Hurry 2009!

We’ve been working hard at the gallery lately. Therefore, in the next week or two there will be less posting from moi, as I try to finish up things. It’s coming along and tonight we put our vinyl signs on the window, which was reassuring that this is coming together and we are doing this!

Thank you everyone for reading and following my little blog the past year. I’ve met some lovely friends here and I am looking forward to the year ahead!

Here are some New Year Resolutions I can keep. I am going to keep them short and simple:
• more art, less wasting time
• enjoying my time more with close friends
• eating less fast food – bringing lunch to work
• find time for excerise
• make more soup from scratch!
• go to Iceland with Drew
• carry my Holga + Diana around more
• sketch more
• love more and spend less time on the computer!

* above all, simplify, simplify, simplify!*

Have a good New Years everyone! I will be at a honky tonk in Chicago and with my closest off friends ringing in the New Year! There’s no better way to start off the New Year than with my favorite people.

Happy Holidays to friends far and near!

Firstly, please check out my interview at CARMINE MAGAZINE . I hope it sounds alright, this was post-Renegade craft fair and I was wiped out! They did a great job laying it out and I’d like to thank the people at Carmine for giving me the opportunity.

I am impressed and touched by those who make you feel all warm and fuzzy during the holidays. So often I use the lame excuse of “being so busy,” but then these people who go out of their way are busy themselves, juggling full time jobs, travel arrangements, young kids, and what not. It’s that human touch that makes it wonderful – the thoughtfulness. I am thankful for all my friends – far and near, old and new, who have made this year wonderful. It’s nice to take the time away from our busy lives to thank one another with simple gestures of kindness.

I am in need, no doubt, of a mental break. My day usually consists of waking up at 6:15am (but lately 6:40) going to work via Chicago transit and coming home around 6:30pm and attempting to make dinner with the boy. By the time we are finished cooking, eating, and cleaning it’s closer to 8:00. Usually at this time I try to find the mental capacity to work on freelance, make art, or update things (like my website blog or catch up on emails). This usually leaves for a late night and continues onto the next day without a missed beat. In turn, I’ve been bringing lunch a lot less to work and finding myself at the mercy of fast food, sleeping less, and feeling just down. 2008 was just fine for me, but rough on many others and we can all only hope that 2009 will bring about new changes. With that in mind, please remember to be kind and let’s hope for peace and happiness in the new year. Merry Christmas!
I will leave you with the matryoshka dolls I painted for Christmas gifts… enjoy!

xoxo,
Cindy

A Handmade Christmas

Wow, it’s a bit cold today in Chicago. All I have to say is – thank goodness for the Chicago Transit bus tracker! I usually plan my escape from the outdoors and right onto a bus by checking how where I bus is in relation to where I am going on and which direction I am headed. I implore all car-less Chicagoans to utilize this amazing system during the winter months!

I must say, I am pretty proud of myself – everyone is receiving handmade gifts this season. With family and friends and with Drew, we all decided to not overdo it this year, and in turn I’ve really enjoyed this season thus far knowing none of my gifts are mass produced or manufactured overseas. Maybe this will start a new tradition!

A sneak peak of some gifts. I really need to finish my hand painted matryoshka dolls! That is my goal today.

Here are a few more lovely things I picked up at the Renegade craft fair!

Left photo: Necklace by Orange Slice . Orange Slice has beautiful pieces and is out of San Francisco. Visit her etsy for her beautiful wares. The photos on the right are from one of my favorite letterpress printers – A. Favorite Design. Amber Favorite is the creative mind behind the high quality design and letterpress work. You can buy her paper goods here. Amber is also super nice and was the inspiration behind me buying a fairly large, 80 year old, 2,000lb piece of equipment. The morning I decided to buy it, I had just finished looking at her studio space photos on her website and was super frustrated at work. More on that in a few months.

Hideout Holiday Sale!

Tuesday, December 23 come visit me at the Hideout Holiday Sale with an array of other sales! Hope to see you there. I will not only be a vendor, but doing some last minute shopping as well.

h o l i d a y

{non related art note}
Drew and I are planning a trip, since plane ticket prices seem to be lower now. We are thinking – Iceland in April. Has anyone ever been or could give us info? We found a great ticket to Australia too, but transportation within the country seems expensive. Any other ideas on travel? We are in need of a break!

Renegade Favs, Part 1

It’s hard not to spend money on yourself during the holidays. My big treat was adding one of Elizabeth Soule’s photo pieces to my art collection. I was torn between so many, but finally decided on the Deer and Vines on a wooden box frame. I already feel like my deer needs a friend, so I have been eying her other images. You can too on her etsy. It was wonderful meeting her and talking about Portland too. Now there’s a place I would like to visit again! She also has a wonderful blog.

Of course, while manning my booth I noticed Kindling’s little wood stumps and thought to myself, “Now, that would look really nice with my new esoule photo and with Polaroids of our road trips…” So, I picked up two of those. The stumps compliment esoule’s photo nicely, don’t you think?

In other news, I have been completely exhausted lately. It must be work and the fact that I hardly see any daylight and by the time I get home from work, I look at the clock at it’s already late! I’m hoping to enjoy the holidays with family and friends while working on a few small projects and the gallery. I often find if I work from home or when I get off early on my half days, I get so much more done and I feel so much better. I often have a little extra time to make some soup from scratch, which is what Drew and I have been enjoying for dinner lately. I actually better get off to bed! I’ve been hitting it early lately trying to make up for the lack of energy.

Bonne nuit!

p.s. please vote for me here at the Paper + Stitch website! The shop with the most votes gets a free month.

Art Giveaway WINNER!

Jeanne is the winner of art giveaway numero tres! Jeanne, please email me your mailing address at my email: ctomczyk@gmail.com

Thanks for playing!

More Ptaki!

Here are two more versions of the Wycinanki Letterpress Print in two different colors and on a different paper. Both of these are now in the shop.

Time for a break!

The Renegade Holiday show was wonderful. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold to come out. It was nice seeing friends and making new ones! I plan to write more about it later this week, but for now I am taking a little break, drinking some wine, and getting sleep!

{fill in the blank} opening!

Mark your calendars now! On Friday January 30th from 8 -11pm we are having our first opening. We will be hanging our art + goods up as an introduction to who we are. In February we will jump start our artist showcasing Tim Campbell’s and Alice DuBois’ paintings.

Hope to see ya’ll there! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!