stuff about artstuff.

Not Just Pretty Pictures.

Did you know this?

You probably already did.

I don't need to tell you.

But just in case you didn't know this: all those little buttons you see here in the sidebars?

They're not just for decoration or distraction.  They're links.

Online retailers carrying the products pictured.  Click one.  See?

I try to update them seasonally, so you can find stuff more easily.

And if you ever find my stuff online (or are an online retailer yourself who carries my designs!) and think I might like to link to the product here, please let me know!

Thanks!

Season of Giving

This is the time of year many of us reflect on things we are thankful for.  I know, this should really be something we do every day anyway - but most of us require gentle reminders, or in cases like mine, a bonk on the head with a giant cartoon-style rubber mallet, to really sit back and appreciate the little things (and the big ones) that we are blessed with every day.

I am thankful that I am given the opportunity to make my living doing something I love.  I am thankful that I have a home and a place to work. I am thankful that it is warm and secure; that there is a roof attached to that place.  That my work tools, treasured belongings, and funny little family are safe under that roof.

Yeah, you can probably tell where I'm going with this.  I have been overwhelmed with emotion the last few weeks seeing the homes, neighborhoods, entire towns where this is not the case.  Recovering from and rebuilding after a loss of this magnitude is something my little brain just can't seem to wrap itself around.  I wish I could do some little thing . . . and well, I am thankful that I can.

I've recently reopened my long-neglected Etsy shop and have been adding items little by little.  And I will continue to do so throughout the holiday season: I've been inventorying my fabric stash to make sure I have everything I'm offering (!), I've been painting some new original pieces, and will be having quite a few new art-prints available soon.

And between now and the end of the year, I will donate 50% of all sales in my Etsy shop (excluding postage charges) to the Red Cross for Disaster Relief.

At the end of each week I will tally up my sales and make a donation, and will keep you updated as to our progress.  Yes, it's our progress that we will be making together, because it's your purchases that will make each donation happen! 

And to continue the Season of Giving theme, I will be having weekly giveaways here on my blog through the month of December, because I am thankful for you, my awesome loyal blog-readers!

I'll also be sharing other ways we can all help, here and on my Facebook Page - there are so many great people and organizations out there doing a lot of amazing things right now, it warms my heart to see it.  And hopefully I can pass along a little bit of that heart-warmth to the rest of you.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you all have a beautiful week appreciating all for which you are thankful!

xo

 

PS:

Just a reminder (nudge, nudge) to visit all the amazing blog-hop hostesses each day of the Henry Glass Holiday Party if you haven't already - a full list with links to everyone's great stories, recipes, and free project downloads can be found here.

There's still time to enter my drawing for a 21-fat-quarter bundle of One Crazy Christmas Eve, see the post below this one for details and how to enter.  There's also still time to enter the big Henry Glass Holiday Party drawing where you'll win a big fabric bundle + separate gifts from each of the 16 designers participating in the hop!  Wow! 

You have until Sunday the 25th to enter the Henry Glass contest, and until Thanksgiving to enter mine here.  I've had so much fun reading your entries/comments here so far, your stories of Jello are running the gamut from cracking me up, grossing me out, and making me hungry!  You are all so awesome!

This is a Public Service Announcement.

Or maybe just a friendly reminder.
So maybe it's a reminder specific to myself
but on the other hand, doodling does feel good.
And we should all do more things that feel good.  So I'll say that this is for you, too.
It may seem silly that I need to remind myself to do something that has always brought me so much joy, and on which my entire livelihood is based.
You might be thinking, "whatever, Drama Queen.  Isn't drawing what you do for a living?"  Well, technically, yes.
But you know how Real Life is.
Too often we forget to just do stuff that's good for us
or that simply makes us happy
for no other reason
than because it makes us happy.
And that, I suppose, is why this is a public service announcement.  I am reminding you to do that.  So doodling or drawing isn't your thing?  What is it from your past and simpler life that you used to do every day after school, every weekend, every moment you weren't busy with something else?  Go do that.  Even a little bit.  Every day.
For me, that thing was drawing.  And it always will be.  But here in Real Life, I often need to remind myself to do it.  And that's what I'm going to go do right now.  My little sketchbook is calling...

Want a totally unique, one-of-a-kind sketchbook or journal?  My go-to journal and sketchbook buying spot is this great Etsy shop; I love seeing what Cindy has been up to, and end up visitng every time my current sketchbook starts to get filled up.  And the supercool little journal pictured above was one of two I received as best-ever stocking-stuffers last Christmas.  They're made by this awesome company in Portland, and I'm pretty sure Husband Guy picked them up at this favoritist coolest bestest ever shop here in Seattle.

A New Way to Shop...

...for Beth Logan designs, that is.

I just launched the shiny new Artstuff Ltd. Store on Zazzle (insert fanfare music here, ta-dah)!

Many of you already know about Zazzle - for those who don't, you should definitely check it out.  This is a great way for me to offer products and designs that aren't already out there in the marketplace.  I'm really excited about this! 

The Artstuff Ltd. Store has gallery-wrapped canvas wall art, t-shirts, bags, mugs, and more.  I'm still just figuring the whole thing out but will be adding lots more throughout the holiday shopping season, including a special holiday-themed shop-within-a-shop.

I'm especially excited about these:

How cool is that?  Hard-shell covers for your devices with my art on them!

