Hey Ladies!

Today I am here to share with you about my 31 Bits House Party I had a little over a week ago, at my best gal- Leanna's house. The theme of my party was 'Flamingle' and there were flamingos EVERYWHERE!

We had so much fun and SOO much food! Lots of pink treats and drinks! Thankfully Chris tagged along to snap pictures for me, so that I could concentrate on flaminglin' [hehe]

Have you gals ever herd of 31 Bits before?!

They are a jewelry company that I am currently obsessed with [but really they are SOOO much more than just a jewelry company]! If you follow me over on Instagram then you have probably seen me wearing some of their stuff. [see below]

I am in love with this company for multiple reasons! 31 Bits is a company that is founded by a group of gals [girl power!] who's [in short] mission is to serve other women [in Uganda] by empowering them with education, life + job skills and a way to support themselves and their families. All by creating these beautiful pieces of jewelry from 100% recycled materials!

These bright, beautiful beads in all different shapes and sizes are made from paper! Yes, that's right PAPER! I know it is hard to believe, but as a PROFESSIONAL art teacher who has made a-many paper beads with my art clubers before- I can a sure you, its paper. Coated in some sort of lacquer or sealant to make them hard and withstand ware and tare.  

I am truly impressed by the quality + craftsmanship of each one of these pieces.

Read more about them here.

Dawww, these are my best girls :) Karla, Melissa, Leanna, Nicole [my sister] and Tricia! :*

psst! : Don't forget to update your desktops + cellphones + tablets with these new downloads! More Here.

Hi Friends!!!

Just popping in real quick to say hello + mention that my class OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED with Brit+Co yesterday! I have been soo excited about this class and just so tickled to see it all come to life! Also, I have been so overwhelmed by everyone's love + support with this special little project of mine. It truly is my Bob Ross dreams come true! 

Do let me know if you sign up for the class + let me know whatcha think of it AND of course, take a pic of what you create and tag me @myfriendcourt on Instagram and @_myfriendcourt on Twitter! 

Need more inspiration? Want more of ME?! [hehe]

Check out my interview here with the Creative Director of Brit+Co, Anjelika Temple ! [We really make a cute pair, and accidentally recreated her engagement photos on our walk about in SF! haha] 

And be sure to read her 9 tips for getting inspired IRL, here!

Psst! : sign up for my  Gal Pal mailing list to receive an e-mail each MOANday from moi! I promise to help you get your week off to a colorful + inspiring start! 

Pssst! : Also, here is next months art party calendar #MakeYourMarkJULY! Working on a #MakeYourMarkJune wrap up post soon!

Ahhh, Hello friends!

It has been so long, and my apologies for that. Some times it is necessary to take a little break...but I am back from my hiatus and feeling very inspired in life + in blog/business/art world too!  As you know, I went to San Francisco and I just returned from my trip about a week ago.

If you are unsure as to why I was there, let me catch you up! I was given the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Brit+Co to film an intro to acrylic painting e-course! [Pre-register for the class here and get 15% off].  Such an amazing opportunity that came at just the right time in my life. I haven't really talked about it too much around here, or at all because as silly as it sounds- I didn't want to jinx it.

Also, I kinda just wanted it all to be a surprise for everyone! It came as such a surprise to me and I honestly didn't know what to expect. So I figured, I'd put in the hard work and then share the experience once it all actually happened. So here we go!

On the trip, I took far more photos than I realized... and today I am only sharing the first few days of my iphone photos! So I am warning you now, this is a HUGE post- possibly the biggest EVER!

First of all, I am about to get super cheesy and spill my guts- but I feel like it is a little bit necessary.

I am soo incredibly thankful for this opportunity. The chance to fly across the country to work with a brand/company that I admire, in one of the biggest, most beautiful cities in America. To film a class to teach millions of people out there in the world something that I love, PAINTING! Dreams do come true. Although, this is just one of mine [to be a modern day Bob Ross], if there is something you want to do- work hard for it and if its meant to be- the opportunity will arise. Have faith, don't give up. This is proof.

