Creative collaboration

My friend Erin of Erin Page Designs has been a great cheerleader for me lately. She's an amazing jewelry artist and painter, and she's at galleries and boutiques all around the area. Her creative inspiration has really helped me jumpstart my creative interests, and for that I am extremely grateful.

But this necklace, one of Erin's lovely creations, is what I am VERY thankful for, though! I was lucky to have won it in a drawing at an event recently and I am soo excited to be able to share it here.

In our effort to continue to inspire and motivate each other, I've decided to host a jewelry party here for Erin, and of course will throw in some of my little lovlies, too. So, if you're local be looking for more information coming soon regarding our little jewelry + paper party!

Early mornings...

So I am pretty sure most designers and artists are night owls. Right? But, as I sit here at my desk at 4:40 AM and look at the darkness outside and hear the crickets chirping, I know I'll always be an early bird. There is something almost intoxicating about the start of a new day...the potential, like a brand new canvas. I can imagine in my mind what a perfect day it will be...and I'm inspired to create. And by the end of the very long day (look, any day that starts before 4 AM is going to be long, no matter how great it went), I fall into bed at 9 PM. And then I drift off to sleep wondering how all of those night owls save up the energy to do anything past sunset.

I know some people might call it insomnia -- being awake at this time, and having nowhere I have to be. But I call it a jump start to the day. I embrace the quiet (minus the dog breathing heavily at my feet), and I can think. I believe there must be magic in a day this new...do you believe it too?

A little soul perch

I've always loved this Emily Dickinson poem. And of course I can't get enough birds. I am super excited about using these wooden boards in place of canvas, and I think this turned out pretty cute! Darling for a girls room, and a really sweet gift for mom, perhaps?

I belive I may have a home for these birdies, but I don't want to say anything just yet. Announcement coming soon, though, I hope!

Secret Garden

Here's another collage with a quote from The Secret Garden that I just love. I mixed in some book page flowers here since I was using a quote from literature. Also, I distressed the canvas to show all of the layers of paint I used. The texture is hard to get in the photo, but tomorrow I hope to take new pictures with outdoor lighting that might help. This will be available for purchase in the blog shop.

Happy 99th Birthday, Esther!

Super proud to present Grandma Esther's 99th birthday canvas. It was truly a joy to create, so a huge THANKS to my friend Marcy of Fabulous Classroom for being one of my first orders from the new Raspberry Prairie Shop. It's shipping this weekend! Happy Friday, everyone!