Go O's

For the last 10 or 15 years Camden Yards has just not been the same. Half the time the fans of the visiting team far outweigh those in orange. This lackluster attitude has been unfortunate, but it is finally turning around. We have our beloved Orioles back again and you can feel it all over Baltimore. I have been lucky enough to attend several home games and it is like being transported back to when I would go to games as a kid. There is something in the air, and it is exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. Hell I just spent $75 on new Orioles flare and I am not even sorry about it.

By the way, if you have not been to the yard lately, perhaps you have been as in the dark as I was about the new "IT" thing to eat. Stuggy's, which is right at the main gate sells hot dogs, topped with crab mac and cheese and sprinkled with old bay. You just read all of that correctly. It is amazing. Period.

 

Yeah, you want that.

 

My Heart Really Likes You

A couple weeks ago, I had not left my house for 2 days choosing to watch movies that make me cry. It had been raining off and on and I looked like I had gotten punched in face a couple times so I figured I needed to find something to do with myself. I ended up joining a couple friends to go down to ArtScape, which if you are not from Baltimore, is a huge art festival with tons of music, food, music, art cars and of course local artists.

I hadn't been down to the festival in a couple years, choosing not to fight the crazy crowds and ridiculous heat. But that day was perfect. It was in the 60's and pouring down rain so I did not have to battle with either. I threw on some boots, grabbed my umbrella and set off with my friends.

We had a great day! So often rainy days can be depressing, hence the movies I was watching, but we turned it into a perfectly cheerful day!

I am on a savings spree currently, and I have a very strict no mug buying policy, as I simply have no place to put them. But sometimes you fall in love and something by Nelle Design spoke to me. This mug has anatomical renderings of hearts on the outside and one inside. Along the top it says "I hope you stay a while because my heart really likes you". This in particular, really spoke to me but all of her work is great! Be sure you check it all out at www.nelledesign.4ormat.com , www.etsy.com/shop/nelledesign and make friends on facebook www.facebook.com/nelledesign .

It is amazing how something so simple can make you so happy!

Persistence

Dear DSW,

I feel the need to write this letter to you regarding the post card I received from you today. The photo features a enviously sexy pair of legs in some very unfortunate snake skin stretchy pants, but that is neither here nor there. The real essence of this advertisement, obviously, is the shoes. Amazing, beautiful, high heeled sandals that perfectly combine brown white and black, ensuring that they would match anything in my closet.

You had me immediately. I am not an online shopper but I went directly to my computer to find these beauties, convinced that I would pay any price for the opportunity to slip my size 7 feet into them and strut as I have never strut before. So up to this point, well done DSW.

Then things went terribly wrong. You did not seem to have these shoes. There was no sign of them anywhere on your website. I then frantically searched the post card itself thinking perhaps you would have credited the designer for these magnificent shoes, but alas, you did not.

It was then that I felt the beginnings of what I can only describe as panic set it. I not only searched your entire online store but then went to searching other shoe websites for these heels. When that search came up empty, I spent time with google to see if perhaps there was a clue anywhere out there in cyber space to point me in the right direction.

I came up empty handed. My spirits had fallen. I had by this point made up my mind that I would of course continue to shop in your store, as I have a shoe problem that you so often seem to cure. However, I was feeling that distrust and harbored resentment would plague me for years to come. It was a cruel and dirty trick DSW. One that paid off for you as I put 4 (OK 5) pairs of shoes in my shopping bag during my search, but still, dirty trick.

In a last ditch effort to find my loves, I decided to go visit your store in person. Crazy notion in 2012 I know, but I had already put in a longer time than I care to admit in my search and then the subsequent time put into writing this long winded letter, so I figured it was worth it. I was pessimistically walking up and down each isle and then my eyes found them. brown peep toe, white stiletto, black strappy loveliness. My size sevens were in stock and they fit perfectly and as an added bonus were actually very comfortable, but they could have made me bleed and I would have found the will to buck up and strut on.

So in conclusion, the anticipation and near disappointment really made the actual moment all the more sweet. I am a very happy customer and wanted to tell you that your marketing director is really quite good (again, despite the unfortunate snake skin pants).

Sincerely,

Sara Robbins-Page

Obsessive and verbose shoe addict.

Persistence pays off!

"Awake My Soul"

The past couple weeks I have been walking around in a bit of a fog. There has just been so much going on, I just can not seem to get anything right. I have managed to ignore my calendar and the pile on my desk and the fact that I have no food in the house for too long now. I am feeling restless and it is time for me to channel that feeling.

