You wondered where I was? I've been hanging out with my family, all week long. My brother, sister in law, niece and nephew all came down for a visit. My sister in law's sister even came and brought her husband and baby with her. We had quite the full house.
...and guess where everyone wanted to spend their time? yep, the studio! It was wonderful. Lots of little toothy smiles all around.
I managed to get this shot of my nephew, Oscar, sporting the spectacular Harrilu Little Monster Tee. I swear he loves it as much as I do.
They left today. It was deafeningly quiet and lonely in the studio.
To celebrate the 4th of July, I'm participating in the Etsy Free Shipping Promotional Event! From July 2nd-July 6th, all wallets, zipper pouches, and small handbags will be listed as $0 for shipping within the United States and Canada.
Be sure to check www.etsydallas.blogspot.com later this week to see my team members who are also participating.
I am thrilled to present my new price and wrapping tags!
I was very lucky to find an antique cut online. Kim Neiman, of Arlington's Studio 204, was incredibly generous - she helped me find the right cut and then invited me into the studio to learn a bit about the letterpress printing process from setting the cut, mixing the ink color, a few of the machine parts and functions, to cutting and printing the paper! Every step was so inspiring - I've forgotten how important it is to explore new (and old) techniques.
I then used a tag-shaped die cut, along with an easy-to-use eyelet punch, to finish them off! I hope that these add a special touch to packaging and compliment the one-of-a-kind nature of my creations.
Studio 204 is home to custom print orders, gallery nights and may hold book binding and letterpress classes, very soon!
The Coffee Haus Downtown is pleased to present a mixed media artwork collection by the artist Alan Tolleson. As a middle school art teacher, Tolleson finds an endless source of inspiration in the unintentional humor his students convey in their own work. When this inspiration is mixed with a few of his daydreams and the juxtaposition of oddities found sprawled across Arlington, Tolleson's spontaneous art becomes a handful of insights and hilarious surprises. The collection can be viewed at the Coffee Haus in Arlington during business hours throughout June. An after hours reception with the artist will be held Friday, June 12th from 7-8pm.
So here I am, table dancing. Well, I'm dancing on a table. Ok, it's a coffee table. Shut up.
Sigh! I photographed myself this morning in the room that is to be my new bigger, better work space - something that is incredibly exciting to me. I partially believe this room to have magical, super productivity-inducing properties. I partially believe that I am undeserving of this beautiful room. I have this picture in my head (you have the future-self picture, don't you?) where I'm fantastically talented, beautiful, and have this lovely workspace (not to mention adoring boyfriend) and everything is sunshine and light. Ok, even in my magic future-self picture, not every thing is sunshine and light, let's be realistic.
The past month has been really wonderful. The Etsy Dallas Spring Bash was a huge success. I was featured on two blogs and NBC.com. Yesterday, I woke up to my 100th sale on Etsy, a small milestone to be very proud of. I am proud. I also had my seventh weight watcher's meeting and have lost just about 15 pounds - another milestone to be proud of. I am proud. Today, I walked into this gorgeous room where I will spend all of my days drawing and sewing and creating and smiling. You'll come visit me as my future self and my hair will be perfect and i'll be so well dressed and I'll offer you tea in the garden and didn't i mention i made those 15 bags today and was invited to 25 news stores??? and by then, i will have learned how to properly maintain a blog.
So I took this photograph and I looked at it. and then I had a moment where present self began to look a lot like future self. it was confusing.
A professor of mine once spoke to me about the double-edged sword of knowledge; the more you learn, the more you realize you know nothing. Well, I learned a long time ago that I definitely didn't know anything and probably never would. I moved on. What I didn't realize was that this same trick attaches itself to most of your goals.
This room is so beautiful that I don't believe I deserve it. I still feel like a fraud. I have so far to go. So much to do and learn and make. I still have so many things I want to achieve. I've hardly done a thing. And then there's the weight. I was thrilled when I lost 5 pounds. I almost cried when I lost 10. At 15, I'm in a bit of shock. Instead of being thrilled, I'm just... wow. When did I gain fifteen pounds to be lost? I'm baffled by the fact that a huge chunk of PERSON is missing from me. It's been such a short amount of time, I haven't been able to adjust or even comprehend.
This past week has overwhelmed and humbled. And then came today's migraine. I haven't had one since high school so I didn't recognize the blind spot immediately. Only after I was completely unable to read or write the text on the computer screen did I fully understand what was going on. Hours later, I still feel as though I've taken a bat to the head.
I know that part of me is thrilled about everything going on. I just need to let the shock wear off a bit. and maybe the headache. hang on, with me. and we'll get back to conquering the world. And I need to get a new picture of future self.
and you're welcome to call me melodramatic. i'll just say i'm honest.
I'm tired. I also promised my entire family that I would take a real day off. So, I'll have to sneak this one in and tell you that
A) the spring bash was fantastic B) did i mention i was tired? C) I forgot the third thing D) oh yeah! if you missed it, you can see sweet shots at this absolutely lovely blog: http://www.christinalikes.com/?p=199 E) is it wrong that i'm already ready to get back in the studio? F) ...my NEW studio? G) huh? yeah, more later. gotta go before my boyfriend notices that i'm not watching SNL shorts with him
I've totally been enthralled with the blog, Yellaphant. When reading her posts, I'm always poking Thomas, wailing "READ THIS READ THIS," while I run to the bathroom "...BEFORE I PEE MYSELF!"
While I do not share her love for baseball player's butts or the Grateful Dead, she can always make me smile and wish I were even more vulgar.
The Spring Fling was an absolute blast. Great traffic, wonderful vendors, and adorable puppies up for adoption all worked together to carry off my heart
... along with all of my inventory!
oh dear! I have much to do for Deluxe OKC and the Etsy Dallas Spring Bash!
I won't lie, I was kind of freaking out in the photo - as it was taken during morning set-up! If you click on the photo, you can see the small banner and suitcase I spray painted the night before the show. To the right, outside this photo, were another mannequin and a chair with a few extra bags and pillows.
I have been continuing my experimentation with manual-machine embroidery. Curves are getting slightly easier to handle and I can draw blind without cursing (mostly). Leading up to the Funky Finds Spring Fling, I definitely got a burst of excitement for it and created some really special items. I wasn't sure if the camera was too sketchy or if the bird bag was too explicit, but I really love making both. I'm looking forward to more experimentation.
