the drop in .....

yesterday an old work colleague drop in unannounced.  she isn't old. perhaps i should have said ex-work colleague.  she has just left the same company this week after ten years there.  i was there 7 years until last september.  

as a little side story here .... my husband grew up in ireland where people just walk in the door unannounced at any time of the day or night (they still do this to this day, i have witnessed it many many many times).  he thinks its great and he can't understand why i won't let him ever do that to people here unless they are irish.  not sure that i could cope living where people just called in unannounced on a daily basis, as i am just a tad vain and really don't want people to see me in my daggy clothes with my hair standing on end.  but that's just me. i suppose i don't want to feel the pressure to have to always look presentable in my own home, when i might feel like crap and just want to hang out in my old tracky daks.  although i am really glad that my friend dropped in, it was great to see her and i really enjoyed our chat.

anyway she asked me what i had been doing and so i told her about my new found love affair with art and showed her some prints of 'my girls'. if only i'd have known her reaction would have been priceless, i'd have filmed her.  she loved my girls and kept asking me if i'd 'really really painted these' - so i had to show her the originals.  too funny! then she berated me for spending so many years in my marketing job, when i should have been painting. so wonderful for my confidence.  bliss.

you know, it is little moments like that that propel you to the next part of your journey.  that confirm to you that what you are doing is right for you. that boost your self esteem and confidence and make you go yay to me - I CAN DO THIS!!  am really really pleased she dropped by, even if i did look like a mess and she looked really cool and had newly 'done' hair.

you know what i say ........

Is it Christmas in April??? My ABCD Meetup Stash...

last night at the ABCD Meetup was just great. i met so many wonderful and talented and fearless girls, i was in awe of so many of them.  makes me realise that i can make a living from my art.  

and i got such great and needed information that will save me hours and hours of research.  thank you so much.

..... and the stash from the goodie bags. wowee.  such beautiful and creative things, check out the photo .....

bliss.

ABCD Meetup .... very excited

tomorrow night i'm heading to Rozelle for my first social outing with some unknown, like-minded, creative, fabulous girls.  very excited.  

two great girls - Steph from Bondville and Lisa from The Red Thread have organised a MeetUp.  and it's a meetup with a great name - ABCD : artists, bloggers, crafters, designers.  Perfect.  A big thank you to them for giving people (mainly girls I suppose) an opportunity to meet like-minded people in a great social environment.  

this is not the first ABCD Meetup, just mine. and there are goodie bags. and wine.

very exited. 

bliss

Phew ... panic over and totally unnecessary

why oh why do i panic and stress.  had a great day at my first market.  the weather was overcast and a bit blowy (my stock was flying around at times) and there was rain in the afternoon.  but it was great. i received so much encouragement and so many oohs and ahhs to fill me up with confidence and make it worthwhile.

i was really happy with my sales for my very first market. and a quiet market, as it is a very new market.  my friend in the stall next to me had the worst market in TEN years, so i figure in a busier market i will do really well. 

the setting is just beautiful.  and there were sheep in a field just behind me.  yay.  love sheep.  it is in an old heritage listed farm, so there are beautiful old farm outbuildings with rusted roofs and falling down fences.  just great.  

here are some photos of my stall and the farm.....

my next market is sunday 3rd april (yes next weekend) at Heritage Craft Fair at St Ives.  really excited about this one.  

bliss.

Planning ::Painting::Printing::Panicking - not necessarily in that order

... ten days until my first market and trying not to panic.  trying not to let anxiety take over.  it won't. i can do it. its no big deal. for once in my life i want everything to be perfect.  i know it wont be as i will leave so much until the last minute and not get it all done.  no i won't. 

i am going now to write a schedule of stuff to do. there will be no panic.  hooray!

it will be bliss.

to market .... to market

very very very excited.  i have booked into the Bella Vista Artisans Market!  yay to me!!!  i know it's not that big a deal, its just that I have been thinking, talking, dwelling on it for so long I can't believe that I have actually gotten off my fat behind and done something about it.

so now, apart from panicking, i am madly painting away.  have decided to sell some canvas paintings that I am surprisingly loving in every way.  i am loving making them. i am loving the end result.  really loving. and they are so different from anything i have ever done before as they are not my usual girls of varying descriptions.  i think it is the colour i enjoy the most.  as well as the two in the colour scheme below, i have also done a couple of pink-ish ones, but the canvas is larger and they won't fit on my home scanner so can't upload them.

as i am not working at the moment and want some extra money, i wanted to produce some paintings that i believe will sell that are aimed at the target market of the market, which i think would be women with small children.  i have come to that conclusion as that is the prominent demographic in the area where the market is.  hope i am right as i think these paintings would look great in a kids room .... gee i really hope i'm right! think i need to test them with some friends with small children ... great idea Jenn.

i decided on bunting as a theme as when i was researching how to make bunting in a non-laborius way (as i wanted to make about ten metres of it to string up around my market stall) I thought - hey, what about painting some as well.  and i quite like the result. and they are relatively quick to make unlike my girls that seem to take days to get their eyes and skin right.

wish me luck ..... bliss