meandering mari

New Paintings!

2015-08-20T05:19:00.000-05:00

I was in the creative zone the other morning! I only broke from my reverie when it was time for lunch and my husband forced me to stop for nourishment. I made five -- FIVE! -- paintings in total and I love -- like love LOVE! -- all of them.

Last Hurrah

Yeah, you know all that talk about being inspired by the colors of nature in my last post? Maybe you think I've gone bonkers because this definitely doesn't look like the typical hues of the approaching autumn season.

But...let me show you the immediate predecessors of this batch of paintings:

That's 6AM on the left and 6PM on the right,

inspired by dawn and dusk respectively.

From those more muted tones of pink and blue, I made my way to these brighter and more vibrant hues. Notice the basic combination of pink and blue remains.

Here's the rest in the series!

My Love...

...Delirium...

...and Smile and Nod. :)

I hope you love them as much as I do!

August Freebie

2015-08-18T05:19:00.000-05:00

I find it interesting how my palette naturally starts darkening when the seasons begin to change. It shows just how much I'm influenced by the colors of nature. All the pinks I'm so fond of darken into more subtle rose tones and I begin to incorporate much warmer hues.

You can see evidence of the changing seasons in this month's free print, Autumn Rise.

Warm hues reminiscent of falling leaves and crackling fires are tempered with cooler shades of taupe and purple. The piece is very reflective of the color studies I'm so into at the moment!

Get your free print here.

Hey, woah.

2015-07-08T05:19:00.000-05:00

Where have I been??!

You know when you start a business and you have all these grand plans? Maybe this rhetorical "you" is anal-retentive like me and draws up this huuuuuge list of everything she wants to accomplish. And she finds so much satisfaction is checking items off, one by one, as they're completed.

You are a rockstar.

You are living your dream.

You are doing what you set out to do.

People are into your art.

Businesses are calling with commissions.

Other artists are contacting you for collaborations.

But, then the day comes when you wake up, panicked, in the middle of the night and realize:

you took on way. too. much.

That's basically what happened to me.

Good news:

I dug myself out of the hole. I completed most of the projects I committed to. Others, I had to set on the back burner -- because there was just no way I would be able to give 110% when I was stretched so thin.

Bad news:

I'm kind of in that hole again.

But! I've learned an important thing about myself. I really need to learn how to say "not right now" or "this isn't a good fit" or sometimes, simply ..."no."

So, I need to work on that.

I am excited about everything I'm involved in now.

It's just a matter of executing. On time.

Oh, and hey, one of the projects that has kept me so busy is my Brand Spankin' New Smile Deliveries! It's a weekly letter that is meant to spread kindness and make you feel good. Each issue is filled with the perfect dose of smiles, silliness, inspiration, and playful positivity to get you through the week. If that sounds like something you might be into, sign up here.

And the blogging? I'm not going to commit to posting regularly...but I am kind of trying to commit to posting regularly. With less than, more than, or even possibly an equal amount of rambling as this post.

Talk soon!

The Postcard Project: Anemones + Ranunculus

2015-04-09T05:19:00.000-05:00

This week's postcard was inspired by some egg-doodling I did for Easter:

I meant to keep it simple.

I tried so hard to keep it simple.

I love the busy end result though.

If only I'd painted wooden eggs instead of real ones.

Next year.

I decided to translate the pattern to paper for this week's postcard:

Kind of a tropical vibe.

I like it!

I didn't stop there.

Here's a preview of some hand-painted Moleskine journals coming to the shop soon...

...unless I decide to keep them for myself.

Entirely possible.

You can find this week's postcard, Anemones and Ranunculus, here...

and read all about my Postcard Project here.

The Postcard Project: Stargazer Lilies

2015-04-07T05:19:00.000-05:00

Oops! I got a little behind on my weekly Postcard Project. I don't even remember what was taking up so much of my time. When I finally got back on track after a two-week hiatus, I had fresh lilies in the house.

After playing around with them a bit...

...I got down to business.

