probably you caught my hint, what with me saying "hint, hint" and all at the end of the post. so i'll spare you the rigmarole and just post the link: download all three of these supercute color-your-own valentines right here.
my life is chaos. my house looks like crazy people live in it. i've made nineteen sales already TODAY and that's not all that unusual lately; i take six to twelve things to the post office each day. the breakfast dishes were still on the table tonight when i put evan's superfancy spaghettios out for dinner.
yikes. and hello. i miss you.
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just one of my work projects from the weekend: three design prototypes for a custom ten-year reunion postcard for a client. i really loved working on these for some reason. time will tell which one she likes best.
you?
now available in my shop: calling cards. yup. i finally got around to them. several of them have matching address labels available. it feels very coordinated of me. i think i might make up a few of each design for myself with my kiddos' names on them, to hand out to people i want us to be friends with. what will you use YOURS for?
when i decided to do a limited edition of 100 illustrated desk calendars, i never imagined that i'd actually sell them all. i worried that i wouldn't even sell half of them. but here we are: just a handful left. get yours while you still can. (if the listing i linked to is sold out, check here before losing hope.)
yeah, this is how we roll in rochester, new york. the mercury (no, really, we have an old mercury thermometer hanging outside our kitchen window, courtesy of 1953) rises above the little line marked "freezing" and we're out riding bikes in the slush.
when evan was a baby and i did this in columbus, ohio, people looked at me like i was beating my child raw in the street for telling me he loved me.
cold air is not child abuse. ask my kiddos. they loved it.
etsy and coolmompicks.com are co-sponsoring a kids' valentine design contest.
they'll be choosing nine color-your-own designs which will be sold on etsy with 100% of the proceeds going to the children's heart foundation. i'll let you know if any of mine win. and if none of them do, then maybe, just maybe, you might be able to get your hands on one or two of them here on the blog.
hint, hint.
i'm feeling very inspired by etsy's most recent featured seller, farouche. i've always loved her gorgeous art prints and have featured them in many a treasury and blog post (here and on the now-defunct each penny pretty), but this interview really struck a chord with me for some reason.
and i am TOTALLY stealing the first-to-a-million rummy match idea. genius!
{ from nellee100's flickr photostream. also featured in my creative commons pool. }
it's not often i say this, but i'm feeling a bit at a loss for words lately. i've got lots of thoughts marching through my brain like an ant army marching through its farm, but they're struggling to find their way out.
last week was my first week home with both kids all week (brian's time off from work had to end sometime, i guess, whether i wanted it to or not). it went fine and all, but it left me feeling sort of unfine and i can't really figure out what to do about that. i think my brain power is being so diverted to that task that i'm having a bit of trouble coming up with words and all.
me, the wordiest of wordy girls. it's strange.
its nice having you here, though. something about the act of sitting here at the computer to try to come up with something to say to you helps coax a few words out here and there. makes me feel a little bit more normal.
i have declared 2010 the year of up up creative's expanding presence. i've got lots of plans for this year, including setting up a shop at upupcreative.com finally (i love etsy and will continue to maintain my etsy shop, but i'd also like some different options) and working to expand my wholesale business (i'll be asking you for local shops you'd like to see my stuff in soon so put on your thinking caps, my friends).
i'm also really excited about some new online opportunities that have been popping up. it can be hard sometimes to tell which opportunities are the good ones, but when i saw the other shops selling at lovely clusters (shops like apak, olive, hydra heart, and kate durkin) i knew that this had to be one of the good ones.
i love how they've displayed my items; it actually made me gasp.
did i tell you that evan potty trained himself in the weeks just before and just after emily's birth? one day he revealed to me an insight: "sam doesn't wear diapers," he said of his favorite cartoon character.
"you're right," i said.
and that's when he started wearing underwear. and going potty.
unfortunately, around the same time that he gave up diapers, he also started giving up naps. and then there was another baby. and then my head exploded.
no, actually, it's not SO bad that he's slowly giving up his afternoon nap. i still make him stay in his room on his bed until "naptime" is over. he's supposed to "rest" but usually he just sings and acts out fireman sam and talks and stuff.
but today he actually napped. and this is what emily and i did:
(taken with my phone. apologies for the somewhat sketchy quality. i couldn't exactly get up for the real camera.)
helps answer the question some of you have been asking me about how i'm getting any work done with a new baby and a toddler around.
this is how i feel right now. find the original image, by dalla*, here.
it's not just because she's an o'leary (no relation to me, though). it's not just because i have always loved maps. it's because her hand-illustrated maps are amazing. they invite you both t0 stand back and to move in closer. they're so simple and yet so intricate. 
i wish i had a reason to buy a new york or a paris. they're available here in karen o'leary's etsy shop. just a little eye candy for this cold, snowy tuesday. (hope it's warmer where you are.)
(find the original photo here)
today's the day. the first full day. the just-the-three-of-us day.
brian goes back to work today.
for some reason i just keep thinking about meringue. i keep thinking about meringue and how it's all sweet and light and i just keep telling myself that today, i am going to be oh-so-meringue about everything.
i'm telling myself that so i won't be scared. of being home alone with them. all by myself. just me and them and all their needs.
send me your egg-whites-and-sugar vibes today, eh?
if you're someplace where you won't attract stares and snickers, go ahead and pound your hands against your desk or lap or wherever because this valentines post deserves a drumroll.
that is to say, i've got lots of good new stuff to show off.
so without further ado (and yeah, you can stop drumming now), here we go...
(note that in order to make life easier on myself, what with both kiddos waking up from naps right now, i'm not going to include links or very many captions. you can find everything in my shop.)
ABOVE: something new for me... an art print ready for framing and hanging. (this design is also available on two different folded cards)
ABOVE: one of just a few remaining printable items in the shop.
ABOVE: one of my bestselling products from 2009 (second only to the illustrated desk calendar, if memory serves)
ABOVE: a brand new crazy love card (one that's already getting a lot of buzz around the web)
ABOVE: another new crazy love card
ABOVE: the last of the new crazy love cards
ABOVE: printable valentines, back for 2010
ABOVE: printable valentines, back for 2010
ABOVE: personalized wedding date poster (makes a great wedding gift... this is what i gave my sister at her wedding)
so i'm dying to know... WHICH ONES ARE YOUR FAVORITES?
i've been busily printing, photographing, and listing new valentines items in the shop. i hope to have all that done by thursday night so that i can bring you a real showcase, but in the meantime here's one of my absolute favorite new designs.
it's an original illustration, done in ink and then digitally colored. this one here is an art print (8.5" by 11" and all ready for framing) but i'll also be listing greeting card sized versions in two colorways.
seeing this one in my shop makes me particularly happy for some reason. the illustration is just very me, i guess.
i feel bad that i've already forgotten where i first saw this, because i'd love to give a little shout out to whomever first brought it to my attention, but i'm sleep deprived and really can't be expected to remember things like which blogs first took me to which websites.
but i am definitely still getting a kick out of this website, designed to come up with your resolutions for you. perfect for any of us who have resolved, say, to take the easy way out.
my favorite so far is jump rope, as pictured here. i've also gotten learn italian, be a better person, and learn to cope. the last one was eerily appropriate and caused me to close my browser window while shuddering from creepiness.
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| My holiday photo cards now available at Minted.com |
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