ANOTHER quick update for a monday evening.

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labels for new cards + screenprinted ears for new "pillow dolls". aka hand cramp inducing tasks in preparation for ace.

labels for new cards + screenprinted ears for new “pillow dolls”. aka, tiny hand-cramp inducing tasks of the past few days.

k and i must feed off of the stress of a deadline, because this last week we have ticked off more things on our to-do list than the month leading up to now.  and while i know i always think it would better to get things done in a more timely matter, the fact is that there’s nothing like a looming deadline to poke at that panic button located in my brain.

oh, but what an exciting deadline!  the albuquerque comic expo is THIS weekend, folks!  that means in three days (or is if four, since it’s monday?  i have never been ever to figure that out…), we will have our bobbi marbles table set up in the artist’s alley area of the albuquerque comic expo.  what up, table D8?!?!

along with all of our regular merch, we will have TWO new tank top designs, THREE new greeting card designs, a ton of new stickers, a very special new screenprinted and sewed item we are calling “pillow dolls”, and two brand new t-shirt designs.  it is possible that we might have a third design ready by friday, but that’s only if k decides he really doesn’t need any sleep this week, afterall. (did i ever mention k works full time, plays in two bands, does freelance design and printing work, and is required to spend at least a few hours a week with me and our two cats, ON TOP of all of his bobbi marbles work? he’s cray.)

i most definitely will be posting pictures of all of our new items very soon.  however, if you want to stay more up-to-date on the day-to-day of bm, please like us on facebook and follow us on instagram!

-b

 

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what we’re into wednesdays.

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as noted in this entry, i wanted to start sharing some posts that highlight the various artists, musicians, movies, etc. that k and i enjoy. i just think it would be a good way to share some of the things that inspire us, while at the same time showcasing amazing people that really deserve the attention. for now, i’m going to call these posts “what we’re into wednesdays” as i plan to post them on wednesdays (get it?), but i reserve the right to call them something different if i can think of something cooler.

today what we’re into is travis bruce black and his art. it’s fitting that i talk about him today because this saturday, may 25th, he has an art show opening at the bright rain gallery in old town albuquerque. travis is a buddy of ours, and an incredibly talented artist.

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“chirp 96 desert bird of paradise”
travis bruce black is well known for his beautuful “chirp” series.

k met travis while taking a lithography class at unm years ago. k and i are lucky enough to own several of travis’ pieces, including paintings and prints. as a christmas gift a few years ago, k commissioned travis to paint two large portraits of me and my late mom, and they remain some of my most treasured possessions. in fact, k loves his style of painting and drawing so much, he has asked travis to design a tattoo for him! (we’ll be sure to share pictures once it’s finished.)

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“sleepy knight” – a new work by travis bruce black.
please excuse my terrible photography skills, they do not do this painting justice.

"anticipate" - a new work by travis bruce black.

“anticipate” – a new work by travis bruce black.

travis’ art is vibrant, whimsical, and beautiful. he also happens to to be one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

please do yourself a favor and go learn more about travis bruce black by checking out his website.

-b

a quick update for a monday evening.

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look at us, being all organized and productive with our neatly folded shirts.

look at us, being all organized and productive with our neatly folded shirts.

once again, i just wanted to give a quick update on what’s up on the bm front. (i hope you can get used to me using “bm” instead of “bobbi marbles”.  it makes me laugh.)  the spring octofair was a great success!  it seems to get bigger and better every time, and this was definitely the best yet.  i’ll admit, i didn’t know what to expect with the slight location change and the fact that the octofair would be held on mother’s day,  but we were busy, busy, busy all day!  we got to talk to a lot of cool people, and when we had time, we were able to check out all the other amazing vendors.  in fact, i bought a gorgeous hand bound journal from shamuball, plus some heart-shaped turquoise earrings from chebeth. if you get a chance, check these ladies’ etsy stores out; they were so friendly, and their merchandise is as cool as can be.

