We are so excited to have our new calendar up and ready to go!  We have two exciting mud clubs on Thursday for our young artists and and a great spring door or wall hanger for your house.  This bunny door hanger would be super cute to hang in any kitchen, nursery or office when not in use on your front door!

Let us know if you want to book a private group class for our new wood plaques.  We have a great group of ladies who have already booked a private night ahead of our kick off date of March 24 - they were ready to go! 

And don't miss out - Camps are already starting to book! - we have so many great weeks of camps listed.

Blue not your color?  Don't worry!  We have flowers in every color of the rainbow!  Ribbon for hanging included.  $30 includes all supplies

if you've driven by the studio in the last twenty years (yes, we have been open 20 years - but this is our 21st Christmas season!) you may have seen one of my two Toyota Landcruisers. I have a 1975 FJ-40 and a 1988 FJ-62 that are truly my loves right after my dog & my husband.

Built like tanks, these trucks are dreams to drive and they tend to have loyal owners who can't seem to let them go. (Yep - I'm one of them..)

When we were looking at trends for this year's holiday's ideas and the woody wagon popped up, I was so excited! Oh for the days of fj-60's, woody wagons, wagoners and a tree wrapped to your roof! Maybe a black lab or two in the back, your favorite Bean boots, a Swiss fisherman's sweater and a toboggan ready to go...

fast forward to my awesome staff coming up with THE PLATE of the season! The Wood Wagon Christmas Platter. Staff can precut a sticker stencil for you (YEP) to stencil the Wagon of your dreams right on the platter, add a hand print, foot print or paw print and VOILA! Christmas is made.

​Landcruiser style.

This is our nineteenth Valentines Day in the studio! (Be still, my beating heart...) If only we could count the many gifts that have been created and given by friends & family each February in the studio. We've met so many beautiful couples each year. We've shared stories of how couples have met, when or where they were married and when children came to be.

Each year we invite you, our old friends & new friends to come and join us to create a Valentine memory. This year we will be serving up hot chocolate and sweets to Valentines of all ages in the studio on Sunday. We hope you can join us!

Love this mosaics bench! We need to get back into mosaics.

This art compilation at Cabo Taco in NoDa is beautiful to explore. Each artist painted their block not knowing what the other artist would paint, yet it all fits together.

Mechanical renderings are the best.

Crayons, crayons, and more crayons.

A chalkboard frame of New Belgium beer labels & bottle caps! Brilliant.

So what has you inspired...?

We love the blues and greens of this seahorse print. And the muted tones remind us of that old beach house you used to stay at once a year with your grandparents.

We love the zen doodling of this card we saw in the post office (yes, the post office!) and the fun berry colors added to it.

How about a different colored silhouette? This one caught our eye in beautiful shade of green! It really stands out against the brick wall.

It must the greens & blues again! The label of this hot sauce stood out against the yellow of the sauce. And the fish...well, that fish makes us think of Dad.

So what's inspiring you this week...?

We love the pattern on this scarf! The Blues, greens and browns are perfect for a chip and dip year round.

We love this blue on blue wall paper. Our silk screen flowers help create crisp lines when painting.

Hatch Show Print never fails to inspire.

Accidental art - some lucky soul found this tardis blue crate by the studio....

We love the simplicity of the tiny blue flowers...

What's inspiring you????

Grab your passport...our journey to Morocco begins during Camp Van Gogh Go 2015! We start with a camel ride over the dunes of Africa bringing you amazing colors and sites..

Then we are on an Amazing Race! You never know what country we will end up in, what technique we will try or what pit stop awaits you...

But don't worry, Zombies won't be in our way! We have them safe & secure (or so we think..) in our utility closet. You'll just need to wait and see...

Thank goodness Girls Just Wanna Have Fun after all that craziness! We can't wait to kick up our heels and have some that week....

Oh, there are so many more great projects and weeks of camp to come!!!

Are you registered? Check out the Camp Page for more fun...

- Margaret

Chief Kid

I've had a thing for elephants since I was a little girl and we would go to see the animals at the Central Park Zoo. There is an amazing clock above the entrance with dancing bears and elephants that greet you as you enter

Later in life I was fortunate enough to visit these beautiful creatures in Africa and see them up close and personal. They are majestic and soulful beings. I share a love for them with a niece and I carry a picture of one every day with a black lab in my phone. (I consider these two to be good luck!)

Fast forward to a chance meeting with the fabulous Courtney of Riverbanks Zoo. Courtney asked if we would be interested in teaming up with the largest artists-in-residents the Mad Platter has ever worked with - the African elephants of Riverbanks Zoo! My heart swooned.

I present to you the ladies of Riverbanks zoo - Belle, Penny, Robin and Petunia! They are the largest artists we have ever worked with, and also the most giving heart! They are donating their artwork to the Riverbanks ZooFari on September 26 and you can bid on it.

But not if I don't first....

One of our favorite teen camps here in the studio is our Mirror Mirror Camp. A week long camp full of 14 different techniques for the campers to try out on a personalized mirror of their very own.

This past week our camper Avery made this spectacular mirror with so many creative tiles. Avery is the type of artist who just "gets it"! Her color choices were spot on, she knew where she wanted to go with each design and the outcome is just beautiful.

Well done, Avery! We can't wait for you to hang your mirror.

I have always been afraid of needles! Terrified to be exact. I look away when I give blood at the doctors office. My parents had no worries when I was growing up that I would get into any trouble with "the wrong side of the tracks" because I would quake at the thought of a needle. So a tatoo? Not for this chica...although, the art just fascinates me! (Fave customer Honey's feather is fabulous!)

When we were introduced to the Glass Tatooing technique a little over a year ago, we went a little nuts in the studio! We started with crabs (we so love the sea here!) and quickly moved on to initials, leaves, spider webs and jewelry.

Recently, Sims took glass tatooing to a whole new level with this incredible tree of life display! This is a 12 inch round clear base, 5 colors of frit,, black glass paint and a black metal stand for display.

We would love to show you how to create something this beautiful for your home or office. No wincing required!

Creatively yours - Margaret & the mp staff