I’m a huge believe in the mission of the Kent Bellows Institute, a space for wonder, learning, and artistic development that works to serve the community and nurture self-expression.

With a dynamic vision for Omaha’s future and a unique and versatile curriculum model, The Kent Bellows Studio & Center for Visual Arts is proud to encourage the development of inspired, engaged citizens dedicated to their community.

At the Kent Bellows Institute, high school students of all backgrounds take classroom techniques to the next level. They develop their own intensive course of study, setting personal goals and overcoming creative obstacles. While working hands-on up to 20 hours a month with the finest professional artists in the metro, our students build critical thinking and problem-solving skills, tenacity, and a lifelong drive for innovation.

-The Kent Bellows Institute

Kent Bellows, recognized as one of America’s greatest masters of realism, was born in my hometown of Blair, Nebraska. He began his career as an illustrator for publications like Rolling Stone, and moved into figurative realism in the 1980s. Mr. Bellows achieved international acclaim for his art after he exhibited in the New york Tatistcheff Gallery with the support of my uncle, Hugh Hunt, and later the Forum Gallery.

I grew up loving and admiring the work of Mr. Bellows, and I was exposed to his art in the homes of all of my relatives. We had his painting “Rachel in White” in my house, and my great-grandfather and uncle had their portraits sketched by him. All my life, from when I first understood the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I wanted to be an artist. I know that the discussions I heard in my home, how I saw my relatives engaged with art and how I was encouraged to inspect and consider sculpture, photography, portraits, drawings and paintings like the ones created by Kent Bellows had an immeasurable impact on the trajectory of my life and the person I am today.

So I was overjoyed to mentor the students at the Kent Bellows Institute for a day.
I look forward to doing it again soon.

xo
meg

I love the picture that ended up in the calendar–it’s in our bedroom shot through my vintage mirror, and shows my racks of dresses behind me. But here are a few outtakes from the shoot Dave and I did with Daniel Muller along with our cat, Turbo. He’s a four-year-old tabby cat.

The calendar also features tons of other cool people with their cats, like Rachel Jacobson, founder of Film Streams, vegan chef and author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Nate Welker from Saddle Creek Records, and more. If you want to purchase a calendar, they are available online for $20!

Me: Nanette Lapore dress, Odille blouse, FCUK sweater, Target socks
Dave: Kitty jammies

What are your favorite things about your city?
Why do you live where you live?
If someone was considering moving to your town, what would you tell them?

 

What is unique about YOU? How has the person you are influenced those around you? How will you make your mark on your community and leave something you are proud of?

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I love to talk about how much I love Omaha, why everyone should live here, and why I am never moving away–it’s a topic I return to over and over because there are just so many good things to say. If you’ve been reading this blog or if you follow me on Twitter, I’m sure this isn’t a new topic to you either! I try to keep the Oma-Hype low because I know not all of you live here or care, but read on today–I feel like there is a lesson in the love of Omaha.

Omaha is a magic place that I almost left. In college, I began the process of transferring to a larger school to study Linguistics and get on track for a PhD program, but a combination of things–my full ride to the institution I was at, the low cost of living here, the abundance of jobs, the amazing arts/music/cultural scene, and the irreplaceable relationships I had with my friends and family–kept me here. And I do believe that even then, almost ten years ago, I felt the electricity in the air. I could feel the potential that we were on the brink of. In the years since I decided to settle down here, the city has gotten even better. The cool hipster teenagers in bands and community groups, the kids in youth orchestra and theater, and the people who competed in quiz bowls and debate have grown up into 20- and 30-somethings who moved on to make a real difference in this city. Look at Omahype.com, pick up one of the free weekly magazines in any coffee shop, or eavesdrop on any conversation downtown and you will understand the magical energy that courses through this city and just makes things happen.

Recent Omaha transplant Isa Chandra Moskowitz (yes, the worlds foremost vegan chef and author) asked me yesterday about my favorite local sources for Christmas gifts. Who’s making good stuff? I present below the list of my favorite local sellers, shops, and makers of great things for your holiday gifting. Many of them also have online stores, and I encourage you to click through!

