The Book Signing was a Success!

On November 13, Carol Roeda Studio at Breton Village hosted a book signing for Faye Knol, author of Receiving David. Carol designed a hand-painted pineapple for the occasion and had the word "friends" available for purchase. She donated 100% of the proceeds to Friendship Ministries, a organization dear to Faye. Friendship Ministries seeks to share God's love to people with intellectual disabilities. At the end of the day, we donated $1,122!

Faye's son, David, was born dangerously premature in 1982 and wasn’t expected to live more than a few hours. Remarkably, he not only survived but also went on to live a life full of joy and blessing, despite severe physical and intellectual disabilities.

Now, years later, David’s mother tells his story. Through touching anecdotes and poignant recollections, Faye Knol shares the lessons that David taught those around him during his twenty-two years, reminding all of us that one person — even facing great obstacles — can profoundly impact a family and a community. Warmth, laughter, pain, and passion shine through this mother’s inspiring memoir about her son.

Carol and Faye just before the doors opened!
We served pineapple, David's favorite food.

"David loved pineapple for the sound of the word, and, for the fact that it came in different forms. Chunks, slices, tidbits, crushed......he thrilled to hear, and say each of those words. Although he wasn't much interested in eating pineapple, smelling and feeling and talking about pineapple brought him great pleasure! Saturday was Pineapple Day at our house for many years - the day he could make his weekly choice, after discussing and debating the coming decision for days.”

It is also a symbol of hospitality.
Carol greeted people at the door.
We sold 82 books and many people brought several of their own copies for Faye to sign. Faye signed non-stop for 2 hours! We still have some signed copies in the store! Come in and get yours. The book is wonderful.
Carol's granddaughter, Natalie, made bookmarks for the occasion!
The store was packed with Faye's fans and supporters of Friendship Ministries!

The Transformation! Carol's new store!

Can Carol create Whimsy out of Chaos? We shall see!

Stephanie, one of our great sales associates, unpacking boxes. There were lots of them. We kept her very busy!

Carol's son, Paul, painting the sales counter.

After a couple weeks of hard work, the doors are open and we are ready for business!

This is Carol's mission. She hopes you'll make it yours too.

The finished sales counter!

The store is full of wonderful things to see. Come explore!

Amazing photographs by Melissa Diekema Photography add drama to the store.

Two hard working women: Marie and Carol. Food and Craft. Could you ask for a better combination? The big question is: do you shop first or eat first?

Anne, the store manager, with our first customer, Kristen! Kristen stopped by after getting her morning coffee at Marie Catrib's.

Carol's Art at Mary Free Bed for ArtPrize!

Many of you remember the amazing story of Carol’s friend Kate.

A year ago Carol designed a new metal magnet to support her friend Kate Clark, who suffered a devastating spinal cord injury while volunteering at her children’s school in Grand Rapids. She was paralyzed from the neck down. The magnet said “Great is thy Faithfulness.”

As Kate describes her experience: “The days that followed were filled with physical pain, deep sadness, profound love, bold prayer, rebellious hope, and God’s great faithfulness. Everyday the diagnosis of quadriplegia seemed to fit less. We praised God for every ounce of progress. My husband described me as ‘a trophy of God’s grace.’ My surgeon saw me on my feet eight weeks later and said, ‘I can take no credit. God did this.’”

Many of you came to Carol’s stores and bought that magnet. Because of you, Carol raised more than $5,000 for Kate’s continued care and therapy. We are happy to report that Kate and her family have moved to Chicago where her husband is happily teaching college and she is continuing to heal and take care of her kids.

What you may not know is that Kate went to Mary Free Bed for rehabilitation after her accident. Mary Free Bed is a rehabilitation hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is a wonderful place and, fortunately, it is within the territory used for the art competition, ArtPrize. ArtPrize is an incredible art competition where artists have to find a place to display their art within a certain area within Grand Rapids. Visitors to ArtPrize wander the city to see and vote on all the artwork. The entry with the most votes wins $250,000—the largest art prize in the world.

To make this happen, artists and “venues” do a sort of speed dating. This year, Carol made a great match. She is going to install her art project at Mary Free Bed. She has painted with Kate and other patients of the hospital, and together they have created Walk With Me, Carol’s entry to this year’s competition. Walk With Me is 7 totems that will be on display outside of Mary Free Bed near the hospital’s therapy path.

Carol’s idea is that she will walk alongside Mary Free Bed to raise awareness and even funds. During certain hours of ArtPrize, people can purchase Carol’s designs of the words “hope, “freedom,” and the symbol for female (because the hospital was started by women). Patients painted many of these pieces. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Mary Free Bed. And, should Carol be a winner in this year’s ArtPrize, she intends to share the prize money with the hospital.

