do you want to build a snowman?

Yesterday we went to Hollywood Studios for the second time this week. They have so much Frozen-themed stuff going on! When I visited in February you'd never know that Disney had even released the movie, so it's nice to finally see it splashed all over the place now :) They have a dedicated store, Wandering Oaken's Trading Post (a little disappointing that you're not greeted with someone saying "yoo hoo! big summer blowout!" though ;) Frozen-themed snacks and treats and even Frozen themed fireworks at night (which were AWESOME)

Also I wrote an article about my mobile office for the etsy seller handbook blog today! You can take a peek here. Pretty exciting!!  I'm super thrilled about it :D  You can also view a little video of the setup process on my instagram here :)

polka dot dress - c/o le bomb shop | floral dress - vintage | scallop flats - h&m

backpack - forever 21 | mobile office shoes - modcloth

Postcards from the happiest place on earth

I'm in Disney World! yay! My shops are staying open while I'm away so I thought it would be fun to do a little Disney-themed promotion! If you use the coupon code "DISNEY15" you will receive 15% off* and a hand-written postcard from The Magic Kingdom! The orders have to be placed before August 8th at 12:01am est in order for me to mail the postcards before I come home.

This offer applies on all orders of $10 or more in all of my shops:

Flapper Doodle
Sweet and Lovely
Puns Intended
Your Fan Club

The 15% off applies to all orders worldwide, but unfortunately the postcard offer is only good for US orders. If you're out of the country I promise I'll throw in a little something extra into your package to make up for it though ;) Obviously all orders will be shipping when I get back, so please keep the delay in mind if you place an order.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the happiest place on earth! ttfn! :)

*Does not apply to bridesmaid card orders or clearance items.

a girl can never have too many etsy shops

I've been working on a new project that I am super thrilled about and I hope so badly I'm not alone in my enthusiasm, haha!

About a month ago I had a train of thought that probably started with "I'm hungry" and somehow led to "there really needs to be a garlic* fan club," which led to "there should be fan clubs for all KINDS of awesome things" which led to me starting a new etsy shop, of course.

It's called Your Fan Club - and the premise is that there is a fan club for everyone. I brainstormed and came up with about 40 fan clubs to start with, but I'm planning on adding more on a weekly basis. From the very obscure (Bradford Dillman Fan Club, a nod to Millie) to the kind of obscure (Joan Blondell Fan Club) to the cult favorites (Bill Murray and Ira Glass Fan Clubs) to the pop culture heroes (Dwight Schrute and Ron Swanson Fan Clubs) to the science rock stars (Carl Sagan and Nikola Tesla Fan Clubs.) There's food, people, animals (well, animal. just dinosaurs at the moment) and even causes like feminism and kindness.

The fan club pins are all 1" and laser-cut from black and white acrylic and feature my drawings in the center of each pin (except for the heart on the kindness pin, that was clipart courtesy of photoshop.) I'm really excited about the classic movie pins -- I've been wanting to re-purpose some of my old drawings and paintings and this was the perfect way to do it! You better believe I'm keeping a Robert Montgomery fan club pin for myself ;)

*And* I also have custom listings in case your fan club isn't listed. Want a pin for the Basil Ice Cream Fan Club? How about the Rubber Ducky Fan Club? Literally anything is possible. Technically they don't even have to say fan club! If you want to order a custom pin with different text that's totally fine!

*AND* the pins are kind of super cheap. They're only $6 each or 4 for $20. I also have a listing for 12 pins for $48, which is perfect for ordering the most awesome party favors or stocking stuffers EVER.

Ok, that's about it! If you want to check out the shop, it's Your Fan Club and you can pop over and visit right here. yay!



*I'm not kidding, this train of thought also involved me wrangling my family into attending the Garlic Festival in The Poconos in August.

UPDATE 12/2017 -- This etsy shop is now closed but you can still find most of my fan club buttons in my shop here.

my mobile office!

Last week I took my mobile office on the road and finally managed to snap some pictures of it in action! I'm very lucky to be currently making my living selling my artwork online. It's the reason I'm able to take trips -- and it's also the reason I need a mobile office. I can't afford to put my business on hold while I'm on vacation, so I simply bring it with me!



