Happy Thanksgiving!!! :)

Holiday Gift Tags

Now available in my shop sets of holiday gift tags! These are ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) prints. Fun and affordable miniature art, the size of a baseball cards (2.5"x3.5"), to collect, display or trade. Usually I sell these in my shop individually but for the holidays I'm offering a special reduced price on sets of 4 to use as gift tags or to give as gifts. :)

Orange U Blue Treasury

This is a treasury I just made including some of my favorite color combinations. I find these pieces inspiring and fun! Hope you like. :)

Meerkat

Yesterday I was saying on twitter that I was between illustrations at the moment and did not really have a clue what I would be drawing next. When alyssatasker responded that I should draw "a purple meerkat". Well since my daughter loves Disney's the Lion King and purple is her favorite color and alyssatasker did ask me, I thought, "Yes! I should!" And so that is what I did today. What do you think of my little meerkat? Now available in my shop! Free shipping worldwide!

New- Little Red Riding Hood Winter Holiday, 6 Blank Card Set with Envelopes!

Now listed in my shop Little Red Riding Hood Winter Holiday cards, set of 6. Send individually as holiday greeting cards or give the set as a gift of winter note cards. Two of these sets are listed in my shop but I can make as many as you'd like so please contact me if you would like more. :)

Teddy and Ginger, Jack in the Box, Holiday Pop Up Decorations

Introducing Teddy and Ginger! Ta-Da! This adorable pair is spring loaded for fun holiday decorating! DIY printable PDF crafts are new in my shop! I love gingerbread. Can you tell? he he.

Jack in the Box DIY PDF Toy Crafts!

New in my shop!! :) I'm so excited. I love making toys!!

I've been busy the last 2 days coming up with these sweeties. Introducing, "Poppet and Moppet" Jack in the Boxes. I just listed them in my shop as a DIY PDF toy craft. Hope you like!

New! FREE Shipping Worldwide!

Free shipping on all items in my shop!!!

Also, I've added some new items and relisted some older pieces.

All in time for the holiday season! :)

Sweet Holiday DIY Gift Tag PDF

I just added these sweet little guys to my shop! :) They are available as a sweet and convenient DIY PDF. Purchase and print as many as you want as often as you want! I myself am fighting the urge to print out a million of them and set them up on the floor all over my house while blaring some classical music and maybe even do a stop action movie with them!!! :O LOL I've gone mad with cuteness! ;)

Indian Nesting Doll Family Sneak Peek

A sneak peek at the latest in my series of nesting doll families— an Indian family of babushkas. Alas, I am out of ink. So printing and proofing the colors will have to wait. I'm glad I don't have to wait to show them to you though! :)

Tuareg Family of Nesting Dolls

It's all about family this week! :) Here is my Tuareg nesting doll family illustration. I loved the purple one so much I had to make an indigo and a rose!

Nesting Doll Drawings

I've drawn lots of Russian dolls, but never a family of nesting dolls. I was thinking it's about time I did. So, here is my first nesting doll family in various black and white variations. Which one do you like best? :)

Sweet Escape!

I woke up this morning and went straight to my studio to draw. It was quite chilly. I began to draw and had to laugh because I was cold and drawing ice cream. I have always loved and enjoyed anthropomorphic illustrations and figures. I hope you like this one entitled "Sweet Escape!" She is fleeing some lover of ice cream no doubt! ;)

Sneak Peek - India Inspired Doll

This is a sneak peek at my latest drawing an India inspired nesting doll. This is part of a series including the HanFu and Tuareg dolls. Each in this series uses one main color for their clothing and white. This series as well as the first series (which included Peruvian, Portuguese and Tibetan dolls) all use some of the same design motifs— a flower, leaves, and swirls, as unifying factors. What differentiates between the series is the way color is used. I have really enjoyed drawing these dolls!

