Ginny's Small Studio

Life in the Slow Lane

Hectic times here at Chez Smallenburg. The basement flooded because our sump pump failed. We have a finished basement with carpeting, base molding, furniture and stuff. Fortunately it wasn't too bad nd the company we called (PuroClean) was really fast and efficient. They took out the padding and brought in huge blowers and heaters and dehumidifiers to dry everything out. Did I mention really loud blowers and heater and dehumidifiers? Lucky for me I got to escape to Small Studio while John held down the fort. At the same time the sump pump had to be replaced which required John to spend more time at home. Now we are waiting for the padding to be replaced and the carpet relayed and on it goes.

A few new things at Small Studio this week.

New Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon:

Juicy, isn't it? Now it also comes in plaited cording:

We also have a number of greeting cards that are NOT Hallmark. Among them are some beautiful collage cards from Andrea Matus DeMeng.

And just in case you are missing an arm or leg for your next project, we have some.

GO FORTH AND CREATE!

Monday, Monday

What a glorious morning it is here in Northern Ohio. The view from the deck:

And my Hydrangeas are in bloom:

Doesn't all this renewal make you want to learn and create?

Well, my friends, get your act together and sign up for the following instructors in our workshop series at Small Studio here in the Cleveland area.

July 28-29 Carol Owen teaching Altered Books

Aug 24, 25, 26 Teesha Moore teaching Collage and Journals

Aug 24, 25, 26 Tracy Moore teaching Bookbinding, Jewelry and Journals

Sept 21, 22, 23 Pam Sussman teaching Bookbinding

Oct 5, 6, 7 Keith Lobue teaching Metalworking and Jewelry

What are you waiting for? An invitation? Here it is. We have so much fun at these workshops with a whole weekend and just one or two instructors. Most are multiple one day workshops with a couple of exceptions. All photos, descriptions and other details are online at our website. We would love for you to join us.

Customer's Artwork!

In a recent post I showed you a photo of Mary McVay, a customer and friend who made her Steampunk debut last Saturday at our social. Mary not only made her costume, but she gifted me with a piece of her artwork made just for the occasion.

It is even more lovely in person. So much work and time went into this piece and I am thoroughly honored and touched that it was for me. Thank you, Mary, thank you.

A bit of show and tell today from Theresa Loomis who took one of Leighanna Light's workshops in May at Small Studio. Theresa made this lovely little, juicy, chunky book with vintage tin ceiling tiles for the cover, but she didn't have time to embellish it in class. Here is the finished project:

I love show and tell days at the shop.

New arrivals for you at Small Studio:

Really wide ribbons!

Paper Mache Masks for you to embellish!

Moustache hooks to go with our collection great hooks. One of these mustache hooks would also make a very excellent beginning of a found object character.

Coming up the end of July in our Workshop Series is Carol Owen and a two day Altered Book workshop. Sign up now. Just go to our website, fill out the registration form and mail it to me with a check.

Are you on Facebook? I would love for you to go there and "like" our Small Studio fan page. You can go there right now!

ArtAbandonment

Have you heard about Michael DeMeng's and Andrea Matus DeMeng's newest endeavor? Leave art for the unsuspecting! Here is the plan in Andrea's words:

"Art Abandonment is a group designed to encourage random acts of art, left in various locations around the globe. The idea is that folks can make something and leave it for a lucky unsuspecting person to find. Artists can then post locations and photos of abandoned goodies…and finders can let everyone know that they are the lucky finder! O' sweet abandon!

So leave some art. Leave a contact email for the finder…and if you get notified share the message with this group. If you prefer you can use the contact email: i.found.artwork@gmail.com we'll be checking it often and share the results. Have fun!"

I love this idea. Join in and make someone smile.

Steampunk Social at Small Studio

Oh what fun we had last night at the Studio! The instigators of this event were the Sweethearts of Steam, Carla and Becci pictured below. They go all out with their costumes or personnas as the Steamers (or is it Punkers), say?

We had awesome music the entire evening by Captain John Stout who was just wonderful and set just the right mood for the evening with his sea shanties and folk music of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Customer and friend, Mary McVay, became a full-fledged member of the Steampunk Society with this great costume she made just for our event.

Anna Weisend, owner of The Grand Finale bestowed this totally edible and delectable cake. No wonder she wins cake decorating competitions. She told us the cake took 20 hours to make!

We didn't want to cut into the cake. We were all afraid to wreck it, but finally I just did it and it cut like a dream and was deemed delicious by all.

Jim of Griffin Works set up shop in the classroom and had a vast array of tooled leather and other accessories for the discerning Steampunk fan. He is a really great guy and quite the artisan.

Barbe Saint John, who taught her Industrial Geek Necklace during the day, came back and signed books in the evening. What a gal! Talented, fun and game for everything.

Here are a few more photos of those of us who came in costume. There were many of us who were shy about the costume part, but we all had fun, too. It was an evening of creative inspiration, music, food, laughter and a little shopping.

We are having so much fun with this new store. Thank you all for making this happen!

Oh My!

I am so making this the next time my grandkids come over: Bowl of Worms

Create tasty, edible worms. This recipe is simple and great for Halloween, April Fool's, or anytime you feel like snacking on wormy goodness! If you can make jello, then you can make these cool looking worms.

Ingredients 2 packs (3 oz) Raspberry jello 1 pkg unflavored gelatin (for extra firmness) 3/4 cup whipping cream 3 cups boiling water 15 drops green food coloring 100 flexible straws (or enough to fill your container) Tall container (1 quart or 1 liter carton of milk)

Directions 1) Combine gelatin in bowl and add boiling water.

