Thursday, January 29, 2015

Available for Custom Order



I love custom orders! They are my favorite things to work on. I love what I do anyway, but with a custom order someone isn’t just buying a piece that I’ve made, they’re asking me to make something personal for them. 
Something special. 
Just for them. 
Or someone they love. 
I feel…honored that someone would trust me to make something special for them!
It’s a special feeling.

The first wedding order I did was for a client who wanted several bottles with different numbers that would denote a different anniversary year. She wanted to have her friends and family add notes to the bottles on her wedding day so she and her husband would be able to open the bottles and read all the notes from loved ones from the day of their wedding. Such a beautiful idea, right?! By far, my favorite order to date.



Her plan at the time was to break the bottles to get to the notes inside, but I hope she figures out a different way to get to them by the time she reaches her first wedding anniversary! They're so pretty! But, even if she does break them, I still feel ok about it because look at those numbers! Some of these bottles are going to be in her life for a long time! And that's really special. 
The coolest thing I learned while doing this set of bottles was how the color of the design made a big difference in how we perceive the base color. The 3 and the 20 in the above picture have the same base color, but because one design is light and one is dark, they look completely different! It was really cool. I mean, maybe this is common sense to some people out there, but I hadn't even considered it when I started designing the bottles, and it was a happy accident for me.

This one is a jar I made for Andrea, which she uses as a toothbrush holder.


This one is for an old high school friend, which has more of a monogrammed look (which I love!!!).

This bottle was made for a couple who had just hit their 50th anniversary. 50th, guys! 50th wedding anniversary! That is crazy!


Here are some custom mugs I made with a Celtic cross and the family's initial in the center. I ended up making about ten of these! So many mugs! 


I created my own stencil to use for the mugs so they all ended up the same size, but all the details, the double lines, the initials, those are all done free hand. So many mugs, man!

I just thought I'd share some of my favorite work with you guys this week. Be sure to join us next week to find out how to qualify for our Valentine's giveaway! 

Till next time!
Alana

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Liebster Award



We want to thank Creative Neighbours for nominating us for the Liebster Award. The Liebster Award, which we didn't know existed until we were nominated, is a great way to pay it forward to new bloggers or bloggers that don't have many followers. It creates a better blog community by helping others grow.


These are the questions and answers from Creative Neighbours:
1. What sort of hobbies do you have?

Andrea: I love to read and make jewelry. I dabble just a little in painting and I love learning to play different instruments. 

Alana: uuuuummmm...I don't really have hobbies...I have obsessions! Usually anything that starts out as a hobby turns into an obsession, and if it doesn't turn into an obsession it just falls to the wayside because my obsessions take over. Like crochet. Definitely an obsession. Henna. Books. Tv series...I'm an obsesser!

2. What blogs do you visit everyday?

Andrea: Mine, lol...Oh, you mean aside from my own...I visit Creative Neighbors just about everyday, Colossal and Melody Anne (I absolutely love her)

Alana: I am terrible at keeping up with blogs! I really am. But I keep up with Daddy Doin' Work, Teacher Tom, and Creative with Kids regularly on Facebook.

3. What's your favourite movie?

Andrea: Hands down, Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Alana: uuuuuugh! I don't think I can pick a favorite movie. I really like SciFi, anything with aliens, robots, time travel, space travel, or dinosaurs, I'm probably into it! I like the occasional chick flick, You've Got Mail, or P.S. I Love You, are both solid go-to chick flicks for me. For some reason, I really love Chinese dramas, they usually make me cry, and sometimes you just need a good cry, you know? I like period pieces, too! and I can definitely jam Pride and Prejudice with Andrea any time. I just like a good story, you know? How can I pick just one when my tastes are so varied????

4. Go out for dinner/ Dancing evening/ Cinema/ or Couch at home?

Andrea: It's a toss up between Cinema(the movies) or the couch at home...:-)

Alana: Dinner and then couch at home. I mean, the couch is just so much more comfortable. And I make way better popcorn than the movie theater stuff (in my humble opinion), that stuff usually makes me puke. But I love food! especially if that food is Sushi!