I went to bed last night thinking "tomorrow I will get my shit together". Naturally I got a phone call at 9:30 this morning to ask where I was. Yes. I had a 9:00am meeting with some fellow artists that I completely spaced on. This is very unlike me. So not exactly a great start to my "get my shit together" week, but I am on high alert now.

I am here at my computer, catching up on e-mails, ordering, bookkeeping etc. My go to band,  Mumford and Sons, are softly serenading me "Awake My Soul". Yes please! So I am carrying that with me today, along with all the amazing things I have experienced in the last few weeks, family, friendships, honesty along with a few self discoveries.

She is a gorgeous mess of chaos, and you can see it in her eyes.

I Got Mail

I am usually the one doing the shipping but today I got a present in the mail from my dear friend and one time college roommate, Amber. It is an infinity scarf with bits from Pride and Prejudice printed on it. I LOVE it! I put it on immediately and am not really sure when I will take it off.

It is from a talented etsy seller Storiarts by Tori Iannarino. She has a few different books to choose from. Check her store out! www.etsy.com/shop/storiarts I am a happy girl! Thanks Amber!

It's So Much Fun To Be A Hon

Hon: 1) a term of endearment derived from the word honey.

2) your friendly Baltimore woman from the late 1950's to early 1960's who is devoted to Elvis, loves leopard print, and has a pink flamingo or two in her front yard. She lives with one simple motto : "The Higher the Hair the Closer to God"

She is our Grandmother, our Mother, our neighbor, the friend you run into at Giant. She is our heritage. She is Bawlmer Hon!  

Every Year in June, for one weekend, one little street in downtown Baltimore erupts into a plume of pink feather boas, leopard print spandex and cat eye glasses. Hon Fest. The 2 day celebration that pays homage to the HON and everything Baltimore. A few years ago my cousins and I started getting dressed up to go to Hon Fest just for something fun. It has now become a holiday for us and every year more and more ladies join our hon pack.

The hours leading up to the group of us caravan down to Hampden is just a haze of hairspray, jewelry, and red lipstick (no wonder the husband has never accompanied me). Nothing is "too much" no hair can be "too big" and one can of aquanet will just not do.

Once we arrive, we manage to make a stir, that thing about strength in numbers proves true. We smack our gum and blow kisses and shout some "Hey Hons" for videographers and pose for photographers, both professional and not. People have even handed us their kids wanting to take pictures of us all adoring their clearly terrified children. And of course we do it. I mean why wouldn't we?

One of my cousins and myself ready to Hon.

My annual photo with Elvis

Between the craziness, we get the opportunity to really take in the festival. Sampling the food, grabbing a beer, and visiting the awesome stores along the Avenue. For me, the best part is perusing the super fun vendors that come out for Hon Fest year after year. I always find Baltimore crafters that I recognise and adore and each year I manage to discover new ones!

Some of the beautiful hair clips by one of my favorite
Baltimore Crafters, Kolleen Kilduff of
Design By Night
Check out her shop at www.designbynight.etsy.com

After admiring their work online for so long, I finally got
to meet the lovely ladies of Charms City Company
I am obsessed with these initial necklaces. Check
them out at
www.CharmCityCompany.com  

The bright, colorful baltimore inspired works of
Ramon Matheu. See his super fun work at
www.ramonmatheu.com

Be sure you check out Hon Fest's website at http://www.honfest.net/index.html and be sure you watch the adorable movie they have posted on their pagehttp://www.honfest.net/whatis.html . If you need your reminder for Hon Fest for next year, give the facebook page a like 

               http://www.facebook.com/pages/HONFEST/127828540567469                                        

To say that going down to Hon Fest is fun is an understatement to be sure. It is truly a celebration of Baltimore. All that it was and all that it is. Get it on your calendar for next year and come down and get your Hon on!

Road Trip Shenanigans

Last week hubby and I hit the road before the sun, and begun our trek out to Indiana. I spent 7 years living between Evansville Indiana and Newburgh Indiana, all the while planning to return to my beloved Baltimore. It wasn't until year 7 that Indiana really became my home and honestly it was hard to leave. To say we have friends out there is not quite fitting. We have people out there that we love like family, as well as actual family, and it is always so great when we get to see them all. It does however make for one busy week!

This was not just an ordinary visit either. We went out there for our dear friend's wedding, as well as to finally meet our other dear friends baby that was born in February. We made our rounds and visited as many people as we could squeeze into 6 days, ate a lot of Sonic, and just had an over all awesome time. It was, as always too short, but coming home felt great too. It is hard to feel so at home in two different places because you always miss one or the other.