Next will come a second series of toy animals to go with each of these dolls. I am offering the doll and animal drawings to an online store that is opening early next year. They will be selling my drawings as limited addition prints available in an array of sizes. I'll keep you posted on the progress. Wish me luck! :)

Sneak Peek - HanFu Style Doll

This is a sneak peek of my latest nesting doll illustration. It is inspired by HanFu style Chinese traditional clothing. Thank you for the suggestion Ren! :)

Sneak Peek Latest Drawing

I just drew this Tuareg inspired doll today. I have had this drawing stirring in me for a while. Very fun to at last be drawing it. Back in school I drew my first Tuareg inspired illustration and I have been itching to do a nesting doll drawing. I hope you like her. :)

Babushka Sneak Peek

This is a sneak peek at the latest series of nesting doll drawings I'm working on. This series of illustrations is inspired by 3 different cultures from 3 very different parts of the world that all use similar colors in their traditional costumes. They are inspired by Peruvian, Tibetan and Portuguese cultures. I have always admired the bright colors of these cultures. My Grandparents lived in Portugal for a time and my Grandmother gave me a black apron she bought while she was there. I have always loved all the colorful embroidery on it. I'll have to photograph it and the red one my Mom has and post here later.

I drew the Peruvian and the Portuguese girls first and am now still tinkering with the Tibetan girls colors. When I'm finished I will post again, along with a link where they will be available.

The plan is to do a second series of toy animals from these same cultures too.

Sneak Peek Latest Drawing

Here is a sneak peek at my latest drawing. :)

Voteetsy Green Capelet Contest TODAY!

This pretty capelet is by my friend at lilyandlulu. It is entitled "Elizabeth". She does such beautiful work! :)

Today voteetsy is featuring a contest I submitted! Every morning part of my morning ritual is to go to voteetsy and vote in the contest of the day. It is a fun way to support fellow Etsians. Last week I saw they were taking submissions for contests and I thought, "Cool this will be fun!" The contest theme was inspired by my friend at lilyandlulu and her lovely "Elizabeth". Please go to voteetsy and cast a vote! Good luck to all the pretty capelet knitters and I hope they get lots of new customers from the free publicity! :)

Blog Award

Wendy is a Peach and nominated my blog for this lovely award. It is a cool chick (as my husband would say) don't you think? Anyway, I like the illustration. Also, like that it looks like a postage stamp (my Father is retired from the US Postal Service he he).

Here is the deal, anyone who is currently following my blog and has a blog is eligible for this blog award. Because, let's face it, you all Rock! So, if you like this cute, chick, stamp, award thingy and you would like to display it on your blog, it is yours, do so proudly.

I am not naming names because well, someone might get inadvertently left out and have their feelings hurt (which I would like to avoid) and someone may not agree that this is a really cool looking award. In which case I would hate to give it to someone who didn't want it or appreciate it. Also, some may not like the obligations associated with accepting the award (nominating others and informing them) which I seem to have avoided but seem to be taking just as much time to write this post! lol

In conclusion, did I mention how much I adore Wendy and all her Fab cross stitched items in her shop? I adore the ice cream cone pin and the puppy dog key chain I bought from her as gifts for my daughter (saving for Christmas don't tell!). Also, I really enjoy following her on Twitter and tweeting back and forth! She is very sweet and fun as her profile picture implies! :)

Ren Adams Artist and Freelance Writer

Photo courtesy of plasticpumpkin.

I have long admired Ren Adams, a spectacular Artist who specializes in Chinese brush painting. I bought the most beautiful watercolor painting by Ren, a Pink Peony (see above) . She is really fabulous, sends the most fun packages when you shop her Etsy shop Plastic Pumpkin.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw the article she wrote this week for Hand Made News featuring my Russian Doll Coloring Sheet pdf. I'm such a fan of hers I cried! lol Not only is she a fab artist but she is also a terrific freelance writer.

If you would like to get to know Ren better join me in following her tweets on plasticpumpkin. She is very fun and also philosophical which she gets more in depth with on her website.

Red Sky Treasury

Some more artists and creatives on Etsy I LOVE! Enjoy. :)

Alice In Wonderland - Nursery Set - Sneak Peek

This is a sneak peek at an Alice In Wonderland series I'm working on entitled "Alice In Wonderland Props"! :) It is a series of nursery art intended to be very simple illustrations for decorating babies rooms. Alice is such a fun theme to work with!! Hope you like!

