Enter My Contest - Name the New Kitty

I lost my senses today. I was sort of impulsive and even a little irrational. But I fell in love, what can I say? I adopted a new kitten from the county animal control shelter all because I follow their tweets. For some reason, this tweet from them caught my eye the other night:

Isn't Nemo absolutely darling? http://bit.ly/1mEWST

That's all they wrote and when I clicked on it, this little guy didn't just catch my eye, he stole my heart. So today, I dropped everything, drove to the next town over, applied to be a "cat adopter" and brought him home. He came with the name "Nemo" but I don't really like this name very much. And I've been thinking as hard as I can and nothing is coming to my mind (unusual, I know! Ha ha!)

So I'm having a contest to "Name the New Kitty." The prize will be a $20 gift certificate for either my Artfire or Etsy shop, but mind you, this ISN'T a drawing....I'll choose a name that I really like and give full credit where credit is due!! Just leave your ideas in the comments here--and then make sure I'll be able to reach you (or check back to see if you've won!) Fun! After all, if I can fall for him just based on a snap shot...maybe one of my creative blog readers can have a "flash" of inspiration looking at the same thing?

Hey, it's worth a shot because I'm just coming up blank....and don't think this is just a "girl contest" guys...surely you have a wife, sister, mother, boss, employee, etc. who might like a little something from one of my shops as a Christmas present? See what I mean? It's open to everyone and if more than one person comes up with the same name that I like--then the first one to post it will be declared the winner.

Some notes about his personality: He's very mellow. In fact, my vet pointed out he had the laid back style of the ragdoll cat. He can't meow at all--he opens his little mouth and nothing comes out--it's weird, I know, but the vet wasn't concerned about it. But my goodness, he purrs like a lawnmower. It's just amazing the 2 pounds of kitten can produce such a rumble! And as is typical of many male cats, he's very affectionate. Finally, I think he may grow up to be pretty big because his little feet are about the size of quarters!!

So this contest will stay open through Sunday 11/22/09 at midnight C.S.T., OR later if nothing turns up that "does it" for the new kitty's new name. Thanks so much for playing along--I'm such a happy lady this evening--you should see me, I'm grinning from ear to ear. The process of introducing him to Red and Mariah is now in progress.....

Winter Ready Flower Buds

I find these buds to be just fascinating, even a bit miraculous. They are formed during the summer and will go through the entire winter in the state photographed here. And the fact is, they don't just survive stretches of seriously subzero weather--but will open in about March to be large magnolia blossoms. Seems sort of incredible, especially when I think about how delicate those flowers are when opened.

I adore pussy willow buds, and these are a fair substitute and last much, much longer. I'm thinking about how I might try to reinterpret these as wearable art....hmmmmmm? To be continued.....

Meanwhile, yes, the photography continues, too. Boy, I've got a lot of new work here! I must have been "in the zone" because it seems, it all just sort of "happened!" The new widget for my Etsy shop, on the top right sidebar here, scrolls through work now listed in the WillOaks Studio Etsy shop.

What a Day - Beginning new photos

I'm getting just a little bit ahead here with posting these photos. But not really because I worked to get a lot of new work finished for the past 2 weekend shows, but then ran out of time to take photographs of the new work. But I'm ahead in that I'm posting some of the photos here before I have the full photo spread finished to actually list these pieces in my shops...I should finish and list tomorrow, I hope.

Meanwhile, it was really a gray and gloomy day here, and I only had a couple of hours to get going on this "photo catch up" this morning before I had to hit the road to take care of some things. I was concerned that my existing light might also be a bit gloomy, so I tried moving a big mirror over to my photo area to intercept the window light and throw it back into my set up. It helped some, I think.

I'm really fascinated by how these clear crystal pieces...and there are several different ones still to finish...translate as if they were shot in black and white. There might be some pretty cool design possibilities here...to be continued! And this simple neck piece was designed to be worn from choker style to longer length, where the crystals begin to drape in a lovely "U" shape. There's a jet black version in the works...same shapes and design, very different effect.

I've also been back into making my signature pearl neck pieces, and this new one incorporates a spectrum of "brandy citrine" rondelles which range from deep brandy brown to pale yellow paired with very pale peach tinted natural pearls. I organized the citrine so that the deepest color is in the front ordered to the palest ones in the back. This piece is assembled on knotted, fine leather that I hand dyed in my effort to get more "browns" into my palette. While I do like the "ready made" brown leather that I use quite a bit...these hand dyed leathers do have a little more natural variation, which is also a nice contrast.

Finally, due to the chilly day, I turned around to find Red and Mariah looking just too cute as they cuddled in my big chair...and I love the contrast of the red and black. Kind of seasonal, aren't they?!

Wordless Wednesday (Italy)

Exhibition Summary

Thanks so very much for all the kind and encouraging remarks and wishes on my "Etsyversary" yesterday. It means a lot to get a pat on the back now and then, for sure, and I'm very happy to get feedback from my readers and fellow bloggers!

To backtrack a couple of days, here are some images from the recent show I was in last Sunday. It was pretty big! And it was all jewelry, which made it pretty darn competitive....I have to wonder, since I'm pretty new at the face to face approach here, if being included in a more mixed group of vendors wouldn't be a better format? It's certainly something to consider, now that I've participated in one of each the past 2 Sundays.

But I did get some fairly decent photos during the show, and I'm happy to include shots of my own set up because I felt I learned a few things from the weekend before and made a few changes and improvements, so that was satisfying. I kept it so simple. The boxes: shoe boxes, file boxes, wine boxes-that I packed all my stuff into got emptied at the show, covered in fabric, and used to set up some staging for the pieces. I did see some pretty elaborate display set ups, and also some even simpler than mine. It was very educational. I also met a number of really nice people both as customers and as vendors...including a fair number of folks who are also using Etsy. The common thread was--everyone was from Chicago and the surrounding area.