Custom Orders

Just added a new tab to our menu bar above called CUSTOM ORDERS! Now you can easily see examples of personalized orders that we've done in the past all in one place!

We've created many personalized gifts for families, weddings and other special occasions. We've also done favorite quotes, bible verses, as well as family rules and mission statements. If this is something that interests you, go to our contact page to request more information on sizes, pricing and shipping - of course this all depends on the timing and availability of materials. If we're not swamped and you've caught us in a good mood, we just might do it for you! :-)

"THINGS"

I thought I would share a little known fact about "Things With Wings". I am not sure why I think you need to know this, just felt like it was time for this Mama Winger to post something and since I can't seem to find my camera, some of my new work will have to remain a mystery for now. And now here are some tidbits hardly known to blogland: #1. Our original name was "Things With Wings and Other Things". Some of you may remember that, others will be surprised. For short, we started leaving off "and other things". Just got lazy, I guess, since we do indeed still have "other things" which do not have wings. #2. Years ago there use to be a store here in downtown Iowa City which was named "Things, Things, and Things". It had lots of funky pricey things for your home and clothing, too. When folks spoke of it, they often referred to it as "things". #3. In the 80's I had an art gallery alongside our photography studio where I sold my work along with other artist's and I called it "Things and Stuff". hmmmmm......when I couldn't sleep last night, I laid in bed and thought about all these "THINGS" and wondered if I have had a limited vocabulary all these years, but then I figure "things" covers a lot of stuff/things!!!!!

Slow Summer (art-wise)

Any artist with kids at home during the summer and all our activities and comings and goings and all of their energy and fighting and their potty training will tell you that not much gets accomplished art-wise during those so called "leisurely" months. (partly because they're following their 2 year old around waiting for the "bomb" to drop, if you know what I mean.)

But that's all OK!

Here's a look at a few new things I've sloooowly been working on this summer.

I'm in love with this message: "Welcome - enter with a happy heart." It's perfect for certain guests, AND for my OWN family, as we come and go from our home! So, I made four, because I can never make just one. :-)






Another great message:

Yesterday:

Here are few pictures from the reception at The Village in Washington, Iowa yesterday:

Cathy, the owner, was nice enough to put this together:

And with matching name tags!

If you couldn't make it this weekend, do not fret! Our work will continue to be there through the end of August!

New Things In The Shop!

I decided to update my poor little Etsy shop today after my sister, Jill, announced over lunch today that she was sick of looking at the same lousy 3 things. Okay, okay, okay.

Look What Came in the Mail Today!

A very special and exciting package arrived this morning from DEMDACO!

I was under strict orders to not open it until all of us local Things With Wingers were together. Thank GOODNESS it came today, otherwise we would have had to wait all through next week until Green Girl got back from her vacation. Whew!

Inside were 5 samples from our "This Thing Called Family" line (debuting January 2011!)

Oh dear ones, can I just tell you that we were nearly giddy with excitement and anticipation? I mean, seriously! It was like opening the best Christmas present ever!





Let's just say we were NOT disappointed! There was lots of giggling and even some jumping up and down. I can't remember what I was shouting here. I think it was "WE'VE GOT A WINNER!" And folks, they are ALL winners!


This is about as much of our collection as we can reveal at this point. We know, we know.... the anticipation is just about killin' ya! :-)

What we can tell you is that there is plenty of wonderful wall art in a variety of sizes, some awesomely cute sculptural pieces, mirrors that will make you smile, and even some pillows that will knock your socks off!

Now that we've had a taste of the collection, we can't wait until we get to see more!

The Village

Got plans for Saturday afternoon? Hey - check this out!

We are doing a gallery showing of our work at a shop called "The Village" in Washington, Iowa!
Location: 101 South Marion Avenue, Washington, Iowa

The Village is a unique collection of 6 boutique shops located on the square in Washington, Iowa.

Our work will be for sale there now through the end of August.

We'll be having a special "Meet the Artists" reception this Saturday, July 17 from 1-4pm, and you're all invited! Come enjoy some refreshments and a unique shopping experience!

Front Window!

You can view more pictures of the Village here.

SB Photography

Hey there everybody!

We had several requests from friends who wanted to see pictures of the photoshoot we did with SB Photography. The purpose was to get a 'head shot' of the three of us who are creating "This Thing Called Family" for DEMDACO. It was hard to choose, but we finally decided on this one:DEMDACO plans to use it in their catalogue and sales brochures, along with our bio and I think on their website as well. (Yikes! Scary, I know!) It so happened that this all came about when the youngest Singer Thinger, Emily, was home visiting, so she got in on the fun for some of the pictures too!

Samantha and Stephen Bender run their business, SB Photography, from their beautiful home in the country, near Wellman, Iowa. They built a separate, awesome studio (jealous!) there too, but Samantha says she mostly prefers to work outside! Our outside pictures were taken at a small park in Wellman. Samantha put us quite at ease with her sense of humor and beautiful personality and the whole thing was fairly painless! ;-)

If you've never visited their website, it is a MUST. They do awesome senior pictures, family portraits and wedding photography that will knock your socks off! Love how Samantha's so good at capturing real, unrehearsed moments. Those ones are usually my favorites! I could look at these pics for hours, and I don't even know any of them!