Little Red Riding Hood

Reneeleonestudio made this very sweet Little Red Riding Hood treasury and very kindly included my Little Red Riding Hood Gingerbread Man print! Reneeleonestudio does wonderful custom home portraits and travel watercolor prints. Check out her shop! :)

Birthday Surprise!

For my birthday I ordered a "Upcycled Surprise Box" from beachchicken! I ordered it a month before my birthday but I was good and didn't open it, gave it to my husband to hide away so I would have a surprise. I looked forward to opening it like a little kid! FINALLY, my birthday morning came and I joyfully opened my surprises!!! Beachchicken makes such wonderful upcycled, recycled and recreated pieces! The contents of my surprise box were one journal- unlined, perfect for sketching, a pair of pretty earrings, two cheery note cards with envelopes, an itty bitty note book, and a big circle crayon with rubbing instructions and project ideas. I love it all! My daughter has a collection of little notebooks and adored this teddy bear one so I had to give it to her- giving is more fun than receiving! And, she and I can't wait to do the crayon rubbing projects. The fun thing about the surprise boxes is the contents of each box are different. So I'm looking forward to the next holiday when I can surprise and be surprised!

Autumn Aqua Treasury

This is a treasury, a tribute to some artists that I love and admire. It was inspired by Voideville's "Lyric" that I recently bought an ACEO of. Also included is Plasticpumpkin's "Goldfish at Sunset". I own a beautiful "Pink Peony" watercolor painting by plasticpumpkin. Opalpoems is another wonderful artist. I have a collection of what I refer to as "Blue Women". Really there is allot of blue and orange in the collection. Another one of Opalpoems' "Lady Portraits" grace the collection. MGMart's flowering, hair adornments and jewelry are so beautiful and I enjoy following her on Twitter too. I admire all the artist/sellers showcased in this treasury!

Owl in Treasury

My Twitterific friend MGMart and fellow Etsian made this cool treasury of interesting pieces and was so kind to include my Owl Print!

I'm sooo busy right now getting ready for the homeschool year (starts next week). I will be back to drawing, blogging and visiting soon! :)

Treasury of Illustrations

My Russian Doll and Snowman ACEO has been included in this lovely illustration treasury by knot. Thank you knot!

Red Treasury

FiddlyFingerWork did this fabulous "Red or Dead" treasury with it's interesting and unique items and included my Sunny Russian Doll print!!! Thank you FiddlyFingerWork! Check out her wonderful crochet items and jewelry.

Owl Gift Set

Hooo, Hooo! New in my shop- Owl pocket mirror and pinback button gift set. This gift set is a Hoot! Cute and Spooky. :>

A SUNNY Gift Set!

I'm so excited and happy about a New Gift Set now available in my shop! My cheery Sunny Russian Doll pocket mirror and pinback button gift set! A pairing sure to brighten one's day!

I'm so pleased with how these turned out!!! I hope they bring a smile to your face too!

Russian Doll and Snowman in Love Pinback Button and Gift Tag

I am so happy to announce a New listing in my shop — "Russian Doll and Snowman in Love" Pinback Button and Gift Tag! I'm soooo pleased with how these turned out. I wanted to do a pinback button of this lovely couple up close and personal. I also wanted to come up with a way of presenting it that was fun and pretty. So I came up with this pretty button & gift tag combination. So many fun possibilities- accessorize with the pretty pin, hang the pin attached to the tag as a beautiful decoration or adorn a gift and add a sweet message to the back!

"Lazy Lion" Print Made Etsy Front Page!

I am so excited that my Lazy Lion print made the front page! I love this treasury with all it's Leo items! Thank you to Etsy for including my Lazy Lion!

Green Days Treasury

Nuishu made this serene Green Days Treasury. Thank you Nuishu for including my Lazy Lion print. Leo for an August treasury- very fitting! Also, I am a Leo, and light green is the color of the August birthstone (peridot). So it is perfect really! :)

Happy "Red and White" Treasury!

