free shipping shopping event this weekend!

you know heart and laserbeams always ships for free - this weekend my unique women in business group is gettin' in on the free shipping action with our first etsy team event! we're super stoked about it and hope you are, too!

both etsy shops and independent businesses are having sales. qualifying items for each shop vary, so check out each individual shop for their promotion. (as always, all hearts and laserbeams items will be shipping for free.)

most of the etsy shops participating will have a shop announcement: Unique Women in Business Etsy Team will be having a FREE SHIPPING event starting Friday, January 22 thru Monday, January 25. Search on UWIBTEAMFS to find all shops/items participating.

Here is the thread for more info, and to see who is participating: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6395648

To immediately start searching, click here.

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indie businesses not on etsy that are participating include:

Glitzy Events - Use coupon code UWIBFREESHIP at check-out on our website

The Angel Company - Rita Wetzel, Independent Demonstrator - Send email to Rita at stamp2stamp2@yahoo.com with a list of item numbers, description, quantity. Rita will email you order total. Payment via PayPal or Credit Card.

Charms~N~Things - coupon code FSJAN2010

Painted Laydies Mineral Makeup - Everything ships free all the time. No code needed.

Naughty and Nice Lingerie - Shipping is always free within the US! Fast, free shipping, dollar rewards and free gifts with certain purchases! Check out my store for more details or email sales@naughtyandnicelingerie.com. Ask me how to get an additional 10% off your purchase!!

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Please help us spread the word by blogging, Facebooking, or tweeting about this event.

You can learn more about UWIB by checking out the yahoo group.

hearts and laserbeams on tv! WHAT!!?!?!

as you may or may not know, if you're ever in georgia you can pop into shopScad (in both savannah and atlanta!) and pick up hearts and laserbeams gifties in person.

amy from shopscad shared a video on facebook today of a news bit that was filmed in the atlanta shopscad, and i am alllll over it! how exciting! as you watch it, keep an eye out for our plate designs, glue gun tee, and in the background of one shot you can see our tiny magnet set tins!

click here to watch the video.

hearts and laserbeams book report: confessions of a shopaholic

ok i picked this book up at the las vegas airport on the way home from... vegas! shocking! gayle and i went out there last summer for a few days and had a blasty - when we were heading home there were big chunks of time on the horizon and i had left omnivore's dilemma in my suitcase instead of throwing it in my purse.

honestly i picked this one because i knew it'd be an easy read, something i could read for a few hours on the way home and then put on a shelf until i'd finished omnivore, the kind of book where you could pick right back up where you left off like a month or two later and not feel lost because everything about reading it is just so easy. plus, i hadn't seen the movie yet and i always dig reading the book before seeing the movie. and with that, i give you:

hearts and laserbeams book report: confessions of a shopaholic by sophie kinsella

ok I LOVED THIS BOOK. super fun read, super fast read, and before you know it you're done reading! the main character rebecca is just so flighty and lighthearted, just la la la la la shop shop shop hooray!

but the weirdest thing started happening as i was reading this - while i was having the time of my life reading about her shoppy adventures, as a chick who's pretty non-shoppy and has lots of living paycheck to paycheck experience, this shopaholic girl was seriously stressing me out!! i'd be reading about her going deeper and deeper into debt, and throwing away late notices and my inner old-lady monologue would scream things like, "YOU'RE RUINING YOUR CREDIT RATING!"

which is a completely uncharacteristically absurd thing for me to think while reading anything. but seriously, girl was freaking me out. other things my brain screamed while i was having a grand ol' time reading this book:

omg you did not just lie on your resume and say you're fluent in finnish!! they're gonna check that!

omg you're poor why are you buying coffee at a coffee house every day! make that shit at home!

omg you did not just do that on your date what is your major malfunction!

omg no you did not just blow off the meeting with the bank when you're gonna start sorting your shit out!

basically, i think part of the fun reading this book was how much it made my practical side sweat. i'll probably pick up another one in the series sometime soon when i need another fluffy feel-good read! (me thinks that may be the case after my next book report selection, the bell jar by sylvia plath. yup, i'm back on the high school reading list stuff!

ratings:
hearts: 4 hearts - really fantastically fun read, well written and funny!
farts: 1 fart for keeping my inner monologue yelling at me throughout the 350 pages.

