Much Needed Vacation

We here in the Armstrong household have been working veeeery hard lately and need a little vacation! We're unplugging and hitting the back roads of Kentucky and we're taking Papa with us (he'll be 90 next week)!! An 800-mile, 4-day, 4-generation roadtrip around his home state to see some of its most beautiful natural wonders-- Mammoth Cave, Cumberland Falls, Land Between the Lakes, and (if we're lucky) this place... where Papa and Granny honeymooned in 1946. Nothing says "romance" like a wigwam. : )

Arian : )

Second Shooters

I did a mini photo shoot this morning with my cousin, Clint, to try and get some good promo pics for a new business venture he's taking on. It was a ton of fun and he was a very patient model : )

And of course I took along my two trusty assistants who braved all the walking and waiting in the 90+ degree weather like pros!

( Jude: "Mommy! Wook! We hold hands! Awww." )


I'm pretty sure they enjoyed the adventure,


trying only occasionally to sneak into the shots : )



Overall, they are a pretty handy duo. I think I'll keep them around ; )

I'll show you the best photos from the shoot soon!

Arian

Sponsor Spots Available! (Real Cheap) ; )

As you may have noticed, I've been sprucing up the blog lately--adding new things, moving stuff around. Hope you're liking it! I've decided to try offering a few sponsor ad spots in the right column for the month of July as a way of adding some more colorful buttons to my blog while giving some up-and-coming Etsy shops/artists/photographers/etc a tad of publicity. And they're only $20 for the month. The bonus is that, if you purchase an ad, you get A FREE PRINT of your choice from my shop. So if you've got your eye on any prints, you can actually SAVE $1 buy purchasing an ad spot. Crazy, I know.
So don't be shy! If you're interested, shoot me an email by 6/25 at arianarmstrong@yahoo.com. I'll pick a few whose product or service fits well with the personality of my blog and get back to you with details.



(a little whale friend who makes an appearance in our current video project) ; )

We're in the home stretch of the video...one more late/all nighter and we'll be done. I think the Armstrongs deserve to take it easy this weekend!!

Arian : )

Sneak Peeks : )

If you were peeking over my shoulder at this fine hour of the night, this is what you'd see...me chuggin along on our new secret video project! I'm totally exhausted but super pumped---I think we're gonna be happy with the results!


So excited to be working with Daniel again! (but getting paid this time ; )

Ok, back to work. If you need me, I'll be riiiiight here for, well, a looong time tonight : )

Arian

Emergency Tree Factory

Yesterday the Armstrong household was taken over by a whirlwind of cardboard scraps, paint, play dough, duct tape, and creativity. Our lovely musician friends, Ellery, called in a last-minute favor-- they needed some sort of stage decor for their cd release show and we only had one day and $0 to pull it off. Crazy, last-minute design challenges are like my crack and I love love love getting all MacGyver-like, using the few random supplies I have around to create an EXPLOSION of art.
I called in my good friend, Laura, and using the Ellery album art as our inspiration, we spent the morning whipping up a mini grove of cardboard trees and tiny houses (thanks for the cardboard boxes, Dan!) . Then I grabbed a stack of notebook paper, some frames I bought at a salvage place a while back, a couple wooden crates we use as storage, a ball of string, and some duct tape and Daniel and I dashed off to the theatre.

(Denison Witmer)

We added a few strings of lights and some paper lanterns borrowed from a friend to the mix and TADA!, a cozy, night time setting for what turned out to be a greeeat show.

(Ellery)

And speaking of crazy last-minute design challenges, we just got called in for a super fun little project related to this super fun project. Apparently the O.C. folks like our stuff. Woohoo!! But we only have 8 days to pull it off. Madness.

Have a great weekend!

Arian : )

B.O.G.O.OOOOOOOOO!!!!!

YAY! Summer is in full force here-- picnics, road trips (with the convertible top down!), tank tops, flip flops, outdoor concerts, bonfires, warm-weather adventures, family vacation to the beach...all the good stuff the season has to offer. And what better way to welcome summer (besides all the things I just listed!) than a summer BUY ONE GET ONE SALE!

Right now til June 15th, buy any print in my shop and get one of equal or lesser value for FREE! For every print you purchase, let me know in the "message to seller" upon checkout which free print(s) you'd like.

And I'll be including little extra goodies with each purchase just for fun : )



Hope you're enjoying the season where ever you are!
Arian : )

For Lindsey

Sorry to be m.i.a.! I was away on our father/daughter trip with my dad and sis and then I came home sick and then our talented artist friend, Richard Fudge, came into town to spend the weekend with us. So it's taken me awhile to get back in the game. But I've got big plans for both of my Etsy stores coming up and two music videos to start working on so there are lots of fun things and special deals on the horizon (wink, wink)
And I wanted to show you this custom print I made for my youngest step-sister as a little high school graduation present-- it was lots of fun!

Have a great Tuesday!

Arian