Super

I slept in so late today. No, I woke up fairly early, I just laid in bed for forever.  Since my friend and I have been getting up early and walking every morning I have been feeling a little sleep deprived. It's making me a little grumpy.  Today it was raining so we couldn't walk so I stayed in bed well past a decent hour to get up. And honestly, I don't feel bad about it. So there.  

I needed to confess that so now I can move on.

A friend of mine recently asked me to make superhero masks for her sons birthday party.  This is probably the funnest I have had in my studio in a long tome.  Anything goes when it comes to making masks and the more flamboyant the better. Superheroes tend to wear tights after all.  I wish I could build a wardrobe based solely on superhero themes.  Which one is your favorite?

I am so ready for Fall but am a little stressed out.  The clothing addict in me has been looking closely at the new Fall fashions and I want them all.  I have that back-to-school feeling where your mom takes you shopping and you get a new backpack and all your school supplies and bags and bags of new clothes and even if it's still 90 degrees you wear all your new sweaters.  Why don't I have a shopping spree in my budget?  Growing up is hard.

Happy Sweaters in August to you!

Last Night

 Last night was really exciting for me! I got to set up my first ever table for Abeautifulparty and show off my work and maybe make some sales.  I've done many open portfolios before where I have laid out artwork and stood nervously by while people looked through them but this felt very different.  I focused on styling my table and putting together my brand and it was lots of fun.  My job at Cracker Jax has helped me look at styling in a different way.  I learned a lot just from this one table set up and thought of things I hadn't thought of before. This makes me even more excited for the Nada Farm sale.

I used this little shelf on my table and was happy to represent my good friend Katy Seals.  Having her sticker on my fixture made me think of how important it is for us all to support each other. I am lucky to know so many amazing and talented people. I want us all to succeed.  I jokingly thought of making garlands out of all our business cards  or wearing them like a necklace.  I wish I could always be a walking advertisement for my friends. We all talk about some day having this amazing art trailer park where we all live and work.  That would be the most amazing thing in the world. Utopia!

So I realize I'm trailing way off of what I was talking about.  There was a lot of local live music playing last night so my mind was working through all these ideas while I listened to it.

 I was very happy last night to sit between my former boss at Border's cafe and my current boss at Cracker Jax.  Both are creative people that I have been fortunate to learn  from.
Meagen Lee Floral was showing off some of her beautiful creations combing jewelry and headwear with flowers.  I think we all know my desire to alway have flowers in my hair. (If you didn't know, now you do.)

 And Cracker Jax had a beautiful display!  I looked at everything like I'd never seen it before. I'm always mesmerized by the beautiful things we have in the shop.

It was a fun night last night and a neat learning experience.  I'm ready for more and more and more of these sales.  And I need to make more and more and more work!

The Renegade Craft Fair is this weekend. I plan on doing a lot of research there and paying attention to each person's booth and how they set it up. I can't wait!

Talk to you soon!

The Weekend

Happy end of Labor Day Weekend!!  There were so many times I tried to sit down this weekend and write and then I got so caught up in activities.  Activities!

Friday night I went on my annual trip to the Sycamore Speedway to see some awesome car races.  Though this isn't normally my thing it's fun to do once a year. I get bored after a while but let's be honest, everyone is really just waiting for a wreck to happen.  When I have a kid someday I hope to include them in my once a year tradition at the speedway. I'll teach them to yell things like "Hammer it!"

Sunday I made an attempt at baking.  Cooking is also not usually my thing but I like to try something here and there. I've made this cake before and usually the results are a little better. This is a healthy-ish recipe that is simply a box of angel food cake mix with a can of cherry pie filling. I threw in some dark chocolate for good measure.  This was the first time I had a hand mixer for mixing (thank you wedding registry!) and I think I got a little carried away mixing it all up.  I know so little about baking but I think the mix was far too whipped. My mom also suggested my pan was too small.  So this happened:

And then this happened:

 It actually was still pretty tasty although a little too sweet for me.
I tried a different healthy-ish recipe that consisted of a box of cake mix and a can of pumpkin pie filling. Again, dark chocolate for good measure. I made this into muffins and they were out of this world amazing!  It was very cakey but not too sweet. I want to make these everyday for the rest of my life.

To make up for my sudden surge in baking my friend Janey and I have been getting up in the early hours every morning and walking. I am grateful to have a walking partner because I would otherwise sleep a little later and then feel bad all day for not exercising.  I get to see this in the mornings which is pretty inspiring!

 Yesterday was too depressing in the basement so I set up a studio outside.  I spray painted jars and hand painted sticks all afternoon and it was glorious.  I'm excited with all the new stuff I'm cranking out.  My studio is overrun with animal jars and glittery arrows and stick banners.  If only I had thought to use more feathers and glitter and craft paint in grad school.

How did you spend your weekend? Any healthy-ish sweet treat recipes you'd like to share? I'm listenin'

xoxo

A little bit of everything.

I am a moron.

I couldn't wait to share my new business cards on my blog. I was so excited to get them in the mail. I checked my box every single day. Today I checked it at least three times and finally they came!  There was only one tiny problem and it was one I could deal with... the left and right side of the card was framed in blue strip because it was supposed to be the bleed area but it ended up printing. No problem, I figured it would look intentional.  So when my husband came home I showed them to him and said there was only one error. I figured if he guessed the blue strips then I would know it didn't look intentional.  Instead, he pointed out that instead of the word Artist.... I wrote Arist.  NOOOOOOOOO!!

