Her most popular new ones were these that she took pieces of trims and moldings and made a 'frame' around the edges.
*All pieces in this post were lovingly created by Connie!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
New Creative Works by Connie (Mamma Winger)
This past weekend I took some photos of some of our mom's new pieces. Here are some of our favorites!
Her most popular new ones were these that she took pieces of trims and moldings and made a 'frame' around the edges.
*All pieces in this post were lovingly created by Connie!
Her most popular new ones were these that she took pieces of trims and moldings and made a 'frame' around the edges.
*All pieces in this post were lovingly created by Connie!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Valley Junction Spring Art Market 2011
Here are some pics we took of yesterday's art market in Des Moines. The wind gusts were challenging, but it never rained! We had a great turnout! Lots of supportive loyal customers, lots of new faces, and we got to meet Alisa, the DEMDACO sales rep for the DM area. (She, along with other Iowa reps, are helping us line up some signing events for later this year!)
We decided to make a new "Things With Wings" sign to reflect our new adventure over the last year:
One retailer who has a shop in Jefferson, Iowa called Country Blessings, stopped in our booth because she was worried that we were trying to copy the new line she was excited to pick up this year for her store called "This Thing Called Family." :-) When she saw our sign, she put it all together! She said how funny it was that she had gone all the way to the Atlanta gift market to find Iowa artists!
We were surprised by how many people recognized our Demdaco line, and/or had seen our article in the Des Moines Register. Several commented how different and colorful our originals are than "This Thing Called Family." (And I'm SURE it was a compliment!) We are always coming up with new stuff and our work continues to evolve. So just WAIT until you all see what we've got up our sleeves for 2012 with DEMDACO!!! We are so. excited. It just keeps getting better and better and reflects even more of our artistic personalities! That's all we can really say about that right now!
Now it's time for us to regroup and keep plugging away to prepare for the Iowa Arts Festival, taking place in downtown Iowa City, June 4-5. That's just 2 weeks away! Yikes!
We decided to make a new "Things With Wings" sign to reflect our new adventure over the last year:
We were surprised by how many people recognized our Demdaco line, and/or had seen our article in the Des Moines Register. Several commented how different and colorful our originals are than "This Thing Called Family." (And I'm SURE it was a compliment!) We are always coming up with new stuff and our work continues to evolve. So just WAIT until you all see what we've got up our sleeves for 2012 with DEMDACO!!! We are so. excited. It just keeps getting better and better and reflects even more of our artistic personalities! That's all we can really say about that right now!
Now it's time for us to regroup and keep plugging away to prepare for the Iowa Arts Festival, taking place in downtown Iowa City, June 4-5. That's just 2 weeks away! Yikes!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Valley Junction Spring Art Market 2011
Here's what we're going to be doing this Sunday in Des Moines, and you're all invited!
Here's a link to the event and directions.
Here's a sneak peek at some new stuff that will be there!
Here's a link to the event and directions.
Here's a sneak peek at some new stuff that will be there!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
ModPodge and the Gospel
Friday I went to a local store and bought a number of art supplies, one of which was MODPODGE. I had some pieces to finish up for a show this weekend and on Monday I was all set to ModPodge, but it wasn't in the bag with the other things I'd purchased. I hunted all over for it, even checked the car. hmmm......wonder if it's still at the checkout! So I called the store and they said it wasn't there, but if I came in, they'd give me another one. So I made another trip over, explained it to the checkout person....fine....went home and finished my projects. Now today I find that the original "lost" jar of mod podge had apparently rolled out of the bag and underneath my couch! (notice it has lost its capital letter status with me temporarily). I am tired, frustrated, and still have lots to do this week. Do I want to run back over to that store again? no......is it really a big deal?........no.......but God is not going to let me off the hook that easily, I already know it without even trying it. So, as much as I don't want to, I get in the car and take the modpodge back into the store. I thought about asking for the manager - maybe he or she would give me great kudo's or something - but remembering it's not a big deal, I just went to the checkout person and explained my situation. After sounding like a complete scatterbrain, I went ahead and purchased the extra jar (heaven knows I'm gonna need it anyway!) Then she quietly said,"hey, thanks for being honest!" I fell back into my car and was thinking, dang! I'm tired! when the radio announcer says, "are you just so darn tired of trying to do the right thing? well, fall on Jesus and rest on Him!" WOW! talk about timing! He cares about all the stupid little things I do. EVERYTHING is about HIM! -MOM Winger
Monday, May 16, 2011
Mirror and Ring Winners (FINALLY!)
We've tried to be patient. Really we have. And you all have been extremely patient. But who knows if blogger will ever return our missing give-away comments to us!
As many of you know, the latest giveaway was supposed to have ended on Thursday night last week.
Blogger experienced some major hiccups, and stuff got ugly there for awhile. We are still missing 24 comments. It didn't seem fair to draw winners without them! So we waited patiently, and then not so patiently, and then we got smart and realized that I had my email set up so that all my give-away blog comments were automatically sent to a separate forgotten folder. So that's what we're going with - 71 entries - and you'll just have to trust us on this one!
So, we had the random number generator pick 4 numbers, and here's what it chose: 48, 9, 58, 53.