I took a few liberties with the color. Artistic license! :)

Study of Stargazer Lilies is available for purchase here.

...and you can read more about this years Postcard Project here!

Review of Society6 Products: Tote Bag

2015-03-29T05:19:00.000-05:00

Hi, everyone! I'm back with another review of Society6 merchandise.

Don't you dare call my super-cool eyeball tote bag creepy.

Don't. You. Dare.

Seriously.

How likely do you think someone is to pickpocket this bad boy?

It's watching you.

Your possessions are completely safe!

100% guaranteed!

(Safety of your possessions is NOT AT ALL guaranteed.)

Okay, so...try to look past the eyes (Is that a pun? Kind of...?) so we can examine the quality of the actual bag. Because you can purchase any of these other beautiful totes from my shop on Society 6:

* exaggerated Vanna White hand gesture *

Okay, okay...I'm stepping out of car salesman mode.

This post is for artists that have thought about making their works available on Society6, but have questions about quality. Society6 ships straight to the customer so you don't really get a chance to inspect anything before you attach your good name to it.

After listing a few of my pieces, I decided to order a few items...juuust to make sure I wasn't offering my customers crap products. I thought other artists might be interested to see real life photos of the merchandise as well. My first review was about Society6's art prints.

And now I'm on to tote bags.

Tote bags are offered in three sizes: 13", 16", and 18" square. I ordered the largest size because I'm a packrat. Or am I thinking of pack mules...? Regardless...I like to carry lots of stuff. The 18" tote retails for $24.

As I mentioned in my last post, Society6 ships everything separately. The tote bag was the last to arrive -- it took about a week and a half to get to my door. It arrived folded in half in a waterproof poly mailer. I don't have much to say about the packaging. There would have to be some pretty extreme circumstances for the tote to arrive damaged to a customer. Like maybe a wild animal got freaked out by the all the eyes staring back at him and ripped the bag to shreds.

The description of Society6's tote bags: "Our quality crafted Tote Bags are hand sewn in America using durable, yet lightweight poly poplin fabric. All seams and stress points are double stitched for durability. They are washable, feature original artwork on both sides and a sturdy 1" wide cotton webbing strap for comfortably carrying over your shoulder."

I do like that these bags are made in America. I feel like that's a big selling point for a lot of US-based customers.

Here's a detailed look at the fabric:

It's definitely textured, a little bit rough...like canvas. It feels exactly like canvas.

In fact, it feels like water would just bead up and roll off, but I didn't confirm.

I was confused by "poly poplin fabric" because I thought poplin implied cotton, but a quick visit to Wikipedia told me otherwise. Poplin can be any fiber. Interesting.

Quick glance at the hangtag. If your eyesight isn't 20/2 (eagle eye vision!), it just confirms the front, back, and lining are 100% Polyester.

The tag was easy enough to rip out without causing damage, by the way.

Here's a detail shot of the top edge of the bag.

...and from the inside, where the handles are attached:

I don't really know what to look for here.

The stitches seem even.

And...orderly?

I've already used my bag quite a bit and can vouch for the fact that the straps are comfortable.

However, there are two things I don't like about the straps: they're not adjustable and they're only offered in black.

...Actually, the adjustability factor I can get over. I'm 5'3" and I can comfortably carry this bag. I don't think I look ridiculous (Disclaimer: I have been known to unwittingly look ridiculous on many, many occasions.). On my frame, I think it looks like a stylishly oversized bag. I think it would probably work for nearly any body shape/height. Of course, there are also two smaller sized totes for customers to choose from.

Shoot, I forgot the measure the drop. Remind me to do that if this sentence is still here when the post is published. ;) It's a comfortable allowance.

As for the color...I wish Society6 would at least offer black OR white straps. I have plenty of art pieces that don't have black in them at all -- and once printed onto the tote, the black strap looks a little jarring. At least in the product photos on Society6's website. Maybe it's not an issue in person.

Back to details I like:

I like that my art is printed on both sides of the bag.

