Weekly Sponsor Spotlights: Catherine Just, Barefoot Works, + Alessandra Cave

Big thanks to my sponsors...I'm really enjoying these weekly sponsor spotlights where their creative talents and businesses are featured. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor (includes your ad on the sidebar + ongoing spotlights), please send me an email for further information!

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Award winning photographer Catherine Just is hosting an upcoming photography retreat on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula this fall from Sept. 29th- Oct. 3rd. She asks, "What happens when you allow yourself the time to dive deep into your creativity? What if you mix it with a gorgeous seaside retreat center, a group of fabulous like-minded people, tea, meditation, journaling, discussion, and mindful photography? Grab your camera and let’s find out! All levels of photography are welcome. Space is limited so please click here for more information or to sign up!

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Can You Change Your Life in a Week? After years of leading retreats and witnessing how profound it is, I say “yes”! Join me for a week in Tulum, Mexico. Time away that is created by someone else and all you have to do is show up. Click here for all the details. Over the course of a week you will:

Open your heart to yourself and your life.
Gain perspective on your yoga practice and yoga philosophy.
Get to experience the joys of a flow yoga practice and the juiciness of yin and restorative yoga.
Learn simple ways to shift stress and fear.
Explore ways to commit to living life fully and vibrantly.
Get a clearly picture of where and with whom you spend your time and energy.
Nurture yourself with sun and sand....good food and good people.
Unwind more with each day. You'll rest. Really rest.
Experience the best spa treatments you have ever had.
Not be held accountable to taking care of anyone other than yourself. For an entire week!

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Photographer, Alessandra Cave, thought all she needed was a camera and a backpack until her round the world travels revealed a fierce love for texture, light and design, as old as the stories she once called home. One and a half careers later, she's finally traded in her passport for shooting locations where her eye for sun-drenched color and vintage beauty takes fashion photography to a whole new world. Whether she's shooting starlets or musing on her beloved moon, this gypsy girl is magic in the making. Keep your eye on her beauty at Gypsy Girl's Guide. Alessandra is currently offering special packages to produce, style and shoot your indie clothing line. Contact her via alessandracave@gmail.com or visit her at GGG.

dear self.

last fall, while at the be present retreat, andrea had us all write a letter to our future selves. she then collected them all with the promise that she'd mail them back to us many months later. andrea always has these good ideas, by the way. she's a magic maker.

anyway, my letter to myself arrived on my doorstep the very day (the very day!) i launched Flying Lessons registration - the day my heart was a collection of feelings from putting this specific dream out in the world to be received (panic, relief, joy, exhaustion, etc).

when i read this letter i had written to myself months before, a giant smile came upon my face and i called andrea right away. why was i so excited? because i wrote this letter to myself as an exercise in manifesting dreams, as a way to put out into the universe my intentions for what i wanted my life to look like. i wrote it well before i was pregnant, before we decided to move back to portland, before we found a house, before i even decided to concretely offer an ecourse.....it's magic, i tell you. here's part of my letter...

dear self, you are bravely pathing a new path for yourself...you're pushing up your creative boundaries and creating work that still speaks to your soul. you live in portland and you are dreaming toward the home you've always imagined with john. more than ever, you feel loved and you understand how true love counts for all things. your licensing gigs feel right. financial abundance continues. and intimacy continues to find its way into your everyday life. you are starting a family (or close to it). you are writing more and your online workshop (the one you've been so hesitant to launch) is a giant success. you are finally starting to see how special you really are. love, yourself, kelly rae

so there you have it. the move, the new house, the e-course, the pregnancy - all of it were dreams i released out into the universe with a very specific intention and writing exercise. i'm amazed at how the world works - how we know, deep inside, exactly what we want our lives to look like. we have to visualize it, give ourselves permission to ask for it, and align our lives and decision making with those visions/intentions. it's not easy and i know we can't just write ourselves a letter and have it all six months later. but undeniably there is magic and power in the practice, in the process, in the allowances that we give ourselves to dream. and to dream big.

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quick note: ecourse starts sunday. if you registered prior to today and have not received your login info, please get in touch with me! see you in class on sunday! totally excited...

lately..

the other day, john was at a near point of exhaustion. he's been working so hard over at the home renovation site and was having one of those days where all the fun had been drained out of the project. he needed to step away, take a break, get some fresh air. and so, i scooped him up for a few hours of rest. we had lunch at one of portland sweetest little italian joints where we could NOT get over how delicious our meals were. that's where we snapped this photo of me. i'm getting ginormous, by the way. then, we went to another fave portland spot, the home rebuilding center, where you can get lost admidst all the old doors, lighting, architectural salvage, and on an on. hugely inspiring place, it is. and then we fancied ourselves a trip to schoolhouse electric where i was smitten with every piece of lighting in the place. i had no idea. i'm learning so much about all the details that make up our homes...the lighting, the hardware, the moldings, the walls. this is more of an adventure than i ever thought.