The first winner is for our "Be Grateful" mirror above. It's from our new line "This Thing Called Family." #48 was....
Steve Lindemann!!!!! who said this:
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to homeschool my kiddos :)"
Congrats!!!
Now for the 3 ring winners:
#9 was Francine!!!!! --- "I am so grateful for my wonderful son, he is only going to be 17 but he is one heck of a kid! Love you Joe"
happy birthday, Joe!
#58 was Heather!!!!! --- "I am so thankful for my husband, son and the little baby boy that is on the way!! :-)"
How exciting, Heather!!!!
#53 was Andrea!!!!! --- "I'm grateful for my best friend, who gave me the greatest gift this week, which is the one-year anniversary of my dad's death from colon cancer (it's preventable - get screened at age 50!). She gave me helium balloons with notecards where I could write to my dad and then release them. 'I know he's in Heaven,' she told me. 'Tell him whatever you want.' I know, too, and that love, and that compassion, is Heaven on Earth. <3"
Anniversaries are soooo hard, Andrea. But what a good friend you've got!!! She sounds like a keeper. :-) We lost our dad in 1997 when he was only 52. So we know a little how you feel. It doesn't feel like it now.....but it does get easier.
Email us at paperprayers@hotmail.com with your mailing addresses!
*Here's an online shopping site where you can purchase your own "Be Grateful" Mirror!
*Visit the store locator to find retailers near you who carry "This Thing Called Family!"
MORE give-aways to come!
As many of you know, the latest giveaway was supposed to have ended on Thursday night last week.
Blogger experienced some major hiccups, and stuff got ugly there for awhile. We are still missing 24 comments. It didn't seem fair to draw winners without them! So we waited patiently, and then not so patiently, and then we got smart and realized that I had my email set up so that all my give-away blog comments were automatically sent to a separate forgotten folder. So that's what we're going with - 71 entries - and you'll just have to trust us on this one!
So, we had the random number generator pick 4 numbers, and here's what it chose: 48, 9, 58, 53.
The first winner is for our "Be Grateful" mirror above. It's from our new line "This Thing Called Family." #48 was....
Steve Lindemann!!!!! who said this:
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to homeschool my kiddos :)"
Congrats!!!
Now for the 3 ring winners:
#9 was Francine!!!!! --- "I am so grateful for my wonderful son, he is only going to be 17 but he is one heck of a kid! Love you Joe"
happy birthday, Joe!
#58 was Heather!!!!! --- "I am so thankful for my husband, son and the little baby boy that is on the way!! :-)"
How exciting, Heather!!!!
#53 was Andrea!!!!! --- "I'm grateful for my best friend, who gave me the greatest gift this week, which is the one-year anniversary of my dad's death from colon cancer (it's preventable - get screened at age 50!). She gave me helium balloons with notecards where I could write to my dad and then release them. 'I know he's in Heaven,' she told me. 'Tell him whatever you want.' I know, too, and that love, and that compassion, is Heaven on Earth. <3"
Anniversaries are soooo hard, Andrea. But what a good friend you've got!!! She sounds like a keeper. :-) We lost our dad in 1997 when he was only 52. So we know a little how you feel. It doesn't feel like it now.....but it does get easier.
Email us at paperprayers@hotmail.com with your mailing addresses!
*Here's an online shopping site where you can purchase your own "Be Grateful" Mirror!
*Visit the store locator to find retailers near you who carry "This Thing Called Family!"
MORE give-aways to come!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Giveaway Time! "Be Grateful" Mirror!
It's time for another giveaway! We've got lots to be excited about this week! We're always eager to celebrate "This Thing Called Family!" And this week we're also jumping for joy over our recent Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS feature!
So this time we're giving away our "Be Grateful" mirror!
It measures 10" square and is made from wood composite, canvas and the mirror.
The dimensional heart is textured metal and the words are wood composite and raised as well.
To Enter:
Leave us ONE comment -
Tell us something that you are grateful for today!
(Be sure to leave a way to contact you.)
*Don't worry if your comment doesn't show up immediately. It won't be visible until after we've approved it.
I'm grateful for homemade mother's day presents. And kisses. Both the chocolate variety and the husband variety. :-)
We don't care for jumping through hoops and completing a million steps before you can enter and we don't expect you to either. We think everyone should have an equal shot at winning.
BONUS PRIZE!
IF, however you help us spread the word about our giveaway, (TOTALLY optional!) there IS a little bonus!
***IF, in your ONE comment you ALSO tell us that you facebooked, tweeted, or blogged about our giveaway, I'll throw in your choice of one of these fun cocktail rings (see below) that I've been experimenting with!
SO.
If you win and you've shared our giveaway, you can pick your choice from one of these four rings pictured and I'll send it along with our "Be Grateful" mirrror!!!!
(The rings are just for fun. They have an adjustable ring. And they're made from metallic paper. They have been mod podged inside and out and are more durable than you'd think, but they ARE made from paper. And super cute. And would be fun to wear on a night out.....When you don't plan on doing dishes......Or washing your hands.)
***Aww HECK! You talked us into it......Why don't we give away the other three rings too?! We'll pick three more random winners for the other three rings!