5. What's the reason you started blogging?

Andrea: I can't speak for Alana but for me, I wanted to get our business out there and let people get to know the people behind the business.

Alana: I feel the same. I want to be able to connect to a larger community.


6. Morning/ afternoon/ evening/ or night?

Andrea: I'm definitely a night owl

Alana: Me too! Night time all the way! I have such a hard time keeping a schedule! and why do kids go to school so early?!


7. Are you a crafty person?

Andrea: I can be when necessary lol

Alana: ummmmmmm...I'm gonna go with yes.


8. What's your favourite store/ webshop?

Andrea: IDK really, I guess I would have to say Michaels

Alana: Michael's is pretty amazing...Since I've started stepping into the local artist/crafter scene in my area, though, I really love to buy from individuals when I can: Local, or just small business.

9. What's your favourite place in the world?

Andrea: Kushla, AL....it's home and where the majority of my family is...family is everything to me :-)

Alana: I don't feel like I've been to enough places to have a favorite place in the WHOLE WORLD. I mean...the World is kind of a big place. I went to Japan once though, and I really loved the food. I would live there just for the food.


10.What's your favourite food?

Andrea: Pasta, but lately it has been my homemade shrimp spinach and artichoke dip...#yummy

Alana: Sushi. I could eat sushi every day. Forever.


11.Who do you admire? ( who is your idol)

Andrea: I would have to say my mom. 

Alana: Emma Watson. She's younger than me and so much more accomplished than me, and probably has her sh*t together way better than me. You go girl!


These are our nominees:


Rules
Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog.
Answer the questions given by the nominator.
Nominate other small blogs and link them.
Notify all the bloggers you nominated.
Create 11 new questions for the nominees to answer. 

Questions for nominees:
1. Why do you blog?
2. If you could say something to the person that supports you the most, what would you say?
3. What did you want to be when you grew up?
4. What's your favorite dessert?
5. What is your favorite book?
6. Go Carts/Roller Coaster/Merry-go-round or Paddle boat?
7. What element are you most in tune with (earth, air, water, fire) and why?
8. Best high school memory?
9. If you could go anywhere in the world for free, where would you go?
10. Favorite time to shop, morning, afternoon, or night?
11. Your favorite local shop or artist?












Thursday, January 22, 2015

Partners in crime...I mean, business...



I want to take a little time this week to gush about my awesome business partner, Andrea. We really would not be here today if it wasn’t for her! I met Andrea through renting rooms out in my home. She was a renter from me for about a year and a half.  I had only just started bringing my art back to the forefront of my life again. I had an Etsy shop, but I didn’t have any listings. I was really just getting started. I started asking her opinion about the different things I was working on, and a lot of the time I would show her something that I didn’t really love, and she would tell me I was crazy and that it was awesome, and I would finish the piece and look at it and be like, yea…you know what? That is awesome. And I, very quickly, started trusting her opinions and advice.

Jokingly, I started calling her my artistic adviser. But, as we talked more and more about my art, on an almost daily basis, things started to get more serious. She started asking me questions I didn’t really have good answers to. Where do I see my art going? What is the goal? What do I want to accomplish? I didn’t really know. All I knew was that I loved my art, and I just wanted to do it, and hopefully other people would want it. Andrea, however, saw bigger things for me. People have complimented me on my art before, but no one has ever believed in me in the way Andrea does. Her dreams for me, having only known me for a few months, really blew me away. I had never even considered some of the things she brought up…like, never even entered my mind for a second.  

I don’t know if we’ll ever reach those dreams. But I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today if Andrea hadn’t come along. Of course, I want the business to continue growing but I’m also really happy with where it is now. I don’t believe I would have been able to get to this point without that push, without that confidence that Andrea brings to the table. So, I’m just sayin’…my business partner is the best. 


Till next time!
Alana