wow.

It has been OVER 2 months since I last posted. I have been a busy, busy bee! Here's a brief update:

Working retail consumed my life over the holidays. Daniel and I still haven't gotten to go visit my family yet and Christmas was over a month ago. Christmas was good even though I missed my family immensely. Daniel and I both had to work the day before and the day after Christmas though. It was not fun. We had a low-key New Years with a group of friends (some old, some new) and had a blast. January has gone by pretty quickly and is just slowing down.

My freelance work has picked up A LOT...which I am super-thankful for. I've been working on some projects for Armosa Studios (stationery, letterhead, packages, etc.), a few logos for different clients, business cards, tshirts, postcards, prints, websites...like I said, busy.

I will post a more extensive update (well, mostly just pictures of what I've been working on) in the near future...and I will also commit to posting more frequently again!

I should have things posted in my Etsy shop soon, so be on the lookout for that as well...AND I will be launching my new website sometime this week!! I designed it and my good friend and fellow (amazing) graphic designer Rowan Finnegan has been teaching me how to code it.

OH!! and I forgot my most exciting news! My friends Wes and Tera (of Armosa Studios) opened their studio/gallery space on Court Street a little while back...they have a huge basement that they are not currently using and offered it to me as a workspace...so I have a studio now!! I'm sharing it with my good friend Amy who is now working for them...she is also a crazy-good photographer (Three Photography) and I'm super-excited to be sharing the space with her. We painted last weekend and got the floor covered...it was really ugly linoleum. I'll be moving my stuff over there this week and should be back to printing things soon! Can't wait! And Daniel and I are both excited about my art/craft supplies NOT being all over the house. I really thought I'd love working out of my home, but I need somewhere else to print.

One last thing...I have made it my goal now to open a print shop. I will do it. I've been researching letterpress and have fallen in love with it. I will buy a letterpress and I will have my own shop. I don't know when, but I will. You can hold me to that. I am determined.

update!

I've been a busy little bee...feels so good! I finished a logo for a contest the No'Ala is having next year called Shoals Perfect Wedding. They're giving away a free wedding to a bride...so awesome! Local vendors are donating their services and I was chosen to do the invites and other paper goods. I'm so excited! They also wanted me to do the logo for the contest.

I sent it tonight...still waiting to hear back and see if I need to make any changes to it.

I've been working on a campaign for a local community college as well. It feels good to get more freelance work! I also had a bride get in touch with me this week to do a wedding in December. I feel so blessed to be getting work.

Also, I've been making plans to start my own wedding-related business.........more on that later.

I'm SO CLOSE to having our new house in order! I'll post photos of it once it's done. =) I've got to finish painting our studio and kitchen and then get those in order...then all that's left is getting things hung on the walls. SO READY to have it done!

That's pretty much all I've got as far as the update goes. Photo post later from the Cicada Screamers show last Friday.

slacker.

Again, blog-wise...not life-wise. I can't believe I haven't posted since late July!!! So crazy.

I am sitting in an airport right now with my good friend Kelli waiting on our flight to Dallas. We have a layover in Atlanta...and thanks to terrible weather in Atlanta, our flight keeps getting delayed more and more.

Life has been ridiculous the past few months. I started working a second part-time job at Gap. I love the people I work with...but retail is retail...not terrible...but definitely not what I want to do with the rest of my life. Daniel and I found a different house (PRAISE GOD) and moved about a month ago. I've been doing more freelance work/photos here & there, which has been nice. ALSO! I just started doing freelance work for one of the agencies in town...they FINALLY called me 3 months after applying. My first project is doing catalog covers, schedule covers, ads, and eventually a photoshoot (they were excited that I'm a photographer as well) for a local community college. It's my first freelance gig that I'll get paid REAL money for. I'm so excited!

But yes, I'm on my way to Dallas...Kelli got accepted to an art show and I'm tagging along. Well, my work got accepted too, but I wouldn't have known anything about it if she hadn't already been going. I'm excited, but pretty nervous. This is my first art show outside of anything school-related...well, that's not in Florence. It's my first time getting "out" in the art world (so to speak)...and the trip hasn't gone terribly smoothly so far. Yay.

Well, we're paying for internet at the airport...we figured it was worth it since we keep getting delayed, but I'm going to save the battery on my laptop for now and log off...I just bought 2 magazines to look through. I love magazines.

I'll really try to do better about updating more...especially since I put my blog address on the back of some postcards I made for the show.

getting back in the swing of things...

After a few weeks of being lazy (blog-wise, not life-wise), I'm going to try to post more consistently. I've just been working on so many projects lately, I haven't been on my laptop as much. However, more of the upcoming work I have involves technology, so posts will be much easier to fit into my schedule.

