Painted Baby Clothes

I'm at that age when all my friends are starting to have babies, including my sister-in-law. I just found out I'm going to be an Aunt to a little baby niece! She's due in January which is exciting because Jan 6th is my birthday. I'm really enjoying all the new love that's entering the world around me.

I've started painting babies clothes to give away as gifts to all the new little ones. Each piece is made of organic cotton that I've hand-painted with textile paints that are heat-set so they can be machine washed. My painted baby clothes won't be for sale. They take so long to make I'd have to charge outrageous prices, but they are perfect for gifting to all my new momma friends. I'm taking requests so let me know if you'd like an outfit.

A Kaleidoscope of Spring

A Post Christmas Update:
Images are of marbled fabric, cotton and silk

This past holiday season was insane. Mary Elizabeth Arts in the past year has more than doubled sales from last year and we've run a projection and are on track to double them again this year.

My repeat customers are becoming my favorites folks. It brings me so much joy to be able to create pieces for special people I'm getting to know. Their generous feedback is what keeps me going. One of my favorite customers this year was the sister of Etsy's Founder. She purchases some glasses for a friends birthday and some pieces for her mother. I love knowing that the mother of the guy who created Etsy uses my work. That's just awesome!

We are on the hunt for an artist agent! This is very exciting news as it means that in the near future I'll be signing contracts with larger companies who will be reproducing my designs in factories and selling them in larger department stores. This will allow me to create new designs and pick back up on all my unfinished projects such as my hand-painted lingerie and silk painting.

There are two new babies in the family! My best friend of BlumeBloom just had her first baby, Emma Rose. And my sister-in-law just had her second baby boy, Christopher. Both babies are healthy, beautiful and perfect in every way.

This April I'm very excited to say that there will be a professional photo shoot of my glassware. All my product images I've taken myself and it's time to increase the quality of my listings. We are staging a faux dinner party, although I'm sure in the end the photo shoot will become a decadently staged real party. I'll be working with a few of my gorgeous friends as they sip champagne under twinkly lights this early spring. I am truly excited about this and can't wait to share the images with you. My wedding photographer Annemie of mexapixie will be taking all the shots. She's the gal who photographed my wedding so I already know her work is fabulous.

We've re-painted and re-carpeted the house! Having my studio, my packaging warehouse and inventory supply room in my home makes it easy to find living in total chaos a complete norm. I've grown accustomed to paint stains on, well, everything. And instead of scented candles and charming decorative figurines my house is constantly in a state of disarray. I secretly laugh when customers mention "stopping by my studio for a tour" I can image myself saying, "Welcome! Please just sit directly on the pile of laundry as it's the only clean place in the house." And on the way out the door everyone gets a complimentary lint roller to clean off the cat hair. So Nick, seeing my insanity grow deeper every day, has given me a new home. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint and new carpet will for the the soul.





I have a few new oil paintings in the works. Canvas paintings are always a treat for me. It's hard to sell original art for walls these days. People tend to prefer spending their money on functional art that they can afford--and I don't blame them! But I'm trying to make it a goal to paint more with oils and canvas, even if it is just a few hours here and there. Right now I'm working on two piece from my honeymoon. A lake and mountain vista from Alaska and a Sea Cliff scene from Maui.

Back when I first started selling my artwork online the focus was on fine art prints of my original paintings. Over the past year or so I stopped making the prints and have been focusing on my glassware, until now! I'm working with Through This Lens, a local Durham photography studio and Roylee is not only making prints of my paintings but he's matting them as well so they are super easy to frame. These prints will be available in my shop by the end of the week!


And even more exciting, is my dear friend Lindi has created a small book with a whole bunch of my paintings. When I first saw it I seriously couldn't believe what an amazing job she did paring paintings. I couldn't have done it any better if I'd spent months laying it out. I was really impressed and remember thinking, it's almost like Lindi is a professional at this. Then I remembered she is. She has her masters in Museum Management and arranging artwork and displays is her specialty. Think coffee table book full of my colorful artwork--professionally arranged. The book isn't for sale just yet, but I hope to have it in print within a month or so. I'll keep you posted as to when it's available.

I'm so happy Spring is almost here. Yesterday I went on my first bike ride since last summer and I'm excited to see more sunny days and blooming trees. Happy Spring Everyone!

A Birthday Painting

This past Saturday was my dad's birthday. We were up till 2am the night before ringing in his 60th--not bad for an old man! The next day, a little less than top notch, we decided to tackle another "father daughter" painting. You can read more about the history of these paintings in a previous post here.

I bought the biggest canvas I could fit in my car. It was about 4x3 feet. The day was so beautiful and pleasantly cool for August in North Carolina, so we decided to paint outside. We wanted to paint a friendly landscape of a summer day.



I laid in the clouds and then the blue sky while dad put down the green fields.
We both worked on the trees. In this photo you can see where I've just begun to layer in the grasses down on the bottom of the canvas.