at 22 weeks pregnant, i am deliriously grateful to be feeling great. i'm sleeping, i'm eating. i'm naturally waking up around 7:30am which is crazy new for me (early) and i have to say that i like it. i have energy. i'm not so much enjoying the oily skin or the itchy expanding skin or the achy back/hips but overall, i'm doing great. we are still in that phase of disbelief, wondering when it will hit us. it's almost too much joy to process, but little by little, we are stepping into all of it. this is a heart changer...

i wanted to share some things that have been inspiring me lately:

* while in FL a couple weeks ago, i read Get Lucky by my pal, katherine center. as soon as i finished the book i sent her an email. here's part of it:

dear katherine,

i have to tell you that i ALWAYS ALWAYS buy trash mags for my flights but i was so into get lucky that i skipped the mags entirely so i could finish the book. and i just finished it. and now i'm writing you to tell you how much i loved it. .......the whole time i read the book, i saw the movie characters in my mind and i kept thinking this needs to be a movie. it would be so charming and funny and meaningful....my favorite part was the end. when you talk about the struggle between who we are and who we are becoming, that we can't have tenderness without bravery. all of that struck home, had me in tears, but not the bad kind. the happy kind. congratulations, friend. it's an awesome book.

* do not miss brene's video. seriously you guys. listen to the whole thing. i've written about my experience of watching her videos before. this is another one not to miss...

* speaking of videos, this ted video where simon sinek talks about how buyers/people/etc really want (and respond to) your WHY, not your what. for those of you trying to make a living at your art/craft, watch this video. it's awesome.

* this video has been making the rounds and i love it. you have to watch the whole thing to get the full story. amazing!

* and whatever you do, do not miss this video of elizabeth gilbert. i am so inspired by her like millions are. in this video she shares so much but i especially related to the part about how we're all, no matter who we are or what we do or how successful we are, just people who make mistakes and often have no idea what we're doing. but that we have to be "pioneers of continuing on." also really love the part where she talks about how we truly are the first generation of women to have access to all that we have access to and how that can be really confusing...LOVE this video.

in other news, and i know i sound like a broken record here, but i am totally, absolutely, completely wrapped up in the journey of my ecourse at the moment which starts on sunday! and after watching the elizabeth gilbert video, i feel so much better about the journey, about the pressure of it all, about doing the best i can, about being enough. i plan on listening to my heart, telling my story, and engaging with yours. it's going to be great.

on fearlessness

(photo by the talented Vivienne McMaster)

i'm all about telling the story behind big events in our lives. it's where the connections live, it's where honesty breathes. inside all of those stories, i'm a big fan of acknowledging our fears and giving them a name. otherwise we can't identify them, face their direction, and walk right through them, one step at a time. i wanted to share the short version story of my fears surrounding becoming an artist, having children, and most recently, launching an ecourse....

anyone who has read my book knows the story of how i waited until i was in my thirties to embrace the idea that 1)i might just be an artist and 2)i might be able to make a living with my art. why did i wait until my 30s to embrace those ideas? fear. all sorts of them. they were mainly of the whodoyouthinkyouare variety or the youcan'tmakemoneydoingart variety or the youarenotgoodenough variety. eventually i pushed through to the other side (i share how in my book).

my fears also made it extremely difficult for me to make a move in another part of my life: whether or not i wanted children. i've struggled with this decision for years and years. why? fears. all sorts of them. only this time they were of the maybeyoudon'tdeservechildren variety or youarenotmaternalenough variety or don'tyoualreadyhaveenough variety and on and on. through sheer providence and enough heart tenderness to last a lifetime, i had a breakthrough on these fears early last year and came to the conclusion that i deeply wanted children. i'm grateful it wasn't too late.

and now here i am facing the door of my next big fear: leading my inaugural e-course which starts on sunday. the truth is is that i was stuck in paralysis mode on this particular dream for a long time. i remember mati and i having a long, inspired conversation back in the fall of 2008 about ecourses. we were in italy teaching our painting classes at the time and the thought of doing ecourses seemed invigorating, natural. but when i got home, i found all sorts of reasons and fears to delay my taking action: it would be too much work, too complicated. what would i teach? i don't have that much to say/teach. nobody would sign up. who am i to be an expert? and on and on....you get the idea. this went on for over a year. meanwhile, everything about my journey has made me uniquely qualified to offer ecourses, but for a variety of reasons, i needed the time to really truly embrace and accept that truth and find the inspiration to begin. sometimes our dreams need time to be born...

