Other fun news: garbella was featured on the papernstitch blog today!  You can check it out here.

Image from papernstitch blog feature!

Eco-highlighter pencils!-Image from StubbyPenciStudio.com

I saw these eco-highlighter pencils featured on papernstich today in the ‘daily favorites’ section today and am definitely going to hook up the garbella studio with a few.  They will be great to highlight and transition items from my ‘to-do’ to ‘to-done’ lists!

I am really excited to be able to attend the Etsy Success Symposium at the Etsy headquarters in Brooklyn this Friday!  You can tune in from your computer or watch the archived version later.  More info here.

I’m also really looking forward to hanging out in Greenpoint with some of my oldest friends.  In honor of all this excitement, I made my inaugural Etsy treasury!  My first one ever.  It was so fun to put together!  However, I really need to get back to work; busy day (but it is so easy to get distracted)!

birthday breakfast

To celebrate after breakfast, I worked on adding some new work to the Etsy shop!  I listed some of the new designs and styles in the shop and then taught at an after-school program at a Pittsburgh Public High School.  It was a papier mache day and was lots of fun!

Here are a few of the new styles!

Topaz Tank

Arrow Crest on Drape Dolman

Camp Tank

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes!  I hope you enjoy the new designs; I appreciate the feedback!  Look for more in the next week or so. Special thanks to my friend Matt Dayak for photographing all of the new work and to my sister, Brooke, for modeling!

Film Positive Stack-New Designs for Spring/Summer 2012

Spring sprouts

The official start of Spring is just a few days away and I am getting really excited to share some new work with you!  New styles, new designs, and a new season!  I have always loved Springtime. It’s exciting to watch things change, new plants sprout up, everyone seems to be so grateful for the extra daylight and more sun, an so many people seem to take advantage of it!  The river trails in Pittsburgh have been a lot busier than usual with runners, cyclists, walkers, and dogs!  I’ll be posting new goods up on the site on Tuesday, March 20th, the 1st day of Spring (it’s also my birthday!), so stay tuned!

Thanks to EEFM for featuring garbella in the January issue!  Check it out here:

We were thrilled to be included and featured and we are getting really excited to participate in their first annual Fashion Show at the end of March! Look for new designs to be released mid-March and some to be debuted at the East End Affair on March 31st t the space above Construction Junction in Pittsburgh, PA. More details to come!

Ok, I better get back to printing!  This is such a busy, fun time of the year!

Today, I am thankful for being able to do what I love everyday as my job.  I would not be able to do this without all of the support from: my family and friends, all of the shops that carry my work, all of the show organizers who allow me to vend, and of course- all of you!

I am relaxing with family and (lots of) good food today.  I hope all of you get a chance to relax and enjoy some good company today!

Many thanks.

Shoppers in the rain at Crafty Bastards

Wow.  First of all, Amy of redraven studios and I were so stoked to be accepted to Crafty Bastards this year for the Oct. 1st show in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. My sister joined us for the trip and she is the hardest working, best sister you could ever imagine!  Thanks Brooke!  We road-tripped down to DC from Pittsburgh on Friday and got up bright and early Saturday morning.  Load-in was a breeze.  Maybe because we got a great load-in spot or maybe because we were hustling to load-in before the rain started! Either way, we loaded in quickly, moved the car and popped up the tent moments before the raindrops started falling.  Hooray! Well, not ‘hooray’ for the rain, but we were happy to cover our gear before the rain started coming down.  We put he tent side-walls up and never took them down. On the East Coast, I think this was the first real cold-snap, damp, chill you to the bone kind of days.  That being said, DC folks must be a tough, hearty bunch because the people still came out en masse to shop at Crafty Bastards.  They were even smiling!

This show was a non-stop shopper event… I can hardly even imagine what it would have looked like on a sunny day!

We ran into lots of Pittsburgh natives and current PGH folks and had visits from some other friends and crafty vendors. It was a whirlwind, fast day that ended with some delicious, authentic Mexican food…. and then wine and dessert (in bed!). We were so exhausted and really just wanted to feel warm and dry,  so we headed back to our hotel with some wine and dessert.  It was perfect, really.

On Sunday, we slept in, went to brunch and then hit the road. Thanks to the Crafty Bastards organizers and volunteers for an awesome show!  We hope to be back next year!

This summer really flew by! Highlights from the summer:

• I got married!  It was a gorgeous day flanked by a week of rain on either end.  We are super lucky to have an amazing group of family and friends that made our DIY wedding come together in the best way.  I hope to post in more detail about that at some point. Summary:  super sweet day- the best.

• I organized the 2nd summer of a Youth Cycling Program (Positive Spin) for the MGR Foundation.  I hope to post more about that soon too, but Steevo did a quick write-up on our 100 mile bike/camping adventure with 52 middle-school students in the pouring rain!  Really though… it was awesome.

• We visited Asheville, NC and surrounding area (Blue Ridge!) and hiked, biked, and ate lots of good food.
• We went camping at Raystown Lake in Central PA with lots of good friends- swimming, mountain biking, campfire good times with a herd of cute dogs.
• Stayed busy with all of that and a few craft shows interspersed throughout.
• Managed to plant a few things in the garden and we are enjoying the delicious tomatoes now!

Now, I am just about caught up with orders and getting ready to apply to lots of Fall/Holiday craft fairs.  I am also working on designing/screen-printing wedding invitations for some friends and getting ready for the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, IL. This is one of my favorite shows!  This will be my first time sharing a booth at this show, so my friend Amy from redraven studios are working on figuring out how to best display our wares. My sister is making the road-trip to Chicago with us and we are all really looking forward to it!

I am excited to be heading to Chattanooga, TN this week for a 2 day indie craft show (Chatty Crafty)with my friend Amy of Redraven.  I’ll report back after the weekend!  I recently visited the Asheville, NC area and I am excited to be heading South again.

Craft show/Travel/Biscuit reviews to follow!