My little workspace is fully functional -- I have all of the supplies that I need to make, pack and ship all of my products. I have a mobile printer so I can print art prints and shipping labels at my hotel or a rest stop and then I put it all together in the trunk.

The main components are two white organizational cubes from Michaels, which house my envelopes, note cards, business cards and stamps. I added polka dots and spray painted the handles green because, well, I just can't leave anything alone. The floral board sitting on top of them is used to cover the front of the shelves while we're driving (held in place by a bungee cord!)

The heart garland is simply for decoration and only goes up when I'm parked and working.. just to make me feel more at home (at work?)



On my first test run I realized it was pretty easy to make a mess of the carpet in the trunk and not so easy to clean it up on the go. So I cut out foam board to fit in my trunk and then covered it with faux wood laminate flooring. It's SO easy to clean and it has the added benefit of actually looking more like a desk ;)

A lot of my ideas end up falling totally flat, but this one worked and I'm so glad it did! I mean, the only thing better than laying on the beach is working on the beach.. right? ;)

merci beaucoup!

When I got my first etsy order of the day today I was a little more excited than usual. Because that means I've officially gone 2 years with at least one sale per day!! Pretty exciting! I wore this sweater in an outfit post when I blogged about my one-year-streak in 2012 (looking at those pictures is making me miss my pink hair something awful! ahh!) so I thought it would be fitting to wear it again today! I'm really so thankful for every order I get, and I never cease to be amazed when somebody wants to buy something that I made!

My sales this year have been averaging about 30% less than last year, so I really didn't think I'd keep this streak going for two years. I'm positive it isn't going to last for three.. I don't even think I'm going to keep track anymore after this. I'm totally cool with it, though. I'm in the process of figuring out a new career (elementary school art teacher, if you missed that post) so I'm not going crazy. I'm just happy and grateful that I've had this much good luck so far and that even with a 30% decline in sales I'm still managing to stay afloat and wrangle up at least 1 order a day :)

If you ever purchased anything from my shop or have supported Flapper Doodle in any way, from the bottom of my heart -- thank you so much!! :)

dress - emerging thoughts | sweater - asos | shoes - c/o bait footwear

a new chapter

Well, as of today I am no longer a full-time etsy seller. My flapper doodle sales have been on a steady decline for the last several months, and no amount of frantic title tweaking, advertising budget increases or new product releases seem to have made any difference. I'm still trying to keep things afloat, but I also faced the inevitable and decided to apply for a real job.

And yesterday I got the call that I was hired, by my favorite local ice cream parlor! I think it's a perfect fit for me, and I'm really excited about working there. It's a part time job so I can still maintain my (albeit floundering) shop. It'll be so nice not to have to worry about my loss of income and I really think it's a job that I'll enjoy. Flapper Doodle will remain open (as long as my sales are still trickling in, I suppose!) as will Sweet and Lovely. The only obvious change will be that I'll probably have more interesting things to blog about than the weather and my tv viewing habits ;)

I was really lucky to have had a successful etsy shop for as long as I did -- I can't even express how thankful I am that I was able to work from home the entire time that I had Hypatia, since it enabled me to spend so much time with her. She was a special needs cat and needed a guardian who could care for her constantly, and I'm so grateful that I was able to do that. I treasure every single second I had with her, and thanks to Flapper Doodle I had so many more seconds than I would have had if I had to leave for work each day.

I'm incredibly sad that Flapper Doodle is losing steam and that reviving it seems to be out of my control, but I'm also very excited about this new chapter in my life! I've been self employed (before etsy I sold my art at outdoor street fairs full time) for ten years so this is going to be quite an adventure! But I'm really looking forward to hopefully making some new friends and having some wonderful new experiences! I'm also a teeny bit scared since my decade of self-employment has turned me into a bit of a reclusive hermit but maybe this was just what I needed to come out of my shell :)

dress- modcloth | lamb brooch - c/o sugar cookie 

cardigan - forever 21 | shoes -asos (similar) | belt - h&m

mint and mustard

Not sure why I always feel compelled to name my outfit posts after the colors I'm wearing (which lately means a lot of my blog post titles include the word "mint") ...

For the last two weeks my etsy shop has been way (WAY) too quiet. Since I'm a full time etsy seller (and textbook worrywart) I decided that to keep my brain from spiraling into a deep dark pit of despair, I would tackle some of the little projects around the house that I haven't had time for before.

