Favorite Artist of the Week: Made by Hank

This is a sweet little pouch with a fun caramel wavy texture at the bottom by Made by Hank. Wouldn't it be cute for spring?

Straight From My Journal: Cinque Terre Trail

**This is another entry in the series "Straight From My Journal" where I pair my travel photography with the journal entry I wrote on that day.**

March 30, 2008
Cinque Terre, Italy

This morning we got up and out the door around 10:30 am and stopped for some pastries before hitting the Cinque Terre trail from our little town of Riomaggiore. It was simply a gorgeous view. We walked along a small rocky ledge along the cliffs of the Mediterranean Sea for hours. In each town we stopped and explored the town, taking pictures. Manarola was a quaint town with a short, easy walk to it. The next town, Corniglia was on top of a big hill and took a great deal of effort to vertically climb the winding trails to it. The fourth town, Vernazza, was charming and picturesque with a big bay and rocks to climb on. By then I didn't think my legs could take anymore, but we managed to walk another hour or more to Monterosso, the fifth city of the Cinque Terre. There were luscious lemon groves, olive trees, terraced farms, and stone farmhouses on this stretch of the trail. This is one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. All in all we walked 12 miles today- practically a half marathon and on a few mountains no less! I am quite proud of us!

100th Pillow Giveaway Winner: Emily Hunter

Thanks to everyone who entered to win my 100th pillow. I put all the names of people that made comments on my blog into a bowl today and drew out the winner.... Emily Hunter! Yay! I'll be contacting you so you can tell me how you want your pillow to look.

For those of you that didn't win, you can always shop for my pillows online at www.shutterstitch.etsy.com . Thanks again!

Art That Shaped Me

Artists that forever changed how I look at art and the world around me (clockwise from top right):

1. Wassily Kandinsky is probably my favorite artist of all time. I could sit and look at his paintings like Improvisation 31, for hours. He intuitively knows just where to brush the right colors on the canvas. I spent much of college trying to infuse that sense of color and freedom into my paintings.

2. Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, is not only a masterpiece of color theory and optical tricks but it is chock full of hidden meanings about the upper class. I was shocked to learn in art history class that the monkey in front of the woman is a symbol that she is a prostitute.

3. You gotta love Giotto. He has the most beautiful emotions on people's faces especially in this Lamentation painting. Not bad for the year 1303.

4. Andy Goldsworthy taught me to look at nature in a new way. Leaves, sticks, and rocks are art materials full of color and form. Create something beautiful and leave it for nature to destroy.

5. As a child I used to play this art auction board game with my cousin. We always fought over who would get On the Terrace by Pierre-Auguste Renior. To me, it depicted how life should be for a little girl, full of color, beauty, and fun hats.

6. Van Gogh's Starry Night is the only painting I've ever cried at when I saw it in person. Amazing. You literally want to stick your hand out and run it over every ridge in the paint.

7. Monet's Impression: Sunrise is the painting that started my favorite movement in art, Impressionism. You can't beat those blues with a hint of orange.

Spring Portrait Sale- 40% OFF

It's time for spring portraits and what better time to get some great shots than with a great sale? Take 40% off my regularly priced portrait session fee of $65 to make your session only $39. Book your session by May 1, 2009. The session can take place anytime between April 1- July 30. This offer is good for individuals, couples, families, pregnancies, babies, children, seniors, engagements, and even those of you who like to get your Christmas card photo done early!

Check out my online portfolio, affordable print prices, and additional information at www.shutterstitch.com .

100th Pillow Giveaway

You only have one more week to enter the 100th Pillow Giveaway. You don't need to buy anything, just follow the directions for entering below, on my post from March 4.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Holly Stalder

I'm in love with this layered silk chiffon dress by Holly Stalder. I can just picture myself wearing it in Rome, Italy at a cafe on a beautiful spring evening. Holly makes these dresses to order and can do them in any color. Fabuloso!

Straight from my Journal: Leprosy Colony, Nigeria

I'm starting a new regular feature on my blog called "Straight from my Journal." I always keep a journal when I travel, so I thought it might be interesting to pair my travel photographs with my journal entry from that day so you can see a little bit of what was going on behind the scenes of the pictures.

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March 21, 2007
Ogbomosho, Nigeria

For lunch today we had plaintains, fish, spinach with groundnuts cooked in it, and pounded yam. I liked the fish and spinach but think the pounded yam is probably considered the tofu of Africa- totally tasteless unless there is a sauce.

