Fun and Wacky New Year!

I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season and I want to wish all of you a very happy 2010! Thank you for making my first blogging year a fun one with all your kind comments and follows! I am so happy to have made so many friends around the world.

I'm thinking ahead to the new year and coming up with some new fun and wacky creations. Alyssa Tasker gave me the idea to do hairdo drawings (Beehive above in progress). Thanks Al! Al has such fun ideas.
Also, I finally finished this grumpy little bird illustration and listed it in my shop! :)

Owl Jack in the Box!

New in my shop Owl Jack in the Box DIY PDF toy craft! Making this Owl in the box was a request from my friend Michelle. Thank you Michelle!

Now Available! Babushka with a Pearl Earring!

New Drawing! Now available in my shop! :)

Alice in Wonderland Prints Now Available!

Now available in my shop Alice!

Also new to my shop Alice in Wonderland Prop illustration prints!

Russian Dolls Gift Guide

Russian dolls make a very fun gift theme! In my shop I have ACEOs and gift tags, small prints, letter size prints, pinback buttons, pocket mirror/pinback button gift sets, and DIY printable toy tent card dolls and coloring sheets. They are sure to bring a smile to the face of any little girl or girlfriend on your gift list!

Russian Doll and Snowman Gift Ideas

Looking for a gift theme? Mix and match these items from the "Russian Doll and Snowman" collection for sweet, fun, affordable gift giving! Happy Holidays!

5"x7" prints, letter size prints, accessories, cards, gift tags and ACEOS, a coloring/activity book

Coloring / Activity Book!

I'm so excited about these Russian Doll and Snowman coloring and activity books!!

They include:

4 coloring pages,

1 maze,

1 draw your own snow globe scene and

2 tent card dolls to make!

I print and assemble each book by hand (you can read more about how I make them in the description). They really are a labor of love because I enjoy working with these illustrations so much. I'm proud of how these turned out. I really think they're fun! I hope you like them too! :)

Free Shipping World Wide!

Free shipping world wide in my shop!! Happy Holidays everybody! :)

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. :>