Va-Va-Voom

Back in what was probably early May, my boyfriend Oscar and I were talking about music.  He told me about Bassnectar and asked me if I liked him, and I had never heard of him.  I listened to some of his stuff, and absolutely loved it immediately.  Oscar told me about a concert that was in Morrison, Colorado at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.  The venue was incredible, and I was all for going.  Once I knew for sure that I didn't have to work, we bought tickets.  We didn't do any planning until after we had our tickets, which was kind of crazy, but we had such a fun time and it all worked anyways.  

This will mostly be a post full of sweet pictures I took during the trip. Enjoy!

 If you ever buy tickets throught TicketMaster online, always choose the will call option.  They will hold hard copy tickets for you at the event center, and you don't have to use the crappy print out page.  All you need is your ID and the card you purchased the ticket(s) with. 

These. Are. Amazing.  Everyone needs a healthy dose of junk food when they are on the road.  This might be my go to food. 

 The view for the whole ride for me.  My amazing boyfriend was extra amazing (like he is everyday) and let me sleep in as long as possible the morning we left.  I went to a rodeo the night before and didn't get to his house until about 12:30 am or 1.  We didn't go to bed until around 3 or later, and he woke up early to make sandwiches.  He also drove the whole way there while I took two naps, even though he got less sleep then I did.  I'm pretty lucky :)

 There were random TeePees here for some reason. It's pretty cool to see how much things change from state to state.

 I love this guy :) He is so good to me. 

 This was taken through some goggle things. I'm not sure what they're called. 

 Morrison, Colorado. Gorgeous.

 The drive into Red Rocks amphitheater. 

 Another shot of beautiful Colorado

 Yep, we're weirdos. 

 One of the friends we made out there. She was from Tennessee and absolutely adorable!

 Rebekah and Houston.  They are moving up to the Midwest and will only be a couple hours from me, and one hour from my boyfriend! Super exciting!

 My better half <3

 Group picture with the lovely Colorado behind us.

 I love this picture, but it kind of looks like we are in front of a fake background.

 A shot of the amphitheater.

The stage and some of the beginning crowd!

 Lorin from Bassnectar

 My glow sticks before they got taken away by security. Sad day. I spent a whole whopping 97 cents on a bag. 

:)

 This dinosaur was part of a dinosaur museum out in Nebraska somewhere. Pretty funny to see!

Drinking wine while at Olive Garden, even though we hadn't showered and were exhausted.

This was how long our trip was, from start to finish and all the in betweens.

 This is a lot, but it was worth every mile we drove.

 Lights on the canyon that we were in.

 They let bags of balloons out mulitple times during the show.  It looked awesome, especially with the lights.

Dream Job

Back in October, I believe, I got a job at a local pottery studio in my town.  For those who don't know much about me, I live in a very small town in Iowa.  A pottery studio is very unique for us.  Another thing about me is I'm an art junky, but that's for a later post.  Needless to say, this is my dream job as a college student.  I get to make pottery, pour molds, pick out bisque pieces, use the slab roller, paint samples, and basically design whatever I want.  Not to mention I get to use power tools on almost a daily basis.  Pretty awesome.  Another thing that I love about my job is the creative outlet it gives me.  Not only am I painting and coming up with pieces to show off to customers, I am keeping my creative juices flowing, which allows me to think of more things for my other art and crafts that I do.  

The studio is a small business, run by one woman.  She is one of the greatest people I have come to know, and great people like her are hard to come by these days.  I'm also lucky enough to have her as my boss.  It's just the two of us there at the moment, and I enjoy every minute of it.  There are some days when I'm off on my own holding down the fort, but I am so grateful to her for giving me the opportunity to work there.

We are working on a lot of projects right now, and one of the big things we are starting is glass fusion.  I get to cut class and help create sample pieces for that as well.  I used to look at things in stores that were fused, and I always wondered how they did it, but now I can say I know the process. We also do silver clay jewelry.  Once the silver clay fires in the kiln, it is 99.9% pure silver, which is amazing, not to mention the process that is mind-blowing! 

 This is a sample piece that I "had" to paint for customers to get a good idea of what it would look like.  I actually rolled the flat ornaments out with the slab roller, and then I cut them out.  I decided to do this candy cane two-sided so when it spins while hanging up, it's all decorated.

 This is my friend Lindsey, who came in to paint a picture frame for her mom for Christmas.  It turned out really nicely, and we got to visit while I painted samples. 

 Sometimes I feel like Angry Birds are taking over the world...So what did my boss and I do? We made clay angry birds.  These are made by hand, and we had a kids' class for them.

 This is my reindeer sample that I painted.  I absolutely love him.  I also painted a penguin, but I'm not sure where the picture is.  My boss told me that once a sample is painted, someone will paint that piece the same way for themselves.  I didn't realize she meant the exact same way, but lo and behold, several kids painted a reindeer just like him.

 When pieces aren't fired, the paint is very dull.  This is the finished product of one of the first pictures.  I was very pleased with it :) Love the shine.

 My mom came into visit me one day at work, and as usual, she had her camera at the ready.  I was wedging clay to get ready to roll out.  Let me tell you, that gives you a good upper body workout!

 The biggest sample that I've gotten to paint...I was so excited when my boss told me I would be painting this big sushi platter, somehow incorporating her new square stencil.  This is my workspace. 

 Set my timer, because everyone should have a picture of themselves doing what they love.

 Not sure why these are sideways still...Can't get them rotated for some darn reason.

 The finished front before it was fired.

 I decided the back needed a little something to make it cute.  Polka dots did the trick!

 Finished! Some of the dots aren't dark enough, and I believe it needs to be re-fired because of some issues with the paint balling up. Darnit!