Annual cherry pickin party

Today it was finally nice here in California, it's been really wet and chilly so seeing the sun shine today was glorious.  Last year about this time the hubbie and I went cherry pickin' and it was really fun.  and delicious I might add...I love me some crunchy bing cherries.  don't you?  Man they are good!  This time our daughter Abby joined the fun and we ate as many cherries as we could before feeling sick.  Then we picked cherries to bring home, far more than we will eat.  I like sharing.  Sharing is caring I always say...so here's some fun shots of our cherry pickin excursion...

don't these look delicious??

Ben certainly thinks so!!

had to wear my tutu, it's tradition!

yo, who loves cherries?

Abby in the treetops

the cherries killed her

our bounty

here's my lot, where's yours?

this is the life!

my darling daughter Abby

she humored me with the headband (pressie from Ben from Italy)

it's fun up here!

Hellooooooo overrrrr thereeeeee.....

there were tutus falling from the sky...

and landing on ladders

exquisite contrasts

tutu in cherry orchard

Now who wants some cherries?  They go quickly as they are sooo yummy...after all the joy of this excursion I came home to find I got published in Crescendoh in the Art Saves category....this is really exciting for this Hip Chick.  I entered my story on a whim and forgot all about it and then today find out I'm in !  Yipee!  Here is the link for those who are interested...

http://blog.crescendoh.com/readers_share/2011/06/finally-found-my-niche-by-carrie-clayden.html

I am honored to be in this publication and it validates all the effort I put into my business.  Being my own boss is a learning experience everyday, as I am the bookkeeper, the buyer, the artist, the marketing manager, the spokesperson, the writer of blogs and websites, etc...I could go on, suffice it to say I wear many hats.  Motherhood has trained me well for this job, as being a Mother ones juggles numerous things at once.  It's always changing which I like and there is a never ending list of "To Do's" which I don't always like, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Thank you to you who have been supporting this adventure.  You help motivate me when I am down, wondering what the heck I'm doing...all it takes is a simple, "way to go" and I'm feeling good.  Let's keep frolicking on and see where the road goes....I'm glad we are on it together....

Whatever works

Hi friends.  I am psyching up for my day, looking outside at the dark clouds, trying not to let them 'dampen' my spirits.  But I do wish for a warm day I have to confess...I am a sunshiney girl for certain.  I always say I'm like the weather, "when it's sunny, I'm sunny and when it's cloudy then you know....I'm cloudy.  And this late June winter weather has got my panties in a wad let me tell you.. I mean geez.  The forecast for the weekend is rain.  all weekend.  So much for the BBQ that we are having on Sunday, oops I mean Rainday...ok enough about the weather.  I could write for hours...

The topic today is whatever works.  I chose this as a result of my recent joining of "Etsy".  I am doing whatever works to get my name out there, sell my art, and make a couple bucks.  As you know I have the shop in Benicia, and it's fabulous, but it is quiet...because it is hidden.  My biggest challenge is finding my customers and then getting them to come to me.  I am still working on how to do that.  An easier approach is to post items I have online as I have built a huge online friend base.  This way people that don't live nearby can see what I have and hopefully buy it.  So I joined Etsy the online crafty website for yummy goodies.  I only have 1 item at the moment, but you gotta start somewhere right?  I will add more little by little and see what happens.  One thing I have learned with my business is it's good to keep trying new things to see what works.  I don't have a road map for Hip Chick's, I am 'off road' seeing all the sights and meeting new friends in the nooks and crannies of the road less traveled.  One thing I love about having my own business is there are no rules, I am in charge and it's scary and empowering all at the same time.  There is a big learning curve, I am not always going to make everyone happy that's for sure.  But I do try to make my shop a happy place for people to be inspired, myself included.  So for those who can't come in, I will provide an online shop and then I'm reaching everyone I can.  I have met so many amazing artists from facebook and online art classes and we all support each others endeavors.  It is one of my favorite parts of my business.  We are all trying to do what we love and hopefully make some money at the same time.  That's the main objective after all.  So with out further adue, here is my Etsy link...
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75305978/vintage-bottle
Be the first to buy my stuff, I would be sooooo inspired.  I have many more bottles with fun sayings, art I will post, vintage treasures and the like.  Thank you for all your support, it really does keep me going.  I often wonder if I am just spinning my wheels, round and round in circles, and when I get comments from you telling me how much something I did affected you, it makes it all worth it.  Thank you.