1. Artifact Bag Co.
Chris Hughes, owner and designer at Artifact Bags, is one of my greatest inspirations in design and business and was just this week named the winner of the Midlands Business Journal’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. His waxed canvas and leather bags are made in a midtown Omaha shop entirely of American-sourced materials on American-made equipment. Chris himself looks like he stepped straight out of a Steinbeck novel with his hornrimmed glasses and faded denim button-ups, and his classic bags are made to become heirlooms. I own one myself–the black garden tote–and it holds everything from my laptop and sack lunch to Alice’s many stuffed companions. It’s also probably the most well-made thing I own. Artifact Bag Co. is definitely one to watch. Click the link above to shop online!

2. Inez Gill
One of the hardest working new craftspeople in Omaha is Courtney Gill Zurcher, owner and designer at Inez Gill. Named for Courtney’s grandmother, Inez Gill specializes in handknit goods for more fashion-forward clients including bows, scarves, cardigans, and vintage-inspired hats. She has a great price point and I love her bows for clipping in your hair or pinning to a bag of lapel. Courtney is also offering free gift wrap for the month of December, so click above to shop on Etsy.

my favorite scoutfit

3. Scout Dry Goods & Trade
When Scout opened in my neighborhood a few years ago, it was one of the few local boutiques that I returned to again and again for hard-to-find and vintage pieces at amazing prices. So many of my favorite pieces are from Scout–a gold and black metallic belt, a marigold yellow crocheted dress, sparkly gold mary janes, a vintage “Alice” keychain pulled from a jewelry box of treasures and baubles near the front counter. As Omaha’s first green boutique, Scout is also also the winner of Nebraska’s 2012 Small Business of the Year award. Click on the link above to shop online, or visit their store at 51st & Underwood in Dundee! (And stop by across the street at the Bread Oven for a homemade chocolate croissant afterward! I might see you there.)

4. Saddle Creek Records
Saddle Creek Records blew up in the 90s as the archetypical “Omaha Sound,” with well-known acts Bright Eyes, The Faint, Azure Ray, Rilo Kiley, The Mynabirds, and an impressive roster of indie musicians that continues to grow. Saddle Creek recently opened a brick-and-mortar store just outside of The Slowdown in North Downtown Omaha where you can buy CDs, LPs, t-shirts, and other awesome goods from Omaha’s amazing record label. You can also click the link above to buy music and merch from all of Saddle Creek’s artists!

5. Measure Cut Cut
Peter Cales, owner of Measure Cut Cut, makes beautiful and affordable artisan furniture, sculpture, and woodcrafted art that is both functional and beautiful. I have a hot air balloon and rattle he made for Alice, and I’ve also ordered a few tables from him. He’s working on one for me right now for CAMP and I can’t wait to see it and share the progress with all of you. Nothing is cooler than owning a functional piece of furniture–something you use every day–from someone you know and were able to work with one-on-one. Start with a chair or an end table, or a custom bookcase for your LPs. It’s AWESOME to own handmade wood furniture.

Other Favorites
eCreamery, Stash Bags, Birdhouse Interiors, Paper Doll, Rdqlus Goods and Cloth, Make Believe Clothing Co., Inclosed Studio for paper goods and letterpressed cards, Sarah White jewelry, Katie Blair screenprinted stationery.

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Are you writing your own radvent responses in your journal or blog? Feel free to share the link–they are awesome sources of inspiration for everyone!

xo
meg

Anyway, until I share photos from that night (I can’t decide if I’m going to wear our Jamie dress or this more dramatic polka-dot number from Jovani) I will show you what we have new in the shop!

All of these little beauties are available at shop.princesslasertron.com now! Our embroidered pins always go super fast–I can’t keep them in the store usually so if you want one, jump on it.

Lulu Felt Flower Pin - $25

Suzanne Felt Flower Pin - $20

Jane Felt Flower Pin - $25

Lisette Felt Flower Pin (my favorite!) - $23

Agnes Felt Flower Pin - $22

You have until tonight to enter our giveaway from ONA Bags for a Roma camera insert for your purse–it’s amazing, I love mine. It converts your favorite bag into a safe, secure camera case that will keep your precious SLRs from getting jostled around among your lipsticks and pens! Next week I’m excited to share some more professional photos from a few of our brides and a few business-related posts about starting out on your own venture, and some things I have learned so far. Thanks for reading. I love you guys. You make my life so fun.

