Paper Quilts @ Etsy

i know it's again with the quilts. i decided to fill my etsy shop up again in hopes that one or all of these paper quilts might sell. i'm selling the original works of art for only $100.00. mind you, the shipping is high because of usps costs going up, but if you're local i will hand deliver and if you're international it might be lower, it all just depends on package. a couple of you have expressed interest in trade. i am completely interested in trading art, but not these quilts, at this time. i am completely willing to create a specific {commissioned} quilt(s) for you if you are interested in trading. i can even have a print made of one of these quilts that i could trade or that could be purchased at a whole lot less. if you've got a specific color pallette you'd like a paper quilt collage done in, i can do that. it really is up to you and how much you're willing to spend or trade. i really do appreciate the interest and am willing to set up a payment plan as well. if you'd like cards made of any of these quilts i am able to do that. an individual card is $5.00 but if you buy a mass quantity i can sell them at a lower cost.

i would like to remain as flexible as possible throughout the next few months and actually throughout the rest of the year. i am working on a bigger piece, right now that incorporates many of the same drawn elements of the quilt collage(s), but on larger scale. flowers and trees and birds like these. i will also be working on larger versions of my twilight trees.

on another note: i wanted to update you all on the family meeting. my brother ethan and sis n law mary have received a referral for the adoption of a little boy. i cannot give many details, i cannot even post his birth name (we are naming him caleb) or date of birth, or the town he was born in. all that i can say is that this is an amazing time for ethan and mary. they continue to feel support and hope. caleb is a healthy little boy, he is happy and strong and now we are just waiting on him. it has been a time of great celebration. please continue to pray though. i will continue to update as i can and as we are legally able to share.

in the middle of the night


i took an unintentional break from phantomcrimes. primarily and dependently because i feel a fresh photo is necessary each and everytime an effort is made to share here. my friend is happily borrowing my canon powershot and i have got an unfinished undeveloped roll of film in my manual that's got to get to wolfe's at some point soon. thus the b.r.e.a.k. i can't think of what i am trying to think about because i stayed up too late inorder to see my brother play with the rest of coral castles. for those of you not present last night at jj's well um, i am terribly sorry. i have not gotten all the sleep i need in the last couple of days, for all sorts of reasons. i am looking forward to catching a few winks after five.

at nine thirty this evening i am heading over to my aunt's house for a very special family meeting. i'll have updated information as it becomes available. on another note...i never took an actual photo of my completed May Paper Quilt Project submission, dawn has got it posted if you're interested. i stuck to the familiar tree theme, mainly because my family seems to be growing around me and it feels so good. i have been relating the tree to my family for so long now, make sense?

i have begun to make art again. i have taken awhile to get it all going again. i have had a couple emails from you all expressing interest in my paper quilts. trade? sell? what have you. i wanted to think about it for a while and i have finally come up with some answers so i will be getting back to you each by early next week. once i have emailed everyone back i will post my thoughts here. i have not put anything new up in my etsy shop mainly because i wasn't sure how to handle the new shipping cost increases. boy has anyone else noticed the insane flat rate international shipping cost? i also didn't know if i would have any luck at selling the paper quilts on etsy. i seriously don't think so, soooo!!!

in closing...

fullness:a morning of c.o.l.o.r

this a.m. i woke up with an energy i have not felt in quite some time. i could have jumped right out of bed when national public alarmed me at six forty. instead i kept as still as possible, a dream uninterrupted until seven thirty. the light in my apartment wept, saturating just about everything. i watered my orchid and one bamboo shoot, decided to copy others and take note of the inside of my dishwasher. my melmine dishes made me think:installation. the painting given to me by one bff, katie k. hangs now, above my kitchen sink. one of only two pieces of actual art hanging on my walls. a self portrait reminding me of the past:white house apt. again i found my package from tammy. i'm slow to remove even the most lovliest things from the box, i want the pleasure, the feeling of unwrapping it everyday.
it could all be because i walked from my place all the way down to the fish {aquarium} place and back last night, at least a couple of miles, 14th street down to 3rd or second and back. or maybe i felt full. full of thankfulness again. full of excellant hummus and rewinded conversations with snl mary c. at bigriver last early evening. women's night. live funky music. and flies swarming around my pile of chickpeas.

maybe in the night a senitment came upon my like a memory fills a hole in your spirit after great joy, great sorrow, great struggle, or rather great strength. nothing can overcome me now even in the midst of indecision and compulsion to quit work for the day. possible bike ride with matt or a thousand mile walk. i look forward to the momentum of making art again. i'm certainately encouraged and committed and confronted with a variety of paper matters, medium matters, and personal whimsy ways.

i will bring up my nana again because even though she's past i am so so happy i had my her here, near me in her last months. and now my mother who is venturing soon from a traditional career, to pursue grant writing, vintage apron making and caleb watching, excites me and makes me wonder and thankful more and again. she and i are going to write:illustrate:publish our owb children's books. i know it.

these and a mirad of things are all full of love and color bringing hope. on this thursday at the end of may. may you be filled up. tell me how you have found the fullness.

making a way

i haven't had nearly enough time to get by here. in the last week i have felt like i was barely making a way for myself let alone phantomcrimes. yet throughout the thick and the thin of a sixty hour work week i made it and enjoyed mostly every minute of it. tammy gilley sent me an incredible five senses swap package, i almost couldn't believe my eyes, mostly overwhelmed in her brillant color choices. i feel terrible, i haven't a minute to send my five senses swap to my partner. although i've gathered just about everything, it's a shame, i should have figured my timing out a little better. i am so so sorry anastasia.

i did however finally get around to finishing my paper quilt project piece and sent it off. i feel fairly uncertain about the outcome and am not quite ready to show it off. i think it came together well enough and it amounts to meaning something to me and i felt so honored to contribute, but as far as the best thing i've ever done in my life. probably not. it comes down to my familytree and how it has grown and grown over the past few years. how i have grown to love my family; past, present and future family. how these family people have become some of the most important people in my life. a tree that represents life, growth, shade, protection and stability. and on a side note the paper quilt project and wendell berry's hannah coulter have both made me think of my nana. i remember crying my eyes out at her graveside service, because it was one of the most beautiful new jersey days you could possibly imagine. and plus i was there at her side as she slipped gently into the night. i felt heaven in those minute quiet seconds. sometimes i seem to invent things that remind me of her or others past. so strange. so wonderful to know.

and then how the clothesline show came to be. oh personally i had an amazing time. the spirit of the moment, the weather, the women artists, the amount and variety of art, the food, the fellowship, the turnout was all so overwhelming. it was not as you might think a party or artshow to be, more mild and calm, laid bare to avoid intimadation, the gallery pretense was nowhere to be found, intentionally. it was an immense success and the internal flaws can be looked at as a potential growth and strength. there is room for improvement, yes. but that is not to say it wasn't a fantastic way to celebrate art made by women artists. i can't not wait to get started on the planning for a fall show. look for updates both in my flickr and the official clothesline blog/site. if you were there and would like to leave an sort of feedback please do on that site. or email us and your thoughts at: ourclothesline@gmail[dot]com. thank you all so much for coming out and supporting us, me, them, everyone.

and for those of you following sam and liam's story...well they are doing really really well. they spent most of the day out and about town with their two little parentals. i had a chance to see them on sunday, very short and they're feeding well, growing and making us smile. thank you all for your continued thoughts and support. our family and the aaron and laurie collier family sure to appreciate everything.

that's it folks. gotta hit the trail, so to speak.