I still felt like it was something I could deal with.  Maybe I could joke that I'm an artist and not a speller.  But no.  J said I can't hand out cards that have my profession spelled wrong.  Derrr.

So more are on the way.  I can't wait to see what word I misspell this time.

In other this and that news...

I have been working on a slew of super hero masks for a superkid's birthday coming up. These have been a blast to make.  Here's a little sneak peak. Doesn't the top one look like a Ninja Turtle? Happy accident.

 My friend made herself one of these handy necklace holders and started making me one but got over the idea once she painted the board.  I met her halfway and put the rest of it together tonight. I love how pinteresty it is.

 And then I took a dreamy shot of the collections on my dresser.  My nail polish has some fancy storage.

 I'm working hard in my studio.  I've been so into making these little stick banners.  This new one might be my fave.  It's a lot tinier than the others and this little birdy is about to be glued to the top.  Thank goodness I have an overgrown apple tree outside with many sticks ready to be trimmed. Free art supplies!

What are you doing to prepare for fall? How many pumpkin lattes have you had so far? (I've had 2).  I can't wait for the cool weather. I'm getting all my sweatshirts and blankets washed and ready for the coming season. I feel like I should switch my color schemes in my work to warmer Fall colors but it will never happen. Pastels and neons forever!

xoxo

Etsy Sellin'

Some exciting things have been happening in my shop lately! I have said good-bye to some of my favorite pieces in the last month or so.  It's such a thrill to see that email letting you know something has sold.  And then there is the bittersweet moment of having to ship off some of your favorite things.  I'm happy to see them go to a good home, though, and am only inspired to make more and more and more.

 Today's little jar was shipped out looking like this.  Packaging is one of my favorite parts. I love for each item to be wrapped up like a magical present.  I have a drawer full of balloons and feathers and scraps of tissue.  I'm starting to think about how I want to decorate for my bags for my upcoming sale. I think it would be neat to pre-decorate them in all this fun ephemera.

My Etsy shop is not super full right now and I'm really debating whether to add more things or wait until after the sale.  As you can see from most of my blog pictures I'm not that great at taking product shots so that part is a little stressful.  I think I'm just thinking out loud. I should focus right now on making more and worry about listing later. Or am I procrastinating again?

I got a couple of great comments on my last post in regards to galaxy art tutorials. If you are interested go click on the links.  Some super amazing stuff.

Thanks, y'all! Have a great weekend.  Get a pumpkin white chocolate frap if you live near a Caribou Coffee!

And Another Thing

 I have so so so many things I need to be working on right now.

I should be doing more of this...

 And a whole lot more of this...

But what I really want to do is make galaxy art.  I have been noticing a big trend on Pinterest (follow me! abeautifulparty) lately with DIYs on making your own galaxy skirt but today when I was scrolling through Craftgawker I was super excited to see a tutorial for paper.  My internet was running slow on my phone and I had to finish the latest episode of Teen Mom (not apologizing) before I could use my computer so I spent the last half hour of the show daydreaming about what all I would do with my galaxy paper.  The excitement was building while I watched and learned just how tough it is to have a child as a teen.  Finally I was able to look up the tutorial for this exciting project and I was crushed to discover they are envelopes made of magazine pages. 

This is a great DIY, just not what I was looking for.

So I thought this was a good thing because I would get back to the projects that I had started and needed to be resolved.  But thennnnnn.... I thought I could find the skirt tutorials and apply those techniques to paper....  So far I have found a few DIYs for paper but they have been a little hokey.  I did find a pretty good one for a skirt.  The skirt came out beautifully.  I think maybe I could make this work best on canvas instead of paper.  If I spray bleach on paper I think it will just eat the paper. Eating paper is a bad idea...

Click the image for the tutorial.

Okay okay. Maybe this thought can wait.  Maybe I should get back to what I was doing. Maybe I'll just clean my studio and procrastinate a little, get to bed early, and try it all again tomorrow.

Probably that one.

If you have some good ideas for this galaxy paper project would you mind sharing?  I neeeeeed to know!!

Edited after posting: I feel like it sounds like I made a galaxy skirt and it came out beautifully. I meant the skirt in the tutorial. Don't want to give the impression that no procrastination was happening...

Nada Farm Barn Sale!

I am so excited to say that I have officially confirmed my spot in my first vintage and handmade sale.  Since I have started working at Cracker Jax I have had the pleasure of getting to know Anne Marie of Nada Farm.  She has a barn sale twice a year and my first visit was in the spring.  It was a magical place.  The minute you step on the farm you feel right at home.  There are animals to coo at and wonderful people with booths styled so well you would think you were in a rustic boutique.
I have been wanting to do Art and Craft Fairs with my own work for some time now but I was always so intimidated to step out on my own and just do it.  The magic of Nada Farm put me at ease and all intimidation was swept away.
I have been working hard in my studio gluing glitter here and applying paint there.  As I fall asleep I think of my booth and how I will style it.  Today I got my bags and tissue paper in the mail and soon I should get a fresh supply of business cards.  I am looking forward to the experience and know I can only learn wonderful things and grow just like the vegetables in the garden.
If you live in the area you should definitely check it out.  The dates are Oct. 19 and 20th.  It's such a sweet event and the crisp autumn air will surely make it cozier and sweeter.
Please check out Anne Marie's blog.  It's like a mug of tea on a breezy day.  Her family is fabulous and her day to day is so very dreamy.

And here's a little glimpse of the things going on in my studio. Forgive the lighting/phone camera quality.  My basement studio is giving me some lighting issues and while still only half unpacked here I can't find my camera!

Sweet dreams...