10 Year Anniversary + A Giveaway: Week One

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Big News! This week marks the 10th Anniversary of Art School Dropout as a brand! EXCITING!!

Ten years ago this week I finally sat down and chose a name for my then very very small hobby like business. At the time I was just selling handmade bags to a local shop in Baltimore called 9th Life, but I had a feeling it could be more. So it needed a name. After a bit of thought, I came up with Art School Dropout, it fit kinda well with my past and with what I wanted to do. I’m glad I chose it!

Pretty soon after choosing a name I started selling in a few online consignment shops which led to a few brick and mortar shops. I started adding jewelry to the list of things I made, and that’s when things started going faster. I had made a few wire wrapped crescent shaped pendant pieces out of vintage flowers and glass beads all by accident while playing around one day. I loved how they were set up, and decided to call them Juxtapose Necklaces. I added them to my brand spanking new shop (pure simple html with some paypal buttons here and there) and talked about them for a brief moment on my livejournal. Within an hour I sold all of them, actually I over sold a few since I wasn’t prepared and just had paypal buttons that didn’t have a quantity, or sold out option. I was ecstatic! I went out and bought some more supplies and made a few more…

Fast forward to now. It’s been 10 years and the brand Art School Dropout has grown to be way more than I ever expected. I have expanded my line of what I make A LOT. I have grown as a crafter and artist. I have been able to travel the United States more than I thought I would in such a short time. I have met some of my favorite people in the world who continue to inspire and support me on a daily basis. It’s all amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without out all of you! When I say you, I mean all the loyal customers and readers, who support handmade and understand it’s worth and that there is a real person behind it all.

So to say thank you, for the next four week I will be hosting a giveaway each Monday. I will choose an item each week that I feel represents the growth of Art School Dropout, items that helped me make it to 10 years!

The first week’s giveaway will be representing the piece of jewelry that sped up Art School Dropout’s growth in the beginning. I made close to 1500 of these things in 10 years! So here we have a Garden Necklace, a piece that is very similar in style to the original Juxtapose Necklace. The later pieces were much larger and had more random pieces in them, you can see a lot of the pieces I made here.

Now here’s the rules:

This giveaway is for ONE garden necklace, specifically the one shown above. The contest starts right this second and ends Friday, May 10 at 8 p.m. EST when comments will be closed. At which time I will choose a random winner from the comments section below using random.org. The winner’s name will be added to this blog post soon after. If the first winner does not reply back to an email sent out within 24 hours, a second winner will be chosen. So please make sure to give your correct email address! Each giveaway item will be shipped out the day the next giveaway starts until the fourth week when it will be shipped out three days later. This weeks giveaway is open to international readers (upcoming weeks may not be due to size, so please keep that in mind)

To enter all you have to do is comment below answering my favorite question…

What is your favorite color combination? (mine’s teal and gray)

I know I’ve used this one before, but I seriously get so much inspiration from all the answers! I can’t wait to read the responses!!

This giveaway happens to coincide with Sew Mama Sew’s biannual giveaway day. So after you’ve entered here, why not stop on by her blog and see what everyone else is offering! Also, if you are a new visitor because of giveaway day, WELCOME!!

If your interested in any of the Juxtapose Necklaces that are available right now, check out the shop!

Oh, and if you would like to keep up to date about the next three giveaways (one a week) why not add us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or follow us on your favorite blog reader! (my favorite is Bloglovin) I will be posting on all of those platforms each time a giveaway starts and right before one ends!!

This giveaway is CLOSED! but keep an eye out all month, because each week we’ll have a new prize to win!!

The winner was comment #92, Amber! whose favorite color combo included leopard! Ha, I love that!!

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Donuts and Glitter

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I was prepping and unpacking a bunch of my new supplies today, when I felt the need to photograph some of them! These are all supplies to be used in my next batch of plastic pieces, even the little donuts I found! How cute are they?!? I have this new love for glitter, and I can’t wait to use them all!

I am planning on casting again next week, as long as everything falls into place. I have a few new designs in the works, plus some modified versions from the last batch (medium sized arrows anyone?). I’m excited!

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House Tour: A Peek at the Kitchenette

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I know I haven’t really shared much of my house lately. Probably because it’s in a constant state of change lately. I can’t seem to make up my mind about certain things. Plus I’m all about the idea of slow decorating, where you are super picky about what you bring in the house and don’t rush to get it done all at once. It’s a very budget friendly way or doing things actually, because you can find vintage things or items on sale!

