I'm so glad to be out of the stage of needing these for myself I mean my children! I should probably still use one!
This is my friend Lindsay who has a brilliant product. These bibs are magnetic and don't go around the neck. How CLEVER are these!
Still catching up with things I wanted to share... These are the last bits from the shows. I got some fanTABulous headbands from Cookie and the Dude. She's darling and her things are well made and very comfortable. Going 3 months without cut or color on my hair you can only imagine how desperate I am for headbands! Even my kids are commenting on how much gray I have.
And, I'm so excited to find this bag from OYikes!. It has some compartments but not too many to confuse me, it's lightweight and durable and will hold a good sized book. When I travel I need to be able to hold lots of things without breaking my back, which is what my previous bag was doing.
This is definitely one of the perks to doing these shows... : )
I should be getting ready to leave Wed. morning to the Atlanta Gift Show but I'm daydreaming here for a few minutes of some of my new years goals. I just got off the phone with my mom, who just returned from a trip back to Quincy, IL for her sisters 60th birthday. We were talking about how the airplane is one of the best places to set goals and make lists. So, needless to say, I will be finalizing my lists of goals (business, personal, family, house) on my flight to Atlanta.
But for now, one of the goals on my list is to do a "letter wall" like this one from Say It With Letters. What a fun collection and something that you could involve your kids in. Shannon from Eight Crazy should do a wall of eights!
Here are some other super cute inspirations from Deb's blog!
Maybe I should concentrate on my goals for the day...
1. new designs for show
2. send money for IRA (not that I'll probably ever be able to retire!)
3. order flame proofing product (since the Los Angeles Convention Center has the fire mafia after you if you don't have all your fabric fire proofed!)
4. bank deposit
5. NCR's of 2008 price sheets
6. Fred Meyer to buy paint for the last panels of my west coast display that needs to be shipped off on Monday to the CA Gift Show!
These are the cards I have been spurring on my creativity with. Unfortunately I haven't made it past the cards onto designing the winter line yet. Maybe tomorrow. I did have lots of fun with these, I scribbled, scratched, used spray paint, globby brushes and even some sand paper. Cards are a great way to explore your wild side without messing up an expensive canvas or a nice piece of watercolor paper. And, if you're like me and feel like you must make good use of your time, they're functional!
Things that happened in the past few days or today:
-Alexis is doing better at school, slowly but surely.
-My husband came home from hunting (bow/elk). I told him no elk, no entry... but I caved.
-Katy is taking the job (graphic designer) HOORAY!
-Jess's team won their soccer game and she even scored her first goal (this is her first year playing)
-My friend April emailed and told me she's signing up for Artfest!! I'm so excited, she's from Michigan and she's never been out here before.
Oh, and I cleaned out my tubS of dirty brushes. I'm so bad, I only buy cheap brushes so I don't have to feel too guilty about leaving them in water for days. Does anyone else dread cleaning out their brushes like I do?? I even thought (for a short moment) "I wish I had someone to do this part for me!", I know, I know it's all part of the experience!
Meeting new people with great talents and visions is one of the highlights of this business. Especially when traveling and being away from your family and friends starts to wear on you. This is my new friend Christa DeMartini from Modern Wall Graphics. This is her first show with her clever product.
Every year we do a big BBQ on the 4th. This annual event started when my youngest was born on that day. So I've been working on my invites. What do you think? I think they turned out pretty cute. If your in the Vanc. Portland area, you're invited! Stop by! 11:30AM-3:30PM
Here's the original pic. oops, I'm just realizing as I type this that it's a school picture and that it was probably illegal for me to make copies of it... sorry.
I then messed around in photoshop till it had a weathered look. Not sure if I could do it again??
Here are the pieces I painted to add to the picture.
I really should be spending this time getting ready for my first show of the summer season... the Atlanta Gift Show, but... but.... I'm having so much fun being creative!
Another thing I heart is... GARAGE SALES! My mom and I went out last Friday for a few hours and I scored this wheelbarrow for $5. It was in such good condition I had a hard time drilling holes in the bottom and using it as a planter like I had originally intended.
I put it right outside our lower studio. It is hopefully an inviting sight each morning as my employees arrive for work.
Inspired by Ideagirl's blog I messed around with Photoshop tonight. This is the most recent picture I have of J. and her missing tooth. Jessica of Spraque Lab has a great, easy to understand tutorial on different Photoshop techniques (they're under Photoshop Friday) Oh, I should post the original pic below to show the change.
Sure is nice to be home. Although, I got a head cold right away and today I finally feel like I'm over the jetlag. Trying to catch up on all the odds and ends of being gone for 9 days. Tomorrow I am going to allow myself to take the time to do something creative. Maybe J. will want to join me since her sis and dad are gone to Bend skiing.
Another great thing about Jessica is that she is a major packrat! So, I spent HOURS cleaning out her room after my procrastinating for the last several months. I had to go in while she was gone, she has the idea in her head that she needs to save EVERYTHING!
While I was cleaning I found this wreath that I had made out of all those charming kids meal toys, extra legos, puzzle pieces and virtually everything at the bottom of the toy box.
To make it, all I did was take a styrofoam wreath, covered it with colorful fabric, tyed a ribbon around it for hanging and used a glue gun to glue layer upon layer of toys. Make sure to use plenty of glue so it holds up for many years. I did try to pay attention to it having a top to it so that most of the toys were right side up.
If you end up making one of these as a momento for your child, of some of the movies that were released during their time or their favorite toys, please send me a pic I would love to see!
PS.. Although she was initially bummed that all her cherished "treasures" (literally stuff she pulls from the trash cans around the studios) she was stoked in the end and has already spent more time in her room than she had in weeks.
Check out this cute wrapping that Sweet Petunia did. Don't you just want to tear into this gift. I'm so bad with wrapping that more times than not I simply present it in the original plastic/paper bag it came in. Maybe this will be a New Year's goal!
