Skip to content

Carmen Shenk

Faith, Art & Tiny Houses

About
Blog
Books
Contact
Subscribe

Carmen Shenk is an artist, entrepreneur, and communicator helping folks make space, find their purpose and voice, so that they may release beauty in the earth.

You Deserve to be Free

TinyHouseFoodie.com:

What would you like more of?

Purposeful Simplicity

One Tiny Thanksgiving

The Focaccia Bread that Ruined Everything

Introducing Vinnie #3

A Visit with a Cinematographer!

This month in the Tiny House Magazine…

You deserve to be heard

See how it’s done

Join the Facebook Group

Instagram

Day 22 of #100days of art. ⚜️ I was trying to think of what I could possibly say I did today that was artistic or creative. Then I remembered that I cleaned out some display cases and used them to display Uncle’s collection of cushions for sale. I didn’t think to get a photo of the display when I was finished - but here is a show stopper of a carpet instead. Doesn’t it have an interesting personality?! #loveit ⚜️ This search for something creative isn’t really what I intended when I started this #100days of art project... but then I had no idea I would be caring for Uncle. I actually intended to engage in active art making each day for at least an hour. Plans change. It’s ok. I am enjoying my time with him and the work is rewarding. Maybe after I’ve been at this for a while I will be better about fitting some creative work in around my schedule. There are all sorts of ways to bring order out of chaos, so I will keep working at that no matter where I am. ⚜️ This is off topic but I want to mention how important it is to take care of yourself. Uncle has rather advanced diabetes. Friends, this disease is cruel. Stay away from sugary foods, breads and don’t eat too much fruit. I heard him say something along the lines of “I brought this on myself” the other day and it broke my heart. Take care of yourself now. Eat right now. Get some rest now. With that in mind I think I’m going to go to bed now. Life is a gift. #savorit #orientalrugs #orientalcarpets #magiccarpet

Waiting at the DMV with my handsome Austrian. 🌷 It's 9 degrees out there this morning. Brrrr. #cold

@cote_dazur_creperie Do either of these look interesting to you? I think the look is similar to what you showed me but Uncle used a different word to describe what they are. They are gorgeous! #orientalrugs #orientalcarpet #magiccarpet

Day 21 of #100days of art. I bought a little cart to organize my needlework supplies. I brought it home and put it together. It seems pretty sturdy. I like that it is metal - not plastic - and it has casters on the bottom so it can easily be moved from room to room. ⚜️ I put the @Benziedesign felt in the bottom. Then I put my DMC floss all neatly wound on bobbins in the middle bin. Then I put buttons and beads in the top. I have three large rings on the sides so I can pick out a color palette of thread and keep that neatly on the ring for easy access. Plus I put two binder clips on one side in case I pick out a palette of felt colors so I can clamp a few pieces of felt there and keep that handy as well. ⚜️ I added a little clamp light on the side so that wherever I am using this little cart - I can get some extra light on the project at hand. I may need an extension cord as well since this house doesn’t have many outlets. ⚜️ Gosh, order is fun. I have little scissors to add, and when I find my little packet of needles I will be good to go. It might not hurt to add a pair of good reading glasses to the collection so I can see what I’m doing. ⚜️ I picture this beside the sofa when my living room is finally put together. I hope to have time to sit and sew up some of the ideas I have. I look forward to that. For now, I love bringing order out of the chaos - even in this small way. And all the colors - well - that’s the fun part. ⚜️ #felt #embroideryfloss #dmcfloss #beads #buttons #needlework #colors #orderfromchaos #creative #maker #artist

Day 20 of #100days of art. #carmencreates ⚜️ It is entirely possible that my favorite thing to do is playing with color. Not making something - just playing. Organizing, winding, arranging... I enjoy it. ⚜️ I really enjoy variegated thread, not sure why. All the colors. #allthecolors #all #the #colors

Day 19 of #100days of art may be a low key day. My body is feeling a little rough this morning. Paying the price today for food I ate last evening. I need to learn a better approach than eating what's set in front of me just to be polite. There has to be a better way. Folks with food allergies - help me out. 💜 What do you do when everything on the table is something you have a food sensitivity to? 💜 Today I paired a hand dyed T-shirt in blues and greens with my jeans jacket with the hand mended indigo patches with my hand dyed scarf in turquoise and orange. I'm also wearing earrings by @wirewrapgirl with lapiz drops. The funny part is that none of it matches my hair except for a bit of the scarf. All of it matches my spirit though. Artsy mess of an outfit. This may be the extent of my artistic endeavors today because I am poof. 💜 #outfit #artsyfashion #slowfashion #mess

All of these are some variation on the theme of 3-4 ft wide by 6-7 ft long. Of course each is different. I think this is an ideal #tinyhouse carpet size. Small living spaces call for small carpets, and if your going to put something on the floor in your lovely haven home - it might as well be a original as you are. See something here you like? Drop me a message for more information. ⚜️ Most carpets are in the pumpkin spice family of colors - but other colors do happen! If you are looking for something out of the ordinary - I can help!! ⚜️ #orientalrugs #designer #origional #oneofakind #allnaturalfibers #wool #silk #textile

