Where Did The Time Go?

Well, at least I finally found some time - albeit the last day of July - to write about how I've been spending some of my time...

I changed jobs last month (returned to the place where I had worked for eight years, six years ago!) and have been trying to make enough things to fill up an Etsy store. I'm making a conscious effort to create a variety of things made of paper - yes, paper - like cards, bookmarks, jewelry, journals, thaumatropes (Victorian twirling toys), family trees, etc. I have quite a list of ideas...

Here is a sampling of papier roule (rolled paper) earrings:

In addition, I'm having a lot of fun making all kinds of paper "prayer flags" - actually, they're more like "inspiration flags" or even "haiku flags" - and here are a few of my early attempts:

It seems that a lot of people are making these things (most I've seen are lovely works of art made of images on fabric), inspired by Tibetan prayer flags that are hung from trees, temples and houses around the world in an effort to send prayers and blessings on the wings of the wind out into the world. Mine are small enough to be hung on a mirror, near a computer, or anyplace where the colorful messages are visible - other artists are making similar things to celebrate weddings and birthdays, as well as for other festive (or even solemn) occasions...

I'm learning as I go... One big challenge for me is finding simple sayings of only seven short words (as befits the Seven Sisters Arts motif) and using rubber-stamped images on colored paper to enhance the theme... here's another one in progress:

I have LOTS of rubber stamps, so expect to see more of these in the days and weeks to come. I should be adding some photos to the Seven Sisters Arts Ink web site (which you can visit by clicking on the link on the upper right-hand corner of this page) and I might see if a couple of local shops want to carry them... Future flags will feature nature, Christmas and the sea. The sky's the limit!

The weather's not quite as oppressive as it was earlier in the month (no air conditioning) so I hope to be even more productive in August - thanks, and enjoy what's left of the summer!