I Just Might Explode

A Word From Our Sponsors: March

Every month I have the pleasure of having wonderful and independent artists, shops, and blogs sponsor this little place. Every month I ask my lovely sponsors random question for you to know their souls a little bit more.

This month's question:

What a piece of wisdom has been most helpful to you in your creative process?

The gentleman of Apple Horse:

Probably when someone told us that if a practice wasn't going anywhere, we should put down our instruments and just hang out. If you're stressed or feeling negatively about your day, you never end up reacting as effectively throughout it.

(photograph by Kip Stutzman)

Apple Horse is an indie rock band from Boise, ID. Read more about Apple Horse in this post and check out their website and purevolume site for more. Apple Horse can also be found at Facebook and Twitter.

Samantha from Indie and Chic:

"Don't be afraid to put a piece of yourself into your work." I think sometimes it's really hard to try something new, especially if the idea comes straight from your heart and imagination. Because if it fails, it feels like your idea, your style or a piece of yourself wasn't good enough. However, I also think that it's important to create things that reflect who you are and what you love, no matter how many people feel the same way. Some artists go their whole entire life without being appreciated, but the artists that are themselves and produce from the heart don't do it for anyone else. In today's world it's hard to find that balance between being an artist and being business savvy. You are tempted as an artist to only create what you know will sell. I personally make many more things than I list in my etsy shop. I make them for myself in a process where I get to look inward and produce something tangible. I don't want to look back and only have mass produced jewelry, I want my pieces to tell a story of where I was at that point in my life and reflect the influences I had at the time To me, that is art.

Samantha is a 22 year old college student from Alabama who spends her free time cooking up pretty accessories for her Indie & Chic Etsy shop. Samantha can also be found at her blog and Twitter. Samantha was also this month's sponsor for The City and Cup of Joe feature. 

If you're interested in promoting your business, indie band, or Etsy shop or just wanting some new faces to check out your blog, send me an email to karahaupt(@)gmail.com for stats and rates.  Read more and hear some past sponsor testimonials on my Sponsorship page. Sponsors spots are open for The City and Cup of Joe feature  for May. Contact me for special pricing. Thanks so much!

Winter Stories class giveaway!

Helllllo weekend! I am SO excited for this one. I'm heading out of the city again with Patty to her sister's house for Saturday and the night. They are making me homemade food and I've heard promises of a fire, crafts, and movies. I'm not bringing my computer and looking forward to disconnecting and enjoying lovely people. And homemade food. HOMEMADE FOOD. This is huge, folks.

Anyhow, it's time for a Friday sponsor giveaway and I'm really excited about this one. You may remember the interview I did a few months back for Hope from Paper Relics? She has teamed up with the darling Kari Ramstrom and they have created what looks to be such an amazing class called Winter Stories.

Here's more...

Tell me about yourselves?

I’m Kari, otherwise known as ArtsyMama. I have 
blogged for just about 5 years and have enjoyed hosting swaps, blog parties and several holiday classes . I fully immerse myself in each season through photography and journaling. I love to weave living a creative life into the ordinary moments of each day, savoring the daily celebrations I share with family and friends. 

I'm Hope - from Paper Relics and I have had a love for old paper and journaling for years. Recently I started to combine the two, along with lettering - and I have become addicted to art journaling. I love documenting things from the smallest every day details to trips with my friends and family to holidays - which is what helped inspire some of my ideas for this course. More about Hope in this post.

What's your e-course about?

This class is about taking this particular time of year and capturing its essence. Collecting images, artifacts and memories of our winter stories for 2010. Ultimately, in the class, each one of us will come up with a keepsake book/art journal. The class is about seeking beauty and meaning in everything and embracing it, then documenting it. Each weekday beginning November 29th, we will provide a prompt or creative project and it will continue for four weeks. There will be a journaling prompt to fill your book up with memories, traditions and wishes, a creative project, and a post from one of us exploring a topic we love.

Why'd you create the class?

