Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category

First Post of the New Year

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Due to the normal Holiday business, followed by a website crash and life in general, I have not gotten here to update in a while…. (nothing new).  Now that the year is nearly 3 weeks old, I am getting some new photos out of the camera and into the computer. Here are a few random photos and thoughts from the past month or so….

First Snow of 2011

First Snow of 2011

This has been an odd winter…. the photo above shows our first “real” snow of the season… on January 12…. Up until now, we barely had a dusting of white, but the weather has been brutally cold and windy.

5 Generations

I was lucky to have much of my family together this year at Christmas. This is one of my best gifts…. A 5 generation photo with  my Gram, Dad, Me, Aaron, Andrue and Jenna. It’s rare to get  this group together at one time, and getting a photo is even trickier to do.

Cleaned Glass on Shelves

I just had to add this photo…. I love to collect glass, and this is just one of 3 walls in the livingroom that has a glass display. After I got the wreath orders done, it was time to catch up on house cleaning. The glass inevitably collects dust, dead bugs, and cobwebs…. everything has to come off the shelves, is washed and returned to the cleaned shelves. I even replaced the Christmas lights that are strung along the shelves. The old lights had been there at least 10 years. The little quilts hanging below the shelves are a set of journal quilts that went to the Quilt Festival in Houston back in 2005.

My Tree 2010

My little tree lives here in the corner all year…. It gets a yearly dusting, polishing and this year, it got new pink bows to coordinate with the wreaths I decorated for our front door and the bus stop at the end of the driveway. A couple of Jenna’s favorite buddies live on the back of the couch.

Christmas Dominoes

Back to the Christmas gathering…. Zack was home from Texas, and is here holding Jenna while playing a game of dominoes with Gram and a couple of his cousins. Jenna is giving one of her “cheese” poses….

New Ironing Board Cover

Ahhhh, back home again, I started cleaning and attempting to organize my studio. Here is my ironing board in a very rare state… I got it cleared off and decided it was time to replace the cover. It has been a little while  since I did the new cover, and so far I have been able to keep it gunk free. It seems that I always end up fusing something to a new cover…. hopefully I will be more careful with this one…. at least for a while. The rest of the studio is still in a state of being sorted out and organized. I definitely need to get the organizing part done so I can find what I need when I want it.

Collage ATC's with Flower Photos Added

I have done a  couple of art related projects so far this year… The above photo shows a group of art cards being worked on for an exchange. I glued paper from junk mail and my new “bleeding” tissue paper onto a not so great fabric. The result was a bunch of bright, spring-like cards.  Not much sewing has happened yet, but I hope to be changing that soon.

If all goes as planned… I will be trying to keep up much better with my art and blogging this year.

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ArtFire, A Handmade Seller’s Marketplace

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

The other side of ArtFire…. Selling…

(Info updated Jan. 2012)

Artfire is not only a great place for buyers to find unique items to purchase, it is a great place to get your artwork or handmade items in front of people from all over the world to sell it. In the previous post, I showed a picture of my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on ArtFire.  Please pardon any rambling in this post, but there is so much I want to say…. I will have lots of links to take you right to the source for much of the information.

I heard of ArtFire.com nearly 3 years ago, and tried out that first studio, not knowing what would happen. Now I have 3 studios there. I began on Etsy and had multiple shops there, but have moved my items from there. Etsy is a great place for some people, but I have found ArtFire to be a better “fit” for me and my work. This post will let you know why I prefer Artfire for my main online sales presence.

Andrus Gardens Quilts- Art Quilts ArtFire Front Page

Since first writing this, the look of studio pages has been upgraded…. The photo above shows the new version.

The photo above is a screenshot of my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on Artfire, where I have my Art Quilts and Note Cards.

