Baby belly and the gals!

Here's a picture of me, my mother and sisters and sisters-in-law.

The Artist's Continuum Chunky Book Project

The artist trading card group I hostess is starting out a year+ adventure into Chunky Books. We tried to do a small book with just a few members involved and it turned out so tiny it should be called a thin book. We had a good time doing it, but it was a bit disappointing when the end result is only 4 pages long. So we've decided to do a continuous chunky book. We're doing a round cd shaped book that we're going to continue to add to over the year. We're picking a color every couple of months and then have a month to get our pages done and put together. The first time we're getting together to punch the pages and start out the book is in November. This is mainly due to the fact that the baby is due next month and I want to be sure I have plenty of time to get into a routine with him before I start crafting regularly again. I'm very excited about this new creative venture and hope it turns into a great project and group.

I'm still working on finishing things for the gallery before the upcoming birth too. They've been minus my work for so long that I hope I haven't lost my place. Things around here have been incredibly crazy and insane, but I'm trying to bulk up on lots of wares so that they don't run out right away.

FInally back on the creative trail!

Well it's happened finally. I finally felt up to doing some creative work on fairies and getting stuff ready for the gallery. It's been so long since I've felt like doing anything. Since November when my mother-in-law passed away I've been feeling a bit dark and heavy and creative things, while part of my daily life, only kept me occupied for minutes at a time.

Now I'm back to working on fairy ornaments and getting them ready for the gallery. With this big batch I did in the last couple of days I just might have enough to keep some for the online venues and I can refresh my stores finally! The fairies are still a work in progress but at least I'm doing something constructive finally! It sure feels good. After this I have to tackle my sweater animals. I've got a stack of fulled sweaters just awaiting a bit of personality and then they too can head off to the gallery! They sold out of my last batch in a few weeks and have been wanting more for awhile.

New Fairy Name Art..

YAY! I've got new name art in the works. These are turning out so adorable. I cannot wait to work on more and come up with some boy themed art as well. Here are the two names completed last week. I've got about three more in the works and will be posting them as well. I feel the single fairy is much more adorable than the older versions I'd done with simple block lettering and a scattering of fairies. These just seem to have so much more personality! I can't wait to have people request more so that I can get to work on them. I'm hoping some people will go crazy and get ones with funky colored hair not just your standard blond, brunette or redhead.



These were made for a set of twins. What fun! I can just imagine them in their room.

The Art Every Day Month Challenge

I decided to participate in the Art Every Day Month challenge from Leah @ Creative Every Day While I've been creavtive a little bit each day, it's only been a little wee bit. Since my mother in law has been in the hospital it's been a bit of a whirlwind. I don't even know which end is up currently. I work all day, go to the hospital afterwork, and come home to cook dinner at about 7:00. It's been tough, but to keep myself a wee bit of sane, I need to create. I need to create daily anyway, but the stressful, awful times are when I need it most.

Yesterday I completed a little octopus amigurumi to send off to a swap partner. I'd already sent off what should have been the complete swap of two amigurumi ornaments, but for some reason my little ami bird flew the coop! I found her days afterward on my desk...long after the package had left my hands and started the trip to Mexico. So I figured I'd get her packed up and sent off, but she needed a traveling companion to keep her company and make sure she stays in the envelope this time! So, of course an octopus came to mind! What other creature could hold a little bird in place, one with 8 legs should be able to do it! Here's the octopus:

This is Ollie...at least that's the name I've given him...his new owner might have a different name for him though :)

Today, November 6th, is when I'm going to buckle down and really start posting about my jaunts through Art Everyday Month. I really look forward to making a dent in some creative time, and getting my creative things back in order. Can I consider "creating an organized crafting space" part of Art Every Day Month?

The Artisan View - Avalon_Studios on Artfire

Today's interview is with Athena of Avalon_Studios! In Avalon_Studios, you'll find all kinds of wonderous jewelry. From natural stone, to metal charms I'm sure you'll find something that tickles your fancy! I'm personally quite taken with these fun rock and roll earrings!



