I'm a Key Board!

You know you want a FunKeyBoard -

stickers for your keyboard with my "Tough Love" design!

Well, you'll have to wait patiently until

Back to School 2009 at Barnes & Noble.

They'll totally match your pencils and Daily Planner.

Delay

Sad news, kids...in taking down the existing window display yesterday, water damage was found. Looks like their going to have to recaulk the windows before I can set them up for winter. Set up will take place next week now. It's not a completely bad thing because I was going to work my butt off to get the fireplace finished last night. Instead...I went to bed at 9:30pm!! Beautiful! Ahhh, fireplace, you and I have a date this weekend. See you then!

Holiday Windows

It's the day before window set-up time on 5th and 37th/38th and I'm getting nervous! I spent basically the whole weekend working on the props for the window. One is a winter scene complete with a polar bear, a penguin, a snowman, and Diamond Dust covered snow flakes. What is Diamond Dust, you ask? Why, it's just about the coolest glitter you can find. Aren't my snowflakes sparkly?! It's more of a 3-D effect rather then your shake on arts n' crafts glitter. Now, I never said I was the brightest crayon in the box, but my fingers were pretty sore while sprinkling the glitter all over the snowflakes. After, I spent some time picking the shards out of my fingers and then I read the jar - "Diamond Dust is made of finely ground shards of glass." Of glass!! Yeah, no wonder my fingers hurt. Shards of glass are not meant to be squeezed between your index finger and thumb. Next time I'll read before applying.

Anyway, the other window is going to be the new Girl Scout Vintage Line. The line really has a great nostalgic feel to it. I'm doing a living room scene for that one - rocking chair, fireplace - kind of like, "Hey Grandma, tell me about what it was like when you were a Girl Scout!" Should be real cute!

New Face

I got tired of looking at the bright green background, so I'm currently remodeling this blog! I might try taking this minimalist approach for awhile, but I'll probably wind up filling up the toolbars with pages and posts. I get bored easily. My cube is representational of that! In fact, yesterday a vendor walked in my cube and said, "Whoa! It's like a toy store in here! Isn't this all distracting?" I told him I'd be bored out of my mind if I didn't have plenty to look at! My favorite parts are the stuffed peanut that says "I went NUTS in New York" on my shelf and the "You Rock" sign in my window. It keeps me going on rough days in the office.

Face it...you love my cube, don't you?

Want me to sign your pencil?

Guess who's got pencils!! My "Tough Love" design will be featured on a set of 10 pencils complete with eraser and sharpener! They'll be released in Barnes & Noble's Back to School 2009 line. Hooray!

Do Not Leave Unattended

I just came across one of the coolest website:

Do Not Leave Unattended

Her project is based on the fact that we should not leave certain things unattended...our children, burning candles, running vehicles. More importantly, she believes that certain thoughts that we house in our brains should not be left unattended either, but should instead be shared. I whole heartedly agree! Some thoughts are just so powerful that holding them in can just be detrimental. She started with a notebook and 10 friends. She passes the notebook along and each recipient holds the notebook for no longer then 2 weeks. Each recipient then writes, draws, paints, collages whatever they wish - a simple truth, a lesson learned, something just to think about, etc. She has been compiling them online in hopes of it becoming a book one day. A brilliant idea! As I was scrolling through pages and pages of entries, I was blown away by all of the creative spirit and what people are apt to share with others. I'm signing up to receive the journal! Can't wait!

Yoga

So, art has been put on hold for the weekend (even though I got another 2 orders yesterday for crates with a one week deadline - eek!). I've been immersed in a Yoga Teacher Training for children this weekend with Little Flower Yoga in NYC. Twenty-five hours of yoga, kids, then more yoga, and more kids. I love it! I've always had a love for children, and my love for yoga has grown stronger and stronger over the past 4 years that I've been practicing with the Yoga & Healing Center. What better way to combine the two then to teach kids yoga? I have very little early education background (my 2nd major in college) and no adult yoga teacher training, so I'm really going into this blindly. It's quite intimidating at times, but I'm adjusting and learning that people come to this practice from all walks of life. I also learnt that apparently you can combine some art therapy (my 1st major in college) into a child's yoga practice as well - how sweet for me! I'm very excited about this. Honestly, I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but of course I'm going to follow through with Level 2 and 3 of the training (2009). I'm a free spirit and wherever it takes me, so be it! It is, however, giving me tons of ideas for children's yoga books!

Mmm Hershey's

The Personalized Candy Bar business is booming! Two hundred candy bars advertising the Hilton's Wedding package were delivered today and received warmly! They loved them and will be using them for their upcoming Bridal Show! They are now thinking about ordering them for all sorts of events. I'm ready for the business!

Next on my list is Great Uncle Stanley's 90th Birthday Party. He looks like such a sweet old guy. I hopes he likes the chocolate bar with his face on it!!

Who doesn't love a painted crate??

How adorable is this kid? Who is he? He's just another satisfied customer! I received his picture as a 'Thank You' for his Jungle Themed Baby Crate that cleverly matches his bedding. Doesn't he look happy holding his crate?

As many of you know, I've been taking orders for hand painted wooden crates themed to the liking of the customer. Baby crates are the most popular for Baby Showers. It's a great way to throw a bunch of small baby items into one container for a great presentation. I personalize the majority of them with the baby's name on them. Recently I've been getting orders for the older kids - I've done Napoleon Dynamite, the Little Miss Characters, High School Musical. You can see most of them featured in the shop section of my website! Get your order in now for the holidays!!

NYC Windows

As you're walking around the city this Christmas admiring the tree at Rockefeller Center, the Santas on every corner, the horse drawn carriages around Central Park, the department store windows...remember to stop by a very special window at the Girl Scouts of America. This year, it will be designed by...ME! I just got a freelance job to design the 2 windows that belong to the Girl Scouts of America building on 5th Ave. One window is on 37th St. and the other is on 38th. I'm so excited! I'll let you know when it's done so you can check it out!