Entries Tagged as 'goodies'
Spring Sale and Lovely Linkage
April 23rd, 2009, Comments (10)
Special Discount! On May 1st I will be raising prices on my framed prints and original artwork in my online shop, Blue Tree Art Gallery. I let my newsletter subscribers know a few weeks ago and gave them a coupon for 20% off any purchase through May 1st. (You can sign up for my art newsletter here and be entered into a monthly drawing for a free print! Sign up form is in the lower left corner.)
Well, I really wanted to extend a special thank you to my readers here, so I'm going to share the coupon code here too. Feel free to use it for 20% off anything in my art store from now until May 1st. If you've been thinking about grabbing something, now's the time to do it before I bump the prices up!
Here's the code! springsale09
Feel free to share the coupon or pass on a link to this post!!
Framed prints (in a 16"x20" wooden frame) are currently $100 and with the coupon code they're only $80! Total steal. Above, you can check out a couple examples of what a couple freshly framed prints look like. (Prints pictured above: Bring Love and Lighthouse.) And below, here's one of my newer prints, Key to Winter, framed and hanging on my studio wall.
Lovely Linkage
O.k., I've also got this build up of fabulous stuff to share, so let's just get to it, shall we?
*Rebecca at Difference a Year Makes posted a video of artist, Jonas Gerard that is so fabulous I just had to share it with you. I've seen his videos before and loved the joy with which he works, but I think his style also is a fabulous illustration of the kind of intuitive painting I'm doing in the class I'm taking and it also reminds me of the methods I use in the Art Picnic class. It's all about permission, freedom, and connecting with your intuition. And I also loves how it ties in with the color theme this month, both in how rich and gorgeous his use of color is and also in how he talks about how he chooses his colors and how colors each have their own "vibe." So true! So, do check it out and enjoy the music that goes along with it. And if you're interested in seeing more of Gerard's videos head over here.
* Sometime around the New Year, I stumbled upon the blog of Havi Brooks and quickly became a huge fan of her work. Her writing is honest, deep, and yet accessible. I love how she teaches about both the hard (business biggifying) and the soft (working on your patterns.) She combines this kind of work in a way that really resonates for me. Check out her blog and then check out all the fabulous resouces she offers on her site.
In a couple weeks Havi is teaching a class on how to get fantabulous testimonials without feeling icky about it. I'm going to be taking it! Check out all the details and sign up here.
* This Rounded Corner tool is super handy for making your images all rounded and purty!
* I'm so loving Brene Brown's read through of her book I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't). She's been doing a weekly podcast around the topic of shame with loads of great links and projects. Very powerful stuff.
* Celebrating crafting failures, the blog CraftFail cracked me up and made me feel a whole lot better about my many crafting blunders.
* The super sweet, Kathryn Antyr (Collage Diva) has a fabulous new blog called True North, which explores finding your direction through art-making. Love it! She's created a really cool Personal Map Making contest with loads of cool prizes. Check out all the details here.
* Janice at Postcards from Wildwood has posted a fantastic Photoshop tutorial that fits so well with the color theme.
Oh, there are so many treasures to explore, but that's probably more than enough for one day! So, enjoy and have a beautifully creative day.
Art Picnic Class is this Saturday!
April 21st, 2009, Comments (0)
Are you looking to experience a gremlin-quieting, art-making, creative-block-busting good time?
Yes, you say? Well, then I'd like to invite you to join me on an Art Picnic adventure, this Saturday, April 25th from 1 - 3 pm E.S.T. for only $25! (Find out what time that is in your area here.)
On an Art Picnic you will:
* Get grounded and connect with your intuition.
* Let go and get playful with your art.
* Get creative support from me to help you unblock and create freely.
* Have a blast creating your own, unique Art Picnic experience!
* Leave with all the tools you need to continue creating your own Art Picnics.
* Take excellent care of yourself by scheduling in some all-important creativity time.
I started Art Picnics out of a need to get unstuck creatively in a fun, no-pressure way. I was frozen in the fear of not being good enough and all the inner critic voices were keeping me from enjoying my creativity.
