Wren Willow

Bedlington Terrier - My heart

2010-04-17T16:43:00.011-04:00

I have a complete mush of a dog, his name is Hudson and he is a Bedlington Terrier. Originally, I ended up with him because my boyfriend at the time thought he looked like an alien. The little puppy grew up into a mushy uncoordinated praying mantis/teddy bear and the boyfriend decided he wasn't macho enough. Needless to say when we broke up - I got the dog.

I was playing with my new digital SLR camera this morning and took some shots of my beloved bedlington. I then typed bedlington into Etsy's search and look what adorable goodies there are!

Dirty Floors, Happy Baby

2009-06-14T07:55:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I participated in a new indoor craft market in Rosendale NY. I really love the town of Rosendale, it has such a cool vibe - a bit like New Paltz but without all the flashiness. I think I want to live in Rosendale. :)

Anyhow... yesterdays craft show was hardly a success. I was 1 of 4 vendors though it was far from an unpleasant day and Wren had a blast! This photo is of the space - yes, everyone was already set up at this point.
The space was big and empty and for someone who is just figuring out how to walk, it was perfect. The building is an old church turned into a glass blowers studio. There were nooks and cranny's for her to crawl into and over, plus all sorts of new people to meet. She even started hugging all the kids that came in the door, much to the chagrin of 1 little boy.

There was this awesome metal work art installed for the day, though it wasn't for sale - sadly.

Today I'm going to the strawberry festival in Beacon NY. Rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast - wish me luck!

Craft Show, Craft Show!

2009-06-13T08:15:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, Renegade was a blast! I regretfully forgot my camera, and thought I would use the camera on my iphone - but my phone was busy taking credit card charges so that didn't work. :D

Renegade was hot, crowded and fast. It was so cool to hear instant and lovely feedback on my work. If you haven't done a craft show- do it!

Speaking of craft shows I am doing the Beacon Strawberry Festival tomorrow in Beacon NY. I have heard it is delicious and has some of the best Strawberry Short Cake ever.... yummy! It is supposed to rain though - so keep your fingers crossed for me. I'll definitely do my best to remember the camera, though I don't think it will be as busy as Renegade so I could probably use my phone as well.

Then yesterday I was invited to do a last minute show at the Rosendale Belltower Market. It is a new indoor craft space and I signed up for a few weekends later in the summer, but they had a spot open today and asked if I was interested. I thought about all the inventory I have left over from Renegade..... and I was in!

So it's a double craft show weekend for me. I'm becoming such a craft show person. :)

Oh, and because I have no picture related to this post, here is one for fun!

eeep! Nerves.....and eyeballs

2009-06-06T05:57:00.003-04:00

Time to go!

I'm up early and ready to go to renegade. Everyone else is still asleep. I know I have nothing to be nervous about - yet I am. I had a rough night and trouble sleeping. I kept thinking about what I may have forgotten to pack. Wren picked up on that nervous energy and was fitful and cranky in her sleep. At one point in the darkness I leaned up to see what was wrong with her and Wham! She elbowed me hard right in the eye ball. I had a knee jerk reaction and grabbed my eye and was surprised and relieved to find it was still there. Since I was leaning up and over in such an awkward position I pulled my neck, shoulder and back muscles and it really hurts. I'm falling apart.

I hope the weather stays nice. It is supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees the next two days - and then rain the next 4 days straight.

Renegade, here we come!

2009-06-05T14:09:00.006-04:00

I'm getting everything packed and ready, super excited about attending the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this weekend June 6 + 7, in McCarren park from 11am - 7pm!

Baby Wren, Angus and maybe even Greg are all piling in the car amongst bins of onesies, t-shirts and hangers and looking forward to a day full of shopping, chatting and basically having a blast!

Check out some of the awesome Etsyians who will be there - Seriously though, this is just the tip of the iceberg of who is setting up shop for the weekend. Over 300 awesome handmade vendors are going to be there!

I'll be splitting lucky booth number 13 with Althea of AltheaLoglia's Eye Candy

Lets keep our fingers crossed for good weather, so far it looks good! I'll be sure to post an update on Monday.

Remember me?

2009-05-27T10:05:00.003-04:00

You know - that crazy person who commutes 4 hours a day to her job and has a 1 year old - little sleep and used to blog here and there? Well...... I'm back.

A couple of weekends ago i participated in my very first craft show/street fair! It was a blast though I was very nervous. It was part of the Tri City Arts Festival in Asbury Park NJ and hosted by the Parlor Gallery. Asbury park has become so very hip and trendy, almost makes me want to move back home again. I met some really cool people and had a blast - so glad I did it!

Here are some photos of my display and set up. I'm gearing up for the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn on June 6th and 7th, so wish me luck and if you are in the area please stop by and say hi!

Happy 1st Birthday Wren!

2009-04-19T06:57:00.006-04:00

Friday, April 17th was Wren's 1st Birthday! Quite an exciting day, and as someone told me it is not only a celebration of her birthday, but a celebration that you've survived the first year of motherhood. We had a little family party yesterday, here are some photos. I joked with my MIL that she would like the box better than the present, so the kids of the family got together and decorated a big box for her, so sweet!

Creative Collaborations - part 2!

2009-04-13T09:42:00.007-04:00

I make mistakes.

I make so many mistakes screen printing it isn't even funny. Then, when I don't make a mistake printing a t-shirt, chances are I'll get a perfect print only to find that the shirt is messed up from the manufacturer and has a snag or a little hole. This is so frustrating!

I then end up with this growing pile of Oops! It seems wasteful to throw them away and I've thought about donating them but that doesn't feel quite right either. Now I have the perfect solution.....

