Summer Rain

I was picked for a lovely little collection of artwork in a summer rain themed treasury on Etsy.  I'd love for you to check in out and leave a comment.  (See if we can make a shot as getting this on on the Front Page of Etsy).

Click Here To View

Have a Beautiful and Creative Day!

 



 

A Little Bit of Magic and Perhaps Some Inspiration

 I've been thinking a lot about bubbles today, and I cant really explain why...  They just keep coming up in my mind... Blowing bubbles, bubble baths, the rainbow of color on the surface, the quiet space captive within, the dance of a floating bubble in the breeze, the glee of catching one on your tongue, the way you cant feel sad or melancholic when you are blowing through the little wand and creating them.  They are magical.

 

 No matter how old or young you are, everyone gets distracted by their presence and something childish, perhaps even long forgotten, breathes in and fills with a bit of joy.  Or a HUGE amount of glee in my son's case.

 

 He adores bubbles, its one of the 5 words he loves to repeat constantly.  Tonight when I gave him his bath, he went straight to the linen closet and pulled out the large bottle of bubble bath soap that he knows I stow away there.  "Bubs!" he cries, eyes alight with joy and anticipation and hands me the bottle.

As I pour the oddly purple liquid in and the foamy white surface begins to build, my little boy jumps and flaps his arms and squeals.  "Bub, Bub, Bub, Bub!" he chants while laughing.  I have to admit I feel a quiet calm, a peaceful happiness swallow me up, enjoying every second of our tub time.  We cover each others faces with bubble beards and mustaches and blow puffs of them off our hands and into the air.  I will never forget witnessing the magic of a bubble for him.

So if you find you self in need of a bit of cheering up and peacefulness in your day today, I highly recommend a bubble making session of some sort.   To further inspire you, I put together a fun collection of handmade and vintage arts from some fellow etsy artisans who used the design element of the bubble as their inspiration.

To view this treasury Click Here

(All bubble photos found at weheartit.com)

 

Dont get tired of them yet...one more to peek at

Heres one more treasury for you to enjoy this week!  Oh my gosh, its becoming a theme on my blog these last few days.  This time my just listed little brave bird was picked for an etsy treasury all about disguises.  Super adorable.  I would love for you to take a look see.   Leave a comment on it if you like it. it. :)

See the Full Treasury Here

Other fun news happening today:  I took on my first commissioned piece of art.  I am excited and nervous about it.  I've done custom work for people before, but mostly with Art Journals and this seems so much more personal (and a larger $ investment by my customer).  So I have the layout and design all worked up and ready to start on.  I decided I want to leave the real creative work of this until I have a big chunk of time available to get swallowed into the process of it.  So I scheduled a Me-Painting Day with the husband on Thursday this week, so I can be toddler-free and uninterrupted while I work on this project.  I'll take some pics along the way and let you peek in on my progress.  

Any commissioned work tales out there you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear any advice or tips you have on doing this kind of work.  (expectations you lay out first guidelines you follow to keep the buyer happy but not alter your creative voice)? Please share your wisdom :)


 



 

Because I love it so much when it happens to me...

I cant resist giving others a bit of spotlight too...

I fell in love with the clothesline necklace and was inspired to create a menagerie of fun and beautiful items to go with it.  So many great finds.  I hope it makes it to the front page for them. :)

You can see the entire collection here.

 

Black and White and Read All Over?

One of my secret selfish goals with my art is to get one of my items put on the front page of Etsy. This is a big deal, the front page is the first thing people see when you visit the Etsy site, and it is always featuring such beautiful work in the most inspirational, whimsical, and lovely collections. It would be a great way to get more traffic over to my little shop of art. But most of all... It would be such a personal triumph to have my artwork picked for one of those 12 coveted little boxes.

If you arent an Etsy aficionado, to fill you in, the Front Page collection is chosen from treasuries that people put together. Treasuries are a grouping of items that people make from the millions of listings on Etsy. They often have themes and are so much fun to make and be picked for. So anytime one of my listings gets chosen for someone's treasury, it is both an honor and a blessing. (and gets me one more chance to be picked for the "Illustrious Etsy Front Page.") ;)

Well I am honored and blessed today by Graysparrow, who chose one of my sweet little newspaper print birds for her treasury. This collection features some incredible artists using Newspaper as inspiration. I love it!! Thank You Graysparrow!! 

Check out the treasury HERE.

 

Words To Start Your Day By

I wanted to share with you a little collection that I put together of artists that inspire me and items I found that offer words of wisdom and moments of truth for each of us.  Take a peek and let us know what you think :)

To view the full Etsy Treasury Click Here.

 

The birds and the bees..

I just found out that two different etsy users have each chosen one of my items for a treasury that they put together.  For those of you who have never heard of such a thing, a treasury is a list of items that people put together of their favorite finds while searching through all the millions of etsy listings.  What this means is more people can more easily see my listing that was chosen and then could link to my etsy shop that way.  I know that it is kind of silly, but it was really exciting for me.  It feels special to be picked, especially twice in one week!  It also feels amazing to know that people are starting to respond to my artwork.  Like maybe I am not so crazy to try to make this artsy/crafty stuff that I love to do so much into a lifestyle/ and maybe eventually a self supporting business.  Here are links to the treasuries that I am in!

Check them out :) They are both super fun and they just compound my recently realized enjoyment of both bees and birds in artwork.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bfc5c2bdd298eef873d54c5/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bf1ac764d168eef03b80eea/bee