So far today isn't going as I planned except for making this cheerful "Red and White" treasury featuring some of my favorite items, Artists and friends! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. :) I think this treasury has cheered me up and will help get me back on track.

"Max" Treasury

Yayahandicraft was very clever in concocting this colorful medley of items for this beautiful treasury. Thank you Yayahandicraft for including my Mushroom Russian Doll ACEO! :)

Pink Delights

This treasury is entitled "Pink Delights". Okay, so allot of my posts have been about treasuries lately. This is only the second one I have created though and I feel that I should pay it forward and give other people some exposure. Other artists have been so kind to include my work in their treasuries. I adore all the items in this treasury for various reasons. Some are beautiful and some are so cute I want to eat them. :)

I have had a very busy week. Preparing for this coming homeschooling year. I miss you all and will be visiting and commenting more soon.

Little Red Riding Hood Treasury

Alpine Blue made this darling Little Red Riding Hood treasury and included my Little Red Riding Hood series prints! Thank you Alpine Blue! :D

Kooky Bird

So my monstrous little birdie has evolved further. Purples, reds and hot pinks are doozies to print. Still working on that. So currently just a screen image. But since this bird is an imaginary "Monster" bird maybe the virtual world should be it's home. . . will be for now anyway. :>

Some of my Favorites

Well, I finally created a treasury. I guess I was intimidated by the process but it was really pretty easy and allot of fun. It is entitled "Light Blue Kisses. . . on red cheeked babes". Enjoy!

Surprise Treasury

Yayahandicraft very sweetly included my Sunny Russian Doll print in this "Surprise" Treasury. It was a very joyful surprise on an otherwise not so joyful day. We had a very bad storm. It hailed and we had very strong winds and rain. Our old oak tree came down. It landed on our neighbors fence. We feel badly about our neighbors fence and badly about the old oak that was home to so much wild life. But, the sun shines on a new day. A new fence will be built, new trees will sprout up where the oak once stood and we are thankful that we and our houses still stand.

Donation to Raffle

Michele at Extremely Crafty asked if I would donate a print to the Extremely Crafty's- Craft Against Cancer for the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign she is hosting. I am donating a Sunny Russian Doll print for the raffle. She did a really nice blog about my work here. Thank you Michele and good luck with the raffle and good luck to all the participants.

Wolf Party Treasury

Thank you Sammakes for including my Little Red Riding Hood Gingerbread print in your howlingly FUN treasury! I hope Little Red brought enough gingerbread men to share with all these wolves! ;)

Sneak Peek Kooky Bird

I'm working on this illustration of a "Kooky" bird. I want it to be a cross between a chubby little baby bird and a monster. :> Tweet, Tweet, Chomp! he he he

Owl Felted Illustration

A few months back I made a sketch of an owl on a tree limb in front of the harvest moon. I decided I wanted to illustrate it using something different than I had tried before. I have been wanting to try felting so I thought that might be perfect for this illustration. My friend Nadine was kind enough to show me how and this weekend I bought some felting supplies and went to work. The outcome is the top picture you see here.

As I was working on the felting at my parents house my Mom remarked that it reminded her of a toy owl my brother had when he was little. I hadn't thought of it but she was right. That probably was where my mind was drawing inspiration from because I had always loved his windup toy owl. My Dad still has some of my brother's toys so I asked him if I could see it (Dad always knows right were everything is). Dad got it out and to our amazement it still works! I took a movie of it. It chirps too! It was magical to me as a child. I still love it. (Notice what funny feet it has. Looks like they may have used these feet on this toy and a Godzilla toy too! lol)

Owl Treasury

Thank you Snugnluv for including my Owl print in this wonderful "Wise Old Owls" treasury!! It is a Hoot! Snugnluv you are a Peach! What a nice way to start the week. Funny thing is I am currently working on another owl project. So, be on the lookout for more owly posts later this week!

Sunny Treasury

Christineterrell was so kind to include my Sunny Russian Doll print in her Let the Sun Shine In treasury. What wonderful canary yellows! Be sure to check our Christine's Pickle Picnic. One of my favorites! Cute as a button!

