East Lansing Art Festival

This past weekend was the dawn of a new era! Well, maybe not so dramatic as that... but still exciting! I had on display several pieces of melted crayon art at Blue Midnight in East Lansing for the art festival. I had always wanted to sell my art, but just never really had the nerve to put it out there before now. When opportunity knocks, you better answer that door! So when Rufus mentioned that Bossa Koba was going to display some art and I was welcome to join in, I jumped at the chance. Blue Midnight allowed us to put up our art for all of the festival goers to check out, and one of my pieces sold!!! 

The 16x20 "Reds" sold today!! It's the one on the left =)

Now, I'm so ready to put this artwork up on Etsy to see if any more of them will go. Since the piece I sold allowed me to break even on supplies, at the very least I'll have several pieces to decorate my office and Blue Midnight's walls for awhile.

Art in the windows! (Ignore my reflection)

I am SO happy that this weekend was as beautiful as it was. I was working all day yesterday, so i didn't really have the chance to enjoy the weather. Today however was a totally different story! Our dock is in now at the house, and therefore it is officially no longer winter! I can take rain storms, I can deal with windy days, but just keep the temperature above 50 and preferable always 80° and sunny! Once I get the money (and ambition) saved up I am definitely moving to a warmer climate. My boyfriend and I have had our minds set on Nashville for awhile now, and I'd love to make that dream a reality ASAP. Some things have to fall into place first though. For now, I'll just keep enjoying Michigan's warmer seasons and hope we don't have too many appearances of chilliness throughout the next few months.

Colby fishing while I soaked up some rays...

Since I had the chance to "relax" most of the afternoon, I finally checked off most of my cleaning list tonight. The past few... well... months have been CHAOS in this apartment.

One dog + one boy + working girl = MESS. 

My boyfriend is pretty great at cleaning once he puts his mind to it, but that doesn't happen as much as we'd like. I'm not going to pretend I'm a clean person (my friends can attest to that), but the mess was pretty ridiculous even for me. All I have left to do now is clean one rug, mop the floor, do two loads of laundry, and vacuum the furniture! Here's my favorite thing of the day: The Swiffer Duster. Love love love. Being in a basement apartment, there's A LOT of dust. It's nice to know I'm not just displacing the dust, but actually capturing and putting it in the trash. Sorry for the product plug, but I seriously love this thing!

After a very eventful day of the art festival and busting my booty doing chores, I am ready to wrap up this list and kick back with a glass of wine. My biggest decision: red or white...

Breathe in, breathe out, repeat as needed...

It's one of those weeks where I keep telling myself "just make it through the weekend..." That's pretty much been my life since January. I'm SO exhausted, but also excited. It's at this time I turn to age-old words of wisdom. "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Right, I'll keep that in mind. And then there's, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." Sure... Well let's focus on this one: "This too shall pass." Phew, okay. Just get through this week... =)

The chaos that is crayon art. The mess extends beyond the
boundaries of this photo.

One of the things that's bogging my mind is this weekend when I'll have art displayed for the East Lansing Art Festival! It will be located within Blue Midnight (the hookah club across from the Mariott) on Saturday and Sunday. My "krayon art" (I'm debating spelling it with a k... I know it's a little tacky) will be displayed along with artists from Bossa Koba. I've never been part of an art show before, and am SUPER excited! I've been lining up, attaching, and melting crayons for the past few days and still have many more pieces to finish up tonight so they'll be ready to set up Saturday morning! And, after the weekend, whatever doesn't sell at the art festival will be put up on my Etsy site. So keep an eye out for the new site, it'll be here soon! 

New Adventures!

I'm going to take this time to officially announce the launch of my new business: JK Create! This is something that I've been wanting to do for SO long and finally had the opportunity and nerve to dive in. JK Create offers graphic design services for small businesses and individuals that is cost-effective and responsive to each client's needs. We can help with anything from business cards to logo design to event invitations. Check out my temporary site at jkcreate.net - full site on it's way!

But wait, there's more!

JK Create is one of five businesses that makes up Capital City Creative Productions (abbreviated CCCP, but NO affiliation to the former USSR - despite our red curtains! lol). These other businesses are See Foley Run, Bossa Koba, Michigan Shirt Works, and Mid Michigan Property Service Group. If you want to stop in the office (omg so exciting...) and learn more about us, we're located in the old City Pulse office at the corner of Michigan and Clemens, two doors West of The Green Door. Look for the building with beautiful murals courtesy of Rob Shelburg on the side! We (and this artwork) have already been spotted by local media: check it out!


Last night we had an open house for local businesses and people to check out who we are and see what we've done to improve the office. No offense City Pulse, but you left it a total disaster! The place has cleaned up pretty nicely though. What I LOVE about our open house is that the walls are now loaded with beautiful artwork! Bossa Koba's collections (including pieces from LaCargo and Koba9) as well as contributions from and Stefan Johnson made the office look 1000 times better!













Of course, being artsy, I had to do some kind of contribution... so I melted crayons! If you like these pieces, check out this blog to learn how to make one (or several) yourself!

 

Ignore my incredibly messy desk... just look at the pretty pictures.

 Overall, the night was a success, and we're all very excited about this new venture! Check us out, we have a lot to offer the Greater Lansing area, and look forward to our bright future!

The CCC Productions team!

All photography is credited to the wonderful and talented Christanne Hamilton.

Another Etsian Found!

Thanks to one of the comments left on my previous blog, I checked out Little Bug Jewelry and LOVE her stuff! Most of her designs have a rugged, earthy feel that gives off an almost vintage vibe. The pieces are beautiful and she uses high-quality stones in them. I am loving these...

Photo credited to Little Bug Jewelry

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that Etsy has a "Shop Local" option. This is a great way to support and meet the talented artisans in your area! One of the things I love about purchasing from Etsy is that you can write a message to the sellers when you check out, or simply contact them about certain products, their shops, or just to tell them how great they are. Take advantage of the networking, the people on Etsy are wonderful!

Etsy Ladies

This is a blog dedicated to all those wonderfully talented and fabulous sellers on Etsy! I want to feature a few of my friends who have shops on there. It's so difficult to make yourself stand out on a site with thousands upon thousands of sellers, and these women are so gifted at what they do. So show a little love and check out what they have! Their sites are full of great gifts for anyone - including yourself!

JengaJam is owned by one of my friends who is not only awesome at crocheting/knitting, her paintings are beautiful as well! Unfortunately, those aren't up on her site since it's dedicated to knits. But you have to see all the crocheted/knit products she had! I just adore the baby hats and flower headbands she does. Look at how adorable they are!!

Fashion Lovers Dream is the site of one of my newest acquaintances. I met her out in CO last week and am blown away at how talented she is! She makes beautiful jewelry that I pretty much drool over. Don't worry, I didn't get any on her pieces! Not only is her stuff suited for any occasion, but her prices are extremely reasonable. Not like others who seem to slightly gouge their customers. I'm in love with these earrings and am purchasing them...now. Yessss... sorry to disappoint those who wanted them, but she has lots of other great stuff in her shop as well!

I'm moving toward setting up a small Etsy shop for stationary I'm designing. Right now it's all in the early processing stages, but I'll let you know when it's up and running! Yay!

For all of you Etsians who have shops - PLEASE - tell me what they are!! There's nothing better than helping out friends and knowing that someone you care for made something you own. I love that feeling. So share your site and I'd love to feature you as well!