NEW SEASON, FRESH START

We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  Blogging is likely one of my weaknesses; just can't quite get the knack of consistency (but I sure do enjoy it when I do find the time to connect my fingers to a key pad).  I'd like the think, however, that one of my strengths is buckling down in the studio during the winter months - I mean, what else would I do?

Here are some printed goodies that I've been working on lately:

Cocktail napkins for your {insert favorite booze} drinking pleasure

Springtime tableware, featuring my new seasonal linen color: MINT

Bi-Monthly DIY blog posts for Art Star, a local handmade boutique here in Philadelphia

And now that the hibernating months have come to a close, hopefully you'll see me more...xo.

BUYING LOCAL, GIVING HANDMADE

I love the holidays.  I love the gatherings with friends and family, full of overflowing tables and bars.  I love the traditions, consisting of Bing Crosby or Sufjan Stevens playing endlessly on our record player and getting inky at my annual holiday wrapping paper printing party. 

 Our annual Christmas "tree"

What I don't love, however, is the push for mass consumption.  As a maker, relying on a lot of sales during the holidays to keep myself and family afloat through slower months, this puts me in a great quandary.  While most of this purchasing is for gift-giving, which I love to do, it is still a mass about of money being exchanged throughout the world.  So how do you not feed into the over-consumption, supporting big business craze?  

I like to think the solution(s) can be simple.  Buy gifts within your local economy and support the businesses that you call neighbors.  Give something made by hands, preferably hands that you have seen and shook or better yet, your hands.  Donate gifts and money to people in need or folks across the globe that struggle endlessly through war, poverty, and illness.  

It requires us all to think about the power of money and who's hands we want to place it in.  It's the same ole song and dance that a lot of folks have been saying for some years now, but I thought that I would give an account of how purchases from my shop help me personally.

Here's just a sample of what purchases from my shop allow me to do:
- Pay rent, so that I can support my husband through the long road of med school.
- Take my dog to the vet, so that when that little jerk eats another piece of corn cob, he can be well taken care of.
- Yoga classes at my local studio, Amrita Yoga & Wellness, so that I can de-stress and stay healthy.
-  Buy more art supplies, so that I can continue making things with my hands.
- Gather starters and seeds from Greensgrow Farms, so that I can have a full and prosperous garden each year.
- Occasionally eat, drink, + shop at my favorite local spots, such as Modo Mio, Pizza Brain, and Art Star, so that I can continue to feed money into my local Philadelphia economy.

With all this said, over the next couple of weeks, I plan to highlight my favorite local makers + businesses - ones that would make fabulous gifts for friends and family.  I encourage us all (cause heaven knows I need the reminder too) to think about where each dollar goes as we stock up on gifts.  And to those friends, family members, and strangers that have already made it clear to me this holiday season who they choose to support, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 A sampling of goods that I design, print, & sew by hand.

Available here.  Enjoy 30% entire orders until midnight est 12/1 with the code: HOLIDAY30

 

ALL WRAPPED UP

I have a brand new obsession.  It all started a couple of weeks ago when I (finally) gave in to my desire to tempt to figure out repeat printing once and for all.  Repeat printing allows for one continuous pattern, with no visible beginning or end.  I had played around with it some, but only on a very small scale.  I won't bore you with the details, but it required a lot of head scratching, calculations, and trail and error.  In the end, it wasn't as hard as I had made it out to be - isn't that always the case with items of procrastination?  And the result is that I am now obsessed with screenprinting wrapping paper.

All wrapping papers are now available for purchase in my shop.  And if you need me, I'll be hiding behind yards and yards of kraft paper, in my studio printing more.

PILLOW GIVEAWAY WITH HLVS

I've teamed up with my friends over at Hannah Lowman Visual Styling, based out of Asheville, NC, for a pillow giveaway from my new line.  Win the pillow above by reposting it on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest with the hashtag #bonniekayegiveaway.  This isn't the state lottery folks.  Last time I checked, the odds are very much so in your favor!  Try to grab it for your abode or gift it at a housewarming.  Thanks for sharing the love.  Just make sure you do it by Friday (tomorrow) by 10am EST.  Full details on the giveaway here. 

In addition to the giveaway, HLVS has also just featured our Philadelphia loft on their blog!  Check out our built-in bunk beds, my inspiration board, and the prettiest antique couch in the world.

And if you are looking for an amazing Southern styling team, I can't say enough Hannah Lowman Visual Styling.  Hannah and I met through her sister years ago in my Brooklyn days, and I've been inspired by her creative eye ever since.  Any time I'm doing a little decorating and shifting of items in our apartment, my husband always asks me, "What would Hannah do?"