Fishy.

I made this new little beauty last week and have it listed in my etsy shop. I thought it would be a good picture to go with the story of our trip to the beach this weekend. We went to Stumpjack for our Sunday morning coffee and decided to stop at the beach in Two Rivers. It was stunning! So clean and soooo many people. We were kind of bummed that we didn't have our suits so we went home to get them and then decided to try the beach in Manitowoc. I wish we wouldn't have gone to Two Rivers first because it kind of kicks Manitowoc beaches butt. Ours had lots of seagull droppings and ciggie butts. Made me sad and want to form a group to clean it up. I actually think I am really going to do it. So if you read this and are interested in helping come in and see me so we can talk about it!

Special Orders.

I love em...but I hate em. I am not a planning type of person. I just love going with an idea and letting it take the project where it goes. Special orders sometimes just make me have to plan and it is very unnatural for me. This was a project I have been trying to get started on for a couple of months but have just been too busy to start. This week I had a couple of days to work on it and ended up finishing it in a couple of hours. I was a little worried because I told the customer I would show her pictures before I finished but I didn't. It is always a little scary not knowing if the person is going to like your finished product or not. Well she LOVED them...whoooo. Made me feel really good and now it is done!

A BIG new piece.

I got a new Mary Engelbreight's Home Companion and was very inspired. In Mary's new home she had a big painting of a vase of flowers. I looked at I and thought how cool would it be to build a floral arrangement out of paper flowers? It brought me back to my days as a florist. I miss that sometimes and I think that is why I love gardening and also why I enjoyed doing this mixed media piece so much as well. I started by painting some pages of an old music book with fun colors. Then I cut out flower shapes and stems and leaves. I painted a big canvas black and started by layering the tablecloth. Then I cut out the vase and then started building my arrangement flower by flower just like a real floral arrangement. Each flower has it's own stem. I then accented the whole thing with black paint and high gloss gel medium. I really like it and actually am thinking of keeping it? Aw heck maybe I will just make a bunch more.

Oh and another cool thing about this months Home Companion...my friend Amanda is in it at her little booth at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. So cool. She is super talented and has an etsy shop called Smarmy Pants. Check it out!

She may be sassy....

...but she is talented. I love this little mixed media piece she whipped up for my mom. It is her and her little friend Amaya sitting at the kitchen table and my mom standing by the fridge. You see it don't you?
By the way she kind of learned a lesson after sassy night and has been really pleasant on our walks the last few nights. The key is naps. She thinks she doesn't need them anymore but she is very sadly mistaken.

So isn't she cute?

I am not quite sure what is going on with my little peanut lately. She is sooooooo sassy! Up until a couple of weeks ago my dear child never had a freak out in a store. I would brag to other mothers about how perfect she is in public places. Sure she had minor breakdowns but nothing major. Well not anymore. We can't take her anywhere lately without her fake crying and screaming and pitching a fit. I am sure she is just testing us trying to figure out how much she will get away with but you would think after weeks of time outs and leaving places she would get it. Tonight we went for a walk along the lake. All was well when she saw some kids in the lake. She started saying she wanted to go in the water. We said no we are going for a walk tonight and it was just a little too cold anyway. She kept up and kept up and started screaming louder and louder the further away we got from the lake. At one point she was saying she couldn't breath. She proceeded to scream the entire 20 minutes home. We got home and got her ready for bed all while screaming. I put her in her bed and within 5 minutes she was sleeping sitting straight up. Obviously deliriously tired but she won't take naps. We really need to figure this out because man o man.
Advice please.
By the way even though she really tested me tonight it is amazing how when she tried to apologize by saying mommy I love you over and over it made my heart melt.

Oh and I can't believe I put a picture of me without makeup on the internet...oh well.

Phone calls.

So living where I work is mostly a great thing but one of the things not so great about living in my building is that my business phone rings in my house. Everyone I know knows this but customers don't always think about things like this and why would they? I know I have called a business before to find out their hours.
Mostly when people call and I answer they are surprised but we work it out and if I can't help them with something because I am making supper and can't get to the shop I just tell them to call back. On occasion however it is strange. Like once the phone rang at about 11:30 which always freaks me out and I woke up an answered it thinking something happened to someone. Nope. Just a drunk lady who wanted to chat about my store and what I have and then got angry when I asked her to call back the next day. Not just angry but mean saying things like well if you won't tell me what you have in your store I guess I'll never go there. I did calm her down and needless to say I am quite certain she never did visit Persimmons.
Well this morning at 5:15...yea 5:15 someone called. We didn't get out of bed in time to answer before the machine picked up so the guy left a message. The message was for Joyce and he was thanking her for helping him out but he is having some issues right now and can't pay her back. Ok you are calling Joyce at 5:15 to tell her that? By the way I am Kim not Joyce.

A little umbrella girl.

I made this little umbrella girl a few weeks ago. I think she is pretty cute. She sits atop a little box decorated with green and red stripes, glitter and some vintage little posies. I even put together little kits so you can make your own little doll.