Holiday Travel Park: For those who couldn't make Art Opera Vendor Faire

Bringing the Vendor Faire to You!!

Well, in the name of starting fresh and turning over a new leaf for this Spring season...I'm back as promised, with a whole bunch of new artwork for sale. The necklaces are maybe what I'm most excited about simply because they are such a departure for us...I mean, we've been doing them for a little while now but being at the Art Opera vendor fair and seeing gals pick them up and try them on, I got to see first hand how much a unique piece of jewelry can set off a gal's style. Really, we had one girl who said she never ever considered wearing something so big...but I was like "Are you kidding me?!...You'll look amazing wearing this!" And she really did. It was one of our jumbo circle pendants with a trio of cupcakes. She put it on and vowed that she was going to open a bakery and wear it to work!

Lets see, what else is new...well the Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake beaded bookmarks, which were on back order, have finally arrived! So if you were waiting on those, get 'em while they last! And speaking of Keep Calm...the necklaces are a brand new addition and those have been super popular. The backs of 'em are painted the same color as the front and they just feel like gleaming bits of candy...love these!

As I mentioned in my previous post...Art Journaling became a little personal saviour of mine over the long, cold winter. When you make your living with your artwork it gets harder and harder to get lost in the artistic process. It's almost a little sad...almost one of those "be careful what you wish for..." type of things. You spend your childhood seeking refuge in the creative process. It's a wonderful escape from the big and little stresses that life can bring. But then you grow up and next thing you know...you are making art to keep a roof over your head...a new painting now means that the electric bill can be paid. So that escape isn't there anymore...art is no longer a choice, but a necessity. Well, over the winter Aaron bought a stack of Moleskines in different sizes and shapes. He kept half for his writing...he fell for Moleskines ever since reading Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast". That's Hemingway's memoir of his young author days in Paris, where he sat in cafes and wrote his greatest novels in Moleskine notebooks. So Aar took his Moleskines and gave the rest to me. I had been itching to start an Art Journal. Well, I must say...It Worked!...it really worked. I once again had my artistic escape. I don't know what it is about art journaling exactly but there's something about the book format that really works for me...I guess there's a certain measure of privacy that appeals to me. You close the cover and everything you created within, stays within. It's all yours.

I don't know... recently I ran out of any time to art journal AT ALL. But I definitely plan on revisiting those pages and opening them up to you all. There will certainly be a future blog post dedicated to Art Journaling. I'll open up my book and ask you guys to do the same. We'll get a Flickr group going and maybe hold a weekly show & tell with our Art Journals. How cool would that be. I'll try to do an Art Journaling blog entry soon. I'd love to inspire any of you who are on the fence and show you just how easy and Liberating it can be. I promise...you'll be addicted. Aaron has his escape in reading books, and over this past winter my nose was buried in a book even more than his...(though, my version involves getting a bit messy with paint and glue!)...but for a little while there, my addiction surpassed his.

Anyway, much of this new artwork was directly inspired by my Art Journal...especially the book shaped plaque that reads: "When I grow up and have a house I will bake a cake everyday." That piece is almost an exact copy of a spread in my journal. Oh yeah...and if you like those...do not wait. I have only a handful of those adorable book shaped plaques left. So once they're gone...they're gone. But I do have a fantastic bigger design that's similar and will be on an 8 x 10 wooden plaque. Coming very soon. Actually, lots more are coming very soon. For instance...those super cute circle plaques with the cakes and cupcakes. I love those...they are about 7 inches in diameter and on super thin wood and hang with ribbon. But they are just the beginning...I've got some bigger ones that are great...like 12 inches.

And also on these thin wooden plaques I've put together some of our Springtime Greetings kits. I figured I'd do the work for you guys. So I collaged them, added the ribbon, gave 'em that adorable pom pom trim along the bottom. All you have to do is hang it up!

Alright, I guess that's it for now. Each item has a purchase button below it. In a few cases, where there is a button under a group of items you'll just have to specify which of the items you're purchasing. I tried to make it as simple as possible. If you have any questions just shoot me an email. Thanks so so much for coming back again and checking out our latest creations. There will be more to come...on a fairly regular basis I hope! xoxo Jenny

** If you have been hoping for one of our Art Opera kits:

Sweet Dreams Mobile

Beaux Gateaux

You can purchase both on our previous blog post!! :)