And I like that there's no seam on the bottom:

...and I really like that the sides at the bottom are gussetted!

I think.

Is that the right term?

I was surprised to see this as there was no mention of it on Society6's website. I was expecting...a pillowcase with handles, basically.

Just realized I forgot to measure the gusset too. Arg! Remind me, remind me.

Moving on to the inside...I'm sorry to say there are no inside pockets. Not even a tiny zippered one near the top. In fact, the inside...

Literally.

It's not a huge deal because I'm not using this bag as a purse...but it would be nice to have some kind of pocket. For my doodads.

I wish that the bag had a closure of some kind. A zipper would be ideal, but I'd even settle for a magnetic snap. That's probably something more experienced sewers (as in those who sew, not waste drainage systems) would find easy to add themselves. But, we're talking customers -- and customers shouldn't have to add anything on.

Lastly, I just want to mention that I haven't laundered my tote yet so I can't attest to washability. To be honest, I probably won't clean it until one of my children leaves an open container of something sticky and gross in it. I'll get back to you on whether it's stain-resistant.

So far, I've stuffed the bag with groceries, yarn, and art supplies and I've found it very comfortable to tote around town. THREE people asked me where I got it (!) so it's definitely a good way to advertise your art. Unfortunately, I'm sure most customers respond to that question by saying they got it on Society6 -- and not that the art is by you, specifically. But, hey, if your art is as distinctive as a bunch of eyeballs, you won't be hard to find, now will you? <3

You can find my shop on Society6 here.

If I missed anything or you have more questions, leave them in the comments!

Inspired by Roses: Sponsored by The Bouqs

2015-03-27T05:19:00.000-05:00

You know by now that I looove messing about with flowers, right?

My hashtag project #emojisinbloom is plenty of evidence of that.

So, when The Bouqs generously offered to send me some blooms to play with, I eagerly accepted!

Read on to see what happened next...

After that fairly innocuous first photo, things immediately started getting weird.

Well, I say FUN...but others might say weird.

After transferring the beautiful blooms to many different vases (The Bouqs sent so many flowers, I wasn't able to fit them in one vase!), I was cleaning up a few fallen petals. I noticed the three-dimensional shapes kind-of-sort-of looked like...bear heads. I got out my craft paint and did a little experimenting.

See what I mean?

Isn't it cool how the panda face is coming out towards you??

I know you thought I was crazy when I said "bear heads."

I'm okay with that.

Back to cleaning up the petals:

I also spied...what looked like a cape.

Aaand I had some peanuts.

So, I made Super Peanut!

Who wouldn't??

Side note: Super Peanut led to a whole slew of cape-less Avenger Peanuts.

No matter how hard I tried to perfect his distinguishing features,

Iron Man Peanut just looks like Mr. T to me.

I'm not sure what will become of Avenger Peanuts.

They may turn into a print.

They may just live on in my Instagram feed.

I, of course, enjoying looking at my roses...but I couldn't resist playing with them also. I plucked a few petals off a white rose to see if I could dye them with watercolor.

Nope.

The water beaded up and rolled right off of them -- which I should have foreseen.

Hey, that quality is perfect for paint-mixing cups!

The pink roses were feeling a bit neglected...they were a perfect powdery pink. I started layering them, eventually arranging them into a dress shape.

The rest of the little girl followed naturally. I used some other bits of fresh flowers we had in the house, including hyacinth leaves for her belt and legs and dried hydrangea as her parasol.

I liked her so much, I turned her into a print.

You can find her here!

After her photoshoot, I stole her hair and spent a bit of time painting a single rose petal.

I love doing that sometimes, concentrating on just a single element like a petal. Really studying every nook and cranny, every slight color variation, trying to capture the texture...needless to say, time flew and when I looked up at the clock, I had spent the baby's entire naptime painting one petal. #noregrets

I got in a bit of a ballerina mood after that.

I actually do these quite a bit, whenever I'm inspired by whatever fresh flowers we have in the house. I originally wanted to make rose petal tutus, but I just couldn't get them to lay right. I ended up with a rose leaf tutu on one and a rose petal leotard on the other.