This is a humble brag, but also a total out of body experience...THANK YOU!!! Pinch me, is this really happening, how, why?!?!.... An I don't care- just embrace it kinda moment!!!! :D And a HUGE part of that is because of every single one of you out there who has believed in and encouraged me all these years as I have blogged, painted and created my little heart out. #iliketoARTYhard

And if nothing else, this trip- the chance to create this class with Brit+Co is an affirmation that none of it has been a waste of time or done in vain. I still very much so feel that I am just at the beginning of 'my journey' of figuring it out or what I want to do with my life or career. But I can say that I have never in my life felt more joy or accomplishment in my work [or life for that matter] than I have these past few weeks.

So cheers and thank you for being such a loving and supporting party of my journey + work, I literally cant do it with out you!

Okay, so my first two days there were a complete whirl wind. I am so grateful that I got to film the class at the very beginning of my summer vacation, verses having to rush to do it all in a couple of days to get back to work. This way, I got to spread the trip out a little more and truly savor every bit of it.

And going through these photos again, brings back all those emotions I experienced full force. You can probably see I look insanely happy in all of these photos. When we were doing the photo shoot they'd be like 'okay now try to smile normal'. I literally couldn't help it I was so happy, haha!

Being on set was really different at first, but a lot of fun! I wasn't sure how I would do in front of the camera. I was kinda nervous I would be like a deer in head lights, but mostly it went really well. Brit+Co's team made me feel super comfortable and would do silly things to keep it fun + playful.

I do not know how people memorize lines. Thankfully I did not have to do this, but we would go over what we would film next and literally as soon as we would start filming  I would be like ummmmmmmm, wait what was I doing? haha Or I would have to say the same thing over like 10 times because I was being awkward and then it just would feel like it was getting more awkward and like I was turning BRIGHT red Haha. I'm sure all of this is just in my head and is something that would get better the more that I do it. But the whole thing was just the coolest experience over all!

I tried to make sure I got a pretty good picture of what the set looked like for you gals. As well as a few other behind the scenes pics before the class launches [in the next week or so].

After we wrapped filming I went back to my hotel room and took a nice hot bubble bath. San Fran is practically freezing to this southern girl's bones, so a hot bath was exactly what I needed! The hotel was soooo cute. It was called hotel Carlton and reminded me of a mini Grand Budapest hotel [on the inside]

On my third day there Anjelika Temple, Brit+Co's Creative Director took me on a little tour about town to different shops, parks and street murals, ending our day with cocktails + macaroons [cough, cough- she will be doing a write up on this day, so stay tuned for that].

Chris actually had the time off during this trip, so he was able to tag along + extend my trip so we could celebrate our 5 year anniversary together! So it was really nice having him there at that end of each day to kind of experience this all with. And extra specail that we got to stay a few extra days with a car to adventure all around!

We paid a visit to Brit+Co's Shop [ahem, I will have items in there very soon!] + headquarters. If you are in San Fran, it is VERY close to union square [off Sutter] and such a fun + inspiring place to pop in and see!  And if not, you can always shop online, here!

Well this is literally all I can up load right now- it is getting far to so for my liking. So stay tuned for more on my trip! And to see where all Chris and I visited while we were there.

And again, THANK YOU! I really truly mean that. I know the internet can be a bad a scary thing at times, but when used the right way- it can be an amazing life changing thing for the better! And I do not know where I would be in my life right now without my blogging  + Instagram/social media community. It has literally changed my life +career, and I am just amazed  + thankful!

Psst! : Don't forget to preregister for my class now, until June 26th to get 15% off here!

Hi friends + Happy FRYday!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to another girl crush of mine, Brigitte of @artsy_heartsy events! She has a magical touch at creating dreamy spaces for your event/wedding/special occasion! She is a lover of all things colorful + fun and always down for a good celebration and collaboration! 

Read my playful interview with Brigitte below, find out how she likes her fries, her biggest lesson learned in being a girl boss and where she turns to for inspiration when she is lacking! 

Also, be sure to show her some love on Instagram + website [its so cute + turn your sound on!]