New artwork (and artwork from the vaults!)

So recently I’ve added some new prints and originals of newer girls to my shop, including…

Unconditional girl

 

Messenger Girl

And a collection of cakes reusing backgrounds of other artwork that I decided not to sell…recycled art!

And coming soon, I have some holiday art that I’ll be adding, including these holiday cupcakes I made last year after the holidays (per a request from my then licensing agent) but were never added to my shop:

And ornaments…

And I also have some more snowmen like the one above but want to add some wording to them still.

It snowed the last two days, so I’m officially ready to wrap up Halloween and move onto the Holidays!  How ’bout you?

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Altered bottles, new work and seasonal tags/stickers

Alright, I’ve been busy going through my house trying to go through every corner, basket and closet trying to find every last project that needs finishing and item that I could possibly place in my booth space while I still have it for the next 3 weeks.  Trouble is, with the thousands of dollars in merchandise I have there and even with the 20% off my entire booth, I’ve sold a whopping $20 in 4 days.  Worst week ever!  Perhaps it’s the universe confirming that I need to get the hell outta there!

Still I’ll try to clear out my house in the hopes of generating the most amount of sales by Oct. 31st and have the least amount of inventory to count come Dec. 31st!

I still have several dozen vintage/antique apothecary jars so I decided to decorate a bunch using bits and bobs of paper, ribbon, twine, vintage ephemera and metal embellishments to create these cute altered bottles:

I enjoyed making these so much and still have a lot of bottles left that I think I might try selling these in my shop as well.

I’ve listed some new and “newer older” work in my shop as well, including the last two of my Halloween girls for this year:

And an Autumn Girl that I sketched out last fall but finally incorporated into a painting this year!

And these older pieces featuring the French macaron (which I completed months ago but needed to add captions to and scan):

And here’s a new girl that I created last week…I have angels on the mind a lot lately…

And a re-do on an old piece:

Finally, I’ve updated my goodies shop with some seasonal items…like these eco-friendly gift tags:

And eco-friendly stickers:

I’ve been clearly keeping busy, but doing everything I can to make it work!  Thanks for checking out what I’m up to and passing it along

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Dropped.

Earlier this week, while pulling an all-nighter to make a bunch of Halloween and Christmas items for my booth, I received a disheartening email.  Notice from The Barn that I was being asked to vacate by the end of the month.  Right before the holidays kick into high gear.  Right when I’m on the cusp of making a good portion of my cash flow for the year.

I was pissed.  I was very angry.  Without going into details, I felt that this was very personal.  I’ve worked so hard, held on when sales in the whole place were dragging, just knowing that if I could hold out until the holidays, I’d finally get the pay-off I was waiting for.  And then to get yanked right before just as my sales have been tripling what they were in the summer.

My anger turned to sadness.  Utter disappointment.  One more thing that I’ve put on my “goals” list as an artist that went horribly wrong this year.  It just plain sucks.  I feel like I can’t get a foot hold on my career and everything I’m trying = failure.  I’m starting to question my decision-making skills.

It was painful returning back to the Barn today to put up “Moving Out” signs and to stock it with all the things I was working on this week (as well as projects that I’ve been working on for a while) so that I can get rid of inventory.  It was just an awful feeling being in the very place that wants me out, trying to keep it looking good until the very end and keeping a brave face all the while.

The inspirational artist and spiritual person that I am knows that there is a higher purpose…that the universe has a plan.  There is a reason for this and its just too fresh for me to understand.  But I know, that I have to get up once again, dust myself off and keep on moving forward.

And have faith that this closed door means another one will open.

Until then I will make it my new goal to release anger, sadness and disappointment and replace it with patience, forgiveness and grace.

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More “new” older stuff (and a new girl)

I’ve found more items that I created, then sat off to the side until I either:

• finished them up
• reworked them
• or just finished scanning/seaming together

First, a bunch of heart collections…

Click on image to see wording better

These I grabbed from words in a book that I brought together to form unique sayings…writing is a little on the small side, but still quirky I think…

These are vintage-inspired hearts I created to break out of my colorful heart mold.  I stuck to warm tones, beiges, tans, etc.

