I feel like I am long overdue for a blog post! Summer with my kids have taken over my every day in such a big way. Just this week we have been to the beach twice, bowling, the zoo, and the park. With my youngest heading to Kindergarten this September, I am trying to spend as much time with them as I can. My heart is so confused on whether I am SO happy to have time to focus on my business and taking care of myself without interruption for the first time in 8 years!….or if I am utterly heartbroken that my years of being a true “stay at home”, that does laundry standing up while eating left over Mac and Cheese are over?? I had a brief moment last week that I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of how I might want another baby, just so that these years can linger a little longer. The next day I was brought back to reality that 2 large dogs, a cat and two very active kiddos are plenty. So my season will come to an end and I plan to bid farewell gracefully. And by gracefully I mean I will eat Cheetos in my car and cry a little on the first day of the school.
So, with that being said… I hope that I can blog more about my upcoming projects and plans. I have never had a true schedule to work before, so I am really excited to paint during the day and even hone in on my online store, offering more and growing this side of the business a little bit. Also getting my hands in a few outside projects including more design work, maybe some day time paint classes, possibly an extension to my candle line AND some upcoming Pottery Barn Pop-ups. Which leads me to what I really wanted to share today! Last week I had my first Pop-Up shop held at Pottery Barn Bellevue (WA). I am not one to do shows but I have fallen in love with this “Pop-up” idea. I was originally contacted by them about a month or two ago about my interest in doing one. Ideas immediately started following of a mini collection. I wanted to incorporate my painted pieces and candle line but I also wanted to bring a few home accents. I found a gorgeous paper print on Spoonflower.com by the talented Elizabeth Ivie of The Little Ivie Cloth Co. called Sprigs and Blooms and based my whole collection off of that. I used black, soft pinks, sage/mint, and dark green. Perfect for Summer.
I really wanted to keep the painted pieces to a minimum for a few reasons… although I wanted to showcase some examples of my work (with my main focus always on furniture) I also knew that if would be tough to load in and equally tough for people to impulse buy and walk to their cars. I stuck with 5 small furniture pieces and accented my display with hand-stamped pillows, vases/glassware, F+F matches, Tea-light bar, handmade keychains + wristlets, NEW candle gift sets and of course loads of my regular candle line.
I walked away selling WAY more than I had planned to. The women that put this in motion for me were nothing short of the sweetest, and so welcoming. I saw a lot of familiar faces from the social media world too… which was so exciting. Mike got to tag along so we were able to fit in a little date afterwards. It really was the very best experience. Before I left, we had 2 more on the schedule AND they would like to host one of my paint classes. Each Pop-up will have different items in a curated collection just like the first. I am already planning my October event to be in deep blues! We are still planning the details of the class … but I hear that they are bringing in some really great goodies to snack on while we paint. I will be teaching my Furniture Painting 101 which is a basics class that I provided everything that you will need including a vintage chair that you get to paint and keep! This class will not be one to miss. They plan to promote throughout the mall as soon as I get flyers sent…so it will fill quickly. Snag your spot above under the “shop” bar starting today. Dates for my upcoming events are :
Painting Class held at Pottery Barn Bellevue: Sunday October 1st 9-11am
Pop-up: October 29th
Pop-up: December 10th
So excited for what is in store! I hope you are enjoying your Summer so far!
xo,
Amanda
ferpie and fray 