Etsy shop updates!

Well it's been a little while since I've posted. I have been busy re-working my shop. I have decided to focus completely on my invitation design instead of my digital photography. I didn't want to get so many different things listed in my shop that I didn't feel like I could handle each (and devote enough time to each). By focusing only on invitation/party designs, I feel that I can devote my time to this one area and come up with more designs faster. I've also added cupcake toppers - printed, punched and ready to add to your cupcakes for your parties! I still have more designs to add for invitations and cupcake toppers. It's kind of a slow process, but I'm getting there. :)

New designs being added

I'm currently in the process of adding more of my invitation/greeting designs to my Etsy shop. I plan to leave my photography up in the shop for sale. But I think I will go in the direction of making invitations/greetings the majority of my store. I've enjoyed designing invitations over the last many months on another site, so I will start printing my own in my Etsy shop. I have loved designing invitations since I began and I really find it fun to create new artwork for invites. Plus, it's so fun to know that your invite is part of an exciting time in someone's life.

Ever since I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I have really had a lot of fun creating baby shower and birthday invitations. I also like to do bridal shower and bachelorette party invites, but I always find myself designing cute artwork for baby invites and kids' birthday invites.

Over the next several weeks, I will be adding many new invite designs to my shop. Be sure to check back often to see what all is new!

Yippee!!

So excited that I got my cardstock & envelopes ordered; I can start printing and adding my invitations designs to my Etsy shop very soon. I've been toying with the idea for awhile and have finally decided to go with it. I want my customers to have a variety of items to choose from in my store. Plus I just love designing invitations. :) Hopefully in about a week or so I will have some designs available in my shop to choose from. Sooo excited!

But in the mean time, here's a sneak peak:

In keeping with the theme of my previous post about painting, I thought I'd share one of my new paintings, which I have listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

I have a bunch of ideas floating around in my head for new paintings. I really wish I had more time in the day to devote to painting, so that I could finish them faster. But with a 9 month old, I'm really really limited on free time. As far as my style is concerned, I don't really have one specific style that I think I fit in. I pretty much just paint whatever I want and what comes to mind.

I currently have 2 canvas paintings available, but am hoping to finish more soon and get them added as well.

This painting is titled "Metallicized"; one color I used is metallic copper acrylic paint (which I love).

It is painted on 8x10" stretched canvas.

You can see more photos of this painting here.

Going strong on next to no sleep

Ever now and then I'll get in these grooves (or funks) where I have so many ideas piling up in my head that I just can't sleep.

My husband and I have pretty much decided that for our next house, we want to build. After looking around off and on for the last couple years, we just can't seem to find exactly what we want. And our next move will be the last one for a long time. We want to be settled in the next house for quite a long time and are sooo over the whole moving thing. Over the last 7 years, we've moved 5 times. Granted, 4 of those times were due to hubby being in the Navy for 4 years and moving from one city to another. But that doesn't change the fact that we have had to move a decent number of times. Moving sucks....and it's a pain in the butt. So like I said, we've kept our eyes open for nice homes in the country with at least 5 acres. We need space. We want our kids and dogs to have room to run. Plus we don't want neighbors super close and the hubby wants 4 wheelers that he can tool around on on our property. But we can never find exactly what we want and we don't want to have to compromise on anything. We want the next house to have everything we want, the way we want it, where we want it. And the only way to achieve that is to build. So with that said, I'm now on crazy-person mode putting all my ideas into a binder so I don't forget any of them. I've been planning, designing and decorating certain house and certain style in my head for years: victorian, vintage farmhouse. I'm in love with the style and everything that goes along with it. My mind is consumed with all my ideas of marble tile, hardwood floors, pedestal sinks, a clawfoot tub and much much more.

On top of that, I've had an overload of ideas to paint. I love to design just about anything, so its hard for me to stick with just digital art, digital photography or painting. So, I go back and forth, depending on what ideas I have at the time for the type of art I want to create. I'm not real sure why I've had such an overwhelming need/want to paint lately. I think a lot of it (and the fact I love art in general) comes from my grandma. She has been drawing/painting for a long, long time. I remember being little and staying over at her house with my cousins and I would always have so much fun looking at her artwork. I must've gotten all the artsy fartsy genes because no one else in my family likes it near as much as me. My dad has a cartoon that he created and was featured in a local newspaper funny section for awhile, but he's the only other artistic one. And I'm pretty sure my mom's stick people don't count.

