Happy Chinese New Year… Happy New Lunar Year… Happy Spring Festival…
Whichever… you choose!!!

If it were only this easy… and a handful of new crayons
could end the issues of racism & promote equality around the world

A beautiful dream Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thanks for sharing.

It’s been so nice taking some time off these past few weeks.
Time off from both the pottery studio and my “glitter gig” responsibilities.
Time off for the holidays – both Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Time off to play with friends – sharing meals, stories & gifts.
Time off to watch FAR too much television!!! And I do watch too much TV.

And I seriously don’t think that my TiVO has EVER been empty!
Except maybe the first day when I first plugged it in?!!!

This window on my TiVo is usually filled with shows, hours & hours of TV all
piling up because I don’t have time to watch them! Many shows with that little
yellow symbol threatening to delete shows if you don’t watch them soon!

Now that I’m all caught up on my favorite shows…
I can’t wait to get back into the studio! Starting tomorrow!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year.
May it be filled with great times with family & friends, good health & fulfilled resolutions.
Many thanks to everyone who has helped make my 2011 a wonderful year. To all of you
who supported me, encouraged me or just stopped by with a friendly smile — thanks.
The path of a self-supporting artist is not always an easy one, but knowing that I have a
great support system out there to keep me going, makes it a lot more fun that going back
to a “real job” in the corporate world! Ha.

And as we begin a new Year, take time to reflect on my personal motto…
If it’s not fun, don’t do it.

It’s tonight!
I’ll be spending my New Years Eve with some old college friends, their kids,
and a LOT more friends of their kids down in Central Illinois. It’s become an
annual tradition. I laughingly refer to it as my “Norman Rockwell New Year’s Eve.”
We sit around all night and play games, eat too much fun food, goof off and then
bang pots & pans on the front porch at midnight. Nothing too raucous or rowdy.
Just some good old-fashioned fun with friends.

But what are YOU doing tonight for New Year’s Eve?
I found this wonderful will video by Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Sure, they may be big TV and movie stars, but they’re never too big to pick up a ukelele
and serenade us with a great holiday classic! And who doesn’t love a good ukelele?!!!

Two celebrities hanging out and asking that age-old question…
Click here for the video… “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

Every year, Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo becomes ablaze in holiday color & sparkle.With
the trees and buildings being splashed & adorned with festive lights of all colors & kinds.

Tonight, after a quick trip to Winter WonderFest at navy Pier, Amy and I spent the
evening wandering around the zoo taking in the lights & colors of “ZooLights.”
It was a perfect night… crisp & cool, but not freezing cold – and still no snow!

Sure anyone can wrap a tree with lights. And some were better than others.
I appreciate who they rapped the trunks & branches instead of trying to sting a “ball”
around the upper branches as though there were leaves still on the tree. And I really hate
when you can still see the string-line of the lights loosely draped throughout a tree.
I think highlighting the actual structure of the tree is so much more intriguing!

And then… as it there weren’t enough sparkle, color & fun…
I decided to take it one step further. Sure, the light-covered-canopy-tunnel was cool.
But with just a little movement of the camera and you can “paint” with color! And I did…

Now that the holidays have passed, this week is a perfect chance to catch up
with some of “My Talented Friends” to share stories, break bread and trade goodies!

Today I had lunch with two of my “ART DETOUR” cohorts… my friend & metalsmith
Sarah Chapman and potter-from-the-Northwoods Amy Higgason! We chatted and
shared some of our Christmas stories. As well as talking about some of our plans for
the upcoming year. With art fair application season right around the corner, it’s time
for all of us to consider where we want to be in the coming months! We had a nice lunch
at a local Thai restaurant – Amy’s choice as she doesn’t have Thai food in the Northwoods!
Along the way, there were also a few gifts shared, a few more trinkets purchased,
and we all left with more “goodies” than we came with!

Amy and I are both proud owners of some new “Chapman-wear”… me with a new
silver link bracelet and Amy with an incredible new ring. Custom-made by Sarah just for us!!!

I also added to my already expansive Christmas ornament collection…
adding two more Amy Higgason ornaments to the mix. Already on my tree…

Have I mentioned lately how much I love having “talented friends”???

This morning I finally put the last ornament on my advent calendar.
Which means Christmas Eve is finally here!!!

It’s an annual tradition beginning on December 1st of every year.
I put up this advent calendar that my Grandma Mills made for me years ago. And then
everyday, I put up another ornament to check off each day. It amazes me every year how it
seems to fill up so slowly for the first two rows of numbers. But get around to the bottom rows
and it seems like time starts speeding up! And before you know it… Christmas is here!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL.

One of my customers missed both Holiday Home Shows… so she contacted me
to ask if “the store was still open” and if she could stop by some time to shop.
Of course I said “YES.”

Well, she just left and apparently everyone on her holiday gift list
is getting one of my mugs this year! You gotta love those loyal customers!

And if anyone else needs to stop by for any last-minute gifts, just let me know!
Even if the aforementioned gift might be for yourself…

While the weather outside is by no means frightful…
it finally snowed today INSIDE Navy Pier! Christmas has come early!
Okay, so maybe it’s just fake “glitter” snow… but none the less, it’s snow!

It’s all part of my ongoing “glitter gig”… and this is a prime example of why I’m wearing glitter
a lot more frequently than I should be. In fact, that’s why I call it my “glitter gig.” Well this “gig”
is to convert the cavernous Festival Hall on Navy Pier into a Winter WonderFest. Complete
with an indoor ice skating rink, carnival rides, entertainment and some of the best holiday
decorations anywhere in the city! It’s a great holiday activity for kids of all ages! And “my part”
of the fun is decorating the Santa’s Village & Reindeer Express. A quaint little holiday town
where a train drives kids around to see the Village. It’s my job to make sure it’s “magical”
for the kids every year! And a little more glitter makes the snow sparkle… like it’s almost real?!

And in the center of the Village is the 42-foot Christmas Tree that can be seen from all ends
of Festival Hall. Decorated with thousands of lights & ornaments, and hundreds of golden
presents for the toy soldiers to stand guard over.