With a few simple tools, which I'll share with you in this class, I learned how to move beyond my fears and create from a place of joy, freedom, and authenticity.
The class takes place on the phone, so you can attend from wherever you are! During the first half hour, we will meet, discuss the tools you need to get started, and do a grounding exercise. We will then get off the phone and have our individual art picnic experiences. I will be playing and creating too, but I will also stay on the bridge line, so if you get stuck, you can call in and I will help you through it. In the final half hour, we will meet to discuss what we created, share what came up for us, and learn some tools to keep our creative energy flowing.
You do not need to consider yourself an artist to join in, everyone is welcome. You don't need loads of art supplies either. I enjoyed my first art picnic with just a blanket to sit on, some paper, magazines, and a glue stick. Simply bring whatever art, craft, or journaling supplies you have available and be prepared to have fun!
*As a special bonus, if you sign up for your Saturday's Art Picnic, I will send you a free mp3 recording of a grounding exercise I use that will help you get connected with your intuition before you start creating!
I am so excited to share this process with you, so sign up here and join me on Saturday for some Art Picnic fun!! Sign up by clicking the Add to cart button below:
New Art And Resources
January 15th, 2009, Comments (4)
I have some new artwork available in my online store, Blue Tree Art Gallery. These pieces were created late in 2008 and it usually takes a little time to get them ready to sell because I like to offer prints as well. Well, they're ready to go and I'm super excited to offer these new pieces! I have the original and prints available for At Sea (above), Ophelia (below), Key to Winter and you can also buy my 2009 calendar on the website!
I'm also excited to share some awesome creative resources with you!
- I just listened in on this fabulous teleseminar with Lisa Sonora Beam, author of The Creative Entrepreneur. The call was recorded and you can listen to it here, right now! I purchased Lisa's book recently and it's really gorgeous. I seem to be reading so much lately about business aligned with your heart (which I love!) and this book fits right in with this idea.
- Another creative dynamo who writes about business with heart is, Tara Joyce, who blogs at the Innerpreneur. Lots of great things to check out there.
- My friend, Jennifer Lee is starting an amazing telegroup, the Inner Muse Group Coaching Playground, which is all about creativity, fulfillment, and focus. Sounds like it might be a great tool for some of you Creative Every Day Challenge participants who are feeling a bit stuck! Also, Jenn is offering a special rate through January 16th, so check it out now if you're interested!
I'm all abuzz with creative energy this week. Ideas are flowing and I'm working on a few different pieces. I'll be able to share those with you soon. In the meantime, I hope you are all having fun playing! I'll be announcing next month's theme around the 21st of the month.
Sniffles and Holiday Craftiness
December 4th, 2008, Comments (13)
I managed to get out to the grocery store which was not so fun, but I had a craving for butternut squash and I needed tissues, so I went out and it was quite nice out. I also got some beautiful new art postcards in the mail and I'll be sending one out to everyone who orders a calendar. They feature the Lady of the Lake painting and have lovely rounded corners which I'm just loving at the moment.
I'm wishing I felt better because I'm bursting with ideas, just low on energy. Re-thinking the Creative Every Day Challenge has me super excited and I know it will be a great year, full of creativity and great connections, inspiration and lots of fun. And PLAY! Yes, play. More on that later.
Perhaps this cold is my body's way of telling me to take a little rest after the rush of AEDM. It can be hard to relax this time of year. Despite the fact that I feel like the holidays are about family and not the gifts, it can be stressful thinking about how to handle gifts, especially in a large family. And all the travel and family time, while wonderful, can be draining for my introverted self. How do you make the holidays a fun and relaxing time? I totally love this fabric advent calendar that my bff created. She had family members create items to put in the little pockets by having them draw on shrinky dink plastic. What a cool idea!! I love to see crafts that families can work on together. Although this isn't a holiday piece, how amazing is this family-decorated IKEA chair from Our Artful Life?! Love it! And if you're looking for something eco-friendly, check out this diy re-cycled shopping bag turned into a bow on Creature Comforts! The Tar-jay bag makes for a great Christmas-y decoration too.
