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! :)