Sneak Peek at Dowdy Studio's new items!

When Dylan of Dowdy Studio isn't printing up some mean whale patterns for the Super Sneaky Collaboration, he's in his studio working on his one line of screen printed clothes and prints.
Something new Dylan will be revealing for the first time at the Dustbowl Arts Market is his hand-dyed and printed tees. The hand-dyed look is great for achieving that vintage worn look without the vintage worn tee.
Dylan's also been making little mini prints. He'll have a few for sale at the Dustbowl Arts Market, so get your hand on them before they're gone. And if you aren't fast enough, you'll be able to find them in his Etsy shop soon.

Sneak Peek at more new items

Not only are we working on our Super Sneaky Collaboration Project, but we're also working on our own creative endeavors. Each one of us has something new from our personal collections to present at the Dustbowl Arts Market too.

I've been creating some new mini handmade wood necklaces that will showcase for the first time ever at the Dustbowl in Norman, OK.

Also new, but not brand brand new are my revamped Art Necklaces. Each one is made by my hands from a mini print of one of my original paintings. So you can wear art around your neck all the time.

Stay tuned to see what Cheyne and Dylan are up to on the Super Sneaky Collaboration Project.

Join the Super Sneaky Collaboration Project in Norman Oklahoma

Join us this Saturday, August 29th as the Super Sneaky Collaboration Project travels up to Norman, Oklahoma from Dallas, Texas to showcase all our secrets at the Dustbowl Arts Market. This is your chance to meet the 3 indie designers behind the Super Sneaky Collaboration Project.

The Dustbowl Arts Market is an open-air art and handmade market taking place along Buchanan Street on Campus Corner. Artists will be selling original jewelry, clothing, accessories, paintings, prints, pottery, screen printing, photography, paper and much more. All created by regionally local artists.

See artist interviews and all the bands playing at the Dustbowl before the Dustbowl here

My feature on Super Sneaky Collaboration Project

From the Super Sneaky Collaboration Project:
Located in a small studio in Dallas, TX, Pamela Michelle creates and designs original artwork in wood, on canvas and on paper that you can wear, hang, love and enjoy.

Pamela Michelle started in the mid '07s by the designer and illustrator Pamela Jackson, as a way to unleash her imagination on the world, with modern influences and a Scandinavian twist. Her line of jewelry includes unique handmade wooden necklaces, oval art necklaces and wooden rings. She also sells prints of her original paintings and on occasion her original paintings.

Pamela Michelle was born and raised in north Texas. When she was a little girl her father would let her play in his wood shop and teach her the basics of wood working and other things most little girls didn't get to experience. She spent most summers with her grandparents in Arizona, where her grandmother would take her on nature hikes through the mountains to go bird watching, and her grandfather would enlighten her about her rich Scandinavian heritage. All three of these influences are apparent in Pamela's work today which she claims "a part of my heart is embedded in each painting or illustration I create."

When not creating, Pamela Michelle is very involved in the local artist community. Pamela co-runs a group in Dallas called Etsy Dallas that's main focus is to support the handmade community of artists and designers. Each year Pamela focuses on planning 2 big indie craft shows to showcase this blooming indie talent, the Spring Bash and the Jingle Bash.


Pamela also really enjoys working with others and collaborating on creative new and innovative projects. Pamela, along with Cheyne and Dylan are all very excited to showcase their Super Sneaky Collaboration Project for the first time at the Dustbowl Arts Market in Norman, Oklahoma.

Today's Random: Crack Cupcakes

I don't really know how to effectively explain this.....The back story went something like this:

Me: Cheyne, how did you get so popular?

Cheyne: I dunno, maybe I've been bribing someone

Stephanie: Probably with cupcakes

Me: Yes, cupcakes might do that, but I'm not entirely convinced that is the case.

Cheyne: Cupcakes...... with crack in them!

All: CRACK CUPCAKES!!! YUM!!

My latest project: The Super Sneaky Collaboration Project

See the secret that is the Super Sneaky Collaboration Project designed by Dowdy Studio, Pamela Michelle and Cut Out and Collect at the Dustbowl Arts Market, a open air, all handmade market focused on originality and innovative art on Campus Corner in Norman Oklahoma from 10am-6pm. In the spirit of being collaborative, these 3 designers, who are leaders in the handmade movement in Texas, have kept their collaborative designs top secret until now, and will showcase and sell them for the first time at the Dustbowl Arts Market.

Shevaun Williams, a nationally renowned commercial photographer, who often houses the 3 young designers when they come into Oklahoma says “These are innovative, young artists from the Dallas area. We can learn so much from these young designers through their interest in collaboration, groundbreaking ideas and commitment to a vision.”

Collaborative efforts between artists can encourage growth and spawn innovative ideas as each artist is forced to view their artistic medium in new and different applications. Dylan of Dowdy Studio, an artist birthed out of the great state of Oklahoma, hand-prints his original hand-drawn designs on tshirts, and has recently teamed up with his girlfriend, Pamela Jackson of Pamela Michelle and friend Cheyne Little, of Cut Out and Collect to create new collaborative designs. Pamela Michelle has been creating handmade wooden and art jewelry inspired by her paintings since 2007. The Scandinavian decent is apparent in her retro-modern and youthful illustrations and designs. Cut Out and Collect originally began as Cheyne Little's attempt to avoid graduate school and has grown into a line of one-of-a-kind handbags, accessories, and home decor items known nation-wide. Born in Oklahoma City as well, Little has deep family ties to the University of Oklahoma and comes home for the Dustbowl Arts Market.