Past 2 Weeks

For the past 2 weeks my husband Eric has been working his regular job of teaching guitar plus teaching a music camp at Jackson's Music. He has had allot of fun and it has gone really well. He comes home with stories about the kids every night. The students form a band during the week long camp and then record a song and have a performance.

With Eric gone so much, the last 2 weeks, my daughter and I have been playing frisbee (which I've got to tell you is the most fun and Best exercise I've ever had!), baking muffins, and making apple dolls. As you can see the apple dolls are (from left to right) "a sailor with a telescope, and the other is a bagpipe player" so says the artist. I know, I know no real need for an explanation. Since it is so obvious with the wonderful job she did.

The muffins however do need some explaining. Pictured here our second batch this week. I thought this would be the best batch because these were made from scratch and the first were from a box. But. . . well, not so much. I did alter the recipe by adding vanilla. Don't you have to use vanilla when you bake??? I mean, come on. So, after eating 3 of these pointy muffins I can honestly say the store bought box type were superior. But these were very fun to make and this one pictured did resemble a little house or hut with a blueberry door, so it wasn't a total loss. Enjoying the process and the visual aspects of the result made it worthwhile.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I haven't been drawing, posting new drawings, and I thought I should explain. My daughter informs me we are going to make robots today. She is fun. :)

Featured in a Treasury!

RozzyToz creates some really fabulous and fun jewelry and appetizer picks! She also made this fab treasury full of warmth and mood entitled "Warm Summer Nights". And, very sweetly, she included my little owl print. I love all the dark blues and warm glows in this treasury. My favorite items on her sight are her ladybug appetizer picks! I LOVE Ladybugs!!!

Toadstools and Tea Parties

I really enjoyed visiting all the blogs that participated in the Mad Hatter Tea Parties in June. I think we will do a Mad Hatter Tea party theme for my daughters birthday this year.

I love a theme!!! I've been drawing pictures in my journal of all the fun, games and goodies for the party. One of my favorite things to do!

I'm terribly fond of toadstools. I think it has something to do with a book from my childhood, I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry. Marmeecraft (I LOVE this blog!) shared a toadstool she made inspired by another blog madewithlovebyhannah. So here is a picture of the toadstool I made inspired by them both! I, like marmeecraft, used an oatmeal container for the stem.

Next I want to make a caterpillar to sit on top so I can use it as a prop or centerpiece for the birthday party! Thank you to both the blogs for sharing such a fun project!

Waiting

Hello! I have continued to work on my baby babushka. I'm not sure if she is finished yet or not. I will step away from it for a day or two and see. :)

One Lovely Blog Award Recipients

There are so many lovely blogs/lovely people out there. It was difficult to choose only 15. Here are 15 I think are lovely. If they accept the nomination for the One Lovely Blog Award they can each then choose 15 blogs to give the award to and share the love further. Congratulations to all the recipients! Happy Blogging, and thank You for reading my blog!

1. Anita C. McCants
2. Bitacora Imaginaria
3. Dolls and Collectibles
4. Heavenleigh Art
5. Hollyrocks
6. It's Been Stitched
7. Karin Grow
8. Moor
9. Mundomundaca
10. Myarte
11. Pink Days Studio-Shabby Chic
12. Sin zapatos
13. The Art of Kerry Beary
14. The Present Moment is Inevitable
15. The Silver Dog

One Lovely Blog Award

I am very delighted and honored to receive this award from Giovanna of Boho Market! Giovanna's blog is super stylish and fabulous! Thank you Giovanna.

Now, I get to nominate 15 lovely blogs to receive this award and hopefully pass it on. There are so many great blogs! I must start making my list! :D

Sneak Peek "Waiting"

Here is a Sneak Peek at an illustration I am working on today. I drew a sketch of this tot in my journal months ago and fell in love with her. She is a baby babushka- sweet, patient, and curious.

Chosen "Indie Retailer of the Day" by Moue Magazine

Google Alerts emailed me another surprise this morning- I have been chosen Indie Retailer of the Day by Moue Magazine. :D Very nice of them.