So between designing a house in my head and having a need to create new paintings, I've been unable to sleep. I went to bed last night at 1 am, only to toss and turn and pretty much not sleep at all until about 7ish am. I managed to sleep for 2-3 hours and then I was up again. But here it is, nearly 2 am and I'm still going strong. I've realized over the years that sometimes it's just better to stay up and bang out whatever ideas you have. Otherwise you just lay in bead, with your ideas clawing away at your brain. I've already finished one painting and debating on starting another or trying to go to bed. Good thing would be that I would give another idea life. Bad thing would be that I'd probably be up for another couple hours.

Here's to another night of little sleep.

Yay Ebates!

I've been a member of Ebates since 2007. Recently I've started seeing their ads on tv, which is kind of weird. I don't see them often, but every now and then I do. I can't even remember what brought me to their site a few years ago. I think I may have been searching for online coupon codes or something and happened upon their site.

Some people probably wonder if its legit, if its a scam, etc. But it isn't. You sign up for free and never pay them a cent. Ebates earns their money from commission from the stores when customers make a purchase through Ebates. Then Ebates shares that commission with you as a percentage of money back from your purchase. They have over 1200 stores you can earn cash back through. The number of store choices is still growing. It was smaller than that back when I first signed up. There are big names on there too like Walmart, Target, Old Navy, JCPenney and many more.

Since I signed up, I've received over $100 cash back. Which, that may not seem like a lot since it's only about $30ish dollars per year. But that's $100 back in my pocket. And I don't do a lot of shopping online, but for someone who shops online a lot it would definitely get them more cash back.

Ebates is now having a referral bonus program. They are offering prizes depending on the number of people you refer.

Refer 20, get a Flip Ultra HD
Refer 50, get an Apple iPad
Refer 150, get a $1500 shopping spree
Refer 250, get a Dream Vacation

Some of you may have heard of Ebates or might even be members. Or maybe you've never heard of them or have heard of them, but wondered what it's all about. It's a great way to earn cash back on purchases you're already making online! Feel free to sign up under me and then start referring your family and friends so they can earn prizes and/or cash back too! :)

Sign up for Ebates, its FREE!

Yay for Ebates and yay for cash back!

Bubbye clutter

This week is going to be my "get rid of the clutter" week. I'm in the process of straightening up and getting rid of random junk that seems to pile up quickly over time. My computer room/workspace needs major help in this department since it is looking like organized chaos at the moment. I guess this is what happens when you live in a small house. Closets fill up and stuff just spills out and lands somewhere else. So I suppose this could be considered my fall cleaning, instead of spring cleaning? We are in desperate need of more space. But moving will have to wait awhile longer until we can decide if we want to buy or build. I really want to move now, but I guess I'll just have to be patient. Ugh. Until then, I will clean...

My husband, daughter and I were getting ready to leave the house yesterday when I saw her. A sad, scared poor little puppy hiding under my hubby's truck. We had let our 2 mini dachshunds out to go potty and one of them found her under there. He was sniffing around her and she seemed so timid and scared. I went up to her to see if I could get her to come out from under the truck. She seemed happy, excited and nervous all at the same time. She piddled all over the driveway, like she was happy to see me but wasn't sure what to think. I finally got her to come out from under the truck and started to assess her situation. She seems young, maybe 3 months or so old and probably at least part Collie. She still has all her baby teeth and is really furry. She felt kind of thin, so  I'm not sure how long she's been out wandering around. There is no collar on her, so I'm wondering if someone dumped her off out in the country. It looked like she had some dirt down in her fur and had some fleas. So I put our dog's flea and tick medicine on her to get rid of them. She's a bit of wary of people, but you can tell she wants to love on you. She started snuggling up to me and my husband right away.

She now has a temporary place on our deck with a kennel and blankets to sleep on and food & water to eat. She needs a bath today and I plan to call around to our local vet and animal shelter to see if anyone has reported a missing puppy. If no one claims her after a little while, we may have dog #4. But I can't just let her wander around on her own and I don't want to turn her over to the shelter. She'll also need to go to the vet for shots and I'm hoping she doesn't have any issues like distemper or heartworms.

She's such a sweet little girl and so cute that I hate to just give her up. We really need to buy a bigger house in the country with more land. :P

Meet our lil foster pup:

I'm having a giveaway!

Get excited!! I'm hosting a giveaway, which is featured (along with an interview) on the blog Adore By Nat. This contest is open now and ends Oct 23. It is open to anyone and everyone, worldwide. Winner will receive their choice of any 8.5 x 11" print from my shop! See Nat's blog for all the details!