 with the spring octofair behind us, k and i are focusing our efforts on ACE.  yes, ladies and gents, it is official; we will have a table set up at this year’s artist’s alley at the albuquerque comic expo from friday june, 21 – sunday june, 23!  i can’t even tell you how excited (and somewhat nervous?) i am that bobbi marbles will be participating at ace.  

 in the very short five weeks leading up to june 21st, we are going to be designing, printing, sewing, tagging, and basically just preparing for the expo as much as possible.  as touched upon briefly in our last post , k and i are constantly taking in all kinds of inspiration, which produce an abundance of ideas.  but we don’t always turn that inspiration and those ideas into a concrete object.  so these next five weeks are about focused work and dedication.  don’t get me wrong, we haven’t been totally lame about production lately.  we have a new shirt design that k has printed onto adult sized shirts, as well as on children’s sized shirts.  but that’s for another post. check out our facebook  and instagram feeds for more regularly updated bobbi marbles news and merchandise.

 ok!  so that “quick update” wasn’t exactly as brief as i had intended (sorry), but i think you can live with it, yeah?  thanks.  :)

 -b

inspiration vs. knowing where to start.

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detail of “big things have small beginnings”, a commissioned painting by karl deuble.

i’ve been having a bit of writer’s block lately.  i’m just not sure what to share.  k said to not over think it, to just write about what’s going on.  seems simple, right?  but every time i start, i get a few sentences in and then i just get discouraged and stop.  i over think and over analyze everything (maybe that’s why i’ve always been drawn to studying the mind and psychology), which just makes me go mad and stops my productivity dead in my tracks.  k has learned, and has taught me, that you just have to keep pushing through.  when he feels stuck in a painting or a drawing, he just keeps on working on it until he’s happy with it.

which leads me to bobbi marbles.  k and i have so much inspiration right now, but we are having trouble figuring out where to start.  we’ve seen some amazing art, music, movies, and people lately, so it’s definitely all seeping into ideas as to what to do with bobbi marbles designs.  and while it is good that we have a lot of ideas, as opposed to being totally uninspired, without a clear plan on where to start, we’re working on getting unstuck.

the good news is that we have a potential deadline for a lot of new product!  we’ve applied to have a table at the Albuquerque Comic Expo’s Artist’s Alley, and we’re totally excited.  we can’t confirm if we will be selling there yet, but as of now we’re planning for have a lot of new product by mid-june (and preferably sooner).  k has been keeping busy with a lot of freelance work, including a large painting.  he titled it “big things have small beginnings” (shout out to prometheus, anyone?) and i thought that was a perfect concept behind bobbi marbles’ goals for this year.

we have a lot in store for you all.  promise.

-b

one year later.

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this time of year brings about chilly weather, twinkling lights, plus the scent of warm sugar and cinnamon wafting through the air.  while fall is our favorite, winter and the holiday season is a close second.

this time of year also brings about a milestone for us at bobbi marbles.  last week we participated in the 49th annual asunm craft fair, which means it has been one year since we started selling our shirts and prints publicly at the 48th fair.  it feels good to hit this milestone, and passing the one year mark also seems to invigorate us.  we’ve had so many ideas this year, and only completed a fraction of them.  so, in this next year, we want to accomplish twice as much as we did in the first.  that means more of a variety of product, more craft fairs, more of an internet presence, and all in all just more productivity.

k and i have been best friends since high school, and in february we will have been officially together for a decade.  that’s more than a third of our lives spent with each other.  in all that time, k has been making art and music, while i have been organizing and keeping track of all the “official” and boring stuff.  we work well together.  in this next year we want to work even harder at getting this little ol’ printing business off the ground.

happy holidays!

-b

teenage b + k, new years eve 2002.

teenage b + k, new years eve 2002.

the shop is rad.

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nikki zabicki’s shop is finally here!  we are happy to share that we have t-shirts, prints, postcards, and even some of k’s paintings hanging in the shop.  it is located at 915 4th Street NW Albuquerque, NM  87102.

the shop has officially been open for a week, and it is full of amazing locally handmade products.  you may know nikki zabicki from her dope-ass belt buckles and paintings.  the shop is one of a kind, just like nikki, and it’s great!  you can check out nikki’s facebook page for any upcoming news on the shop.

