September 2010
1 post
Rengade Craft Fair in Chicago coming soon...
Time is quickly slipping away and I find myself working night after night into the wee hours to make sure I have plenty of fresh, new, fun merchandise available for The Renegade Craft Fair next weekend in Chicago.
If you are looking for something to do and will be in the Chicago area that weekend please be sure to come check us out at our tent. There will be over 300 vendors there so you are...
August 2010
2 posts
The Road to Self Employment
Surround yourself with the right people
I have been doing a lot of thinking about what led me to the path of self employment. Quite often I am asked the question of how. How did you manage to reach the point where you can tell your boss to take that job and shove it? While I have experienced a lot of ups and downs with my self employment one thing has rang very true for me, the right partner...
A Summer of Inspiration
So I have been away from my blog for quite some time but it has been for good reason. I was treated to a summer of rejuvenation and splendor not to mention inspiration in San Francisco by my amazing and charming husband. I think every person who works in a creative field should work this into their schedule. A sabbatical somewhere to soak in the world and your family. Its so easy to get...
May 2010
10 posts
April 2010
1 post
New Larger Size Prints! 11 x 17 →
March 2010
3 posts
February 2010
4 posts
January 2010
8 posts
Love is the the Air Valentines Day Sale
Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, why not get something for everyone in your life that means something special to you. I am having a “Love is in the air” Sale to help make giving something unique and handmade also affordable. If you purchase 2 of my prints right now you will receive a 3rd one of your choice of equal or lesser value for free. Details are in my shop, check...
Painting with Tea Bags...
So the show for Fabricate is well under way and I have tried to get creative with what I am offering in the show. I want everyone who wants original art to be able to afford it. I plan to have some one of a kind illustrations, illustrations that have color added, all size paintings, and even some prints. Some of the pieces have different versions available. There is the painting version and...
And the winner is.....
So the contest has come to an end and with the help of my lovely children and our dog Cocoa we have chosen a winner.
The numbers are in the cup and the judges are ready to draw a number
Cocoa is telling Brayden how excited she is to see who the winner is.
Zoe opens the lucky number while Cocoa continues to annoy Brayden.
And the winner is comment #2
Kylie Larsson
“My...
7 tags
First Giveaway! Yay!
So as part of my New Years resolution to blog more and be a more active participant in my art business I am going to start weekly giveaways. For now we will start with my art but eventually I hope to have other fun things to give away. It is quite snowy here so I thought how fun to give away a wintery print.
5 inches of snow here.
So what better to honor this winter storm than a...
Making Lemons into Sweet and Tasty Lemonade
We moved into this house 17 months ago and to say I wasn’t happy about it would be putting it lightly. When you get married its nice to buy a home together, not inherit one from your husband’s previous marriage. To make matters worse we both want to live in the city again and really do not like the layout of this house. My husband said there wasn’t much on the market when he...
Goodbye 2009 and Hello... 2010
So here is the obligatory 3 kids in front of the tree photo. The kids were a bit restless so it wasn’t worth getting creative, just happy to grab a shot.
The holidays put me in the mood to finish my seasons paintings which are available in the shop.
Penelope has been growing by leaps and bounds. She seems to eat from the time she wakes to the time she sleeps.
Some...
November 2009
1 post
Family Fun in the Fall
Families are an ever evolving entity. They change, grow, sometimes two families meld into one and sadly sometimes they fracture. Life can be so hard but when you find that perfect person to travel through it with things suddenly seem so much simpler and easier. My partner in life, husband, and amazing father to my children makes the path of life so much simpler and fun.
We recently added a...
September 2009
3 posts
Haircuts and Painting...
Okay, so they are not exactly related but I just have to show Zoe’s new haircut. I took Zoe to the salon to have her hair cut and they never seem to do what I ask. They never shape it up and I am left with a wild child. I decided I would shape it and then take it to them for the finishing touches. It ends up I learned quite a bit in those 3 months of hair school I took years ago. She...
Flowing works
New work has been flowing out of me lately. I have revisited old work and built off those ideas, I have been hard at work getting together my abstract show for Chicago, and hard at work on several commissioned pieces. Penelope still has a large need of my time but with Zoe and Brayden starting pre-school I have been managing to find time to create.
I just finished this one for the Chicago...
Are You Ready For Some Footbaaaaalllll?
Day one of the NFL Football Season! We made so many yummy home cooked snacks! I think after football some painting may be in my future or drawing perhaps. We shall see. Enjoy these snapshots from our day of Football! Penelope was napping which is why she is not in any of the pictures. GO BENGALS!
May 2009
1 post
Worth A Thousand Words...
After taking 2 months off to enjoy our new daughter, Penelope its time to dive back into my work. So much has happened personally and professionally these past two months I decided a post full of photos is the best way to show these amazing events.
Moment between mother and daughter moments after birth.
A family grows
You realize how important the people around you are and how much...