I have a few photos to share that I've been holding off on sharing because the content was supposed to be somewhat of a surprise...but they got the package yesterday, so I can share them now.

I've been trying to get back into printmaking, screen printing specifically (as I mentioned in my post last night) and my good friends in Sparrow + the Ghost are looking to get shirts printed...so, I decided to print one for them and see if they possibly wanted me to do them instead of having to order them through a print shop...especially since they're wanting to print some of them on vintage/thrift store finds as well as with different color inks. Here's what came of it!

Design in the screen before I added the screen filler...I did this the "down-&-dirty" way...didn't mess with emulsion or anything like that...just drawing fluid & screen filler. Maybe once I have more room to work, I can try the emulsion...I have it with the rest of my printing supplies, waiting to be used.

Annnnnnd...the finished shirt.

The photos turned out a little yellow...sorry about that. I just did a quick edit of them. I've been pricing better mesh, screens, ink, etc...the screen I have now is working fine, but I'm afraid it may not hold up depending on the number of prints I'll be making.

I've been working on re-branding myself...and I may have come up with a separate name for this printing endeavor...I'll share more when I have it all finished. I'm pretty excited about it.

Have a good Wednesday, everyone!

oh how i need...

A real studio space. My goodness. I've got so many projects that I want to get going and all I really need to make them happen is room. I love our house (which I am excited to share photos of once I can get it in order) but I would love it so much more if my art/craft supplies weren't everywhere. It's a good thing that most of my friends are the creative type and understand how it is to try to work & create in your living space.


I've been doing a good bit of soul-searching lately (dramatic, I know) and I think I've come to a realization...as much as I love photography, I don't want it to be my main focus anymore. I mean, I really, REALLY love it...and would probably fall back in love with it if I could get in a darkroom again, but shooting digital is a little too hands-off for me. Lately, I've been re-igniting my love with printmaking. I only got to take one printmaking class when I was in school, and in all honesty, I should've probably changed my concentration to it...or done a BFA in graphic design AND printmaking. I would absolutely love to have a print shop. Maybe it's something I can work towards...maybe I can run one out of the Art Hive when we get the building open.


Speaking of the Art Hive and the building...Olivia and I met up with our friend Tyler earlier. He's going to help us with a lot of the construction/renovations. I gave him our supplies list so we could go through and take measurements to get a rough estimate of all the supplies we need. The task of renovating the building seems so daunting right now, but meeting/talking to him earlier made me feel a bit better. He said there are a lot of things that we can get done right now just from spending a little money. We have leaks to fix, old wiring to pull out, things to sand & prep for later work, etc. The list of things to do to our building seems never-ending, but having an experienced person look at what needs to be done and be able to organize & prioritize that list was so helpful. I've got to get our paperwork done so we can apply for non-profit grants and such.


Sorry for the tangent...back to printmaking. I plan on working on some art prints soon...I'd like to screen print those to have to sell at First Fridays and on Etsy. I need a bit of a refresher course on screen printing (and printmaking in general) so I've been searching Amazon for some books...these are the ones that are catching my eye so far:

DEFINITELY want that last one...it'll probably be the first one I order. I really want The Printmaking Bible as well. I feel motivated...and I've felt more motivated for a while now. It's nice to feel like I'm figuring out what I really want/need to be doing. I'll still be shooting a good bit, but I definitely want to focus more energy on printmaking and possibly experimenting more on illustration too. 


I'm met with a friend earlier today about doing some product shots for her and she asked me to do a logo for her as well! I'm pretty excited about it. I'm meeting with someone else to discuss a photo shoot tomorrow.


Also, I mentioned something about possibly exciting news last week...heard more from them today, but I still won't know anything til the beginning of August. Fingers crossed.

my, oh my.

I have been slacking lately as far as this blog is concerned...however, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've been crazy busy working on design projects and general craftiness. We had a trunk show for the Art Hive this past Saturday...sold a few things. Afterwards, we had a benefit show at Pegasus Records downtown...we had a pretty good turnout and raised nearly $300 (after we subtracted the cost of expenses). Not bad considering the whole thing was pretty last-minute.

(flier I designed for the show.)


I finally finished John's tattoo design today...just finished the poster for Handy Week. I think I'm going to get it printed tomorrow.

We've got so many good shows this year! Plus, I'm pretty excited I don't have to close this Saturday...our friends The Dirty Holidays are playing on top of the parking deck downtown and I'll be able to go see them! This is the second or third year they've done that show and I usually end up having to work. I'll be sure to take photos.


