poppy earring design

 I have been working on a few more new earring designs this week. My favorite so far is a poppy flower with seed pods. I made my demo earrings today and they look super cute. Perfect for summertime!

I started with this sketch done on a cold pressed paper with pencil, ink, and watercolor:

I stopped before the image was even fully colored in. I took a photo of the sketch and uploaded it onto my computer, and finished the design in photoshop. I think I have mentioned this before, but it is a huge challenge for me to keep these earring images simple. When you are scaling them down to approximately 3/4" most of the details get lost. Usually I thrive on layers and intricate lines ~ but I have to use a different approach for something so tiny. I appreciate the ability to zoom in or out in photoshop. I am constantly zooming out so the image is the size of a dime to see what it looks like and then zooming in to work on it. 

There is SO much more to having an art business than being in the studio... and it isn't that I dislike the other aspects... it's just that I am SO content to be creating. You know?

I will try to get some photos of the new earrings to show you soon!
xxx
Kelcey

this about sums it up.

I found THIS image on Pinterest tonight. What is Pinterest you ask? Pinterest is a time-sucking, breath-taking, spiral of visual highlights from the web.  (my own words, not theirs). Basically you get to go puddle hopping into your favorite things~ and then you can virtually tack those pictures on your page. You can organize them into folders.  I just spent way too long browsing and dreaming~ Check out my favorites! Anyhow... it is just another media that blows me away with it's movement and scope.

Don't let the invitation part scare you away. 

seed and sky

Today:

• Alex went to work today (blech, working on a Sunday.) and I made art, hung out with the kids, ate Popsicles, and made a cauliflower soup. 
• I never got around to dealing with the GIGANTIC mountain of laundry in the bedroom... oops.
• But, I made time to design these images for Seed & Sky.  The circle shapes are inspired by poppy seed pods.
• I also opened a twitter account for Seed & Sky too.  (I feel completely intimidated)
• I haven't made too many sales yet in the new shop, but things feel like they are expanding exponentially which feels good. 

What is expanding in your life???
xxx

Kelcey

you are enough

I think THIS is so touching. I couldn't say it better.

It makes me want to make a beautiful poster with Katy's exact words on it to hang in Lili's bedroom. 

So when she eventually learns to read, these words would greet her. 

Now that I think of it, I think we all could use one of these posters to wake up to...

Gallery Lilikoi

 I ♥ these...

home day

"Let the beauty we love be what we do. 

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

— Rumi


Today.

1. Seo wakes at 6:00. Alex gets up with the kids and lets me sleep until 7:15 (♥ him).

2. We eat oatmeal. Alex (aka chickmunk-turtle daddy) leaves for work at 7:45.

3. Lili and I water the tomato plants with the watering can. 

4. Seo and I walk Lili down to her friends house for a playdate at 9:30. 

5. Dishes, snacks, folding diapers & playing.  (photo was taken. He has banana in his hair and on his face. sand from the sandbox covering his hands.) 

6. Middle of the day: Seo sleeps and I drink two chocolate peanut butter smoothies. I work on a new larger painting. I test out some glue.

7. 1:00. Seo wakes up and Lili and her friend are dropped off. They eat cherries off the cherry trees, cheese, yogurt, goldfish crackers, and drink lemon water.

8. 3:00. Friend goes home. I start dinner. 

9. 5:00. Lili is begging to go to bed. I tell her no.  The kids eat dinner and then do baths (still in our sink). 

10. 6:00. Alex gets home. He goes and feeds the chickens and Atticus. 

11.  6:30. The kids go to bed.  We sit down to eat (I made these tonight. yum). 

12. Alex puts on his headphones and does the dishes. I work on my Etsy site. 

13. 8:00. Alex reads (this) and I write this. 

And there you have it. 

xxx 

Kelcey 

Winners !

That's right! 

All of you who left a comments are winners 

Isn't that Oprah-esque of Seed & Sky? I don't watch Oprah, but who doesn't love her? And when I saw in the news that it is her show's last week I thought it would be fun to pretend to take over for her for a day.
(This giveaway prize only includes people who left comments on the original giveaway blog post OR left a comment on the Seed & Sky facebook page before May 23rd. I apologize if there was any confusion about that. If you missed the fine print on this giveaway don't worry, I will have lots of other sales and another giveaway on my facebook page this coming year. Thanks!)
To pick out your new earrings follow these steps:

1. Go to the Seed & Sky Etsy shop
2. Pick out any pair of earrings you wish
3. Go through the steps as if you were buying it
4. When Etsy asks you for payment click "OTHER"
5. And then will be a box for coupon codes and type "giveaway" there (so you won't be charged for shipping). 
6. Click purchase and wait for your snail mail! 

Love you all, and thanks for all the enthusiasm you showered on us!

rainy day view from our bedroom

in the thick of it

Sometimes it is hard knowing I will look back at these moments with nostalgia. I can hear my future self saying "I hardly remember when they were that small"... These days of practically no personal space or freedom being just a blip of my life...
I question myself daily: Am I soaking it in enough? Did I listen to them enough today? Did I somehow record that amazing thing she/he did today? (no), Did I stop to really see them for who they are in this moment?

And so often a voice inside me says No. I am not soaking it in enough. Nothing I ever do will be enough to capture this sweet life.

But after a hard day at home today ~ (which started nicely, but then by the middle of the day if I were a cartoon I would have had a red hot thermometer head, and finished off with me accidentally dropping a whole quiche face-down on the kitchen floor) ~ I stood in the against the counter and the thought in my head wasn't I am not soaking it in enough, but that I am thoroughly drenched...


And from right here in the thick of it I am grateful.

