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BlogHer Recap

BlogHer was a whirlwind of a trip. I’ve realized I’m not as young as I used to be; parties, prepping for parties, fab suites & the bustling of the big apple just WORE.ME.OUT. If you’re not familiar with BlogHer, it’s a crazy pants blogging conference. I just bought the expo hall & parties pass, so I didn’t attend any sessions. I didn’t even have time for sessions, it was SO crazy busy.

The first two days were spent being crazy, crazy; prepping for the SocialLuxe party. We all worked so hard to get everything perfect for the big event. Can you believe these swag bags?! They were completely stuffed with the most amazing things. Chris was pretty happy to find out that I was coming home with another pair of skull candy headphones.

{Survival kit photos courtesy of She Posts}

The Avery survival kits were a big hit at the party. I had the privilege to work with Avery & design the labels for the kit. I can’t tell you how handy these kits were & how wonderful Avery is. The bandaids, hand sanitizer & Starbucks gift card definitely saved me!

Friday I spent half the day touring private designer showrooms with 31 other bloggers with Shop At Home. Thanks to them, I went home with some fabulous shoes & a yummy scarf that’s getting me all excited for fall(I’ll share pics later). After my little shopping spree I got pampered yet again at the Getting Gorgeous party & met up with some really fantastic bloggers & sweet brands.

Friday evening I helped out with the Kirtsy Gala by painting inspiring words on people. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of what I did. If anyone has any, would you send them my way? Pretty Please? I’d like that. In addition to the body art, I participated in the art gala by donating a piece to the show. I’ve been dying to share it with you & now that the party is over, I can! I was assigned to read & create something in reaction to this epic post. You better believe I was sobbing after reading it.

I wasn’t quite sure how I could do any justice to this post. It was a pretty tough assignment. I finally took inspiration from an ad on the sidebar & made a little piece about that. I’m not sure I’ve done any justice to the author or her story, but it was an honor to work on this project & so great to have an excuse to break out my watercolors.

This trip was exhausting, but absolutely worth it. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to survive the big apple without my friends & family looking out for me!! My mother-in-law drove 11 hours up to SLC to spend time with Penelope & Chris. My mom met me in New York & helped me survive by making sure I had enough food!! Moms are the best.

Did you go to BlogHer? I’m not sure where to find all the BlogHer recap posts, so if you’ve written one, please include the link in the comments! I’d love to read all about your experience.

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Weekend Doodle

It’s been far too long since I’ve just sketched just for the sake of sketching. Seriously, far too long. It’s been even longer since I’ve painted with watercolor and even longer since I picked up my oil paints! This is a problem. I kind of forgot about it until I bumped into one of my college professors a month ago and he asked me what I was up to. Ummm. . . Errr. . . I blog. I love to blog. I just don’t paint much anymore.

That’s gotta change. I’m working on a couple of artsy fartsy projects that will give me the kick in the pants I need to clean the dust off my art supplies. This is what I did yesterday. Penelope colored the pages and I embellished them with a little fish motif. Did you know that I like fish? Koi especially. They’re beautiful.

Did you have a good weekend? What did you do?

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Art Weekend Recap

Bookbinding Class 1

Here we all are having a serious moment. Andy (middle) taught the silkscreening classes which I so stupidly missed. He’s really cool.

Being able to participate in Nicole’s Art weekend was so much fun! The last bookbinding class I taught was nearly a year ago, so it was great to get back into sharing the addiction. In two classes we bound nearly 30 books! I was so impressed with how well all everyone did. Sadly I didn’t get a photo of a single one of their books. Oops.

Bookbinding Class 2

Alma's Lovely Ditties

Alma, one of cool art weekend teachers (and one of my dear friends) gave me a super rad flower brooch. She teaches fabulous illustrator classes, designs beautiful repeat patterns and sews these fabulous felt pins (among other things). Check out her etsy shop here. Her husband taught the photoshop & workflow classes (which I heard were great) and their baby. Oh. Their baby taught the how to melt everyone’s heart class. He’s very cute. very.

Tabletop Photography

I had the pleasure to Audit Nicole Hill Gerulat’s Tabletop photography class. I learned all sorts of cool tips and tricks to get better photos. Nicole convinced me that I need to start shooting manual and focusing manual. I learned a lot more about photography that way.

Tabletop Photography 1

We were in such a dark room for this, but look at how the coke can was lit! Nicole is very impressive with her lighting abilities. She’s also very nice and one of my favorite photographers. You should take her classes.

Tabletop photography 3

These photos I took with my lensbaby because my regular zoom lens is an embarrassing piece of j-u-n-k that stopped focusing that afternoon. Now I’m getting a new zoom lens, can’t wait to get it in the mail!

Tabletop Photography 2

I had a great weekend, it was so packed with creative time I just crashed on Sunday. I’m still trying to catch up on my sleep. It was a pleasure to meet and hang out with everyone at art weekend. I surely hope it’s not my last!

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New Friends & Cool Art

Artist 1

Gajin Fujita

Robert Longo & Chuck Close

Robert Longo (who inspired THIS cool music video) & Chuck Close

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Cornelia Parker

Alexander Calder & Josiah McElhenyAlexander Calder & Josiah McElheny

Medieval FashionMedieval Fashion Exhibit (my personal favorite)

We went to the Phoenix Art Museum last week with some hip new friends, Angela & Clint, who we met through blog “lurking”. Our social life owes a lot to the internet, seriously! We had a great time getting to know each other and I loved seeing new artists and some that I’d only experienced through text books. It truly was remarkable to see a Chuck Close in person. I also let out a huge squeal when I saw Deborah Butterfield’s and Josiah McElheny’s work on display.

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Welcome, Welcome Weather Girl!!

IS•LY has a new friend: Weather Girl! I’m very excited about Aimee Sicuro’s work, she has such a playful point of view and uses such vibrant colors. I can’t help but think any of her prints would be a great addition to my future home.

aimeesicuroFrom left: Inside Out and I Miss the Idea of You

I’ve been doing a lot of yoga and I miss San Francisco terribly, so naturally the above two prints are my favorite. You should check out the Weather Girl shop, you’ll likely find something you can’t live without!!

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