While I continued to build up the field and add in red little poppies dad painted in the dirt path winding off into the horizon. He did the wooden fence with a palette knife to give it some rough, splintery character. We both love painting with palette knives. I first learned how to use the palette knife in high school while copying some of Van Gogh's work as he use the tool a lot in his paintings.



We didn't have time to finished the canvas before folks started to arrive for the birthday party but we got about 3 or 4 hours in. The painting isn't finished so we'll just have to wait until the next beautiful Saturday to finish. We're planning on adding sheep in the field as well as continuing to build up the grasses, flowers and the background trees still need quite a bit of work. And the path and the fence will get some highlights and shadows to create a more defined look. But I think it's a great start. And we certainly had fun painting it. Happy Birthday Dad!

In 8 days I’ll be a Mrs.

Basically everything is taken care of, mostly thanks to my efficient fiancé. He’s been busy putting this wedding together while I’ve been focusing on getting my last minute orders out the door (and insanely agreeing to do a craft show today). I took care of the “fun stuff” the photographer, the wines and champagnes, music, flowers, rings…those sorts of artsy tasks. Nick got stuck with tent and table rentals, food ordering, technical music set-up--the logistical tedious parts. This is just one reason why we work so well together, he does all the hard stuff.

I find myself in a unique position, being 8 days away from a Mrs. There’s no stress or nervousness about actually getting married. That’s the part I’m ecstatic about. It’s the pleasing family, friends and expectations that are stressful. As an artist who works with brides-to-be daily I now better understand their messages and custom requests. These girls aren’t being “Bridezillas” they just want everything to turn out perfectly, and for a good reason. It’s a special day and everything about it should be special, down to the particular shade of green in their peacock toasting flutes.

There is a light at the end of the planning tunnel (besides the "I do's"). The honeymoon! Nick jokingly says that our honeymoon is great wedding insurance. Even if I get cold feet I wouldn’t back out. Not with Alaska and Maui just 10 days away. We aren’t yet sure exactly how one packs for glacier hiking and snorkeling in the same suitcase—but that’s what the day of the flight is for. We’ll have about 4-5 hours to creatively cram snorkel gear, parkas and trousseau pretties into a bag before for the 12 hour flight to Anchorage. I’m looking forward to the 12 hours of nothing--nothing in my hands to paint, nothing on the computer to check, nothing on my to-do list to prepare. But back to the wedding….

My dress(es) have been an adventure. My grand plan to have an artist make them backfired. After two attempts I finally gave up and bought one at a store from BCBG. It’s adorable and with a little added lace that my mom stitched on it’s just darling. My two “disaster dresses” will be put to good use. But I don’t want to spoil any surprises so you’ll just have to wait for the photos on how I plan to use them. The ceremony music will be performed by a professional Opera singer Mary Gayle Greene, who just happens to be a close college friend of my mother’s. Everyone attending will be spoiled by this musical treat. Not many of us have the chance to visit an Italian Opera Hall. So the opera is coming to Durham and will be sung from an outdoor balcony overlooking guests sipping Prosecco with raspberries and a very nervous bride hopefully not biting her newly manicured nails. It will be one of the rare days that my hands aren't covered in paint, I hope.

The flowers, thankfully, have not been on my mind one bit. My best friend and professional florist is flying in this Sunday to take care of everything. I’m just going to set her loose and see what magic she comes up with.
I'm mostly nervous about leaving my shop for so long. Owning and running your own business certainly has some cons to go along with the many pros. I'll worry about customers not being able to reach me, I'll worry about the amount of work I'll have waiting on me when I get back. I'm hoping all this preemptive worry will be for naught. Etsy what? Etsy who? I'll vaugley recall something about glasses and packages 10 feet under turquoise water with a bright red and yellow fish lazily swimming by.

Sticky Stickers

When I was a kid I had a sticker collection. But I wasn't a normal kid with a normal sticker collection. I would collect stickers anyplace I could then I'd stick them to a nice marble antique desk. Mom wasn't exactly pleased when she discovered my collection, but it was an impressive assortment of glittery hearts, fuzzy bears and my favorite, a few treasured potent scratch and sniff mushroom stickers. Like I said before, I wasn't a normal kid.

I'm less obsessed with stickers now that I'm in my late 20's, but the addiction has morphed towards decals. My personal favorites are from Mixed Species. I love their decals that say "You Park Like Shit." They aren't permanent, so when you do get the courage to actually put one on a motorcycle taking up two spaces or a Porshe in a handicapped spot you won't get sued for ruining their paint as they peel easily and harmlessly off. Their "Oil Whore" is just as much fun, but more permanent so careful not to upset a big burly man driving his monster truck through town.



I'm equally enamored with less offensive decals just in case you were staring to think about my strange childhood...

The decals are perfect for your walls when you can't paint because your renting or in a dorm room. Most vinyl decals peel easily off without damaging your walls or paint.


I've even created my own glass decals for wine glasses. So now people can dress up their glassware for a party without having to invest in new glasses. Think of them as a temporary tattoo for your glassware.

Don't deny your inner sticker collection. Below are a few great options for all your collecting needs.