Merry Christmas!

Phew!  Christmas is just over a week away?  Luckily I finished up my shopping this evening!  I tried to keep as much of it as I could handmade or from local shops.  I found some cool stuff along the way!  I'll share after Christmas... I don't want to give anything away to prying eyes trying to figure out what I got them...I know, I'm a tease.

Anyways, I wanted to share with you a photo my friend Amy sent me this morning!  She purchased one of my lantern garlands and did something unexpected with it.  She draped it across her Christmas tree!  I think it looks great there AND she can reuse it any time of year!  Double whammy.

Last week I had a couple people purchase these in person to hang in the classrooms and cubicles, too!  Then it's a party every day :)  You can purchase your own garland in my shop!

Enjoy the season and Merry Christmas!

Where the time flies

I wish I knew!  Things over in Paper Taxi land have been all over the place!  So many life changes have occurred in the past few weeks and I've never been more excited for the future.  I recently left my full time job to pursue my art but in the economy....you know, I can't really afford to just wing it.  So I got myself the best part time job I could imagine.  I'm a dog walker! Yeah, seriously!  A local service was hiring and I started this week.  There is nothing more fulfilling than a happy puppy at the end of the day.

I've also just finished up with a commission for my lovely friend Amy.  She needed some thank you notes for her recent wedding and I love them!  I'll share once she's sent them out as not to spoil it :)  Along with all the fun new things going on, I also found out today that I won a print from Mae Chevrette, another local artist (and featured etsy seller!).  I can't wait to hang it up!  I think I have the perfect spot picked out :)  Take a look at the print!

How beautiful, right?  Pick up your own copy in her shop!  Now if I could just go to coffee with her...Mae, are you reading? 

Two lovely people have also featured me on their blogs, the lovely Laura of Laura Kelly Photography is one!  I designed her logo back in the birth of her business.  I've been meaning to share it with you all!  Laura is a seriously talented photographer out of Ottawa so all you Canadians looking for a family shoot, wedding, or engagement pictures best be sending her an email!

The other is Hila Lumiere of le projet d'amour.  Hila is a writer out of Perth, Austrailia.  She recently asked for entries to her "why I adore the night" challenge.  And since most of my current work is at night under the stars, I just had to submit my boat print!  Some seriously inspiring work on her site! 

I have my first of three small holiday shows tomorrow afternoon, alas, it's a private event, but I'm excited nonetheless!  Wish me luck!

PSA to Squirrels Everywhere

image: imgfav.com

Ode to a Squirrel

by: Laura Warecki

Power lines are not your tight rope
They are not as safe as you might hope
I saw you get shocked this weekend
Something that I would not recommend
And then the power went out and I moped.

please join me in a moment of silence to mourn the loss of a source of entertainment for my cats.

Confession Tuesday will return at it's regularly scheduled time next week.

Party on...

It's a strange feeling to miss someone you never knew.  Steve Jobs passed last night and as I'm sure you've read all over the internet, people are heartbroken. But what we should all learn from this is, make your mark on the world, no matter how big or small, and make sure that mark is something you love and are so very proud of.  Hats off to you, Steve Jobs, for creating that vision and impacting so many people's personal and professional lives in every way. I have no doubt that Apple will continue to rock the party and fulfill Steve Jobs' vision.  

festival of lanterns: available in my shop

So party on, everyone, make your mark!

Confession Tuesday: I worked my first 100hr work week

So maybe there are a lot of people that work 100 hours a week, but last week was my first.  I've been a steady 40hour/week kind of girl for about 3.5 years and then I started my business and bumped that up to about 60hours/week for a couple months.  and then I made a deposit for my first craft show. 

enter the 100hour work week. 

And as hard and exhausting as it was, I've never felt more accomplished, more proud, or more excited!  Here are a few pictures from my show!

 

photo template from pugley pixel

I had a great time, made some new friends, and had some old friend's visit!  Check out Curly Girl Design's mini review of me over on the Curly Girl Blog!

I'll be back later this week to show you the new items in my shop (some of which you can see above) but if you can' wait, go look for yourself in the Paper Taxi etsy shop!

Confession Tuesday: Sometimes I wish

Sometimes I wish I was a lawyer.  Confession.

But that's really only after watching episodes of Ally McBeal, because this happens frequently:

And then I think about all those incredibly and unfortunately flawed characters and how I have the biggest crush on "The Biscuit" even though he wears orthopedic shoes, his nose whistles, and he hums John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt when he gets overwhelmed.

And I finish up every episode reminding myself that being a lawyer does not comply with my number one  life requirement: the denim jacket rule.