There are so many great holiday crafts out there. I'm particularly drawn to garlands made from paper or felt at the moment. How bout you?
New Toy
July 24th, 2008, Comments (10)
Even though I had to wait a ridiculously long time in line, it was so worth it to be able to pick up my b-day gift from the hubster. In fact, I'm posting on it right now! I'm impressed so far with the new iPhone.
I've been working diligently on the painting of Ophelia, which has been keeping me quite busy. I'll post new pics of it soon.
It's thunderstorm city here in Massachusetts. Hope you're staying dry!
One of a Kind
June 5th, 2008, Comments (10)
This afternoon, I dropped off a whole bunch of art at Oak, a new store in Boston. It's in such a great location, on Gloucester Street right off Newbury Street (prime time shopping area.) I got to meet Keara, the owner, at the shop and she was super sweet. I love the way she had her shop set up, it had a very cool vibe to it, lots of great stuff with out being stuffy, if you know what I mean. I knew the store was all about handmade crafts, but I didn't realize the name, Oak, came from their theme of "one of a kind" items. Too cool! At any rate, if you're in the area, I'd definitely recommend checking it out. It was a gloomy day today in Boston, but the weekend is supposed to be beautiful. I bet it'd be great for doing some shopping and people watching in the Back Bay neighborhood. If you can't get to the shop, Keara has some of the store's items for sale online too. Check it out here.
After the trip into town and watching my brother overnight last night, I'm zonked and have a headache. Business has been great this week and I'm thrilled about that. I'll be able to relax and have some extra spending cash for thrifting this weekend!
Lots of links to share, where to begin?
- My friend, Jennifer, has put together an e-book all about creating a right-brained business plan. This sounds incredibly appealing to me and I think it would synthesize well with I'd Rather Be in the Studio and The Boss of You, a book that I'm reading. Great work, Jen. It looks awesome!
- Another friend, Melba has been working away on her own self-published book, Creating in the Midst which you can pick up here. Melba is planning to lead a group through the 12 week process this summer. Congrats, Melba on all your hard work coming to fruition!
- And even more congrats are due! The sweet and talented, Jes has her beautiful jewelry and writing in a magazine and two books this year. I'm so excited for her! Yay, Jes!
- With all this business talk, it feels relevant to mention the slow economy and its effect on artists and craftspeople. I've felt some effect, but I'm not really a big enough business at this point to be taking a major hit. It doesn't have to be all negative though. A downturn in the economy can mean a time to explore other avenues or beef up your business in other ways. I enjoyed reading this article from craft:boom (cool site, by the way!) about running your craft business when times are lean. I think it applies to any small business. And after you read that, check out the rest of the site for interviews with inspiring business women like Amy Butler.
- Speaking of Amy Butler, Holly at Decor8 is hosting a mood board contest with the opportunity to win great Amy Butler related prizes. Check out all the details here. Even if you don't participate, check in after the due date to see all the amazing creations people put together!
- Check out this interview with the ever inspiring Christine Mason Miller at art and letter webzine. And if you need some more inspiration after that, go visit Christine's other site, Sparkletopia.
Holy guacamole! I didn't realize I had built up so many links to share. I could keep going, but my big orange cat is telling me to stop typing by laying across my arms. Hehe.
Rare Bird Finds!
May 16th, 2008, Comments (3)
Check it out! Today, I'm the guest editor of a special Etsy-themed Fab 5 Friday at Rare Bird Finds! I got to highlight five products on Etsy that I think are cool. It was super hard to pick just five.
I've loved checking out the selections at Rare Bird Finds, so it's especially fun to get to participate. Go see the fabulous etsy items I picked out and while you're over at etsy, check out the selection of prints I've got for sale here.
Creativity Snapshot
January 28th, 2008, Comments (13)
Here's a look at the table I was working on today. You can see some of the "Subway Stories" pieces that I've been varnishing and painting the sides of, my sketchbook that contains a poem by Hafiz that has inspired two ideas for artwork, and a bunch of quickie collages done on gessoed postcards. I think I was starving for color after doing so many black and white pieces "Subway Stories" pieces in a row.
