a rainbow is coming. if you're lucky it will be a double.

i'm in the midst of a terrible weekend.  it's been very tough around here in beautiful party land.  i'm going out of town for a few days with a friend and when i come back i hope to see the rainbow at the end of this storm.

i hope you find yours, too.

New Home and a Sale!

I just posted a new home in my shop and decided to have a big sale! I marked down a lot of things, some as much as half off! Go take a look!

You Have Such a Pretty Face

So after a very great Memorial Day weekend I decided to make a new home for the shop. This one lives inside a white shadowbox. I realize the picture with the shadowbox (accidently linked whole sentence and don't know how to unlink...!) is sort of atrocious but without a digital camera I've really been relying on the scanner. I thought this would due for now. I really like the house inside the shadowbox. I'm going to try to find homes for my other houses, too. Isn't that funny? Homes for houses?

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend for those of you who celebrate it. Friday night I helped host a yummy cookout with pita pizzas. Cassie from The Adventures of Cassie documented it here if you want to check it out.

Saturday night I went to a tequila tasting at an amazing mexican restaurant in Sycamore, IL and had such a good time with friends and the owner of the restaurant. He was so awesome and genuinely wanted everyone to have a good time and enjoy yummy tequila. I drank a little... okay a lot! I have now been educated on good tequila but think I may stick to Miller Lites and the occasional wine.

Sunday was a rest day but Monday was a fun day! I went with my favorite travel companion to the Field Museum in Chicago. We saw a great exhibit about evolution and a very beautiful hall of plants. Alas I was not able to take pictures but maybe I can steal some from my photographing travel mate to show off here. I got to see a triceratops skeleton! Those are my favorite!

Ok enough enough about my weekend.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!

Belated Mother's Day

So it's a joke in my family that I'm late for everything.  It's your birthday? I swear I have a card, you'll just get it in a few months... you know, just so I can extend your special day... I really do have good intentions, I'm just a bit flighty.

So, here's to being flighty...

And here's to still celebrating Mother's Day!!

These are a couple of my favorite photos from when I was young. I thought my Mom looked like an 1980's superstar in that aerobics outfit on top and the bottom picture shows off her culinary skills.  See how I'm eating an apple instead of the mystery casserole in the dish... and the beats in the pink tupperware container... I can practically feel myself gently turning them down again. Ha. Love you, Mom!! And your mystery casseroles.  You always have fabulous hair!

Happy Mother's Day, you should be getting something in the mail today!

More Houses, more Birthday Cake!

Yesterday I almost left the studio and went for a bike ride.  I'm so glad I stayed because I made two more houses and came up with lots of new ideas for art making!  Maybe I was being lazy in one way by not going for a ride but it certainly made me productive in a different way. So... to laziness! 

I'm super excited about my new birthday piece.  I want to take a big bite out of that cake.  And since I sold my greenhouse I thought I would make another one.  The flowers are a bit different from the last.  This one is called Greenhouse Garden House.

I was in the critique forum on etsy and I got some feedback on the houses and I'm curious about your opinion on this.  A person said they would not know what to do with the house.  I always assumed these little houses would live in a frame of some sort but maybe that's not so obvious.  What do you think?  Do I need to start photographing them in a frame?  I was toying with the idea of selling these already in shadowboxes but that would mean I would have to raise the price.  Any advice from sellers?

Thanks in advance!  Now I'm off to draw plants...

More Houses

Yesterday I finished these two new houses. You can find them here and here.  

I rode my bike to the post office today to send out the last two houses I made.  It was a nice ride and now I'm in the studio with the hopes of making more houses but I really just want to ride my bike. I think I will...

Have a great day and if you haven't seen it already, check out this awesome blog!

Chicago Trip Scanned

Since the untimely loss of my camera I've been having trouble blogging because I want to show photos of my adventures.  But I realize I can scan the evidence of said adventures and show them that way.  So, without further ado, my trip to Chicago yesterday:

After wanting and hoping for it I finally got to go to the store Uncle Fun.  It's a kooky little store with so many tiny toys and stickers.  It's the things my dreams are made of.  Everything is so cheap and though I could have easily walked out of the store with five of everything I used all my discipline to only pick out a couple of things.  I got a tooth keychain that I've always found charming, the little green dog that my shopping partner picked out only to say it was ugly.  After that comment I felt the need to rescue him and make him mine.  He's not so ugly.  I also got the awesome ghost button and the book of dessert stickers but my favorite item is the sticker of John Taylor from Duran Duran.  They are one of my favorite 80's bands and he was one of my 80's and 90's heartthrob.  Isn't it a dreamy sticker?