March 2009
2 posts
I'm Back... For the Moment
Its hard to believe I was doing so well with my blog posting and then just disappeared. Honestly though I can’t say I feel a bit guilty. I am nine months pregnant and have been on a big kick getting the house ready for our newest addition as well as resting. I started contracting a week ago and have progressed to 2 cm but nothing else so far. The baby is measuring large (modestly...
CLOSEOUT SALE
So my shop is having a crazy closeout sale right now, some things are so low there is no room for profit. What you say? I need to do some spring cleaning and get rid of out of date merchandise. However, the items are limited and once they sell out they are gone for good so hurry and get what you can while you can. There are originals in the CLOSEOUT section as well so don’t miss out.
February 2009
11 posts
Art Update
I am always working on art for other people and never seem to make time for art for my family. I usually keep a couple paintings here and there Josh likes but overall I tend to create for my shop. My sister was working on a painting of Zoe which made me realize I have been putting off her portrait for over a year now. I normally freehand portraits but I always have trouble with Zoe so I graphed...
Swim Lessons
So I clearly need to have more faith in my daughter. I thought she would panic at her first swim lesson and she did amazingly well. You would have thought she had taken the class a couple times before. I guess all that time in her grandparents pool has paid off.
HUGE Sale
Just wanted to let everyoe know I am having a HUGE sale in my shop including:
Originals (some as much as half off)!
Clearance Prints (half off the original Price)
and regular prints buy 2 get a 3rd print free (this includes the new 5 x 7 prints)…
Consider this my the economy is in the crapper so heres my stumulus! Be able to afford the art you want on your budget!
Some New Products and a Chance at a Free Print!
So lets start with new product. I have been hard at work packaging up some postcards for my shop. I have ordered some stickers to seal up the boxes of postcards to give them that extra cuteness and they should arrive any day now. The postcards listed are limited in number but I have 800 additional postcards coming in other designs. They unfortunately will not be available until mid March most...
Buttons are Back!
So I have been working really hard on getting my store stocked up. Between Pivot and the baby it was being heavily neglected. I have changed the paper I used on my prints and am putting mu old stock on clearance. The Clearance prints are hot so grab them up while you can! I listed button sets today which look super cute. I also ordered postcards and some fanc packaging for them but they will...
Happy Valentines Day
So this post comes a little late but I spent so much time enjoing my Valentines Day I just now have had time to post. Zoe had a special party at pre-school that her and I made valentines together for her classmates. She had lots of sugar and loved getting a card from all the other kids.
Now onto my romantic Valentine Surprise. My sweet and amazing husband wanted to do something special for...
Health Insurance in America
So I want to talk about something that I find very disappointing. First I want to say I love this country. So many times people think if you have an opinion about something you dislike in this country it means you are unpatriotic. Quite the opposite is true in my opinion. Had Lincoln not questioned and had issue with slavery would we be the country we are today? With that out of the way let me...
More Shape Based Paintings...
Here are the other 4 of the first 8 shape based animal paintings I posted about yesterday. I think I like the first 4 better than these but you can’t love everything you create. The originals and prints of these are available in the shop as well. If you get them while on sale you get a free print so hurry over for a great deal.
New Shape Based Paintings
With expecting a baby I have been working on some artwork for the girls room. I asked Zoe what she would like to see in her room for paintings and being the animal lover she is she decided she wanted a giraffe and an elephant. In addition to painting those for her I painted a monkey for Brayden’s room. The paintings were very simple and are what I call shape based paintings. Josh just...
Coraline is Fabulous!
So today I took both the kids to see Coraline. This was very intimidating considering the last time I attempted to take both the children to see a movie by myself it ended with us leaving half way through and temper tantrums all the way to the car. In addition the last time I took them I was not pregnant so being 8 months along I was a bit worried I would not be able to handle any outbursts....
Shopping and Crafting on the Home Front
With Baby Ella growing in my tummy by leaps and bounds I spend a lot of time in my recliner these days to reduce the pressure. Part of being in my chair so much is that a lot of crafting is getting done! I am working on a new hat for Josh, a scarf for Brayden, and a cacoon for the baby. I just finished Zoe’s scarf which is below. She wants to wear it around the house and now Josh wants a...
January 2009
5 posts
Birthday Present!
So part of trying new art is trying things I have never tried before. I started that recently when I painted a birthday gift for my dad. I glanced through some old winter photos of mine and made what I would consider a “morph” painting of all the photos. I used oils. I think my dad liked it! I actually enjoyed this exercise and I would put this as a positive learning experience. ...
A New Chapter
I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and artist. As a member of a modern blended family looking for balance in a sometimes hectic life I have found blogging to be a great tool. My family consists of my daughter Zoe, my step-son Brayden, and March 2009 we are expecting the newest addition, Baby Eleanor to our family. My husband and partner in all things, Josh, has been a wonderful aid in...
Doggy Days Sale!
So I am just in love with our new puppy Coco Chanel. She joined our family Dec 27th and has been a joy. She has the perfect personality for our family and she’s super smart. It did not take her long to learn that the quickest way to come in from the freezing temps outside was to go potty. She now runs straight out, does her business, and straight back in. How many 11 week old pups can...