2) Let it cool to lukewarm and then add the whipping cream and 15 drops green food coloring.

3) Gather your straws (don't forget to flex them out) and put them in the container. It's important that the straws have a tight fit so the jello stays in the straws. For this reason, a 1 liter carton may be better; you will probably get longer worms since there is a tighter fit. If you have a bigger container, a rubber band around the straws is helpful. Or you could just add more straws to fill the container.

4) Add the gelatin mixture to the straw-filled container and let it set until firm.

5) There are multiple ways you can remove the worms from the straws. You can roll a rolling pin over the straws and squeeze them out or you can hold the straws over warm water. The worms will slip right out.

And voila! Jello worms are served.

Recipe and photo from Instructables.

Comments?

Blog World

I got a phone call out of the blue from a woman I don't know who is writing a book about Strother Martin.

She is currently in the research mode and that is how she found me. She was doing a google search and came across this blog entry of mine about Strother. For those of you who may not recognize the name, Strother Martin was a character actor who was quite popular in the 70s and 80s. He played across from Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke" and is famous for the line "what we have here is failure to communicate".

I worked for Strother and his wife Helen for a few years as his personal assistant. He was a very nice man with a great sense of humor.

I had a good time talking to the author, but I am afraid I was unable to add much to her knowledge base. Funny, though, how things turn up in one's life.

Fajita Friday

We always go out for fajitas on Friday nights. It is our official Friday night date. What do you do?

In yesterday's shipment was this awesome industrial, round metal 41" diameter bookshelf. This morning John hung it for me. I love it. We can order one for you. Here is a close-up.

Hanging it required moving half of our authentic vintage framed London bus destination signs. They now reside in our classroom on the back wall and can still be viewed and purchased.

Also just in is this month's Jeanne D'Arc Living magazine.

Thinking of Summer

81 degrees today. Kids on skateboards zooming by. Teen girls in pretty sundresses and sandals stopping by the store. Not all of the local schools are out for summer. This is in front of the local middle school this morning on my way to the store.

Remember how antsy we all were the last week of school? Not much of value happened. There was a joyful feeling of impending freedom mixed with the sad realization that we would not see many of our school friends during the summer. The days stretched endlessly out in front of us and then it was over before we wanted. My friends and I spent our California middle school ("junior high" in those days) summer days at McCambridge Park. There was a public pool, dances on Wednesday afternoons, gym activities or just sitting on the grass in groups. Across the street was the Cornell theater, cool and dark in those unair-conditioned days. We walked downtown and got an ice cream at the drug store. We spent time at the library. We took turns going to each others homes to sit in the yard and talk or play cards or swim. One girlfriend had a shuffle ball court in her yard. Many of those memories include John. Sometimes our family would drive from Burbank CA to Rochester NY to see my grandparents and aunts and uncles. We would be treated to the North East summers, hot and humid. Our young cousins would ask us if we knew any cowboys or if we had horses at our "ranch house". The memories are sweet and probably a bit rose-colored. What kind of memories do you have?

Coming up on Saturday June 16...Barbe Saint John teaching "Industrial Geek Necklace" and our Steam Punk Social. You really need to join us. Stop by and check out what is new at the store, too.

Day Three: Michael deMeng

Michael played to a full room in this workshop "The Patron Saint of Discarded Goods". What fun. The students walked in with several armloads each of possibilities and walked out with very interesting and cool projects plus a plethora of new techniques in their arsenal. Here is just a sampling of student art:

I loved having the deMengs for house guests and for the store. We are so lucky to have so much talent here at Small Studio. Our workshop series has been well received and it is not too late to sign up for the rest of the series. Coming up we have Carol Owen teaching Altered Books, Teesha Moore teaching paper arts, Tracy Moore teaching metal and leather, Pam Sussman teaching bookbinding and Keith Lobue teaching metal and jewelry arts.

Day Three: Andrea Matus deMeng

The last day came so quickly. Andrea's last class was The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Here is a sampling of student art.

It was wonderful to finally meet Andrea and her students raved about her workshops. If you have an opportunity to take a class from Andrea, do it! Rumor has it that Andrea and Michael will return next year to Small Studio.

Andrea Matus deMeng, Day Two (cont)

We were really lucky to have a vacant store front right opposite our Small Studio so that we could have both Andrea and Michael teach at the same time. We had excellent attendance and plenty of room to work. All of the students created wonderful pieces of art, but my artistic ability does not include lighting experience while photographing so I am forced to pick and choose among the photos not based on artistic merit of the work but of the photographs. My apologies to the many students whose work is not shown among Andrea's and Michael's workshops. Below are some student samples from "Collaging the Translucent".

Fabulous workshops from both instructors. Fun, informative and creative.

Michael deMeng, Day 2

I know that you know that I am playing catch-up, but it is okay. We we're having too much fun to take time out to blog. The Saturday workshops were excellent also. Here is a sampling of Michael's Saturday student work for his "Assemblage of a Mad Watchmaker".

deMeng Day One (cont)

Andrea's class was made her students happy, too. They all walked out with wonderful canvasses which were huge (4'x2') and also difficult to photograph. Here is a sampling of the student's work:

We love this weekend.

deMeng Day One

We have been so busy and having so much fun with the deMengs, Michael and Andrea, that there has been no time to blog. I have always been very fond of Michael and now we have two deMengs to love. Andrea is not only talented, but she is smart and fun. This has been a wonderful weekend at Small Studio.

Friday Michael's workshop was Talking Heads...very cool.

This is just a sampling of student work. It is really difficult to take good photos in the classroom with the glare of the overhead lighting. Students had a great time.