sweet treats from a crafty night in December. Yeah, I know, I am behind on this. 3. My tiny, tiny reclaimed studio space...in my 1 year old's room :^) 4. Lalaloopsy's Crumbs Sugar Cookie and Blossom Flowerpot. I am SO in love with these dolls! And since I don't have a daughter, well, I'll have to play with them myself :^) 5. Not only do I love to eat candy, but I sure as heck love smelling like it too!! Hehehe! Body Fantasies' Cotton Candy body spray is my all time favorite!! And you can get it at Walgreens for about $7. 6. Giant lollipops from the Dollar Store. They make excellent party favors...or you can stick a bunch in a short vase as a centerpiece. It'll brighten up your space for sure :^) 7. Cadbury's Eggs...I wait all year long for these babies to come out!! I can't lie, I buys these in bulk because they need to last at least into early summer. 8.Candy bracelets...who doesn't love 'em???? I wear them as jewelry typically, but especially when I work on my art. It's almost like a ritual....weird? Some people light candles, I wear candy :^)9. More Lalaloopsy dolls....mini ones :^)

I am working on three new girls for the Fall issue of Prims magazine. Even though they are only in the beginning stage, I am SO excited about them because they are going to function as candy jars. Actually, they are folk art fairy busts attached to apothecary jars. And they are luscious and sugary and oh so sweet!! I'll add pics of works in progress.

And lastly, I just wanted to mention that I am going to be kicking off April with a blog giveaway!!! Hooooorahhhhh!!!! So check back often for details :^)

Until then, have a sugary sweet day.
xoxoxo

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to wish everyone a beautiful, blessed, amazing New Year. May 2011 bring fantastical things your way :^)

As you can see, I have been dabbling with the sock monkeys.....I can't help it. I LOVE them, lol!! Being that the sock monkey sculpts and dolls are easier to create, I find that it has given me the time away that I needed from my more intricate sculpts....like my fairies.

But as the new year opens, I feel that I am once again drawn to them. I suppose because they have been whispering that they have missed me :^) I have so many ideas swirling in my head and I am excited to get started on them. My art will be taking a little bit of a turn....I am going to be moving away from full body sculpts a bit. And I will be incorporating the chakras into my new pieces.

For those of you who do not know, I have been having issues with my hands for years--burning, numbness, pain. So much so that sometimes I cannot even work on my art....and to me, that is suffocating :^( Ahhh, Western medicine. They have run the gamut from carpal tunnel to neuropathy. I have tried it all. I am also doing chiropractic, massage therapy, rolfing, herbs, the vitamin B complex, yoga, trigger points,a theracane,etc. Relief is intermittent. So on that note, I WILL get to the bottom of this all. It will just take time, patience and awareness. So I will be creating as much as I physically can....and I always welcome your prayers :^)

My first new girl of the new year is for the Winter Challenge on Jane DesRosier's ning group Cloth and Clay dolls. I am really excited about it and will post pics as she progresses. I can envision her already :^) Let's see if that's what she wants to be :^)

So, I send love to all of you. Create to your heart's content! Be well!

Namaste,
Candice

Monkey business...

Those who know me know that I have a thing for sock monkeys. I love them. I just can't help it...it's almost an obsession, lol! Needless to say, this love has rubbed off on my students at school. They all want to make them!!! Being that I have over 300 students and only 1 sewing machine, well....especially when I need to have some sort of control over the sewing part. Call me Monk, lol!

So I decided to host a 6th grade Art Club called the Kinship of the Traveling Sock Monkeys. I let the kids pick out which colors they wanted for their monkeys (pink, blue, or brown red-heeled socks) and then bribed my friend AJ (mostly with Starbucks and cupcakes...and I have yet to produce the cupcakes, lol!) to help me sew the bodies, limbs, ears, and tails of 30 monkeys.

The best part of this project is that the kids are going to document the life of their sock monkey in a journal (provided by me). They will write journal entries from the monkeys' perspectives, as well as document with pictures of their monkeys in action. Art (stuffies art) and literacy. What a delicious combination.

We're two days into this Art club project and the kids LOVE it! They are having a ball....the room is a-buzz with excited conversations about monkey names and wardrobes, where they are going to take their monkeys, etc.

Here are a few pictures of our monkeys-in-progress. They don't look like much at the moment, but give em a few more weeks. Max the giant sock monkey is overseeing the whole shabang :^)






And my first graders kinda jumped on the bandwagon with little clay monkeys...