Oh, and my hair is sort of #radientorchid now. It happens. I don’t fight it. #artisthair #artistsofinstagram #pinkhair #purplehair #radientorchidhair #selfexpression

Day 18 of #100days of art. 12x24 acrylic on canvas. #carmencreates ⚜️ I added two more painted ladies to my painting from yesterday and @gbhjkh14 was right - it’s better now. One of those adorables is inspired by @auberginetinyhouse ⚜️ I love everything about tiny house communities and I’m so pleased to see them popping up all over the country! @searchtinyhousevillages Has been hard at work putting all that info in one place where people can find it and I think that’s great! Brava Jill! ⚜️ I might have to try my hand at painting a #bus #airstream and maybe even a #sprintervan ! Lol! ⚜️ Say a prayer for my Austrian who will cover many many miles today for a pipe organ emergency. Sometimes a client tries to save money by having us only visit once a year - but then we get the emergency call: “Can you get here before Sunday?” Yeah, then it costs them real money. Maintenance is always cheaper than emergencies! Don’t skimp on caring for things in a proactive way, it’s always cheaper. #sermonoftheday ⚜️ I love it that he does fly off like Superman to go help, but I don’t like it when he is covering long miles where there is snow and ice in the picture. All those miles are exhausting and it had already been an especially long week for him. I will be very happy to see him this evening when we are both finally back home. #paintedladies #painting #artistsofinstagram #acrylic #canvas #pipeorganbuilder #tinyhouses #artistlife #tinyhouselife

Oh my gizzard! Thank you @benziedesign for making such gorgeous colors of wool blend felt! 🍆🍇🍓🍑🍊🍋🥝 Thank you @gbhjkh14 for inspiring this new round of colorful delight! ⚜️ And to all of those folks making felt ornaments that I’ve been pinning like a madwoman... well... keep up the good work!!! #pinterest #pinterestaddict #pinterestaddiction ⚜️ I see hand #stitching in my future. #handmade ⚜️ I’ve got a few things on my desk that need my attention and now all I want to do is play with felt and DMC floss! ⚜️ PS, how do I store felt? Flat? Rolled up as a collection? Individually rolled? #halp #procrastination #feltornaments #12daysofchristmas #woolfelt #benzie #rainbow #decolores #allthecolors #beautiful #allthecolorsoftherainbow #rainbow

Day 17 of #200days of art started with a killer headache and the weather is doing something, maybe a storm is coming. ⚜️ I got an idea... and the idea turned into a painting. 💕 Here is “The Painted Ladies” 12x24 acrylic on canvas. ⚜️ I enjoyed painting this one, and then my step daughter called and I was able to continue painting while chatting with her - and I could also hear her working on something in the background... so it was an artsy morning for me and evening for her half way around the world in Europe. ⚜️ I have a feeling that if I sort of developed the idea of this painting over the course of a few canvases... I might end up with something I really like. Perhaps. I don’t know. I think that it is perhaps a little too literal for me now. It could really use a lot more personality. I will probably revisit this idea and see what happens. ⚜️ I’m an artist and I love anything #tinyhouse #Skoolie #airstream or #vintagecamper and I am a little surprised that it took me so long to get around to the idea of painting them. I will try again! 💕 ⚜️ No, I don’t consider it finished. There are just a few more things I might add. Or not. Lol! I think it needs a splash of paint somewhere. And maybe a “happy little tree”. #bobross #jacksonpollockinspired #painter #artist #artistsofinstagram #tinyhouseartist

I’m not certain if I shared photos of my finished Ombré walls... and if not - here ya go! ⚜️ I really like how they turned out. The gradation of color from the dark color at the bottom to the light color at the top is so subtle that you can walk in the room and not be hit over the head by it. But it’s there if you know to look, so I think this is really a great look for this room. ⚜️ I am looking forward to painting my living room next! Now that I have a brand new job, it might take a little longer to get that project started - but it will happen this year. ⚜️ My Austrian loves his new office so much that he is very happy to get home from work and hang out in there. I’m taking that as a compliment. I like it also, especially now that we’ve got some furniture in there and artwork on the walls. It’s really starting to look good. ⚜️ I am looking forward to the next project — of course. What else is new?! #ombre #ombrewalls #painting #interiordesign #artistsofinstagram

My Pipe Organ Company

you deserve to be well

Anointed-Ed.com

Essential Oils & Sensitive Skin

Snowflake Layered Mints

Non-Toxic Cleaning

What’s So Essential About Essential Oils?

Purification

Stress Away

PanAway

Copyright 2018, 2019 – Carmen Shenk – All Rights Reserved

Twitter
Facebook
WordPress.com
Instagram
YouTube

WordPress.com.