bounty

i haven't been around the blog much lately, but i have been enjoying the small bounty of our potted garden. sometimes the sunshine is good enough to pull you away from this enticing internet world.

jewelry making supplies for sale

my minimalist side even wanders into my jewelry making supplies. i've cleaned out a thing or two and am offering them to you for dirt cheap. each bag of supplies one dollar each plus shipping or the last bundle of supplies for two dollars plus shipping. perfect for your own jewelry making or that of your child's or neighbors or crafty aunt. email me what you want and i'll invoice you through paypal! hello@twigcreative.com

nature collection

couldn't help but see the beauty in our little gal's nature collection via a family walk the other night. sometimes a paper bag and the wide outdoors are all you need.

twenty

scenes from the week

a lot went on around here this last week between re-vamping old items to put a new house together and prepping for the beehive bazaar. all in all we survived and had plenty of time to enjoy creative outings, family, sunny but cool weather, new songs, and projects of course.

how did your week treat you?

even if nobody cares

 [image via]

we've been trying to re-route our creative minds as of late. i think every artist goes through a period of time [or numerous] where they must look at what they do and why they do it. we've come to the conclusion that we must better train our minds to create, simply to create. the best outcome of creativity is when you make because you yourself love the item and molded it from your heart and passion. of course it seems easy that we would make something we ourselves would want...but sometimes creating towards a trend can seep into your work and take over. not to say that following the trends isn't good, but you don't want it to steer you away from your authentic self. your authentic work is in the end why someone would even appreciate your work in the first place, because it is yours and only yours.

i went to creative collaborative tonight and always wonder why i don't make the 30 minute drive once a month more often to attend; it's totally exhilarating [thus the reason it's 11:10 p.m. and i'm sitting up typing this, also though because i couldn't resist having a taste of the yogurt pops i made today] but mindy gledhill spoke of breaking our creative blocks and overall being who we are and owning our ideas whether liked or disliked. it was completely in line with mine and steve's current thoughts and desires and ideas for pushing ourselves to be truer creatives and not so worried about the success of the creation, whether that be money or online presence. story after story was shared of people who we all marvel at like steven speilberg and eric claption who made the decision to make themselves into who they dreamed to be, and still had folly's or envy's or road blocks along the way. i think the best part about creative collaborative is hearing other artists tell of their own successes and down falls and realizing that we're all in this together and experiencing similar feelings. it can be difficult to want something so badly and yet not get the response you expected, but in the end you must realize that if you are proud of your work, that is all that matters.

steve sent me an email this week with the above print and it sums up what our new motto is. we're going to create, but not only create, we're going to create beautiful things and do it because it makes our life beautiful. however we do hope it will add to the beauty of yours too.

and then he went and made these beautiful lights and i thought, well, someone's definitely going to care about those.

beehive bazaar // this weekend

we had decided to take a little break from local markets due to the intense schedule of markets we completed last year...but here we are, unable to resist the beehive bazaar just before mothers day [in a super cool new location, the riverwoods, might i add]. set up is tonight and the show starts tomorrow and runs through saturday. one of my favorite aspects of involvement in a show is set-up and take-down. odd maybe, but i like the buzz. all of these creatives in one room twisting and fixing and staging their wares for the audience the next day. it's a good feeling. it also feels good that we're prepared early and that this show didn't sneak up on us like the others so often did. you think you have everything done until you realize you still have to tag and mark and practice display etc. we're all packed up and ready to go. hope to see you there this weekend. our table will sport almost all newness including the recently released orchard nightlights, the anaPad 2, a limited number of our infamous cameras in spring colors of blue, yellow, & pink, the hexagon necklaces, glitter earrings, and then a few things not featured in our shop like colorblock earrings/necklaces, neon glitter necklaces, and make your own necklace pendents. we're digging the bold electric colors of the season and that's what our table will be all about. come see us!

Rustic Spring // New Hexagon Necklace

i loved the simplistic outcome of our original hexagon necklace but i thought that bringing a little spring to it was necessary. i like to think the brown and the yellow of this one add a bit of rustic spring. see the new hexagon necklace here.

Table Re-do

when my parents got married, they were given a table from my mom's parents that they then re-stored, peeling off 6 layers of paint. this table was the table of my childhood, complete with the carving of names in it and plenty of family dinner gatherings. the table has now been painted a funky lime green and sits in my mom's craft room where projects and sewing take place. my current dining table reminds me a lot of my parents table and the dining table of my childhood. it was given to me by my gracious aunt who supplied me with much needed college furniture. i've since done away with the 2 love seats given but this table, well, it's stuck with me longer than i ever expected. i see it as one that will stick around just as long as my parents table has.

a year or so ago, i toyed with the idea of painting the entire table, a grey or red. steve quickly reminded me that the natural wood wasn't so bad. i prefer good solid natural looking wood tables but until that day comes when i'm sure steve will craft one for us, this table had to do. so, i decided that a combination of the wood + color would be just the trick for making something old become new again.

and well, i quite like it. a subtle change but just enough to make a difference. and who knows, maybe in 20 years, one of our kids will peel away the paint and make it their own.

Raw + Bright

it's been quite some time since i've shared my internet inspirations and today is just the day to do it. i've been drawn to big splashes of color lately. combined with natural wood is of course always a perfect match. these images spoke to me; absolutely loving the vibrancy and cheeriness of raw + bright.

images 1 & 2 / 3 / 4 / 5