Ruby's Painting

I get a gold star for finishing a project! My kids both get gold stars for taking unusually long naps this afternoon at the SAME TIME so that I could sit on the floor and finish this monster.

I've had this canvas for about seven months and have painted it four times. FOUR TIMES. Talk about indecisive! I put a lot of pressure on myself to have something sentimental and abstract that she could be proud of and maybe want to keep the rest of her life but then it also had to match the vintage sheets and not clash too much with Sebastian's colors and not be too girly since they shared a room, etc. I kind of made myself crazy with all the boundaries I was setting up for myself.

In the end I went back to an illustration I saved in my iPhoto folder awhile back and took inspiration from that artist's color palette and theme.

Unfortunately, it's been so long that I'm not remembering her name or where I found it but I'm sure someone who reads will recognize her so leave her name in the comments if you do please. I want credit to be given where credit is due.

I've also added a few little touches to Ruby's side of the room since she was born. I've got a mobile that is still in the works (read: sitting in one of my piles ) that was first going to be felt leaves hanging from an IKEA lamp shade that I almost threw out but then I thought it'd be nice to have colored wooden beads strung in strands and now I'm thinking I might do something with kite tails. We'll see as I seem to be lacking direction in this department!

I picked up this vintage fan in Ada, OK over Easter break because it was the Emerson brand and Emmerson is Ruby's middle name. The Liberty of London frame and plum lamp are from Target and the felted heart is from Vivianna of PDR.

I made the sheets (three different kind) from vintage flat sheets and the crib skirt from new material. The original crib was white but it got recalled and this one matched Sebastian's bed so we settled with it. The blocks are handmade and the crocheted octopus was a gift from a sweet online friend. Both my kids love it, Carol!

The painting on the other wall is an original from the talented Elsie Flannigan, one of my best friends. I love it so much!

This is a vintage dress that another online friend, RubyEllen of Cakies, sent me. She appliqued the fawn on the front and I can't wait for Ruby to be big enough to wear this. Vintage little girl dresses are so sweet!

These are stacks of books I've picked up at garage sales and thrift stores as well as about four smaller art prints that have been tucked away until I can frame them and decide where they should be hung. The chalkboard is vintage and has illustrations for each letter of the alphabet. Someday it'll have a place, too!

The blanket shown below is a quilt I made for a sewing magazine last year and is usually the one I keep handy for Ruby to lay on.

Thanks for letting me share! And don't tell anyone but the other half of the room is a total mess.

xoxo,
Rachel

I Live In A Halfway House

Notice my halfway finished quilt.

Halfway finished cushions (well, I am still deciding on colors
but these are probably my fabric choices).

A halfway finished painting for Ruby's room.

A halfway clean workspace. Okay, so it's not quite halfway clean but it's been worse! I've got important company coming this weekend (hi, Dad!) which always motivates me to get projects finished. We'll see what happens!

Do you live in a halfway house, too?

xoxo,
Rachel

Coming Soon!

Tell Your Story from Elsie Flannigan on Vimeo.

I'm so excited about this class. I hope you'll join us! Class spots are available for purchase Wednesday at midnight/Thursday morning.

xoxo,

Rachel

Red Velvet Art Update

It's happening. Like right now. Go on over to the RedVelvetArt.com to see what's new!

New acrylic on wood paintings measuring 8" x 10" and ready to hang.

ACEO cards to collect or trade. This is the first time I've made ACEO's and I'm addicted. I resisted for as long as I could but it's so satisfying to finish something quickly. Each one is signed and numbered. A little piece of original art to frame or stash in a binder just like this! Check here to see them all.



Leather button hair clips to show off your crafty nature. Hand tied and secured with adhesive and felt. They measure about 2.5" in diameter.

Red Gingham Bangles! Add them to your favorite white tee and jeans or pair them with a summery dress. They're lightweight and the perfect way to add some color and pattern to your ensemble.

Elsie has some new paintings and fun kits available that you won't want to miss. She's done a pregnancy kit for this update so I think I'm going to start taking some prego shots and make a little album with it!
Inspiration post coming soon!!!