I first met Samantha when she approached me about doing a custom piece for their family's home. I was thrilled to create something special just for them and came up with this:

Sorry for the not-so-great picture. :-( I promise it looks much better hanging in their home than it does in my crummy picture! Since then, we've had the opportunity to work with her on our Things With Wings shoot, as well as some family pictures of me, my husband and three boys. I just can't say enough positive things about them! They'd be the first to say they feel very blessed to be able to do what they love for a living. They run their business with integrity and great creativity and we wish them all the best and congratulate them on all their success!

To see more pics from the Things With Wings' photo shoot with SB Photography, please note the 'hands' picture over on the left, (one of our favorites!) visit our updated about page and this facebook album. (You do not have to be a facebook user to view the pictures!)

New Etsy Items!

Here's a sneak peek of a few new items in the Paper Prayers Etsy shop. I found a really cool vintage spelling workbook and have had fun incorporating some of that paper into some of my new pieces!

(Click on each item to view more pics and info.)




More new pieces to be added to Etsy soon!

I found this taped to my wall the other day. We may need to initiate a new member into the Things With Wings club.

Etsy Update

****SOLD!****

This piece reads, "Normal Day, Let me be aware of the treasure you are."
-Mary Jean Iron

New in the Paper Prayers Etsy shop! More to come in the next few days!

Here's What We'll Be Doing On Sunday!

43rd annual
SNAKE ALLEY ART FAIR

Burlington, Iowa

Sunday, June 20, 2010

8 am - 4 pm

The Snake Alley Art Fair is a daylong celebration of creativity and community, centering on a love for the visual arts. Growing from a start more than 40 years ago as a small gathering of local artists who set up for the day along Snake Alley — the crookedest street in the world! — the fair is now an annual event with an estimated attendance of more than 6,000 people. SAAF encompasses much to see and buy from more than 100 exhibitor artists and craftspeople, plus art-making activities for children, music, and food. The fair happens in Burlington’s Heritage Hill Historic District, along winding, sloping Snake Alley as well as on two leafy residential blocks of North 6th Street above the alley.

The date for SAAF 2010 is Sunday, June 20. In keeping with long-standing tradition, the Snake Alley Art Fair coincides not only with Fathers Day, but also with the final day of the Steamboat Days American Music Festival on Burlington’s Mississippi riverfront, bringing thousands of additional visitors to the area.

RAIN OR SHINE, THE FAIR GOES ON! In case of truly inclement or dangerous weather, the Snake Alley Art Fair moves to its alternate site, the Des Moines County Fairgrounds at Southeastern Community College’s West Burlington campus, approximately 3.5 miles west of Snake Alley.

(taken from the Art Guild of Burlington website.)

What's With All the Hoopla?

Another fun article to check out in Hoopla this week about Connie and Laura! You can read the shortened website version here or the full size version here, by turning to page 17. Or if you're local you can go pick up a copy here.

a Different Tuesday Post

This is a different kind of post today by Mama Winger Connie. It seems like lately we have been kind of boasting and tooting our own horns, with so many great things happening to Things with Wings. We so desire in this high time to remain humble. I want to share a paragraph from a devotional book I pulled off the shelf, randomly turning to this page last night. "Dear Lord, Thank You that You oppose those who exalt themselves, and that You exalt those who humble themselves, giving them Your grace. As the Master Artist, You are able to take my wounds, scars, blotches and the messes I make and blend them into a beautiful design, to the praise of the glory of Your grace."
Having shared that, these little babies are what I use for cutting paper - small things. They are probably the most serious tool I've ever owned. And here is the bandage where I managed to stab myself in the arm with this cute little tool. I seriously thought I was going to pass out from the pain. It bled like crazy. My husband brought me ice, antibiotic, bandage and love to ease the pain. Then I was back to work on my next project. Don't even ask how one manages to do something like that because I have no idea, except that I'm very clumsy, but at least there was no damage (or blood) on my "masterpiece" - glory to the Master Artist!

Iowa Arts Festival

Last weekend's Iowa Arts Festival was the best ever! Record breaking!
If you are visiting us for the first time, we are so excited you're here! Let us show you around a bit. Over on the left, you'll find a list of other events we will be at. Be sure to keep checking back for updates! We have two Etsy shops that are fun to browse through and you can link to them from the sidebar as well. Also, we'd love it if you'd "follow" us - so you can keep up to date on all that's going on! If you're on facebook, we'd be honored if you'd join us on our Things With Wings page! And if you haven't heard already, we've got really big, exciting news about our new licensing adventure! You can read all about it here! And now, for some pictures of our weekend:We had great weather - Saturday started out rainy, but it stopped mid morning and only sprinkled briefly a few other times. Although it looked like it could rain any minute all the rest of the day, it didn't keep people from coming out! Sunday was beautiful! The humidity went way down, it was sunny with a nice breeze. You couldn't ask for better weather. We're always prepared for anything during IAF weekend, because we've been through storms, strong winds, and vicious heat. When we get actual nice weather, we are THRILLED!!! My hubby rigged up this 'addition' off the back of our tent, using pvc pipe and one of the sides of our tent and we use it anytime we've got room for it! It's perfect for keeping us dry or shaded!



Mom's dolls are always a hit!

Cute kid-sized chairs were a hit with the kids! One little toddler girl even came up and gave it a kiss!
This is pretty much what our booth looked like most of the time: full of lovely people!

We're feeling very grateful for a wonderful weekend!