This print is called, "Daisies at the Beach." I created it for the silent auction that is part of The Hockaday School's 2010 Parents' Association Benefit called, "By the Sea." The limited edition print features 3 "Hockadaisies" relaxing on the beach. The edition is limited to 15 S/N prints.

This is the 2nd year that I was asked to create a special print for the annual fundraiser and I was proud to create, "Daisies at the Beach."

To go along with the print, I also created note cards and placemats with the same design.

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Interview with Artist Michelle Masters, Creator of Topiary-Themed Art

It is really interesting to learn where artists find inspiration and how they develop their unique styles. Artist Michelle Masters of Michelle Masters Studio paints the most delightful little masterpieces in the shapes of topiaries. Yes, topiaries! Michelle recently shared a few details about her idyllic life.

What inspired you to start using topiaries as the theme for your artwork?
I have always been an avid gardener. I love garden structure and English cottage gardens. One summer as I was painting to prepare for an upcoming art festival I found myself reading more about gardens and topiaries. One charming book I remember was called “In and Out of the Garden", by Sara Midda. Just for fun, probably to distract me from the painting I “should” have been doing, I started doodling little topiary designs of things that interested me that were not traditional, the first one being the hat design called "Lady Lavender". I still use this design as my company logo.

While it is evident that nature inspires your art, where do you find inspiration for determining the shapes of the topiaries you paint?
I literally find it all around me. The first series of designs that I created were hats as mentioned above. The other two designs in the series were named after my grandmothers to honor them- Shirley's Tulip Chapeau and Virge's Pansy Bonnet. Animals are often featured in my work- we live on a farm and have quite a few of them. I get excited about creating an image that people have not seen before that requires a second look. I want them to be sweet, beautiful and clever. A number of years ago I was asked to do a children's series for a retail chain. The project resulted in the Dancing Elephant, Jumping Rabbit and Juggling Bear Topiaries.

Because topiaries are really just sculptural shapes...anything can be a topiary on paper. The charm of the design comes in the details- the angle of the design, how the pot is embellished and the fun stuff like flowers, bugs, butterflies and ribbons to dress it up.



I describe your style as uncluttered and traditional, with a bit of whimsy. How do you describe your style?
Simple and artful with a contemporary twist of humor and style.

What media do you use to create your original artwork?
Primarily Winsor & Newton artist watercolors and graphite on Fabriano 140lb. watercolor paper.

Describe a typical work day.
An interesting question... first, get my 7-year-old on the bus, then feed the horses at the barn. Since my studio is based in my home I then try to find something to keep my 4-year-old entertained while I do necessary paperwork, research designs, and send out requested catalogs. Before lunch I try to work on orders... with the occasional interruption of various Play-Doh technics and Polly Pocket dramas. Since it is finally summer in upstate New York I may venture out to see the delivery man and get distracted by a few weeds that need to be pulled or seeds that need to be watered.

While my daughter is at afternoon preschool I make all of my calls and try to focus on my creative work as much as possible. I'm in an endless state of wonderful frustration...trying to balance home-life and work. It is very challenging. A very organic process and I try to be flexible and open. I don't want to miss any of life's blessings... at work or home.



What is the most difficult part of your business?
See above!... and the paperwork and administrative aspects, I prefer not to manage people but if I don't have help then the growth of my business will be limited. I wish I could just focus more on the art/design instead of the billing/ordering. I will say though that part of the staying power of my business is that I have been content staying relatively small and not overcommitting myself.

What is the best part of your business?
Besides the creative process and being able to be with my children when they were tiny...it would have to be meeting people and seeing/hearing their reaction to my work. I have recently begun a collection called "Hedges & Hares" featuring these cute pear shaped bunnies with topiary and/or hedges. I tested out the images at the Philadelphia Flower Show in March and I was so touched by people's responses. One woman in my booth said "You must have had a wonderful childhood!". Another customer was a gentleman from the DC area who purchased 4 large prints of the series just because they made him feel happy. I was so appreciative and humbled.

Another aspect that I love is that I’ve been able to provide work to several stay-at-home Moms and retirees in my community. I don’t usually need full-time help, but being able to help other people achieve their goals in even a little way is very rewarding.

Does your love for plants extend beyond painting? Do you garden?
Oh yes! I would rather have a new plant than a new pair of shoes! Its an obsession that I inherited from my mother. I have slowly been installing gardens around our home. I've expanded my vegetable garden into a french potager this year. (A french potager is a kitchen garden that intermingles flowers, herbs and vegetables. Often it is designed using geometric shaped beds that create interesting patterns when planted.) It’s what happens when I'm left alone with gigantic pile of soil and a Bobcat Skid-Steer. It was like painting/sculpting with soil.

