Making Shit Happen

I had some very deliberate intentions of writing a couple of blog posts last week with the updates I've been making to my place for The Everygirl photo shoot, plans for the new year and other projects I have in my back pocket, but Tuesday morning, bright and early at 7am, the shit hit the fan.  No, literally, it kind of did.  Due to the extreme cold weather temps we experienced here in Chicago, the pipes below me froze in my condo and since I am the last unit before you hit the garage, I got the back up.  There's nothing like the sweet sound of waking up to a waterfall and thinking you are in a cabana in South America and your handsome masseuse is on his way to…well, you catch my drift.  Instead, reality hits you like the 2 inches of sewer water you plunge your feet into to turn off your water and watch as your scale drowns right in front of your eyes (there's a new year's resolution slap in the face).  Luckily, (yes, there is a bright side) I was repainting a few of my walls (see, another update) and had drop cloths down to which I pushed aside and piled to blockade my bathroom door and contain the nasties that continued to come up my toilet for several hours.

So, instead of going to work on the mural project I had scheduled (and again, wanted to share last week), I spent the day bailing poopy water into my bathtub.  My how life can throw you a curve ball.  The rest of my week was consumed by cleaning and finishing said murals in time for a two year old's birthday party on Saturday.  My body ached by the bending and bailing and painting and ladder climbing and standing for longer than I'm used to, but through all this, I kept reminding myself of one of my words for 2014: Perspective.  Yes, I didn't have any usable facilities for a day and a half, but I did and do have a fantastic neighbor that let me come and go as I needed and let me shower at 10 o'clock at night in the most cleansing shower of my life.
Yes, I've never felt so helpless with the ringing question, "What do I do?" resounding in my head, but I had a mom that came over right away to help me with the dirty job and disinfected my place like it was a part of her Reenie Rose resume.
Yes, I put in an almost 13 hour day of mural painting that involved ladder climbing and reaching and movements that my muscles were screaming at me for, but how awesome is it that I can grow a tree in someone's house.  Really, these are the things I am trying to focus on this year….perspective.  I have a couple other words and phrases I'm trying to focus on, but I think I'm going to put them into my studio makeover somehow and show them off to you later.

So, for now, let me share with you the light at the end of last week's tunnel and all the beauty I was able to create out of a very poopy start to my week.

Before

During

After

Chalked in tree

Looking back to last week, things can only go up from there!  Happy Tuesday!

What do Puffy Paint, Chalk, and Stickers all have in Common?

I am currently in painting limbo.  I don't have any projects going on, but there's a lot of potential on the way.  So, what is a girl to do whilst she waits for a painting to come her way?  Sleep till noon and and rewatch the whole Sex and the City series...bah!  Not I!  No, I create work for myself....and I catchup on work that I've been wanting to do for ages.

For instance, I originally bought one of those "paint your own" pressed board picture frames from Michaels to paint for my best friend's daughter when she was born.  Well, she just turned one a few weeks ago.  Missed the newborn boat, but not the first birthday one!  I started painting this frame and then scraped the whole design idea and looked to Martha Stewart for inspiration.  Her scrapbooking line is unbelievable.  Some paper and stickers were purchased along with a bottle of trusty old puffy paint, and voila:

Norah's mom liked it, so hopefully Norah comes to appreciate this gift from Auntie Lo.

I've also been expanding my chalkboard art portfolio, but this is all I can show you for now.  You'll have to wait to see the rest when this photo shoot is published!

Finally, I'm also sprucing up my Reeniebeans Etsy store with some new sticker art.  Here's a preview:

Something a little different going on here.  Get ready for some more exciting things....and new paintings soon!

New Sticker Art for Eleanor

This weekend was full of special deliveries of custom Loreen work for dear friends of mine.  If you peaked on Facebook/Instagram, you may have seen me tapping back into my sticker roots.  Some of you may not know how deep those roots go.  Well let me tell you....back to bad perms and glasses deep:

At my cottage in Wisconsin, besides crafting when the weather was icky, we traded stickers.  We would take an extensive amount of time to setup these elaborate "sticker stores", trade a few here and there and be done in a fraction of the time it took to setup.  All the same, we loved it...so much that I still have my collection to this day.

Mostly this was done with a couple of neighbor girls, but we did have one boy in the group because his sister was also in the trade.  It was only appropriate that when Brian and Rachel had their baby girl Eleanor that they get a special sticker piece for Eleanor's room.

I was so thrilled to get to meet Eleanor for the first time too!

I am so lucky to be able to put my little stamp on Eleanor's life and get to watch her grow up...and eventually share stories with her about sticker trading with her daddy.

Xoxo

I Heart Stickers

Many of you know that I dabble in other areas of creativity.  Somehow I just can't seem to put all of my eggs into one basket, and I guess that is a good thing.  More people can take advantage of my artistic opportunities.  The latest one...my new Etsy story for Reeniebeans!

This shop dives into my childhood and the days spent collecting and trading stickers with friends.  Would you believe I still have my old sticker collection?!  We're talking vintage stickers now!  I've decided to put these gems to good use and make personalized gifts with them.  These are perfect for a baby or child's room or even to add a special touch to a teacher's classroom.  Check out a few samples:

So cute, right?!  Obviously I have letters, numbers and names featured but there are always other options too.  I was thinking about making a large heart in a 11 x 14 inch frame.  What do you think of this idea?  

If you'd like some more info on having your own sticker creation made, please contact me at Loreen@Reeniebeans.com and I'd be happy to start sifting through my collection to come up with the perfect images for you.  

I heart stickers!!!