I also met a friend at the gallery Kavi Gupta to check out the opening of Clare Rojas' show.  This is the postcard I grabbed but I'm now wishing I bough a catalog. I'm sort of new to Clare Rojas' work.  I only recently discovered it but it's absolutely beautiful. I could have stayed in the gallery all night.  When my friend and I discovered that Clare was actually at the show we were beside ourselves with excitement.  We hung back awkwardly and drank our beer hoping for the courage to talk to her but she was too surrounded and we didn't know what to say so we finally left without saying hello.  Next time... ( :

And perhaps one of the most exciting moments was when I bought this camera.  I had been reading about Holga cameras and luckily I know someone well enough who really knows his stuff when it comes to photography.  After much talking about it and looking at it I found a great little camera shop in Chicago and finally bought my Holga camera.  I immediately took a roll of film yesterday so I'm trying to take my time on my newest roll. I'm enrolled in a photo class next semester and I'm very excited to start exploring this new media. 

I also had a very great meal with some great people but I have nothing left to scan of that.  Just imagine all the greatest tapas on one tables and that's what I had!

My grandparents are not feeling their finest these days so please send a special thought toward them in the universe if you have a second.

Have a happy Sunday!

Pretty Birthday Parties

Thank you to everyone for your nice compliments on my new work.  I've been in quite a rut lately so making and actually FINISHING these pieces have felt nice. And the sweet comments are the icing on the cake.

After a quick bike ride today I came to the studio and finished this new house and got it in my shop.  I call it Pretty Birthday Parties because the image is from this gorgeous photo I have from a family members birthday party.  I don't think you can see my mom in this picture but my uncle is the adorable, smug looking little boy on the left.  I hope you like this new piece and are inspired to have a fancy birthday party.

<3

New Work for Etsy

Since summer has started I've been working in the studio.  I should be working on my thesis work but lately I've been wanting to try some new things.  Today I just finished this little piece called Green Houses. I put it in my shop and hopefully it will make its way to a happy home.  Take a look and feel free to give me a critique.  It's definitely different from what I normally do so I'm interested to see the response.

xoxo. Thanks!

A Favorite Etsy Shop

It's been a while since I featured an Etsy shop on my blog.  I don't know why I haven't featured this shop sooner.  Project Grab Bag is a fun store filled with beautiful soft dolls that are sweet and charming.  I purchased myself a doll from this shop and later purchased a gift for a friend.  Project Grab Bag upcycles fabrics to create these "green" dolls."  They are cute and very affordable.  If you read my blog you know I'm a fan of triangle bunting.  Shannon, the owner of PGB noticed and sent some with my last order.  It was such a nice surprise!  Check out her shop here.  If you're looking for a special gift for a friend or yourself this is a great place to find it!

Have a great day. I'm going to a bbq tonight and I actually made food for it.  Maybe I'll post the results in the next blog.

beautiful

this is post number 101 so I feel like it should be meaningful. But all I'm really thinking about is how I wish I had long hair so I can put a bunch of stuff in it. I want to fill it with feathers and other kinds of decorations. I want to always feel like my hair has its own costume.

Summertime is right around the corner! I just got a new bike and I want to ride it all over the world.

With feathers in my hair, of course.

Green houses

I've never had a green thumb. I've killed several harmless cacti in my day. But I love the idea of a beautiful garden and I've always been attracted to green houses. Since it's a beautiful day here I thought I would share some interesting pictures of green houses. I hope to have a garden one day. I wan to grow roses that climb up the wall. I also love succulents. I don't think could grow here but maybe I'll move away and be able to grow them. They are so beautiful and a little enchanting.
I hope you enjoy these beautiful pictures!

Happiness

Today I'm up early for a Thursday. Last night my friend Jane had her MFA show and I have no pictures to prove it. Maybe someone will post some on facebook and I can steal them for my blog. I mean... borrow them....
We had fun running around to different art shows and meeting up at the bar til the wee hours. Today I had to work early for a couple of hours and then I'm off to breakfast with Jane. I'm hoping for a fruit platter. I'll probably get hashbrowns. I have little breakfast discipline.
I found this picture of this guy floating with balloons and I thought that would be a lovely way to spend a day. I've been thinking a lot about talking to friends and sometimes people seem so discontent with life, they hate everything, they are so miserable. I desperately feel that I want to change their circumstances and make them so happy and it's frustrating when I don't know how. I realized today that I feel like I need to do this because I'm afraid I could be that unhappy. I have to help them so that I never feel that way. But you can't help everyone. And I just want to float around with all these balloons and find my own happiness.
I hope you have a happy Friday. I should be watching the wrestler tonight and tomorrow is Kentucky Derby!
Cheers!