Bye bye Christmas, Hello New Year!

Today is the last day of the year 2010, and tomorrow we greet 2011. We had a great Christmas in the Clayden family, Hip Chick got a zoom lens and photoshop so she can get even more tutu pictures next year! I had no idea photoshop was SO complicated so I will have to take a deep breath, say "Ommmmm" and learn patience and persistence to understand it. My friend Molly came over to give me a lesson and her son was a programmer for photoshop and even he said it's a lot to learn. Note to self, it's ok to not try and get this in 5 mins. or less. haha. So as the Christmas season leaves I happily put away all the decorations, tree and signs of clutter at home while everyone in the family is gone. For those of you who know me my favorite saying is 'when it's time to change you gotta re-arrange'....sha na na na na na na na na, sha na na na na.......Partridge famiy, good times...so Christmas is GONE at home and now it's GONE at the shop as of yesterday. BA-BYE...there was much to pack up and put away, as we all know. Much more fun to put it out then to take down for sure.
Now I have a clear palette for the new year and for my par-tay January 15th. For those of you who don't know, I turn one year old Jan 16th and I thought we better celebrate this occasion with a party. We are having John Richmond play his sweet sounds as he was our maestro last year and we throughly enjoyed it. We will have food, drinks, dancing in Daisy and tutu performances by my lovely daughter and friends. A fun day will be had, so I am stocking the store in the hopes of much support and activity.
Yesterday as my friend Annie and I were taking down Christmas we had some customers come in who made my day. Nick and Michelle with their daughter Olive drove all the way from Fremont to visit Hip Chick Designs! I was so honored! Nick had come by about a month previous and purchased a tin storage bin for his lovely wife, just because. What a guy! He told his wife about the shop and she wanted to come see what was going on, sadly she came on a Tuesday and I wasn't there. So sorry Michelle!! But she perservered and came back and boy am I glad they did! They purchased my metal locker so Michelle can display her collection of Pyrex bowls. Wonderful! I know how fun it is to collect things, being a Fiesta collector for years, and being able to display our collections is half the fun. Hopefully Michelle will share her treasure with a picture and I will post it, it's such fun to know what people do with the things they buy after they leave the shop. It's always bittersweet to part with things, I mean of course that's the point and yet you can't help but get a bit attached to some of the things you love. I do get pleasure knowing things are moving on and giving others pleasure, that's so much why I love having the shop. I love to meet people who are vintage treasure hunters and see their joy at acquiring a new purchase and hopefully see them again and again...that makes my 'job' satisfying. So thanks Michelle for making me feel so good yesterday, it's customers like you that make me feel purposeful.
This weekend is the Alameda antique fair, my playground and paradise. What to get? I'll know it when I see it. I bring wads of cash and never leave with a dollar in my pocket. They also have the best kettle corn on the planet. I can hardly stand it it's so good. So I say good bye to 2010, it was a good year. I started my dream business and had amazing adventures. I look forward to much more fun in 2011 and I hope you will join me January 15th to celebrate this fabulous ride. If not I want to thank you for taking time to read my blog, to cheer me on and to support the journey. Let's kick ass in 2011 together!

Tutu's and birthdays

Today was Lisa's birthday, she's my new friend and I was happy to spend the day celebrating HER. Now obviously I packed the tutu's in the car, as I'm the tutu lady and I didn't have a picture of Lisa in one yet. I didn't know where we would take the pictures, I had some ideas but what's great about the tutu shots are they basically tell me where to go. The plan was lunch at Plum's in Oakland as I had recently read a write up giving it rave reviews. Sadly I was disappointed. We had a GOOD lunch not an excellent one so that's alright. I doubt I'll go back anytime soon. After lunch we headed to Lafayette and as I was getting lost( as usual) we made it a happy accident by busting out the tutus! We pulled over on top of the mountain so Lisa could let her birthday banner fly in the wind along with her purple tutu. Loved the birthday glow Lisa let loose....after the mountain top twirl we saw a funky farm and decided to check it out. I mean farms and tutu's go hand....and at the farm we found some adorable Jr. Hip Chick's Tamar and Mia. They were on the sidelines watching us take pictures so I said "would you like to put the tutu's on?" and they eagerly said "YES"! They were naturals and the pictures really show the fun we all had. The girls twirled around and around and I watched tutu magic happen once again. The girls were asking me what am I doing with these pictures, and I told them, this is my job girls. And funny enough it is!

Pet portraits for Christmas

I love paintings pet portraits. Why you ask? I love painting anything but I especially love painting things that have meaning and our pets mean a lot to us. I love knowing whoever gets the pet portrait will be pleased as it's a thoughtful and special gift that you wouldn't ever expect. I have two recent portraits to share. One is for my friend Ann to give to her brother, the pugs. The other is a for a customer name Jack and his sister's dog is McFly, a Chihuahua . I did both of these this week and I am painting my husband's bosses dog soon as a thank you for our NY trip. I start with a charcoal sketch then I layer the paint, putting in lights and darks loosely in case I need to move things and I usually do. I LOVE acrylic as you can always just paint right over a spot and start fresh. I have always struggled with proportions and I usually have to adjust things so I am always grateful for the forgiving nature of acrylics. It's so wonderful to have commission paintings to do while I am at the shop. I love to make art and when people come in it's icing on the cake. When it's slow I am 'working' and doing what I love, a win win. I need to get the word out as pet portraits are affordable ($100) and fast, and a true keepsake gift. It only takes a picture so this can all be done via the internet folks. I shall be expanding this aspect of Hip Chick for my next year's goals. As always thanks for stopping by my blog and I really appreciate your support!