After lunch my family went to the leprosy colony called the Baptist Health Services Center. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I've never known anyone with leprosy or seen what it does. It seems like it slowly hardens fingers and toes and then they fall off or something. (Later I found out they don't really fall off. To read more about this look on Wikipedia.) Many of the people there are better now, but will not be accepted in their home villages because the villagers fear catching leprosy. While at the colony, we walked around and saw some of the buildings- a men's ward, a chapel, and individual houses where families lived. We prayed with several people, talked with them, touched them, and shook their hands. The people there were so happy to be touched because usually everyone else is scared to be near them. I wasn't scared because I learned that you can't get leprosy from touching someone. You have to live a long time in unsanitary conditions before that could happen. We gave out some lifesaver candy, candy bracelets, bouncy balls, and plastic jelly rings to our new friends there. The rings were a big hit with the women. I met a woman named Grace that gave me an African name. It is Ayooluwa (pronounced A-yo-o-lu-wa) which means the Lord's joy. This was probably my favorite day in Africa. The people were so happy to meet us and I really learned a lot that day about being grateful for what you have.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Hine

Check out the cutest camera cases I've ever seen. They are made by Hine, a Japanese illustrator, video artist, and crafter who lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Famous Photographs Recreated with Legos

I love anything made with miniatures so when I found these macro photographs by Balakov on Flickr, I was in photo heaven! Each one is of a famous photograph, recreated with Legos. Brilliant!

100th PILLOW GIVEAWAY!

I am so proud to announce that I have reached a milestone in my business...MY 100TH PILLOW! Right now I have made 99 pillows and would like to create a special 100th pillow for one of my fans. This is my way of thanking all my loyal customers and friends for their support of my business.

To enter to win the 100th PILLOW GIVEAWAY, all you need to do is:

1. Look through my website http://www.shutterstitch.com/ and decide which pillow is your favorite.

2. Then post a comment under this blog posting. In your comment tell me which pillow is your favorite and why. (Hint: the pillows all have names above their photos on the website). Include your name and some way for me to contact you if you win- like an email address. (If you don't want to leave your email address on the blog for privacy reasons, you can email me your contact info seperately at: shutterstitch@gmail.com.)

3. On March 31 I will put everyone's name in a hat that posted a comment on this blog about my pillows. Then I will close my eyes and draw one out of a hat. That person will win a totally free 14 x 14 inch quilted pillow. You choose the colors, patterns, style, etc! I'll even ship it to you for free! Hooray!

Here are the 99 pillows I've made:

1 Police
2 Grass
3 Rust
4 Strawberry
5 Banana Split
6 Bulldog Tooth Fairy
7 Chocolate and Blueberries
8 Elmo Tooth Fairy
9 Bulldog Tooth Fairy
10 Bear and Bee Tooth Fairy
11 Safari
12 Fire
13 Fun Florals Pinwheel
14 Fun Florals
15 Purple Psychadelic
16 All Batik and Hand-dyed
17 Hawaii
18 Georgia Bulldog Tooth Fairy
19 Pink Ballerina Tooth Fairy
20 Kitty
21 Summer of Sun
22 Red, Blue, and Cherries too
23 Angel Tooth Fairy Pillow
24 Custom for Charity
25 Pink Hydrangea
26 Pink Hydrangea
27 Funky Flamingo
28 Tape Measure
29 Eiffel Tower Tooth Fairy
30 Wild West Map Pillow
31 Carrot Cake
32 Heart
33 Blue Guitar
34 America
35 Grape Splash
36 Yellow Handkerchief
37 Wilderness
38 Tape Measure 2
39 Day at the Zoo
40 Spring Flowers
41 Spring Flowers
42 Georgia Peach
43 Crazy Kitty
44 Paper Doll
45 Poppy
46 Farm Tooth Fairy Pillow
47 The Grass is Always Greener
48 Southern Peach Map
49 City Girl
50 Flowers and Birdies
51 Strawberry Fields
52 Flamingoes
53 Sew Awesome
54 Birds and Bears Tooth Fairy Pillow
55 Plum
56 Yellow Safari
57 Custom for Colleen
58 Custom for Colleen
59 Blue Guitar 2
60 Ducklings Photo Pillow
61 Plum Crazy
62 Pumpkin Petals
63 Beachy Keen
64 Purple Peach
65 Poppy Pillow for Lark Books
66 Horse Photo Pillow
67 Sock Monkey
68 UGA Map Pillow for Kreslyn
69 Monkeying Around
70 Custom Tie Pillow for Kendra
71 Custom Pillow for Brian
72 Custom Pillow for Brian
73 Banana Rama
74 Blue Circle
75 Brown and Peach Stripes
76 Carrot Cupcake
77 Bulldog Tooth Fairy
78 Bulldog Tooth Fairy
79 Day at the Beach
80 Desert
81 Diagonal Blue
82 Hawaiian Tropics
83 Nature
84 Orange Jungle
85 Sunset
86 Black and White
87 Garden
88 Watermelon Punch
89 Brown and Red Athens Map
90 Blue and Yellow UGA Map
91 Blue and Green Circles Athens Map
92 Green Peace
93 Pink Athens Map
94 Red, Black, and White UGA Map
95 Red and Black UGA Map
96 Dotty Orange and Blue
97 Dotty Orange and Blue 2
98 Red and Black Stripey
99 Red and Black Log Cabin
100 ???