Speaking of photos...I get to meet with some ladies for brainstorming sessions this week. I'm so pumped! I'm going to be doing some product shots for a friend of mine who also happens to be an amazing seamstress...seriously...her stuff looks like you could buy it at Anthropologie. Love it.


I also started screen printing again this week...I've missed it so much! It's not easy to do in my house though...there's just not enough room...and I need a bigger sink.


Daniel's in New York right now for a show (possibly 2...they'll hopefully know tomorrow)...he left this morning. I don't like it. I don't know what to do with myself when he's not at home...so, I clean. Not necessarily a bad thing...our house needs it right now. I did 4 loads of laundry today...could've gotten more done, but there's nowhere else to hang wet clothes until everything dries. I also cleaned the kitchen and bathroom...and started sorting through my clothes to get rid of stuff...I can't handle the clutter anymore.


I'm planning on doing some product shots of my own stuff soon and getting them listed on Etsy...I've got quite a few record clocks made now and a couple of wooden ones! I also made some really cute sketchbooks/journals last week.


Wow, I just realized this post is quite wordy and probably hard to follow...I had too much espresso tonight at work...and iced coffee. I feel sick now...and I just want to go to sleep so today will be over and tomorrow can start...I plan on deep-cleaning tomorrow.


I hope everyone has a lovely night!

catching up.

Well, I didn't get a "5 things" post done last week...Daniel and I were traveling home from my parents house. Looks like I won't get one done this Tuesday either (considering it's now Wednesday). I may just need to pick another day to do those...or it may just end up being whatever my off-day is for the week (which is today).

The day after we got back from my parents house, we had 3 of our friends (members of Sparrow + the Ghost) from Tuscaloosa come visit. They, along with Daniel, had a show at Old Town Tavern Friday night. Good times.

Saturday, we all headed out to Rhodesville for the 13th Annual Music, Fireworks, & Chicken Stew Festival. It was held on a couples land...the couple, George & Ladonna, invite people to come camp on their land all weekend. Saturday, they have live music, TONS of food, and fireworks. It was the epitome of southern hospitality. Saturday's weather was perfect...it was a little toasty when we first got out there, but once the sun went behind the trees, it was heaven. Also, two of our good friends were in town for the weekend visiting family and they came out to the festival as well. I shot a composite of them while they were here since I usually only get to see them 2-3 times a year. I miss them so much!

Here are some photos from Saturday.

(to view this large on Flickr, click here.)

That's all for now...I've got lots of things to get taken care of this afternoon before everyone comes over for the Art Hive meeting. 

HOWEVER! I do have a bit of exciting news (well, exciting to me). A friend of mine that taught photography at UNA just got a job in Virginia and will be moving very soon (sad for me). She has a set of studio lights that she no longer wants/needs and is giving them to me...they're messed up right now, so I'll have to get them fixed, but it will still be much much cheaper than buying some...I'm so excited! I'm getting an amazing set of lights! Such a blessing.

Have an awesome Wednesday!

(If I have time later, a 5 things post may make an appearance.)

productivity.

Daniel and I have been in Florida since Tuesday night...so far, I've gotten a lot accomplished! It's felt good to get caught up on some design projects, wedding photos, craftiness, etc...I've still gotta finish that quilt though.

Here are some of the design projects I've been working on!

(I apparently have a thing for cut-out text now.)

Logo for a baby gift company in Huntsville, AL. (Version 1)

(Version 2)

Logo for The Purple Albatross Theater Company in Washington, DC.

Gig poster for Hackberry Records artists Sparrow + the Ghost (Tuscaloosa, AL) & Elias Patriot (Florence, AL).

Probably one of my favorite posters to date. I like that little ghost.

And now some photos from a wedding I shot back in May. Tia & Jeff were so much fun to work with! I wish them all the best in their life together.

Today is my mom's birthday...I think we're all going to take her to dinner later. I suppose I'll work on baby Isaiah's quilt today.

OH!! I hadn't already said this...Daniel's sister gave birth to our beautiful nephew yesterday!!! I'm so excited! 

This is the photo that Gabe (Daniel's brother-in-law) posted on facebook last night.

LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR!!! Oh my gosh...I'm already in love.

Gotta get that quilt finished for him!

father's day.

Yes, I realize it's almost over...but I've been busy today.