Going out the door today: Our Kalena romper in ivory and a felt flower bouquet kit for an amazing bridal customer, and a custom felt flower pin for a friend. On the table for tomorrow: A hand-embroidered label for a bride with her wedding date, a few baby headbands (that I HAVE to finish!), and another custom pin for a sweet friend.

xo
meg

• My shellac’d nails from the new VuVu Nail Spa, owned by my pretty friend An. I’m wearing Good Gossip with Grand Jewels layered on top. This stuff will grow out before it chips!
• Emma giving our Creative Connection Event projects (and everything else on our table) the Vanna White treatment
• The rambling beginning at 5:00
• Emma’s lone vintage earring (we got them from a customer and she tried one on and forgot about it)
• A really good story about pancakes and french toast
• That’s it. It’s actually not that interesting.

video blog 2: getting ready for the creative connection, late night in camp coworking from princess lasertron on Vimeo.

Here’s a few other things up in my life…

Work on our table

stacy's bouquet

claire's boutonnieres

Barcamp Omaha last Friday & Saturday

the barcamp omaha organizers

…and a video of all the photobooth pictures put together

Sunscreen baby

alice's first boat ride on our long weekday trip to the lake

At the Reverse Trade Mission last Friday

team lasertron at the trade mission

Watch our video from the Trade Mission on Facebook

See you all in St. Paul this week for the Creative Connection Event and BlogHer Handmade….will you be there? Tell me so I can make you a present.
xo
meg

new assistant

glasses for our show thanks to rich and famous eyewear

shoes from our runway show

backstage

one of my favorite shots of our show, taken by g. thompson higgins

Thanks to Mike Machian for this beautifully made video. I had no idea he was even shooting video with his camera, and when he sent me this video mere hours after our show I was so surprised and impressed. I cried a little bit. This was such a great group of models and the audience reaction was amazing.

My favorite moment of the show was when our models burst into spontaneous dance backstage when our runway song began. You can’t ask for better, more authentic energy. We opened with Kreayshawn’s Gucci Gucci and closed the night with Southern Hospitality by Ludacris. Yeah girl I saw you throwin’ them bows.

xo
meg

The morning after my runway show, Kat and I went on Morning Blend, a local morning TV show.

Kat wore the hot pink crinoline I made for her dress–I love how she paired it with a simple t-shirt and boots. It’s a piece that you can wear so many ways and she made it fit her style exactly.

Here’s also a preview of a photoshoot we did with Daniel Muller and Esoteric Velvet. I can’t wait to see the rest of the set–all I need to say is that we set a guitar on fire!

Photo by Daniel Muller

xo
meg

The point is, after that first interaction we became fast internet friends and I have been in awe of her rise to fame as a wedding blogger and inspired by her eye for styling and knack for relating so well to her loyal readers. Earlier this year I asked if she was interested in coming to the United States–Omaha–to model a special limited-edition Rock N Roll Bride dress in my runway show at Omaha Fashion Week. So that’s what’s going down–from LHR to OMA, Rock N Roll Bride (including the handsome husband Gareth) is touching down in Omaha and kicking off her world domination tour through here for Fashion Week and into Los Angeles next week!

Click here to buy tickets for our Thursday show and see Kat modeling (hee!). If you can’t make it Thursday, you can also come to the finale show on Saturday where we’ll be partying in the VIP section. We will be sure to mingle a lot and you can’t miss her in her bright pink hair! Mondo Guerra from Project Runway will be there as well.

I’m nervous. I’m a little star-struck. I’m a little overwhelmed enough with organizing my show, the gift bags, the Saturday VIP party, the fundraiser for the Nebraska Aids Project with Mondo Guerra on Saturday (that’s a whole different thing to get nervous about!), and I’m trying so hard to appreciate each moment enough and really enjoy this time. It all goes by so fast! There will be more amazing blog posts to be had once this is all over and I have great photos to use!

Kat’s Rock N Roll Bride dress will be available for purchase after the Thursday show when our new dress site launches.

