Tuesday, November 29, 2011

New Website & New Card Line!

Hey everyone... been a while!

We've been working night and day to get the new Violet Cottage website up! Yay :)

We also have been working on a new line of cards featuring my art... lots of birds, cupcakes owls and tons of flowers. All hand painted reproductions that come with a color envelope. You can get them plain, glittered or REALLY glittered with glass glitter and rhinestones! I'll also be selling these in larger quantities at wholesale prices. So, if you are interested in a bunch of them, give me a jingle :)

Here they are... please let me know what you think :)

Card #1 - Turquoise, olive Happy Birthday with bird Orange, gray and blue Happy Birthday with bird
Card #3 - Red, blue, green Happy Birthday with bird Card #4 - Yellow, gray and black Happy Birthday with bird
Card #5 - Blue, green & gray Happy Birthday with bird Card #6 Blue & Green Cupcake Happy Birthday
Card #7 - Purple, turquoise & green cupcake Happy Birthday Card #8 - Pink, white & gray with cupcake Happy Birthday
Card #9 - Pink & yellow chintz cupcake Happy Birthday Card #10 - Coming soon! (placeholder for pink, yellow, green cupcake Happy Birthday)
Card #11 - Purple & blue Happy Birthday owl Card #12 - Yellow, gray and green Happy Birthday owl
Card #13 - Fern & wood Happy Birthday owl Card #14 - Coming Soon Placeholder (Happy Birthday black, gray and green with dog)
Card #15 - Tiny cluster flowers in black, gray, blue and pink Happy Birthday Card #16 - Red, turquoise & pink Thinking of You with bird
Card #17 - Gray, brown & pink Thinking of you with bird Card #18 - Black, white, green & light blue Thinking of You with owl
Card #19 - Kelly green, black & white Hello Friend Card #20 - Watercolor yellow, green & gray Thinking of You
Card #21 - Thinking of You hydrangeas Card #22 - Watercolor green, blue, purple Hello birdie
Card #23 - Coming soon (placeholder... Bonjour black and pink flowers) Card #24 - Coming soon (placeholder... Hello There mumms black, gray and blue)
Card #25 - Coming soon (placeholder Hello Friend flowers) Card #26 - Orange, gray and black with wood Thank You
Card #27 - Coming soon (placeholder - Thanks owl with trees) Card #28 - Yellow, gray & black Thank You
Card #29 - Blue, white and green With Gratitude Card #30 - Coming soon (placeholder - Thank you fern, frame and flowers)
Card #31 - Duckies - Welcome Sweet Baby Card #32 - Baby in tree with bird Congratulations
Card #33 - Whale Ahoy Baby Card #34 - Canary with tea cup Get Well Soon
Card #35 - Coming soon (placeholder - Get Well floral arrangement) Card #36 - Art deco blue, yellow Best Wishes
Card #37 - Pink & orange flowers Best Wishes Card #38 - Coming Soon (placeholder... party Celebrate elephant with peanut)
Card #39 - Coming soon (placeholder - Congrats daisies) Card #40 - Coming soon (placeholder - Congrats award)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Spontaneous Adventure...

The weather here in North Carolina was delightful this last weekend. It was cool and overcast... hinting that fall is around the corner.

We decided to go for a drive and enjoy the afternoon. We stopped at Lake Crabtree park and were pleasantly surprised at how much there was to do there.

Got some fantastic pictures of Meg with all the gorgeous yellow daisies...

As we ventured into the park, past sandy volleyball courts and picnicking couples, we noticed that they rented boats. $7 for one full hour on a canoe... a bargain!

The gentleman renting these boats was super friendly and stopped to talk to us and pet Meg. He told us about another couple who frequented the park and canoed regularly with their golden retriever. "Their dog is SO good... she just lays down as they paddle all over the lake!"

In my mind, all I heard was "you have a challenge afoot". A 'who has the best dog' competition. I hear "they have a good dog" and I think... "no, MEG is the BEST dog. I must prove this to the world".

Somehow, this conversation ended with us getting in a canoe, wearing life jackets. With our dog... Who has never been on a boat before. She's been on a small train at Travel Town. But never anything in the water.

Did you know that canoes tip easily when there is any movement?

So, as our new friend pushed us out into the water, he had a very concerned look on his face as we were trying to paddle while holding the dog down and yelling "STAY!" every few seconds. The boat was wobbling all over the place. It must have been pretty comical to watch. I had my deer-in-the-headlights face on while I was thinking that I had just made a huge mistake.

It took a while to get Meg to relax, and because she was behind me, I had no idea what she was doing. So, I would paddle, then say "stay", then say "good girl", paddle, "stay", paddle, "stay", paddle, glance, "stay". It wasn't the best start to our nautical adventure. Nathan had to give me updates on what she was doing and how she was handling it all. Sheer panic on my part finally turned into calm enjoyment as Meg laid down in the canoe as we paddled along the edge of the lake and got to explore. The water was calm, planes were taking off overhead and it was really an amazing experience.

As we headed back, and I was bragging about how good she was being, Meg saw a bird or something equally as exciting and she quickly sat up. Of course we were in the deeper part of the lake and once again, my adrenaline started up again as the canoe started jerking back and forth. Nathan claims he had it all under control, but all I could see in my mind was us trying to lift a wet dog into a canoe while trying to tread water... shivering and laughing... then going to the At&t store to replace our cell phones later on.

I have no idea if Meg actually liked being on the boat or not, but we're going to try again. It was a great introduction for all of us, anyway. I really liked the parts where we weren't on the verge of tipping over and my heart wasn't in my throat.

I'm happy to report we arrived back safe and dry... and I can't wait to go back! Best seven bucks we ever spent :)

Monday, August 15, 2011

California Trip - Film & Photo Shoot

During the very last week of our trip, we decided to put together a little film shoot in my Mom's house. Her house is gorgeous and we wanted to utilize this opportunity before we left.

I've had a script rattling around in my brain for a while, and I had a few scenes in mind...

First up... a garden party... with dogs.

Nutmeg and Barkley sat still for a little while, until I brought out that cake... and they immediately caught buttercream frosting fever, which is totally understandable. So, we had to work quickly.

The second scene is our actress, Michelle, putting on lipstick at the cool built-in vanity...

Third... Michelle having tea in the sun room...

Lastly... watering the lawn. So fantastic.

I didn't have a whole lot of setting up to do, since my Mom's house is full of props already, but I did do some shuffling and lots and lots of present wrapping. Here are a few shots of our setup, along with some wandering furry props, too...

We had a blast!

Our actress, Michelle, was SO professional and fun to work with. She came up with some great ideas and was super patient with our doggie actors. I hope we can work with her again really soon. Thank you so much Michelle!

A huge thank you to my Mom for letting us use her beautiful home, to C for holding the boom mic and for her amazing prop wrangling and set dressing skills and to Nathan for helping me put this all together. Yay! :)

Oh, and while I was setting up, a lucky ladybug landed on a Tiffany box that I was using in the dog party scene...

:)