Custom Wedding and Anniversary Invitations and Announcements

This has been a project I've wanted to do for some time now. Digital artwork files for custom invitations are available in the shop now. This is the first installment, the brunette versions. I painted this for my own wedding invitations after not being able to find anything that suited my taste and budget. Being quite thrilled with the results, I want to offer digital files for others to use for their special day. The background color, names and date can be customized, I'll hand illustrate the names or message in the banner along with the date. I'll be adding new styles with different hair and skin colors gradually as I complete them. I'm excited about this, tell your friends!

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Saturday Night = Staying Home

Man, does it take a lot to get me out of the house, I am such a homebody these days. My man went to see his friend Jeffrey Lewis play at The Artistery tonight and I just couldn't bring myself to leave, sorry Jeffrey. I was excited to try out a few ideas that have been swimming around in my head. Doing some knitting and having a cup of tea or a cocktail is my new "party time". I need to make some girlfriends here in Portland who would want to gather for crafty cocktail time or other crafty beverage gatherings. Give me a shout!

I got this framed and in the shop today. It reads "sometimes these antlers are a burden to me". I like that.



Carry on my wayward son,
Sarah

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final product

It's Saturday and my plans for the day are shaping up, I got up a bit earlier today and finished listing and tidying up my shop. Plans for the day are as follows. I'm going to work of two larger size paintings today, do some house cleaning, go for a walk, post office, get supplies for homemade sushi night (best sushi in Portland), finish up listing photos and such. My camera is really taking a dive I must say, only the macro setting seems to be working, which is a real drag when photos are integral to my shop. I just don't have the money to replace anything at this point, so i'm hoping it's just a moody technology quirk. Fingers crossed.
Onto the fun stuff- Here's a peek at the final product from the last two days of painting and stitching...all are up in the shop now.

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shop update

I have a bunch of new brooches that i'm working on getting listed tonight. I have an Autumnal Showcase spot starting at 9pm I believe, it's 8pm as I write this:) Lots of posting. Here's a sneak peek at them in an early stage!

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back home & lots of painting about to happen

We were out of town for the weekend, just got back last night...Had good times
with family, my bridal shower, lots of wedding plans happening and Jacob got two days in the studio. This all happened in the span of four days and we were pretty exhausted. I love the reinvigorated energy though of leaving town and coming home. It's a good way to boost my productivity and creativity. Had a good amount of sales while gone, so i'm feeling good about the next batch of brooches I'm making. I'll be getting them posted on Friday night, I have an Autumnal Showcase coming up on Saturday, so it's a good opportunity for visibility. Ok, I better get to work. If any family or friends are reading this, i'll get some photos up here soon of the festivities from Sunday:)

Ah, one of my bunny brooches made Front Page yesterday morn', yippee!



Love,
Sarah

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my new love...brooches

So i've discovered a new outlet for my sometimes impatient inner crafter. Brooches. Not your traditional Grandma brooches, these puppies are hand painted and a one of a kind piece of wearable art. I was thinking about how to incorporate wearable art more into my shop. But whenever adding something new, I do think about the space issues of storing things, so these small little wonders are perfect. I tried my hand at an embroidered one, but the rest are painted. For the painted ones, I use acrylic paint on dark brown faux leather. I seal the paint with a protective gloss coating.
I then cut each piece out with my wonderful scallop scissors, add a layer of forest green wool (which is a recycled army blanket) and another layer of pleather. This fake leather is the best, it's left over from me recovering my kitchen table chairs. I recommend this to everybody that needs to recover a chair seat. This stuffs wipes clean in a flash and is very durable. Perfect for peeps with messy little ones:)
These are already up in the shop -






My to do list for the day:
*Finish RSVP and info cards for the wedding invitations & get them printed
*Set up sewing table (i finally found a great user friendly table that fits)
*Work on songs
*Paint some more brooches

If I do all that today i'll be sitting pretty. My old man is in the studio recording right now, so I get long stretches of time where I can be creative, in my pajamas and my hair up in a bun. Wait, that's me most days.

My mom and I were talking about babies last night and she said "I don't think I got to brush my hair the whole first year after you were born", that leaves a funny image in my head. Reminds me of this great illustration by Amanda Kindregan I saw the other day. Check out her shop here.

Onwards,
Sarah

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The Daydreamer

A new one up in the shop:)
I don't have many words going on in my head right now, perhaps tomorrow.

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new painting, autumn and monster dolls

I'm happy to say that my Sophie Pillow made it to the front page of Etsy. Nice surprise to wake up and see a lot of traffic in the shop. Small steps make a big difference over the long run. I'm working on few things simultaneously right now, a new painting which i'm very happy with so far, finishing up the wedding invitations (which i can't wait to share how adorable and awesome they are), finishing up 2 pillows that I abandoned for a week and a half, some online design overhauls (mainly band stuff, but also for the shop),
and laundry. Laundering curtains more specifically, I think that would be a good transition into autumn project. I'm so excited for the fall season, wood fires and hot chocolate will be very welcome in my house!

So here is the new painting i'm working on, I hope to finish it tonite and get it in the shop tonite or in the morning. Depends how easy the listing photos come about. It's laying on a great piece of vintage green furry fabric that I scored at the thrift store yesterday. I'm going to make a few dolls out of. I'm thinking monsters or dinosaurs of some sort, great for my little brother who is seven, of course i'll post some photos of how those turn out.
Have a great Monday folks!

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