Look Into The Sky

What a fantastic weekend full of out of town friends, flea markets and yummy food! Our good friend from college days, Brad, came down and stayed with us and kept Brett and I laughing with his not so subtle claims that we belong back in Shawnee, his YouTube videos, and a steady stream of one liners. We missed his wife this time but a visit with either of the Carters always leaves Brett and I extremely light-hearted and thankful. They are one of a kind.

photo borrowed from Holly

I got to enjoy Holly and Jenna's company over coffee on Sunday and learned all about the tattoo industry in Canada and got to see some secret projects in the works. I now know three Canadians well enough to call them friends. (Sharing certain details of childbirth takes you to that next level, right?) I was thankful for the time we got but it was certainly not enough. I'm sure Simon missed his Mama while she was gone!

Our third set of friends were in the neighborhood (Kansas City) and made an overnight trip to see us and get a taste of Springfield. So, we took them to a nice sushi restaurant because nothing says Springfield more than Japanese food, right? Ha! I went to high school in California with the Mr. and six years later he and his wife walked into our apartment complex in Seattle and I rented them an apartment! They are good letter writers and we've managed to keep in touch since we've moved away and were glad they made the extra drive to spend some time catching up.

I spent the rest of my Monday evening finishing the last half of Twilight while I rested on the couch. The boys were both taking naps and it was the perfect ending to a four day weekend full of good conversation and lovely people. I am currently scheming to get my hands on the second book in the series so if you're reading this, Jenny, go check your Twitter account!

Totally unrelated to my weekend are these two paintings that I finished a few weeks ago and forgot to post. Three more like them have been at the brick and mortar RVA store since the Art Weekend and have yet to be photographed. They are all going up in the Red Velvet Art update on Thursday evening along with a few other new projects I'm finishing tomorrow.


Brett, Brad and Sebastian ventured out to do some bee whispering while I was visiting with the Canadians. I came home smelling smoke but soon realized it was coming from the bee smoker in the backyard and went out to investigate. Brad got in closer with my camera than I ever would have dared and got some great shots of the process. You can see the rest here.


The very top picture is a testament of restraint and sensibility on my part. I think we took our various friends to five different flea markets and I managed to walk away with only three specific purchases for myself. I also let Sebastian pick out a toy truck and lucked upon a pair of formal dress shoes that he'll need for a wedding he's in next month. Never mind that they were a size too big. Kids grow fast, right? They'd obviously only been worn once before, which is about the number of times he'll wear them before they are too small.

I've got more pictures to share soon so don't be a stranger!

Red Velvet Art Update

Prints of 'Her Happy Dreams' are now available on the Red Velvet Art website! It's available in an 8" x 10" and an 11" x 14" and printed on velvet fine art paper. And look! I'm a paper doll! Elsie has designed these cute paper dolls and crafty accessories of each of the RVA girls. I've got the trusty Mac, the sewing machine and a Starbucks drink. What more could a girl ask for...

You can also find the new chalkboard key rack that I've designed. Perfect for roommate notes or reminders to feed your cat.

I walked into my bathroom this morning to find a garden snake stretched out alongside the bathtub! I screamed and Brett came in to catch it. Thankfully school was out today for professional development so he was at home to deal with the situation. I'm not sure what I would've done otherwise. It crawled behind the toilet and into the hole where the plumbing goes into the wall. We figured that is how it got in and wouldn't need to worry about it any more that day.

Well, ten minutes later I go back in to use the bathroom and IT'S BACK! I screamed again and Brett ran back in to try to grab it by the tail. It was too quick for us. At that point, I realized it may just be hiding and that we'd need to catch it to be sure it was out of the house. Brett decided to climb into the tub and close the shower curtain hoping it would come back out soon. We could see it's little head poke out from the wall but after five minutes, we decided he was onto us. Brett stuffed a wash rag into the hole to give us some peace of mind but I made him stand watch while I used the potty just in case that snake got brave again.

We've called the landlords to see what they'd like to do about the snake problem and they were sympathetic. We're going to set a sticky trap down in the meantime just in case he's still in there. Pregnant women wake up in the night to empty their bladders and I'm not about to let myself get spooked about going in there at 3 a.m. There is no way I'm going outside to relieve myself either as there are more of them in the backyard than in my house (SHUDDER).

I'd love to hear your snake or other creepy crawler stories. Consider it moral support.

Reporting For Duty

I had these wooden pieces custom cut for the chalkboard key rack (shown below) but couldn't stop thinking about painting on them. It only took me a week to pour the paints and get started this time! I have a few more in various stages that will be presented upon completion and one that was almost done until I jacked it up with something that I don't know that I can fix. It's part of the process I guess, so I can't count it a total waste.


