We Bought a Washer and Dryer!

Yeah, okay, so today's blog post isn't quite the most exciting of blog posts, for you, my readers... but let me just shout out for a minute: WE BOUGHT A WASHER AND DRYER!

Clearly I'm excited. And you can probably tell by the above picture, that Annelie is excited, too. She seems to think that she has a new fort, which is fine by me as long as the door stays open.

Gracie has already experimented with shutting Annelie inside, though she can't reach the 'on' button, so all we get is a lot of metal banging, a two year old screaming, and a 3.5 year old temper tantrum as a result of an unwanted time-out..... but its worth all of that, because now WE HAVE A WASHER AND DRYER!

Will and I have been married over four years now, and have spent all of that time moving from apartment to apartment (7 times!).

In Austin, our apartment came with a washer/dryer, which was great... but since we've been in Abilene, we've had to make do with the community laundry room. Last week, it took me three hours to do one load of wash and dry, as I was doing battle with all of the other residents, a dog that I swear was on the verge of attacking me before he squatted down and peed on the laundry room floor, and a chain-smoking lady who felt the need to gripe about her life and kids to me, as she waved her cigarette in my face.

But not anymore, thanks to our tax refund...

WE HAVE A WASHER AND DRYER!

Elegant Paperie, Now Open!

Hip hip hurray! The day is here, and Elegant Paperie is now open! I'm slowly adding the paper goods I have ready made and packaged up... with much, much more to come.

I'm still playing around with my designs for note cards sets and stationery sets, so I'll have more coming into the shop in the next few weeks.

I also have a ton of gift tags already cut and ready to be assembled - but my poor fingers need some recouping from all the cuts and scrapes from scissors and double-stick tape dispensers.

In the meantime, here is a peek at a few of the things going into the shop today:

Captain Monkeybones note card set of 8
with red A2 envelopes

Love Bunnies All Occasion Card with Handfolded Envelope
signed and dated by me

Princess Cordelia All Occasion Card with Handfolded Envelope
signed and dated by me

Muschka Mouse gift tags set of 8

Captain Monkeybone Gift tags set of 8

And much, much more.

Hey! For those of you who have stuck around long enough to reach the bottom of this post, good for you ... now, scamper off to OhMandie's blog at: http://thisoldhenhouse.blogspot.com .....

for a Muschka Mouse set of 8 notecards GIVEAWAY!

Because free stuff is the best, and Muschka is looking pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Enjoy!

The Sound of Music

The hills - and my apartment - are alive with the sound of music, today.

Gracie shares my love for musical theatre (hurray, I'm definitely doing something right as a parent!) and I couldn't be happier on the days when she decides to ditch her Strawberry Shortcake movie for a musical gem like The Sound of Music during Annelie's naptime.

Will spent part of his childhood living in Austria, so Gracie has a connection with the little Austrian singing nun and her gaggle of singing Austrian children, as she points out all of the places that she knows her dad lived and visited when he was a little boy.

While I wasn't fortunate enough to spend my youth playing amongst the edelweiss and sporting lederhosen, as I'm sure my husband did as a kid, I did get to belt out my favorite things, just like Gracie and Annelie are able to do now. I love being able to share a timeless classic with my kids.

If you have kids, and they haven't seen the Sound of Music yet, I urge you to RUN OUT AND GET IT! And if you don't have kids... well you can still run out and get it, because its just the perfect movie for everyone of all ages, don't you think?

And in the meantime, you can warm up on this lovely YouTube video, which is Gracie's favorite:



Enjoy!

Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers

Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers
11 x 14

I'm done with my first Alice watercolor, and I'm excited to keep going with this series. I'm thinking I'll be working on the Alice series (there are about 9 or 10 illustrations so far, some scenes, and 4 snobs... and I keep adding more sketches to the pile as I think of more Alice scenes that I just absolutely have to illustrate).

But I'm really pleased with how this one turned out. I'm definitely getting the hang of watercolors now, and find that it is a lot more relaxing than colored pencil.

Here are some close ups:



I love the leaves on that little violet!

So, stay tuned, as I'm going to be updating my shop with all of the Alice illustrations in the Spring. I'm hoping to be done with them by April and hopefully they will make a very sweet Spring collection!

