The Big Ten!

 

My baby turned 10 last week! I don't know how it happened but sure enough it did!!! Here are a few pics from his VIVA PINATA party...

 I am not even going to pretend to know the name of this character, but I believe he's a hedge hog pinata! (I am sure my DH and blog editor, Don, will supply you all with a link!) But, what I can tell you is that this is a wonderful cake made by our dearest friend, Aunt Sqz! Viva Pinata!

I do know that these rice crispy treats from heaven are called Goombaa's! I know this because I kept calling them something else and since the birthday boy is nothing if not a perfectionist, I was sternly corrected many times!!! Aren't the cool?  Suzanne had used rice crispy treats to change the shape of the teddy bear cake to the "hedge hog" character and at the last minute whipped these cuties out.

Don ordered two alligator pinatas online and then made tricked them out so that we had two Cocodile Pinatas. Why two? It's a Viva Pinata game thing, the red sour characters are evil, I am guessing it due to too much sugar. Aidan insisted that we loaded each one up with the right kind of candy, one with sweet candies and the other was sour. You've gotta love what you can do with a can of spray paint and some electrical tape.

Don and Maddie printed out and then colored in this poster of the Chewnicorn for a fun game of "pin the horn on the Chewnicorn."

My oilcloth picnic blanket made a great place to open up gifts and trade pinata candy!

For party favors, I kept it super simple, a frisbee for playing in the park! I also found some random party stuff in the attic for the kids to enjoy.  I am afraid the horns we a bit overwhelming for the other people at the park, the kids created HORN TAG (don't ask!) and were very very loud! For the tables I layered my Modern June oilcloth tablecloths with an oilcloth splat mat to get a fun layered look!

I like giving each party guest a personalized bag so they can keep track of their pinata candy, so I simply made a label in Pages that included the Viva Pinata logo, the kids names and then printed it out on label paper.

I loved how the party looked when we decked out the park with tons of our Modern June Party Banners! 

Happy 10th Birthday to my sweet son!

MODERN JUNE IS BACK

I forgot to mention that Modern June is back from a lovely Vacation. We have new projects coming soon as well as the standard products that you all have made so popular. Do you know that I sold over 350 splat mats last year! WOW WEE, that is a lot of oilcloth peeps.

Scribble and Splat Mats

I have been fighting the urge to buy the chalk cloth from my supplier for years but now that I have oilcloth Etsy shop, OILCLOTH ADDICT, I could no longer resist! I have a much better excuse to have tons more oilcloth too. We are adding two new oilcloth next week too! Pompeii and lime polka dots!


I was so thrilled that finally have this good stuff that I cut into the chalk cloth the minute the UPS man dropped it off! I used red polka dots to trim it since this one is for us, you all know I am dotty for dots. It is harder to work with the chalk cloth than oilcloth, but I will get used to it quickly. Thank god for my industrial, I love that bad boy!


Minutes after I finished the mat our lunch dates showed up and the kids went right into product testing and reserch. They all agreed that this is the best! I really bought the stuff because I NEED to have a tablecloth made from the stuff! I think it will be fun for homeschooling too, after school we can just whip it down and have dinner. Too fun.

For now I will take custom orders for the scribble and splat mats, just pick your trim color and then in a week or two you will have one too! Let me test out the tablecloth first! It is really thick stuff so I want to make sure it drapes over the edges ok before selling it for tablecloths.

FYI: when we ran out of chalk and then they used all my tailors chalk, they had a blast with the Aqua Doodle pens. They worked great on the chalky mess.

Gift sets for baby showers

A few months ago a few people bought really cool gifts from Modern June, they purchased a tote, splat mat and baby bib. I had to agree that the three items would make a new mommy very happy! You can now buy them as a gift set and save 15%. Knowing what to get for your next
baby shower is now one click away! Available with a Deluxe Splat Mat or Scalloped Splat Mat!

deluxe splat mat gift set options, originally uploaded by ModernJune.

color options for oilcloth baby sets, originally uploaded by ModernJune.

Snack Time

Snack Time, originally uploaded by ModernJune.

Last April, I was asked to submit a sample splat mat to Pregnancy and Newborn magazine for inclusion in an article. I was too excited! And now, here it is! Isn't it thrilling? A national publication, featuring a Modern June Deluxe Splat Mat, along with other cool gear, for snack time. I'm glad I choose to send the black and green mat, it looks so cute with all the fun and colorful items.

So, next time you are in a book store, check out page 120 of the September issue. Yay!!!

Splat!

I just have to share these photos with you! The other day the three of us ended up in the studio together engaging in our own version of "splatting". I was making a stack of splat mats. Aidan was splatting out bad Jedi types. And Maddie was conquering the Pokemon world by splatting every opponent.




I was just happy to have us all in one place even if we were doing our own thing! Hey the family that "splats" together stays together. (Sorry, I couldn't resist)



Check out the to woman in the background the Generation T woman and Wonder Woman have the same stance. That is a hoot!

Some lovely shout outs for Modern June

This week Modern June is being featured on one of my favorite blogs...Note from my nest! There you will find a give away for the green cupcake apron seen above. I love these little sweeties and I am pleased to give one away!


Earlier this month I was part of a Mommies United Mega Review. Each of the four lovely mommies were given a Modern June splat mat to use and review and there is what they had to say....

Kristen from An Ordinary Life says...

Kai loves to paint and this large splat mat is perfect for under wherever she is painting.

Christine from Dates to diapers and beyond had this to say....

Modern June has a selection of chic splat mats made of oilcloth. These mats clean up easily and will last throughout the years. There are a variety of patterns and designs from which you can choose, and they are pretty enough to leave on the table after the messy painting projects are hanging to dry.
This is a woman that knows messy backward and forwards. She is a mom of 6 children under the age of 7! OH Yeah, from time to time that has got to be messy.

