Hot! Mailing List

The first official CleverGirl/CleverIndie Mailing List is up and running!

!I can promise a few things about this sparkly new list:  I will not inundate your email box and I will offer exclusive treasures and specials and a “heads up” on new collections as well as pre-order opportunities on some of my new designs. 

Click here to sign up

AND (drumroll please) if you sign up you will get a special discount that you can combine with other discounts that may be found during the next week which adds up to a respectable savings on some amazing wearable art for the holiday giving season! So the hunt is on!

I will drop some hints along the way so you may treat yourself (or others) to some chic and clever treasures…

XO

Bek

Ticket to the Great Pumpkin Festival

Pumpkin Festival

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

We use rolls of carnival tickets as a visual, tangible “token” instead of monetary allowance. This helps him stay on track, helps reduce stress for our whole family, and teaches him the concept of money and hard work.

The tickets accumulating in his bear shaped plastic jar “ticket bank” are another visual and we also track his daily and weekly ticket progress on a task sheet. He earns tickets for everyday chores but we also give him tickets for choosing to play with a toy from his “sensory bucket” (more on that soon, I promise!) and I give him an extra ticket here and there for doing little projects or favors for me. For the special project tickets, I usually write the date and task on the back, so we can reinforce with praise when reviewing the day or week.

Anyway, I was looking at the big bag of tickets he earned over the summer and didn’t want to put them in curbside recycling and I couldn’t reuse them with Alex (he’s very rigid in his thinking- we are working on it but at this time “re-earning” the tickets would totally throw off his game)… So I asked Alex if he could think of a project to do with them.

These necklaces are what we came up with and we make them together(he’s the very enthusiastic glitter department).

$5 of each necklace purchased goes towards Alex’s virtual school fund (he gets tickets/points toward his goal). He is saving up to take language lessons online, through K12.com.

To learn more about Asperger’s please visit NIH’s info sheet

To buy a necklace please visit my Etsy shop.

xo
Bek

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Etsy Shop

I think he likes me!

He thinks…

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

I think I need to make a little shrine-like thing of all the amazing things Alex makes for me.

This will be in a frame, next to my “1000 sails” card, the pop-up book, and in front of them will be the “mama rocks“…. This one is extra special because he wrote it without any prompting or suggestions or help from anyone. This was totally under his own steam, from his heart (and from his trains!)

We gave him his zuchertute/schuletute on Thursday- his last day of Pre-Kindergarten. We didn’t want him to be distracted by the treats on his first day of actual Kindergarten. (I’ll post pictures of the cone/tute soon! Promise!)….

He wrote this note on his personalized notepad from ThisIsIt.Etsy.com with his new fountain pen (I realize he is not even 6, but I have always found fountain pens to be easier to write with and he has been fascinated with mine, and it requires a little more responsibility than traditional disposable pens but I thought he was ready) and mechanical pencil….

How cool is this?

I’m thinking of heading to Cafe Press to have them put it on a Sigg water bottle so I can be inspired and feel loved and healthier all day long.

I have a serious case of the warm fuzzies. Going to hug my boy again.

xo

Bek

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Etsy Shop

I Like The Lite Brite Baby…

I Like The Light….

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

A sneak peek….
One of my favorite game pieces, all grownup….

These will be coming to my Etsy & Smashing Darling shops as soon as I am back on my feet (I have a fever, I’m in bed, hence the larger than usual gaps in communication via my blog)….

(there are a few more colors- you’ll see!)

See you soon!
XO,
Bek

Facebook
Etsy Shop

1000 Sails? 1000 SALES!

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

How lucky am I?  I have the greatest kid in the world. Shhhh. Let me bask in this. Ok.

This is the front of the card Alex made me to celebrate my 1000th item sold in my Etsy.com shop.

Yes, that is a boat with many SAILS.  (which, by the way, has what looks like four portholes but I have been informed that they are bellybuttons because he knew I would think that is hilarious. Hilarious indeed.

I have the sweetest kid in the universe.

You should see the assemblage/vase he made with his daddy for me! I’ll post pictures later this week!

I just packed up 15 orders and I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep! I’m ecstatic over my 1000th sale!

More on that major milestone when I break down the stats (I have to do it, I’m a recovering geek).

xo

Bek

Find me on Facebook!

My Facebook page for CleverGirl/CleverIndie is up and running! Come visit! Become a fan!

I will be offering Facebook Fan specials throughout the year!

Click here to rock down to um Facebook avenue (?!)

Hair Jewels!

Hair Jewels

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

A variety of stones set in reflective bezels for my signature glow, but this time it’s for your hair! Mix and match…These will be sold individually so you can choose your favorites!

Sterling silver bobby pins/hair pins are oxidized to give the gems even more of a whimsical, magical glow.

(all of my work is shipped completely unworn- that goes for hair accessories too! these were photographed on wool/mohair roving used for needle felting and spinning)

These will be available in my Etsy shop shortly….

xo
Bek

Need a pocket?

