Christmas Corsage (or Etsy Alchemy Is Cool!)

I got my first request via Etsy's Alchemy service the other day.

The customer requested a corsage with blooms similar to my Christmas wreaths. Here's the resulting holiday joy!








Despite the nearly 80 degree weather and 90% humidity outside, this corsage is putting me in the Christmas spirit!

Oh, and don't forget about my HUGE clearance sale right now in my Etsy shop - 50% off all existing wreaths and arrangements...

Side Project Fun (or New Bionic Buttercup Gems)

Remember how I told you guys about my second Etsy shop, The Bionic Buttercup?

Well, I thought I'd hopefully brighten your Tuesday and post some of my favorite, quirkiest items from my shop!

Like this mirror haunted by a little girl...




this animal cell necklace...




or this altered landscape painting...




Have a unique Tuesday!

I'm Not Dead Yet (or O Hai!)

Wow.
It's been a while, hasn't it?

There has been SO MUCH going on in the past month, I've had zero time to tell you about it... but now I can!

First of all, to all those awesome traditional and Offbeat Brides who have been asking about calla lillies I have good news - THEY'RE HERE!







These ivory calla lillies were created for Lika and Joe's November wedding. The bridesmaids will be wearing a beautiful jewel-tone blue and will have pops of brilliant orange and stately silver.








I plan on featuring the full details of their wedding after the big day, so if you want to see how the whole lovely affair comes together, stay tuned! (Also, I can't resist giving a shout-out to my alma mater right now - Go Gators!)



Another piece of big news is the grand opening of my sister shop on Etsy - The Bionic Buttercup!



The Bionic Buttercup is your #1 source for whimsy and frivolity since 2042!

I created the shop as a side project for myself (because I'm apparently not busy???) because I like arts and crafts of ALL kinds - not just posh paper florals.

The Bionic Buttercup is a place of whimsy, ridiculousness, and goof-ballery of all kinds! Each visit to the shop is an adventure where you never know what you're going to find... Don't forget to "like" The Bionic Buttercup on Facebook here.

Currently the shop has necklaces appropriate for the Daily Show's quickly arriving Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30, 3010 on the National Mall in Washington DC.



30% of your purchase of these necklaces will be donated to the rally's official charity - The Trust for The National Mall

I actually have lots more exciting stuff to announce, but I think I'll give you a break right now...

Until next time, my dears!

Great Day Houston (or Doot-Doot-Doot!)

Whew! Today was a long and awesome day!

For those who prefer their chases to be cut to, here's the video from today's Great Day Houston on KHOU, channel 11 (in the 4th largest city in America!)


Love that freeze frame!

My segment starts at -4:35, but I urge you to watch all of it because Roxy and Lora are awesome!


Soooo, backstory: In case you've missed all my crowing for the past 2 days, you might be interested to know that I was a guest on today's Great Day Houston episode featuring "designing women" in the Houston community.



Ahhh, the hustle and bustle of live tv!






In 3... 2... and *point*


I kind of have a million things to say about it, but also I think the video speaks for itself. I was nervous, but not as much as I thought I'd be... It was really really fun and Deborah Duncan is possibly the easiest person to talk to on the whole freaking planet! I gave her one of Roxy's pins and a small bouquet of daisys after the show, and she said she'd be interested in having us back before Christmas!



Me and the wonderful Ms. Deborah Duncan


Also, go Etsy Houston! Represeeeeent!

[I have a picture to put here of me, Lora, and Roxy, but it's right before the show and we look terrified!]

So, I guess keep it tuned to channel 11 for further updates!

Robot In Bloom Paper Flower Jewelry Debuts Today! (or I Finally Updated My Etsy Shop...)

In a minor flurry of activity, I updated my Etsy shop today to include a few pieces of paper flower jewelry I've been working on...

Enough talk.
Pics or it didn't happen!



Trendy Pink Paper Flower Ring




Ivory Gardenia Ring




Pretty Pink Paper Flower Ring




Orchid-Colored Paper Rose Ring




Lime Green Paper Poof Dangly Earrings

Austin Wedding Blog (or You Like Me, You Really Like Me!)

Check it out, you guys!

The hip, stylish Austin Wedding Blog chose to include this Robot In Bloom blog post in the Everything Wedding Blog Carnival #6!



Wheeeeeee!

The Everything Wedding Blog Carnival was started by the incredibly popular, incredibly informative wedding resource, Bride Tide. The honor of choosing features for the 6th edition fell to Rachel of the Austin Wedding Blog, and she chose to tell the wedding world about my flower jewelry!

Which is all in perfect timing, too, because I'm about to fill my Etsy shop with a bunch of new rings, hairclips, and a few other baubles for your personal decoration!

Anyway, thank you so much Ms. Rachel for including Robot In Bloom!

Artisan Market Wrap-Up, Part 2 (or Different Awesome People, Same Awesome Day!)

OMG, how good does that look??
Well, once I saw the adorable packaging and sampled it, I just HAD to have a bottle of Te House of Tea chai for myself. The flavor is very complex, yet light, and it has an extra little punch of spice at the end that keeps you coming back for another cup!