We created the class because Hope and I both have our own individual styles and we wanted to share the season from a variety of perspectives and exercises. Working with the two of us, you will get techniques and points of view from two different creatives whose styles overlap, but are very different, which will help you discover or enhance your own style.

What do you think people will get out of the class?

We are hoping that people will take the prompts and creative exercises as an invitation to make the holiday season an authentic and cherished time of the year. They will also have a keepsake book as documentation of the season, that they can then share and add to each year, if they’d like.

And guess what? You can win a spot in the class! (Or if you want to go ahead and purchase the class, you'll be reimbursed if you win). Leave a comment with your name and email address. While you're at it, tell me what you are most looking forward to this winter. 

Have a great weekend! :)

Kara

beautifully handmade

Hi lovely blog readers and magical friends of mine.

I'm pretty excited to share with you a little interview from one of my favorite kind souls, Tania Willis. Tania has been such an encouragement to me with many exchanges of emails on God, confusion, and SVT-heart surgery shenanigans over the last year.  Tania is a sponsor this month and the creator of some adorable scrapbooking E-classes. I took a peak and they are darling. I wanted you to meet Tania and know more about her inspiring PDF classes. 

Here is Tania:

Tell me about yourself?!

tania here. that's pronounced tahn-ya for those unsure. anywho. i'm a wife and mother of two spunky princesses. one quirky girl. one 'Spidergirl'.  i'm a lover of lowercase typing & coffee flavored icecream. i wear flip-flops year round even when it's snowing and the smell of bacon makes me gag. i'm all about pretty stationery, being frugal and the color red.  i used to have the nickname 'karate kid' but am sadly out of practice and unable to prove why. let's just say the only black belt around my waist now is on my jeans. in my dreams i have a perfectly organized house, but reality is, it's organized chaos and makes me only slightly neurotic.  

i'm extremely curious and ask a lot of questions, but usually forget the answer just minutes later. don't mistake this for lack of being genuine i just have a bad short term memory. i loathe shopping & the smell of fruit flavored chewing gum. baking is my go-to stress relief and cleaning too--as long as there aren't two girls un-pretty-ing (yes, it's a word) everything i just made pretty.

 i'm moved & inspired by sight and sound, and have fallen in love with indie/pop music. i guard family time with my heart and can't resist browsing thrift stores or flee markets for decorating treasures. i'm undeniably loyal, but indescribably sensitive. i long to connect with people on a deeper level, and being able to sharing my thoughts uninhibited without judgement. and i'm pretty sure i'll lose you all with the fact that i love myself a good peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich.  it's delicious, i promise.  find out much more about my shenanigans over on my blog.

How long have you been scrapbooking/creating?

i've been scrapbooking since the early days when you could only find cutesy paper and a few stickers--back when it was popular to cut your photos into unrecognizable shapes and there were no 'rules'.  about 16 years now.  but i've been creating since i could hold a crayon in my hand.  i view my entire life as a creation in progress and see a way to be creative with every decision i make, even when it doesn't involve paper and glue.  without a doubt, i can say that parenting is the ultimate creative challenge. with every thing i do, comes some sort of creative outcome. creatively speaking, i live by the motto "dream BIG, and when those dreams come true, dream BIGGER."

Tell me about your classes? What's your favorite thing about them?

the Beautifully Handmade series, is comprised of 3 individual class headings:
1. Embellishments: Beautifully Handmade
2. Cards: Beautifully Handmade
3. Scrapbooking with Fabric

EACH book is 100+ pages, jam-packed with ideas and step-by-step pictorial & instructive tutorials using every day crafting supplies that you probably already have around, or are easy to find locally.

here's a brief description of what is within the pages, but clicking over to those links above with allow you to see the chapter breakdown of each book with a more detailed look of what to expect.

the projects within the pages of the Embellishments e-book are not JUST fun, unique, and beautiful: their cost is a fraction of what you’d pay for ready-mades.  in Cards, we start basic, then take the fast track to fun & funky with a variety of techniques and loads of tutorials. lastly, within the pages of Scrapbooking with Fabric you’ll be taking more than needle and thread to the projects–you’ll be working with stiffeners, inks, stablilizers, adhesives . . . and even crayons! pushing boundaries with fabric that you never before thought possible.

