maypole's getting a makeover.

i made maypole happen in a wham-bam quick minute last fall when i was invited to participate in the holiday bijou market show. prior to that, i handled few and far between art orders with friends or through my personal email/name.

i could have found good reason to put off the launch of a shop indefinitely. there were a million reasons to postpone or wait for this or wait for that to happen. it would have been a TON easier to wait until i had unlimited funds for everything to be done just the way i wanted it, professional as ever, before i opened myself up to the masses. but with a little push from outside forces, i made it happen. in all reality, i stressed about too many details. i needed an instagram handle and a business card with my name... and instagram handle. 

fortunately, i have creative and generous friends who rallied to help me make maypole happen. it was perfect for my original business concept. and then felt balls were added to the mix and the dynamic changed a bit.

and now, six months later, i'm in a position to hire out a photographer, a copywriter, and a designer who can work together to give maypole a cohesive look... much more than a GIANT logo {sorry about that up there... my web skills are poor, poor, poor.} on a blank white page.

so stay tuned! i'm buzzed with excitement about my new, playful look!

happy may day!

today's my day! it's the day to do the maypole dance!

except it's rainy drizzly snowy(!) here....

but to celebrate, i want to give all my favorite people a special treat.... a may day treat!

download this pdf "you are my favorite of all time ever" print for freeee!
(and print it to fit whatever size your little heart desires!)

because, well, you are my favorite of all time ever and i'm never not jaw-dropped at the kindness and support that's come my way in the last few months. 

happy may day!

stand ye in holy places.

nicole asked me to draw her up a little scripture for her young women. turns out, every single young woman on the face of the planet will be reminded of this scripture throughout the year.

i was happy to do it, but even more - thrilled with the outcome. it's a little bit whimsical, a little bit reverent, and entirely different than anything i received from my young women's leaders in the mid 90s.

i turned it into a digital print and it's now available in my shop!

small fry dear santa!

  i teamed with with jenna, emily, and nicole of the small fry blog to create a handwritten dear santa printable!

 it certainly helps to have creatively genius friends, but my oh my has maypole had a rocket ship first month! and to all the hipster filter square photo nay-sayers, i have a testimony of instagram and the word-of-mouth spread. it has been so good to me. support from friends is always appreciated, but strangers who like and want my work?! that drops me to my knees!

thanks small fry. thanks friends.  thanks strangers. 

felt balls!

first order of business:

a new batch of felt balls have been ordered! 6,000 of them! for you! 

they should be here in about a week. i'll hustle my little self through the shipping process to get them out with just enough time to enjoy them for christmas still!

second - i love seeing felt balls in my instagram feed! 

the small fry girls have showcased them in a few of their projects lately (the ultimate compliment coming from those girls!)

 

vivian posted a few felt photos...

and this one came from ginger parrish - my new best gossip girl loving and champion of maypole friend!

i finally displayed mine in a christmas tree on my front porch. i refuse to turn the lights off.... it's just too charming all day long!

 

i'd love to see how you've used your felt balls! tag me in any photos you may post! @hellomaypole!

live handlettering at bijou.

on friday, day one of the bijou market, i spent the day taking custom handlettering orders for customers while they shopped. 

most everyone i met felt a sink in their heart and said, "oh the pressure! i need that perfect quote" 

some, though, let that perfect quote fall right off their tongue and onto my page.

how fun it was to create something special for a few new friends!

 

bijou market was good to me!

maypole started at the prompting of the bijou girls. in my head, i was going to skip out this season.... chalk it up to premature design skills, a lack of product, and all around ill-preparedness. all of it, though, was just a good excuse for plain ol' fear to launch. nothing like a quick deadline, though, to light a fire under me and get things cranking into motion!

bijou was so good to me, though.  i wanted to cry happy tears when my friends came out in support of me, and i wanted to do a toe touch and throw my arms around every stranger i saw with my goods in their basket. 

thank you, friends! so very much!