Pocksie!

Ever find yourself needing a pocket for a little hands free carrying of tiny stuff?

Going for a walk with the dog, and want to take your ID (you should always have ID on you. Don’t make me mom-out on you) but no pockets and not so much a fan of the fanny pack? Need a covert little storage area on your person while you play devastatingly beautiful spy for the evening?

These are “Pocksie” and they are available through Amazon.com. You get 6 for $9.99 and they are this fabulous soft, thin, stretchy flannel-y material. There is adhesive on three sides with one side left adhesive-free (that’s the opening)- you stick them to your clothes (on the inside, typically) with the opening facing up, and your clothes become the backing to the pocket and voila! A little hidden pocket for your ID, some business cards…That sort of thing. They are beige, pale beige. I would love to see these in black as well, to blend more with a wider variety of clothing- and to bust up any confusion as to where you stick these (you do not stick them to your skin!).

I test drove these by sticking them to the inside of a fairly thin, soft cotton jersey loose fitting t-shirt (I didn’t want anything close fitting supporting it as this was one of my personal product tests and I wanted fairly clean anecdotal results). I jammed my insulin pump (heavier than most modern cellular phones) in it and went about my day. And it stuck. All day. It stuck really well and I was amazed at the end of the day how well it was still sticking- I had to give it a good pull to get it off (probably not a good match for silk!). I would feel confident wearing these under anything, holding ID, credit card, or a small cell-phone. Of course, your mileage may vary *insert disclaimer here* but I do recommend grabbing a 6-pack of these and keeping them on hand. On the inside of a loose fitting, single layer shirt you could clearly see where my pump was- but with ID and card, it wasn’t so noticeable.  I would probably use these under clothes with a more substantial fabric anyway, so for me that is a non-issue.

I bought them to see if my insulin pump would fit in them. My Animas 2020 was a very tight fit (not easy to get it in or out, but for a formal affair and the perfect outfit, I would be much happier with a little tugging to get the pump out than looking like I am losing my underthings…as was the case when I tried the leg thing- which is great if it fits you well… not so friendly on my curvaceous stems) and from the looks of it a Cozmo would fit well (not necessarily with the Cozmore backing)…

Women who wear insulin pumps are often faced with this dilemma as the choices for carrying their pump when all gussied up are usually- a case with a clip, reenacting the “pencil test” with their pump, or a “leg thing” (like a garter).
While my pump does have an integrated clip and I usually wear pump, tubing, etc fairly exposed (frankly, on most legging or jeans wearing days I just don’t give the aesthetics of this life improving device another thought), there have been moments during workouts or dress up that I have longed for a comfortable, concealed way to carry my pump.

Label Making.

Labels.

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

Awhile ago, before we really understood what was going on with Alex, I blogged about my label maker…

I really have stopped using it (yeah, not so much disorganized as trying to get rid of the unnecessary things and not commit to keeping them by putting them in a box and labeling them, but not totally committed to….let’s just say my brain is elsewhere… and at this rate I don’t know if I could find it if I needed to)

Before Alex started pre-school he was obsessing over my label maker.
As a reward for doing his best (with anything really) I would let him use my dymo handheld label maker to print one label.

I figured he might type his name, maybe the alphabet A-Z, perhaps some numbers…He took to typing things out in the way one might use a speak & spell…

This image consists of all of the labels he made over the course of a couple of weeks.

Alive and Chicken.

(misheard song lyric)

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I am still here, but energy has been spewing everywhere but the blog! I’m caught mid-xfer…Trying to move everything to typepad, but don’t have the energy to reformat posts and deal with the tagging/category translation screwup… Soooo… I’m still here…Still updating here… Posting occasional photos over there… Trying to decide if I should separate my art and my adventures in healthcare and parenting, but at the same time they all co-exist, maybe not so happily all the time, but I never intended for this blog to be a pristine studio portrait, I wanted it to be a pile of polaroids, fingerprints on the lens and all…So I am still on the fence…Will announce the big move more officially soon.

The universe just keeps dropping traffic cones and those Bob’s barricades hurdle-y mini-fence things (pylons?) everywhere I turn…Just enough so I can put up my arms and say “why!” but then it dumps piles of paper in those outstretched arms, honey gets somehow dumped over my head, and then the freaking universe turns a fan on. A FAN! What the #*@&? (see I have been working on my potty mouth)

Wish I could handle all of this with zen like grace and a serene moon-like glow, wish I could post an entry about managing stress, illness, parenting a special needs kid, financial drama at homeplate, and how it’s all a great big fabulous TA-DA! learning experience, but we all know that when you are eyeball deep n the big steamy, chunky stew that insight will happen eventually, learning may be around the corner, but right now you’ve got to grab on to that carrot wheel and kick because your life, or at the very least your sanity, depend on it.

No really. I’m ok. I am. or at least I will be.

*insert primal yell here* (yeah, not really me…maybe that should read *insert slightly operatic and comedic bellow*)

Huge hugs all around…
xo
B