broken wings

there are these storms that we go through

that break us down deep into the

inner core

of our souls.

we feel that we can not breathe and that

peace is far from our reach.

but some how we manage to pick up

the pieces of our broken spirit and mend

them together slowly, piece by piece.

our wings may never be the same as they were

before all the storms have passed us by,

but through it we still manage to fly.

life's course takes us on these journeys that make us feel and be at times something and somewhere we do not wish. but through it all we seem to come out and be okay. its not until we have passed through and see the other side before we can even attempt to have a positive glimpse of an outlook. and sometimes with the positive there still might be a negative that is hard as hell to get rid off and maybe never will. i feel that with my mended wings i can still fly, but the pain that i have gone through is something that i never thought that i would ever go through, therefore i will always fly a little crooked.... a cute ending to a very deep thought....

life

this is me talking to the bird....telling him all my problems and he is so good because he just listens and always gives me encouragement to keep doing what im doing and just do the best i can. ha ha dont you just love that, that is what friends are for to listen whether its good or bad.

it seems im going through a storm right now so i feel sorry for my friends when they call me they better hold on to their seats cuz some stuff is getting ready to fly. and then the comforting words are "everybody is going through something", and then i say ahhhhh, so its not just me, wow that makes me feel better.

well its already march i just had a birthday and i worked away jan. and feb., and now into march im pretty sure im working from the time i get up till i go to bed. and now even in bed i bring my lap top and work while im laying down. jezzzz....

i was and am so happy i was in the issue of sommeret apprentice that came out on my birthday....i told the lady at michaels tonight and she never flinched. OMG are you kidding me those people at michaels have no personality, whatever..... it was funny though.....

so in closing to this late night blog post i want to say that this is my new favorite design...i absolutely love it. i use to say it was my new secret favorite but now i can shout it out to you all. take care and remember....... everybody is going through something. xoxoxoxoxo

2012 january

well i just finished the trade show in Atlanta, wow it was amazing....because of so many elements. i looked so forward to going its the perfect time of the year for the huge show, right after the holidays and the cold weather it keeps your mind busy so that it doesnt go into the deep dark places..for me anyway...many years this time of the year this is what happened to me. no place to go and no work at this season...but now times have changed i turned it around. i know this is what i had to do and i did it and it worked. this is my 2nd year in a row. twice a year. i worked my butt off and my winding journey has now had a straight path.

i love the people that are around me and the people i meet, i love the friends that i have and the person i work with ric..., the best sales person in the world im am so lucky to have him, you know my sales go up with his presence and charm, he is truly an inspiration to me.

this is going to be the best year ever for vintage girl designs and im excited in this moment for everything that has happened to me and how i have been able to touch other people with my art and able to experience it, to me this is true bliss.

i still have lots of goals and im not going to bask in bliss to long i give myself only 48 hours and them its back to the drawing board. and im back to my normal state.....not sure what i will call that...

thank you God and the Universe and Everyone who believes in me and any artist for that matter. xoxoxoxoxox

embrace happiness as often as you can

i know the title of this blog sounds easy to do, but how often i have to remind myself usually after the fact...im always in a hurry or thinking what i have to do next. always adding to my to do list..

happy new year..

new beginnings

okay so im a little late to be posting christmas designs, im already past the whole christmas thing and thinking about the new year. its crunch time here at vintage girl designs and i have to produce lots of new designs before my next show in Atlanta in January. Ive been collecting life experiences that have inspired my new designs. cant wait to get them on paper.

most of my life is about starting over and new beginnings, which goes right along with the beginning of a new year and starting over, but the only difference is its my choice. for 2012 im going to start the new year doing things more precise and more efficiently. im going to pick and choose what i want to engage my life in and what i dont. i want things to be peaceful, and harmonious. wow this might be asking alot, altleast its a goal and a start to a new new beginning. happy holidays xoxoxoxo

happy thanksgiving

hoping that your day is filled with peace, calm, love, and happiness. xoxoxox

my first licensing with Paperproducts Design

im excited to share my first licensing experience with everyone. i just received the samples in the mail today. i received the catalog a week or two ago where im on the first 2 pages. i couldnt get the picture i took of that to come up. so here is the real deal.

they are so great i love them. its exciting to see my designs on something that i didnt have to make....

this company is so amazing its really great to experience something for the first time and feel so comfortable and at peace with it all.

i hope that eveyone loves the napkins.

