They're Back!

..and by them, I mean my large prints!


They have been gone for awhile - mostly due to the fact that my snazzy printer that I bought couldn't do large prints, and I thought that I'd be able to find a printer no problem - well, that turned out worse than I thought. I ended up printing a large batch when I went for a short trip up to Sudbury.

So, for a limited time, I have five great large prints in my shop: Poppies, Circle of Friends (my personal favourite from the bunch), Crimson Flourish, Cherry Blossoms and Apple Tree! Since the printer is no longer local, these are only available until they're gone! Happy Shopping!

What I have been up to

Here's just a glimpse at what I've been up to lately in the studio and in life :)

1. I have designed and printed a whole load of different stationery sets - both cards and letter-writing sets. I'm pretty excited about them, and they will be added throughout the week. Some have already been added, see my store!
2. I'm working on two commissions - a large apple tree painting and a large family forest painting.
3. I have started a painting of a rock cliff in acrylic. I'm not sure which direction I'm taking with it, but it's sort of just figuring itself out
4. I've been working on trying to create an ornament of a sort for the upcoming holidays - so far the experiments haven't been going overly well, but I have lots of time to figure something out :)
5. I've started dabbling in my oil paints again. I'm really enjoying them, and I think that I might start doing more oil paintings alongside my watercolors. This is a painting that I've started:
6. I have designed and printed new business cards. I really like the fresh feel of them!

Needless to say, I've been keeping myself a little busy ;)

█ ♥ █ Happy Birthday Canada! █ ♥ █

It's Canada's birthday, and I am a proud Canadian so this is a great day! To bad I work a hospital shift tonight :o( ...and! To celebrate, here are a few fellow artisans who are Canadians :) Happy Shopping!!

Branch Necklace by juliemacpheedesigns
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Abundance Pearl and Nest Pin - pompandplumage
Springwater, Ontario

Gypsy Quilt Ensemble - QuiltLover
Saskatchewan

Soar Cross Stitch - SewUlixis
Hamilton, Ontario

Over the Rainbow Bracelet - FireweedImpressions
Whitehorse, Yukon

Etsy Featurette: Steppie

In an effort to celebrate my love for my new haircut and the most wonderful bangs, I would like to feature Steppie's print, "Bangin' Brunette"

I immediately thought of this print when I started my search on Etsy for the perfect "Bangs Feature" hehe. It's just too cute for it's own good!

Have a good Wednesday everyone! I would like to say the week is half over (and almost give a hip horray)...but I'm working until Sunday. So for all you Monday to Friday-ers, be happy today. I will be happy on Thursday, and even happier on Sunday when this long stretch is over lol. :)

My New Do!

I've been wanting to chop my hair off for awhile, but could just not think of what I wanted. Now you see that my hair was quite long - pretty much mid back. And with the summer it was getting hot and horrible - I would just put it up in a clip / pony tail / bun just to get it out of the way.
My hair needed style. And this is what I did:


It is quite shorter now...and so much lighter!! I know it always takes a few days for 'drastic' hair cuts to sink in. But so far I am loving it! I guess I'll see how it goes when I style it myself, and that will determine whether it will be a love-hate relationship or not. :)

Moss I ACEO

Moss I ACEO - Watercolor on 140lb watercolor paper

The last time I was at my parents place, I took a lot of pictures of moss with the intent of painting them later. I just loved how it looked on the rock. Well this is the first of them!

It was based on this picture in particular. Now this isn't officially moss, it's more of a lichen - or that's what the internet has told me :)

Available on:

Venus Love

James has recently moved ( far far away...well, only an hour) for a Paramedic job. I knew I had to get him something for his new place, since it is his first step into the 'real world' - James and I have been students, so this is his first non-student housing, with a non-student job.

It was had to choose something, but finally I settled on a plant. Now...to get a plant that wasn't girly, that was easy. Meet his new Venus fly trap:

It is quite a small plant - only a couple inches high. But it is definitely a hungry plant :)

You might have noticed the design changing on my blog this week and probably into the next week. Blogger just rolled out this template design tool, and I've been dabbling in it. I really like the two side columns, but at the same time, it just doesn't look quite right. What do you think?

Constellations

I completed this painting a while back, but there were some finishing changes that I needed to do.

Constellations - Original Mixed Media painting

For instance, painting the sides a lovely black and applying a protective coating to it. But now it's ready to leave home and live in someone else wonderful home :)

I love the texture on this one. It took many layers of so many things to get it just how I wanted it. Available in my Etsy shop.

Landscape painting

I had to dabble into a painting right away after buying those books last week!

Landscape painting - Acrylic on Board

It's weird for me to paint like this, after painting with watercolor for so long. So I'm definitely feeling a learning curve. But I think it turned out good, and it can only go up from here! And of course, it's available for sale.

New painting books!

As many of you know, I am no where near formally trained. But that's okay :) I like to read, so I have tons of art books - both instruction and just compilations of beautiful works. The books are not only bery instructional, but they are wonderfully inspirational.

The first one I have acquired is, Painting peaceful country landscapes, by Annette Dozier. I got lucky, this book was on sale at my local art store for $7-ish.

The second is Clouds & Skies, by William F. Powell. I am still trying to perfect my clouds and incorporate them into my painting styles.

I can't wait to really get into these books :) I'm planning on visiting my parents in the country soon - maybe I'll bring some paints with me :o)