Featured on Blogs

In the last few days a couple of bloggers have featured my artwork on their blogs and another has asked me if she can in the future. Naughtysecretaryclub, in a blog about family portraits, featured my little Astronaut custom portrait and fortheloveofcute featured my Snowy Penguin print. Thank you to all for the good exposure!

CD cover Portrait Preview

Hi! This week I've been working on the cover for my husband Eric's new CD. He is a wonderful (well, he IS a wonderful husband but is also) musician/composer. :) I find drawing him rather intimidating. Not because of his attitude about it. He is always supportive of my work. I just really want to do him and his music justice. So, this is a sneak peek at the work in progress. The pants are giving me a hard time. I think I'm going to have him pose wearing a different pair. These were too baggy. Not coming across as crossed legs. Anyway, hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Made it to the Front Page on Etsy today!!!

My Little Red Riding Hood, Set of 3, 5"x7" prints made the front page on Etsy this morning! It's the first time I've made the front page. I'm very happy! :)

Russian Doll and Snowman in Love Pocket Mirror

I'm so happy with the way these turned out!!! Doing a happy dance! I've just placed these pretty pocket mirrors in my shop. This is from my "Russian Doll and Snowman in Love, a Snow Globe Love Story series". The round shape of the mirror is perfect for this snow globe illustration! And the sweet couple looks so elegant through the black organza bag. I knew the white of the snow would gleam through the bag and the black top hat, bow tie and details of the Russian Doll's dress would look stunning through the black organza. Love it when something turns out as good as I had hoped! The photo really doesn't do it justice.

Oh, and a note about yesterdays entry- The Little Red Riding Hood, Gingerbread Man Pocket Mirror. I keep thinking it looks so yummy I want to eat it. With it's sugary snow and sweet gingerbread man! Looks like a cookie! he he he

Little Red Riding Hood Pocket Mirror

I just listed pocket mirrors in my shop this morning. I'm soooo Happy and Excited about the way they turned out!!! WistfulSupplies did a great job of producing these for me. I knew they would look great in the black organza bags! I just can't get over how pretty they are. Even more beautiful than in the photograph. I really need to purchase a tripod to keep the camera from shaking. Anyway, I LOVE these! lol Can you tell? 

Birdie Note Cards! Tweet!

Hi everybody! I just posted these tweety pies in my shop. A set of birdie note cards.

Yart Sale Days!!!

It's Yart Sale time! Big Sales are going on in my Shop! Yart Sale items are marked down starting today June 10th - Sunday June 14th. For more information about Yart Sale see The Stork article. 

My Collection of Inspiring Piggies!

Top picture is a piggy bank I keep in my kitchen! Kind of a joke, having a foot tall piggy standing on my kitchen island. He, he, he. I ADORE it! My husband and daughter got it for me from an antique store for my birthday.

Bottom picture are mostly items I treasure from my childhood. A Three Little Pigs book, night light, motif dolls dress and the sweetest pink piggy stuffed animal. I always thought its feet looked like pink marshmallows and wanted to eat them up I loved it so much! The night light still works! The piggy key chain is from my sweet husband.

If you are wondering, Yes, I kept just about everything from my childhood. Now I get to play with them all over again with my daughter! :)

Sweet Cuties In My Kitchen

Sale on Card Sets!

I'm offering a Sale price on my new Russian Doll and Snowman card sets. There are 4 different sets of these cards in my shop. Properly pricing new items can be difficult. A real head scratcher. These are the first cards I've offered. If I get a good response with this sales price I will make it permanent (material prices permitting). :)

Cards Now Available In My Shop!!

My first cards!!! I'm so excited. I've just listed this set of assorted cards featuring my "Russian Doll and Snowman, a Snow Globe Love Story" illustrations, in my shop.  

Featured in a Treasury!

Being featured in treasuries is a Happy thing!! amyquerin was so kind to include my Dutch Babushka Tent Card Doll with all these other beautifully colorful pieces. I too love red with turquoise blue. Check out the Treasury.

New Prints are Now in my Shop!

These are details of my latest Little Red Riding Hood illustrations. I have just listed the prints in my shop. :)

Sneak Peek Holiday!