I got a lot of requests for prints with my previous ballerinas, so I finally made some with these gals. Wahoo! You can find them here and here, if you are so inclined. :)

By now, my roses were starting to fade.

But! That doesn't mean my playtime comes to an end.

If anything, playtime has just begun.

Tic-tac-toe, anyone?

Are you noticing a pattern yet?

Yep, I turned this into a print as well.

You can find Tic Tac Bloom here.

Back to my bouquet: I'm fascinated by dying flowers. I love how the colors deepen, the petal edges start to curl up...and they take on an entirely new texture.

Roses, especially, are even more beautiful and interesting to look at when they're dying.

So, that's that.

As you can see, a few flowers provides me with ENDLESS hours of enjoyment.

...and I've already ordered my next bunch!

I went with ranunculus this time.

Stay tuned...

;)

March's Freebie is Here Will be Gone Soon!

2015-03-25T05:19:00.000-05:00

Just so you know, I meant to post an announcement about March's free download waaaay back at the beginning of the month. I forgot and now here it is, seven days until April. So, instead of a notice, let's call this a reminder:

Don't forget to snag this month's FREE print before it disappears!

G E T Y O U R S H E R E.

I printed mine on both white and pink paper.

I don't know when I became such a sucker for pink.

I'm not especially girly or anything.

...or maybe I am.

*blushy face*

I promise I'll do better at timely announcements next month. <3

Review of Society6 Products: Art Print

2015-03-21T05:19:00.000-05:00

Maybe you're an artist like me and have thought about making your works available on Society6. The allure of so easily seeing your art on a variety of merchandise is very tempting!

But, maybe, also like me, you're hesitant to offer goods to your customers without being able to inspect quality first.

That's where I come in! After listing some works on Society6, I ordered a few of my items to make sure I could vouch for what I'm advertising. I started with what I believed would be the most common products a customer would purchase: an art print, a throw pillow, a tote bag, greeting cards, and...I can't remember what else. We'll see what shows up in the mail, I guess!

I got the art print first, so I'll start with that.

I ordered a mini print of my Three Cacti piece.

Mini art prints measure 8x8".

First things first: Society6 ships everything separately. I kind of wish they'd wait until the order was fulfilled, then send it as one package, but that's a small gripe. I'm now wondering if I missed that option during checkout.

As expected, the shipping material was good quality. My print was sandwiched between two thin sheets of chipboard in a poly bag, which was then packaged in a thick rigid mailer. I'm sure if a print arrived to your customer damaged, Society6 would send a new one out to them. I didn't verify that though.

The description of Society6's art prints: "Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin fee archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks. Custom trimmed with 1" border for framing."

I'm really pleased with the quality for the price -- the mini art print retails for around $18. The colors are true to life and saturated. The paper is nice and thick, luxurious feeling, even. Very smooth.

I actually have a similar print in my shop, so I wanted to compare the two. You can see the colors are spot on -- actually, even a bit more saturated in the Society6 print.

Here's a closer look:

Pretty good, right?

I have to say I'm more than satisfied with the quality of my Society6 print and confident my customers will be happy with it as well. At least for my Three Cacti piece.

One last note: Society6 seems to run promotions quite often -- percentages off and/or free shipping. So if you're going to order one of your own prints to spot-check quality, definitely try to wait until there's a discount of some kind.

You can check out my offerings on Society6 here!

See me on Her Lovely Heart!

2015-03-16T05:19:00.000-05:00

Hi, friends!

I recently had the honor of being interviewed by the lovely Marianne Taylor at Her Lovely Heart. Marianne is an award-winning wedding photographer and Managing Director of the Beloved Collective -- I was beyond flattered that she wanted to know more about me.

You can check out the interview here!

While you're there, you can also download the free wallpapers I've designed for their Quote of the Week series.

This one is from before I started selling my art.