This slow way of decorating has made our kitchenette feel super unfinished and plain. Well, plain compared to the rest of the house. The walls are painted, the frames are hung, there’s even a bunch of furniture, but it still feels super unfinished! I’m not super fond of the rug and plan on replacing it with this rug whenever we can get to an Ikea. I also have this lamp (in wood) that needs to be hung (and a new switch, lots of wiring). Maybe the thought of these “missing pieces” makes me feel this way?

I hope that once I feel this room is presentable I can share more than just the walls (and a Hello Kitty in disguise)!!

Oh and on a kinda side note, what would YOU call the room in between the kitchen and the living room where you eat? Is it called a kitchenette? or is it called something else? I just assumed that’s what it was called.

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If I Had Unlimited Funds: April 29th

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I’ve had a bit more down time lately, which usually means I’m spending way too much time “window shopping” the internets. Seriously, my Etsy favorites is getting a bit out of control. I just love looking at THINGS.

So If I had unlimited funds to buy all the things I like to look at, I’d buy…

1 – Love You Night Light by Owly Shaddow Puppets (I have a few of their shadow puppets, and I’m now eyeing up all their nightlights and paper goods. All of it is SO CUTE!)

2 – Faceted Emerald Ring / 199 Carat Series by Gemagenta (I just think this ring is so pretty! I’m not a diamond girl, but I do love the shape of them) /// 3 – Silver Constellation Crown by Giant Dwarf (I have been wanting a head piece by Sue since she started making the felt flower ones YEARS ago! I just never felt like I was girly enough to wear one. Like I would feel fake, or silly. Now I know that was super crazy, and I WILL get one of these amazing pieces finally!!!)

4 – Fox Dress by Gracie Chai (This beyond adorable dress is HANDMADE and HAND PRINTED! Not screen printed. Hand stamped! Each fox head was done separately, layer by layer. It’s amazing! The designer even shares the process on her blog. She’s my new favorite!)

5 – Shelter Print by Jeremy Miranda (Every single piece of art in this shop is amazing! I’m normally a simple screen printed art type of girl, but I just can’t get over how interesting these prints are!) /// 6 – Florescent Green Geometric Linen T-Rex Pillow by Panacea By Jade (OK, it’s a geometric dinosaur pillow, why wouldn’t I want one of these?!?)

7 – The ‘Brandy Snap’ Peter Pan Collar Dress by Isabel Knowles (These handmade dresses are just too cute! Plus they are tailor made to your exact measurements, so it’s a perfect fitting dress)

8 – Wooden desk lamp in grey and yellow lime by Ellens Alley (this lamp is EXACTLY what I have been looking for! I think a set of them would look amazing in our bedroom) /// 9 – Washi Tape Pillow Cover by Mrs Eliot Books

10 – Thin Pointed Violet Stackable Ring by Anja Guggenheim (This ring isn’t just sparkly and cute, it’s also a SELF DEFENSE WEAPON! Crazy right? I found this shop late at night while searching for geometric rings. I didn’t realize what the ring was at first, but once I read the description I was in love. This isn’t the only design with a double purpose! ALL of the designs in the shop can be used for self defense. I seriously think every girl I know should own one of these, or at least the Unicorn Horn!)

So, completely off topic… My endoscopy is tomorrow!! Which means after all the gluten is out of my system I will hopefully be back to my normal self. Sewing, sculpting, casting, working out, and baking self. I think I’m too excited for this!! I have stacks of supplies just waiting to be used.

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Close Ups: Juxtapose Necklaces

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Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous! The sun was nice, bright and warm. PERFECT photo weather! Of course I took advantage of it. I now have about two weeks worth of product photos to edit and I couldn’t be happier.

I edited the Juxtapose Necklaces first, because I was excited to see them. I was so happy with the final close up photos that I just had to share some of them! They feel sorta dramatic to me. Kinda personal too. I’m thinking of printing off the top one to hang in my sewing room, as a colorful reminder of where I started.

Fun Fact: One of my favorite things is taking macro or up close photos. I love being able to capture detail that sometimes the naked eye can’t even see. I seriously prefer it over the everyday, real world around me photos. I wonder what that says about me?

If anyone is interested, all of these necklaces have been added to the shop, or were already in the shop but have updated photos now!

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New Pouches and Instant Downloads!

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I’ve added a couple of new pouches to the shop! Plus I put around 25 items on sale. They can be found here.

Oh and Etsy did something pretty cool! They added an option with digital files so you can download them immediately after purchasing them! How cool is that? No more waiting!!

I just updated the Geometric Paper Piecing pattern above so that it would be easier. this is kinda making me want to create more patterns. It was a lot of fun, especially the testing part. I’m also really enjoy seeing everyone else’s finished pieces! Keep them coming!

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