This is the latest illustration for my Little Red Riding Hood series, "A Winter Holiday" or "Sugar and Spice". . . I can't decide! Yummy though. I think I need a cookie!

Boo! Halloween Sneak Peek!

Here is a sneak peek at my latest Little Red Riding Hood illustration. I'm finding the color combination to be very inspiring. . . the deep blue night sky. . . the autumn leaves.  I think I need to draw some more Autumn/Halloween illustrations. Maybe an Owl!!! :)

Pear Dolls

Here is my latest- Face Stickers for making Pear Dolls. I will have these face stickers available in my shop soon. Yes I'm encouraging you to play with your food! :D

Babushka Tent Card Dolls

I've just added a pdf

to my shop, 

"Babushkas From Around the World 

tent card Dolls"! It contains 3 Babushka 

tent card crafts. Fun

to make and Fun 

to play with! :D

Nesting Dolls

Working on some new Nesting Doll illustrations. Nesting Doll Girls from around the world. 

Russian Doll and Snowman Share an Ice Cream Float!

Is there anything as glorious as completing a drawing?!?! Ahhh the felicity! (I'm channeling Jane Austin.) So here it is, the snow globe soda shop date! I just posted it in my shop as well.

Sneak Peek - Soda Shop Chair

This is a Sneak Peek at a new

"Russian Doll and Snowman

. . . a Love Story" illustration 

I'm working on. 

Kids Day At The Beach Treasury

TheSilverDog kindly included my "Seal Balancing Ball Circus Series Print" in her "Kids Day At The Beach" treasury! The seal is balancing a beach ball, isn't he? :) Thank you TheSilverDog!

Lovely Drawings

Have you seen Moor's drawings? They are the Bee's Knees! Soooo absolutely beautiful they make me want to cry. She is a Huge talent! This one is called "Moor's girl".

Check out Moor's shop.

Russian Doll Coloring Sheets

Hello world! Today I have been busy converting my Russian Doll portrait illustrations to black and white and I have posted them as a PDF in my shop. :)

In other news- I am feeling a need to Spring clean. I've been drawing all Spring and the dust has really built up around the house. Must, Must Dust this week! Which brings me to another dirty subject. . . my Pig in the Mud illustration. Oink! Joy Refurbished was kind enough to post it on her blog and said nice things about the cute but dirty little piggy. Thank you Joy Refurbished!

Fox Girl

Hi! My hubby has been bugging me to put some of my older illustrations for sale in my shop. So, this morning I went through some older work and came across this one. It really makes since to offer it because the "Tiger Girl" print is available in my shop already.

If you would like to read more about this series I wrote a detailed (hopefully not too confusing) explanation in the description for this "Fox Girl" print in my shop. Thanks for the idea Eric!— He's my hubby.

Sneak Peek

Thought I would give you a sneak peek at a work I am currently illustrating.  :) 

Also, Moor asked about the butterflies. It was really fun raising them. We bought this butterfly tent that comes with a postcard you send off and they send you the butterfly larvae. It was really fun!!

Monarch Butterfly

We have been raising monarch butterflies for the last few weeks and today was the day to release them. Happy to say all 9 made it. It has been fun. My maternal instincts got quite a workout. I love babies!! Doesn't matter if its human, beast or insect evidently. This one pictured hung around for a long time on a wisteria flower. Here, I am holding the wisteria upside down with one hand photographing with the other. It was windy too, I can't believe the photo came out! 

Little Red Riding Hood Set of 3

This set of 3, "Little Red Riding Hood Series" is now available in my shop. They are 5"x7" each. Also available are each printed on 8.5"x11" paper.

Russian Doll and Snowman Set of 3

This first set of 3, "Russian Doll and Snowman a Snow Globe Love Story" is now available in my shop. They are 5"x7" each. Also available are each printed on 8.5"x11" paper.

Small Prints

I've posted some small prints in my shop (4"x6" or 6"x4"). This print "Sunny Russian Doll" and others; "Mushroom Russian Doll", "Lazy Lion", "Wolves in Love", and "Little Red Riding Hood Valentine".