I hope you'll pop on over and see what's cooking; "like" the store (you'll see that familiar little thumbs-up button!) and please give me your feedback and thoughts on things you'd like to see me offer there or other suggestions. I'd appreciate it!

And I do hope your holiday season is off to a happy start, ho ho ho!

Art Imitates Cat.

So this one might fall under the "better late than never" category, and I suppose I ought to apologize for that.  But you know how sometimes you set little goals and to-do lists for yourself in a certain order of how you believe they need to happen, but one tiny detail holds you up for some silly reason and then the whole process falls apart and the entire thing hangs dangerously on the edge of never getting accomplished, ever? 

Oh.  No, it's just me? 

Ok then, never mind.

Anyhoo, as many of you already know (no thanks to me!) The Cat's Meow has been in quilt shops for months now . . . you can still find it here and there on the web, and even some cute quilt patterns here, here, and here.  And finally (fanfare, drumroll, ta dat dat dat da!) I have yardage available in my Etsy shop.

Those of you paying close attention will also recognize some of the kitties in this group from greeting cards you might have seen in everybody's favorite gourmet discount grocer, or here on my blog (or Flossie's!).

Most of you are already familiar with my constant studio companion and muse - but did you realize that every single kitty in the collection is modeled by Miss Flossie herself?  This isn't the first time Flossie has inspired a fabric group, so I suppose it's not surprising that when Harriet from Henry Glass came to me last year to brainstorm about a cat-themed group, I went straight to my "used pictures from Flossie's blog" file folder and started sketching (these are just a few of the inspiration-photos straight from Flossie's blog).

  

  

 

 

 
And all 10 of these kitty pictures are still available as prints in my Etsy shop!

Fitting, but not at all unsual, HRH herself is cuddled up in a blankie on my lap right now, overseeing the writing of this post.

For All the Lodge-y Babies Out There...

It's always fun to see what creative people do with my fabrics, and here's one I might have never known about if it wasn't for my good friend Sue.  Last month while vacationing at the gorgeous Mohonk Mountain House she stumbled on these little beauties in the gift shop.
Tuthilltown Tots creates beautifully made little baby gift sets: cute bibs, little hooded towels, and "Boo-Boo Animals" (little washcloth guys!) and this set features some of my Lodge fabric from last year.
What a perfect match, don't you think?
Thanks so much Sue for sharing these pictures!

Beadaliciousness.

This weekend I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with my good friend Elizabeth, and explore an amazing place I'd never been before: Shipwreck Beads.  All I can say is wow.

Imagine the size of a sprawling suburban supermarket. Now imagine that every aisle and every wall in that supermarket are filled with beads.  Only beads.  Well, throw in a little chain and wire and fasten-y things and a few tools, but other than that, only beads.  My inner crow nearly exploded from the shimmery sparkliness.
Walls of beads.

No, really - stand back and look at the wall of beads.  Floor to ceiling.
Fancy stone beads, silly plastic beads, and everything in between.  From keep-in-a-locked-glass-case beads to throw-at-Mardi-Gras beads.  Oh my.
Hung in strands and organized into tiny drawers.
Everything you could ever dream of.  I mean, if you dreamed of beads.

You push around a large flat cart full of old-fashioned school-lunch trays to organize all your tiny pieces.  Oh, the tiny pieces.
You need a couple hours to deal with the mesmirising overwhelmity of it all.  We took that time, wandered, played, imagined, and did some serious shopping. 

I learned that you overhear some of the most amusing conversations in a giant bead store.  Cute things kids say, funny things creative partners discuss - really the audio entertainment almost rivals the visual feast at times.

A surprising number of those conversations included something to the effect of, "well, yes, Michaels does have those too, but they are cheaper here." which was sort of dangerous, because every time my brain processed the words "cheaper here" spoken by a stranger in my vicinity, my unconscious bargain reflex would cause my hand to spontaneously grab something off a shelf and throw it onto my cart.  The result was - um - maybe buying a tiny bit more than anticipated (she muttered sheepishly).
The afternoon with a good friend was way overdue, and the creative excitement from the sparkly goodness - it all left me smiling all the way through to my core.  Good stuff.
Um, guess what colors I like?

I plan on spending some quality time with these goodies when I go on vacation in a few weeks.  I'll keep you posted!

More La Cuisine!

Samples just arrived of the newest version of the La Cuisine Recipe Binder: the "Deluxe" Binder now available at Barnes and Noble!
Still the same amazing quality product as the others, the Deluxe Recipe Binder is a slightly simpler version from the Ultimate Deluxe that has been selling at Sam's and Costco.  This one has a neato detail the others don't though, a coordinating memo pad & little veggie magnets - how cute is that?  What a clever (and affordable!) gift idea for the creative cook in your life!

And remember, when you've filled up the existing pages, I've still got your downloadable PDF refill pages that nicely coordinate with La Cuisine and Holiday Kitchen in my Etsy shop.

Original Art in the Shop!

I've just added more new items to my Etsy shop, including some fun little original paintings!

And remember, shipping by Christmas on all orders placed by 9am PDT on Tuesday the 21st.

Shoppingstuff

If you haven't checked it out lately, I've been adding new items to my Etsy shop every day!  Prints, handpainted items, fabric, cards ... maybe even just what you need to finish your own holiday shopping.
 

All orders placed by Tuesday, December 21, 9:00AM PDT are guaranteed delivered by Christmas.