Inspired by: Heather Page of Academy Florist

2015-03-14T05:19:00.001-05:00

I love perusing Instagram for painting inspiration. I follow several florists, @heather_page being one of my favorites. Look at all those delicious flowers!

I thought this arrangement, in particular, was absolutely breathtaking.

After sketching the blooms out on cold-press paper, I started filling it in with color.

Meager beginnings! Sometimes I'm a bit nervous about where a piece is going, but that's when I have to remind myself to have faith in my abilities.

And more color...

Aah, it's starting to come along now.

The finished piece took me two or three hours over the span of a day.

I dub thee Heather's Arrangement.

I decided to list it in my new shop on Society6 instead of on my website because I like the idea of Heather's Arrangement being not only a print...

...but also phone cases, throw pillows, mugs, tote bags, and more!

By the way, I ordered a few things from Society6, just to check the quality -- I'll be posting reviews of various Society6 products soon.

Lastly, here's my leftover paint from Heather's Arrangement, posted on Instagram for my #dailypalettes project. I love hearing what people see in my colorful blobs.

What can YOU spy?

Find me on Society6!

2015-03-05T05:19:00.000-06:00

Hi, friends! I have a few new pieces of art available now on Society6!

In addition to prints, you can order products featuring my art as well!

Pillows...

Mugs...

Tote bags...

Phone cases...

Even...clocks?

Super cute, just seems a bit random to me.

My plan is to finish adding my patterns to Society6 so pillows and tote bags can be easily ordered by you guys directly -- instead of me buying custom fabric and having products made. Which is still an option for the future since my dream pillows have tons o' tassels and fringe. :)

I've been adding a few new pieces of art each day so make sure to check back often!

The Postcard Project: Study of Peaches

2015-03-02T05:19:00.000-06:00

This week's addition to the postcard project is a pretty pile of plump peaches.

Click here to purchase Study of Peaches.

It's a bit of a departure from my usual flowers and abstracts, but not completely unprecedented. I recently joined Spoonflower to turn some of my repeating patterns into fabrics, gift wrap, and the like -- one of my favorite additions is the Sweet Peach Polka Dot collection.

Once I receive and approve the samples, this dainty pattern will be available for purchase as a fabric!

In the meantime, you can get your peach fix from Study of Peaches. :)

And you can read more about my Postcard Project here.

Logo Design: Tulip + Rose Photography

2015-02-19T05:19:00.000-06:00

I was thrilled when Tulip + Rose Photography came to me for help in their rebranding and new logo design. Nicole and Charity are so very talented and I knew our styles would mesh well.

Their only initial request was that their new logo feature my calligraphy.

I immediately got to sketching!

In just a few short weeks, we got from rough draft sketches to completed final logo:

And I even carved a stamp for them...because I've been on a stamp-carving kick lately. :)

I love that Tulip and Rose's new logo reflects the whimsical touch you can expect from Nicole and Charity.

P.S. If you need beautiful photos, I would definitely recommend Tulip and Rose Photography! They're based in Chicago, but will travel wherever you need them. You can contact Nicole and Charity here.

Some of their photos leave me just breathless!

...and if you're thinking about redesigning your business logo,
I'd love to work with you!
You can contact me here.

The Postcard Project: A Soothing Bunch

2015-02-16T05:19:00.000-06:00

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day weekend, even if all you did was lay around in sweats with your kids, like I did. :)

However, I managed to get up and paint a little postcard for you. This week, I was inspired by a lovely bunch of blooms I found at Trader Joe's.

I flip and I flop on which I like best: bouquets that are all one type of bloom, which are visually pleasing to look at, or assortments of flowers that offer a variety of color and texture (they're so much fun to play with!).

So, this is the week's contribution to the Postcard Project:

It differs a bit from my usual style in that I sketched it out first as opposed to diving straight in with paint.

I like how the presence of the pencil lines adds to the journaling-feel of the final postcard -- like I was out wandering among fields of flowers, sketched this out, then stuck it in the pages of my field journal to be painted later.

What do you like better: with or without the pencil lines?

