More New Tea Towels!

Hi there. How are you?

I'm excited to share my new expanded tea towel line with you. I've added 2 new designs that I'm very proud of.

New screen printed tea towels are here! Click to purchase.

Filling out the dala horse line

As my long time patrons know, this is not my first foray into Dala horses. I did this initial illustration back in 2012 and it went over big in my very Swedish hometown. After making and selling at least 3 originals, I put this dala on cards, prints, pillows, and pins. Even after almost 5 years, my dala products are consistently top sellers.

For the past 5 years, my dala products have been top sellers.

This is that dala horse that sits our living room. Matt and I got it as a wedding present (I think?)

I've got a thing for hearts too

Hearts have shown up in my work for years. Back in 2011, I had my first solo gallery show at JR Kortman Galleryright around Valentines Day. I made a series of small collages with a heart motif to sprinkle in among my chair pieces. They were a big hit. See my name in there? I wasn't even married yet!

Mixed media heart art I made back in 2011. All have since been sold.

"Recycled" hearts

The hearts I used for my tea towel began their life life as a coloring page. I gave it away as a freebie to my mailing list last year.

I first used this pattern as a freebie for my mailing list. Want to join the fun? Click the photo and join. You'll get a whole bundle of coloring pages!

My new hand printed "hearted" tea towel is now for sale. Click through to purchase.

Now, it's a darn cute tea towel that I'm proud to add to my existing line. I've now got 6 different tea towel designs all in stock. You really should buy one of each, don't you think? :-)

Click here to see all of my tea towel designs.

My newest hand printed tea towel designs feature a dala horse and hearts. Click through to purchase!

Well, that's all for this week.

I'll be back next week with a sale. Ciao.

P.S. If you enjoy the work that I make, please share this post with your pals. Thanks!

Better Together

Hi there. How are you?

I've always had a lot of luck selling Valentines. Probably the best selling item I've ever had on Etsy was this Beatles inspired design that I made way back in 2008.

My now retired valentine card featuring a line from a classic Beatles tune.

Put a Bird on it

I've happened upon another winning valentine design this year. This time, it features birds.

My newest valentine features two adorable fairy wrens. Click to purchase!

Second time's the charm

I illustrated these adorable fairy wrens in 2014. It's certainly one of my favorite bird pieces. They're damn cute. Don't you agree?

These two lover birds have always seemed destined for a valentine, but it took a while to get it right. Two years ago, I made another iteration of this card. You can read more about that HERE.

Right before the SIU craft sale this year, I decided to rework this card. It hadn't sold in its previous form and I wasn't satisfied with it as is.  I changed the text to "Better Together", added the border and it sold like hotcakes! It was the best selling item of the weekend.

Though initially intended as a valentine, I could also see using this as an anniversary card. Really, you could even give it to your bestie!

The backside of all my cards feature my sweet little cardinal.

Getting Krafty

As seen here, all of my cards now come with kraft paper envelopes. I really like the way they set off the white cards. I don't know why I waited so long to do this. I love the look!

Shop Small

This cutie and a couple of other valentines are now available in my shop.

Shop small and shop often my friends.

Until next week. Ciao.

I Finally Went Big

Hi there. How are you?

Friends, I finally did it. I went big! It only took 3 months for me to sit down and actually finish this large (for me) 12" x 18" drawing.

I'm pretty darn happy with the results.

I finally finished this large 12" x 18" drawing that I started in September 2016!

It all started in September.

After making several small drawings in this same style, I felt the urge to work on a larger scale. You can see and read more about those earlier pieces HERE.

In September 2016, I found a pad of 12" x 18" paper in my husband's art supply stash and went to work with a red Bic pen. I thought it would be fun to share the process shots that I took along the way. 

Here are the first marks I made.

The first marks of my 12" x 18" abstract ink drawing. I started with the red.

The early stages of my abstract ballpoint pen drawing.

Then I added blue.

After a while, I started layering in the royal blue. Adding a second, darker value adds more depth and dimension to the composition. I had considered using black instead of the blue, but the art teacher in me thought better of that. Color in your darks is always a better option. This color combo might be a bit patriotic and maybe cliche. I don't care, I love it!

A work in progress shot of my large abstract ballpoint drawing. See how much more dimension the areas with the blue have than those with just red.

A detail section of my still untitled ballpoint pen drawing.

The last leg

Last Friday, I spent much of the day in the studio. I was determined to finish up this drawing. After a day's work, I took photo of the piece. For some reason when I look at my work on the computer screen, I can better take in the composition as a whole.

After months in the works, this drawing was nearly complete.

Finally finished!

After a few more tweaks, my drawing was finally complete. Yahoo! My next hurdle is to properly photograph it so that I can make prints and/or textiles out of this composition. (Can't you just see this on a pillow?)

The best way I've found to archive my work is to scan it. As this drawing is way to big to fit on my scanner bed, this isn't an option. Hopefully I'll have some time later this week to set up the tripod and my trusty Nikon DSLR and make it happen.

Eventually, I'll frame this piece too. My handy husband is going to help me make custom frames for this new series. No more cradled hardboard mounting and varnishing.....These pieces need to behind some glass! (Well, actually plexiglass.)

Here's what it might look like framed:

Completed and still untitled ballpoint pen drawing in framed mockup.

I'm still not sure what color/finish the frame will be. I just know it will be minimal and will hopefully complement and elevate the work.

Want to buy this piece unframed? Just get in touch!

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this. I'll be back next week with another post.

Anything you'd like to know about?

Do tell.  I don't have a topic in mind for next week yet.

Ciao!