I hope to one day create in live topiary all of the farm animals that I would like around my studio. I picture a grouping of 3 sheep grazing in side field. So far we have Henrietta the Hen, Rooco the Rooster and Maurice and Geraldine the Ducks in boxwood topiary.


What is next for Michelle Masters Studio?
I have recently partnered with another woman-owned business to create beautiful handmade soaps for all occasions. My artwork is a great fit for the product and I sold out of them at the Philadelphia Flower Show... a good sign.

Also, we have a major website redesign coming up this summer that I am very excited about that will include a blog featuring articles on gardening, topiary, recipes, entertaining, design and lots more!

Name 3 blogs that you just love.
Velveteen Mind
The Noble Pig
Bumblebee Blog

Check out Michelle's full line at Michelle Masters Studio .

The Lemonade Stand- Lessons I Learned from Running a Business with A Kid

My 9 year old son, Isaiah, had a lemonade stand this weekend. In addition to lemonade, Isaiah sold cookies and his "Snail Talk" greeting cards. Isaiah worked very hard to prepare for this event and it was a great success. We sold out of cookies, sold a lot of lemonade and several cards. Once again, hanging out with Isaiah was also a learning experience for me.



1. The Kid will partake of the Inventory. "Mommy, may I have just one package of chocolate chip cookies?" Five minutes later, "Mommy, may I have just one more package of cookies?" (I must mentioned that my husband casually walked by the table and when he left, another package of cookies was missing.)

2. Follow-up to above. The kid will use subterfuge to partake of the inventory. "Mommy, would you go in the house and get me another jacket." When I questioned him about this, he quickly confessed: "I was trying to get you to go in the house so I could eat another cookie."

3. The kid will eventually become distracted. At various times while I was sitting at the table, Isaiah whizzed by on his scooter, threw a football over the table and bounced a basketball in front of the table. Perhaps I should have kept the garage door closed to keep distractions out of sight.

4. The Kid's customer service will deteriorate. As the day wore on, Isaiah became impatient with filling the cups to the top with the lemonade. When I reminded him to fill up each cup, he responded, "Mommy, this is enough!"

5. The kid will turn the equipment into toys. Cups ended up on the ground in various patterns. "Mommy, we have plenty of cups!" Utensils became drumsticks. Hand sanitizer became body lotion.

6. The kid will be forever grateful about the experience. After the first sale of a 50 cents cup of lemonade, Isaiah smiled and smiled. He did the same after the 2nd cup and the 3rd cup. After the sale of the first greeting card, he looked at me with wide eyes and smiled again. "Somebody bought my card!" At the end of day, Isaiah hugged me and let me know how much fun he had. And he continued to smile.

6 Tips My Son Taught Me for Helping Kids Write Thank You Note Cards

My son, Isaiah, recently celebrated his 9th birthday. Today he worked on his birthday gift thank you note cards. He was very bossy (yet cute) about the whole process. First of all, he wanted to use note cards he designed. (I need to write an entire new post about that process. :D ) He designed a cute little snail thank you note card. I wrote a script for him to use for each card. He promptly ripped it up and told me "I know what to write." Most of them were well written and cute: "Thank you for the Target Gift Card. Target is the best store ever!" For another one, "Thank you for the race car. I love it! I have about 100 of them at my house."

There were a few in which he was a little bit too honest. "Thank you for the.... I did not really like it." I made him rewrite that one. In another he pointed out the gift's shortcoming: "I really like the horse even though it does not stand up straight." In a third he shamelessly lobbied for a party invitation: "Thank you for the....Make sure you invite me to your party."

Overall the experience was very positive. He even taught me a thing or 2 about how to help kids write thank you note cards.

1. Explain to your child the reason for writing thank you note cards: to let people know that their gifts are appreciated. So, no Isaiah, you will not tell people that you dislike their gifts!

2. Encourage your child to write the thank you notes as soon as possible. Isaiah wrote his note cards a few days after the party when the excitement of the event was still fresh in his mind.

3. Write a special note to each recipient. Lesson from Isaiah to Mommy: "'form' thank you note cards are not the way to go! Therefore, I rejected the 'script' you wrote to use in each note card."

4. Let your child pick out the thank you note cards. Isaiah was much more enthusiastic about using the note cards of his choice—and they were acceptable to Mommy as well!

5. If your child is old enough, let him or her take control of the process. You may be surprised as to how creative and heartfelt the result is. In the words of Isaiah, “I know what I am doing!” This may be a little difficult because you do not want your child to mess up too many cards. So check in on your child every now and then to make sure things are going well.

6. Let your child take breaks during the process. If your child has several thank you note cards to write, allow him or her to write the note cards in sessions- 2-3 at a time. Isaiah’s enthusiasm quickly diminished after the first 3 note cards. So we stopped and he finished later on in the day.