finally, FINALLY, i found my inspiration, got some clarity, faced the fears, and took action to get the course up and running despite all the gremlins swimming around in my head. the truth is is that i'm lauching into this dream right along side those who have signed up. we're on the adventure together and i can't tell you how meaningful that is for me. i'm so glad i did it. the response to this ecourse has been in direct proportion to my inspiration and energy for it. i suppose it needed all that time to incubate in my heart, to make sure i really wanted it, to marinate in possibility. and now that we're mere days from the start of class, i can hardly believe i waited so long! i have a good feeling it's going to be a life changer not only for me, but for those who have signed up.

it's not to late to sign up! class starts this sunday (may 30th)! are you ready to listen to all those whispers nudging you to begin? to take your creative biz dreams seriously? to embrace the creative community that's waiting for you? if so, I'd love it if you joined us.

i will not be offering this course again this year (because we're having a baby!) so now is your chance....

all the details are below, including FAQs. never taken an e-course before? not sure how it works? you aren't alone - check out the FAQs below!

SEE YOU SOON!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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Everyday, I receive emails from sweet and lovely artists, crafters, and other creative souls asking for my advice. They want to know how, in a span of just a couple of years, I built an online presence and successful etsy shop, wrote a best selling book, got published in several magazines, and launched successful gift collections (via licensing deals) that are sold in stores nationwide. They ask advice on how to sell original paintings, how to have a successful online shop, how to create and package prints/jewelry/originals, how to create a website and community. They ask about licensing, money, publishing, and press. They ask me how on earth I manage my time, how I face my fears, how I stay organized.

I know exactly where they’re coming from. It wasn’t that long ago that I was sending similar emails out to artists I admired, people who seemed to have booming creative businesses. Some would answer me, but most didn’t. At the time I was crushed – why weren’t they responding? Don’t they want to help an eager emerging artist? Now that I’m crazy busy over here and on the other end of that email exchange, I get it. I’m sure some didn’t respond because they were simply too busy to give advice to a complete stranger and I’m sure some didn’t respond because they wanted to protect their hard earned information – afterall, nobody told them how to do it when they were starting out, did they? For me, it hasn’t been a matter of not wanting to share what I know, it’s been a matter of time and the value of that time.

In the end, I deeply believe in finding a way to share our stories, our resources, and how we’ve made it to where we are now. I also believe that there is tremendous value in what each of us has to offer when it comes to inspiration, concrete advice, and tips when it comes to creating a successful creative business. After months and months of writing, strategizing, and thinking about how I could best share everything I know (and finally answer, in detail, the questions that come my way) I came up with something that I think is pretty darned special: an e-course called Flying Lessons: Tips + Tricks To Help Your Creative Business Soar.

What I’ve learned in the last few years is that we can propel ourselves into living our dreams with successful creative businesses with two must haves: inspiration + tips. And that’s exactly what Flying Lessons is all about. Inspiration comes from sharing the stories of our creative journeys so that we can begin to dismantle all the misconceptions of what the creative life looks like. It means getting our hearts engaged in the business side of what we do. It means connecting to, and acknowledging, all the layers of our creative lives – our joys, successes, and downfalls.

And then there are hugely important tips - practical information and advice that we all need to be successful. When I started my creative journey, I was surprised at how hard it was to find answers to many of my questions: How do artists sell/price/package their works? How do they build a following and an online presence? How do they create their websites? How do they deal with the fears? And later it was: How do they get published, licensed, and accepted to shows? How do they organize their time? How do they market their work and get all that press? And most importantly: How do they stay engaged with their hearts and inspiration while managing the business side of what they do?

In Flying Lessons, you’ll receive the answers to all those practical questions and more. I’ll share my own personal stories of what’s worked, and what hasn’t worked as I built my creative business. And I’ll give you concrete information and tips along the way so that you, too, can create your own success whether you’re a crafter, a photographer, an artist, a writer, or someone who is still learning! You’ll find musings, encouragement, practical tips and thoughtful guidance on everything from how to create an online presence to how to create a creative community to how to successfully market your business to receiving press to getting published to facing the fears that inevitably come when we push ourselves to do things we’ve never done before. We'll discuss the ins and out of money, creating a sustainable income from our creative businesses, licensing opportunities, craft shows, teaching opportunities, and how to handle the inevitable gremlins of competition, exhaustion, and overwhelm. And, of course, we'll dive into organization strategies that are effective and promote the idea that small steps lead to giant leaps when it comes to creating the success we've always envisioned. Along the way, you’ll find inspiring quotes, interviews with successful working artists, and a few excerpts from my best selling book, Taking Flight.

More specifically:

* I'll be posting nearly everyday for five weeks to the class website. Posts will be informative, inspiring, and full of resources. In addition to my posts, content will also include ongoing Q+A's with me, interviews with working successful artists, and informative (yet casual) videos of me sharing everything I know.

* Class will be formatted and conducted on private blog (password protected) with comments open to promote discussion and questions. The idea is to promote topic focused discussion within the comments, but also to promote community amongst participants (so important and fun!). You'll also receive special giveaways and promotions meant specifically for members of the class!

