I've Been Published!

The day has finally come!! (ok, 5 days ago, but whatevs!)

The Summer issue of Art Doll Quarterly, in which my lovely circus girls are published, has hit newsstands everywhere!

When I first opened up this beauty, I saw that I was in the Table of Contents! Holy moley, are you freaking kidding me?! So, eager to see my simple little photo and brief story in amongst other crazy talented folks, I flipped to page 117, the page the table of contents told me to flip to, because yea, I was in the table of contents!! Remember? Remember how I mentioned that like 2 seconds ago? Still true!!

Ok, before you run off, terrified of my ridiculous ramblings, here's the rest of the story... I flipped to page 117 and BAM! A full, and I mean FULL page photo of my beautiful girls just exploded in my face! A whole page? For reals? I was fully expecting to be a little half-page spot, but no, they wanted to showcase these girls in all of their glory and I was so incredibly excited! I was home alone at the time that I opened up my issue, so I just grabbed the cat (poor thing, she should think twice before hanging out with me!) and gave her a squeeze and screeched incoherently for a few minutes. I am sure my neighbors thought really weird things were happening next door, but oh well!!

So there they are..... I am really still so crazy jazzed every time I look at this thing! I am going to buy a back up copy of the magazine, just in case. :D

And if you would like to purchase a copy but don't want to brave the crazy public, you can clicky on the badge on the right side of the screen.

Until next time! Oh yea, and happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Sneaky Peeky!

Hola amigos! I have been working on a very fun little project tonight!

I wanted to pop in to give you a little taste of the newest addition, who is related to the beautiful Victoria. Thankfully, Victoria found her forever home at the holiday bazaar I was in last November.

She was so purty! :)

This one finally told me her name, so I would like to introduce, Cordelia! She is keshi #54, and the first of 2013!

I am holding off on a full reveal for a little while, but I must say, she is pretty damn gorgeous! :)

Well, I am off to do some laundry (woot woot!) and get ready for my work week!

Ta ta loves!

A New Friend!

So I was browsing in the craft store the other day, one of my fave things to do, and decided to branch out a little in the construction of my keshis. I was inspired by one of my favorite artists, who actually got me hooked on the idea of kokeshi dolls. You should really go check out her stuff, it is fantastic! Anyhoo, she has made a ton of kokeshi dolls over the years, and one of the body styles she uses I thought I would try out.

What do you get when you combine these two seemingly boring wooden pieces?

The cutest new addition to the KaeleighBee Keshi family!

I don't know why, but it just makes me giggle!

And this stroke of hilarious genius came when the head didn't quite want to fit on the body:

Bahaahahaa! Just imagine the wooden ball as an afro, and the top of the body piece is the teeny tiny face.... I could not stop laughing for a few minutes at this little thing! I may have to do a one-off, 70's-era disco queen with this one!

That's all! Just wanted to pop in and say, hellooooooo! 

Open For Business

Happy Hump Day y'all!

I thought I would take this opportunity to open the doors of my Etsy shop, KaeleighBee, and let you take a peek around! 

Back in October I closed my first shop and opened up KaeleighBee. I had changed up my name and branding and wanted to revitalize my online presence too. I enlisted the help of my fantastically talented friend to create my new logo, and she created the most amazing Etsy banner I have ever seen in my life!

Admittedly, the pickings are kind of slim right now in my little shop, hence one of my monthly goals! However, I would love to tell you a little bit about what I do!

This creative journey started about 8 years ago with greeting cards and a small set of wedding invitations for my mom. I still love making cards, especially since I can usually bust out a bunch at a time! I have definitely evolved since then and started creating several other items that I have completely fallen in love with.

One of these items is spiral bound journals. You can see a sneaky peek of one them here. (It's the larger one in the back, the small guy is my kick-ass planner blogged about here) I make 2 different sizes, 8 1/2" x 11" and the pocket size, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Super cute, and perfect for purses!

I have made several other odds and ends, here and there (including celebration card boxes), but this brings me to my absolute FAVORITE extension of my creativity EVER!

KESHIS!!

Keshis are my interpretation on traditional Japanese Kokeshi dolls; an artsy twist on an ancient tradition. Each one is numbered and initialed, and when she is ready, she tells me her name! :) As I create each one, their individual personalities come out and they start to dictate how they are going to be finished. Some are more adamant than others but they always bring a smile to my face!

To see all of my past and present girls, check this out!

As I start to add new things into my shop I will post periodic updates so you can see what I've got up my sleeve!

Thanks for checking out my shop, and I hope you see something you like!

Congratulations! It's a BLOG!

The idea for this blog has been gestating in the womb of my creative for many months. I felt this would be an appropriate title for my intro post! :)

My goal for this adventure is to be able to share the things that make me the most happy with as many people as will pay attention. I want to create a little sanctuary where we can slow down, simplify just a little, and have a quiet moment to ourselves. And I sincerely hope that you will join me!

I am so stinkin' excited to start this project! I love the idea of connecting with a vast collective of like-minded souls and recording every step along the way. I will be rolling out some weekly features, simple tutorials and DIY's I find fascinating, quirky observations about my world, and who even knows what else! The sky is the limit my friends!

I do also want to utilize this platform to introduce you to my creativity in the form of my journals, greeting cards, and, my favorite, Keshis! For those of you who don't know, which I am sure is most (teehee), Keshis are my twist on traditional Japanese Kokeshi dolls. I plan on formally introducing you to them in just a few days. ;)

So, welcome to my cozy little corner of the big wide web. Care to join me for a cup of tea and a bite of inspiration? :)