My home

So a few different people have been asking me what my house looks like. I think they see all the funky stuff in the shop and think what in the world does her house look like? So here is a post with some pics of the interior of our house.

One of my favorite paintings ever, by Nancy Griffin. I'm lucky enough to have a husband that will occasionally splurge on artwork for my birthday :)

 And this beautiful door knob coat hanger was of course made by my talented mom, one of her first.

And she and I built this built-in bookcase. Yes, we already have way too many books for it. I'm trying to convince myself to get rid of some of them.

Papaya wall hanging :)

The scroll painting on the wall was a going away gift from some of our students in China.

Paris photos by Jessica Smit, a great friend and talented artist. Check out her paintings here.

We've done a lot of work on the house, but there are definitely things that still need updated, hopefully we will eventually get to them. I probably would have gone slightly more muted with some of the colors, but I have a husband that likes very bright colors, so they were a compromise. I picked the two very neutral colors out myself and they are maybe a little too boring so its probably good we have to compromise. :) And I think its obvious that the year we lived in China has definitely influenced our style, although I've always had an affinity for Asian things so maybe not. Also, as far as store items go, I have kept back a few of our auction finds that I just loved: a wood mid-century modern chair that now sits at Cory's synth (which doesn't appear in any of the photos), a cool old phone chair, and there is a floor lamp I'm considering that we haven't found a shade to fit yet. We also bought a very cool mid-century upholstered chair from Sandhills Sage to replace a chair in the living room that was in terrible shape. The basement still looks like a basement and the two tiny upstairs bedrooms still need a lot of work. Anyway, this is our house so far...

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August Newsletter!

It's August! Summer is winding down and its time to get back into the swing of school and activities. We have some fun ones for you to get back into the swing with!
August 22nd: Paper Cone Wall Flower Class! Learn how to make a decorative paper flower wall hanging out of book pages. All materials provided, 6:00-9:00pm. $30.00

August 27th: 6-10 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm (last Tuesday of every month except on holidays)

August 29th: 4-5 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm (last Thursday of every month except on holidays)

Our DIY this month is a fun take on a photo collage/page layout. We are loving all the fun geometric designs we've been seeing lately and decided to use a hexagon shape for our photo collage.

It's pretty simple. We found this free hexagon template online here. We cut out the 3 inch hexagon and simply held it in place over our photos and paper and cut them out (trace it first if you prefer). Choose coordinating colors for your hexagons or use all photos and create a pattern on your paper. It's a bit like putting a puzzle together. We used colored cardstock, book pages, and photos for our hexagons and we chose gold glitter paper for our background to gussy it up a little. Next, just glue them in place. If it's for a scrapbook, you can add a tittle and maybe use a hexagon for journal info. Otherwise to hang as a photo collage, slip it into a frame or glue it onto chipboard, punch holes at the top, and string a ribbon through. A great way to display some of your fun summer photos :)

We hope that you have an awesome August full of summer memories and fresh starts.

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We're going to the fair...

And we might even see some senoritas with flowers in their hair, 'cause we have some cute ones for sale in our booth. :) It's been a busy two days out at the fair and we've had a lot of fun. Thought I would share some photos. Also, I want to mention that I loved seeing so many of my art students' work in the fair - I'm so proud of you all, you are awesome!

Here is our booth:

Lots of new fun stuff, plus coupons and drawings. And guess who's next door?

Chelsie Moreland Photography with four big photos featured from our styled shoot!

There is one day left and we'd love to see you there! Tomorrow's hours for the Trade Show Pavillion are 12-4 :)

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If music be the food of love, play on...

So this amazing photographer asked me to do a styled wedding shoot with her. I'm so honored to have been a part of this! So much fun planning and making everything, I mean, who doesn't love getting to plan another wedding!
I absolutely adore how natural Chelsie's photography is, the gorgeous natural lighting and unposed look of her subjects, it's just stunning! Check out her website here: Chelsie Moreland Photography. So psyched to have been part of this (did I mention that already :-))!
And I have to give credit to the rest of the people who helped to make this happen: We had a great make-up artist, Lacy Covey. My aunt and uncle let us use their beautiful land. Chelsie's husband let us use the horse trailer, Marxophone, and even their dining room table! And we had incredible models. Which I need to brag on a little more. Seriously, the models (my friends Andy and Kerri), were amazing. They worked in terrible conditions: heat,wind, bugs, no food for hours, and were incredibly helpful and patient. Andy let us borrow his beautiful phonograph and Kerri found her own dress and shoes to wear and they really made the shoot work. I mean, look how adorable they are:

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

So, now for the rest of the photos, which Chelsie has graciously lent me. Please only copy and repost with her permission. I seriously want to post all of them, but I will try to narrow it down.
Tablescape

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

So I was going for a kind of old world music feel, with a little rustic Nebraska countryside thrown in of course :-).

Bouquet and Bout

Photos by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Photos by Chelsie Moreland Photography

I had lots of fun with vintage music sheets :-)

Birdcage Veil

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Table Numbers, to find where you sit

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Setting the Mood

Photos by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Let's Eat

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Fanfold pinwheel placecards and little bottles of homemade syrup for favors, 'cause guess what's for dessert?

Dessert

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Waffles with fresh berries (and cake of course).

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

And yes, that giant flower on the wall is what our August Class is on (but the ones we make in class will be slightly smaller, that one is seriously 3 feet in diameter).