* Weeks one and two will focus on creating an effective online presence via blogs, websites, social networking, and more. We'll talk specifically about the ins and outs of these resources including how to create, how to improve, and the secret ingredients to using them effectively. We also talk about networking and the importance of creating community and how to build long lasting creative allies. We'll discuss all the fears that we'll inevitably come up against as we push the boundaries of our horizons and how to effectively push through them.

* Weeks three and four will focus on selling strategies (both online and offline). I'll give specific strategies for selling on etsy and other online marketplaces. We'll discuss effective ways of styling, photographing, packaging, and pricing our products and/or services. We'll also focus on a number of effective marketing strategies to get the word out about our businesses, including print media, newsletters, advertising, blogging, and more. We'll also discuss in detail all the ins and out of getting press and getting published. Finally, we'll discuss the actualizing of goals, creating schedules, and time management.

* Week five will focus on recharging our souls, handling competion as well as overwhelm and burnout. We'll talk about creating other creative ways of income such as teaching, licensing, blog sponsorships, affiliate programs, and more. We'll discuss an overview of taxes, money, and when it's time to ask for help (interns, etc). We'll also discuss organizing simple yet effective bookkeeping strategies when it comes to cataloging our income/expenses (so important when tax time comes around). Finally, we'll wrap up what we've learned together and celebrate taking flight into our creative dreams!

Whether you’re a beginner, an accomplished artist or crafter, or somewhere in between, this e-course is for anyone who wants to start or grow their creative business. More specifically:

* Anyone interested in how to create an online presence that will benefit their creative business and increase traffic to their websites and online shops. If you already have a blog/website, great! You'll still learn a lot. This course is also for anyone who doesn’t have a blog, website and/or social networking accounts but are eager to jump in with a focus of growing their creative business.

* Anyone interested in how to effectively use social networking (twitter, facebook, flickr, etc) to promote their creative business.

* Anyone with dreams of growing their creative business in order to financially supplement (or possibly replace!) their full/part time jobs.

* Anyone with a creative business dream who needs the practical tools and small steps to make that dream a reality.

* Anyone interested in how to create a variety of income from their creative business, including blog sponsorships, licensing deals, teaching, wholesale accounts, and other means of creative/smart income.

* Anyone needing inspiration and gentle nudges of confirmation that we must listen to the whispers of our lives calling us to begin, to create, and acknowledge the dreams tugging on our hearts.

* Anyone needing practical, concrete tips and information on how to market and promote their blogs/websites/shops in online world with the goal of increasing traffic to their sites.
* Anyone interested in how to create a true blue community of artists, both for personal and creative business growth.

* Anyone needing tried and true tips on how to get press and how to get published in your favorite publications. Have big dreams of writing a book? We'll discuss that too!
* Anyone needing advice on how to push through the fears that are inevitable along the creative journey.

* Anyone needing effective strategies for time management and ways to organize and implement their creative business goals, one by one.

Registration is now open. Class is five weeks and costs $99. Class starts on Sunday, May 30th and ends five weeks later on Saturday, July 3rd. To register, please click on the paypal button to pay for the class (major credit cards accepted via paypal). After you've paid for the class, you will receive an email from me with everything you need to access the class website (password, etc). ** Please note: please allow 72 hours from the time you send in your payment to the time you receive an email with your password, and further details. All sales final. Thank you!

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to share everything I know, everything I've learned along the way, and to also learn from you! This class will have a lot of discussion and I'm looking forward to getting to know you as we journey together!! Questions? I'm here to help - please send your questions to kellyraeroberts[at]gmail.com

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: I would love to sign up but the timing isn't the best for me right now. Will you be offering another one soon after this one ends?
A: It's highly likely that I won't due to our having a baby and renovating a house and moving and, and , and. The window of opportunity for me to offer this class is right now and I'm so thankful for that!

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Q: I really want to sign up but I'll be out of town for a week or two during the class. Will the class content still be available after the class is over on July 3rd?
A: Totally. I'll have the content still up on the site two weeks after the class is over so you'll have access to all the content for a total of 7 weeks (well into July). Because there will be a lot of information in this class, you are welcome to cut and paste content to a document on your computer for reference later (for your eyes only, of course).

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Q: I've never taken an on-line class before. Are the classes LIVE? Do I have to be at my computer at a certain time during the day in order to attend the virtual class?
A: The whole course is entirely self paced, meaning you don't have to be anywhere at any given time to make it to the class. There are no specific times that you need to log in (meaning, nothing will be LIVE at 8pm, 8am, etc.). You can log in whenever you want and have access to the content that I've uploaded thus far. You can log in everyday or every other day or once a week. Either way, the content will be uploaded and waiting for you!