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so it's giveaway time! you want my copy of confessions of a shopaholic to check out for yourself? it's easy, just leave a comment here about anything at all before monday, october 19 at midnight and you'll automatically be entered to win! one entry per person, suckas!

we feel fine about getting published!!!

a while back (a LONG while back!) i had gotten an email from the website www.wefeelfine.org. their website is all about exploring emotions on the internets, and they had decided to create a book.

and they had discovered this blog post on the livejournal version of my blog, and could they use my middle finger picture in their book?

what's that you say? make my middle finger famous? YES PLEASE!!!

months and months and months went by, enough that i totally forgot about their exciting email. then yesterday i got another one from them, saying "hey sorry it's been so long since you've heard from us, your section of the book got cut but we liked it so much we found a way to put it back in - so you'll be in it!"

and there you have it! my middle finger will be in the book we feel fine, in stores december 1. you should probably go get a pre-order copy from amazon!

he works hard for the money...

here we see my fabulous huzzz hard at work in the hearts and laserbeams sweat shop! we're sending a box full of tees to shopScad today; if you're in the low country you besss get in that shop later this week and pick one up! shopscad features work by students, alumni and faculty of the savannah college of art and design, and is located at 340 bull street in historic downtown savannah.

not fortunate enough to live in the south? don't fret my pet, our tees are also available online!

who wants to see something new!!!

this here is a photo of the huzzz josh cutting open one of those heineken minikegs with his dremel tool. lookit those sparks fly! there was a rattley noise coming from inside the empty keg so he wanted to see what was inside - i predicted an even smaller keg of beer! unfortunately getting inside this thing is hard work and we don't have access to a chain saw so the project was abandoned.

and that's not the only show and tell i've got for today!



check out our dog jimmy the greek on a brand new coaster set! 50% of the price of these coaster sets will benefit the humane society, cuz we're huge fans of helpin out the homeless animals!

there's all kinds of new stuff in the shop today, including mousepads, coaster sets, stationery and personalized easter plates!



order your easter plates soon soon soon, cuz it takes a little time to get em made up - unfortunately there's not quite time to get them if you're international, but U.S. orders can be placed until march 22 with guarunteed easter delivery!

love is in the air!

i had so much fun working on valentines for fred flare's snail mail event i kept going and made some new designs for your v-day enjoyment! thanks for looking!

hearts and laserbeams holiday sale happy fun time!

whoop whoop whoop it's sale time, let's celebrate with coupon code SPIKEDNOG08 ! it's no mistake that our 20% off sale ends december 15, that's when all holiday orders need to be placed to ensure delivery by christmas!



happy shoppin! don't forget to check out the four new prints and lots of restocked plate designs!

hearts and laserbeams fabric is here!

so exciting, so exciting! i can't wait make all kinds of new fabrics! and then make stuff with that fabric! and then poop my pants!

today's the last day of the 20% off sale!

happy cyber monday, folks! a/s/l? lol!

it's my duty to remind you today is the last day of the 20% off sale at www.heartsandlaserbeams.com! just use coupon code turkey08 at checkout and we'll do the rest - and don't forget, free shipping on all orders through december 31!



thanks for lookin!

jazz hands and the razzle zazzle!

it started innocently enough... this morning i thought i'd order some hearts and laserbeams logo stickers to include with my orders. you know, just a fun little packaging item. set up the file, ordered it on zazzle...

and before you know it i was finding all kinds of awesome things to make and it was 2 hours later! i love zazzle for being able to make things i can't, like printed skateboards and shoes - oh, the shoes. made 5 different pairs using the spoonflower repeats i created last week and they're adorable! these are my faves:



you should check out the rest of the stuff i made today, will be adding to it again soon!

felt club tomorrow, so exciting!

tomorrow josh, gayle and i are makin' way for los angeles to check out felt club, and you should too!



i'm a little bummed i couldn't apply for shows this holiday season, because felt club is a blast to sell at. it's always fun to go as a holiday shopper, though, to pick up fun handmade things for friends and actually have a second to stop and say hey to all the great vendors!

if you go be sure to stop by the long beach craft mafia table, they'll have goodies for the first 25 shoppers at their table and 1" buttons galore by me, hooray!

pick up your copy of this week's the district magazine!

i am so jazzed that the district weekly interviewed me for this weeks' "best of long beach" issue - i got to tell them all kinds of great things about living here! the issue hit stands today, so keep your eye out and pick up a copy!