Art isn't always happy

Reunited and it feels so good....

Last weekend I got to reunite with my old best friend Cindi Thompson.  Cindi and I met in the girls
bathroom at Leigh High school and we became instant best friends.  We were inseperable.  We shared so many life experiences I couldn't begin to write about them...we had 20 plus years of fun together.  But then we had a rift, and sadly the rift lasted about 7 years.  But then out of the blue, we talked again and we mended our differences.  What a miracle.  If I had my old pictures scanned I would do a photo log of our relationship, but it would takes hours to find the pics and scan them to do that.  Just picture the 80's, then both of us with feathered hair and you have the image....then fast forward to these...

Cindi with her boyfriend Gage, and her brother Scott with his kids

Carrie, Scott and Cindi

old St.Croix friends Susan and Cindi

old roomies Cindi and Ben

Cindi and Gage

The Claydens

group shot in Santa Cruz

best buds 

here was the reunion, at Aldo's in Santa Cruz and Alex (my son) was our waiter.  So fun.  It was a wonderful day for everyone, we all ate yummy food, caught up and walked to the beach.  I have missed my friend and when I thought of us it made me sad.  It's such an empty feeling to end a friendship, its like a death.  But we got a second chance and I am so grateful.  Life is too short to hold bad feelings, and if you have an opportunity for happiness then take it.  I did and I am glad.  The day after I talked to Cindi I healed another relationship that was painful in my life.  Talk about synchronicity.  It was on fire that week!  How fortunate to have this happen in the same time and make my life twice as good in two days time.  I am still adjusting to the enormity of it.  I am always open and willing to what life presents, and especially so when it's a blessing.  What a blessing this is.........

Road trips are the best

Funny that my last post was of Bass Lake and the follow up post is about Bass Lake...that's synchronicity folks!  Abby and I got to go on our annual mother-daughter road trip last weekend to Bass Lake and this time we both brought a friend.  She brought Emilie and I brought Kat and the funny thing is we all gell like magellin...haha.  Now that Abby is 15 she really likes hanging with her friends and I understand, I am just grateful she still likes hanging out with me too.  I am amazed how all of her friends are so engaging and fun.  The older generation (Kat and I) delight in watching them be girls and dance, and sing and have fun.  They don't roll their eyes at us oldies when we do the same, they join in!  It's wonderful.  Let's just show the pictures as they show all the fun...I am soooo happy to have my camera back after over a month of it being at the shop getting repaired.  You all know how much I love that thing.  I am a picture MANIAC!  Now that I have it back it's picture time...(.da..da..da..da...da.da...da..da..dance music plays..)  ok, well here are some of the pictures which I always post on facebook (BTW) but there are some of you (Robin) who don't do facebook so herre ya go...

Abby and Emilie at the Frosty shop awaiting their ice cream cones...

Emile's first time to Bass, she loved it...who wouldn't?

everything is so beautiful there....so peaceful...

first tutu silliness...

best view on the lake, right in front of the cabin

new yellow tutu is amazing in sunshine

I like jumping in tutus...

falling is funny too..

Kat is my soul sister

these girls can dance...and kick...

mother daughter love bump

a moment in time...

hmmm, look what I found..