I'll be out most of this week from the blogging game, gearing up for my first craft show this Sunday, October 3rd!  See all the details in the Paper Taxi newsletter

Confession Tuesday: I'm not embarrassed.

image credit: amazon.com

This is one of my favorite movies of all time.  Whoopi at her finest.  Lauryn Hill in her prime.  Gospel music for the masses.  Movie title Pun.  Can it get any better?  I've probably seen this movie no less than 100 times.  And it's just as amazing as the first time. 

What's your guilty pleasure movie?  

My weekend in Photos

photo template: pugly pixel

This weekend I went out with my boyfriend, Lee, in downtown Boston and Harvard Square to take my new fancy-schmancy camera for a test run.  We encountered a lot of unexpected things like Hempfest (which was.....interesting but I couldn't wait to get out of there), cute shops on Charles Street, street performers, and that little girl in the pink sweatshirt.  I couldn't get enough of her!  Oh and that top photo?  My boyfriend helped a little old lady cross the street.  It was adorable.  Here she is in all her glory!

Can't wait to go out again soon!  The weather was so perfect and and wore my new boots.  If you're even kind of thinking of a new pair this year, I highly suggest these boots from Target.  Lee says I was turning heads everywhere we went with these babies on! And the price is ridiculous!  <--I'd suggest ordering a 1/2 size smaller! 

My first craft show is just a couple weeks away now!  Working on at least one more print and I designed a couple cute things this weekend as well.  Stay tuned!  (sometimes I give sneak peeks on my twitter or Facebook, so check start following me to get the heads up!)

Special Delivery!

A couple of weeks ago a childhood friend, Kristin, asked me to do a top secret super cute painting to help announce her pregnancy on her floral business blog, Ideas in Bloom.  I was so excited, I'm pretty sure I emailed her about 25 seconds after she asked!

Go tell Kristin congratulations on the Ideas in Bloom blog!  So excited to have been a tiny part in the announcement and wishing her and her husband all the best!

Interested in a commission?  Email me!

Oh and I put a new little signup in the sidebar!  Go sign up for my Paper Taxi newsletter for updates, happenings, general trivia, and who knows what else! (besides spam. I hate spam.)

Paper Taxi's first month!

I'll be back next week with Confession Tuesdays!

Paper Taxi has been open for a whole month!  This is a huge deal for me and I'm so grateful for it all.  In this first month, I've had 8 sales, 2 commissions, 2 craft show applications, and a bazillion new friends!  This is much more than I could have dreamed for before I opened.  Thanks to all of you for commenting, pushing me along, and helping me reach my own dreams and wishes!  Cheers to another great month!

Come visit me in my Paper Taxi shop on etsy!  

I made a chalkboard a couple weeks ago and it's my new backdrop.  I think it's pretty cute.  What about you?

Want to come see me in person?  My first craft show is in 2 weeks!  I'll be showing at the Harrington School Fall Festival for the Arts in Lexington, MA on October 2nd, 12-4!  Keep up to date on their facebook page.

omg so much work to do before then.  SEE YA!

Fashion Boogie

found via ApartmentTherapy

How cute is this video?!  So fun to see the different fashions and dance moves!  

Let's boogie.

Confession Tuesday: I make things up

When I was little, I made up a lot of stories.  Sometimes they were just better than real life.  Well, apparently I thought they were so good that I ignored how things really were.  Here are two examples that particularly stick out.

Exhibit 1:

The setting:  New York City, Statue of Liberty, 1994(ish)
The characters: My ma and pa, my brother, me, hundreds of strangers. 

My family and I went on a vacation to the Big Apple.  Why? Who knows.  We are small town folk.  My dad refused to let us get on the subway at 8pm because my brother was hysterically insisting that we were going to get mugged.  Anyways.  At some point, we went to the Statue of Liberty and climbed every step up to the top of the crown on a very narrow spiral staircase.  This is what it looks like (I'm so unsure of the validity of my story that I had to look up this picture to make sure I didn't make that up either.)

image: Richard Drew/AP Photo

So safe to assume, you can't go down the up stairs.  It's barely wide enough for one person to pass.  So what is any normal 8 year old supposed to assume the protocol is to get down?  

This:

image: Forbes.com

Obviously.

No seriously.  For several years, (ok, fine, until sometime in college when I realized the slide was probably ridiculous) I thought I rode a slide down from the crown of the Statue of Liberty.  I don't know if I was just hoping that's what would happen once I got to the top or if I imagined that the trip down would be so much better if it were a slide.  But somehow I honestly convinced myself this was real.  And boy do I wish it was.  I might not have such a strong distaste for visiting NYC if I knew I could ride a 22 story slide when I got there. 

