Great FIRSTfriday turnout for Sherry Hickey!

Local author Sherry Hickey seems quite tickled as her fans (young and old alike!) came out to get their copies of "Card Auntie's Wonderful Workshop" signed on FIRSTfriday.  This charming paperback is now available for sale at the shop and would be great as an end of year teacher gift for a class library or a special friend.  Sherry has autographed all of the copies for a special treat!

My buddy Betsy and I went treasure hunting up in Maryland yesterday.  I said that I was going to behave myself but somehow I picked up 3 bins of treasures and oodles of jewelry (because more is MORE!).  Do go with our Hawaiian tiki specials this month I found another crazy parrot head mug and semi-matching parrot sterling pendant along with a crazy sequined hula dancer bag.  You really DO have to see it to believe it!  We've got them all priced and they will be on the sales floor this afternoon.

We are gearing up for the next Art & Antique Fair this Saturday from 10 to 2.  The Tinner Hill Blues Festival is this weekend as well http://www.tinnerhill.net so stop by when you are roaming the Little City listening to the Big Blues!

A matter of expectation.

Here's my son helping me take pictures of my latest collage so I can make cards and get the image up on line.  Dawns on me that the quote "Life is largely a matter of expectation" certainly applied to this last weekend.  Just like fields should lay fallow to heald a productive growing season, we have fallow periods also.  Although I must confess sometimes mine are more inertia and paraysis than rest.  My husband Bob is entering a new productive phase.  With the help of good friends power training cycling coach BJ Basham http://www.powertrainingcoach.com/  & Andy Clarke http://www.bikeleague.org/ Bob shopped for , test rode and purchased a new 3 wheel bike that he can actually ride with his prosthetic leg!

As you can imagine, the bike is a little more forgiving from a balance standpoint from a traditional cycle but Bob will have to learn how to best use his existing muscles to get the show on the proverbial road.  Bob used to enjoy driving to Mount Vernon and back so Sunday's 3 mile round trip ride to the Falls Church Scout House and back might seem less than profound but it was a triumph!  To be able to go up and down steep hills navigate road crossings and sidewalks with relative ease was really exciting for everyone who knows Bob.

Happy trails guys!

Oh+Golly+Day!

I was tired yesterday. Why, because I joined the ranks of parents who were trying to book camps for their school age children during summer break. Registration started at 5am and woe to the uninformed parent who thinks that they can reserved them on their lunch hour and get the dates they need! By 5:28 two of my son's choices were over half subscribed. Eek! I came late to this party because in the past my kids attended year round schools and had shorter summer breaks (plus I worked from home). It's humbling when you become the person you used to make fun of! Kind of how childless adults feel about baby strollers in public places. I used to feel so unencumbered, yes free, until I became one of those double stroller wielding wild eyed mamas! Happily mine are a little old for strollers these days...

Time is ticking onward. So if you missed Anne Schwarz's ( above and below right) opening on FIRSTfriday in May please do stop in and take a peek at her wonderful featured exhibit right in the front of the store! Anne has such a lovely, calm, contemplative style, you feel transported when you look at her work! Anne's feature runs through the end of May.

I finally have the art & antique fair applications ready! Please email me for a copy. My next mission to to get them posted on both the website and our Facebook page, look for them there. A 10x10 booth is only $15 for our Saturday events. Will post updates and attendees as they sign up. Look for your favorites soon!

Jane was right; the Basilica is spectacular!

Before I left my friend and fellow artist Jane Coonce said "you HAVE to go to the St. Louis Basilica,it is amazing." Jane was right! I cannot even contemplate the man hours that went into the spectacular decoration in this building.

Quite awe inspiring.

And humbling.

Happy Sunday!

meet ME in St. Louis

Do I look excited? I am! This terribly tidy studio belongs to a woman I have admired for years, Mary Englebreit. Mary inspires me because she has built a career and an international reputation while remaining true to her artistic vision. Many pooh-poohed Mary's self taught sentimental view but the self -proclaimed Queen of Cute persevered and built an empire with out leaving her home town of St. Louis. Her latest foray is hosting a conference about art & the business of art. After enduring an "express" flight (flying is not fun for those of us over 6 feet tall) I shared a cab with a fellow conference go-er Justine and checked in to the gorgeous Chase Park Plaza Hotel, unpacked, had lunch and scurried 2 blocks down for my tour of Mary's studio.