Amanda from Mommy Mandy made me smile when she said the following!

I can not even begin to tell you how many times we have used it, for art projects and every day messy eating. I love that it is so easy to clean and it is large enough to cover the surface under the girls table and chair set.

Shanda from the ever fabulous Parents with style blog made my day when she said...

One of the most helpful products we use in our house everyday...is a SPLAT MAT from MODERN JUNE! LOVE IT!...You could give one of these to a child for their first birthday and know the parents will thank you

I can't thank these five fabulous women enough! This truly makes all the hard work worth it!

xoxox, Kelly

Ashly York

I am on proud splat mat maker today! Look at this site, Ashley York is live and it is drop dead gorgeous! You simply must go and check out all the lovely items that Tia has hand picked for her uniquely chic boutique!

The perfect place for people with more taste than time. We shop the world so you don’t have to. Here you’ll find the kind of uniquely chic, sometimes hand-crafted, products that will make your friends and family say “Where did you find that?”. Now you can browse an upscale boutique at any time of day or night. Celebrity style. Exclusively yours. Ashley York.

Cicuska

Check out all these cool Etsy pick from Cicuska! I am so happy to be included in the strawberry fun! I tell you I could stop making all the other items and just make splat mats and still be plenty busy. Those splat mats are gonna rule the world someday! (OK, maybe just my little world)


Please check out her post for all the details on these super cute products! While you are there check out her fun shop. Here are my favorites, click on the pics to link to her shop!

Custom moo card tins! LOVE IT!

This brooch makes me giddy! I love this color.

Anything with skulls makes me happy! I love these greeting cards a lot!

Rick Rack, Splat Mats and Cool Banners

Look what I scored this weekend! RICK RACK and lots and lots of it!! Thanks to my friend Suzanne of Silver Tree Art I was able to get all this for $50.00. We are talking 800 yards of the fabulous stuff. Now that was a serious score! I bought it all at a scrap book store that closed this past weekend. I am bummed by how I got my loot, my heart was really hurting for the owner that was saying goodbye to her business and all her customers. That is a real drag.



So this weekend I sent off a wholesale order to a new shop, my twelfth shop and off to Canada of all places. Modern June is soon to be sold internationally. Yikes that sounds scary. This wonderful pile of Deluxe Splat Mats is off to a new and soon to be fab on-line shop called Ashley York Boutique, I will post a link when the site goes live!

I can not tell you how many splat mats have gone out lately, it is incredible. It is the year of the splat mat here at Modern June. This is my second wholesale order this month that had just Deluxe Mats, with two more shops also considering carrying them!

I have been able to make some really fun combinations, thanks to the creativity of the shop owners. They are coming up with some great products! I really like the custom aspect of my business, it allows people to influence my work in such wonderful ways, it makes me feel less lonely working in the studio alone.

I also sent off a Splat Mat to a National Pregnancy and Baby Magazine for consideration for their Editorial Picks. I was honored just to be asked, we will see if it makes the September issue later! Meanwhile I have my fingers crossed.


I also made these super cool Banners out of oilcloth. I am going to call them The Mexican Madness Banner. I am so in love with them, I did not want to pack these four fabulous lovelies in to the box, I wanted to keep them for my very own. I have to make mine soon! I will also be listing them on ye ol' Etsy site later this week. This order of four 18' long banners are for an adorable lady, Courtney! She runs Sweet Lucindas. The banners will decorate her courtyard behind her shop where she holds cupcake parties. THAT is so cool, don't we all want to go? Her cupcakes are so cool that Martha recently picked out 8 of her entries during the cupcake contest. That equals rock star status!


To finish off this long weekend of productivity I had to clean up my studio! What a disaster! When I took the photo with the banners I really saw the room and it's mess from a new perspective. I bet that mess has a bit to do with my burn-out last week, I hadn't given it the once over since the show chaos. Who can work in that mess? Sometimes I forget that a clean studio= happy worker!

The best part is that I can use the Treadmill, my bottom is suffering from lack of it's use. If I don't use it consistently for the next month, I vow to sell it. I could use the room for something really useful.

Have a great week!

craft show madness

With two days to go till Spring Bada Bing, life is madness! This is not a typical craft show for me, nope, this is the first time I am helping to put on an indie craft show. My part has been small but just watching the check lists fill up to almost done is amazingly stressful. We, the Richmond Craft Mafia, have 14 businesses and 15 members so the To Do list is wide spread. Thank you for members that rock!

Any way, here is a sneak peak at a few new aprons that I have cranked out in the last day or two. Splat mats are product of choice lately, so it was fun to make something different. My new industrial works just a nice on cotton as it does with oilcloth.

You would not believe what my family has to put up with? I have set up half of my booth display in the dining room. What a mess! This should help out with set up. I always fret so much about the booth, where it is and how it will look. I am glad to have the chance to work it out at home first. Why didn't I think of this before?

Well I am off to the Shipping and Handling Department...oh yah that is the dining room too! Come to show if you know what is good for you! We don't want to have to put out any hits of cool peeps! The Craft Mafia is so crafty it's scary!!!!

Love this!

Man I love this order! I love it so much I had to share it with you all! This is for a wonderful Mommy of two that lives in Tennessee. She is going to use the Forever Blue Splat Mat for her table and the Flower Applique Splat Mat on the floor. How cute will her 2 year old look while she plays house in her new oilcloth Art Smock? Mom says that their is retro play kitchen in that same room. Too cute for words!!! I miss my babies. kind of! ; )