A good model can fit into clothes. A great model realizes that she’s not there to just sell dresses. She communicates my identity and vision and adds the magic I need on the runway to finish the love spell. I have such a sweet group of girls this year walking in my Omaha Fashion Week show this Thursday on August 25th. Let’s meet them!

Sarah Lorsung-Tvrdik

::sarah getting her hair done for our secret show last wednesday::

Sarah is my biggest source of fashion inspiration and my first muse. When I designed my first collection I continuously asked myself, “Could Sarah wear this?” This year’s collection is just improving on that vision of the Princess Lasertron girl–confident, funny, a charmer, an adventurer. We met in 2005 when I started dating my husband Dave, her husband Jon’s roommate at the time. She likes changing her hair (with the help of Team Lasertron glamour purveyor Rebecca Forsyth), collecting couture, drawing cat eyes out to her ears, helping children with disabilities and hosting parties in her beautiful mid-century inspired home. She writes at Fash Flood.

Nicole Keimig

::a sneak peek of nicole modeling in a series we did for the OFM cover::

I met Nicole about a month ago when we did a photoshoot with Bill Sitzmann for the cover of Omaha Fashion Magazine. Once she understood the look I like, she gave it 1000% and I don’t know many other girls her age (just 16) who work as hard as she does. It’s easy to see from her professional demeanor how passionate she is about developing her natural gift. Nicole is also fluent in American Sign Language which is awesome to watch when she talks to her super-supportive mom.

Andrea Gourley

::andrea being beautiful–she’s modeling a cute orange sheath dress for me::

Andrea actually found me when she responded to a request for models that I posted on Facebook. I can’t believe that she hasn’t modeled before–her natural beauty and confidence won me over in an instant.

Nicolette Biscamp

::ye olde facebook profile picture::

Nicolette has modeled a few times before in Omaha Fashion Week and we first met at Elektroshock, a gothic dance night that Dave and I used to go to every week before it closed a few years ago. Did you know I’m a secret goth? You probably did. Nicolette is funny and she has the coolest tattoos that look amazing in the orange dress she is modeling.

Caitlin Hochwender

::another preview from our cover photoshoot. photo by bill sitzmann.::

Caitlin is a goofball. When we started working together she understood instantly what I wanted from her and she brought it hard without worrying about looking dumb or messing up. Caitlin’s a friend, and I wish I had been as cool as her in high school.

Gwyneth Talley

::another magazine shoot preview. photo by g. thompson higgins.::

I first worked with Gwyneth when she was assigned to model for me at a hair show last year. She is a number one lady–a really experienced model, super confident, and the smartest girl in school. She also modeled in another photoshoot I did with photographer G. Thompson Higgins as another entry in the magazine photoshoot contest.

An Vu

::an vu gets two pictures because how could I choose one?::

An Vu is another local fashion icon. If you live in Omaha and you haven’t had an An Vu experience, it’s coming–trust me. When An’s in the room, the party has been brought, and not coincidentally Party is the name of one of her dogs, who my baby loves, and my baby also loves An and wanted to be held by her at the secret show last week. See there? We have come full circle.

Tatianna Trabucco

::tati’s beauty shot by jenn hoffman photography::

Tatianna was recommended to me by my friend Emma, a fellow Omaha Fashion Week designer. She’s a six-foot-tall knockout and I must say she’s modeling my favorite piece in the whole collection. It’s like an updated Audrey Hepburn dress and it fits her like a glove. I can’t wait to watch her on the runway!

Rebecca Culhane

::the pretty is infectious, right? photo by amy lynn photography.::

Hottie for life. Mama to two. New redhead. Lovely singer-songwriter. Rebecca’s a new friend to me and she is coming to Omaha from her home in South Dakota to model. I love her already and her beauty and sense of humor just kills me!

…did you know Kat from Rock ‘N Roll Bride is coming from London to model for me too?

If you’re anywhere in the O-NE, make sure you grab your tickets for the big show on the 25th on the OFW website before they sell out! Thursday’s going to be huge, and I’m so grateful also to House of Loom downtown for hosting our official afterparty that night just down the street. (There was also a great article about Loom today in the World-Herald, with a nice little mention of me!)