Tagged!

This is what I see every morning when I open my eyes.....


Yesterday I was tagged by my good friend from college, Megan. This is a first for me. For those of you who have never experienced this before either, it's basically an info session where the blogger is asked to provide a bunch of little known facts about themselves. Except in this version, the questions are already provided. So here goes......

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was home from college for the summer, working as an art teacher and working at a children's camp that helped to integrate kids with special needs and typical kids.

Five items on my to-do list:
1. Clean off dining room table
2. pull weeds
3. order clear bags
4. make some new cards
5. pay the bills

Snacks I enjoy:
I love popcorn (and have been known to eat it for dinner sometimes). Chips and salsa, sometimes fruit, sometimes veggies, granola bars, or an afternoon snack will usually include some sort of treat (ie - chocolate). I could go on and on.....

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Oy. This question is endless..... first off I'd get us out of debt. I'd make sure our families were taken care of, make sure we had money in the bank for savings, probably spend some, travel some and worry a whole lot less!

Places I would live:
I'm pretty happy here in Austin, TX
I'd go back to Cleveland, OH
I will always love Lancaster, PA
I think it would be neat to live in NYC for a short period of time
the same goes for Boston

Jobs I have had:
My very first job was a babysitter. This is what I did pretty much all through high school.
Then I worked at a private art studio as a teaching assistant.
In college during the summers I worked at the same studio as an art instructor for all ages and also at a kids day camp.

My first job out of college was for a wallpaper company, where I was a Colorist
Then I moved to another wallpaper company where my positions were as follows: Designer, Assistant Stylist, and Jr. Stylist

And now, I'm a nanny :) and creator of hand cut notecards ...

Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:
Kristy (Momental Designs)
Alison (Daily Treats)
Jenna (The Simeks)
Amy (The Amazing Adventures of Anna Banana)

{The rules of the game: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.}

Oh Baby!

Hi All! Just wanted to share some shots of these baby gift cards I did recently. I am trying to get everything together and enough stock built up to start an etsy site soon. If you have never been to etsy - you should seriously check it out. It's pretty cool and it's all small time people like myself.

Shut Out

I had a planned to write a whole other post today, but I was going through my photos and came across these and just had to share them. They make me laugh. We have two dogs - Winston, a hyper 6 year old mini schnauzer and Henry, a small but mighty 6 year old scottie. In a nutshell, they drive me nuts sometimes but I don't know what I would do without them.
Winston has never gotten out of the puppy habit of stealing anything that he can and chewing it up - paper, tissues, whatever he can to get your attention when you are not giving it to him 100% of the day. When you come to stay at our house these are my instructions every time...
" My recommendation to you is that you either keep your suitcase closed (meaning zipped all the way) or the door to the guest room shut at all times. Otherwise you may find yourself chasing Winston around the dining room table to get a pair of socks or underwear back. And he's fast...." I can't tell you how many socks I have lost to him because I have just given up. (that in and of itself is probably the problem)
Anyway, a few weeks ago I was working in my studio and both of "the boys" were with me. Winston just couldn't keep his nose out of the trash so I finally got fed up and shut him out of the room. A few minutes later I looked up and this is what I saw...it made me laugh and melted my heart in a way only my animals can.

Hope you have a great weekend! Our neighbors just got done putting in a pool, so we are about to help them enjoy it! I'll be back tomorrow to post some new cards I've been working on.

IF+D

Hi There - Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I'm really happy to announce that IF+D in downtown Austin now has a small selection of my cards and artwork for sale! I've never had anything in a retail environment, so I'm pretty excited. Here are a couple of my paintings that can be found there. They are all mixed media (mostly combinations of torn paper and watercolor). I have been a fan of IF+D for awhile now. They have really cool furniture and a lot of other really great gadgets. They also support local Austin artists, so there is always something interesting hanging on the walls. If you are an Austinite and have never been, you should check them out - they are in the very cool 2nd Street District, on Colorado (near the Children's Museum). If you aren't around town, check out their website here.

Enjoy the Moment

Did you ever get a bit of wisdom in an unexpected place? I was eating some chocolate and I looked at the inside of the wrapper and it said "Close your eyes and enjoy the moment." The thought made me smile.

I had one of those moments yesterday while I was listening to our church worship team practice. Jon plays guitar with them every week, so we are always there early on Sunday mornings. I've been around musicians for awhile. It's what Jon went to school for, hence alot of his closest friends are also musically inclined. Music is part of who my husband is as a person and who we are as a couple. Jon has this great understanding about music technically, but also emotionally. He's opened my eyes to things that I would have never understood beyond a surface level. One of these things is the value of what it means to "play well" with other musicians. I am probably biased about this because I have seen the pure joy that comes out of my husband when he's playing music with people that he enjoys. I sat there amazed yesterday as I listened to this talented group stop a song mid verse, talk and then start playing again, all on time, in key, sounding like they never missed a beat. Something inside me soared just sitting there listening to them.

They blew us all away in the actual service yesterday. There were several moments when I did just stop and close my eyes, enjoying what was going on around me. Listening to a great group of musicians play, listening to a body of people sing together, for a common purpose - it was one of those moments that you want to freeze frame and hold on to. It was one of those moments that stays with you long after the service has ended.
I hope everyone has a great start to their week! I still have two more days of vacation left - woo hoo! I'll post again soon with some of the creative stuff that I've been working on.

