(etsy) treasury tuesday: birch trees.

beautiful birches

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

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hello 2012!

hello and welcome to my first real post about 2012! i finally caught up on my posts all about the holiday shows i participated in- as you can see it was a busy time, but very rewarding and a lot of fun i really like sharing the awesome work i see so that people can really get a feel for what craft shows are all about.

anyhow, 2012 started on a sadder note with the loss of a friend to cancer and another friend to moving across the country! for the latter, we got together for a surprise farewell party the day before she left- here is a pic of us gals just before we said “bon voyage!” here’s hoping i get to go visit her in AZ . . . maybe i can find a craft show down there to vend at?

in other news outside of the studio, i’m learning to snowboard (my first time trying snow sports EVER) and it’s one of the most frustrating and painful challenges i’ve been faced with. however, that sweet moment when you’re actually cruising down a hill all by yourself makes it all worthwhile. sorta. kinda.

last fall, i spent a lot of time tweaking my traveling show set up. it will always be a work in progress, but for now i’m happy. my focus for the beginning of this year is on rebranding- revamping my website to reflect the work i’m making now and not all of my work from grad school, streamlining my etsy with better photographs and descriptions, developing package designs and more for the work i sell at shows, etc. i’ve started with my main etsy storefront- have you noticed any of the changes? i also created a second etsy account called exit343designforlife to house my functional printed pieces- accessories, jewelry, pillows, etc. i felt like these items were getting lost in the crowd on my main storefront. so far it’s light on listings, but more will be coming shortly. check out the packaging i created for my greeting card packs:

another big change in progress is my studio space. on thanksgiving day 2011, i came down the stairs to find my entire studio under about 6″ of water. yes, i know i said inches- it didn’t damage much in the grand scheme of things, but did destroy all of my newsprint, boxes of supplies, fabric that was touching the ground, etc. that mini flood was the impetus i needed to start reorganizing and sealing the walls to (hopefully) reduce my humidity issues in the summertime. i’m only halfway done as i type this, but wow does it look great! here are two shots of the space before:

so crowded and gross! and way too many things sitting on the ground.

the walls were painted a retro mint green, but over time they turned yellow with the paint chipping and all sorts of questionable spots- mold? mildew? who knew.

here’s the same space now:

what a difference the white makes! it makes me less afraid of the walls and there’s so much space to move! i think i can even fit in a proper fabric yardage printing table.  just to get an idea of the difference, here’s a pic of a wall in progress:

pretty gnarly. i can’t wait to be finished! i will then post more/better photographs upon completion so you can get a feel for the space. and then i can get rolling on new work for upcoming spring shows i did get to print one new thing amongst the mess- check out these custom thank you cards i made for my friends dennis + amy- they used them for engagement thank you’s.  made a bunch of extra in different colors that you can purchase on my etsy:

oh! speaking of listing things, i’ve finally listed all of the newer plush i dragged to every show during the holiday season. here are the goldfish friends:

here is the paisley bird collection- each color has a name and story!

oh! and i mentioned spring shows . . . the first of which is coming up in a month! yes folks, that’s right- the 4TH ANNUAL PABST BLUE RIBBON CRAFTING CHALLENGE! on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 2424 Studios in Fishtown from 3-10pm! if you’ve never been before, get ready for an afternoon of beer, more beer, crafts, friends, beer, live bands, more art, beer. here’s hoping they don’t run out- so come early and stay late

that’s all for now . . . back to painting and finishing up a wedding!

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