A TOOTHY THANK YOU!

This week, a wonderful team at Dr. Strupp and Dr. Brumm's office made my smile a little brighter.  I wanted to say a big "thank you," so i am taking a toothy approach!  I know, some of these are not exactly like the real things, but I am experimenting with different styles and forms of our enameled parts!  I hope to make the team several different dental accessories--some with cavities as you see here!  They love to laugh and share, so I know these and the others I make will be hits!  Thanks, everyone!  For information on this excellent dental office for crown, bridge and cosmetic dentistry, go to www.strupp.com.

I MADE MY ONE YEAR OLD A VEGGIE GARDEN

My granddaughter is ONE!  I was asked to make a veggie tray for her birthday party of 50 people!  The theme was vintage with little red wagons and sock monkeys.  I felt like the pressure was on--as I am an artist and my daughter-in-love has unbounded faith in me to come up with great stuff!  So, I put together the themes and came up with a road map of vegetable patches, flower gardens and bugs.  With a little help from the computer for the radish bugs, mice and flowers ideas, I took one large tray and made Bill get to chopping!  I divided the tray using tape and long strips of a plastic lettuce-mix container to make a forked road.  I also used strips of large plastic cups and taped them down to create circles for the flower beds.  All the layers were a little bit shorter than the outer edges of the tray.  Then, with Bill's help, filled the rounds and straight rows with veggies, fruits, olives and pickles.  Brocolli florets filled in the spaces in between and hid all the problem areas.  The wagon?  Just a Christmas box cut down with cheap yo-yo wheels attached and then filled with toothpicks.  The veggie tray was a hit, my daughter-in-love still thinks I am an artist genius, and my granddaughter happily ate all the raspberries and hummus dip!

The tray was very large and the materials were very cheap!!!

The taping off of the tray did not take long as I knew my brocolli florets would hide imperfections!

Here is where I brag on MY daughter-in-love's decorations!!!  I think the party was wonderful and beautiful, just as she had envisioned months ago.  Once she had the idea, she began collecting the different items she would need from Amazon!  The Cracker Jack boxes were the favors, she made her own red velvet cupcakes and banners, and our neighbor provided most of the darling sock monkeys from HER grandson's birthday two weeks ago.  The only hitch in the whole party and prep was the smash cake for my granddaughter:  she got a taste of the red and blue icing and burst into tears.  Seems this girl likes raspberries and hummus dip better!!!

MY YOUNGEST BLOG FOLLOWER!

At my art fairs in Kentucky and Indiana, I am totally blown away when a customer as young as Taylor admires my work!  She loved my Lady Fraga section and is wearing a Lady Fraga necklace in the photo.  We found we are both creative spirits who enjoy the arts and leading active lives!  Taylor has become my youngest blog follower.  Besides the arts, she is also active in cheering, gymnastics, acting and biking!  I know that wherever Taylor is, life will be much more interesting!  Thank you, Taylor!

WE DID OUR BEST!!!

Here are Bill and I--ready for the big candy haul out!!!  Its going good so far: Tricky Billy has eaten a lot already, so it must be good!  Happy Halloween, everyone!

A CHEAP TRICK FOR HALLOWEEN DECOR!

As I rarely decorate for Halloween (not since the kids were little!) and I wanted to participate this holiday because we are visiting dad's house in Florida.  I thought of a simple (and cheap and eco-friendly) way to do it!  The dead body outline is black duck tape (to contrast with the paved drive) and the blood is flower petals!  Bill made a great model, didn't he?  Around the house columns I draped yellow CAUTION tape. Upon seeing the results, a nice neighbor rushed over thinking we were in trouble!  Decor in this area may not be needed, as last year we got SO many trick or treaters!  But, they knew how to say "thank you" and were a pleasure!  Bill has loads of candy to give out and we are ready!!!  Happy Halloween, everyone!

This Art Fair began as a TRAIN!!!