fyi though! i have a bit of a knack for being wordy when i'm excited, so my entire interview isn't in the print edition - for that, you'll have to visit the article online!

the magazine is available pretty much everywhere all throughout long beach for the next week and it's FREE! if you're out of the area and would like one mailed, email me at heartsandlaserbeams@gmail.com and i'll get one out to ya!



in other news, put a slathering of stuff that's been in storage back into the shop between yesterday and today - custom 1" buttons are back, along with cool things like tiny watercolors and outlet covers!

most exciting, i just designed a couple of new plates for the holidays that are fully customizeable - pick either santa or a reindeer, pick your colors, add your own personal message, and pow! a fun gift for any little one (or big one, for that matter)... check em out:





thanks for lookin, stay tuned tomorrow when i tell you all about today's jury duty!

thank you for being a friend!

i just realized like last week that etsy has "appreciation" photos that you can upload as part of your feedback, so i created this today to pass along to customers! once my workshop is up and running again i'd love to redesign these as thank you cards, maybe as a 3 color linoblock print.

new design work is on the horizon, with awesome new holiday items, so stay tuned!

i'm almost sad it's friday!

so the new job starts monday - while i'm super excited about it, it has been so much fun being a fulltime hearts and laserbeams employee this week. i got so much accomplished that's been on the back burner for ages, including:

- did 7 (almost 8! maybe 8 by the end of the weekend) new paintings. 2 for an upcoming halloween show in echo park, 5 (or 6) for a robot series i've been wanting to do for freaking forever. i'm hoping to be able to wrangle a solo show sometime in the future with these robots...

- updated the shop and the etsy store with like 70something things that should've been listed a longass time ago

- learned more about and started to perfect my screen burning technique for screenprinting by burning a total of 7 screens (4 of which need to be cleaned out cuz they stank! thanks to everyone who offered their tips and tricks, i'm really starting to get it!)

- designed four new tees

- screenprinted some tees

- hung out with brian who was in town on business!

- sewed some new scarves

- knit 2 earflap hats for me and the boy

- started xmas shopping

- bought supplies for new purses that i'm super excited to start making this weekend

- did a buttload of laundry

- washed all our windows

- spent lots of time at the dog park

- watched oprah a bunch

- laughed at how dumb tyra is on her talk show

so yes! happy weekending, i'm hoping i can stay productive in my last couple days of housewifeness, and i'll regale you with tales of the new jobby job soon!

holy cannoli!!!

i've spent more than a good long chunk of today updating the shop with things i've made for the last few shows i was in, how's about you go check it out!

scarves and a few more prints to come tomorrow!

new tee designs! get em while they're hot!

bahaahahhah here's a couple of designs josh and i have been wanting to bust out for a while - click on each one to be taken to our website to make em your own!

eat shat and die!!!

ok so a couple of days ago, i heard the william shatner song "common people" on indie and was reminded of how effing awesome it is, so of course today i bought the whole cd from itunes and put common people as my song on the myspace page. check out the video for the song here.

also! there's no way to describe how awesome it was, but last saturday i went with a bunch of awesome people to the foo fighters / police show at dodger stadium and it was amazing. effing awesome.

and! loud noises!

but! there's been all kinds of roboty things in the works, and they're up on the site for sale now, so help a sistah out with the art habit!

check out the notecards:


and two new tshirts:




and four new prints of watercolors that'll be in the cactus gallery show this month:








remember, the original watercolors of the merbots will be available at cactus gifts in july! stay tuned for the details on the artists reception on july 21!

p.s. jenn and john are on their way to nyc soon and i'm hella jealous, i don't care if it's a business trip. the end!

new necklace in the shop!

check out madge the flapper in necklace form, by jenn at comme ci, comme ca! 12 bucks and she's yours!

bahahahahah she's a fiend i tell you!

new items in the shop again! jenn norwood is a picture-taking fiend! check out the latest, 2 new colors for dino necklaces and power rings pow-kaPOW!







also, we fried up some squid steaks tonight... and like the actual animal, they came out a little weird. like i would totally use our breading concoction again on something else, but the consistency of squid is a little hard to take after the first five bites. it was kinda good but mostly weird. we still have squid left over, so we'll try a different recipe next time...