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Q: I'm worried about it selling out before I have time to sign up. Is there a max amt of people who will be allowed to sign up?
A: I've given this a lot of thought. Because this is the ONLY time I will be able to offer this class this year, I am not limiting the number of people. Also, I deeply believe in the value of what everyone can bring to the table inside the comments/discussions. I don't have all the answers and I have a feeling that we are all going to learn a lot from the resources/ideas/information that everyone will be able to offer inside all those discussions. So, the answer is no, this class will not sell out, so you've got time to sign up!

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Q: I live abroad. Can I sign up?
A: Yes! That's the beauty of online classes. Anyone can sign up no matter where you live!

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Q: Are you nervous? Should I be nervous? A: I'm more excited than nervous but I definitely have that tad bit of fear that you get when you're pushing yourself to do something a little scary. It's good for us to feel slightly nervous and afraid - it means we're invested and it means we're flexing our courage muscles. My intention for this e-course is for it to be fun, a little scary so that it gives us both a chance to push thru a fear, and super informative and inspiring. I have a feeling this community will inspire, lift up, and support each of us along the way. I can't wait.

Weekly Sponsor Spotlights: Blue Muse Jewelry, Happiness Inside, and Experimental Art E-Course

Big thanks to my sponsors...I'm really enjoying these weekly sponsor spotlights where their creative talents and businesses are featured. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor (includes your ad on the sidebar + ongoing spotlights), please send me an email for further information!

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Blue Muse Jewelry is a collaboration between two sisters, Kelly Letky and Conni Bills, who, for the past five years, have used their love of handmade jewelry as a way to bond and spend lots of time together. Their favorite material is precious metal clay, and they also work with artisan glass and semi-precious stones. Creating unique, one-of-a-kind pieces is their way of adding a little beauty to life, everyday. Visit their etsy shop to see more of their work, and Kelly's blog for updates, imagery, and writing on life, art, and working as a graphic/jewelry designer.

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Happiness Inside is a free social networking site with a focus on Happiness and Positivity. Our members from all over the world provide each other with tools and resources, support and friendship in order to learn how to be happier NOW! Everyone can use a little more happiness. Join us today at Happiness Inside and explore why we're doing it, our forums, our everyday tools, and so much more (including our new HAPI decals!) Check us out on twitter, too!

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Do you want to find the natural artist in you? Amelia Critchlow's e-course, Experimental Art, explores a variety of 'traditional' art techniques in experimental ways whilst having fun with an on-line community, sharing and discussing ideas and work produced. This 6 week course is for busy people who want to take their creative inclinations to the first step, or people already practicing their art and want to try something new, getting some fresh inspiration, all from the comfort of home. The course costs £60 ($90 based on current exchange rate) and will include art pdfs, web and book resources too, as well as individual feedback from Amelia - a qualified tutor and practicing artist in the UK. Enrolment for the Summer experimental art e-course (starting June 14th) is now live here - please note, there are a limited number of spaces on each course. Be sure to check out Amelia's website where you can find her gallery, blog, and more.

If you want to see what people are saying about the first course, see here.

birthdays and hearts

earlier this week, john turned 36 years young. over birthday dinner, we talked about how abundant our lives are, how just a few months ago we made a tricky decision to move back to portland. and how since then, our everydays are full to the brim with activity, community, and laying down some roots. these days you can find john working long hours on our home renovation. he hasn't shaved since starting the project and i'm not sure if i've ever seen him like this before. he looks like a handsome northwestern rugged man these days and i'm loving it so.

we are deeply aware of our blessings. and also how life can shift in an instant...somehow this awareness alone makes the blessings more saturated with joy. but these days, we're just loving this time of birth. we're having a baby, we're creating a little bungalow home space, we're falling back in love with portland which was the city where our relationship blossomed over eleven years ago. in so many ways, my heart feels settled.

in other news, i made a hard decision yesterday to close down the online shop until august. without a studio assistant (or a physical space to train/employ someone at the moment), i'm realizing i can't do it all. my life is feeling so compartmentalized lately: baby/pregnancy, home reno, ecourse, everything else. at any given moment, my head is spinning inside one of those compartments! i think i underestimated how much time and energy would go into home renovation (so much research, and running errands, and decisions, and it's happening so fast that it's hard to stay on top of it all). i'm also feeling pulled to focus on the ecourse which is coming up so soon! and of course, all that comes with preparing to have a baby, not to mention the everyday business that comes with being self employed. choices....i'm so glad we have them. shop will be back in august with all sorts of brand new goodies....stay tuned!

seriously hoping i'm not crazy on this one.

