The final countdown!!!

Only 2 real days left til I'm officially open. Yesterday I had 3 different groups stop by to see what's up and going on in my space (it looks like real space now and people are intrigued)

This is my window display so far. It's a little table and some directors chairs (These will eventually be tangled) with tiles and a paint can on the table. It looks way cuter than it does in the pic but I have been focusing on getting stuff done instead of taking pics.

Speaking of which.. the site may be down sometime tomorrow. I finished my new website and tomorrow my domain is being redirected there.
It looks like this. (So you aren't confused when you get there) I'm pretty happy with it and it's going to have some cool new features like eventually a video tutorial section, etc) It took me forever to get it the way I want, and there are several things that still aren't working right, but... I think I need it live so I can play with it and have all the changes actually take effect.

You might be wondering about the blog though because that's what you are going to get when you click www.whimsybykelly.com
The blog isn't really going anywhere though.
I"m not taking it down. You will be able to get to the blog by clicking on the link I demonstrated here...

A lot of the things I have on the blog will be stripped and moved to there eventually, leaving just the actual blog and creativity challenge etc here.

You an also just get to the blog by going to http://www.whimsyandzen.blogspot.com/

So, if you have trouble accessing in the next day or so, that's why and if things look a little strange for a day or two please be patient. :) I wanted a better page with more options.

Also, just because there may not be access to the challenge doesn't mean I won't still be creating and hope you will be too! I'll put up a "catch up" post if we miss a day. 

The saga of the chalkboard calendar....

So while in the planning stages of the studio, I saw a chalkboard calendar. I fell in love with it and really wanted it... but it was $80, which was absolutley worth it, it just wasn't money I'd calculated into the budget. I passed but was kind of disappointed.
I talked to two of my best friends about it and we had the "You could make that..." with my response being, "Well yes, I could.... but  I'm probably not GOING to" conversation. We talked about it a bit more and I kind of shelved the idea because I didn't know that I had that kind of time.
Without my knowing  my mom decided to buy it for me for a studio opening gift, only to discover that they numbers were actually PAINTED onto the chalkboard. Um... that's not really going to work because not every month starts with the 1st on a Monday. So she told me and we kind of laughed and then.... it happened. The PERFECT frame happened to be RIGHT there and $3. So I acquired a frame that had a piece of pressboard in it and tada.

So, I refreshed the frame and created it myself. I already HAD the chalkboard paint and stuff from the other things. Everything you see here is permanent, but I left the month and days blank to be written on with chalk.

I am in LOVE with it. I am sooooooo happy with it and it fills in a spot by the front door perfectly.

The only left to do is write in classes on it! :D

Calendar....

I am working on my calendar.
This is as far as I've gotten... but, that's ok. I like how it's turning out.

It will have squares and the days of the week in permanent, space for me to fill in the month and then the squares will be 2x2 which is large enough for me to put class info in there.
There will also be a space at the bottom for "Notes"

Any other suggestions as to what it should have on it?

What features of your calendars do you love?

Chalkboard art for my studio

I have a space in my studio where I wanted a piece of chalkboard art, but it's up high so I didn't want a real chalkboard.
So... I made some chalkboard art.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out

It's really the perfect quote. It ties into Zentangle, it celebrates life... I love it! That was actually the hardest part, finding the quote.

I did in fact draw it without an eraser and 95% of it is ink, not chalk. (The chalk was mostly to make it look chalky and give it a "look"

Sometimes things go exactly the way you want them to!

(I've had a lot of moments lately where little tiny things derailed projects so this going smoothly came at exactly the right time)

Birthday, banner and Butterflies

I'm feeling a little tired, not even going to try to hide it. Today will be a day for mostly catching my breath and making some lists I think.

First off, I'd like to give Kudos to the Physics department of my daughters school for their creativity in designing a program that lets them spend a day at the local amusement park "for science" by giving them a packet about roller coasters to observe. :D Excellent! Making science fun should always be a thing.

Yesterday I taught an amazing group of kids to tangle for a birthday party. How much fun is that?

Looking at the mosaic of their work

Look at how AMAZING their art is! We did them on small canvases. 

Their first tangles. 

Then we made a small starry night garden. 

Everyone had fun and there were cupcakes too! 

Then afterwards, something exciting happened at the studio. 

I have signage!

You can see the colors better in this picture but it still doesn't do it justice. I'll be a better one later this week. 

Oh! These were on my timehop. :) Since they were from so long ago they never made it to my blog and I find butterflies to be AMAZING inspiration.
These were from the island of Minadano in the Philippines. Aren't they beautiful?

Today I'm going to finish a small tangle project to share with you and I'm not sure what else.
I do know I'm going to make and finish some tea. Lots of it.... but otherwise, it's kind of up in the air!

What are you doing today?

Chalkboard art...

I have a large number of chalkboard areas in my studio.. so getting my quotes and chalkboarding just right is high on the list of things to do. There are a couple that I'm doing permanently (because they'll be up high.. and I'm short) so I especially want those to be right.

So lots and lots of practicing.
I love the look of mixed fonts though, so I'll keep playing til I get it right.  I like this one but it's not just right.

I love the way wet chalk stays n place once you put it there! :D

I like the way the letters turned out but it was only for practice. I don't like all capitals on it.

I have a ton of quotes, yet I feel like I need more... because I haven't found one that is PERFECT so if you have a favorite quote or inspirational saying please feel free to share!!!! I'd really appreciate it.

Busy, busy!

I had a very nice Mother's Day and I hope all of you had a great day as well!
Worked in the studio and finished my 2nd burlap wall.
While doing so... things like this happen, they always do. LOL

That's the adhesive. I use too much adhesive too.

And I also made this card for my mom.

My awesome and amazing kids cleaned my entire house. I mean, the ENTIRE house.
They made me a great card, but it's super special and just for me so I'm not going to share it, but my daughter tangled the front. 

It's really special. :)  I love those kids so much. They are truly the greatest pieces of art I ever created. <3 

I have a studio!

Happy May 1st! Today I wanted to take a few minutes and share some of why I've been so quiet. I know I've been posting, but my posts have been lighter on content because I've had my hands full.

I am opening my own studio this month, the grand opening will be the last weekend of May, (May 30&31st) and should be a lot of fun.

The studio address is 3495 Delaware Avenue, Kenmore NY 14223 and I'll have my banner and such up soon.
I fell in love with the space and the light. As you can see from the pictures, the overall space needed a LOT of work.

So, we've been working hard and it's paid off. 

So if you're local and want to take a class... or you know you'll be in the area let me know!!!