MARY & MICHAEL

I have been blessed to have made so many wonderful friends in the Seattle area over the past couple of years, especially a lot of talented and artistic friends who share a passion for creativity. My friend Mary is such a talented desinger and crafter. I've wanted to share some of her amazing ideas on the blog for a while now, but I thought it would be fun if Mary shared her creativity herself! So here she is, the one...the only....Mary!!!! Take it away girl!:

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Hello everyone! Kristen and I met a while back when we both worked at Paper Source. Since that time, we have both moved on to new jobs and I am now a graphic designer working at Microsoft. During my free time, I love to do crafty and creative things. Kristen and I are part of a craft group that I founded called CounterpARTS. We meet every month to share and cheer on each other's creative endeavors.

As a fun crafty hobby, I maintain a craft business and an Etsy shop called Mary&Michael (Michael is my husband). I began making handmade boxes and note sets last year.

I soon discovered screen printing and the easy at-home Yudu silk screen printing machine. Most of my friends have kids or are soon-to-be parents, so it made sense to work with onesies and children's shirts. I found unique etchings and images to use (getting permission to use the images, of course).

Once the basic set up is established, it is fun and easy printing t-shirts and onesies. But all too soon I had yet another crazy idea and began a new project: Cut out calendars!

Each month the layers add to the previous months to create a new look and image. This project was a HUGE undertaking and involved a pricey Cricut machine among other things. The design process was a lot of fun and the finished product has been really popular. I am really proud of how this project turned out considering how much work I had to put into it! I only have a handful of the perpetual calendars left. They take so much time to make I am not sure when I will gear up to begin the next printing.

Right now I am focusing on my new job at Microsoft. The next crafty adventure I plan to undertake is making more onesies using images, photos, and drawings of my own. I will have to get at least five decent image ideas ready before I can begin the printing process. There are so many image options that I just can't decide: robots, whales, hippos, keys, the alphabet, cupcakes, etc. Wish me luck!

Thanks for letting me share a little of my creativity with you!

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Thanks Mary for your inspiration!

It has been a lot of fun watching her come up with these ideas and see them come to fruition through our CounterpARTS meet ups. Those calendars are truly labored, detailed works of art -- they are absolutely stunning! Be sure to check out Mary's website and Etsy Shop!

Wanna be a guest on Building A Life? Give me a shout! I love sharing what others are up to and introducing friends to friends --- lets make one big circle of blogging love!