It was such a beautiful day here yesterday and supposed to be another one today. Blue skies, birds singing, perfume of wisteria fills the air. It is intoxicating. Great time for picnicking and playing outside. I'm hoping it will revitalize me and inspire some new work. So I am keeping my eyes open and drinking it all in. . . along with lots of lemonade! :)

Evolving

Toweling off after a dip in the Arctic.

A continuation of  the serial "Russian Doll and Snowman . . . a Snow Globe Love Story" here they are toweling off after a dip in the Arctic! Burrrr!  This is an illustration in progress. I thought I would give you a sneak peek. I'm out of paper and just about out of ink. Could this be the end of Russian Doll and Snowman forever?!?! Will Amy buy more paper and ink? Stay tuned. . .

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you— This was inspired by a swimming cap my Grandma had when I was little. It was pink and covered in flowers. Magical!

Buttons! Buttons!

I'm very excited about my new pinback buttons!!! Wistfulsupplies did a Great job making these for me! They feature my illustrations of the Russian Doll series- Himalayan Princess, Star, Sunny, and Mushroom.

Also, The Wolves in Love detail from my Little Red Riding Hood Valentine drawing. I have printed out the heart drawing and pinned the button to it.

Interviewed

This weekend I was asked to do an interview for a cool blog Agent Dreamer. I was a little hesitant at first because I am a private, shy person, but I'm glad I did it because it was a really good experience. Agent Dreamer put me at ease and asked me great questions. If you've read my shop profile then you know it is a little thin (to say the least) and greatly lacking information about me. The interview is helping me think about what should be added to my profile. So, Thank you Agent Dreamer and I also appreciate the publicity of course!

I've also done a version of  "Kismet at the Snow Ball" with Russian Doll's costume more of a pear green instead of a yellowish Bartlett pear color. Which do you like best? I think I just really like the word Bartlett. LOL. Maybe I should look up other types of pears that are green and see if there is another name I can fall in love with.

Kismet at the Snow Ball

I've just added another print in the "Russian Doll and Snowman. . . a Love Story" snow globe series to my shop. This one, "Kismet at the Snow Ball" depicts the first meeting of Russian Doll and Snowman at a masquerade ball. Russian Doll is wearing a Bartlett pear costume and Snowman is disguised as an ice cream sundae!

Featured in a Treasury West on Etsy

It is always fun to be included in treasuries!! My "Circus Poodle Jumping Through Hoop" was featured in this hopping Treasury West entitled "leaping for joy". It was chosen by LittleBayClay. Thank you LittleBayClay!

Exciting Day!

Today is off to a great start! I awoke to lots of happy email. 

•A sale in my shop. 

•Featured in a showcase on Designing-Minds blog along with a bunch of other really cute Russian Dolls. 

•And contacted by another blogger requesting an interview for her blog (which I will post the link to once it is available).

This is one of the ACEO's (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) of "Russian Doll and Snowman in Love" available in my shop.

Russian Doll and Snowman in Love

Nadine commented on my first entry to this blog that she is "partial to snow".  So this new illustration is dedicated to her. Thank you for the inspiration Nadine! 

This sweet scene depicts a Russian Doll and a Snowman falling in love. Are they in a snow globe or are they out in the snow and we are viewing them through a bubble? You decide. This print is available now in my shop as an 8.5"x11" print and in two versions as ACEOs.

Little Red Riding Hood - Springtime

Little Red is such a clever little girl.  .  .  skipping along, hiding colored eggs as she goes. Once again she arrives safely at Grandma's house triumphant (the wolf occupied with finding and eating the eggs). Stay tuned to see how she outwits the wolf next. This and the rest in the Little Red Riding Hood series can be found in my shop.

Happy Spring!

Welcome to my blog! I will be posting my artwork here with links to my shop.

Ahhh Springtime! Makes me feel just like this cheery little Blue Bird, happily singing a merry tune. She is 1 in 4 of a series of tongue in cheek Trompe L'oeil birds. You can find the others—Owl, Penguin, and Hen in my shop. This one is my favorite although Owl seems to get most of the attention in the shop. Which is your favorite?