The cloud theme and colors scheme carried over from my last painting but these are more graphic than abstract. I think I'll be making a few more before I start experimenting with some other styles.


I used a sharpie to sign my name on the side but figured I needed to add my last name or something more significant since I'm not a 'Madonna' or 'Cher'. So, I added my last name and then it looked dorky. Then I remembered my idea from last week of doing some fun journaling on the back and decided it was the best way to make the random last name on the back work. One of those happy accidents.





One of the other projects I've finished this week is a chalkboard key rack.It measures 9" x 10" and features a chalkboard front and three metal hooks to keep your keys handy. It could also be used to stash your favorite necklaces and show off your mad doodling skills. They'll be available in the RVA shop with the next update on Friday at 11 a.m. for your purchasing pleasure.

Photo by Leigh-Ann.

Speaking of Leigh-Ann, I walked in to Elsie's loft yesterday afternoon (totally winded from climbing the two sets of stairs) and turned the corner to the kitchen to find a sweet Canadian sitting pretty and working hard at her crafty to-do list. It was one of those short and sweet meetings that was mostly business but I'm looking forward to spending a little more time together before the big craft weekend. So far I know that she loves Sierra Mist and guacamole and that if we lived in the same city, we'd be hanging out a lot.

More mind eruption soon along with the cutest pictures of my son's first ice cream truck experience.


xoxo,

Rachel

Red Velvet Art Craft Weekend Unveiling!

After weeks of planning and dreaming, the RVA Craft weekend is finally ready to share! Three glorious days full of workshops, classes, music, cupcakes, crafting, and getting to know those imaginary online friends you always talk about.

Elsie Flannigan is hosting the weekend at the Historic Firehouse across the street from the new Red Velvet Art store on Commercial Street in Springfield, MO and has gathered some local and international talent to offer a variety of crafting classes. Classes start Thursday, April 30th and run through Saturday evening, May 2nd. It coincides with Springfield's Art Walk and Jeremy Larson will be playing a special show for the occasion! Below are a few images of finished class projects that we're offering.





Check out the official Weekend blog for a full schedule, pricing, and class descriptions! Sign ups start Wednesday, March 18th at 6 pm CST on the Weekend blog so be sure to get your spot as spaces are limited. It's going to be memorable and we hope to see you there!

P.S. Thanks to Victoria of sfgirlbybay for featuring the RVA shop today! And thanks to Modish for featuring my studio in the handmade spaces section of their blog! What a fabulous Monday it was.

Pretty, Pretty

Thank you for the well wishes, prayers, and congratulations over our happy news. It's been a teeter totter of excitement and anxiety as we still have the loss of our last pregnancy fresh in our hearts and are quite aware how delicate and miraculous these first few months are. I decided to go ahead and share our news early on again as an exercise of hope and wanting to continue to document my life in all it's joys and pains through this blog. The support we received after our miscarriage through comments, e-mails and phone calls was so important to our healing and made us feel quite loved in such a hard, strange time. If we had not shared our joy, you wouldn't have known our pain and our special appreciation for these new days of nauseau, exhaustion, and changing hormones. I'm thankful for every strong reminder that something special is happening.

In the meantime, Sebastian is feeling much better and has taken to jumping off the side of the couch again. We are finally getting some warm weather today that might stick around through the weekend. There is lots of catching up to do in the studio as we're on the verge of another shop update!

One of the items I've been working on for Red Velvet Art is this sweet half apron. The vintage trim and colors remind me of summer time. Image from Elsie.

Also coming soon are these sweet green bows to wear with your sundresses this spring. I'll be wearing mine on St. Patrick's Day to ward off those pinches! Image from Elsie.

The new RVA website will be back up and running later this week and full of new product for March. Elsie's also throwing a bubble tea and cupcake themed party in the shop this Friday for Art Walk and unveiling a new series of paintings she's done for the occasion! I'll be keeping an eye on the cupcakes to make sure Sebastian saves some for the rest of the crowd this time.


I finished my own painting last weekend and will have it for sale in the Springfield shop this Friday. It had been staring at me for a few weeks in it's primed state, taunting me with it's hugeness, but I showed it. I was nervous about sharing it on Flickr, as all are when posting something new and strange in a public space, but the responses I got quickly put that out of my mind. Thank you for your sweet comments and excitement. You know how to make a girl feel pretty fantastic.