Andrus Gardens Designs Fabric and Pattern Studio on Artfire, Sue Andrus

Pattern and Fabric Studio

As an artist, or craftsperson, one can set up a studio and list items  for sale for very little or even no cost to try things out. There are many sites that can host retail stores or shops such as  Ebay, Etsy, and others, who charge a fee for each item listed for sale, and then charge another fee based on the selling price of the item after it sells. The great thing about ArtFire is that you can give things a test drive for a month with no fee at all if you want, Using this link. The above photo is a screenshot of my newest studio Andrus Gardens Designs, that was one of the original free Basic studios which are no longer available, and all shops now have a monthly fee and all can be personalized the way you want (since originally writing this, it is now a Pro studio and looks a lot different).  There is no playing the re-list game (and paying to do it) trying to get items to the top of pages, as items are selected randomly, or based on your tags and descriptions for search results, not by when they were listed. Every item is also submitted to Google base so they can be found in searches quicker. Anyone can also take advantage of many Tutorials and Help Guides where they can learn pretty much anything you need to know to get set up and become successful.

Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on Artfire, Sue Andrus

Sue's Artfire Art Studio 2

Above is another pic of my Art Quilt Studio- Andrus Gardens Quilts

The Pro (or paid) account is now $12.95 per month (Jan. 2012), and that covers everything.  Since I tend to trip over my brain trying to get things into words (and to keep rambling to a minimum), here is a Link to ArtFire’s Seller Page where you can find all kinds of information and find out how to get a free one month trial.  Use this link for a referral program where you can get your 3rd month free in addition to giving me a free month too!

I also can place widgets in the right sidebar of the main page as seen in the last photo of my Art Quilts Studio to link to my other sites I would like people to go to…  (Above photo is of the old version of the studio set-up… Things are a little different looking now)

Fine Art Photography

Talk about grabbing eyes…. the above Collection is one I made from items found in both of my first studios. (Update- 01-21-2012, New Collection- Any empty spaces in the collection mean those items have sold since it was made!) Unlike the Treasuries on Etsy, the collections here can be used for promoting your own items, too, and there is an easy widget feature to help you place it in your blog or wherever, like I did here!  Collections can be chosen for the front page feature, and of course, one with all my own items would not qualify for the front page.

OK, I’ve rambled enough for now….. If you can’t tell, I am very impressed with how ArtFire is set up and run. I have even been a part of the Maven’s Team, and have been able to help test out and try to “break” new pages, and features to be sure that when new things are open to the whole community, the bulk of the bugs are worked out already.  It is a great community to belong to, and one that is ready to help others be successful, too.

Oh yea, see on the sidebar of this blog……>  The “Rapid Carts” are made really easily from the studios, too and can be used on blogs or websites….

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ArtFire, What is it? A Place to Buy Handmade

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

If you have read my blog(s) much, you have seen me mention and even link to my studios on Artfire.com. In case you haven’t heard of ArtFire, or have wondered what it is, here is a bit information for those who might want to take advantage of their venue as either sellers or buyers. This first post will deal with ArtFire from the buyer’s perspective, and a separate post will give information from a seller’s perspective.

Artfire Main Page

The photo above shows the Main Landing Page of Artfire.com.  What is ArtFire??  As described on the site- “ArtFire is the Artisan Marketplace home to artists from around the globe. Our community celebrates and supports art and creativity in all forms. Thank you for shopping on ArtFire, you are supporting independent artists from all walks of life. You can start your exploration of the Artisan Marketplace by choosing any of our categories“. (By the time you read this, the front page and other pages may look different, as ArtFire is updating their look as they move out of Beta- the site will work the same, just look a bit different).

Another way to describe it- ArtFire is like a huge mall full of many shops and boutiques, just online instead of in a physical building.  The shops, or studios as they are called, are full of various handmade items, jewelry, fine art, vintage items, and even craft and jewelry supplies.

If you are looking for a Unique and Different Gift for a special someone (or for yourself),  this is a great place to shop.