so, remember when i was telling you that every wall in the house we're renovating had layers and layers of wallpaper underneath layers and layers of paint? i should mention that it was super unattractive because there were millions of wallpaper seams showing through the white painted walls. we were stumped. should we knock down the walls and start over (which we had to do in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and attic for different reasons)? should we skim coat over them? should we just live with it? we settled on scraping off the paint and wallpaper inside two bedrooms with hopes of getting it down to the original coats of paint. then, the plan was to skim coat over that in order to get nice smooth walls. it was going to be a time consuming and tricky project because these are old lath + plaster walls (scraping = crumbling messes).

our crew has been scraping their little hearts out this last week while i was away. and guess what? when i walked into the house after my travels, this is what i saw:

bedroom one week ago.

and here it is now.

i swear, when i turned the corner and saw this, my heart skipped a beat. call me crazy, but it was love at first site. think anthropologie. old french buildings. romance. decor possibilities galore.

and there's more....

this is what's being unearthed in the other downstairs bedroom. can you believe it? isn't it gorgeous? or do you believe me when i say it will/can be gorgeous?

i went home and thought and thought about it. was it crazy to be daydreaming about keeping these walls with their tattered worn patchworked look? they're so dirty and likely unsafe for babies and mamas but what if.....

i took it to twitter for opinions and advice. and the verdict: trust your instincts. keep the walls. deep clean them. seal them. all is well. i really needed the confirmation because i hopped in the car, went over to the renovation house, made my case to john, and convinced him to keep these walls!!!! we still have a lot of scraping to do on the 2nd room but it will make the loveliest nursery when we're done. i just know it.

i have a vision, people. i really, really do.

nyc + surtex

mati rose inside the amazing abc home store in nyc.

i'm so glad mati and i went to nyc to see surtex and the ny stationery show. i've been meaning to go the last couple of years to check it out and finally (finally!) made it this year. my work was represented by my licensing agency over on the surtex side (surtex and stationery shows are in the same building) and it was really informative to see how other artists are represented at the show (either by themselves or by a licensing agency). for those of you interested in licensing your work, the surtex show is an option you should look into. we'll be discussing more of this in detail in my ecourse coming up soon!

over on the stationery side were all your favorite stationery companies showcasing their latest designs. it was so inspiring to walk the halls and see artwork and designs galore. design sponge always does a great job of wrapping up the show with great photos/descriptions if you're interested.

but what i loved most of all about wandering around nyc and the shows was all the socializing and visiting with friends (old and new):

one of my oldest friends, clare, had her second baby (boy!) just a couple of days before i arrived so i got to meet him at their nyc apt. our baby bumps were a match and look at how preciously tiny he is! another of my oldest friends, karen, was there too. and my goodness, a couple of hours in the company of old friends did my soul some good. i really needed it after the tough week i had prior to nyc.

(nancy, jo, leigh, me)

one of the highlights of the show was getting to visit with leigh (aka curly girl). we met last year through our partnerships with demdaco and she's been a kindred since then - always delightful, generous with her knowledge, and charming, charming. she's one of those girls you wished lived in your neighborhood instead of 3000 miles away. there's a reason her designs are so loved around the world....

i also had the opportunity to meet nancy soriano and jo packman - i'm giant fans of these two women so it was awesome to meet them in person and chat for a bit. i really love it when you meet your heros and they are as nice in person as you imagined they would be. nancy, the former editor of country living magazine, and jo, the woman behind where women create, have teamed up to host The Creative Connection - a three day conference for creative women, crafters, do it yourselfers, and entrepreneurs. if this conference weren't just before my due date (sept 2010), i'd be there in a heartbeat. it's definitely on the calendar for next year.

other highlights:

* loved meeting jessica swift, artist and blogger (awesome blog), who had her own booth at the surtex show. it looked incredible and she's delightful.

* also loved meeting michelle ward of when i grow up creative coaching. loved her energy...

* meeting lacy of lacylike.com and cindy - both creative souls with so much passion and energy. cindy also had a booth at surtex that looked amazing!

* seeing an abandoned dirty white billboard with "bless yourself" spray painted on it.

* seeing a school busy on a busy nyc street with a piece of paper that said "hope" taped to one of its windows

* finding some prego shirts on sale at anthro with mati. they're big...and cute!

* eating delicious food at charming cafes. i seriously love visiting nyc.

more soon!

nyc self portrait

i'm sitting here in the jfk airport waiting for my flight back home to portland. it's been a whirlwind couple of days but also really great to be here with mati. i'm always so surprised each time i come to nyc by how much i love it here. more photos and stories soon. above is a self portrait i snapped while inside the abc home store - wow. that store blew me away in the inspiration department. i could hardly believe i could love a store more than anthropologie!

more stories and photos of nyc coming soon!

Weekly Sponsor Spotlights: Gwynnie B Designs, Creative Goddess E-course, + Solace Creek

Big thanks to my sponsors...I'm really enjoying these weekly sponsor spotlights where their creative talents and businesses are featured. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor (includes your ad on the sidebar + ongoing spotlights), please send me an email for further information!

