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I'm pretty sure that art runs in the family. My dad's art is building guitars. My mom's is baking bread and making woodblock prints. My sister's is hats. Yup. Hats. Well, that's not entirely true because she's pretty amazing with all sorts of media-- painting, drawing, knitting, collage-ing, jewelry-making, card-making, sewing, and probably a bunch of other things that I can't even remember anymore. So to say just hats would be silly when she's spent her entire life doing art of one sort or another.

Her latest focus, however, is her Etsy shop StarSeventeen. She especially loves creating geometric designs. And she paints her geometric designs on hats. I love the originality of this particular art and the fact that no two hats are alike.








And if that's not enough hats for you, I'm pretty sure she rocks at making knitted hats too.  I can fully attest to that one considering that both mine and Andrew's favorite winter hats are ones that she knitted us for Christmas a few years ago. A few of those for eye candy as well...



And we even share an obsession with Sharpie markers...


She sells her hats on Etsy in her shop StarSeventeen. And you can check her out on Facebook as well. In the future, she's hoping to focus mostly on her geometric designs, expanding to poster prints, and even clothing. Lots to look forward to in the future! Show her some love and head over to her shop and facebook page to favorite and like her!

Just wanted to pop in to give a little update on some of the things I worked on for my shop over my winter break. While you may remember that I worked on this project using hand drawn images, I also did some digital design as well.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may remember this little sneak peek. And here we have the final product.


I loved the geometric squares, so I just had to make it into a Valentine's Day card as well!


A fun little idea for a moving announcement card popped into my head.


And my most favorite of all? This Valentine's card that so clearly speaks the truth!


Because let's face it-- we all know you love your special someone not just on Valentine's Day! ;)

Over the past year, I've worked really hard to get where I am at this point with my Etsy shop. The ultimate goal, in time, is to be able to quit teaching. I've always been a creative minded person, and I get the most enjoyment out of doing creative projects. The current school year has been especially trying as it feels as though the cogs of a bureaucratic system are finally getting the best of me. So I began thinking of ways that I could make my new side business (as it is right now) become a full time business.

I've always been a list maker, so it made sense that I jot down my goals in one of my many notebooks.


Here is the list that I'd like to accomplish by the end of the new year.

1. Have 200 designs in my shop.
2. Double my sales for the year with 400 sales.
3. Complete my first craft show.
4. Design a website (Right now I'm thinking of using Big Cartel. Anyone have any experience or success with that?)
5. Design at least one new design per week.
6. Finish setting up my studio. (Did I tell you I got a desk?!)
7. Complete at least three blog posts per week. (I'm trying not to let this blog fall between the cracks).
8. In that same grain, I want to work on gaining more followers-- maybe up to 300!
9. Create a new packaging concept for my cards and stationery-- something that looks more professional than just a cellophane sleeve.
10. Create one treasury per week to amp up exposure.

Think I can get it done? I am so incredibly excited about this coming year! There are already some super exciting things that I've done this past week to take things a step further. I opened a separate checking account for my business only, and I registered my business name! Woohoo!

What sorts of goals have you set for your business this year?

My winter break was relaxing, but jam packed if that is at all possible. After Christmas, I had a few days to wrap up a few things I had been working on for the shop before heading off to spend New Years in Cleveland. During our time in Cleveland we got to visit with Andrew's family, catch up with a friend of ours that we met while in college at Syracuse, eat cheese fondue with Andrew's parents on New Year's Eve, go to the Steelers and Browns game on Sunday evening (remember the good old rivalry I wrote about here?), and finally make our trek back to Baltimore on a snowy Monday afternoon. And of course this recap wouldn't be complete with a few photos of us gearing up for and at the the game. ;)



All in all it was a fantastic eleven days of my own, to do whatever I pleased. I didn't once pick up a paper to grade or work on a lesson plan-- an absolute, complete break. Today was my first day returning to school feeling rejuvenated and recharged. And to complete my welcome back to Baltimore, jury duty tomorrow. How appropriate for this city! I hope you all had a wonderful New Years weekend and continue to have a wonderful 2012!

When I was a kid I first got into art in the form of drawing. I loved drawing and still do. Many times my sister and I would receive brand new sketch books, colored pencils, markers, or something of the like from our parents for Christmas. This year was no different. When I opened a Christmas package my parents had sent me, my mom had picked out a fabulous set of markers with almost every color I'd possibly want. The markers were perfect timing to add to a set of Sharpies that I had recently purchased in attempt to try something new.

I'm not really one to stick with the same design style all of the time. In time that I have started my business, I've offered paper cut cards, digital designs of all sorts, combinations of digital design and paper cut, and digitally hand drawn images through my tablet. What I really wanted to offer were my own drawings as they are. So I've been working on some new Valentine's Day cards that will be made from my own free hand drawings with marker.

Here's a glimpse of the process so far.





I started with a small piece of drawing paper and began my design. As you can see, the last three are the finished master drawings. What do you think so far? I'll be posting the final cards once the rest of the process is finished!