Open studios pictorial and Theatre of Dreams

Friday I went to Wendy Addison's studio in Port Costa for her open studios but sadly she was in NY at a promotional event.  I was hoping to get a shot of her in my red tutu for the portfolio...but it was still very stimulating to be in her studio among her incredible art pieces.  I wanted to buy everything!  I did buy a good bit and then saw the foster farm chickens in a red truck parked right in front of my car which made me smile...then it was off to get ready for the weekend....and what a weekend it was!
 
 I LOVE open studios!  The Arsenal is humming with good energy and enthusiastic art lovers and supporters.  It was so wonderful to have all my family and friends come to the shop and support my dream.  Thank you to all of you who made the journey.  It warms my heart to see my favorite people in my studio and then to share my joy of creativity, it is the icing on the cake.  The store feels so good when there are loads of people inside, all ohhing and ahhing and the music is playing....it's heaven.  I saw my peeps, my family, my friends and neighbors and met some new supporters as well.  I had good sales and good vibes and the weekend was a huge success.  The pictures really tell the story.  Saturday Ben (my hubbie) and Alex (our son) came to cheer me on and Sunday Abby (our daughter) and her friend Louise came to join in the fun and take tutu pictures....with their pointe shoes and let me tell you these girls can't take a bad picture.  GORGEOUS!  I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do what I love, create art and have my shop, in a place I love, the Arsenal, and then share it with people I love, YOU all.  It just doesn't get any better than that! 

Open Studio weekend

Well it's Saturday at 8:11 and I am getting ready for the big weekend, it's our open studios at the Arsenal in Benicia. I have tried to spread this news ad nausem on facebook and with postcards etc. I never did post on my blog so better late than never right?! I have a new line of fragrances called ToykoMilk and they are yummy! plus loads of Christmas decor, art, cheery music, snacks and best of all ME! haha...
So I hope all you fans can come and celebrate this occasion, perhaps find some Christmas presents and have fun looking at all the art studios here in the Arsenal. I love open houses, I was always a snoop when I was young so when you can go in someone's private place it's a treat. There is every possible kind of art and flavor happening here, and the talent is enormous. I am honored to be a part of this community of creatively talented individuals. I feel like a kindergartner compared but at least I'm in the game ya know!! Pictures to follow of course so stay tuned and thanks for your support!!

ToykoMilk coming to Hip Chick

I am excited to announce the shop will be carrying ToykoMilk a luxurious line of yummy perfume, lotions, soaps and candles. These will hopefully be arriving in time for open studios this weekend so come on down and get some! I am psyched for the festivities and merriment...then we have Hip Chick's 1 year anniversary celebration coming up on January 15th. There will be dancing in Daisy, music by John Richmond, tasty treats and bubbly. There will also be a special tutu dance party presentation by my daughter and her friends so it's going to be FUN!!

Pay it forward- December 1, 2010

Did you see the movie Pay it forward? It was excellent. Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment were the cast if this movie from 2000. Here's what it's about.....
"Everything in social studies teacher Eugene Simonet's life is in order--every shirt, every pencil, every person in its proper place. To keep the surface placid means never having to go deeper. And no one and nothing in his life has ever asked him to. Arlene McKinney is a single mother hanging on by her fingertips, working two jobs, and struggling to raise her son, Trevor. She is trying to give him a new life, but in her absence she is losing him. Eugene gives Trevor's class an assignment: look at the world around you and fix what you don't like. But can you fix people? "
I've seen this movie a few times and every time I am moved and affected. I love the concept that Trevor created which was to do 3 random acts of kindness and if those 3 people pay it forward then eventually everyone would be doing good deeds. Tomorrow is official "Pay it forward" day according to David Del Mundo. He posted on facebook an invite that December 1st is official pay it forward day, and he asked people to join. I happily agreed. It's easy to pay it forward, the hard part is in being anonymous. I often do random acts of kindness but I usually get thanked for it. The real test is doing it and not having any praise and acknowledgment. So I thought of different things to do for it and settled on distributing 8 poinsettias with Merry Christmas from someone who cares to the people in hospice. I would like to give everyone one, and I will let the staff figure out who gets them but it's a start. The reason I'm sharing this is not for praise but to inspire you to do the same tomorrow in whatever way you find enjoyable. I like to support good causes and this is a good one to be sure. I thought about buying people Starbucks but I really wanted to reach someone who needs a lift. I think I will make December a pay it forward month and do as many acts of kindness as I can. I just wanted to be sure and do something for the launch. If you haven't seen the movie, get it. If you've never paid it forward, try it. You will get just as much out of it as the person who receives it, if not more. And remember "Tis the season".....

This is David's post for Pay it forward on facebook..
David's 2nd Annual
Pay It Forward Day
December 1st, 2010

‘Tis the Season! A random act of kindness goes a long way so…

PAY IT FORWARD!!!

What can you do?
ON DEC. 1st...
• Pay for someone’s cup of coffee…
• Buy someone some groceries…
• Get the next person’s gas…
• Help someone out…
• Donate something…
• Be creative!!!

When you do something for someone there’s a good chance they’ll do something for someone else. If not, at least you’ve done a good deed for someone.

So on December 1st share some kindness and spread some joy! It can be as little as a few dollars or as much as you want. No one needs to know!

Join me, won’t you?

(I'm trying to make this a national event so spread the word. Maybe one day it'll be a nationally recognized day!)

I won't be offended if you don't decide to participate, but please... spread the word!