And the journey continues...

Candice :^)

Every spare minute that I found this past weekend I sculpted or sewed or stuffed doll parts. And I found myself so desperately looking forward to those little bits of time! Those moments in between loads of laundry or when my 15 month old would take a VERY short nap.

It's the stopping that I don't like, lol! Having to put down my clay (paperclay is my new found art love)and get out of my zone. But realistically, the kids, the hubby, the food shopping, the cleaning and cooking must get done. And getting rid of spiders. But that is a story in and of itself :^)

This all surprises me really because I haven't been able to focus on my art, my dolls, for quite some time. Whether it was lack of interest or lack of time--or self-imposed lack of time or procrastination more likely--I don't know. But something has released within me or I have subconsciously let something go. But my desire to create is back with a sweet newfound force. And I am loving it! So in light of this, I am looking at my day, seeing where I can nip and tuck time per se. Even if I get to fit in just 15 minutes, that makes my heart sing. And I really feel like it keeps me on top of my craft. And creating has been like breathing for me. When I don't do it, I feel a part of me is missing, like I can't breathe.

So, this is a BIG step for me! I am creating time for myself to work, breathing (lol!).....and now looking at tentative dates to resign from my day job. No, I'm NOT crazy!! Lol! In talking with Marisha, I need to physically pick a date to resign and write it on a calendar. If I am willing to release what is not working for me, something else will present itself. Gotta get the ball rolling. Universe, I am VERY ready! In my heart, I KNOW the capacity in which I am teaching is no longer healthy for me. Both physically and emotionally. My goal is to be a self-supporting artist. To be able to work from home and take care of my kids, to teach local workshops, possibly travel around the US to teach workshops as well. This is what I see for myself. I have picked two tentative resignation dates, one in October the other in November. Technically (legally) I need to give my school district a full month to replace me from the date of my resignation. Both of those dates would do not only that, but allow me to leave right before Thanksgiving or Christmas. Imagine starting 2011 in this way???? Yes, yes, yes!!!!

Later on I'll post (hopefully)some pics of the girls I have been working on. I am making 4 girls for the Spring issue of Prims magazine. Whether or not they publish them, we'll see :^) Two of them are early 1900's beach babes, along with their mermaid friend. The 4th is a pretty large doll. She's not sure if she wants to be an angel or not. We'll see where she takes me :^) They tend to take on a life of their own. Also, nearly done, is a little Goth girl named Molly. She has her own skelly plushie and will come in a black, purple satin-lined coffin. She REALLY is a cutie :^)

And so it begins?

I just pulled the Book card from my Angel deck for the third time in 6 months. Me, write a book? About the metaphysical? Come on. I have bought (and read, not just collecting ‘em here) so many books on the metaphysical that I could build a small house with them if I used the right adhesive. But seriously. How could I compare with such authors as Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Esther and Jerry Hicks, Caroline Myss, and Sonia Choquette? What could I possibly have to say to others that is earth-shattering and life-changing? I’m just a New York transplant-doll artist-art teacher-mom-wife living in Colorado.

My mind flashes back to my first Metaphysical fair in 2008. I met with Chris and Bob Neelin. Chris is an RN and nationally recognized trance channeler; Bob is a spiritual counselor. I was completely amazed at the things Chris was telling me in her trance-like state. Near the end of that first session, as Chris was coming out of her trance, I was speaking with Bob. And I distinctly remember him saying “You have a book in you young lady. Write it.” The whole session was recorded so I went back and just listened to that bit.
Yep. “You have a book in you young lady. Write it”.
In me?!
Okay. It IS a possibility. But what in the heck am I going to write about?

Flashback to September 4th. I went to the Metaphysical Fair in Denver and saw Marisha Diaz. She is a phenomonally gifted channeler. I've seen her before and have had a phone session with her as well. So there I sat, listening to her, or rather, to my spirit guides channeling through her. Tears in my eyes.....and not from anything bad mind you. It was all about my life's purpose (MY ART)and how behind I am with it!! And about leaving my current job. And how my physical ailments have manifested because of the above-mentioned.

So I have been thinking about all of this non-stop. And beginning to look at my art in a new light (which I will divulge in a later post). What does all of this mean you wonder? I have decided to take everything I have learned from these authors, guides, etc. and live it. Authentically. Fully. Deliciously :^) Does all of this REALLY work? Will I manifest the life I have so longed to live?? Will I finally live my life's purpose?? Will I finally get that studio space over the garage that is not built yet???