Let the entertaining begin. xoxoxo

enlightening experience

i was in chapel hill last weekend doing one of my favorite art shows. i met an artist named Beverly, after talking we found that we had a lot in common with our art career journeys. when you find someone that you share your own true nature with you can talk for hours and hours. it feels so good to be able to get it all out to a person that actually understands and is also as interested as you are.

she asked if she could do a little blog on me on her blog called art prescription, so we set up a phone call and just talked. now what i want to share with you before i share her blog is the enlightening experience that happened while talking with her.

an enlightening experience is when you are aware of what you are doing but you are not really aware of how it affects you in a deep true scense of what makes you who you really are.

so once you actually hear your self say it and you have to express it you become aware of how it affects you.

she asked me about licensing and why i would be reluctant to have my designs mass marketed. so i responded with." ive been doing what i do which is art shows and selling my handmade items to stores for about 12 years now, and if i didn't do these 2 things i would feel empty and depressed. i get my joy from interacting with people and seeing them purchase my art and see how they are inspired by something that i created. that is what keeps me going and is what motivates me to keep doing what i do. if i were to sit at my desk all day and paint which i couldn't do anyway because my art is a spontaneous inspiration i can only paint when i feel it in my soul to get out. that's when i create art that speaks to me and others.

but to not be able to interact would be very depleting to me. and this is how Ive always done it. to be able to sell my things to a store and have them call me and place a reorder because they sold everything, well.. this is a good day. that's what keeps me going.

so to have a beautiful day like last weekend where i worked my butt off to get ready for this show, as i do all of them, then wake up in the morning and drive 2.5 hours and set up my booth and sell my art work for 6 hours then pack down and drive home. and think of all the people i met and talked to and that purchased my work. this is a good day, this is where i find my most happiness, this is what makes me, this is it.......

now i did not know this was true until i heard my self say it. i had a goal that liscensing was the here all be al,l and once i reached that point i would be to my up most success. not that i did ultimately reach it but i was presented with some offers recently and turned them all down because i do not want to loose what truly makes me happy. and that is, doing what i have always done. so see sometimes you don't realize that you are reaching for happiness in other places and all along its right in front of you. this was my enlightening experience.....but i had to hear myself say it to know for sure. having these enlightening experiences is what makes us wise and confident..............here is what she wrote.http://artprescription.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/a-stand-out-in-the-crowd-featured-artist-michelle-defillipo/

my love for paper

i need to write about my love for paper. this is very important because its something that is going to be very significant in the upcoming months.

i need to express that paper is something that i absolutely love. i would choose paper over a lot of other material items, including diamonds.....ha ha being that diamonds have not brought me as much success as paper in my life....

paper is why i do what i do and why i create what i create and why i love what i do.

everything i make is made out of paper in some way or another. and everything i make i sell so therefore paper is what i make a living from. it also depends on what i put on the paper but still...it counts.

now, what i need to also share is the quality of paper, the quality of paper is what makes my adrenaline flow, like for instance moleskin journals as pictured above.. if you have never felt the paper in these journals then you are missing out on a lot!!!...the smoothness and thickness and color is absolutely perfect. i could sleep on this paper i could do everything on this paper its my faaaavorite... i must say i love it so much.

so with this love for paper i am coming into my own on what i want to make as a huge statement to unveil in my next big series and this i think is going to be all about me and my love for paper.