So without further ado, here's Athena!




Name: Athena

Location: New York

Artfire Link: http://www.artfire.com/users/avalon_studios

Blog Link: http://avalonny.blogspot.com

What got your started in your craft? I started out making gifts for friends and family when I couldn't afford to go and buy presents for birthdays and holidays. It eventually turned into a year round hobby.

Where do you find your greatest inspiration or sparks that creative muse? So many things. My kids are probably the best inspiration. I also take inspiration from nature or art that I've seen.



Are you Formally Taught, or self-trained? I'm self-taught. I learned almost everything through trial and error and hours upon hours of reading.


Any advice you would like to share with other artists? Do what you love no matter what you think others may think of it. If you aren't doing something you totally love you'll never be happy with the end result.

What''s some weird, fun, random fact about you? I'm a huge nerd. I like role-playing games and the latest technology (when I can afford it LOL)


What is your studio/creative space like? I recently marked out my own little work area in my living room. It's a tall bar-like area held up with shelves. You can see pictures of my room make over on my blog.


Do you have a favorite piece of art you created? I think my favorite piece so far has been my Medallion Pendant. Using the natural materials and blending them together was fun and it was interesting to see how they fit so well together.

Something New is coming!

Greetings all! I've been so inspired by all my creative friends online that I've decided to do some Artisan Interviews on my blog here. Every other day, I'll be highlighting my favorite Artisans from all over!

I feel this will be a great place to get to know some of those artisans who have inspired me, become close friends, and who's items I just go loopy over. There's going to be lots of eye candy to ooo and ahhh over! So prepare to be wowed!


"The Artisan View" Will be starting here in a few minutes. If you are a shop owner and would like to be part of my Artisan Spotlight, drop me a line! Once I receive your answers you'll be put into the queue for the blog postings. Along with this posting will be a twitter, facebook and plurk announcement. Hopefully it'll bring your shop some extra exposure, and business.

New Ideas and less time to create.

Greetings all! It's been so long since I posted i figured I'd best take some time to pop in and revive this little spot of creativity. I've been under a lot of overwhelming time constraints lately dealing with an injured family member and trying to keep up with everything else I normally do. Art and my close friends have been my link to sanity. I've been trying to prep for an art show at the end of October and that is starting to weigh heavily on my mind. I've got a few things in the works, but just don't know how I'm going to have enough time to get enough product done. Three things a night (if that) over a 30 day period does not an art show stock up make.

I'm trying my darnedest though. I've spent the last few days searching for things to turn into pin cushions. Here is the resulting first trials of this venture.


I'm not really sure if I'm going to carry on with the clear ones. I'm not sure I like the way they turn out. My friend however like it more than the others. I did five more last night, and will be posting pictures of those later. I've got a huge batch of fairies in the works, but I've got to split them between the show, the gallery and my artfire/etsy shops. I might just split them between the gallery and the show for now and worry about the websites later. However I fear missing a lot of good holiday shopping.

These are two postcards I did for an all pink postcard swap. It was fun working in shades of only one color. A bit of a challenge...but I think they turned out pretty neat.


Ok, it's off to do a bit of photography this morning and then get to some serious art work.

A few new ACEOs

These were done for a recent swap of Things with Wings for art 42

I had also done two bird cards to go with this, but didn't think to scan them before popping them into the envelope. One was a crow piece, and one was my little bulb headed birds with long spindly legs.

Watercolor Cards

Working on fall cards....breaking out the watercolor as it's been so long since I really "played" with it. These are for a swap via swap-bot. I love how they turned out, especially because i hadn't used watercolors for awhile, other than quick background washes and easy fill for aceos.

So I had to do something fall themed, without being Halloween. I LOVE the fall for the brilliant colors in the leaves and figured that would be an easy way to edge into blending colors again. I then moved from there to the purple martin migrations. This turned out kind of neat, though not exactly what I had in mind.


I then thought about the lovely gourds and pumpkins I so love during the fall. I think there's nothing more lovely than a centerpiece of freshly fallen leaves and harvest gourds. Natural and wonderful!