This is the “reworked” Pregnant Girl I did a little while ago…I just never liked the original and learned quickly that I need to work on my side profiles!!

These girls got finished up…

And this collage is an old one I did over a year ago, but felt like it was never quite ready to go so I reworked it a bit…

And finally a newer girl, Starlight Angel.  All these originals are available (soon to be listed in my shop) and of course I can create a card, journal, magnet, bookmark, mounted print out of any of these images using my pick any options.

I just scanned 20 more pieces today of mostly newer stuff (and I have 20 canvases prepped and ready for some seasonal/harvest-type stuff) so I’ll be sharing lots over the next couple weeks.  Please check back or see my shop for more

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Halloween Decorating

I’ve been decorating my booth space at The Barn for a couple of weeks now and it makes me so happy to be decorating for my favorite season and holiday!

We were there last weekend for 4 hours re-merchandising my space and taking inventory and we were so tired and ready to get out of there that we forgot to take photos.  However, I did take some photos of the items I’m selling there like spooky potion bottles using antique/vintage apothecary bottles I recently scored:

Some of my artwork mounted on wood blocks…

As well as some public domain vintage Halloween images on blocks…

I’ll try to remember taking some photos this weekend on my actual display!

At home, I haven’t done anything except dress up our mantle…

Some pumpkins, some mercury cloches and a bat/candle display give it a splash of spook, a splash of whimsy…

Some old cabinet cards definitely add spookiness…

As do more apothecary jars and a vintage black scale…

Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year??! 

Do you decorate for Halloween or fall?  Post a link, I’d love to see!

 

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New girl and mounted prints!

It’s been a while since I created a new girl…and several months since I’ve created a girl that was 16×20 in size.  As you know, I’m big on gratitude and with Thanksgiving not that far off, I wanted to create a piece that spoke to both.

Usually the imagery of Thanksgiving is a cornucopia of fruit and vegetables; but this girl I wanted to paint a cornucopia of hearts or love.  Give thanks for the love in your life and be sure to give it back as well.

I’ll be listing her in my shop for $175; you, my blog readers, get a sneak peek before I get the listing and additional photos in my shop, so if you’re interested in her before I list, let me know!

Now, if you like this girl, but want a more cost effective option, you can get a mounted print of this girl. (like the segue into my new topic? *wink*)

Here’s an example of an 11×14 mounted print I created

Mounted prints on wood give the look and feel of an original, but cost much less.  The print is literally mounted onto a cradled wood panel and is ready to hang.  Choose all black sides or patterned paper sides for a more quirky look.

You can choose from 4 sizes: (the following are for rectangular images)

11×14: $55

8×10: $32.50

5×7: $22.50

ACEO (2.5×3.5″): $7.50

To give you perspective on the different sizes…

These are the small ACEO mounted prints; they’re popular in the art world as their inexpensive price makes it easy to collect a bunch. These are the only ones that are full wood blocks and 3/4″ on the sides

With the exception of the ACEO blocks (as mentioned above), the mounted prints come on cradled wood meaning they are open on the backside for easy hanging.  The sides measure 7/8″

And for the square images in my shop…

I also carry mounted prints in square sizes

12×12: $50

8×8: $27.50

6×6: $22.50

4×4: $15

Click here to get to my mounted print sections in my art shop but note I’m still just beginning to add specific mounted prints, but you can choose any of the “Pick any image” options for any size and let me know the print you want mounted.

What my kitchen island looked like the other day when I cranked out a bunch to bring to the Barn (several have sold already, yay!)

Last night I prepped a bunch of backgrounds on canvas for some fall-themed pieces I’m working on, so stay tuned for some more new artwork!  Thanks for checking out what I’m up to!

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New options in shop!