New blog interview

I'm so so excited to be featured on Adore By Nat's blog today. I have an interview shown on the blog, which you can read here. There will also be a giveaway posted tomorrow. Yay for giveaways!

In the mean time, I'm working on printing my artwork, framing the prints and taking pics, which I can add to my Etsy shop. It is going to take me a little while to get framed pictures up of all my prints, but eventually I'll get them all posted! This way buyers can see what the final product looks like. :)

Brainstorming

There are nights where I brainstorm....a lot. I start thinking of new ideas, designs, products, etc. I'm mulling over the idea of adding some card/invite/announcement type items to my shop. I'm not sure how time consuming this would be, but I have several designs that I have already come up with that I think would be adorable on some cards/invites/announcements. The trick is finding card stock at a decent price. I have found a few places online where I can get it for inexpensive. I also *love* the look of cards that have rounded corners. The bad part about that is that I would either need to purchase a couple hundred dollar machine to round corners, do them individually by hand or try to find a place where I can purchase them pre-cut for a low price.

I think having a variety of items on my shop is important for the success of my shop. This gives buyers different choices of items instead of just one or 2 types of print.

Decisions, decisions....

Shop updates

After testing, printing and having so many issues with my canvas paper, I have decided to bid it farewell. I just couldn't get it to print the way I wanted to without having some issues of colors bleeding a bit. And I don't want to sell something that isn't up to my standards. I have very high standards for myself and my artwork and I want others to be happy with their purchase. I'm making the switch to textured cardstock, which I also love very much. It just doesn't have the flexible quality as canvas paper. Maybe someday if my little shop takes off, I can buy a printer that is more suited towards printing on canvas.

I have several prints that I printed on canvas paper, trying to get it exactly how I wanted. I'm debating whether or not I want to list them under a "SALE" section of my shop for a discounted price. I'm not sure if I want to do that or not. If anyone were interested, they could purchase them. On the other hand, I don't want to list misfit artwork that I'm not 100% happy with. I'm not sure; I'll have to mull over it and think about it some more.

On a happier note, tomorrow is Friday, yay! We're planning to take the little one to a local corn maze/barn with animals. They also have a ton of pumpkins sitting out there, so we may just have to pick one out to bring home. I plan to take pics, so I'll have to post some in a few days!

Blog Feature

I was very excited when GiDu Design selected me for an interview and a feature on her blog. I am so thrilled to have been chosen! This makes my day and I was so happy to see it go live this morning. This is my first interview and first time being featured on another blog. Yay! :)

To read the entire interview, please visit GiDu Design's blog.

Ideas pop up at the craziest times

Sometimes for me, ideas come up when you're least expecting them. And these are usually the ideas that turn out cooler than something you've thought long and hard about.

An idea popped into my head about doing a kind of funky picture of a camera. I thought that would be fitting to take a picture of a picture taker, seeing as how most of the items in my Etsy shop are photography related. I found my old bulky digital camera from years ago (not really sure why I even still have it?) and snapped a couple quick pics.

Yay, pictures taken....now time to create.

There are times that I spend a good majority of time tweaking and reworking photos to get them exactly how I want them to look. And then there are other times (like this one) where it takes very little time. I think I spent a total of 15 minutes or so from start to finish. And voila!

And just like that, a new digital art print is born. I have to say, I'm quite happy with the way it all turned out. I don't have anything funky like this in my shop yet so this little guy is one of a kind.

You can find the link the canvas print here.

And with that said, it's bedtime!!

My heart attack for the night

So my daughter and I (and Buster n Jake, our two mini dachshunds) all went to visit the grandparents tonight. We visited with my parents for a bit before heading back home. In the beginning, packing up my daughter, her supplies and 2 dogs seemed like a lot to handle. Now, I pack every one up like nothing and we go on our merry way back home. Every time, it's the same: get the dogs out of the car and send them on their way to the front door.....grab the little one and her stuff and then we all go into the house. Get in the door, turn the light on, ahhhhh good to be home.

WAIT. That shadow on the wall does not belong. What the frig is that???

To my horror it's a creature that I'm not sure I've ever seen before, let alone in my house.

Now, backing up just a little.....I don't like a lot of bugs, especially spiders, june bugs and other creepy crawlies that resemble the aforementioned two. I dread the times in my life when my husband is not home to kill these things and I have to do it myself. And now that the weather is getting cold, all the multi legged critters that I hate decide to invade my house.

