in the studio last week

Here is a little visual diary of what I worked on in the first week of March:

Jello sketches for MATS bootcamp

edits, edits, and more edits of wedding topper photos

various cake topper orders: a clown

cowgirl

farm and owl toppers

baby shower safari set

work-in-progress baby topper

and some new products in progress…cupcake name banners

did some experimental fake baking ~super fun!

compiled my fashion mood board for the Smart Creative Style course...come take a peek at my other Pinterest boards here

all accomplished under the watchful eyes of my studio managers!

Looking forward to another productive week and wishing the same for you!

January round-up

Busy month! I spent it basically cramming Lynda.com photoshop courses while making a whopping number of cake toppers (70 orders!)...not a spare second to paint or draw anything since december 31. But that will be changing in a few days as I am enrolled in Lilla Rogers' Assignemnt Bootcamp (click on link to read all about it),  and then later in the spring I'm on board for another round of MATS. I am hoping it will be a little easier now that I am armed with a few more ps skills!

I did take another really informative e-course this month, finishing up next week, The Art of Blogging with Alisa Burke....FABULOUS!! you must check it out if you have a blog or are thinking of starting one. I could go on and on about this totally inspirational course....instead go check out her blog. I have actually been blogging since 2009, but when I started this blog about a year ago, I accidentally deleted
my original....it would have been fun (or completely embarrassing) to look back and see the progression. Anyhow, I have been slowly applying some of Alisa's tips here, you may have noticed the facelift!

Here is a sampling of a few toppers that helped to celebrate January birthdays around the globe!

And a sneak peak of things to come in February!

Looking very forward to the month of love and the launch of my wedding collection. Keep an eye on my facebook page for the official launch date.

~have a wonderful weekend~

Two by Two

Most of my "new" pieces are results of custom requests. As artists we LOVE to create new designs, however, the reality is when we are managing a busy shop/website, keeping up with social media, answering emails, creating/packing/shipping, and all the other tasks associated with running a creative business (not to mention running the household!), there is not much time to create new. I guess it must be scheduled in to the routine, but I always seem to find 100 other things that take priority. This said, I know it is important to create new work to keep the portfolio/shop/website looking fresh and to satisfy that creative itch that just will not go away! I have several "new" projects going all the time, and I try to spend a bit of time each day "playing" (maybe only 10 minutes before bed or early in the morning before the day gets rolling)....it is just good for the soul! Also, I have a pretty good case of ADD, and having something new to break up the humdrum is thereputic.

So I "stole" some time last weekend (I hate to admit it, but I usually have to work on the weekends...always in catch-up mode) and designed this fun Noah-themed topper.


 I have been wanting to round-out the baby shower category in my shop for a while. It comes with options (birthday, personalization, etc,), but I think it will be most popular as a baby shower topper. I had a lot of fun creating all the little animals....it was hard to choose which ones to include! As with all of my toppers, it can be custom-made to match a party invitation or decorations.

Here are some beauty shots!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!