There is this totally awesome Etsy seller named CourtneyCourtney. She makes fab stripey, twirly and fun clothes for girls often out of recycled materials - how cool is that. Check out what a gorgeous and cool dress she made using one of my Oops! Isn't she talented? What little girl wouldn't dream of such a colorful wardrobe?

Creative collaborations are awesome!

2009-04-08T19:11:00.006-04:00

Back around the holidays I came into contact via Twitter with a cool children clothing designer who has her own line, Saurette. Long story short, she used a couple of my hand painted designs in her collection. Check out how amazing it looks!

This was my hand painted version on a onesie (can you believe how much older baby Wren looks now?!)

I was actually inspired to do this design by my dear Etsy friend Faye who makes incredible bags. She had asked if I had a winter design and so I made a barren tree with bits of snow, only it looked too sad and lonely so I gave him a little red friend.

I really love the way the design came out. I've since moved away from hand painted works due to time constraints but check out how amazing my little tree and bird look in Saurette's line. Doesn't she have the most stylish clothes for a young girl? They certainly aren't something you'd find at the mall - which is a GREAT thing!

Sit. Spin. Front. Page.

2009-04-01T18:04:00.004-04:00

My Sit n Spin baby onesie graced the front page of Etsy today!! Yipee!! It is a new design and I never quite know how my new stuff will be received so this was way cool!

Speaking of cool.... check out Xenotee's shop. She makes incredibly hip, fresh and modern screen printed t-shirts!

Would you like a free WrenWillow t-shirt or onesie? Check out the NaturalKids giveaway!

2009-04-01T07:47:00.014-04:00

I'm a member of an awesome team on Etsy, the NaturalKids team!

I've volunteered to be part of a give away through the team so if you'd like to enter to win one of my bright and colorfully cool hand dyed and silk screened t-shirts please head on over to Woolies blog.

There are so many fun, earth friendly toys for kids on Etsy. I know I'm always shopping or baby Wren and truly appreciate having this alternative to the big box stores.

Here are a just few of my favorites from the NaturalKids team.

Needle Felted Dark Green Mama and Baby Frog Balls by AsherJasper

Cheep, the Baby Chick by BeneathTheRowanTree

Little Wool Bunny by oritdotandolls

Don't forget to enter the give away! Maybe you need a grumpy owl in your life, I know he makes me smile every time I see him.

Or how about one of my new designs inspired by my youth - a Sit N' Spin! Don't you think more things in life should be named with the directions of how to use them?

Go ahead Etsy - Make My Day

2009-03-31T19:50:00.001-04:00

Etsy Front Page 3/29/09 WrenWillow
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

I'm thrilled to share that I recently had 2 of my treasuries grace the ever elusive Etsy front page! My fern inspired "On the Forest Floor" went up on Sunday morning and then this afternoon on my way home from work "Spring Cleaning" went up. Yay!!

This totally made my day, I had a lousy time at work today which isn't usually the case but when it is bad it is awful.... so seeing my list up front and center and these awesome artists getting some exposure made my day!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-03-30T20:34:00.000-04:00

Today has been a long and hectic Monday and in the midst of it all somewhere between teaching 6th grade and catching the metro north train home I turned 32 years old. I'm not sure what I have to say about that, I don't mind that I'm 32 and I don't feel like I'm 32 but eh, I turned 32.

The cool bits of my day have been a planned and choreographed surprise happy birthday singing by a group of lovely students and the well wishes of friends both far and near. However the most surprising to me were random well wishes I received through people I didn't really know or have a relationship with on Etsy.

This is my first birthday on Etsy and not only do they put that cool happy birthday message at the top of your page for you, but you are listed here: http://www.etsy.com/birthdays.php

So cool! Etsy is always full of fun little applications. The best part though were the messages I received and the cool shops I then discovered. A couple that stood out were Marcy from signsofmylife She makes awesome original artistic signs and lettered art.

Another out of the blue heart felt convo came from Carrie Sue of Pretty Fickle. Check out her shop! Isn't this dream worthy?

Anyhow, it has been a long day and I am going to go have a slice of birthday cake!

Etsy Love

2009-03-27T08:03:00.000-04:00

I am up bright and early on a foggy friday, hoping to get some work done before a certain 11.5 month old wakes up. Before having Wren I treasured my sleep, I needed my sleep. I wasn't one of those people who could function with less then 8 hours. Now, I forgo sleep all the time in order to get stuff done. I wonder if eventually I'll just collapse and wake up a year later.....

I had such an incredible day yesterday in Etsy land - I was in 2 front page treasuries!!! Wowzers.

The first one was by Alyanna and the 2nd was by Kodomo. Doesn't Kodomo have the cutest shop?

Etsy Front Page 3/26/09 Kodomo
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

Etsy Front Page 3/26/09 alyanna
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

A new blog....

2009-03-25T14:52:00.000-04:00

Hello....

I've decided to move my attempt at blogging over from wordpress to blogspot. I'm sure wordpress is great and easy to use for many people however I find I am low on time and patience lately, so here I am.

For my first blog post on this new blog I thought I'd share some funny pictures.

I often receive comments from people about what an excellent model baby Wren is, how patient and happy she is. Well, as you can imagine photographing a near 1 year old and having her sit still and show the design on the t-shirt is quite challenging.

Here are some of the behind the scenes shots - enjoy!

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Originally uploaded by WrenWillow

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Originally uploaded by WrenWillow

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Originally uploaded by WrenWillow

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Originally uploaded by WrenWillow

wrenTongue
Originally uploaded by WrenWillow

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Originally uploaded by WrenWillow

funnywren
Originally uploaded by WrenWillow