Busy as a Bee

I always heard from fellow ETSY sellers that after the first of the year sales dropped off. I was expecting to take a nice vacation.  Play with my 4 year old a bit.  Not be slammed! I have a wait list...a wait list! My Memory Illustrations have hit the scene so to speak, and I cannot keep up! I had to turn away 2 orders this week. That is amazing and sad...because I hate to disappoint and turn people away.  (They needed them asap) boo!

 

These are the gems that are popular in my shop at the moment! This is a Memory Illustration. I take all things important, fabulous, funny, meaningful  and shape them into a historic illustration of someone's life. I am quite proud of these. The happiness that people seem to have when one is complete is unbeatable! 

This one was big...for a family of 5 too.  Lots of neat stories and memories that made up this young families time together. 

And another.  I love the black and whites...the dark and lights all over the page. 

This was a smaller 8 x 10...done for a couple getting married this year! How neat is that- that I made something they will have from the very start of their marriage...remembering how they came to be! Love it!

 

Finally- I wanted to share my work space as it sits today.  It actually isn't that crazy. It has been much, MUCH worse! hehehe

Cheers! 

~Casey

New Work Space

I have been drooling over pinterest pictures of work spaces...of DIY desks and cool things made out of pallets- for ohhhhh months and months now.  Finally my husband looked at me one day and said, "Case, just get something already...you need more space!" Gotta love a man that insists on buying things! :)

This is my old work desk.  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE this little desk. It was hand made with a little dedication plaque attached to the back.  It has a secret cabinet on the side with two nice deep drawers. It's a GREAT little desk that my Mom found for me back when I was moving out to go to college.  So I have had this little gem for years and years now...but it is definitely time for a new space! Not to mention I occupy the family dinning room table most days...so yes indeed- time for some shopping!!!

 
 So...we made a list of all things necessary from the IKEA website...yes, IKEA won over my build a desk heart.  Price alone could not beat IKEA...but function was a big factor too! We purchased a desk top and two separate storage units (a 5 drawer unit and the other a cubby of sorts) We built our own desk out of parts! Love it!

    This is the new desk and area...I have room to spread out! Yay!!! We put the desk top about half way on the two units for extra room...which I use the hell out of! Great idea and the desk is sturdy and solid and just look at all of that extra space on the sides!

Can you see my outside view? Well, you really can't really see the view...but you can see my lovely windows and super green grass...I can peek on the kids in the backyard- see birds and butterflies in the am and even watch old kitty patrol the area. I love the location for natural light and all of the above reasons! 

So back to the technical stuff...drawer and cubby space! The 5 drawers are great! (On right in white)
I have room for completed drawings to lay flat, random sized good drawing paper and pads, a whole drawer dedicated to pens and pencils of sorts...meaning I can find what I am looking for. And I even have a drawer for completed art blocks and mini paintings. They stay lovely and fresh until they find a new home! :)

The cubby is in black on the left.  It has room for paint bins, rolls of cork, paper, visquene and other rolled up thingys!  (I do not know how to spell visqueen??? I can't even find it in the dictionary...what can I say- I just can't spell)

The table top is big enough for all of my things...and as you can see I have lots of things going on right now!

Do you see way in the back corner...my old little desk.  How did I ever manage??? I guess you make do with what ya got huh!

I am truly happy with my new work space! Thank you IKEA for making mix and match pieces to fit every need! No- it's not the cool re-purposed slab of worn wood I envisioned.  It has no pipes or rustic knobs on it...but it works for me.  It gives my family our dinning room table back and designates "Mommy's work area" which is great for a number of reasons!
I love it!!!

~Casey