Whirlwind January

January was an insanely busy start to the new year!

At the beginning of the month, Bitter/Sweet (showing my work along with works by fellow artist Linda Diec) opened at the Ohio Art League Gallery. It was my first gallery show that wasn't in a retail shop, restaurant, or at Junctionview Studios - so I was really excited! I worked so hard creating brand new work for the show.

Bitter/Sweet received some excellent press - including a shout-out in the Alive's winter arts calendar and a full-length feature article in the Columbus Dispatch.

In early January, I was also working on rallying the troops to vote for me in the GCAC's Columbus Arts Festival commemorative print competition (see previous blog post for more info). To my delight, I won the poster contest - and my design will be featured as a print to purchase

in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Columbus Arts Festival.

That very same week, my Sweet Stella Designs jewelry line was featured in the Style section of the Columbus Alive - and some close-up shots of my Tiny Treats necklaces were even included on the splash page of the print version of the paper.

You can read the article online HERE.

And in other Sweet Stella Design news: my jewelry is now available at 3 new retail locations: Magpie (Somerville MA), Anthology (Madison WI), and the Glitter Workshop (Madison, WI).

Featured!

Yesterday, one of my rings was featured on the Lark Crafts blog in a posting called "I Want Candy"!

If you're a fan on my confectionary jewelry treats, then this round-up will be right up your alley :)

Sweet Tooth

I have been polymer clay crazy lately! This typically happens every now and again, as I take out my enormous clay stash, my tools, and all the other accessories and add-ons that accompany. I figure, Well, while all this stuff is out, I might as well get as much use out of it as possible!

The first photo is of a little blueberry muffin charm I made. It was my first attempt at making a clay muffin, and I think it turned out great! A little hard to photograph, though...maybe I'll be saving this one for Tiny Canary and won't be listing it on my Etsy shop page.

Here are some other things I've been working on:

Dessert Pastries Ring

Apple Core Necklace

New York Pastries Charm Bracelet

Fall Sweet Treats Jewelry Set

Just Desserts Pin

And finally, my favorite: Rainbow Cake Earrings! I made them to sell, but I fell in love with them and just couldn't part with these teeny little cake slices. I think I will make more cake slice earrings: maybe carrot cake and yellow cake w/chocolate frosting. My little experiment for the New York Pastries charm bracelet turned it to a great find!

Check back soon for more new photos!

Trunk Show Goodness!

Thanks to everyone who came out for my very first trunk show @ Wholly Craft! Special thanks to Olivia for being such a lovely hostess and making sure there were plenty of sweet treats for all to enjoy.

The candy dish says it all!

This is what I've been doing for the past month.

Mmm...cupcakes.

More of my jewelry.

The gummies at the refreshment table were a bit hit!

Enjoying some conversation.

Me @ the snack table. What else is new?

Time To Make The Donuts!

Mmmm...look at these yummy donuts! Too bad they're FAKE. Sadly, they are not edible; rather, they're part of an art piece I am working on for the Agora art show in October.

They start out as donut-shaped lumps of lightweight air-dry clay which are painted in a variety of cake-related shades.

Then, I "frost" them with a seemingly endless combination of acrylic paints, glosses and glazes. And then comes the fun part: sprinkles and drizzles!

The artwork below is about 85% complete. There will be a lovely surprise at the end. But I'm not giving it away now. You'll just have to come to the art show and see for yourself!