also, why the hell is it sunday night already? i feel like i should've had more weekend than this! on the upside, i did do 3 new little 5x5" paintings for a hot dog place/gallery in los angeles today - i'm showing em to my contact on tuesday along with other paintings that are going up for sure, so if you take a shine to one of em i'll letcha know where you can get em soon!

new designer in the shop!

aaaaaaaaaaaw yeah!!! we're startin' to fill in the holes in the designer sections of the shop - hooray for brand new addition, comme ci comme ca! i'm super jazzed that jenn's decided to share her adorable pins with the site, and i have to say i already snapped one up before i could even list the shit. you should do it to!

happy memorial day!

pastry pasties!

ok i am totally in love with these and you should probably buy em! because they're cupcakes! for your cupcakes!

p.s. did you write So.Co.Bazaar on your calander yet? you probably should!

working like crazy...

ok so i'm goin, goin, goin trying to get stuff together for SoCo Bazaar next weekend - feast your eyes on the new stickers! they're available here on the site. they'll only be a quarter at the show because i won't have to pack and send em! which is why you should come to the show, to get some totally sweet tattoo stickers. do it for your country! i'm workin on some other things today to bring with me, maybe some tiny little paintings for your artsy fartsy enjoyment, we'll see what i come up with!

last night, josh and i went to go see our pal melissa's show at black market gallery in los angeles. seriously, you should go and check it out, it was all really amazing stuff. i love how much tiny little detail is put into every painting, and the kind of otherworldly feel her paintings have. if you've got the time you should definitely go check it out before it closes. while we don't have the cash for one of her paintings, i'm definitely buying a print cuz that shit is awesome!

what else... mmm... there was something i was gonna say... oh yeah stay tuned i have a naughty item that's going in the shop soon! lemme just say they're cupcakes. for your cupcakes. and they're delicious!

jail paris and other tidbits

so after talkin it over with the boy, it has been decided that since i'm wantin' to focus more on gettin my artstuffs out there and make some money at it here and there, that i'd move the shop to be the first thing that pops up when you go to heartsandlaserbeams.com instead of the bloggy blog...

and there's new stuff in the shop again! tonight's selections include new and improved crocheted cupcakes - new and improved because i actually know how to crochet now so they all turn out really good instead of kinda okay!

but possibly more fun than the crocheted cupcakes is the jail/free paris tees. i wasn't gonna do anything paris related because that means having to actually spend time on something like that, but after 3 different people mentioned that i should do it in the span of 24 hours i figure what the hey. to make it fun, i'll keep a running tally on the paris shirt pages so you know who's voting for what. we'll probably present the results in a well-worded report to the governor or something like that to aid in his decision to pardon or not pardon the classy young hotel heiress, so you know this whole thing is totally worthwhile.

AND! i painted our guest bathroom kelly green this weekend and i love it. pics to come as soon as i'm done touching it up and rehanging johnny castle in his proper place above the throne.

ALSO! 21 and over shows stink - i was planning on going to see my friend kyle's band bodies of water with my sister danielle and our friend lauren tonight, but found out just hours beforehand that it was 21 and up which stinks on so many levels and left me feeling like an ass for not checking that before i asked em to go.

battle of the bands 2007!

ok so last night was la palma's battle of the bands, and it was the 3rd year of my sister's band the black dots entering. and it was the last year they were eligible to enter since robert's an old fogey and just gettin' older. we were really really hoping for a win and lo and behold the mutual funders got first place in 2 categories! i believe they got first in the old fogey category, and then also the overall category so they gots themselves 2 big fatty tropies and $75 bucks! they still won't give me any dollars so they can suck it, but it was awesome seeing their show; every time they do one they just sound better and better.

thank you thank you thank you to everyone who came and showed their support and rocked out with their socks out, and double thank you to everyone who stopped by the merch table and bought stuff - while it was too busy for me to tell every customer, half of the money we make at the table covers the cost of making the stuff, and then half goes towards things like studio time for the band, so it is much appreciated!

if you're interested in buying more black dots merch, visit the shop and check out the tshirt and stationery sections. if you don't see what you're looking for size-wise or whatever, email me at heartsandlaserbeams@gmail.com . i make all the stuff myself so i'll totally work with ya on gettin' what you're looking for.

again, thank you, and go black dots!

update: check out pics from the show here.