The most important result of Isaiah's taking control over the process was that all of the sudden writing the thank you note cards became a fun activity and not a necessary chore.

Stacey M Design offers a variety of note cards for every occasion and age group, including for baby gifts, fill-in thank you note cards for kids and grown up note cards.

Opening Day! Save 20%...

Today is Opening Day for baseball. I thought I would celebrate by introducing a new baseball theme invitation, note card, return address label and stationery set. I can customize these products using our JLMC feature.

Historically, baseball has been very accessible to everyone. Until recently in most major league parks tickets were very affordable, in some cases as low as $7. Many of us played some sort of baseball as kids: baseball, softball or even stick ball. As tots our kids now play T-ball.

Even if we did not love the game, many of us go to baseball games for social or professional reasons. We entertain clients at games. As summer interns, companies take us to baseball games. Hanging out at a baseball game with a group of friends is a great summer activity. For some of us it does not really matter if we even pay attention to the game; being there is just fun!

So, as we usher in another opening day, I would love to hear your baseball stories from your childhood, or your baseball experiences with your kids. We took Isaiah to his first major league game in 2004 when he was 4 years old. Isaiah enjoyed the surroundings. He was fascinated by all of the people. However, he demanded that he be allowed to go on the field and play, and just could not understand when we would not let him. (BTW, it was horrible game for Cubs fans and included Mark Prior giving up a grand slam.) Now we pretty much just go to minor league games. Single A Kane County Cougars’ home field is about 15 minutes from our home. The games are inexpensive and very kid-friendly. Each game includes at least 2 renditions of the SpongeBob theme song and permitting kids to run the bases at the end of the game.

I would love to hear about your experiences taking your child to a baseball game, watching your child play in a baseball game, or about you attending a baseball game or playing in a baseball game as a kid. The story can be about baseball, softball, stick ball or T-Ball.

To submit just click on the "comments" button at the bottom of this entry. Entries should be no more than about 150 words. We reserve the right to reject any entry, including those that include inappropriate language. We are just looking for fun, cute or touching family experiences.

Each person who submits a baseball related entry my blog that I post will receive a coupon for 20% off of Stacey M Design products. (Coupon is not valid for wholesale orders and or for custom design fees.) This offer is for the month of April 2009 only. One lucky person will also receive a FREE set of baseball note cards! I will chose this person at random from all posts that I publish during the month of April 2009. To receive the coupon, you must email to let me know you have left a comment and you cannot post anonymously. Thanks!

eWomenNetwork

I recently was introduced to a business networking group called eWomenNetwork. The purpose of the group is to meet business contacts who provide "warm" introductions to other individuals and businesses who might want to do business with you. Instead of making cold calls, you get warm introductions, increasing the likelihood that the contact will turn into a productive relationship.

After the first meeting I attended, I ended up with a new client, a photography business called "A Portrait Boutique" based in Plainfield, Illinois. The client wanted a unique set of note cards to use for correspondence to her photography customers. I created an illustration of a photographer holding a camera. I selected a few features from the client to highlight in the illustration: dark, curly hair; eyeglasses; burgundy polo shirt.

I really enjoyed this project.

A great day in Golf History

For most the notable golf sports story of today is all about Tiger Woods… and a little about Rocco Mediate. For Tiger: Three U.S. Open titles. Fourteen major wins. For Rocco: Number 158 hung in there with Tiger. Both great stories. But for me, the notable golf story of the day is that today was my son, Isaiah’s, first day at Golf Camp. Isaiah has been telling us for a couple of years that he wanted to learn how to play golf. I have no idea how he came to this conclusion. We live near several golf courses, but we have never played golf. The closest we have come to playing golf is playing mini golf a few times. So this year we decided to register Isaiah for 2 weeks of golf camp. The first camp, Golf for Christ Clinic, is through our church, DuPage AME Church. Isaiah was very excited when he returned home from is morning of golfing: he had hit the ball into the hole!

Isaiah’s interests have always been a huge inspiration for me in developing new illustrations for invitations, notecards and other stationery. Being only mildly creative, I initially created designs featuring basketball, baseball and football. Isaiah caused me to think a little bit out of the box. I have since added bowling, wall climbing and golf themed stationery. The golf guy design is available with several different custom options.

Customize your cards!

I have been working on providing an expanded selection of custom options for many of my products. I have always given clients the option of adding their own wording and selecting fonts. From time to time, clients have requested additional customization such as changes in the skin tone or hairstyle. I usually will make such adjustments as I love making my clients happy!!! These projects have been lots of fun, but have also been quite time-consuming. So I decided to develop a large selection of options including options for skin tone, hair style, clothing and accessories. Different designs will have different options. A few products and designs will not have expanded customization options, but the vast majority will. Check out our new custom options. I will be adding additional options over the next several weeks.