Cover your Floors in Style!

While wandering through Whole Foods the other day I was delighted to see one of my Jelly Bean™ Rugs hanging!  These rugs are great — with grip backing so they don’t slide around, great colors and best of all… throw them in the washer, hang dry and they are like new.

I’ve done a few different designs with this company – from cats & dogs seashell and garden, to decorative patterns – rugs are always changing at my house!

“Wine Cellar” collection melamine dishes

When I was at the gift show in Atlanta in January, I got to preview my art on Melamine (plastic) dishes for the first time.  What a thrill!  They came out great!  Today I found them for sale online and thought I’d share the link.  CLICK HERE

So next time you need a gift for a hostess, birthday or any other ocassion that involves wine or wine lovers, you will be all set!

Tara

It All Began When I Was Jumping Up & Down in the Fabric Department…

Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to two quilting club groups at the Craft Warehouse in Aloha, Oregon.  This store has an amazing quilting and fabric department whose size is very deceptive – they pack a great variety of fabric in a small space.

The first Tuesday of January I was wandering around the store and not only found some of my fabric, but the quilt panel was sewn together and hanging as a sample!  Woo-Hoo!  COOL!  Who could I tell?  This very nice lady named Phyliss came by so she was the winner.  It turns out she coordinates the monthly quilt club at the store (it meets the first Tuesday of the month at 1 pm and 6:30 pm).  When I told her I was a designer for South Sea Imports and they carried some of my designs, she asked me to come and talk to the group.

So yesterday I told two groups of women about the design process — from idea to color to creating patterns.  We had Q&A and they had some great questions.  It was so nice to get out of the studio and connect with people who use my products — and see what they are doing with fabric in general to keep my creative juices flowing.

Thank you Craft Warehouse – let me know if I can ever help again!

Tara

7 Things You May Not Know about me…

There’s a wave pulsing through the blogs of entrepreneurs called “7 Things You Don’t Know About Me.” Dana at Nine Tomatoes tagged me and six other bloggers to reveal our hidden secrets. In turn, we keep it alive by bringing in the next wave, and you can see how it grows exponentially. Why not, I thought, and came up with a list of obscure things that only a few people know about me. It’s odd, as an artist, to step out into the light this way. But there’s freedom in exposure! Try it…

1. I hate getting chain letters and chain emails and usually don’t forward them. But I always worry, just a little, that it will bring me bad luck. I’ve been tagged for this 7 things a few times now and figured it was a sign, I best start writing.
2. My first job was serving ice cream in a Dairy Queen. I can still do the swirl on the soft serve just right!
3. I spent my junior year of high school in Tours, France. Mais oui! Je parle français!
4. I was Glinda the Good Witch in a Girl Scout camp version of the “Wizard of Oz” growing up. They cast me because everyone was being very cliquish and mean to each other and the counselors said I was the only one smiling and being nice. Perhaps they should have had me sing before making that decision — it wasn’t pretty!
5. I never thought I would be able to draw as well as my dad — he does cartoons. I’m glad I tried and found my own style or my life would be very different today.
6. I once went to bed at 7 pm because I was told I had to eat a fig or go to bed, I was 12, I opted for bed.
7. I drive a Honda Accord and it “fits” me… practical, dependable and comfortable.

Anything you want to reveal???

The next wave of little known facts can be learned from these 7 random people:

David Billings, artist, Sparky Fire Pants, follow on Twitter

Cathy Perkins, TheWordPressWizard, follow on Twitter

Laura Bray, artist, Katy-Did Designs, follow on Twitter

Cherish Fleider, artist, Something to Cherish, follow on Twitter

Matthew Bookspan, M Group (Mac Organization KING!), follow on Twitter

Holli Conger, artist, A Girl Who Creates, follow on Twitter

Brenda B Bailey, ThetaHealing™ Master, Unlimited Possibilities 101, follow on Twitter

The rules are simple. Link to your original tagger and list these rules in your post. Simply share seven facts about yourself in the post. Tag seven people at the end of your post and let them know they’ve been tagged. And have fun!

Happiness is… making the Sunday paper Fred Meyer ad!

My friend Angela just called to tell me my Easter dishes are in the Sunday insert for tomorrow… HOW EXCITING!  So of course I had to go online, find it and share!

Hop on over to Fred Meyer…

and find these adorable Easter dishes featuring my art!  OK, so maybe I’m biased when I say they are adorable…   They may be at other Kroger stores but I’m not sure – please let me know if you find them anywhere else!

~ Tara

Cat Lovers Rejoice!

And run to your nearest Sur La Table store!  I was so excited to find my “Pet the Cook!” kitchen towels from Kay Dee Designs while wandering through the store last week — just had to share! ~ Tara

Easter Dishes Spotted at Home Goods!

Check your local Kroger stores too… these fun easter dishes make me smile every time I see them!  My sister is a huge fan of the chick — she thinks she looks “slightly uncomfortable” with her weight… who hasn’t felt that way at one point in their lives?

I found these on the shelf at my local Home Goods store today and had to share.  I guess this means spring really is just around the corner!

~ Tara

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick blog-note to wish everyone a very safe and Merry Christmas!

I have been snowed and iced in my house in Portland, Oregon for 12 days now… not quite the “12 days of Christmas” I was anticipating, that is for sure.  But as I sit looking out my studio window, I remind myself that it can’t last forever (can it?) and to enjoy the beauty of the snow while it lasts.

I will be spending a quiet holiday at home with my son, baking cookies, hanging out and watching TV.  This was in the plans even before the latest “weather event”.  I hope you spend your holiday a way that makes you smile as well!

~ Tara

Fun Blog find! A great use of my Snowman Stamp!

Yesterday I was delighted to a blog post by Sankari Wegman, who used my Snowman rubber stamp for a color challenge and I think stamp challenge too… I must admit, I went right to admire what she did with my design!  It truly made my day!

The basic idea of her project was to use the colors from this yarn photo as inspiration for a project.

She used my snowmen and created this cute card.

To see the whole story, click here to visit her blog.

I just love how it came out!  And she was so happy when I emailed her for permission to use these photos from her blog (you do know you shouldn’t “borrow” photos from websites without permission, right?).  It became a mutual “you made my day” festival!

I’d love to see what others have created with my stamps — there are lots to choose from!  (Many at Hobby Lobby right now)  Send me pictures at contact@tarareeddesigns.com

Happy Creating!

~ Tara

P.S.  Here is what the original art I did (and the stamp) looks like, click on it to order:

Or you can go to Janlynn.com and search “Tara Reed”.  A few needlecraft things that aren’t mine but all the stamps are.  (Something about key words… I have no idea!)