Monday, November 23, 2009

Meeting Rosemary Wells at the Eric Carle Museum! 11.22.09

On Sunday, my son and I traveled about an hour and a half to Amherst, MA to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. We went to meet Rosemary Wells, author and illustrator of tons of kids books (such as Max and Ruby! My son's favorite!!) It was a really great day, and I am a HUGE fan of this museum!!

Rosemary Wells was there to give a talk and celebrate 30 years of Max and Ruby (amazing!)... We headed into the spacious and colorful art studio where everyone was encouraged to make a party hat for the "bunny party"! (My son was a little disappointed there was no cake... but there were decorations and balloons! haha)

It is incredibly fun to sit down with a bunch of brightly colored scrap paper and ribbons, and all sorts of other odds and ends, and make whatever you want out of it! "Grown-ups" don't get to do this often enough!!!

So, we made our hats...




Then we modeled them:


Next it was over to the auditorium where we sat and listened to Mrs. Wells give a talk about her artistic process. She showed some slides of her studio and artwork... and even her favorite paints and supplies. This part was especially enjoyable for me, because she also works alot with watercolors, as I do, and it was fun to hear her naming her favorite colors to use (I believe "scarlet lake" was one of her favorites). :)


My son sat so quietly and listened to her talking. He was so interested, even in the slides of the paints and brushes! (yay)
She read one of her stories (Yoko Writes Her Name) and described her thought process for writing the book and illustrating as she went along. Her dog Sophie was sleeping at her feet the entire time, obviously used to traveling around and giving talks in front of large groups of people. :) Mrs. Wells described how Sophie is the inspiration for her McDuff books.


We didn't actually have a Max and Ruby book for her to sign, because we usually get them from the library! So, we went to the absolutely awesome museum store, which is just FILLED with any children's book you can think of, as well as tons of other goodies and toys. (They also have an online store!) We ended up buying the book she read at the presentation... Then it was off to wait in the big line!
Sporting our party hats, of course:



She signed the book with my son's name in it...


Then she chatted with him for a moment. He made her laugh and it was very cute. :)


We will definetly be back to the museum for the upcoming celebration and exhibit of original Golden Books art!! (I took a sneak peek in the closed off gallery - through a window - and it looks amazing! I can't wait!) Read about it HERE!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Holiday prints are here! Yippee!

I finally finished my prints and they are now available IN MY ETSY SHOP! They are all "choose your own sets" in quantities of 4, 6, 10, and 20! Pick the ones you like and send them to your friends! Yay! :)


p.s. The set of 20 has free shipping to the U.S. and Canada! Sweet Treat!

Done!


Monday, November 16, 2009

Christmas Prints!

Coming VERY soon to my online shop... Printed Christmas and Holiday card sets! Yippee!! Here's a little sample:

(How cute are these?! I love 'em!) :)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Holidays on My Mind...

I am loading gifts and Christmas cards into my shop... I can't seem to stop making new holiday designs! I'm going to try some printed sets of Christmas cards too, with a few super cute designs I came up with tonight. I was, of course, working on something else at the time but as usual that's when I get my ideas! I ended up working on about six things at the same time, and I'm anxious to finish them up (after this quick blogging break)! :)



I am absolutely determined to have a fun and happy holiday season this year! I always love Thanksgiving and Christmas... but it also never fails that I have my annual holiday breakdown! I am normally making things right up until the night before... often wrapping presents IN THE CAR on the way to the family party! (Who does that!?) There's usually crying involved...
Its not happening this year. I'm pledging it now! I want to enjoy my holidays! I can't wait to spend time with my family and friends... and all the other fun stuff that comes along with this time of year! Anyone with me? :)

Stay Crafty!
~Kelly

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Ornaments Now Available in My Shop! :)

I have a few of the larger ones listed, and the smaller ones are still to come. Each is one-of-a-kind... so if you like it, remember its the only one!! I had alot of fun making these, and each one is very special to me... I hope you enjoy them too! :)

See the ornaments HERE!

Blog Feature! (Vote for me!)

I found out today I am one of a few Etsy artists to be featured on the blog of Fantazya! She also has a cute Etsy shop which you should check out.. I see a journal on her site that I'd love to have right now!!!

Anyway, visit her blog and choose your favorite holiday card! She has a little survey going... (I hope you pick me!) :)

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Ornaments Are Coming!

I spent a while today, while the sunlight was good, taking photos of my ornaments. I'm kind of nervous about shipping glass through the mail, but I think the humongous roll of bubble wrap I bought will help me out on that! :) (I'm hoping - fingers crossed!!)



EAT CAKE!

Part of the Process :)




Friday, November 6, 2009

Checking In...

Hi everyone... I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about ANY of you! Things have been totally crazy at my house, and its just starting to die down now (I wish I had some wood to knock on!!) My little son has been quite sick for a while, but he's much better as of today (Yippee!!) and I'm eager to get back to a normal schedule... (as normal as it gets around here haha!)

On this note, I've decided not to do anymore craft fairs this season, and I'll be attempting to sell my handpainted ornaments online! (I just got my shipment of boxes and bubble wrap in... giant rolls of bubble wrap are AWESOME! haha!) I love doing the fairs, but I really need to de-stress right now. In fact, as soon as I made the decision not to do the fairs, I felt like a weight had been lifted! Its really hard to say no sometimes, and think of your own well-being but it really feels good to just make time for yourself! I recommend it!!

SO... I'm going to be finishing my huge custom orders this weekend and taking photos of my ornaments and some other goodies to post online. That's the plan anyway... we'll see how it goes!

Hope you're all well...
Stay Crafty! ;)

~Kelly