An End To The Silence

The few of you following my blog (thank you, by the way) will have noticed that I did not post at all during August. Or if you did not notice that fact specifically, you probably did observe that a good while went by without so much as a whisper from me. No worries, nothing is wrong. I'm not sick, I'm not dying, and as you saw from my two recent posts, I have not changed my mind about becoming a doctor.

So why the silence? Reason #1: busyness. August was the-month-to-get-everything-done-before-school. And when you have a family, a house, a husband, and other such life elements, figuring out how to manage them on a totally different schedule takes some time, juggling, and preparation.

Reason #2: business. Yes, I have my own business, called The Artful Diner. As with most artists, I won't be able to retire off my income from it, but the extra money helps, and I enjoy it. As the name implies, my work has to do with dining. And indeed, I make decoupaged dishware and beaded / wire-wrapped utensils to sell online and at art shows. At the end of July, I heard about a local art fair that I really wanted to participate in. I signed up, paid my fee ... and then realized I needed more inventory. So I spent the next several weeks in full production mode. (My dining room -- aka my "studio" -- still looks like a hurricane swept through it, much to my husband's delight.) Here is a link to my Etsy.com storefront, and a few photos of my recent work.

My Etsy storefront link: The Artful Diner



Here are some coaster sets I have painted and decoupaged with marbled paper (this is a new thing I am doing now):

Another new item for my online store this season is pillar candle stands. These are flat pieces of glass, with paper (and often vintage ephemera) decoupaged on the underside, on which you can put a tall pillar candle. The wax drips onto the flat, glass surface, and you just scrape it off. Here are a couple photos of those:

A set of six small decoupaged bowls:

A decoupaged serving tray, complete with a stand:

So rest assured: I have not been idle with my time. Between the life busyness and my business, posting on my blog fell between the cracks. But I missed writing during that time, and especially writing about science and medicine, so you may also rest assured that I will not let that happen again.