For the mini collages, I used scrap papers I had in my collection of random stuffs plus pieces of prints oopses. A print oops, is simply a printing mistake or experiment that happened when making my prints. Instead of just tossing the paper (which is expensive), I've saved it and today I put some into these little collages, which are 4"x6". I will probably paint, write, and or work on these collages some more, but I thought you might enjoy a little peek into what I've been up to today. I've felt in great creative spirits which is always nice.
And now, I've gotta go off and do some house chores...not exactly the most fun part of the day, but it's gotta get done. So, in the spirit of CED, I'm going to approach it with some fun and creativity in mind. It's funny how such a small shift in perspective can make it all seem like less of a chore and more of an experience. For example, I need to do some dishes. Not so exciting, I know. But if I shift my thinking, I remember my apple green dish washing gloves from Williams and Sonoma that make me smile, I consider lighting a candle, enjoying the tulips in the kitchen, listening to Yo Yo Ma as I work, and the yummy smell of soap bubbling up in warm water. Sounds lovely to me now. Ahh. Happy creating all y'alls!
Etsy Updates
January 20th, 2008, Comments (1)
3 of the prints I put up on my new Etsy store sold today. Hoorah! So, I've replaced those prints and added one more "Subway Stories" print there.
I also wrote about my etsy store along with some cool etsy shops I've enjoyed (just a few out of many I love to watch and buy from!) on my Blue Tree Blog. So, go check that out for some fun linkage. I'm going home in a couple hours and I'm so excited to snuggle up with the hubster, his homemade cooking, and some cute kitties to keep me warm. It is frigidly cold outside today. Brr!
Holiday Cheer
December 2nd, 2007, Comments (11)
Today, my plans were side-railed by a monster migraine that has kept me in bed in the dark all day. I was feeling all bummed out and achey when I first came out of the bedroom in the early evening, but then I read about the sweetest challenge on Jen Lemen's blog. The challenge is called "25 Days to Make a Difference" in which Laura remembers how her grandpa made a difference in her life by making a difference in the lives of others every day for 25 days. The blog she created for this project has apparently created quite a response and even more amazing is the fact that Laura is only 10 years of age! This made my heart melt. And it made me think about ways in which I can make a difference in small and large ways during the holiday season...things like buying handmade products or making my own gifts for the holidays, bring bags of my own to the grocery store instead of using the bags the store has, donating warm clothing I don't use to the Salvation Army, etc...
Speaking of buying handmade. Check these out:
-I recently lucked out and won a gorgeous pair of earrings in a "Free Bling Friday" giveaway from Kelly of Happy Shack Designs. I wore them out to the basketball game on Thursday and loved the way they caught the light.
- Wyanne, one of the wonderful artists I met through Art Every Day Month this year, is having a special online art event on December 7th at 7 pm EST. She had loads of wonderful art to sell, so be sure to check that out!
- I've mentioned before that my art is featured on Trunkt an online lookbook for artists and designers. Members can put together a group of products under a theme, called a showcase. I've put one together called "December Chill" which you can see here. Be warned, there's so many beautiful things on Trunkt, you could be swept away for hours!
- Jes of Junque Revival is giving away wonderful vintage music with purchases from $18 - $34 and for purchases over $35 she's giving a free art ephemera pack (which looks so cool!) Jes makes wonderful jewelry using vintage items ( love this one!) Do check it out!
- Design Sponge has a great guide to handmade shopping here. Be sure to check out all their other gift guides while you're there!
- And of course, be sure to check out my art website while you're doing your holiday shopping! 
- There are so many wonderful artists online, so be sure to look around for wonderful holiday shopping opportunities. If you've got a special sale going on this month or anything else worth mentioning, feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to hear about them!
Update: I just realized that this is my 200th post on this blog! I've had a few different blogs through the years (I've been blogging since 2001) and this blog is fairly young in comparison to some of them (it'll be all of 1 year old on Tuesday), but I've loved blogging here, the places it has taken me, and the people I've met along the way. In celebration of my 200th post, I'd like to give away a little something to the first 5 people to comment on this post. Woohoo!