Everything about it was cute as can be (naturally!) and it was fascinating to see pencil sketches and lay outs of Mary's book in progress. We got a sneak peek at 2011's calendar pages and learned lots of "behind the scenes" stories from her trusty assistant. Then I headed up to the Stardust Ballroom (really!) and met all of the other terribly friendly, creative and charming women who are unabashed "Mary" fans. It's good to know you are not alone in your obsessions!

Happy Birthday to me!

Transitioning is hard. Transitioning form chore to chore, duty to duty. Parenting, home keeping, shopkeeping, artist, and paperwork, paperwork, ppaperwork!  When exactly is it I am supposed to whip up gourmet meals, exercise to lose this spare tire, make art, take my husband dancing, not neglect my friends, pursue my spiritual life and ugh, do more paperwork?  Seems like if I actually finish any one task it is always to the detriment of another.  Anybody out there have any advice about structuring one's work day?

One day that is never work is my BIRTHDAY!  Turned (gulp) 49 on Friday and my awesome neighbors and my usual suspects came over and had copious nibbles and raised a toast!  Thanks everyone for all of the birthday goodies and a wonderful time.  Here's a toast to my awesome sister Robin who attempts to keep me on track (and stands in for my left brain as I have none!).  Cheers!

"Found" at The Art League, Torpedo Factory

Actually Beth kept saying "Of course, you'll get in, it's what you do" I actually did!  Get into this month's Art League show "Found" - art featuring found objects.  Actually I got TWO pieces in (see March 17th post for part of the other entry http://stifelandcapra.blogspot.com/2010/03/this-weeks-challenge-found-objects-part.html

But, ahem, one is not ALLOWED to have two pieces in so I spoke to the director and picked the wall piece as it is larger (2x4 feet) and more graphic.  The bummer is that had I juried in for the "found" show AND the all members show I would have been qualified to show in the Bin Gallery next year.  For that privelege you have to juriy into three shows throughout the course of the year.   As I am on a mini-roll you might think I was home free but the League's fiscal year ends in June.  Now there is an incentive to actually submit every month!  Stay tuned!  

Happy Birthday, Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

Downloaded my camera last night and realized a lot of time has elapsed since my last post. Eek. Nothing like the kiddies being out of school to throw off one's inadequate routine. April's FIRSTfriday was a lot of fun, between it being a school holiday and Good Friday I wasn't sure who would be there but my daughter's Girl Scout posse was there en force to wish her a Happy Birthday! The young ladies also modeled some of Ashleigh's lastest vintage fashins. Cute, eh?

Not as cute as Cathy in her bunny ears! The tradional Stifel and Capra sale is "wear your Easter bonnet or bunny ears and get a discount" and there were those awesome clients Charlotte, Jane, Stephanie, Margie and more parading in their bonnets and working the (mostly bling!) discount!

Beth Loftis and I went down to the Art League at the Torpedo Factory on Tuesday to drop off art and ran into a mini-Stifel and Capra meeting - artists Jane McElvany Coonce, Sandi Douglas Parker, Elizabeth Hudgens & Bud Hensgen were all there either submitting pieces or volunteering behind the counter. Fun. More fun because both Beth & I got in! Those photos tomorrow!

If you can't go to the beach...

Our beach weekend got curtailed because my husband's employer got a Friday afternoon Request for Proposal from a client. This is a good thing UNLESS you had plans to take the kiddies to the beach for spring break... So as a condolence prize we decided to bomb up to Baltimore for the day and go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. We had a great, goofy time. I was enamored of the new Jellyfish exhibit. I won't bore you with all of the photos I took but I love this one!