I am so incredibly blessed. My dad is one of the most incredible men I've ever met. He is without a doubt the most hard-working man I've ever known. He has been an amazing father and role model my entire life. When I was in junior high, the company that he'd been working for for 25 years was bought out and he took a huge pay cut and lost all of his seniority...he was nearly ready to retire at that point. Because he wanted to do what he felt was best for our family, he found a better job working for Florida Power and started working there the summer before my freshman year of high school. For the entirety of my high school career (all 4 years!), my dad worked in Florida while we were still living in Sheffield...we couldn't sell our house. It was so hard on all of us. I missed him so much everyday...I was always a daddy's girl growing up. I constantly followed him around when he was outside working on projects and did whatever I could to help. However, when he broke out the table saw (or anything else loud/dangerous for that matter), I would stand at the backdoor and cry because I was scared he was going to cut his fingers off...or something ridiculous like that. (I've always worried far too much for my own good...it's why I just learned to ride a bike 2 years ago...seriously.) 


My dad has always worked to give us everything that we could possibly need/want (within reason), and I can never repay him for that. He taught me to work hard for everything I want and never take anything for granted...and for that, I am thankful. I know the value of a dollar...I know the feeling of accomplishment when I attain something that I've worked hard for...and he taught me those things (along with countless others!).


So, thank you Dad...I love you and I'm sorry that I wasn't with you on Father's Day. (But Daniel and I will be there Tuesday!!)

(photos by the lovely Sara Renee Murray.)

Also, I am SO blessed that I not only have an incredible father, I have an amazing father-in-law. Daniel & I were fortunate enough to get to spend time with him this afternoon.

Well, kiddos...I think it's time to retire for the evening. I've got SO MUCH to do tomorrow...Daniel and I are heading south on Tuesday to spend some time with my family. I haven't seen my mom & brother since February and I haven't seen my dad since the day after my wedding (which was exactly 6 months ago!!!!). I can't wait to give them all hugs...I'll probably cry...and I get to see all the furry babies!! They now have 4 Scotties...we'll see how Simon gets along with all of them. I'm trying to be optimistic.

Goodnight!

oh, saturday.

I love waking up to storms on Saturday mornings...but I had to open today, so no sleeping in. I hated leaving Daniel all snuggled in this morning...I'm sure he loved it though. He likes taking up the whole bed and that proves to be difficult when I'm using half of it. I wanted to ride my bike this morning, but the rain definitely prevented that. I've only been here a little over an hour, but it's already been a very eventful morning.

Everyone's favorite pawn shop owner was waiting for me when I got here (he opens at 9 as well and likes to get his coffee beforehand). Normally, I'd be really annoyed that he was waiting for me...but I was running about 10 minutes late this morning...I like to allow myself at least 15 minutes to get all the opening tasks finished and got here at 5 til today. I told him I worked at Rivertown yesterday and then immediately following work, shot a wedding. He didn't know that I was a photographer but promptly started grilling me about camera equipment and whatnot. I actually enjoyed talking to him today.

Today is definitely a French Kicks kind of day...my French Kicks Pandora station is perfect for storms.

Also...I looked up while I was making a latte earlier and saw a girl writing something while she was standing at the register...shortly thereafter, I found one of our markers where she was standing and noticed this is my tip jar.

(I blurred out her last name and part of her phone number.)

Annnnd...Carrie! I've had 2 different people try to buy my necklace off of me...haha. I get complimented on it every time I wear it, too!

Sorry it's not a great photo of it...I'll try to get a better one later. I got this from The Appleseed on Etsy! The Appleseed is run by a lovely lady named Carrie that I met while I was a student at the University of Alabama. She's super-crafty & posts lots of inspiring things and tutorials over on her blog...you should definitely go check it out! I've been on the lookout for some branches to make a jewelry stand based on one of her tutorials.

We're supposed to be having a Trunk Show for the Art Hive here at 3 today...it was storming this morning and is still pretty cloudy, so I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not...I hope it does! I've been working like crazy all week to get some new stuff made. I got a few record clocks finished and 2 wood clocks as well...the bigger clock hangs funny (which I didn't check until last night), so it won't be for sale today...I've got to figure out a different way to hang it. I'm excited about getting some photos of all of my stuff and getting them online though!

Goal for July:
-open up shop on Etsy

Ok, it's been busy this morning and I have more customers coming in...so, that's all for now.

I'll try to post some photos from the trunk show soon (if it happens)!!!

photobooth.

I know I just posted a blog entry (see below), but I wanted to share two quick photobooth photos...I actually started on this week's 5 things post yesterday (still a day late, I know), but the power kept going off last night while I was working on it. Daniel had already gone to bed, but when the power kept going off, I made him get up and keep me company. I'd never experienced a blackout in this house and there was some crazy loud noise across the street every time it went off.

And here's my little buddy. He stays glued to my side 95% of the time I'm home...he wasn't too happy about this photo because I made him wake up from a nap to take it.

Daniel has decided to take me out for lunch...sushi two lunches in a row! Yum yum. I need to go change clothes (you can see I'm still wearing the same shirt I was last night).