And a few more pretty pics to leave you with

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Photo by Chelsie Moreland Photography

Check out our Etsy shop to purchase some of the handmade items shown here, or contact us for custom orders by visiting cherryblossompaper.com

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A few new things...

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July Newsletter!

It's hotter than a pepper sprout out there, and we have some hot news for you!
July 18th, 25th, and 30th: 4-5 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm 
August 3rd: Crazy Day! Come check out our great sales and free face painting from 10:00am-1:00pm!
August 9-11th: Come visit us out at the Big Tent at the fair: prizes and more!
August 22nd: Paper Cone Flower/Wreath Class! Learn how to make a decorative paper flower wall hanging out of book pages. All materials provided, 6:00-9:00pm. $30.00

August 27th: 6-10 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm (last Tuesday of every month except on holidays)

August 29th: 4-5 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm (last Thursday of every month except on holidays)

Make Your Own Drink Umbrellas

Our DIY this month is great for those outdoor summer parties. Not only do they look adorable, but if you use them on a straw and slide them down to the top of your cup, they will also help keep the bugs out of your drink. And they're extremely simple to make. I traced around the bottom of a solo cup and cut out the circle with decorative scissors. 

Then I cut a line in to the center of the circle (if you want this exact, you will have to use a compass instead of a cup :-)). Cut another line into the center, cutting a triangle out of your circle. The wider your triangle, the more "tented" your umbrella will be.

Next punch a hole in the center of your circle and overlap the edges of your triangle, gluing the paper together.

Your punched hole will probably be smaller than your straw. This works well because when you force the straw through, your umbrella will fit tightly on the straw and stay in place.

Enjoy!

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June Newsletter!

Wow, June is so flying by. I almost can't believe it. We hope you are having lots of fun, enjoying summer activities (when it's not raining :)). We are having lots of fun here at the shop and can't wait to share our news with you!
June 18th, 25th: 6-10 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm 

July 11th, 18th, 25th, and 30th: 4-5 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50 per class per child, $6.00 per child if you have more than one child in your family taking classes, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm 

We are planning on having the children's art show in September, so we are hoping parents can bring back in some pieces for the show by then.

Also, just fyi, I would love to do private art lessons with older kids and adults if anyone is interested.  

Adult art and craft project classes will start back up in August.

We have some very cute 4th of July papers in at the shop :). Mom made this adorable centerpiece with some of the papers.

Our DIY this month is on how to make decorative fireworks. It helps to start with a tube of some sort. The plastic center of a tape roll, a narrow wrapping paper roll, or empty spool. If it's a wrapping paper roll, start by cutting it down to the height you want. Cut some cute patriotic paper in a strip the height of your tube. Glue it onto the tube, wrapping it around as you go. Next cut a circle out of red tissue paper. Make your circle slightly bigger than the top of your tube. Run a line of glue around the top of your tube. Place your tissue circle on top of your tube and fold the edges down onto your line of glue. For the wick, we used white floral wire, stuck it down into the tissue, and glued a gold star on top. And voila!

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Baby Ties, Pillow Boxes, and Furniture

Just wanted to post photos of a few of our new items at the shop. I've had some requests for baby ties and small gift boxes and they've been on my to do list for a while so it feels good to get some done.

I tried the bow tie one on my 6 month old nephew and it looked so adorable I almost didn't want to put it out for sale :)

I've been meaning to make these for about a year now. :-o We've had quite a few people ask for small gift boxes for gift cards, certificates, and small items like jewelry and I kept thinking that I should make these. Finally did a custom one the other day for a customer and it spurred me on to make some more :)

And of course, I have to show off some of our new furniture pieces. The small writing desk/secretary is already sold, but I love the vintage wallpaper I used on it so I wanted to post it anyway. :) I have been waiting for the perfect piece to use it on and was finally able to. I still have some of it left, so I'll be keeping a look out for another piece it will work on.

A new dresser that Mom did that is just gorgeous!

And finally, a piece that we have been working on for a long time. Such a cool piece, but it needed a ton of repair work. Not something we normally like to do, but this piece was just too cool to pass up :)

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Succulents and Etsy Items

My love for succulents is growing, if that's possible. I already adored them. I think it started about 6 or 7 years ago when my mom planted a succulent container garden at her house and we poured over books with gorgeous photos of brilliantly colored succulents. One of those books was "Designing With Succulents" by Debra Lee Baldwin.

I highly recommend it if you are at all interested in succulents, or even just beautiful photography. Available here on Amazon. That love grew when I visited Phoenix during springtime. Along with the blooming cacti, there were a variety of gorgeous succulents.

And I've been just loving all the succulent wedding bouquets I've seen lately and succulent wedding stationery. All of this, inspired me to create my own succulent stationery. I drew a combination of succulents onto a rubber stamp block and then carved out the image. I used two or three different colors of inks to ink the stamp and ended up with these:

I'm very happy with them :). The yucca plant was a stamp I had made earlier and decided to have some fun with again. So these are up on Etsy here. And I also made a few new bridal hair flowers.

Feels good to get a few more things up on Etsy. :) Hopefully more to come!

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A few new things

I haven't posted any new items for awhile, so thought I'd post these even though some have been in the shop for a couple of weeks. It's hard to keep up with sharing all of the new things we've made, and of course there are more in the works already!

Some new pretties...

Chalkboard, corkboard window with shelf

Milk Painted table

Repurposed Planter

Yarn pom summer banner

So much fun! 

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