You can purchase A Soothing Bunch (for just $15!) here.

...and you can read more about my Postcard Project here.

Making Custom Envelopes

2015-02-15T05:19:00.000-06:00

This is a story of turning lemons into lemonade.

Lately, I've been really into making patterns. Like, really into it. My usual style of painting things rather than scenes easily lends itself to pattern-making.

For example, I was able to quickly whip up this pink prettiness, featuring a flamingo I painted months and months ago:

...and I thought to myself how pretty it would look as gift-wrapping paper. It's fun, it's a little kooky, a little different. It would work for nearly any occasion.

But, when I received the samples from the printer, the colors weren't nearly as vibrant.

womp, womp.

Since I couldn't sell the papers I had, I decided to cut them up and make envelopes instead.

If you want to try making your own envelopes, you can use thin card stock, magazine pages, store bought gift-wrapping paper...the options are really almost endless. Depending on how thick your paper is, you may need to use a bone folder (or butter knife) to get sharp creases.

I could have used an envelope template, but the few I own didn't have options for a 5" square version. I was stuck on making square envelopes because that's what I use to hold my thank you note, business card (!), and receipt for orders that I send out.

Since I didn't have a template, I deconstructed a square envelope I already had:

Voila!

I traced the shape onto the back of my womp-womp gift-wrapping paper.

If you plan to make a lot of envelopes, it's probably best to trace your pattern onto a piece of thin cardboard (think: cereal boxes) and use that as your template.

I cut out the envelope pattern:

...then started folding.

Side flaps first.

It was at this point that I imagined how much prettier my envelopes would be with a colorful liner. So, I raided my paper stash and found a few sheets of origami paper that matched the shades of pink in my flamingos.

I cut my liners from the same pattern that I used to make the envelopes -- but I only needed the middle and the top flap.

Unfortunately, I was only able to get one liner per sheet of origami paper.

I positioned the liner slightly below the envelope edge. I know it's kind of hard to see in the photo. Think about how a real envelope has that strip that you lick -- I glued my liner just below that strip.

Glue the back of the liner paper to the inside of the envelope.

...then I finished folding the envelope, liner and all. I used paper glue to adhere the bottom flap up against the two side flaps.

Finished!

Cell phone photo I posted on Instagram. :)

Not a revolutionary DIY, but I managed to recycle some crappy gift-wrapping paper into adorable envelopes that I'll actually use so...I'm happy.

Painted Business Cards

2015-02-13T05:19:00.000-06:00

If you're an artist or a maker -- or just a creative person in general! -- you know how important it is to put your personal touch on nearly everything. I thought I had done so with my previous business cards, but it turns out I quickly got tired of looking at the SAME. DESIGN. ON. EVERY. CARD.

So, I found a solution.

When I ordered new business cards, I decided to keep them nice and simple.

Almost too simple.

Dreamer, doodler, artist, that's me!

The back has a little more pizzaz:

These are some abstract paintings I've done, some of which are still available in my shop.

If you were so inclined.

I had my work printed on the back of most of them, but I left a few blank:

...so I could paint on them!

I couldn't forget to do at least one with flowers!

I tried painting the front, too.

I love how it turned out!

The paint didn't adhere to or obscure the writing at all.

I haven't experienced any bowing from the wet paper, but these cards are rather thick:

If you are printing your own cards, I would use good quality hot pressed watercolor paper -- I like Arches. Most of the paper on store shelves is cold pressed - it has a textured, slightly bumpy surface. Hot pressed paper is much smoother and would be better for printing on.

I'm having so much fun painting my new cards, I don't think I'll have any of them pre-printed with my art next time. I'd rather leave them all blank canvasses and personalize each one.

What do you think?

Good idea or just more work?

Is this something you might try?