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Jewelry designer and artist, Gwynnie Beatty, loves adornment. Whether it's a custom collar for her dog, Lucy, or a whimsical piece for a friend, it's always fun and always made with love. Gwynnie works in recycled metal clay, as well as recycled silver wire, and uses an oxygen generator for an unlimited supply of oxygen when fusing her creations together. Check out her website for one-of-a-kind jewels and her blog for specials and all things related to creating art. peace, love & heART to everyone!!

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Awaken the creative goddess inside you with this six week practical + spiritual e-course. Filled with meditation mp3s, videos, creative projects and an online goddess circle, you will finish this course feeling deeply inspired, healed, joyful and transformed. Enrolments close May 30. Visit Goddess Guidebook for more information!

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Solace Creek creates award winning greeting cards, journals, magnets, and art dolls for those coping with illness, loss, or life's struggles. Their products seek to console and comfort while addressing themes like encouragement, new diagnosis, chronic illness, survivors, caregivers, cancer, grief, loss, bereavement, sympathy, condolences and spirituality. Solace Creek creates impressions to heal the soul, when "get well soon" just doesn't cut it. Head on over to their website, shop, to learn more.

this and that

on being pregnant:

my belly has grown a little from few weeks ago. it really popped out around 16 weeks and it's holding strong. i've still yet to purchase a single piece of maternity clothing. i just use the bella band every single day over my regular jeans. i'm eating small meals all day long and besides some energy lulls, i'm doing great.

andrea sent me this amazing article a few days ago, written by one of my fave authors anne lamott. i loved every piece of humor and honesty. she has such a way with words...my favorite part of the article was this sentence:

Nothing heals us like letting people know our scariest parts: When people listen to you cry and lament, and look at you with love, it's like they are holding the baby of you.

these words made my heart pause for a minute with utter stillness. and since reading it i haven't stopped thinking of all the ways my family and friends hold the baby of me, especially now that i'm preggers and my own baby soul pieces are tender and raw.

i've also been loving all the pregnancy and birth stories over on design mom. wow, wow, wow!

on grandma and the south:

she is doing better. thank you for all the well wishes for her and our family. she's still in the hospital but making progress and we're all taking it one day at a time. i know it's a scary time for her...i can only imagine the uncertainty that comes with accepting our physical limitations. but i'm so grateful i am here in florida to help.

speaking of florida, i can't tell you the comfort that comes from being back in the south. out of nowhere (pregnancy?), i've been craving the familiarity that comes with fried chicken, grits, sweet tea, humidity, friendly southern accents, and time with my mom. even though it's been rough, all the small comforts are there and i'm soaking them in. my bff gina arrives tomorrow from atlanta with her newborn son and i can hardly wait to see her and to meet him...

on creativity and business:

yesterday i made a painting for an upcoming book i'm contributing to. it was such therapy to get my hands messy for a little while and create. i packed just the necessities..a few paint colors and a canvas. and i'm so glad i did. lately my creative brain power has been hijacked by house design and ecourse writing, so it felt good to shift gears for a bit.

in some exciting news, i did sign on with the licensing agent/agency i mentioned a few weeks back. i can't be more thrilled about this - it means more licensing opportunities for my work! i'll be represented by this agency (i can't spill the beans just yet on who it is) at SURTEX next week in nyc. mati will be rep'd by her agency at the same show so we'll be traveling together to nyc to watch it all unfold...i can hardly wait! i seriously miss my mati time...and nyc too!

christine of darling design (who i adore to pieces and who designed my website) created a new logo and packaging style guide for me. isn't the logo so sweet? you will see this on all new product packaging, etc, etc. so fun...i was in serious need of a logo and i'm relieved to finally have one! it's a great match to my aesthetic and website.

speaking of products, we've got some awesome new goodies coming out in july, including laptop skins, iphone skins, paperweights, and interactive art block sets (hard to explain but super cool). and i just saw samples of the new sketchbooks/journals coming out in january - omg, i screamed when i saw them. they are perfect. and you guys, wait until you see the BIG wall canvases! they are amazing and BIG!

on the ecourse:

totally amazed at the energy and enthusiasm surrounding this ecourse. thank you for signing up, for believing in your creative biz dreams, and for taking the leap with me! for those of you are still considering it, all the details are here and faqs are here! before the class starts (on may 30th), we've all been signing into the private classroom blog and introducing ourselves. i'm already loving the sense of community and discovery. it's going to be awesome.

that's my this and that for the week.

again, thank you for all the support and well wishes for my grandma. she's a dear soul....

xo,

kelly rae

the deconstruction - john texted this photo to me yesterday from the living room of our new home. it's being demolished. it freaks me out yet inspires me with possibility all at once. i suppose that's what deconstruction is all about whether it's a house, our hearts, or our souls.

it's been a little rough here in florida.