(Photos of the kids sleeping are from the other night when Alex went out to see music and a lightning storm came through. Lili asked if she could sleep in our bed and if I would snuggle with her while she feel asleep.)

chickens

We finally got some new hens for our coop!
We now have:

• 3 four-month-old Black Jerseys from Craigslist
• 3 eight-month-old Red Stars, and 2 Australorps from our friends Gabe and Kate
• 10 (and then there were 11 when we got home) six-week-old Araucana hens (which will lay blue eggs!!!) from craigslist.

Only the 5 we got from our friends are laying. The others will start producing when they are about 6 months. On average one chicken will lay 2 eggs every 3 days. However, Araucanas lay a little less than other hens.  So I figure in a few months each family (the Carmonas and us) should be getting about 3 dozen eggs per week. 
Yay!

Giveaway !

I am having a giveaway in honor of accomplishing getting the new Seed & Sky Etsy Shop up!!!

♥ ♥ ♥ A pair of earrings (or a necklace with one of my designs) ♥ ♥ ♥

 To enter :

 "like" Seed & Sky on facebook 

or favorite Seed & Sky on Etsy 

or personally tell someone you think would be interested about my shop. 

Just let me know which of these you did in the comments and you will be entered to win! 

(and thanks in advance for also helping me get off the ground!)

I will use a random number generator to pick a winner next Monday morning. 
Closed, Thank You!!!

journal

My personal journal is off on a solo adventure getting photographed for a re-release of Gwen Diehn's The Decorated Page. I am honored to be one of several artists highlighted in it~
I have been an avid visual journaler for 15 years now, but the last few years I have slowed down. Other things (like the blog and kids) have taken precedence.

I mark in it enough to miss it when it is gone though.

When it comes back to me I will record that Eliseo started calling me Mama this week (mostly he says "MaMaMaMaaa" in a very whiny voice and yet it still melts my heart). And my friend Christine's baby twin girls were born. And Lili and her playmate went through the childhood right of passage today of giving themselves haircuts.  

surprise!

I had a gigantic surprise gift on Mother's day. The kids were jumping up and down with excitement and Alex had a pretty big grin on his face too. After some help unwrapping it, I was completely shocked to find a brand new mountain-unicycle inside!

Once upon a time I lived in a little village in New England with less than 2,000 people. My friends (like this one, and this one, and this one, and this one) all road in a unicycling group called the Andover One Wheelers. Check out our famous ride in Macy's Day Parade circa 1992.  Totally awesome slash dorky.

Anyhow... I have been wanting a new unicycle for awhile, and this unicycle is designed for rough terrain.  Also, I am happy to live in a place where I can ride without people gawking at me.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this green beauty.
I took it for a spin down our dirt road right after breakfast.
It is So. Much. Fun.

photographing jewelry

From what I understand, it is good to take photos of your art outside on a bright, but overcast, day. I got impatient waiting for these conditions, paired with the timing of child-less time (hardly any) ~so I improvised a way to take photos of my earrings on a sunny day.
The shadows would have been overpowering if I had taken them under the direct sun, and the light areas would be washed out. So to remedy this problem I leaned two boards against my studio steps. I taped a piece of silk between them and placed the earrings to be photographed behind the fabric.

 The light filtered through the fabric and gently lit my earrings.

 Lastly, I cropped and edited the photos I took on Picnik  I know I have lots of room to improve with my photography skills, but I am happy for now.

 While I worked this fellow sat in the tree above me and watched... Isn't he handsome?

Happy Mother's Day

Now that I have a few years of Motherhood under my belt I see how clearly I was loved as a child. Not that I  ever once doubted this, but the sheer magnitude of it is more apparent now.  Every choice I make, every question explained, I picture my parents patiently teaching me.  Assembling the Easter baskets this year I flashed back to all of the sweet baskets lovingly prepared for me when I was young (with the Easter bunny getting all the credit).  Ironically though, the years that required the most devotion and continuous love and patience we remember nothing of.  I have no memory of my Mom changing my diapers, nursing me, teaching me the alphabet. I have no memory of my parents arms reaching for me as I took my first steps...
It wasn't until I had Lili that I realized how much freedom my parents gave up, and the extent of their love. It is cliche because it is true: parenthood is the ultimate teacher of unconditional love.

To my Grandmother, Kathleen (Alex's Mom),  and my Mom: Happy Mother's Day. Thank you for years of unconditional love.

And thank you to all the other women who have mothered me over the years:
Grandma Lee (in heaven), Amy, Nancy, Bonny, Sharon, Dani, Cindy, Terry, Edibeth, Gwen, Geri, and so many more...

{ I love you! }

slow day

A treasury I made of art supplies to inspire your creativity!

It's a slow day.
After a few weeks of prepping for the art fair and being graced with some fabulous house guests~ the house is quiet. Dishes to do. Laundry to be done. Soup to make for dinner.

Listening to the news while I clean: Bin Laden's death, Japan, the economy, the Middle East upheavals. Letting it all sink in~ then letting it go as I focus on nursing, sweeping, working on the computer, drawing with crayons, making lunch. Trying to keep a teething toddler happy. Thinking about my Nephew Noah turning 14. 14! When I met him he was just a little older than Lili... Big thoughts and simple tasks all swirled together.

Days like this are essential for staying grounded.

big love fest asheville :: from the sweet mess booth

big love fest

If you are in WNC I would be thrilled if you came and visited me at my booth at the Big Love Fest tomorrow (Sunday May 1st) from 1-8pm.

We have been working our tails off trying to get everything perfect~ and now at midnight everything is in it's place. The truck is packed, babysitters are lined up, the paintings are tucked cozily in tubs.  It is going to be so much fun.

Music, good food, art...

Hope to see you there!