So why wouldn't you enter?! And why wouldn't you tell everybody you know?!
We'll pick one "Be Grateful" mirror + ring (hopefully) winner and 3 other ring winners on Thursday (May 12) at 10pm CST.
Good Luck, Friends!
So this time we're giving away our "Be Grateful" mirror!
It measures 10" square and is made from wood composite, canvas and the mirror.
The dimensional heart is textured metal and the words are wood composite and raised as well.
To Enter:
Leave us ONE comment -
Tell us something that you are grateful for today!
(Be sure to leave a way to contact you.)
*Don't worry if your comment doesn't show up immediately. It won't be visible until after we've approved it.
I'm grateful for homemade mother's day presents. And kisses. Both the chocolate variety and the husband variety. :-)
We don't care for jumping through hoops and completing a million steps before you can enter and we don't expect you to either. We think everyone should have an equal shot at winning.
BONUS PRIZE!
IF, however you help us spread the word about our giveaway, (TOTALLY optional!) there IS a little bonus!
***IF, in your ONE comment you ALSO tell us that you facebooked, tweeted, or blogged about our giveaway, I'll throw in your choice of one of these fun cocktail rings (see below) that I've been experimenting with!
Here's a link to this post you can cut and paste if you want:
http://thingswithwingsartjournal.blogspot.com/2011/05/giveaway-time-be-grateful-mirror.htmlI found this super cool tutorial from Hambly Screen Prints blog on how to make these awesome paper cocktail rings. Made some adaptations and changes, and voila! Mamma Winger even got one for Mother's Day!
SO.
If you win and you've shared our giveaway, you can pick your choice from one of these four rings pictured and I'll send it along with our "Be Grateful" mirrror!!!!
(The rings are just for fun. They have an adjustable ring. And they're made from metallic paper. They have been mod podged inside and out and are more durable than you'd think, but they ARE made from paper. And super cute. And would be fun to wear on a night out.....When you don't plan on doing dishes......Or washing your hands.)
***Aww HECK! You talked us into it......Why don't we give away the other three rings too?! We'll pick three more random winners for the other three rings!
So why wouldn't you enter?! And why wouldn't you tell everybody you know?!
We'll pick one "Be Grateful" mirror + ring (hopefully) winner and 3 other ring winners on Thursday (May 12) at 10pm CST.
Good Luck, Friends!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Moms Rock.
Happy Mother's Day, friends!
You do, you know....you rock. Your family might not always know it or might need reminding from time to time. But you are so loved, Moms. You may feel invisible and under appreciated at times, but God sees the work you are doing.
-Love from the Things With Wings family.
*Come back and see us tomorrow - we're starting a NEW GIVE AWAY!!!!
You do, you know....you rock. Your family might not always know it or might need reminding from time to time. But you are so loved, Moms. You may feel invisible and under appreciated at times, but God sees the work you are doing.
-Love from the Things With Wings family.
*Come back and see us tomorrow - we're starting a NEW GIVE AWAY!!!!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS Summer Issue!!
We have some exciting news!
WE are in the newest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS magazine!
It's the summer edition and it just came out. We received our copies yesterday, so it should be on the newstands soon if it isn't already! Three copies all arrived at my (Jill's) house but I was under strict orders to not open the package until we could all look at it together....talk about torture!
Here's what the cover looks like:
We are in the special Mother-Daughter section :-) Our names are over there on the left, along with some other fabulous mothers and daughters. Mamma Winger's flower made it on the title page of that section!
We have 4 pages (p 58-61) inside this section where we tell more of the Things With Wings story of why we do what we do and the inside scoop on + pictures of each of our three studios! You'll have to run out and buy a copy to see for yourselves!
Here you can see the table of contents and all the good stuff this issue has:StudiosSumm2011TOC
We owe Samantha Bender of SB Photography a big THANK-YOU for taking pictures of each of our studios!
You can purchase the summer edition here! You can usually find it at bookstores and arts and crafts stores too!
*Stay tuned Monday because we will start ANOTHER exciting giveaway of "This Thing Called Family" product!!!
WE are in the newest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS magazine!
It's the summer edition and it just came out. We received our copies yesterday, so it should be on the newstands soon if it isn't already! Three copies all arrived at my (Jill's) house but I was under strict orders to not open the package until we could all look at it together....talk about torture!
Here's what the cover looks like:
We are in the special Mother-Daughter section :-) Our names are over there on the left, along with some other fabulous mothers and daughters. Mamma Winger's flower made it on the title page of that section!
We have 4 pages (p 58-61) inside this section where we tell more of the Things With Wings story of why we do what we do and the inside scoop on + pictures of each of our three studios! You'll have to run out and buy a copy to see for yourselves!
Here you can see the table of contents and all the good stuff this issue has:StudiosSumm2011TOC
We owe Samantha Bender of SB Photography a big THANK-YOU for taking pictures of each of our studios!
You can purchase the summer edition here! You can usually find it at bookstores and arts and crafts stores too!
*Stay tuned Monday because we will start ANOTHER exciting giveaway of "This Thing Called Family" product!!!