my mom and i had a lovely mother's day out by the pool in the awesome warm breeze. it felt like heaven out there napping under the trees, hearing the birdies, the wind. later, at approximately 1am, i found myself calling 911 trying urgently to get help for my grandmother who, as it turns out, was having a heart attack. the entire experience...from her calling, to our running over to her apt, to finding her, to calling for help, to landing in the ER...was horrible. she's had a very trying 7 weeks of medical emergencies, one after the next, that have landed her in the ER/ICU/Rehab units. she had just graduated to returning to her own home and getting back to her life when this heart attack hit. we can hardly believe it. it just totally sucks.

i'm glad to be here. to be with my mom and greg who really need the support. they've been holding so much these last two months as they juggle working, caring for grandma, coordinating her care and the emotional struggle of it all. i'm here to help tend, and put all my years of medical social work to good use inside my family. but still....it's hard for everyone to negotiate the tenderness that comes with an ailing elder. we are doing the best we can and i'm seriously grateful for all the aunts and uncles and cousins and sisters who are rallying together to do all we can to support and to lift up.

please keep her and our family in your thoughts/wishes/prayers....we are leaning into the collective all of those offerings at the moment.

Weekly Sponsor Spotlights: Katherine Quinn, Sacred Cake, + Louise Gale

Sponsor Katherine Quinn is the New Zealand artist behind Sleep And Her Sisters etsy shop where she sells her originals, prints and other goodies. She's also a busy mom who shares her musings and latest creations on her eye catching blog, Just A Girl. Head on over to her etsy and blog to learn and see more of her work!

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Jennifer Valentine of Sacred Cake is an assemblage artist and vintage assemblage jewelry designer living in Michigan with her husband, a talented portrait painter, and four of her five lively children. Her inspiration drawn from natural elements, religious iconography, and remnants of the past all come together to create one of a kind assemblage jewelry and functional artwork infused with spirit and the stories of her heart. You can read more about her on her blog and her website or you can follow her on Twitter and on Facebook.

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Last summer, artist Louise Gale from "Dream, Inspire, Create", threw out her tv so she could spend more time being creative. Last week Louise left her Corporate job to be an artist fulltime. "I recently had a birthday and spent time reflecting on the last year, amazing how far you get by taking those small steps each day". Louise is inspired by nature and most of her current work is full of leaves, trees and inspirational words. "We all need some inspiration in our lives so I thought why not wear some to constantly remind us". Louise has recently created some inspirational glass pendants which are customizable with your own special word(s) and throughout the month of May anyone who purchases a pendant also receives a note card in the matching design and some extra inspirational goodies! Check out her pendants here.

Louise also has some wonderful art prints and prints on wood which are also inspiring for every day life. Most items are in her Etsy store, but Louise also takes commissions if someone is inspired by a particular design and wants something more personalized.

i could get into this. oh wait, i already am.

earlier this week we got keys to our sweet little bungalow. we were handed keys at 2:45pm. our crew showed up fifteen minutes later at 3pm and got to work demo-ing the kitchen, attic, basement, etc. i can hardly believe the transformation that has taken place in under 24 hours. take a look.....

here's the tiny kitchen with no appliances, sponge painted nasty linolium floors and 1950 daisy painted countertops.

and here it is a few hours later. demolition has begun people. he's working on demolishing an old non working gas furnace chimney that was hidden inside a tiny pantry. it's already gone (from basement all the way up to the roof...gone!). the dog is sadie and she's going to be our resident construction dog...super sweet.

view from living room to dining room to kitchen before demo began. there is zero charm but we'll take care of that :)

a couple hours after receiving keys to the place, this was the view from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen. OMG.

here was part of the attic with it's painted wood floors and flimsy plywood walls.

and here it was 24 hours later with ceiling exposed. it's going to be a great master bedroom up here. lots of charm and full bath added, too.

here is part of the backyard showing kitchen nook the day we got keys. 24 hours later, it was this:

but isn't the blooming dogwood lovely?

inside view of ugly kitchen nook before

and now it's all gone. all gone!

here's a view of one side of the basement then....

and here's the same view a few hours later. that's me looking stunned and dazed with my 19 week pregnant belly.

we've got plans, people. bigger kitchen with windows galore. charm throughout the whole house (built ins, moulding, bookshelves etc etc.). the once beautiful beveled windows that have been sealed shut for who knows how long will be restored and opened. we'll put in a fresh open kitchen, a back patio, an open front porch, and we'll finish the attic, the basement (to include my studio!), etc etc....it's going to be awesome. these beginnings are so exciting...please wish us luck that we get it all done in time for baby. this is a serious adventure.

in other news, i'm heading to FL to visit with my family for a week. and then i go from FL to NYC with mati rose for the surtex and stationery shows. i'll blog from the road so i will see you soon!

ps - sign up for the e-course are going strong. thank you!