Unique Gift Guides Page

A great way to start browsing is to begin at the Unique Gift Guides page, where you will see collections of items curated by members of the ArtFire community (photo above, and one of the newer pages).  You can also browse items in various categories by clicking on links in the sidebar. If you are looking for something more specific, you can even search items with any keyword to narrow down the possible items to look at.

ArtFire Certified Handmade Badge

If you are someone who wants to be sure you are getting something actually handmade by the artisan, studio owners can apply for the Handmade Logo to be placed on the front page of their qualifying studios. Artists and crafters who are Pro members have to go through a review process by specifying how their items are made, sending photos of their workspaces, and works in progress before this logo is awarded. You will also find many great handmade items in studios without this logo, but there may be other items with them that are not handmade such as supply items.

Purchasing items from  the various artisans is an easy process. Unlike many other venues, a buyer doesn’t need to sign up or join in order to complete a purchase. You deal with the individual artisans, and can pay for your purchases via various methods which can vary from studio to studio. PayPal, Google Checkout, and Amazon Payments and more can be accepted. Each item page shows the payment options available.

Sue's ArtFire Art Quilt Studio

The above photo is a screenshot of my Art QuiltStudio. I have had two studios for quite a while now- One for my Art Quilts and Note Cards, and the other has my Book Covers, Jewelry, Postcards, Tote Bags, and More. I just opened a third one that will contain my patterns, my painted fabrics, kits and supplies. Each studio is like a separate boutique or shop, with the personalities of the owners showing through. All 3 of my studios have similar colors and banners that I designed. In each studio you can access more information about the seller on the artisan’s bio page where Pro members often show photos of their work spaces.

A fun way to browse is to check out what the artisans are drooling over by checking out the Collections tab. Collections are new here, and are groups of items that members have chosen based on themes, colors, occasions, or just because they like them. The new front page will be showing these soon.

My Artfire Collections Page

If you click on the Collections tab in my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio, you will see some of the collections of items I chose (above photo). Most of these are things that grabbed my eye as I was “wandering” the site.

Fine Art Photography

Above is one of the collections I curated  and called “Glorious Glass”. It contains items that I really love from some great glass artists. I LOVE glass, and collect it (I also dream of being able to do something similar myself… yea, I said I was dreaming…), so this is kind of a wish list. By seeing collections other people curated, I get a chance to see things that I might not have found other ways. By using the widget to put this collection here on my blog, I am also making it possible for anyone visiting to purchase one or more of these items just by clicking on here, which takes you to the collection page where you click on the item again and you are ready to make the purchase. How fun is that!!

Just in case you might be interested in seeing what is in my Andrus Gardens Gift Items Studio, Check out the collection I made to show off some of my book covers below.

Handmade Gifts

I have many more items available in this studio, but the collection is a way for me to show off related things easily.

As you can see ArtFire has made a wonderful marketplace to shop at. They have also made it very easy for artists like me to sell our work. The things that make shopping easy for the customer, also make this a great place to sell from. I will have a  post tomorrow with more information on the selling aspect of ArtFire, but if you don’t want to wait, just follow this link to ArtFire Getting Started as a Seller page.  There is a lot of information about the options available for paid (Pro) and free (Basic) selling accounts. Also, if you would like the chance to try a Pro account with all the bells and whistles at a super locked in low rate, check out the ArtFire Group Deal page.  ArtFire is a wonderful community with lots of support from other sellers as well as a customer support staff that actually answers emails and phone calls from you if you have any questions about anything- from buyers or sellers.

I better end this thing before I keep rambling on and put everyone to sleep…. Be sure to check back tomorrow for more information about being an artisan studio owner, and how easy it is to set up your online shop.

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Welcome to the New Location of My Blog!

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

This has been a long time in coming…. I have wanted to add my blog to my website, and use WordPress to do it so anyone wanting to comment on a post didn’t have to join Vox to comment. I know a lot of people don’t want to sign up for anything more than necessary these days.

Ken in his chair with leg warmers

The first Photo upload worked!!