P.S. It's too late for me to get Valentines to you by tomorrow, but none of my cards actually say "Happy Valentine's Day" -- you can save them for any old time you want to tell your loved one you adore them. Bonus: all Valentines are all 20% off with code BEMINE! Shop them here. :)

The Postcard Project: Tulips and Peonies

2015-02-09T05:19:00.000-06:00

After all the hectic scrambling last week, I decided to start on a larger piece for my own personal pleasure. Of course, I gravitated to flowers again. They're so relaxing for me to paint -- I get in the zone and before I know it, a peony has emerged.

Or maybe a rose? I got a few comments on Instagram that my roses are looking good. It's so hard for me to differentiate between the two. Peonies have that same overlapping structure of a rose, but in a messier arrangement. It's painting that randomness that I have problems with.

Anyways.

The point of all this rambling is that I was in another flower-painting mood for this week's postcards: Four Tulips and Peony Bouquet.

It's becoming glaringly obvious that I can't wait for spring to arrive! It will be fun to paint based off real flowers in my hand again. Although...I also enjoy creating from my imagination, like I'm forced to do in the winter. :)

You can shop both postcards here.

And you can read more about my Postcard Project here.

Valentines: A Roundabout Story

2015-02-07T05:19:00.000-06:00

When I started thinking about Valentines way back in December, ideas about using candy conversation hearts immediately came to mind. By the way, it is a BEAR trying to find conversation hearts for inspiration's purpose in December.

I debated whether to photograph them, paint them, or draw them. Turns out the original brand of hearts are very shoddily print.

These were the best of the bag. Eeps.

Also, I didn't realize the hearts are made with new sayings every year. I knew I definitely wanted to use some of the older ones like Fax Me and Page Me so the fact that those weren't printed anymore solidified the desire to paint the hearts vs photographing them.

Now that I knew what I was doing, I made a lot of doodles in my handy-dandy notebook.

...some of which eventually came to life:

My Call Me, Maybe Valentine celebrates the single life -- the inside reads:

heehee... :)

I also made a conversation heart valentine for soul mates:

The idea behind the Old School Love Valentine is that you feel so sad for poor Fax Me. He's old news, he got left behind. But, then! You open the card and discover he found true love with Page Me. (And presumably lives happily ever after.)

I love how both of them turned out!

I originally planned on three conversation heart valentines because...because, well, three is a nice number. But, I didn't like any of my other doodles as much as these two and I didn't want to put out a card that I didn't love so...two it is!

Here's where my theme veers off-course.

With February quickly approaching, I was suddenly in a flamingo frame of mind -- and I decided to make a flamingo valentine as well. Why not??

Inspired by this top-hatted fellow...

...I thought it would be cute if the valentine flamingos were dancing.

My mind is a scary-crazy-wonderful place.

I polled my friends for iconic music moments and the Addicted to Love video by Robert Palmer was suggested.

YES.

So was born the Addicted to You Valentine:

Aaand since I already threw a wrench in my candy-conversation-heart theme with the flamingos, I might as well change this year's theme to Smorgasbord -- I'm feeling it! -- and put out another valentine completely out of left field:

To be fair my Faded Beauty card isn't really a valentine -- it's blank inside so you can use it for any occasion you wish. Valentine's Day, engagement, wedding, Mother's Day, back-to-school, President's Day...it's your choice!

That sums up my ~~Candy Conversation Heart~~ Smorgasbord Valentines. I'm extra pleased -- dare I say, even chuffed -- with how they all turned out. Hope you love them too!

The Postcard Project: Roses

2015-02-03T05:19:00.000-06:00

This week has been crazy busy -- between commissions, logo designs, and custom state and country orders, I've been painting up a storm! All that said to justify the fact that I only painted one postcard this week. But, it's a lovely one!

This pretty bunch of roses was inspired by all the blooms I've been painting for a commission I was working on this past week.

...and after all that, the client ended up using an abstract piece I painted last month. Oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Looking at the bright side, I got a LOT of practice painting flowers. ;)

If you'd like to snag that the Roses 005 postcard, you can find it here.

And you can read more about my Postcard Project here.

February Freebie!

2015-02-01T05:19:00.000-06:00

This month's free printable art celebrates love -- for yourself!