Ok so back to the story......I lean in kinda close, but really not close because I have this wild imagination/fear where I think bugs are going to launch themselves off the wall and attack me. It was kind of hard to see since it was it a shadowed area of our hallway. So go and grab the flyswatter, still trying to figure out what in the world this thing is and also hoping that it does not disappear into a nook or cranny of our house (where I will be forced to live with it not knowing where it really is). I come back, weapon in hand, and flick on the light. WARNING WARNING!! This thing starts skedaddling across the wall. What the &*$%?!?! Its at this point in time where I really only get one, maybe two swings at this thing before it's gone.....and I'm hoping to h-e-double hockey sticks that I actually hit it. I fling the flyswatter at it, trying really hard to aim. And by some miracle I hit it with the first shot and actually smash it. Success! But now I'm perplexed. What IS IT??

Good question! Let me tell you the answer: I have no clue! It wasn't a cockroach or a centipede, but kind of had a centipede type body and I think it had a decent number of legs. And I'm guessing its not a fan of light the way that it started trucking across the wall when the light came on. And it was probably about an inch or inch and a half long. It really weirds me out because I don't recall seeing a bug like that, ever. I have no idea what it was, but I'm just hoping and praying that it doesn't have friends.

Goals

I think goals are an important part of life. It gives you something to work towards and look forward to.

I started this blog with hopes of gaining some more exposure for my artwork. I'm hoping that over time, I will gain fans who also enjoy my art. Getting noticed nowadays (especially with the internet) is such a daunting task. There are so many other talented artists out there that sometimes its hard not to feel discouraged. I know that growing a fan base and followers will take time. In the mean time, I will continue to create more artwork to post and to add to my shop. I'll also keep this blog updated with other random happenings in my life. I hope you enjoy visiting my blog....now and on down the road as well!

With that said, my goal from now until the end of 2010 is to gain some more exposure, fans and followers.

Great art picks up where nature ends.  ~Marc Chagall

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

It's a beautiful day here in Iowa. This time of year is great. I don't have to run the AC, don't have to run the heat. I'm always happy for that - lower utility bills! I think everyone is excited about paying less money out for bills.

Today I'm working on getting some of my art prints printed onto my canvas paper. I loooove canvas paper. It's flexible, easy to work with, prints beautifully. Plus it adds some texture to the photos instead of being printed on plain paper. I plan to add some new pictures to my Etsy shop listings, just to give buyers an idea of what the finished product looks like when printed on canvas paper.

On a thumbs-down note, I really really really need to organize my workspace. It is pretty much looking like organized chaos right now. I have paper, paint, pencils, etc strewn all over my work desk. It's in desperate need of some organization. I'm hoping to get to it here very soon, but with an 8 month old daugher I'm really limited on time. And I usually like to try to use some of that time to create more prints. Sometimes I just need extra time in the day because there never seems to be enough of it.

One more new print

I've never seen the movie "The Bridges of Madison County". But, I'm thinking I should try to watch it sometime since parts were filmed in Iowa, not very far from where we live. I absolutely love the old covered bridges. They are so neat and looking at them, you just feel as if you're being taken back in time.

One of the bridges used in the film is an old Stone Foot Bridge. This is such a cool bridge and it also photographs very well. :) It's amazing to think how long these bridges have lasted, after being built in the late 1800's.

I've added this new print of the Stone Bridge to my Etsy shop.

So many more to come

I added a few new prints to my Etsy shop and have *so* many more to add. Hopefully I can get through some more pics and get them up in the shop soon. I also have new photos to add to my Etsy shop for my listings, so I'll be adding them slowly.

I've just love vintage looking photographs. It gives the photograph an almost whimsical look - so neat!

Here is one of my newest prints available:

Playing around with pics

I have a lot of photos I want to add to my Etsy shop. So, I've started digitally enhancing some of the ones that jump out at me first. I started with these photo of some lovely orchids. I have so many more pictures and so many more ideas. I hope I can get them all added very soon!

Falling for Fall

I just love this time of year. Love the crisp air, love the sunsets, love the colors. I'm especially excited about the leaves changing colors. There are so many shades of orange, red, yellow.... I am looking forward to getting out and taking some pics of this beautiful time of year.

Fall: I fall for you every year. ♥

New blog

Yay I have a brand new blog! Here I can keep up to date on all the things I've got going on with my designs. I have a lot of great ideas in the works, so I will keep this blog updated with everything!