11 Hours as a passenger makes me crazy.



Baby love.

Our old stomping grounds. The building shown was where
my storefront, Moon River Art Gallery was. It is now
a FABULOUS boutique called Flutter
 (www.flutternewburgh.com)

At our friends' carnival themed wedding where I made
great use of the photo prop table.

Making our way back East.

A Day At The Races

This past weekend was a whirlwind of, horse racing, out of town visitors, too much food and new strappy Kate Spade heels. The Yettie came home on Wednesday and managed to de-yettie before his family all came in from Indiana the following day. I happily slipped into tour guide mode and by Saturday we were off to Pimlico Race track for Preakness Day. A joyous day for the drunken idiots from all over baltimore as well as the facy folk in fantastic hats.

It started raining very early this morning drawing and end to a beautiful and fun filled weekend. Now it is time for all the seriousness Monday's require. I am listening to Fun. in the studio trying desperately to keep frivolity alive!

Instagram Love

Ok, I love instagram! I am jumping on that bandwagon and I am OK with that. I love capturing insignificant details and making them beautiful as they are to me anyway. Lord knows I get excited about the dumbest things. Now I can share them in a less obnoxious way then my typical bouncing, hand clapping and general verboseness.

Well I had a very pleasant surprise on Mother's Day. Several people who received my work as gifts took pictures of themselves wearing it and tagged me. I can not tell you how much fun that was for me. Keep them coming. My Instagram name is @heavenstobessie  as is my Twitter name....so please tag away!

One of the pictures I was tagged in happens to be one of my favorite pieces I have ever made. EVER. Below are a couple pictures I took of it before I sent it on its way. It was hard to say goodbye to it but it is like that sometimes. Some pieces are just extra special.

Oh heavens....

As we all know, I am not the most tech savvy individual to walk this earth. Because I do not do the whole google analytics thing, I do whatever research I can to see how people may come across me, my business and my work. The other day I put "Heavens to Bessie" into google image. I found my own images of course but there were a few I did not recognize. I had to share some of the really special ones with you all.  Like this one....

And then this one



Now this next one I just happen to like quite a bit.

So if you are only just now discovering me.....these images don't really have anything to do with me, my work or Heavens to Bessie but they are definitely entertaining. 

Today's Motivation

So I have finally made it out into the yard to do my first clean up since the early fall. I figured it was time since my lilies were beginning to come up through the leaves still lying there from 2 seasons ago. I was really not looking forward to this first clean up just because I had allowed for things to get so out of control out there in my flower beds, but once I got out there and got my hands in the dirt, I felt great. Really energised. There is something about seeing growth in a garden that makes me want to work harder. Like the harder I work the harder my plants will work. I make life beautiful for them and then in turn make it beautiful for me. This carries over into life for sure. Oh my.....I think I just hippied out on all of you.

While the sun is shining, I am getting back out there! But I will leave you with a couple pictures of new pieces which will be making their way into my shop soon. But be sure you go to www.heavenstobessie.etsy.com if you haven't been for a while. There is lots of new work that has found its way!

For The Brides

There are so many facets to my job and I enjoy them all....or most of them anyway. I have to say, one of my favorite things about doing what I do is working with future brides! I have hand crafted jewelry for mother-in-laws, flower girls, bridesmaids and of course for the bride herself. It is such a privilege to work one on one with clients to design that perfect thing. That elegant detail that adds so much to the day and then remains a keepsake from that point on.

I recently was lucky enough to participate in Dazzling Details Wedding Bazaar, a bridal show that took place at Historic Savage Mill Manor. Honestly to say "bridal show" is a bit of an understatement. This was a full on event and everything about it was completely lovely. Put on by Love Live Images (http://www.lovelifeimages.com/) and Carla David Designs (http://www.carladaviddesign.com/), Dazzling Details was just that....Dazzling! Brides were treated to swag bags at the front door, wine, delicious food several amazing vendors and an ambiance that was stunning.

I had the opportunity to meet so many lovely people and despite the rain and chilly temperatures had a beautiful afternoon.

Baltimore Bride magazine was there and wrote a great blog on the event and posted some amazing pictures. Read it here at http://bride.baltimoremagazine.net/hitched/04/12/dazzling-details-wedding-bazzar

Just yesterday I was featured in Baltimore Bride magazine's blog. You can check that out here http://bride.baltimoremagazine.net/hitched/04/12/heavens-bessie

Give the Dazzling Details Facebook page a like! http://www.facebook.com/TheDazzlingDetailsWeddingBazaar