There are bound to be a glitch or two while I get things running better here… I will be trying to move my posts from Vox to here, but that may be easier said than done…. Hopefully the next post will be soon, and will be after all is moved and set up as much as is possible.

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Happy New Year!

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Another year gone and a new one has begun…. Looking back, 2009 was not a year that I would want to re-live…. Quilt wise, I didn’t accomplish much at all. I couldn’t seem to crawl out a super creative funk…. I did have a few short lived bursts of creativity, but only a fraction of past years.

My main goal for 2010 is to spend more time creating my art and quilting. I have realized that I need that creative time for my mental as well as physical health. I plan to get back to keeping up with the Fast Friday Fabric Challenges again, and participate more in other groups on and offline. I will try to not over-think what I am working on, and embrace the diversity of my creations instead of worrying about focusing on a certain direction. I enjoy working with my sunprints, flower photos, rocks and stone walls, and more. I have tried to put it all together into a more cohesive body of work. Maybe if I just let whatever wants to come out at the time happen, I may find that there is a thread that connects things.

Aunt Fern in Garden

While spending the time I did with my grandmother, I scanned some old photos she had. This photo jumped out at me…. I have been taking more and more photos of old houses, barns and other abandoned and deteriorating structures. I tend to wonder what some of these would have looked like when they were occupied and taken care of. I added beautiful flower gardens around the photo of the run down house on the road I live on for “Water Road House”, and also used that house as inspiration for “My Dream House”.  This photo of my great aunt shows what I have been imagining… The somewhat wild, full garden of blooms around the house and garage.  I also have memories of a great grandmother working in her gardens when I was young. These memories, photos, and my love of gardening seem to be merging into some of my latest works

Water Road House- SOLD

My Dream House

I have no idea what this new year will bring…. Last year I wanted to find more focus in my work, but trying to make myself work in a certain direction didn’t seem to work well. This year if I plan to “just do something”, I may find myself creating more, and may even surprise myself at what turns up.

Additional goals are business related, and involve moving my blog to my website, blogging more regularly, promoting

my work differently (better), and more. Scheduling time each day for creating, business things, and whatever may help me to reach my goals. The new year brings new challenges and new hope….

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The Wreaths are Done!

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

The wreath workshop has officially been closed for the season…. It will now turn back into a woodworking shop again.

I finished my orders of wreaths and grave blankets and all were gone by this past Monday.

Fraser Fir with Cone Spikes

Here is one of the branches of Fraser Fir that are literally a pain to work with…. the cones shatter, leaving behind the spiky centers… If I needed to use these branches for wreaths, I had to cut off the spikes… really adds to the time needed to construct things.

Concolor Fir

In direct contrast to the spiky, sharp Frazer cone centers, is the softness of Concolor Fir. The Concolor is used mostly in the grave blankets. The needles are a bit long and sparse to make nice full wreaths, but the flexibility of the branches make them perfect

Grave blanket Beginning

The grave blankets are constructed on a base of wire with appx. 1″x3″ openings. the stems of the branches are woven into the wire base until it is covered and the greens hang out the desired size around the edges. The Fraser Fir is the bluer looking variety, along with some Scotch Pine- longer needles.

Large Grave Blanket Finished

This is the finished product- This is the largest blanket I make- appx. 3′x6′ in size, with extra decorations in addition to the bow, cones and berries I usually use.

Grave Blanket Pile

Here is a standard size blanket on the top of a pile of a batch ready to go out. 3′x4′ or so is the normal size of most of our blankets.

Decorated Medium Wreath

Here is one of the decorated wreaths for the second large order, ready for pick-up. As you can see, my sneakers catch a lot of pitch from working with the greens. My clothes also get covered in the sticky stuff, too. I usually use one outfit or “uniform” for the entire season, so I only ruin one pair of jeans and one or 2 sweatshirts. Sometimes if enough waterless Goop hand cleaner applied to the clothes will remove much of the pitch. At least one shirt gets thrown away each year after wreath making is done.