The Happy Dance

Last night around 7 o'clock I was doing the happy dance. All by myself, with no one but my two dogs watching me. If they were human, I am sure they would have just shook their heads and laughed at me, just like my husband would have and most of my friends. Why was I so happy that I was doing a jig? I got paper.....yup, you read it correctly - two boxes full of nothing but beautiful new colors of paper to make cards with - all the way from Cleveland, Ohio. Why Cleveland? There is a magical (well, magical in my eyes - in reality, it's a dingy warehouse type store), hole in the wall there called Hollo's Papercraft. I was almost out of paper and NOTHING beats this places prices. Although it is one of those random stores where you never know exactly what you'll find, there is ALWAYS something you need there. So my dear, dear friend Amy trekked there for me with her one and a half year old daughter and got me some new goods. Anyone who is willing to drag their toddler shopping all for the sake of a good deal, is my type of girl!! Thanks bunches Amy!!

There are a few situations in life where I feel like I revert back to being like a kid and getting new supplies is one of them. I remember when I was in elementary school - there was nothing like going out and getting all of your new notebooks and pencils and then coming home and just looking at them. The same still holds true today, all night I just kept examining them. There are a variety of beautiful colors and textures. The possibilities are endless. I think that is what it all boils down to - the possibilities. I hope that in life, I never loose that child like excitement, when paper just becomes paper and pencils just become pencils. I hope I always feel like I want to pee my pants with excitement and do a little jig.....


Happy Friday to everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend!! I know what I'll be doing....

Colors of Tea

Hello out there! I just had to share one of my new favorite things in my kitchen... I bought this print of a photo called "The Colors of Tea" last weekend at the Happiness market. The photographer, Kristin Farwell, had a table right in front of mine. I really enjoyed chatting with her throughout the day and she had some amazing photos.

I am a tea person, so this one jumped out at me. I LOVE the colors in it. It makes me happy and I find myself turning around to take a sneak peak at it when I'm washing dishes or cooking. My goal is to fill our home with things that are personal to us. I always find that I don't get tired of looking at things as easily if I know their story or they are personal to Jon and I in some way.

Well, I'm off to get ready to start my day, with my cup of lemon tea in hand....of course. Enjoy!

The Art of the Undone

I took a 2.5 hour nap on Sunday afternoon and it was one of the sweetest things about my weekend last weekend. Lately I find myself really thinking about rest. Wanting it, needing it, not getting it. I've been thinking about the ways that I rest or the results I deal with when I don't rest. I usually find myself rundown, cranky (Jon can vouch for that) and seriously lacking joy. I've got too many things in my life to be thankful for to be going around not having a greatful spirit, yet when I don't take some time to be quiet and decompress, that's exactly what I do.

I woke up this morning feeling optimistic that this week I am finally getting myself back on track in all areas of my life. I've got a few days off coming up and I'm really looking forward to getting some stuff done, but also doing nothing. For the first time ever, I can't blame my job for running me down (quite the opposite - being with the boys helps alot of times to remember what's important). I've only got myself to blame for the spiritual funk I've been in lately.

SO, it's time to put cranky, negative thoughts away and allow myself to be quiet, rest and refresh. Here are a few of my favorite quotes on this subject matter:

How Beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterward - Spanish Proverb

A joyful spirit is evidence of a greatful heart. - Maya Angelou

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. -Lin Yutang

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

To Market, To Market We Go!

Hope to see you there!! (i will only be there on Saturday)

Joining the Club

Well, I did it. I joined the "Club". The club of all good girls who wear sparkling crowns and carry wands you ask? No, although I could be a poster child for that club. Nope, I celebrated my BIG 30th birthday yesterday. We had a great time and celebrated all....weekend....long. Jon had many wonderful surprises planned for me. I am kind of excited to be in this club, as I am the last of most of our friends to get on board. So now I feel like a grown up. :) Here are a couple shots from our fantastic weekend.

We actually started out the weekend on Thursday night when Jon couldn't wait any longer to give me one of my gifts. I am just going to be honest, I love gifts. I love buying and receiving them. This is usually a trait that my husband likes to hang over my head and tease me with - normally he would have set out any gifts early and made me wait until the very last minute to open them. So the fact that three days before my birthday he was itching to give me something was a clue that it must be pretty great. Well....great doesn't even cover it. I had become a fan of a local artist named Judy Paul after seeing her work at a really cool store downtown called IF+D. She has this wonderful collage style that kind of knocked my socks off the first time I laid eyes on it. So much detail, so much emotion, so much thought put into her work. Really original. Well, to make a long, (wonderful) story short, Jon purchase one of her paintings for me. Speechless is not something that I am very often. On top of that, Saturday I was able to meet Judy myself at an event that IF+D was having. The photo above shows us helping her paint. What an awesome way to spend my last day being 29!
We celebrated the rest of the day on Saturday with our friends here, enjoying some sweet treats and playing some pretty fun games. We rang in my actual birthday with a bang.
Many thanks to all of our sweet, sweet friends and family who made me truly feel special this weekend. I am blessed to be surrounded by such supportive and loving people!

Show and Lots to Tell

Hello out there! Sorry I have been m.i.a. the past week, there has been a lot going on around here. So much, that I have a few posts to post! This one will be short and sweet - here are some more samples I have been working on for the happiness artist market coming up this Saturday and Sunday (6/7 - 6/8). If you are local to Austin, stop by and check out this really great spot! (All others are allowed to be envious that they aren't here to check it out....) Enjoy!

All of these images are card designs.