-k + b

fall octofair success!

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our am set up. notice k’s friendly greeting?

welp, it was another beautiful fall day.  isn’t it nice when the weather is still warm enough to take a stroll without cocooning oneself within layer upon layer of sweaters, flannel, scarves, and gloves?  i, for one, am soaking up every last warm fall day before it’s too late.

incidentally, today was the perfect weather for the octopus and the fox’s  fall octofair.  we had our very own table set-up this time around, and it was nice to sell some of our handmade stuff to a bunch of lovely people.  k got some new drawings done, and i made headway into a new scarf i’ve been knitting.

by the time the octofair ended, the sun was warming our backs, and that incredibly wonderful sound of leaves crunching beneath our feet greeted us as we packed up our belongings.

after today we will be preparing for our next big thing, the annual asunm craft fair, set for november 28th-30th at the unm student union building.  we just got some new shirts in, just itching to be printed with new bobbi marbles designs, and we’re really excited to show them to you all!  as always, please check out our etsy store, and follow us on instagram, at bobbimarbles.

but right now.  it’s time for some pumpkin spiced chai and a mini “wilfred” marathon.

-b

lovely october.

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new (old) design ideas!

so do you know what?  october is one of my favorite months.  in fact, it just might be my favorite month.  it starts with k’s birthday, ends with halloween, and in-between there is the changing of weather, leaves, and pace.  it should come as no shock that k and i are kind of…low key.  that’s a good way to put “slacker-ish” and “calm” into one word, nuh?  i’m not even going to try and apologize for the lack of posts here at bobbimarbles.com, because i seem to start every post with an apology.  let’s just accept that i tend to get writer’s block for oh, say, several months, and that i pledge to try harder to put in some more content on this site.

k and i have discussed having a “share” post, maybe once a month, maybe more.  it would be a time when we would share something that we like; something that we’ve been into lately (music, art, movies, etc.), so we can give you all a glimpse into a bit of our bobbi marbles inspiration.  we would also like to start highlighting other artists and brands that we like, as well.  some will be friends.  some will be artists we’ve never met, but that we admire.  just a place where we can share what we love.  so stay tuned for those posts.

october is coming to a close, but it has been an amazing month.  however, we are definitely looking forward to november.  there are two craft fairs coming up that we’ve been preparing for (that will be another post), and of course the holidays are almost here, which is exciting! (um, by the way, how many pumpkin spiced lattes have you all had so far?  because i’ve lost count of how many i’ve had…)

-b

summerfest, here we come!

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oh boy.  things have been hectic lately, and to be honest….it’s been pretty wonderful.  we are preparing to sell as a vendor at the urban outfitters summerfest, which is part of the route 66 summerfest this saturday, july 21st.  we will be selling from 3pm-9pm in front of urban outfitters, and there will be music, food, and just good ol’ summer fun.

things have been hectic because we’ve been preparing a lot of new product to share with all of you.  we have full color postcards, five new sticker designs, and four new mini prints that we’ll be selling for only five dollars each! we’re going to debut everything this saturday, but here are a few sneak peek photos of our process these last two weeks.

ps…if you haven’t done so already, please go “like” us on facebook, and if you’re so inclined, you can follow us on instagram.  our username is “bobbimarbles”, of course.

hope to see you saturday!

-b

new one color “mini prints”, hot off the press.

oh, just a couple dozen new hand printed stickers.

no no no, the picture is not blurry. these new “mini prints” just may need to be viewed with some 3D glasses.

the octopus and the fox is rad.

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sign

we’ve got some exciting news to share with all of you!  we just recently started selling ALL of our t-shirts over at the octopus and the fox at 514 Central Avenue SE Albuquerque, NM 87102.

the octopus and the fox is an awesome shop that sells locally handmade fashion, gifts, art, and more.  please head on over there and check the store out because even if you don’t buy bobbi marbles swag, you’re sure to find something super rad to take home with you.

-k + b