Snow Day!

Living in Georgia, we only get snow every couple of years. So when we had 6+ inches fall this past weekend it was pretty amazing! I haven't seen snow like this since I was in middle school.

You can see my portrait photography studio building here in the middle photo.

Customize your own TIE pillow

I recently made a pillow for an Etsy customer out of her grandfather's neckties. He had passed away last fall and she wanted to give the pillow to her mother on her mother's birthday. The tie pillow turned out so well and was such a neat idea that I am going to start offering custom tie pillows as a regular product in my Etsy shop. It's a great way to remember or honor someone special like a father, grandfather, brother, boyfriend, or husband. (By the way,the little embroidered 22 in the corner is for his lucky number.)

Here's what my customer said about her pillow:

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I gave my mom the pillow yesterday and she LOVES it. There were a lot of tears. And a lot of thanks yous. So my hat's off to you for all the great work. -Kendra

Spring Pillows at Helix

I just took a new batch of Shutterstitch pillows to Helix, a hip gift store in downtown Athens that sells my work. Go check them out before they are all gone. One of my most popular pillows is the "Athens map" pillow or "UGA map" pillow. The maps are printed on fabric, quilted so that they puff up, and are washable.

Favorite Artist of the Week: The House of Mouse

Who doesn't love miniatures? This adorable Frida Kahlo Mouse comes with a photo of herself and Diego Rivera as well as her signature unibrow.

The House of Mouse, on Etsy, hand sews each mouse using felt, silks, ribbon, glue, paper, card, wire, beads, monofilament and stuffs them with polyfil.

Too cute!

Cards for Africa

Here is another great non-profit called Cards for Africa. This helps families affected by AIDS and genocide in Rwanda. There are all types of cards from birthday and thank you cards to wedding and valentine cards.

Global Mamas

My Mom just introduced me to this wonderful non-profit called Global Mamas. They help women in Africa earn a fair, sustainable livelihood by making clothing, accessories, and home decor. All proceeds go directly to the women and to non-profit programs that assist them with business development.

I loved so many things on their website, but finally ended up purchasing a bag, shirt, and skirt. I can't wait for them to arrive in the mail!

Favorite Artist of the Week: Satisfactory

I LOVE these cozy jersey cotton scarves by Satisfactory. This one is printed with an image of horses on it. Can't you imagine cuddling up in it on a cold day?

The Making of a Quilted Shutterstitch Pillow

Step 1- I pick out harmonious colored fabrics and cut them into strips with my rotary cutter.

Step 2- I arrange the strips so they create a nice composition with well balanced colors and patterns.

Step 3- The strips are sewn together.

Step 4- I machine quilt batting onto the back of the pillow top to make it "puff out".

Step 5- The envelope style backing is sewn on.

Step 6- Wa-la! The pillowcase is finished. I will then stuff it with a pillow insert and it will be on its merry way to its new owner.

Recycled Fabric Cards

I am trying to recycle as much as possible and have been making these cute fabric cards out of the scraps of fabric leftover from my pillows. I was inspired by a Pippi Longstocking book with fabric illustrations that I saw at my school. The cards are available on my Etsy shop.