I figured the envelopes needed a bit of beautifying so I did some simple leave designs for the two leaf and harvest cards.

And a quick purple martin over the tree tops



Quite a satisfying artful evening. Hopefully I'll have plenty more of those to come. Now it's off to bed with me since it's now nearly 2:00 am. I've reverted back to night owl status since being on vacation. Monday is going to be HARD!

I've got myself prints now! WHOOT!!

I found a place to get prints of my aceos...or my larger art on aceos without much hassle of setting up the layout myself (what can I say... I'm lazy and slightly computer illiterate) However, this place seems to be the way to go. I figure if I can make enough money from fairies in the next few months I'll be able to offer a free fairy aceo with each sale next year. :) The bad thing is I'd have to limit it to one striking image (or two as I can get double sided printing) so I'll have to really think about it. They did a great job with the things I sent them. They're photo paper prints right now, but I'm going to try the upgrade next time to a thicker stock which will make them even more "print" like. I'm still going to keep my eyes peeled for other printing venues as I'd love to find affordable printing for larger versions of my artwork.

Here are the prints I'm currently offering in my artfire and etsy shops:
"My Blue Days"

"Carmine Bee Eater Trio"


"Basking Cat"


"Gaia"


"Blue Throated Bee Eater"

Now taking custom orders for Fairy Names

It's about time you say! Finally the fairy names are up in my etsy shop, and my artfire shop available for purchase! Here's just one of the ones I've done.

It's ANOTHER TREASURE HUNT!

If you missed it last time, be sure to check it out this time!!

Have you ever been on a Treasure Hunt? Now is the perfect time!



A group of sellers has hidden a picture of a treasure chest in their shops. All you have to do is find the item with the picture and you can receive the special that they are offering.



Sounds simple, right?



To make it even easier, I’m going to give you the links to the shops and tell you what special they are offering.



These specials are going to run today, Saturday June 6, from 10:00 am EST to midnight.



In each shop’s announcement, you can read more about the special they have running and how it is going to work



Happy hunting!!

ViridianMuse
Find the treasure chest and get 10% off the item and free shipping!!



MNHPhotography
50% off item with Treasure Chest



VanceStudios
50% off item with Treasure Chest



SpunSisterDesigns
BOGO at 50% off (equal or lesser value)



SheDesignsJewelry
Free bracelet with purchase of item with Treasure Chest



newhopebeading
25% off item with Treasure Chest



AccessoriesbyGottJoy
30% off the item with the Treasure Chest



GottBeads
30% off the item with the Treasure Chest



KraftyLady
25% off plus free shipping on item with the Treasure Chest



Angelas_Adornments
20% off and free shipiping for the item with the Treasure Chest

I've been digging through old files....found some good stuff! :)

My very first experiments with photoshop. I was realllllly green at this point (as if I'm not still a novice) but I think this was pretty cool!More photoshop play. I just loved this image of my nephew and thought it would make a great card image. This was for a blue swap as well as the x-ray floral above.

Viridian Muse is now offering Flower Fairy Photo Prints!

I found it was time to start adding prints to the shop. I've been getting a lot of compliments on my latest round of fairy photos and thought it might be time to see about getting prints available. So here are just a few! There are more to come! Plus I'll be soon listing my macro photography.

Need to really get some photos edited!

I've got a bunch of photos to get prints and put onto disc. I love this one, of my niece last year. It's amazing how quickly they grow and change.

I'm also working on getting images loaded to my cafepress shop. Pretty soon you'll be able to get images of the flower fairies on cards and t-shirts. I'll be taking time over the weekend to get the first few up and loaded! Right now you can get the Nature Fairy watercolor images on cards and t-shirts. These are fairies I drew a few years ago. I absolutely loved them, and have been trying to re-create the style in other natural seeds and florals, but haven't yet been able to do it. I guess the muse only had plans for these three. Hopefully soon I'll be inspired again to make more. Check them out (warning-artful nudity on these fairies) The Nature Fairies are located under the "Fairy Corner" heading. You can also find some of my macro photography there as well!
Including some gorgeous white roses.

