Amore No.5 - Small & Cool!

I love when i see homes decorated with the owners personality. You can just tell this couple are both graphic artists, with a love of cool vintage pieces & comic books =) Even though the apartment itself isn't very big they've managed to create a spacious feel without compromising on their personal style.

Don't you just love the framed comics? beyond awesome!

I heart the different prints! Kinda boyish in the bathroom and feminine in the bedroom, a healthy compromise (plus the little stuffed dracula is too cute for words)

Into the blue

Don't you just love when pictures turn out the way you imagine them in your head?

It's all so quiet... sssshhhh!

Hubby is away on camp and i don't mean like how 12 year old's go on camp, i mean he's facilitating in an event known as RYLA where they take young adults, throw them in the woods and build character attributes such as confidence ( in a less cave man manner like i'm describing). His participation is voluntary however since hubby himself attended RYLA a few years ago i guess he wants to give something back, one of many reasons why he's such a great guy =)

HOWEVER.... this means i'm home alone.

Being home alone as a kid was exciting. I would often snoop in my sisters room to gather evidence should i ever need it for a sticky situation but now that i'm a grown up and living in my own house, i dreaded hubby leaving for fear of all things that go bump in the night. I've been sitting here for the past 3, maybe 4 hours listening to Eat Pray Love and working on Olive Farm when it suddenly dawned on me 'i haven't said anything in the last 4 hours!!', not one word, squeak or sound, which is unusual for someone normally so chatty.

In this silence my mind is rested and calm.
Creativity is flowing and my breathing is almost rhythmical.
With all the everyday stresses that i carry on my shoulders i am, at least for a little while, peaceful.

I guess sometimes you just gotta shut the hell up!

Amore No.4 - Eat Pray Love... in audio!

I'm not usually one to read 'self help' books but this one really appealed to me after watching the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, on Oprah talk about her experiences in Italy. She truly is a magical, talented, amazing writer and this book lifted my spirits so high I was walking around in a secret bubble of absolute giddiness for a few days after reading it.

So you can imagine my thrill when I discovered the book on audio (actually hubby found it), which made me immediately change my usual playlist of old school R&B to her. Like most people, I work with music playing from my computer but now instead of smooth tunes from Marvin Gaye & Stevie Wonder I have Elizabeth describing the delicious pizza they serve in Naples and her voice is so comforting I feel I'm right there with her =)

Sneak Peak

Just a sneak peak on another piece i've been working on =)

started with an outline

decided to fill the design with glass beads

close up of almost finished piece

Olive Farm Cards

I've been making cards for awhile now but every time i make a batch family & friends grabbed them and they sell out. The truth is many products don't even make it to my etsy store as a result of customers buying them before i even have a chance to take photos. Here a are few snap shots i was able to take of some of my cards. I'm hoping to make more this week for my store and hopefully they'll have as much success as they do with my other clients =)

love bloom series

Left blank inside for you to write to your special someone

can be used for art works =)

And what do you do??

I'm not going to lie, this question use to scare me when i first decided to start Olive Farm. Running your own label isn't the norm. I mean its crazy hours, virtually no pay when you first start, flooded with extreme emotions of doubt, insecurities and fear. Why would anyone want to run their own business, especially in the design world? They didn't come up with the term 'starving artist' for nothing haha

So when i explain what i do to strangers of course they become curious to how is it i've decided to pull myself away from the herd and do something... well... different. I've yet to find an answer i'm completely satisfied with and claiming 'i just love it' doesn't seem enough but that's my answer ' i just LOVE it!'. I am my own boss. I work from home so i have the luxury of wearing pj's & uggys to work on days i'm feeling lazy. I can have a break whenever i feel like it and all the success i achieve from my business is from a direct result of all the blood, sweat and tears i put in.

There's positive and negative in everything however personally for me deciding to start something different has my creative side dancing about in pure joy. I'm nothing if not creative and for as long as i remember i've kept that girl tamed and now she runs around free as a bird, how can i not be happy?


Realistically though I doubt i would of been able to pursue this dream if it wasn't for the support of my family, friends and darling husband. Thank you for believing in me =)