Te House of Tea was started by Connie and Alyson who wanted to create a community space in Houston that provides organic and fair-trade teas, delicious food, and local entertainment. Josh and I can't wait to visit!


At the next booth was the adorable and talented Rosa Yoo.



Rosa creates all types of cakes for all types of occasions...



Obviously this gal knows what she's doing visually, but she's also an excellent baker! I tried a sample of her red velvet cake and it was, hands-down, the tastiest red velvet cake I've ever had.



Not only does she make cakes, but she also makes empanadas, docinhos (a Brazilian sweet), and even taught me the word "fuxico" - which are little decorative scraps of fabric that American's sometimes call "yo-yos". (I was wearing an applique I made that day. You can see it toward the end of this post.)


My neighbors across the way were definite craft mavens...
What Texas craft event would be complete without girly cowboy hats?



Nakoa Holder of Nakoa's makes the cutest, funkiest hats and jewelry!



I think what I like best about her work, other than the explosions of color, is the sheer size of some of the pieces. I'm a gal who likes her jewelry chunky and bright, and so does Nakoa!




Her craft booth neighbor and friend was Stephanie Brennan of Maddy Lou's.



Stephanie creates all sorts of adorable things, like these amazing flower bows for girls!



She also had some beautiful flower fascinator headbands that would be perfect for a spunky vintage wedding - or for daily wear for a gal like myself. (Yet another item I had to tear myself away from!)

I'm hoping that Stephanie and I can collaborate and make some really unique flower pieces once I figure out how to make my flowers wearable.



Now, last but absolutely not least, I got to visit with the women of the day: Sheny and the awesome team at VIDA!



The Artisan Market was held on Sheny's property in the gorgeous, tree-lined West University area of Houston.



Sheny is yet another accomplished jewelry artist who not only creates her own designs, but she also can up-cycle old pieces and make them new again!




Her shop carries her work as well as work from other artists - even her own daughter! Lucia is the multi-talented artist of bLuGrn Design. She does everything from jewelry to graphic design, and currently has an awesome line of Alice In Wonderland inspired jewelry that I just adore!



Finally, it was time for a photo-op with Brenda and Carmen of VIDA Events and Marketing.





The ladies are total sweethearts and I really look forward to participating in the Artisan Market again, and other events they have cooking around town!

(PS - Sorry, ladies. I tried my best to edit the heck out of us so that we didn't look all shiny and tired from being in the 94 degree heat all day! :)
PPS - Did everyone else notice my fuxico??)

A great day, indeed!

Artisan Market Wrap-Up, Pt. 1 (or Awesome People, Awesome Day!)

I learned two important facts at the Artisan Market on Saturday:
1) There are some really talented, creative, friendly people in Houston!
2) It's very dangerous to let me attend a craft fair because I'll want to spend all my profits on others' handiwork!

As for the day's specifics, let's start with me, shall we?



The day started out with quite a bang.
As I was setting up my booth, a lovely woman named Helen happened to jog by and bought all my tissue poofs and half my "wacky" flowers! She rode home with the flowers nestled inside her bicycle basket. Tres jolie!

After we finished setting up, to prime the pump (as it were) Josh and I added a few fake addresses to the mailing list sign-up sheet. See if you can guess who they were for... (Leave a comment if you think you know!)





I soon decided to wander around and look at my fellow artisans' wares.
The first place I stopped was Crossroad Creations by Kelley.
Robin Kelley and her husband work together to create crosses out of stone, wood, and metal.



Many of their pieces include chips of amethyst, turquoise, and other gemstones to give the rough-hewn stone pieces a bit of sparkle.
Humble, yet special... I love it!




Next up was the lovely Ana Maria Sanchez of Amaria. She creates luxurious, feminine jewelery that would be just perfect for any bride! Obviously, they'd be lovely for anyone, but I think brides could particularly benefit from her talent.



Many of my favorite pieces were her pearl ones.



Check out her Etsy shop for more examples of her finery!





Arlinda Smith of Quilt Addiction does superior quilt work, but there was one quilt that I really had to tear myself away from:



Not only is the color combo right up my alley, she also told me that the fabrics were recovered from Galveston Island after Hurricane Ike. How cool is that??

I also really liked her fabric bowls...







Right in front of Arlinda's display was Matt Slimmer, metal artist.



He doesn't just do small stainless steel sculptures like the ones at the Artisan Market...



He's also an accomplished Art Car artist! If you don't know, art cars are kind of a big deal here in Houston and there's an annual parade for the local artists to show off their creations.



Matt made the "Toybota" car/boat featured in the Readers' Digest article referenced on this site.



My booth neighbor was the adorable Mandy Welch of Help Me Pledge.



Mandy's business offers a really unique way to help fundraise for charities...



Help Me Pledgewill come and set up a booth at your charity's fundraising event and will donate 50% of the day's profits to the charity - with no cost to you!

A creative gal with a creative business idea!



Okay, that's probably enough for today...
I'll post the rest tomorrow. Tomorrow will have more excellent jewelry, excellent edibles, and one picture of me looking mega-funky after a long day in the heat.

Stay tuned!