It's an ARTFIRE TREASURE HUNT!

Hi all! I'm participating in an artfire treasure hunt today! It's offering up some great deals on some wonderful shops! Check them out! Click this link for direct links to the shops listed below

My shop is offering an amazing 50% off your entire order if you can find the treasure!

Have you ever been on a Treasure Hunt? Now is the perfect time!



A group of sellers has hidden a picture of a treasure chest in their shops. All you have to do is find the item with the picture and you can receive the special that they are offering.



Sounds simple, right?



To make it even easier, I’m going to give you the links to the shops and tell you what special they are offering.



These specials are going to run today, Saturday May 30, from 10:00 am EST to midnight.



In each shop’s announcement, you can read more about the special they have running and how it is going to work



Happy hunting!!



MNH Photography

Free International Shipping in addition to the existing 50% off sale.



lillies

25% off the special item



newhopebeading

25% off the special item



VillageBoutique

$5.00 off the special item



BohemianRose

Free shipping on special item


SpunSisterDesigns

50% off second item of equal or lesser value



VeridianMuse

Find the treasure and get half off your entire purchase in my shop. just mention the treasure chest and where you found it when you check out.



GlasstasticTreasures

25% off the item containing the Treasure Chest, plus FREE shipping if the order is over $25.00 (total order does not include shipping) Just purchase and pay, I'll refund the money! Message me with questions, Enjoy :)



SarenzoBeads

buy one Get one 50% off

The Cap'n Has been Spotted again!

Cap'n Nemo has surfaced again! He's spending some time in Costa Mesa and the surrounding California area! Check him out, and don't forget to follow his blog to stay updated on where Cap'n Nemo's been! Meet the Cap'n Here!

More New Fairies!

Here are a few new fairies I've put together.This is Adita. Adita is wearing a pale pink lace skirt and sky blue top. She holds an adorable little birdie friend. Her hair is gunmetal grey with a pink highlight. She has metal wings.

This is Beibhinn...pronounced Bay-vin. Beibhinn wears multiple layers of white and a navy blue top. Her hair is verigated green and she holds a cats eye wand.

This is Gillian. Gillian wears lovely skirts in pinks and white with a multi colored metallic top. Her hair is a lovely shade of pale lilac. She holds three red roses in her arms. Gillian is an ornament with a white hang ribbon.

This is Lalita. Lalita has a beatiful red and white skirt with a white lace apron. Her wings are sky blue with hand drawn detail. She holds a white and black floral wand.


This is Millicent. Millicent is dressed in a short purple skirt with multiple layering to make it extra flouncy. Her hair is an adorable aqua blue with a pink Alice band. She holds a golden lantern in her hand and sports a bit of attitude. Her top is a golden yellow color and she's got tiny metal wings.

This is Pilar. Pilar is a tropical colored fairy. She wears a gorgeous peachy pink sorbet toned skirts with a tropical orange top. She holds a silver ring with a deep purple star.

This is Roxie. Roxie wears a taupe and green colored skirt with a light gold colored top. Her hair is a raspberry color which she highlights with a stylish sparkly blue pillbox hat.In her hands she holds a dark aruora borealis crystal. She's a clip but could easily be made into an ornament.

This is Shanti. Shanti wears skirts in gold and silver metallics with a sky blue overlay. Her top is done in the style of a sari with a golden mesh ribbon. Her dark black hair is braided into two braids down her back. She holds a little golden ocarina.


This is Taryn. She wears a beautiful skir in pale pinks and cream. Her top is raspberry colored which sets off her aqua hair. She's got gold metal wings. She holds the wand of hope in her hands. She's an ornament with a beige colored hang ribbon.

WHOOOOOT! Got it working! Pretty Spiffy...if anyone out there needs an or would like a nifty animated something or other..give me a yell. I've got to learn somehow and there are only so many banners and avatars you can make for yourself. :)