Hello friends! How's it going for you?!

Like the busy little artist that I am, I've been keeping myself occupied with a lot of things this summer!

First off, I've been working on a big doll these past couple of months, and finally finished her! Her name is Jazzabella, and she was a commission for a client on Etsy. As one of my biggest dolls to-date, Jazzabella was a huge accomplishment for me!

I was accepted into an art sale for this November, called the Troy Country Workshop Artists. This means I've been working really hard on making a bunch of finger puppets for the sale. I'll try to upload them all as I finish them, because they're all so cute and have so much character! I can't wait to show them off :D

When I have dates and times for the sales, I'll keep you all informed - if any of you live in the Southern Ohio region I would highly recommend making the time (and the budget!) to take a trip out there. They feature artists who do everything from needle felting and wet felting (like me), to weavers, knitters, all the way to carvers and photographers. There really is a little bit of everything for everyone at that sale ;)

I also helped with wardrobe effects for the movie Making Out, and I've even gotten to act as an extra in a couple of the scenes! It was really awesome to help work on the movie, because I've always dreamed of working on special-effects in movies and now my dream has become a reality!

I have another commission in my queue, for the same person who commissioned Jazzabella. This next doll is going to be even more awesome: she will have a poseable, ball-jointed armature so that her entire body can be posed, a moveable and poseable jaw, and even an expandable stomach!

If you would like to see the sketches and work-in-progress pictures I take of my dolls, you can find them over on my Tumblr account. You can also find my Sketchbook Sunday posts, and other random posts over on that blog.

What else is going on?

Oh, I applied to be a General Manager in my company! That's huge news! I applied a couple weeks ago, and the District Manager has told me that he will keep me in mind when another position opens up. I'm really excited but also a little terrified, because it's a lot of responsibility to run a store! I can take it, though - I just have to work on my patience XD

Yesterday at work was a little bittersweet, though, because the manager who has been training under me for the past six months was finally promoted and moved to another store. This is a great move for her, and I'm so proud of her and all she's accomplished in six months, but it's also a little sad because we've become good friends and almost like sisters in that time, so it's tough to see her go. Luckily she hasn't been transferred out of state, so we can still visit each other once in a while.

My husband graduated with his Bachelor's Degree this summer, so he is gearing up to get his Master's Degree over the next few years. We're both very excited, even if it means he's going to have to work hard, because it also means that he will be able to get a much better job when he graduates.

So this summer has been busy and fantastic! The tl;dr version is: Made a lot of art, helped with a movie, applied for a better job, getting ready for an art sale in November, and hubby is now finishing up his education!