I invite you to take this ride with me. I promise, it will be interesting, if not entertaining. See my artwork progress, change....heal others??? I'm beyond excited about what is coming....and strangely calm as well. For now anyway, lol.

I'm in Art Doll Quarterly Summer 2010!!!

I am SOOO excited to share that my dolls are being featured in ADQ's Summer 2010 issue!! And my doll is on the cover!! Woohoo!!! To me, this is a REALLY big deal....and I am just gushing!!! LOL! I'd love for you to take a look at Alice and her friends the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit. They are a fun and quirky trio!
If you click on the picture, you can buy this ADQ edition directly from Stampington, or you can also visit your local bookstore, JoAnn's, etc.

I am considering creating a class around these dolls....most likely just Alice and the Rabbit. If you can create Alice, then you can definitely conjure up a Mad Hatter in the same style :^) But I will definitely give you some tips and tricks for a Hatter! So check back for details.

Speaking of teaching, I'm REALLY considering hitting the road and teaching at locations around the U.S. I've been working feverishly on a bunch of girls, some folk art girlies with glass eyes....and yes, I'm back to my fairies again!! I've missed them so!! SO...

If you or your doll group are interested in possibly having me teach a workshop, please feel free to contact me :^)

Life has been dropping lots of surprises on me...some good, some, well, ya know. So I'm making lemonade if you know what I mean :^) Summer's approaching and I'm looking forward to it--especially since I'm a teacher!! I'm craving the months ahead where I can just relax, be with my two little boys, and just create to my heart's content. Sunbathing optional :^) Chat soon!

Fairy dust,
Candice

Things are a'changin'........

There's just so much goin' on these days!! Good thing I have that leftover Easter candy to get me through it all!!

I have 6 new girls in the works, all standing there, staring at me in various stages of undone-ness :^) They beg me to pay more attention to them and give them more of my time....if only I had a magic wand and some fairy dust...and an assitant, a housekeeper, and a chef! LOL!!

I'm SO happy to share that three of my folk art angels are in the premier issue of Prims magazine. It's a very well put together, very classy magazine. Certainly pick up a copy of it at your favorite book store or you can purchase it online at stampington.com.





ALSO....I'm beside myself on this one....my Wonderland trio of Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the White Rabbit made it into the Summer issue of Art Doll Quarterly! And Alice is going to be on the cover!!! Yaaaayyyyy!!! It took eating two giant cupcakes to help me regain my composure after ADQ contacted me about it :^) I'm not quite sure whether the summer issue will be out in May or June so check back here or Stampington's site in a few weeks :^)

So, all of this had me thinking about my work, my artistic ability, and the precious time (or lack there of) I get to spend on making my girls. I have come to realize that creating my dolls IS my life's purpose....and recently, an amazingly talented intuitive/channeler reinforced that for me. I do believe stronlgy in the metaphysical so what she told me was extremely poignant, exciting, reassuring, and well, rather surprising.
As most of you know, I am an elementary school art teacher. I have REALLY enjoyed what I do for almost 13 years now. But I will admit, for the past year or so, I have considered leaving teaching...at least for a little while. In my heart, I have wanted to focus on my art full time and to teach more adult art workshops. Well, recently (about a week ago), I was told that I had to leave the school I am presently at(the school that I love!!)and am going to be transferred to another school for the 2010-2011 school year. Not sure which one I will be sent to as of yet. I just know that I have to have an entire classroom packed up--13 years of accumulated art stuff, books, etc,--and out by June 3rd.
And you know, strangely, I wasn't mad. Or sad. I can't say I was happy about it, but I almost felt calm in a way that I haven't felt in a very long time. I had jokingly told my husband in the past that IF I ever had to leave my school, then I was pretty much done with teaching in that capacity. I'm wondering if this is the Universe's way of telling me "Girl, there's somethin' good coming your way!! Keep your eyes open!! Be open to opportunity!! Keep making those girls of yours!! Things are shifting in your favor!!" Then that part of my brain that freaks out about steady paychecks, medical insurance, etc. tries to pipe up. I suppose I should stuff a cupcake in her mouth, eh?? Lol!
So, in this odd time of excitement and uncertainty for me, know that I am SOO very appreciative of your support of me and my art...both emotionally and fincancially.
You are all a blessing and I am grateful for you all.

I really think it's time for some caffeine and sugar :^) Ta ta for now. Hope you are enjoying the spring weather and the anticipation of summer!!

Fairy dust,
Candice