Art journaling

girls having fun on kayak

Abby and Emile got these boys to don tutus...

and then we had some car trouble....

but our taxi driver Jeannie was fun

and the next morning it was WINTER...

beautiful and still

then we had Fork's for our Finale and Ramon donned a tutu

and we drove home under an intense sky

it was a whirlwind of sun, fun, thrifting, car trouble, art journaling, hair cuts. good food and friends, laughter, good movie (Jack goes Boating), yoga, picture taking, did I mention tutu's?, snow, rain, hail, sunflower seeds, and much more.....what can I say except Bass Lake is the best.  The weather went from 78 degrees on friday to about 36 degrees on Sunday so it was the full spectrum.  But we did it all and even with car trouble had a great time.  Just goes to show you, with tutu's, good friends, and a good attitude everyday is beautiful.

Inspiration

For those of you who know me, and for those who don't, you probably know that I am linked to tutu's.  Right?   Right.  Do you know WHY?  Maybe some do, but most probably don't.  Wanna know??  Thought so..all thanks to a Bass Lake road trip 2 years ago with my daughter Abby.  We went on our mother daughter road trip in May 2009 .  While on the road we stopped off at a thrift shop (our usual thing) and saw a red tutu hanging on the clothes rack, and we thought..."FUN".  GOOD.  Let's get it!  So we did.  Later that day, we were kickin it at the cabin, and we decided to go take some pictures.  (Our usual thing again) so we went to "Bee beach" which we nicknamed because yes there were lots of bees there once, hence the term "bee beach".  So we grabbed our red tutu and we start shooting......here are the pics...

cute...so cute.  right?  Having no idea how this tutu thing would become a phenomenon we just laughed and twirled on and on....

 Abby rocked that tutu as she is a dancer, but I had to have a turn too...even though I'm an old lady I still like to kick my heels up..

I loved it, I felt so fabulous twirling about...we took tons of shots...laughing the whole time....

the light was perfect and the mood was joyous...when we were done we threw the tutu in the air...

and marveled how gorgeous the tutu looked against the blue sky, like a giant flower... I call this "Exuberance", it captures the essence of our experiences that day.  Later Abby and I feasted on Miller's burgers...yumm...

It was a glorious Mother daughter weekend.  One of many.  And it started the tutu train down the tracks.....choo choo....after seeing our tutu pictures and remembering our joy in the tutu frolic,  I thought...."maybe there is magic in that red tutu", and I brought it to my next event, a birthday party.  Well, I was right, there IS magic in that tutu, and in every tutu I have seen since.    Every time someone puts one on, they light up and smile, they become young, silly and happy.  I have since taken hundreds of tutu pictures.  There are sooo many and I have put many on my website.  If you haven't seen them go to www.hipchickdesignsca.com and enjoy the slide show.  I need to compile a book and also make cards, it's just on my long list of things to do see.... Now I sell these "magic tutus" and this has been catching on quickly.  I love that such a simple thing, a pettiskirt, is making people happy.  It's helping my business by showcasing who I am, a silly artist named Carrie who dances about in a tutu skirt for fun and thrills.  Seems like there isn't enough fun and silliness in the world and I am happy to help spread more of that about if I can. This weekend is another mother daughter Bass Lake road trip.  This time we have both invited a friend, it's so fun  we love to share.  Of course there will be tutus and we hope some sunshine too.  I know the tutu thing will wear off sooner of later...for now it's a fun ride and people are enjoying it.  I know I am.  That's the fun thing about inspiration, you never know when or where it will strike.

But once it does you go with it, you just know, ya know?  I will know when it's done and then I will move on to something else...most likely the next thing will plop in my lap just as the tutu's did.  That will be fun.  Until then we shall all dance around in out tutu's and be silly.  Life's too short not to be, and I admire people who can let their hair down and let loose.  It's liberating.  Exhilarating.  and for this Hip Chick, essential.  Thanks again for taking time to check out my blog, I love to hear from you, what inspires you? I shall end with this adorable picture of my darling daughter at Bass Lake when she was about 1 year old.  Priceless..