Exhibit 2

The setting: My parents house, the living room, 1991 or 1992

The characters: Me, my mom's handwriting, my sheltered life.

At the age of 5, I had not seen the movie Dirty Dancing yet.  I'd never even heard of it.  But, there was a mixed tape in the stereo at home with a variety of 80s gems including the Dirty Dancing theme, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life".  The tape had my mom's handwriting on it (which coincidentally is the same handwriting as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy).  So between not knowing the movie, never hearing the song, and seeing my mom's handwriting, I put 2 and 2 together and logically concluded the duet was sung by none other than my next door neighbors, Bruce and Pam.  I mean, my life consisted of David the Gnome episodes, kindergarten, and about 20 people in New Boston, NH.  I wasn't exactly cultured.  Of COURSE the song was sung by Bruce and Pam!  Yeah, well that turned out to be pretty embarrassing when I found out I'd totally made that up when first seeing the movie in middle school.

Bruce and Pam.  I mean Johnny and Baby. 

But see what I mean?  Those would have been two really cool things if the were real.

Chalkboard Paint!

photo source unknown!  If anyone knows let me know.  I just found it on Pinterest with no credit.

This is what I'm doing this holiday weekend.   Well, among many other Paper Taxi related things:

• commission requests
• new projects
• craft booth prep
• exciting promotion starting on Tuesday
• painting

But I'm definitely buying a big piece of plywood and either making my own chalkboard paint or just buying some (I'm planning on doing black anyway so it might make more sense to get it pre-made, but if I were to do any color, I'd definitely use this recipe!)  I'm going to use it as a new backdrop for my prints for photos.  I'm pretty excited about it!  I've never used chalkboard paint!

Other than that, I'll be hanging with my boyfriend, cats, and maybe make a tiny trip to NH if the mood strikes.  Hope you all have great weekends!

Confession Tuesday: My Denim Jacket

Mary Poppins Meets 2009, originally uploaded by Starr Crow.

I never want a life when my denim jacket can’t double as a blazer.

Confession.

• It’s a jacket in early spring when you can’t stand to put that winter coat on one more time.
• It’s the extra layer you bring with you to the beach when the sun starts to go down..
• It’s the wrap you wear over that kinda fancy frock that you feel a little overdressed in.

My denim jacket is my blazer. I feel like a million bucks in it. I feel free to do what I want. I feel in charge. I feel like sticking it to the man.

Now bedazzeled denim jackets……that’s another story.

The cute blog of the lady pictured above!

www.athoughtistheblossom.blogspot.com

Come on Irene

Working the weekend through supposedly hurricane Irene. I've only experienced a couple wind gusts and wet flip flops, but anyways, for my new greeting card line, a little sneak peek!

Confession Tuesday

I love clothes. It's just something I must own up to. Proof:

In Paper Taxi news...

• Just designed and sent away for my business cards
• Bookmarks in the works for some very special people at The Creative Connection
• Sent my first order to Australia. If you aren't following me on Facebook or Twitter (um why not? I swear I'm at least a little entertaining.) I've declared myself an International Sensation. And I like the sound of it.
• 1 week of my shop open and I have had 3 sales and about 1 bazillion new friends <3

I think that's it for now. Working on getting some greeting cards in the shop and some new prints!

image credits: photo of my addiction: me digital photo frame: pugly pixel

The Happiest Cards EVER

While doing what I do best (internet browsing, ok fine I'm good at a lot of productive things too), I came across this set of note cards from Little Things Studio

omgee!

I love the patterns, I love the quotes, and I love that I can pop them into 5x7 frames and have a new wall art collection. Which is precisely what I'm going to do.

images from littlethings studio on etsy

So who wants to buy one of my prints so I can buy these cards? Check out your options in my shop!

Jeeze, Julia!

My buddy over at Jeeze, Julia! Wrote the sweetest things EVER about me and my art this week! My goodness, never in a million years would I expect to have the response I've had from the inter web world.

Btw, not only does Julia have a snazzy blog, she's also on etsy!

click on the picture for the listing!

The day I've been waiting for!

I opened my shop yesterday morning! I'm so excited to share it with you

and I hope you'll stop by and take a peek!

I spent my birthday weekend, parked in front of my computer working working working! Taking pictures, writing listings, working on my website, etc! My back could use a break though. I had to sit on the floor with my computer on the coffee table because my wifi doesn't reach my office! Hopefully we'll rectify that soon :) Here are a couple photos from the weekend!