i cant give to much away but it will be revealed in my art which is definitley a reflection of who i am.

i have to do some research and find some things that im looking for , but in time im sure i will be able to inspire all the others out there that love paper too.

when i look back on my journey i find that i create things that i love myself and that i need to make me complete. this is definitely going to be a milestone in my journey i can feel it.

as a little girl i would make handmade things to give away. now as an adult i still do this. i am also blessed to be able to sell them too.

the best part of this is its going to be different. unique and me.........

well stay tuned im sure i will be sharing as soon as i get this project completed...

take care

no time to breathe

so i have a couple of things that i have made that say breathe and rest and serenity and balance.
but OMG, i have not been able to do any of those things atleast for 7 days straight.
in this photo above is the first time i was able to sit and write in my journal, that was this weekend while i was working at a show. thats funny that im resting while im working.

but anyway these past 10 days have been crazy i really actually felt like i couldnt breathe. the core of my body was aching from stress because i felt as though i couldnt rest, i just had to keep going.
not to mention that anyone that came in my path was well...lets just say i feel sorry for the way i treated them.....i really needed to be locked away from society so that i could not bite anyones head off.....

i feel better now, its monday night the weekend and holiday is over. i was able to get some of my thoughts down on paper and try to go over what happened to me in the past week so that i could make sure i was not going crazy....

i figured out it was going to be a stressful week anyway and all the other things just added to it making it one heck of a whew i dont even know what to call it. but lets just hope that next month , 28 days from now which im going to mark on my calendar so i will be ready, that i am going to go way far away from all this stuff.... so i can breathe and not be a disfunctional wreck.

sometimes things seem worse than they really are

this is all i have to say about that.

quality is better than quantity

you see these two boys? they went back to school today from their summer vacation. gabby did too she is 15. so 15 years ago i became a mom and ever since then i have either worked with my kids or had my kids at home while working. from working at the schools they went too or putting them in swimming lessons that i taught. there was always something with me staying home with them and work that has kept me connected with them.

this is how i wanted it. i could not part from them when they were little.i did not want them in day care , preschools were fine but not an all day preschool it didnt make since to me, and the fact that i couldnt afford it. so i chose to be a stay at home working mom.

now this is different than just a regular stay at home mom. they are both hard but different. different in a way that you have to stay at home and work with your kids and do all the other things like cook, clean, play,etc.

the point of me sharing this is i realized that after having my first two it was very hard to work while they were home, but they eventually went to school. so i could breathe and experience what it was like to work in peace,

then christian came along, he is 4 now and ive done the same thing with him, stayed at home and tried to work. i really didnt have a choice or even if i did i wouldnt of taken it because this is what i do, stay at home with my kids.

i am older now and i have no patience, my anxiety is very bad when it comes to working at home with kids. i absolutely was going to scream if i had to do it for one more day. i realized today that its not the quantity of time its the quality of time you spend with your kids.

all these years i pushed my self to do it because i thought it was the best thing for them but instead it turned me into this fragile mom that cant take any noise or talking or playing. im always working trying to catch up because i dont have long blocks of time and im working constantly day and night just to get it done. where as if i were to put them in a daycare i would have that block of time and everything would be done and i could pick them up and watch a movie with them on the couch. like i did today.

and that my friends is what i learned but guess what, i have to pass it on because i wont be having any more kids and christian starts kindergarten next year so im good. he is in preschool from 8-5, first time ive ever done it and it feels great.

i was scared when they were younger because i thought they were to young and someone would be mean to them and they couldnt tell me, and i just carried in on that way forever it seems.

but when you have to work its different its hard to do both, but i did it and now im a nervous wreck because of it, and im sure my kids did not got the quality time they needed. but we live and learn maybe someone can learn from this thats scared to put them daycare and has a business .
i felt better and calmer today peaceful would be a better word and im sure my kids could tell too...thanks for listening.......