Look what we made last weekend!

Ok, so last weekend was incredibly hot. But that didn't stop us from jumping into our workshop with no AC and building a new TV stand. Side note: sweat and sawdust do not go good together.

Anyway, before building this bad boy, we have been using an old IKEA coffee table to hold our TV, electronics, and DVD collection. We needed so badly to switch it out, as our feet had nowhere to rest when we were watching movies, and anytime we wanted to have a drink or dinner infront of the TV it was a big pain to drag over our two tiny side tables to use as a mock coffee table.

My heavylifting honey, Dylan, and I busted away for about 3 hours on this baby. He designed, cut all the pieces out of wood and put screwed and glued it all together, and I watched/kinda managed while I was building some frames for my paintings. So, really I didn't do much to help with this project, but I like to claim that I helped...maybe a little in the moral support department, I guess. It turned out pretty nice, and I love it so much more now that we've placed it in our living room and retired our coffee table to be once again a coffee table again.

Hurrah! new art necklaces in my shop!

Four new necklaces in my shop. More to come! yay! Each art necklace is made by my two hands with reproduced artwork from one of my original acrylic paintings. The pendant measures 1.25 inch by 1.5 inches and hangs from an 18 inch silver coated metal chain. See more art pendants here: www.pamelamichelle.etsy.com

How to make a boring wall less boring

So I know you're wondering: Pamela, how do I make that really boring wall less boring without spending a bazoozle of money?

Well, I'm here to help ya out. Follow my simple instructions and soon you will have a less boring wall, you will be much more happy and your family and friends will think you are a home decorating genius! I just did this to my boring wall, and suddenly things aren't looking quite as dull, my life now has more beauty in it and I can finally relax knowing that a big boring wall isn't bringing me down.

Step 1: Take a good hard last look at that boring wall. Take a moment to collect your feelings and say goodbye. Letting go is the first step in moving forward. Tissue?

Step 2: Collect some old frames. I found my frames for dirt cheap at a local thrift store. The ones I found varied in sizes, colors, and designs. Most of them had ugly old mass produced art prints still living inside them, so I wasn't too worried about ripping them apart.

Step 3: Rip them suckers apart! Take all your frames home and take off the backing,old artwork, and pop out the glass. You may need a pair of pliers to open up the backs of the frames, but for the most part they should all come apart pretty easily.

Step 4: Now that you have just the frames, you can paint them or stain them. I chose to use black spray paint to color mine, since most of my furniture is black. It matched! Spray paint is great for this project because it goes on evenly and doesn't leave brushstroke marks. Pick a color that goes with the decor of the room. Do you have lots of red accents? Then use red. Do you want to stay pretty neutral? then pick a color close to your wall color.
Step 5: Arrange your frames in an interesting layout. Lay them out on the floor first and get them exactly how you want them to look on the wall. Then one by one hang them up with a hammer and a nail. I chose to do an asymetric design with some small frames inside some big frames and set them all about an inch apart. I also had a cute helper to hold the frames up while I stepped back and made sure they were in the right spot. **Cute helper is optional for this project, but highly recommended**

And now you're done! Look at the beauty that is your new wall decor. Now invite all your friends over for cocktails and bathe in the "ohhs" and "ahhs" they'll be showering you in. And when they say "Oh my gosh! I love your decor! Who is your designer?" You can hold your head up high and exclaim at the top of your lungs, "Why, it's me!!!!"

My studio is getting purdy-a-fied

Check out this disaster zone. This is my studio mid-renovation. It's getting a major facelift! Since we moved, I haven't had the time to establish the oasis for creative bliss that I dreamt of. A break finally caught my path, and I've been painting an rearranging and organizing...well trying to reorganize around all the clutter. Right now my studio looks like one of those before homes on Clean House. A mess. You can just hear Niecy saying "Girl, what's with all this foolishness!"
Well, soon it will be all back in place and clean and fresh! And Niecy will be exclaiming "Ok family, take off your blindfolds and open your eyes!" And I'll be all like "WOAH WOW!" Then I can finally get back to creating masterpieces in my oen little oasis of creative bliss. yay!

Oh, and the mostest fun part: Purchasing new artwork to hang on the walls! I finally have a place to showcase all the artists that I've been drolling over for the past few years. I'm truely excited!

Stay tuned for when I have it all back together, I'll be posting some post disaster pics soon....hopefully :)

Collaboration with Dowdy Studio

Dowdy Studio and I combined artistic forces to make this one. It's the Rock Hand, one of his original illustrations, that I then took and morphed into an art necklace. You can find it for sale, along with his original tees, in his Etsy Shop. www.dowdystudio.etsy.com

The Newness!

Ta da! Welcome to the newness. This has been an effort two years in the making. Still a few kinks to work out, like the super shiny chain, but soon enough these babies will be hitting my Etsy shop for you to play with. Stay tuned for the official announcement!