•I got this really cute metal file box on ebay months ago for this exact purpose and I can't be happier with the color! Best $5.50 ever!

•My man, Lee, took all my product shots with his super duper fancy shmancy camera. I've only just learned a little bit about using it!

•King Tut did most of the work.

ok joking but how DANG cute his he?!

Now that it's all set up, hopefully I'll have more time to work on new products as well. I want to offer greeting cards, other print sizes, recipe cards, and small notebooks in the future.

I have some ideas up my sleeve so I better get cracking!

Please oh please come see the fruits of my labor!

Shop | www.etsy.com/shop/papertaxi

Facebook | www.facebook.com/papertaxi

xoxo!

Happy Birthday to me!

Well hello there friends! Last night I had the pleasure of dining with my co-workers at Henrietta's Table in Harvard Square! It was delightful in all aspects (especially all the horror movie talk moderated by Lauren) and they surprised me with a birthday cake!

Carrot cake, if you couldn't tell by the decoration. Mmmm so good.

But what's even better about my birthday this year? I'm giving myself a present. I'm opening my etsy store. This has been a long time coming and I'm sick of people getting on my back about it! Prints are ordered (they're coming today! I can't wait!) Shipping and packaging supplies ordered. This weekend, I'll spend my time collecting some pretty items to dress up those plain envelopes, take lots of pictures, and park myself in front of my computer until it's done and I can share it with all 20 of you! Then hopefully I can share it with more and more. Tell your friends! That would be the best gift ever.

<3

Fly Me To The Stars!

Another new one for you! I really really really enjoyed making this one! The three night scenes I've done will be offered individually or as a set! I've learned something really important these last few months, and that's the importance of a great sketch. I used to just paint and collage with reckless abandon, which lead to art that was just...a little reckless. My most recent works have started with a good solid drawing first which makes it much easier to envisions colors, and patterns and papers!
Here's the sketch I did for this one:

My shop will open on Monday, August 15th! THERE. I said it. Now I have to do it! I'm really excited (and really nervous)!

Dream Catching

Sketched, painted, collaged, glued over the weekend! Had a lot of fun with this one and just want to make leaves and feathers forever.

Sleeping to Dream

You might have all been wondering where this boat was off to...Well, the captain made camp here!

a little collaged scene for you to enjoy. My etsy shop is just mere weeks from opening and I have a lot of work on my hands!

Save the Date!

Over the weekend, my co-worker booked her wedding, just 3 months away, so naturally she needed a save the date like a month ago, best I could do was pronto. It went out on Wednesday!



I really like how it came out and it's so easy to customize! I will be offering this in my Etsy store! I also would love to design some other save the date's and illustrated wedding invites! Or new home announcements, birth announcements, party invites, anything, everything!

NHTunes.biz!

Recently I had the pleasure of working with a new, local recording studio, NHTunes.biz based in Manchester, NH. The owner, Bob Desmarais of the Sonic Boomers, asked me to design a logo that incorporated an acoustic guitar (his weapon of choice) and the state of NH. Well guitars and NH's shape kinda look alike, right? See it?

I went with it and added some distressed texture for a little bit of a younger look.

I really like how it came out and look forward to doing more logo design and branding! Interested in working with me (because I absolutely want to work with you!)? Email
laura@laurawarecki.com for more info!

CocknBullKid's new album release!

I had the pleasure of working with Amelia's Magazine again over the weekend, this time for new artist CocknBullKid out of London. Her new album released today in the UK and will release in the USA soon.

Here's the illustration I did, pulling inspiration from CocknBullKid's website as well as her video "Hold on to your Misery"



And you can read the article here.

The Pierces for Amelia's Magazine

I first found Amelia's Magazine during a trip to Barnes and Nobel and hours of time. This was back in 2007? probably when Amelia's Magazine was a print publication. Now no longer in print, the magazine has developed into an online arts and culture magazine with great content and creates opportunities for illustrators (well-known, well-not-known, and students alike). I recently decided to start following Amelia on twitter and lo and behold, she did an illustrator call-out mere minutes before to illustrate The Pierces, a sister duo band that I have loved for the past couple years! I jumped right on it and submitted my illustration. And wouldya look at that! It's a the top! Thank you so much Amelia's Magazine! I had a great time and love being back into the swing of things, makin' art!



See the entire article here.

On another note, I know, it's been many months since I last posted. But I'm really back at it and have lots to show you and an etsy shop on the way!