To begin with, I organized all of my records so it's easier for me to find what I'm looking for (I have so many Sinatra records that I organized by grouping my albums into "Frank" and "Not Frank") and finished up working on a little hallway supply closet. Then I installed a shelving unit under my bed to create even more organized storage! yay! I'm taking pictures later this week to show how neat it looks :) I'm waiting until later in the week because I'm also (drum roll) painting my bed! I've wanted to do this for about 4 years now and just never got around to it. I'm also painting my bedside table, too!

Tomorrow I'm going to tile the counter top in my bathroom (teenage Kate thought it would be a good idea to paint over the laminate counter and I've been trying to figure out a way to undo that damage ever since) and hopefully finish the mural I started in there in 2011! I'm kind of excited actually, even if I do keep anxiously checking the etsy app on my phone every few minutes...

dress- c/o modcloth | shirt and belt - f21 | tights - urban outfitters | shoes - asos

Flapper Doodle shop update (including the 2013 calendar!)

The 2013 Flapper Doodle calendar is finally complete! yay!! In addition to the calendar, I also added prints of all of the new illustrations to my shop, in 4x6 and 8x10. I also added the new drawings to my society6 shop as well, so they're available in much larger sizes as well as on note cards, iphone cases and laptop skins!

If anything catches your eye in my etsy store, you can take 10% off with the code "Brilliant" or 15% off if you use paypal at checkout with code "Paypal" :)

Well I'm off to go get ready now! I'm going to see The Birds at the movies & I'm super excited! Is anyone else going? It's being re-released nationwide today only. I bought my tickets ahead of time but if you don't have any plans for the night and want to see if it's playing near you, you can check here!

merci beaucoup!

Yesterday was a pretty big milestone for me and Flapper Doodle... I officially went a whole year -- three hundred and sixty five whole days-- with at least one sale per day in my etsy shop. That includes Christmas, New Years, Easter, everything. I can't believe it!! If you contributed to that streak in any way, thank you thank you thank you!! :)

I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to do what I love for a living, and I'm so thankful to everyone who makes it possible. I'm just such a lucky girl. ♥

Sweater - asos | Dress (worn as a skirt) - c/o modcloth | Tights - urban outfitters
Shoes - c/o BAIT footwear | Peter pan collar shirt - forever 21

The most wonderful time of the year

It's that time of the year again -- 2013 calendar time. I've been hard at work (I say "work" but really this is my absolute favorite part of my job!) coming up with the 12 new illustrations for my new flapper doodle calendar. So far I have two complete drawings, one half-finished drawing and 9 incredibly rough sketches. And I've been working on it non-stop for days, so I guess at this rate I should be finished by, say, sometime in 2014?! ;p Maybe I'll share a sneak peek if anyone is interested?

Now to completely change the subject... these shoes. THESE SHOES. I went vintage shopping with my cousin a couple weeks ago, and she found these incredible pastel pink beauties. They were marked a size 8, and I'm a size 7, but I tried them on anyway... and they fit!! And they were only $10! I need to change the laces (I think the original ones were lost along the way and somebody replaced them with sneaker laces) but otherwise they're in amazing condition and just so so perfect! Look at those pretty little cutouts! *dies*

Dress - modcloth | Cardigan & belt - f21 | Shoes - vintage | Brooch - DIY

my neapolitan treat

I got this dress as a little reward to myself for making 5,000 sales in my etsy shop. I think it's nice to have things that celebrate your milestones or happy moments. That way whenever you wear them or look at them, you're reminded of something that brought you joy, or an achievement that made you proud! :)

Dress - modcloth | Belt - Forever 21 | Shoes - from my grandmom

Five thousand!!

shirt - modcloth
skirt - c/o francescas
shoes - asos

Yesterday I passed 5,000 sales in my etsy shop!! I never ever would have thought three years ago when I first started posting my little doodles on flickr that it would turn into my full time job, but I am so glad it did! I'm very grateful (and honestly, surprised) when I think that 5,000 flapper doodle items have made their way into people's homes all around the world. It's such a strange, yet incredibly exciting thought! If anyone reading this has ever purchased anything, or supported me and my shop in any way, thank you from the bottom of my heart!