The KY Guild of Artists and Craftsmen will hold their 50th anniversary Fall Art Fair this weekend in Berea!  As the third oldest art guild in the nation, and one of its finest, the KY Guild began as a train!!!  The Guild Train was the nation's first Art and Craft train.  Its goals were the same as the KY Guild's is today: bring fine art and craft to America's people, teach the arts to all who are interested, and help artists find economic security with the making and selling of their work.  Dedicated by Gov. Bert Combs and donated by Louisville/ Nashville Railroad, it ran across this state for seven years, back and forth, influencing several hundred thousand children and adults. It would stay in one place for a few days and demonstrate woodworking, weaving or ceramics, show off finished products and literally "find" craftspeople in very rural communities.  This weekend, you can drive a few miles to revisit the same experience.  Take either exit off I75 at Berea and follow the signs to beautiful Indian Fort Theater.  Hope to see you there!  I will have my jewelry and Bill will sell his soy soaps and candles.    

The guild will stage its annual fall craft fair at Indian Fort Theatre, 2047 Big Hill Road (KY 21), on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Many art media will be represented including: painting, wood turning and outdoor furniture, jewelry, pottery, handmade children’s clothing, stone work, photography, clay board etching, metal work, handmade soap and body products, stained glass, dolls and rugs to name a few.
Admission is $5 and free for children under 12. Plenty of free parking is available at Indian Fort Theatre.  For more details, visit www.kyguild.org, call 986-3192 or e-mail info@kyguild.org.

ST JAMES ART FAIR (SEPT 30-OCT 2) FACT #4

The St. James Art Fair has come a long way from buying gas lights in 1957 to presently being ranked the #1 Fine Art and Design Show in the country!!!  This rating was made by the art fair industry standard, Sunshine Artist Magazine!  Bill and I will be part of 750 artists and over the next few days we will be visited by some of the 200,000 shoppers!  Just setting up on the streets housing huge Victorian homes takes us all day.  We arrive very early on Thursday in order to get our car and trailer in to unload!  But, we do it because there is not another art fair like this one!  The artists are friendly, the art is spectacular and the artists travel from all over the world!   During the first decade I was part of St. James I used to tell customers, "Come early on Friday before the crowd arrives!"  But later teachers chose Friday as a holiday, so now Fridays are packed with customers too!  As to parking, swing into any of the private pay parking lots and shorten your walk to the fair.  If you happen to score a free street parking place, all the better!  Wear good walking shoes and bring a water bottle and cell phone.  Weather will be in the low 60's with no rain so its perfect for almost everyone!  Hope to see you as you travel down Magnolia AV, between 3rd and 4th Streets!  www.stjamescourtartshow.com

ST JAMES ART FAIR (SEPT 30-OCT 2) FACT #3

ART FACT #3:  St. James Ct. Art Fair is actually 6 shows in one!  After the original neighborhood established the Art Fair around the St. James Ct. fountain and refurbished it, other streets in the neighborhood did the same.  Now we have six actual art fairs where artists apply to set up and sell: St. James Ct.; Belgravia Ct.; Forth St.; 1300 Third Assoc.; 3rd St. Assoc.; and West End Baptist Church!  (Each is as big as a regular art fair!) Bill and I sell on Magnolia Street, between 3rd and 4th Streets and we are part of the 1300 Third Assoc.  We love our location and street!  It tickles me that every year there are "illegal arti-liens" that try to slip in and sell in unforseen places.  People get upset.  Its all part of the creative adventure of St. James Ct. Art Show!  If you come and visit, you probably won't even know one street from another, or notice the legals from the "art-liens!"  You will just be awed by it all!  If you chose to, you can even purchase a T-shirt or a Poster by this year's winning artist, Kieth Simon, in the photo above!  For more information, contact www.stjamescourtartshow.com, or visit my site, www.jamisonbrumm.com.  

ST JAMES ART FAIR (SEPT 30-OCT 2) FACT #2

FACT #2:  Aside from being one of the largest art fairs, St. James Court also contains the highest concentration of residential homes with stained glass windows in America!!!  And, these windows are in the wonderful Victorian houses that fill this third largest Historical District and neighborhood in the USA!  That's a lot of old beauty to view as you visit the St. James Art Fair!  I am not sure that you will see that giant champagne bottle by the house in the photo, but, hey, come and see.....  www.stjamescourtartshow.com, or visit my website for my show information: www.jamisonbrumm.com

ST JAMES ART FAIR (SEPT 30-OCT 1 & 2) FACTS

FACT #1:  This 55 year old art fair actually started out as a way to pay the bills!  The old neighborhood had crumbling fountains and no street lights in 1957.  Malclom Bird held the first art fair with music and art on a clothesline.  It worked, as the $700 they earned bought the St. James Court its 20 street lights!  stjamescourtartshow.com