You can find February's freebie here!

Enjoy!

The Postcard Project: Flamingos

2015-01-26T05:19:00.000-06:00

I got on a flamingo kick this past weekend -- and it was all brought on by our trip to an orchid grower!

These were some of my original pattern-making doodles, inspired by orchids:

After staring at the yellow blobs for a bit, they started to look like dancing flamingos.

So I painted them in pink and gave them beaks.

Love them!

They're this week's additions to the Postcard Project.

You can find them in the shop here!

Inspired by: Orchids

2015-01-24T05:19:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, my husband and I went on our first date of the year to a local orchid grower. Or maybe I dragged him there and called it a "date." ;) It's the dead of winter, it's the midwest...yet there was still an impressive display of blooms.

My head was swiveling in every direction.

Can you tell how giddy I am??

aaggghhh, look at all those lady slippers!

Here's a closer look:

Even closer, because I could stare at them all day:

Exquisite.

Not everyone was happy. This was the grumpiest flower I've ever seen -- look at that dour expression!

Hah!

These ones were like dangling fruit, waiting to be plucked off and enjoyed...

Don't worry, I resisted touching them.

Delicate beauty, a shock of color...layered on dirt and grime.

More delicacy! That graceful arch kills me.

And this guy...!

I am just now realizing he was for sale! Ack, why didn't I buy him?? I love that shocking yellow -- and he even has a tiny little heart for Valentine's Day.

I was crazy for the patterns:

The colors!

The patterns and the colors!

Inspired by all these beautiful blooms, I set pen...er, brush to paper.

I'm sure you can tell which flowers inspired my pattern-making.

After staring at those yellow blobs for a bit, they started resembling flamingos.

So, I did the next obvious step:

It's funny how inspiration leaps from one lilypad to the next so seamlessly.

Bet you would have never guessed I'd end an orchid post with flamingos, but there you go. A few of these will be available in the shop as this week's postcards. :)

The Postcard Project

2015-01-23T05:19:00.000-06:00

This year, I started The Postcard Project. Every week, I am committing to making two or three watercolor paintings on 4x6" postcards. This is my way of making original art accessible at every price range.

Maybe you can't afford to spend a few hundred dollars (at least!) on an oil painting for that corner of the room that always looks so sadly bare. Hey, neither can I!

Or maybe your nightstand has been begging for a little color. Something to inspire you when you wake -- or send you off into a sweet slumber, dreaming of flowery fields.

These postcards are the (affordable!) pieces for you.

Expect new additions to be posted in the shop every weekend!

Tiny Kind Notes #allingoodkind

2015-01-19T05:19:00.000-06:00

I'm all about spreading kindness. So when I had some extra black card stock, I got to thinking...how fun would it be to make tiny, cheerful notes and spread them around town?

I cut the card stock to business card dimensions (2 x 3.5") -- small enough so that I could carry them with me easily.

They're also easy to hide with such small dimensions.

I decorated my cards with metallic Sharpie markers, which stand out nicely on the black paper.

Once I started scribbling little kind notes, it was hard to stop!

Armed with my stockpile of kindness, I went about my daily errands. I left some notes on grocery store shelves, at Costco, on a gas station pump, at the home improvement store, between library books...it's such a thrill depositing my tiny cards without anyone seeing me!

...so much of a thrill that I usually don't stick around. I felt brave enough to snap a quick photo at the library before I rushed out of there:

Wouldn't that tiny card make your day if you came across it??

I'm trusting that my notes will reach the people that need them most.

And hey, if you want to join me, please do! They don't have to be black, they don't have to be fancy -- you can scribble on a Post-it for all I care. Just think of something kind to say and leave your note somewhere for a stranger to find. Tag #allingoodkind if you're brave enough to snap a photo before you leave the scene of the kind. ;)

Update: @livingsuburbia on Instagram is helping me spread my tiny Kind Notes -- and he managed to snap a sneaky pic of one he left at the bank! Perfect placement, Chris! :)