Decorated Special Order Wreath

This is one of a few special ordered wreathe that get done each year, This wreath is a bit larger than most, and I added extra ribbon to brighten them up a bit more.

Snow Dec. 9 2009 Front Garden

There was quite a bit of cold and windy weather while I was making the wreaths, but the biggest snowfall happened after they were done… Our first 6″ snowfall for the year…. Most of it melted the day after it fell, but what didn’t melt is now rock hard from very cold temps.

Short Tract Shed 1

Now that wreath production is over, I can show a few more photos I took while staying with my grandmother. This is an old shed along the road a few miles before getting to my parent’s house.

Short Tract House 1

One day while going out on a shopping trip, I ended up having to take a detour, and found this run down old house in Short Tract, a tiny community not far from where I grew up… This house definitely has seen better days.

Marriott Granary Roof

I don’t always have to look too far to find old, worn buildings to take photos of that may end up in one of my quilts…. This is the granary and garage in the side yard of the home I grew up in… They are showing their age a lot now.

Marriott Sugar House 2

I remember spending time in this sugar house many, many years ago with my grandfather while sap was being boiled down into Maple syrup. It looks like one side is sinking into the hillside.

Marriott Sugar House 1

Another view of the sugar house… we used to play around here after maple syrup was no longer made…. A long time ago…. With the leaves off the trees and vines, the weathered wood and mossy stone foundation show up nicely. In summer, many of the old buildings I love are nearly hidden from view by trees, vines, and weeds.

If all goes well, I should be showing off a couple new art quilts soon. I began a number of them while staying at Gram’s. I just need to get back to the studio and finish things up.

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Its That Season Again…

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Whew! The past month has really flown!! Zack came home, I left to stay with my grandmother, got home, met my sister for shopping. And then the wreaths began…… First here is a photo I took while with my gram of an old schoolhouse that her mom went to school at. I drove or rode past this building many, many times while growing up, but never really paid much attention to it. It is now pretty much hidden from view by the trees, brush and vines.

Old Fillmore Schoolhouse

I’m not sure where the year has gone, but the smell of evergreen boughs has been strong in the wreath workshop for the past week.

Stacks of Wreaths

This is the result of many days of cutting and clamping. We begin by cutting overgrown trees from a tree farm. The branches are piled into the truck and then piled in the workshop. Then my job begins….

Main Tools

More Tools

The most important tool I have is my pair of Felco #6 pruners. These are expensive, but very sharp and easy to use pruners. The #6 I use is the right size for my hands…. Of course the clamping machine is needed along with the Goop to clean up with. Also necessary for long days are chocolate and caffeine, and the best thing I tried this year- Latex rubber gloves from the dollar store… I hate using gloves, leather or similar ones are hard to work in. Last year I used lots of bandages to protect my fingers, but gave the kitchen glooves a try. They worked quite well! I was able to pick up skinny branches and held up better than I thought they would. I didn’t have to scrub sticky sap off my skin- just peeled off the gloves. They even held up through them covered in hand cleaner overnight and it took 4 days to “kill” the first pair.

Pile of White Pine

Piles of Fraser Fir

Piles of greens ready for clipping in the workshop. Just the tips of the branches that look like hands are used. Pretty longer branches are kept to use for swags, but most of the Fraser fir is chopped up into 6-10″ long pieces.

Here is a box of tips…. I usually cut piles of greens and fill 3 large boxes of tips at a time to have ready for clamping.

Wreath Beginning

This photo shows one of the rings I start with… this is 12″ in diameter and will make a wreath up to 24″ in diameter when done. To the right are some of the tips cut ready to group into bunches and clamp onto the ring. We use Fraser Fir, Scotch Pine, and White Pine mixed in our wreaths. I like the mixed look.

