We Have Lift Off!

It took a couple days to recover from last week, but I am pleased to say all of our hard work paid off, big time! The launch party was a great success, despite the rain. I can’t even imagine how much better it could have been had it been sunny. We sold half of our inventory, including all of the first batch! It was so exciting to see people enjoying our work, as well as the awesome work of the other guest vendors for the day. There was jewelry by Stella & Dot (sooo tempting!), as well as some really lovely handmade quilts, coasters, and other gifts by local artisans. Check out these awesome stockings, I wish I had a link to this woman’s website!

Everyone at Cordially Invited was super friendly and fun to be around, and whoever made that cider knocked my socks off! Steph and I had such a great time, and all those sleepless furiously working nights paid off. Now to re-stock our shelves!

Cheeky Fruits

Check out these adorable ornaments Steph made! I can’t tell which one I like better, the strawberry is so cute, but the pineapple is so sassy!

Dead Girl’s Party

I’ve been immersed in Oingo Boingo land in the past couple of days, and this is the result. I love Dia de Los Muertos imagery, and I thought this made a fun an perky eyeglass case! I know they don’t have eyes for glasses to work on, but just consider them la squelettes tres chic!

Pretty bird… Pretty bird… Can you say pretty bird?

I hope everyone else is thinking of Dumb and Dumber now, because that pretty much sums up my night of painting this little treat. I’m very pleased with the end result, but the journey there was a little trying. I inked this sucker twice, with 2 different inks and ruined it twice at the lacquering stage.  Eventually I gave in and did the outlines in acrylic.

My grandma used to say that if you could get past the part of a painting where you hate it, you know you have created something good. I think that holds true for glasses cases too!

This eyeglass case has another interesting quirk to it though, as I had to spackle out the brand name on top! I quite enjoyed that part.

Dream a little dream..

My sleep schedule has been amazingly erratic lately, mostly meaning I’m not sleeping. When this happens late at night, I am not at all productive and I usually just curl up with Pride and Prejudice.

Luckily for me, I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep, and it just so happens that on the rare occasion I am awake in the morning, I am incredibly productive! So my friends, here are the fruits of my sleep deprived labor! I can’t put everything I did this morning up, because most of it is a birthday present I have yet to give, and I would hate to spoil the surprise on that! Instead, I present you with this neat little purple candle. It smells super good too, and if I was to use it I would keep the jar after the candle was done for posies or something.

La Vie en Rose

Here’s a quick little update! I swear we’re working our pants off! Things have been a little crazy this week, but I just completed this sweet wallet. I was inspired by a picture of a rose martini I saw on Design Sponge (http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/12/behind-the-bar-jacinta-moores-rose-martini.html). I loved the soft colors, and I decided I would try my hand at a serene and playful scene… on leather.

I realized after I covered this wallet in roses that the original brand was Rosetti, I thought it was cute, like it was meant to be!

Steph and I are working like mad-women to get everything done before next Saturday! Expect a lot of blog entries this week!

Join the MADNESS!

Did I say madness? I meant super awesome fun time! Here is the official invite for our launch party next weekend, Dec. 18th! I am so beyond excited, I can’t wait to see who shows up and how everything goes! Yvette said everything is getting ‘RAVE’ reviews in the store, I hope the party continues the trend! So many exclamation points!!! Seriously though, Steph and I are thrilled and so over the moon about everything that’s going on. If anyone has any special requests for wallets, glasses cases, purses, etc, let us know and we’ll bring them to the launch!

Cherry Colored Funk

Woohoo! The Cherry purse is all done! Steph painstakingly laced some luscious satin ribbon through some nice sparkly chain and created a unique strap for the previously strapless bag. I also finished a bag tonight, featuring a bubbly babe on a sweet little makeup bag. Before and after pictures follow! We kind of forget the real before pictures, but you at least get the plain(ish) bags before they got fabulous.

The Devastator!

So I wanted to take a second to mention something else I do, which is illustration. You can probably tell from our awesome painted stuff that we’re some pretty crafty ladies, and the truth is we are actual working artists, which is pretty exciting in my books. Speaking of books, some of my work just got published! WoohooOO!

I did 2 illustrations for the latest issue of The Devastator, a quarterly humor publication, and the awesome editors just got an interview on CBR, where one of my illustrations was featured! Just look for Alien vs. Predator+Matlock, yay!

Check it out at http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/12/robot-6-qa-comedy-writers-unleash-the-devastator-humor-anthology/

I also did the back cover, I am so excited to see all of it! The book is available for download on Wowio, and also in print! I will be at the signing for this issue at Meltdown Comics in LA this Thursday at 9, please come see!

You can find more awesome Devastator stuff at http://www.devastatorquarterly.com!

Birds! So many birds!

My hunting sesh this weekend with my mom went really well, we found over 15 things for us to paint to makeover! So far I’ve gotten started on a pair of salt and pepper shakers, I’m so excited to post those, but they aren’t done yet. What I have finished, is a really sweet club wallet, in response to all the love on the owl purse I decided to do another owl. You may be wondering, what is a club wallet? It’s small enough to fit in those teeny pockets on cute jeans, the palm of your hand, or even your bra if you’re feeling extra scandalous, yet big enough to hold your cards, cash and ID. I also painted a fat and sassy little bird ornament this morning, it makes me laugh, so it meets my approval.

I have word from Steph that the cherry blossom purse is nearly done and on it’s way to awesomeville, I can’t wait to see! Anyway, enjoy the before and after pictures on the owl wallet, giggle at the birdy, and check out all the primered goodies waiting for us to paint them!