Hi everyone…I’m happy to be back and have my shop reopened!  Just wanted to let you know that I’ve added 3 new options in my shop…including:

I’ve had many requests to sell larger prints and when I got my new printer last December, I purchased a large format printer that would allow me to print up to 13×19 (however, that’s not a normal size and most people go with 11×14 as the next step after 8×10).  However, I can also do 9×12′s or 12×16′s for the same price.

Because I have so many girls now (more than 70 non-holiday themed girls), and my sticker packs are capped at 50 stickers, I’ve decided to split up into two different packs and offer two different whimsical girl sticker packs.

After searching high and low for a reasonably priced “lined” journal, I finally found one and am offering them in my shop now (and can be made to include any image in my shop that you want!).  I usually put the name of the piece of art below the image, but can customize to anything you want it to say – perfect holiday gift…).

These options are now available in my shop.  Later this week, I’ll be adding mounted wood blocks, like the ones below I made for a customer (from as small as 2.5″ x 3.5″ to as big as 11″ x 14″); these are a great way to get the feel/look/even the size of an original yet costs a lot less).

Okay, enough promoting for me, just wanted to keep you in the loop with the holiday season coming up.  Thanks for visiting my shop!

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New work, sort of…

I realized that I have “newer” work that I haven’t shared in entirety here just out of of sheer forgetfulness…

First, these are 4 girls that I created about 2 months ago…a little different from my usual style but I was trying out a new background technique…

And I also created a set of Halloween cupcakes a couple weeks back…

These originals are available in my shop now!  I can also make cards, prints, journals, magnets and bookmarks using any of these images with my “Pick Any” options in my shop as well.

While flying back and forth and having down time in between, I created lots of sketches…these among dozens of others:

I’m making it a goal to get these from sketches to full blown collaged paintings by working a little bit each night on these, so hopefully I’ll have new pieces posted soon.

I’m SO excited that it’s September and fall is around the corner, so I’ll leave you with a photo from a previous fall here in Colorado.

Have a great week!

 

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Bringing on the Fall at The Barn

I’m leaving this week to go back for a visit to CT for almost two weeks, helping my niece move to college, taking seaside day trips with my sister to Block Island and possibly an overnight to Martha’s Vineyard if we can work out the scheduling, enjoying lots of fresh seafood and seaside air and spending down time with family, making up all those missed family dinners over the year.  Oh, and lots of Dunkin Donuts coffee (have I mentioned we don’t have it here? *wink*).

Since I won’t be able to get to my booth at The Barn for a couple weeks, David and I made a trip today to spruce it up for fall; I’d rather be the early bird than late for the season.  Plus I’m hoping it’ll drive some interest to my space!

If you’re in the Denver/Colorado Springs area, be sure to check out The Barn (which is planning on having a fall decorating event in the next week, so it’ll be decked out soon!)

Fall?  BRING IT!

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New Halloween Girls

As I’ve been alluding to on my Facebook page and mentioning here, I’m in a serious mood for fall and Halloween.  My friend is not having her Halloween party this year, we get no trick-or-treaters out in our rural parts and we are too introverted (and also know no one in Denver) to attend a Halloween Ball “down the hill”.

For these reasons, I have to get my Halloween mojo through the creation of art, which I am happy to do.  Actually, I’m having trouble stopping.  I’ve created 6 pieces, have 2 more sketched up and a bunch of more ideas on the brain.  Part of me says that not everyone appreciates Halloween like I do, but the other part of me is trying to not get so focused on what sells, but also what I like to create.  Plus Halloween art fits perfectly into my quirky, whimsical style.

Here are the 6 pieces I’ve created this past week…

Bat Girl, Halloween Bee, Halloween Dracula, Halloween Ladybug, Owl Girl, Pumpkin Girl

And here are two from last year that I never shared because of my (then) licensing agreement:

Halloween Good Witch / Halloween Kitty

I’ll be making merchandise with all these images, but I’ve started to list some of these originals in my shop.

Bring on the candy corn, fake spider webs and cooler weather!!

 

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