Decorated Medium Wreath

One of the finished 12″ ring wreaths. I also make wreaths with 10″ rings and some with 18″ rings. The larger ones seem to take forever to make! They end up over 30″  in diameter from the 18″ ring.

Stack of Trash

Stack of Trash

This photo shows the trash pile waiting for Ken or another helper to haul out. He does the cutting of the trees, and hauls the boughs in and out of the workshop. Also showing in this photo is the other item that is a necessity for my sanity, and helps me to keep going- the sound system. Ken got this recently from someone who no longer had any use for it. I need the radio going!

Greens for Swags

Greens For Swags

This is the last photo I have due to not taking one before leaving last night. The finished order left early this morning! This shows the branches ready for constructing the swags we make. We use long branches of each of the 3 varieties of branches and tie with wire. They are then topped with a bow and decorated with little red berries and pine cones.

One order done, one big one to go…. the first go out plain, for the next order, the wreaths all need to be decorated and is due in 2 weeks. I’m resting my hands this weekend….

I haven’t totally given up on my quilting.. (well, yea for the past week or so)… I have some photos taken of some works in progress that I began at my grandmother’s. ( any Facebook friends may have seen them already) I took a good share of my studio with me due to being there for over 2 weeks. I also had a couple of special orders to do while there, too. I think this link will work so if interested, you can see the Works in Progress Photos on Facebook.

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My first Blog Post

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

Well, here goes….

My first Blog post.  I never thought I would be doing this, but here it is.  First, a little about me.  I am a married mother of 3 sons who have mostly flown the nest- Oldest stationed in the Air Force with a wife and our 3yo grandson in North Dakota. Middle son- my resident computer geek, who helped me set up my website, came back home after 1 year at college, then finally got back in school this past week. Youngest son in his second semester in college, signed up to enter the Air Force after this semester.  Husband is getting back into remodeling after working at our greenhouse that we owned for the past 8 years.  I have a degree in horticulture, and have spent the past 25 years working in or owning greenhouses and flower shops along with raising my sons, and starting a quilting business.  My quilting began with a quilt I made for my granddaughter using some of the flowery fabrics I had collected to make dresses for my little girls-  I got 3 sons.  (My stepdaughter is only 5 yrs younger than me, so I also have grandkids near the ages of my sons.)  the quilting bug bit, and I began making traditional bed quilts to sell.  Sales were not great, and I found smaller items more interesting to make.  I spent years selling wall hangings, placemats, table runners, etc. until I began making what would be considered Art Quilts to be hung on the wall in original designs.  My world really opened up when I subscribed to the Quiltart email list, and joined the Journal Quilt Project.  I found I could sell quilts in sizes to frame, and began spreading out to slightly larger and much smaller items.  Placemats and runners became boring and I quit making them.

2007 begins a whole new chapter to my life.  Our greenhouse business closed last fall, after 8 long, hard years.  A lot in life is up in the air at this time, but we are moving ahead.  I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia along with the arthritis I have had or years, and finally know why I have spent so much of the past few years in so much pain.  (I’m not completely crazy!!) The pain isn’t over, but now that I can stay away from the lugging and tugging, and long hours at the greenhouse, and can be in more in control of it now.  I have had to put my quilting on the back burner for a long time. I have discovered the therapeutic value of painting  and sunprinting and am excited that can now bring my love of gardening to quilting even more than in the past.  Most of my work is very floral in nature- thus my gardening in fabric.  I am discovering more things I can do with fabric, fibers and paint, leaves and flowers.

My goals for this year are to increase, or get exposure for my work through entering competitions, and challenges.  I also look forward to finding places to teach, and show my work and techniques.  I have been experimenting with new construction techniques using my “fused quilt sandwiches”.  It’s something like contsructing a quilt like a puzzle.

Well, if you got this far without snoozing, great!  Sometimes I ramble…. I look forward to getting to know more quilters, and learning what I can from others, along with spreading what I know, and see what happens with my quilts.

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