The harbor "chessie monsters" were not running but the "4-D" nature movie was playing at the Aquarium so we got to rock out the 3d glasses! The kids had fun eating up at the bar in the Hard Rock Cafe'. Signature Munchies and souvenir glasses later we headed home and made it back to Virginia in an hour! Woo hoo, my traffic juju holds!

Is it craft, is it art?

One of the conversations I hear debated at the shop is the difference between craft and art, Craft and Art, or just plain crafty art!  To distill it down to basics it seems to be to be less a matter of craftsmanship sometimes and more a matter of price points and marketing!  I have started to write 4 different "next sentances" to this paragraph and I am laughing because anything I can think to say is sure to offend SOMEone! About their own art or craft.   
Take sewing for example- right now I have hanging in the store custom made and sewn vintage ladies dresses from the 50's and baby clothes and christening gowns that are even older than mid century.  The craftsmanship and care that have gone into the pieces scream "work of art" to me but they are simply regarded as apparel to most people.  I will confess most of my sewing is more of the crafty variety- here are two items I recently finished for clients.  The first is a wedding gift for a couple that was combining households (including kids!).  Instead of doing the traditional wedding invitation application I used a family candid from the wedding.

Charlotte's family has a big family farm way out in the country.  This wool blanket is a family treasure that normally hangs out at the end of her bed but it was getting REALLY threadbare. Charlotte has seem my photo transfer work so she came up with the clever concept of using old photgraphs of the farm and her family to restore, mend, and patch the aforementioned fuzzy blanket!  I loved the idea but I especially loved the bottom-most shot of  Young Charlotte with her goat.  Priceless!

This Week's challenge: Found Objects, Part 1

This month's Alexandria Art League Challenge involves creating art out of found objects.  My personal chaellenge was not to buy ANYthing to put the pieces together; to work completely out of my studio.  I am working on two projects, one small, one large.  The first project is this unnamed doll.  I think she looks snappier in person than on camera, but she was fun to configure.  The second piece is the largest canvas I have worked so far a 2 by 4 foot canvas that has parts that look like they were unearthed from storage spaces.  I have titled the collage "Alma's Attic" in honor of a client estate sale buy.  Part of the goodies really are from Alma's house!  The rest uh, ALL from my studio, including the rusty square head nails.  I really will pick up anything...

Have tons of new things in the shop this week.  Lots of cute easter bunnies, pretty spring floral corsages, and lovely light apparell.  The sun is shining and we are all SO ready for spring.  It was quite exciting to go have coffee today & sit outside!  Enjoy-

Spring has Sprung!

We had a lovely FIRSTfriday night last week with DJ Gaskin (that's us surrounded by all of her glorious paper art!). There is still time to sign up for her workshop. Just contact me if you have any questions.

There WERE flowers coming up under that three foot snow bank. Hooray! Nothing like a couple of sixty degree days to beat back winter. Here are my first crocuses. The other chore that got accomplished this week was my beloved family cleaned off the debris of winter and fluffed the front porch for spring. Give me a couple of weeks ad I will have the vintage pillows and the big libation pitcher out there as well.

Come meet the Crazy Cats and the Lioness Poet!

My husband NEVER buys me "make-up" flowers but one of my artists that missed an appointment did. Thanks Bud! Certainly added a little sunshine to the desk during the yucky weather. They lasted a full two weeks, make that a lot of sunshine!

I found the craziest lamp the other day. Do you remember those huge console tv's in the 60's? Well it was all the rage to dim the lights to get the best view on your humoungous tv. The only light in the room should be the discrete glow from a small lamp on top of the television. Hipsters might have one like this cool cat lamp. Made by Kron, it has a bulb in its cutout back so the kitties cast an aura around their perimeter as well as through their funky eyes. Groovy!

Tomorrow is FIRSTfriday in Falls Church and I am featuring the work of Lioness Press founder DJ Gaskin. Dj is a poet, journaler, art book creater, card artist and beautiful person! Come meet her and all of our resident artists, have some snacks and see what is new from 5 to 8 tomorrow, Friday,March 5th. I REALLY missed everyone last month because of the snow cancellation so I sure hope you can come out and paly on Friday!