Lambs & Ivy Boutique, My Other Home

{texture provided by me & graphics by The Graphic Fairy}

If you've been following along with me for a while, you already know I own a small boutique here in Crestline high atop the mountains of Southern California. My shop is many things to me. It's my home away from home, my art studio, my business, my job & my pride. {I am a woman entrepreneur trying to make it in an economic environment that would intimidate even the most seasoned businessman.}
Don't you love these vintage Christmas ornaments I have in the shop displayed in un-polished sterling silver serving bowls?
I decided to put all my sterling silver out un-polished this season, I'm just loving the pure shabbiness of it all!
My dear friend Lucy of 'by the hill' makes some of the most gorgeous domino pendants! Here is a small sampling of the ones I was working on today at the shop. {we had our 1st snow last night, so it was a lovely day for creating} Yes Lucy, I was proud of myself...I even got my fingertips really dirty!
The pieces below I made just for me, an altered composition book to keep all my consignee's information in & my new pocket, 2010 calender. If I'm going to be using it & looking at it everyday, I want it to be lovely & represent a piece of who I am. I want it to bring me joy, because friends...I believe to find joy in the smallest of things is simply put, the road to a happy life!
Now, I haven't completely conquered this philosophy myself, LOL, but I try everyday to appreciate the gifts in life that I do have. Oh yeah...the whole reason I wrote this post in the 1st place, how do you like the little logo I made in Photoshop for my shop 'Lambs & Ivy'? I wanted to create something in black & white just for fun & then I'll make another 1 in color too...it's good practice for my new acquired Photoshop Super Powers!:) Have a Wonderful Sunday Friends!!!

Shop Girl & Domino's

What a fun & exciting week this has been for me at the shop! The shop is also my studio. Since I spend so much time there it only made sense to bring all my art & craft supplies & spend my down time creating. Creativity centers me, it calms me, it focuses me & it is my passion. I've been absorbed in a project over the past couple weeks of making vintage domino pendants to sell. It started by a walk across the street to our local Senior Center Thrift Store (yes, how cool is that, my shop has a GREAT thrift store right across the street) where I stumbled upon an old wooden box of ivory colored domino's. I did a little research & it seemed that alcohol inks were the best product to use to color the dominos. I then printed out some images I got from ArtChix Studio on photo paper & glued them on. I top coated with a polyurethane, added a top & bottom eye hook, some ribbon & beads & put the 7 I made on the floor yesterday morning. Well, you can imagine how excited I was when one of my 1st customers came in, fell in love with 2, couldn't choose which one she liked best & bought both...yeah!!! So this vintage picture is a Celebration of Domino's, Art & Women Entrepreneur's. I'll get some pictures of the pendants & post them asap & add them to my Etsy Shop. In art I create things not knowing if anyone else will appreciate there beauty other then me, I create for me because I like the concept... it's always nice when your creative force is validated. I guess that's what we all do for each other here. Truly, thanks to all my blogfriends who give me inspiration everyday, who humble me with their magnificent creations & who make me feel apart of such a wonderful community of artists! :)