So, head to Grand Rapids, celebrate art, and vote for Carol and Mary Free Bed!

Center of the Universe!

Carol is pleased to announce she'll be opening a new store in East Hills in Grand Rapids, at the corner of Lake and Diamond. It's right next door to Carol's favorite restaurant, Marie Catrib's, and just a few feet away from all the great shops on Cherry Street. This store is in addition to her store at Breton Village!

Carol plans on opening the store September 1 and she has a lot to do! We will keep you posted as we begin to design the space, fill it up with Carol's colorful art, and open the doors for customers--both old and new.

As for the clues:

UMBRELLA: the building in which Carol is leasing has a RAIN GARDEN--in addition to a Roof Garden. The building is LEED certified, which means it was designed for sustainability and with a sensitivity regarding its environmental impact. This information leads us to 2 other clues:

BIKE: there is plenty of Bike parking at Carol's new location! Leave your car at home!

CAR: there is even special parking for cars that use "Alternative Fuel!" This is just one more reason to buy that Prius you've been eyeing. Easy parking at Carol Roeda Studio!

STARS: the nickname of Carol's new neighborhood is Center of the Universe! We couldn't agree more. There are so many great things happening in the neighborhood. We are proud to be a part of it!

BOAT on WATER: 1005 LAKE Drive is Carol's new address. It's west of Eastown and East of downtown. I think it sounds like the center of the universe, don't you?

Carol is Opening a New Store!

Carol is opening a new store! She's signed the lease and is now designing the space, painting product and planning to open in September! We at Carol Roeda Studio are so excited!

Here are a few more clues about the location:

Umbrella = a type of garden

Stars = the nickname of Carol's new neighborhood

Bike = parking option #1

Car = alternative fuel parking

Boat on water = Carol's new address

Figured it out? Post your answer on Facebook and you could win a $50 gift card to one of Carol's stores!

Carol goes Antique Shopping!

Carol and Phil Peterson, the talented guy that helps Carol with her store displays, went digging & picking through the back rooms of local antique shops a couple weeks ago looking for inspiration.

Carol and Phil then met at the Breton Village store and transformed the store windows with their great finds. Any chance you've got something rusty in your garage that might look great with some of Carol's whimsical artwork attached to it?

And what about that refrigerator she bought (with cash because they didn't take credit cards) at Modern Appliance? Transform your cluttered refrigerator into a piece of art with Carol's magnets!

Carol also saw some of HER artwork at one of the antique shops! She ended up not buying it...So one of you might find a Carol Roeda classic out there for a good price! Aren't things supposed to go up in value?

Dancing with the Stars!

Carol and Pamela have both been on Dancing with the Stars!

We've received lots of messages from our fans that they spotted Carol's Girl Garden Dancer innocently dancing behind Pamela at the dance studio.

If you ever see Carol's art in an unexpected place, let us know! We'd love to hear about it.

Scrapbooking with Magnets

Carol considers her artwork "scrapbooking with magnets." Rather than (or in addition to!) adorning your family photos in an archival scrapbook, Carol suggests you adorn your family photos with her hand painted magnet embellishments. It's easy to do and easy to change with the seasons, to update for a holiday or to transform on a whim! These are a few of Carol's latest creations. Add a piece of your favorite scrapbook paper to one of her memo boards and transform the image! Have fun and send us a picture of your lastest creation.

Paint!

Did you see those plates full of dried paint? Those are the "down and dirty" palettes the painters at Carol Roeda Studio use. After days of pouring and mixing paint, the plates are literally filled to overflowing. After the paint dries and the full plate is no longer useable, a couple of our ingenious painters take them home. Out of these heavy but colorful disks of color they create their own line of jewelry called MuddPuddle. You can see all your favorite Carol Roeda paint colors right there in the individual beads. Isn’t that amazing?

Welcome to Carol Roeda Studio

Welcome to Carol Roeda Studio!

We've been so busy this spring at the studio, and we are excited to share with you some of the behind the scenes, creative stuff that happens at the studio....the Down & Dirty Studio as Carol refers to it. It’s where we paint, ship and design the thousands of products that fill our stores. This down and dirty studio is in Grand Rapids, in the low rent district. It’s ugly, beige and made of cinder blocks. You’d never guess driving by that it’s full of Carol’s colorful artwork and full of her great employees!

We’ve posted a few pictures of the studio. Carol is right--it is a bit dirty. But you’ll see from the pictures, it is also full of color and creativity!

Although we’d love to have a few visitors at the Down & Dirty Studio, we suggest you visit the stores where the chance of getting paint on your pretty sweater is greatly reduced!

Ann Arbor: 319 S. Main Street - 734.904.4909

Grand Rapids: 1882 Breton Road - 616.285.0924