Enjoy!
xoxo,

Elegant Paperie

Remember back in the day (well, a couple of months ago, at least) when I used to have all sorts of paper goods in my shop? I had note cards and gift tags, and the occasional stationery set, all featuring my illustrations and the cutest scrapbooking papers ever. Well, some of you have noticed that they are all gone... but where did they go?

After being buried under the 100+ prints in my shop, my poor little paper goods just never had a chance. Occasionally, I'd get a message from someone saying, "why don't you have any note cards featuring {enter name of illustration here}?" -- To which I would say, "But I do!"

Those poor paper goods were just not having their chance to shine on their own.

Poor little things.

Well, no longer! There will be a new shop in town, Elegant Paperie, opening in the upcoming weeks (I'll keep you posted, don't worry), all for those paper goods... and some new and exciting additions as well.

I've been secretly {shhhhh... don't tell anyone!} working on note card sets and stationery sets that have my heart singing, LALALALALA! with joy.

Garden gnomes and hedgehogs and paper flowers, oh my

Here is a sneak peek at some of the note card sets in the works...

And some stationery paper for those who refuse to let the beauty of a hand written letter die! Long live Snail Mail!

And some art cards, complete with my signature on the back, an Elegant Snobbery sealing sticker, and a hand-folded envelope to match...

For the Snob lovers -

For the girly sock monkey lovers -

For the hedgie lovers -

and the cupcake lovers -

and the pirate sock monkey lovers -

Whooooo boy, I have a ton more. And all the gift tag sets to match!

So stay tuned, because if you love my illustrations and you love paper, you wont be disappointed. I am REALLY excited about Elegant Paperie!

I think it is funny that four different people have asked me just this week, how in the world I'm able to get this all done... to which I jokingly (but also kind of seriously) replied, "A little insanity and a lot of insomnia."

But seriously, remember when I said that Gracie had imaginary friends? Well now there are five of them, as Mr. Tumnus has come to join us... though he spends about 95% of his time in the bathroom for some reason I don't quite understand...

And as for Annelie... give the girl a bowl filled with 1/2 inch of water and a drop of hand soap, and I find I can get about 45 minutes of painting and crafting done at a time.

Thank goodness for imaginary friends and bowls of water!

Enjoy!

(Ma)donna

Gracie has discovered the world of girly, bubblegum pop music, and let me tell ya, she is THRILLED.

It all started with Aqua and the song Barbie Girl, which Gracie had memorized by the age of two. Then came her passionate love for Hannah Montana (not the actual show. I can't bear it, so she has to make do with the commercials she sees now and again). And thanks to my mom (thanks a lot, Mom), Gracie discovered the song So What- I'm a Rock Star by Pink while she was listening to the radio.

After listening to that for a few times, I just couldn't handle it anymore. I'm not really a fan of girly, bubblegum pop.

With the exception of Madonna. I LOVE Madonna. I have always loved Madonna, and I WILL always love Madonna, and in my humble opinion, the Immaculate Collection is one of the greatest collections of all times (besides anything Fleetwood Mac, of course. Stevie will always rule, as far as I'm concerned).

And let me just tell you, after putting in my Madonna CDs, Gracie has never enjoyed music so much in her life. She even decided that, instead of being called Donna (which is actually her real name, though we NEVER call her that. Grace is her middle name) she wanted her name to be changed to Madonna.

Hmmmm... I'm not sure I'm ready to rush off to the recorder's office for name changing paperwork anytime soon...

Lately, all of our days have been spent with me sitting on the couch while (Ma)donna performs for me.

She is a bit tone-deaf and she makes up about 95% of her lyrics...

...but dancing around and singing along to girly, bubblegum pop is apparently the bees knees, and nothing makes Gracie (ooops, I mean (Ma)donna) happier than being in the spotlight.

I wonder if this is just a phase... I kinda hope so. But knowing my little (Ma)donna and her diva/mega star personality, I'm not so sure.

At least I have a lot of funny pictures to black mail her with when she grows up.

Enjoy!

March Madness - Its Madness, I Tell Ya! Madness!