the series of books will absolutely boost your self confidence in your ability to create projects, Beautifully Handmade! i promise.

my favorite thing about the series is teaching how to select and prepare your materials for beautiful results and maxium yield.  tania is my name, being frugal is my game. *wink*

Favorite indulgence?

ooooooooh, this is a hard one. but being that it's fall and getting chilly i have to say hot cocoa with Andes mint pieces melted in. or a double pump pumpkin spice latte, with 1%, 1/2 shot expresso, extra hot, no whip. (did i get that order right? LOL.)

Thanks Tania! You rock. In case you missed it, you can see Tania's classes here and her sweet blog here. Happy Wednesday!

Ciera Design Giveaway!

It's Friday. Which means it's almost the weekend.

And today is a sponsor giveaway day. Which means your weekend will be even better!

This giveaway is from the lovely Ciera Design.

I am a graphic designer born and raised in New Orleans. This city plays a huge role in my creativity. The passion that people have here really motivates me. My parents have also inspired me to pursue a career in a creative field. They started a sign shop together before I was born, in what turned out to be my first bedroom. Being raised in a creative family is the reason I started to take art classes in 2nd grade. I continued taking art classes and for high school I was excepted to New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). I went to my normal high school for half of each day and NOCCA for the other half. During my time at NOCCA I realized that I could not see myself pursuing a career as a fine artist. I also realized that I was very organized and systematic while working on projects. We had a few computer/design sessions and although I was not exactly sure what it was, I knew that I wanted to be a graphic designer!

I went to college and studied design and photography. When I graduated I got a job at a great advertising agency and gained a lot of experience in my four years there. I recently decided to break away and start my own company - Ciera Design! I also just opened my first etsy shop. Right now I am selling my photography but I will soon be adding some items from my graphic design collection. I have been self employed for a little over a month and I am loving it!

What's your dream? My dream is to continue to grow as a graphic designer, to continue to push myself creatively and most importantly to HAVE FUN and enjoy my life with the people I love!

Biggest guilty pleasure?

I would say that my biggest guilty pleasure is cheese. Pizza, cheese and crackers, cheese fries, I can't get enough of it!

Thanks Ciera! You can also find her at her blog, Etsy, and website.

Ciera is giving away two prints from her shop,  so you get to take your pick from her awesome  iphoneography prints.

To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment on this post with your email address. To get more entries, visit Ciera's shop and tell me your favorite item. OR, you can tweet about the giveaway. Seperate these entries by different comments. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday night!

 

Oh. And...

I don't know how I forgot to post about Christina(okay, so I wrote the post at 2 a.m...), but you should say hi to her too!

Miss pretty Christina! I love this granny square banner!

Say hello...

To Alison of Alison Holcomb Photography...

Ciera of Ciera Design...

 

Jessica of Wayside Violet...

And Tania of the Beautifully Handmade classes...

Welcome back to Mollie of Wild Olive:

And Samantha of Indie & Chic...

Take a minute and check out these lovely blogs and shops!

Happy weekend! :)

Welcome back...

Welcome back to the pretty ladies who are sponsoring again this month! Cute, new ads are up! So if you're in a reader, click on through and check them out!

Mollie has this darling fabric up on her blog. Bacon was actually the last meat I ate(April 1st of the year) and, to be honest, I miss it sometimes!

You can buy this cutie fabric here and while you're at it, check out the rest of the lovelies in Mollie's pretty and often printable Etsy shop!

A few months ago, Samantha reached out to me and asked to sponsor on the blog. It's been my pleasure getting to know her and becoming friends. She really is the sweetest thing.

She sent me this daaarling card last week and it immediately made me smile. It's currently up on my mini "art wall"(I'll be sharing photos of my dorm room soon!). Take a look see at the other pretty handmade wares in Samantha's shop. 

If you're ever interested in the rates or stats for IJME, drop me an email at karahaupt(@)gmail.com and I'll reply as quick as I can.

Love, love!

Kara