Usually, the small envelope with your slides in it is never a good thing. But I received one today that actually contained good news. I was accepted into the Manayunk Arts Festival on June 23 and 24. I hope to see you there!

Thanks to Annie of imogene for the nice post about my work. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Annie since I got to Towson, so its a thrill to be included in her blog. (In fact, imogene was one of the first blogs I ever read.)

And be sure to shop imogene for great indie jewelry, accessories, paper goods, and more.

And some really big pillows. I was at Kinkos last night, enlarging patterns, and I realized I was planning on making some really large pillows. The first pillow I ever made was 12″ x 14″, and now I’m designing 21″ and 24″ pillows. I’m excited about these new patterns, but I think its time to think about some cute, little pillows, too.

Its been a while since I worked in the studio, so today I headed out there to start work on what I hope will be a quick little pillow. (Its only 8″ by 19″ and I’m aiming to finish it in the next week.) Yes, its the same pattern as the square tufted pillow, but I’ve decided to work with the 4 or 5 patterns I already have and like, and apply them to different objects.

Oh, and I’ve added one more component to the work I’ve been doing with jewelers and web 2.0. (I posted about the presentation and wikispace the other day.) I’ve started a blog (yes, another blog) specifically designed to showcase jewelers and metalsmiths on the web.

The cold weather turned my planned studio day into a computer day. But that gave me time to work on the pattern for my one of my next projects – another chair. I had originally planned on another pattern (see below) but decided it didn’t have enough variation for me. While both patterns have variation in scale, the one above just feels more random. I’m sure the other pattern will pop up somewhere else though.

A few updates…
The navigating the web 2.0 presentation for the Metals Guild of Maryland was last night. If you missed it, find the information on the wikispace here.
I heard back from two more shows – surprise – two more wait lists.
I finally managed to change the header of my blog, and I added a list of my favorite blogs on the right.

Here are a few samples (made by Maria Phillips) from Maria’s electroforming workshop. Sadly, I didn’t get to make anything fun, but my students did. For more pictures, click here.

I’ve finally updated my website. There are a few things I need to add yet (like placing images within my page instead of redirecting to my flickr site), but it matches my current aesthetic much more now. (A note to firefox users – the site doesn’t look good in firefox quite yet. View it in safari – it looks much better.)

And while you’re on the site, you’ll notice a link to shop. That’s right, I’ve finally set up an etsy shop. Nothing for sale yet, but soon. I promise.

Despite the fact that today was a lazy day (everyone deserves one now and then), I can happily say that I’ve sent out all 8 applications that were due by March 1st.

A few upcoming events at Towson University:
March 1st 7 PM- Maria Phillips lecture
March 2nd & 3rd – Maria Phillips electroforming workshop
March 6th 7 PM – Metals Guild of Maryland peer review – I will be presenting on navigating the web – blogs, flickr, etc.

I had a computer scare today, so I’m dutifully backing up everything onto an external hard drive. If the thought of losing your resume makes you want to cry, I suggest you do the same.

(The images are a new pillow design I’m thinking about. Probably not the next project, but something in the future.)