I couldn’t skip the last day of Art Every Day Month.  I still can’t believe how quickly November flew by.   Not everything I did this month was “art” per se, but I tried to keep with it as best as I could with a little bit of everything: photography, art, crafts, and some inspiration too in the way of links, zines, and flickr faves.  You can see everything I did here.

The above (top picture) pretty mule deer was the inspiration for this piece. I took that picture last January (at the AZ Desert Museum), and she has been on my mind as a painting ever since.  So, it feels really good to finally get her down on wood. I fancied her up making her quite festive for all the holiday hoopla.

I just want to thank Leah at Creative Every Day for a wonderful month of inspiration and support.  It has been so fun and I can’t wait for next year.

Wishing everyone a beautiful and joyous Thanksgiving day!

I thought I’d do a nice little black & white photo of my kitty.  She loves that spot by the window where she can warm up and watch the birds.   I have been meaning to make her a new cushion, something like THIS would be cool.

Here is a sneak peak of my ornaments in progress. Little glittery owls with button eyes.  They still need some finishing touches.

Other cool things you should check out:
Flossy-p is hosting her 4th annual Thanksgiving Giveaway.  She is giving away a commissioned illustration!!! If you don’t know Flossy-p, well then, you better check out her work, because I think she is pretty amazing.

Angela at Clothesline Chronicles is also hosting a giveaway for $25 gift certificate at ecostore.  I love trying new eco stuff, don’t you?

Dana at create-share-inspire is giving away a very lovely paper tree ornament.

Just hop on over to these spots and leave a comment to win.

Lastly, I wanted announce free US shipping on seleted items in my shop. Please take a look. I will also be adding new items through out the week. Maybe some Christmas ornaments, a few new wallets and some more new art.

For Art Every Day Month & Illustration Friday

I did this sketch a while ago in my art journal, but decided today, to color it in with some acrylic paints and some neo II crayons. Those crayons are really fun to play with. It really stinks that they are so expensive, as is all quality art supplies. I was only able to get a set of 10 for now and have been looking at these panpastels too, which are also quite pricey.

And I wanted to show you these…

My new Elsita bookmarks.  They are beautifully made and very delicate. I thought they would make nice little gifts for some of my book loving friends. I’m having a very hard time deciding which one to keep for myself.

I also got this gift set from Super Salve which I thought, as individual items, would make wonderful stocking stuffers . I love their products which are 100% natural with none of that scary stuff (the calendula lotion & salve is especially soothing on dry skin and cracking finger tips). They smell amazing too! The kids love getting a finger full of lotion to messily smear on themselves so they can smell nice.   And it looks like I just missed their Holiday Sale!!! Rats!!

First lets announce the winners of the Craft Monthly giveaway! They are …….

Mousy Brown who said: Oh Yes please – looks fab!
Angela who said: count me in!

Please send me an email (see side bar for address) with your snail mail. Congrats!!

I finished my small stack of tea wallets.  I love little stacks of handmade things.  But, now it is a very small stack because my friend came by and bought a couple. I’ll be putting what is left in my shop tomorrow.

relax ~ be well ~ drink some tea ~ rejuvenate ~ replenish

I really do enjoy combining my love of sewing and of painting in one little item that you can take everywhere with you. Normally I don’t enjoy sewing the same thing over and over again.  But with these, I really enjoyed the process.  I started with mini paintings on canvas, which are then sewn onto fabric and made into tea wallets.  I love using my stash of vintage linen for the inside pockets.

I made one for myself a while back and I take it to work with me and on trips.  I can carry up to eighteen packs of tea, if I want, and have plenty to share with others. I always carry Echinacea Plus, Throat Care, Tazo Chai , Mayan Spice and Green tea Kombucha.  It’s so nice to offer a cup of tea to someone who might need it. Mmmmmm, I think I’ll make a pot right now!

I love this place ~ home

Wood block no 5.

Don’t forget to leave a comment on THIS post to win an issue of Craft Leftover Monthly.  I got one today and it’s pretty awesome. I will show you tomorrow.

I finally finished re-doing my treasure bird on canvas.  It’s a bit harder doing straight color with acrylics because they want to dry so quickly. I much prefer mixed media with lots of layers and texture. I do like this a lot though. It just took longer to get the color consistency right, oh, and that dang little butterfly caused me some minor grief.

I also wanted to share all the bird action at my new bird feeder.  I *love* watching those pretty little birds.  Makes me want to make another feeder.

Thanks for all the well wishes. I am feeling much better. That cold never really caught hold of me all the way. Just enough to slow me down a bit, which is a good thing.

Big giveaway tomorrow, so please stop back by.

5.5 x 5.5 wood block – mixed media

I painted this with my 4 year old niece in mind. She loves to sparkle. I added a bit of gold leaf on the crown and a teeny bit of glitter on the wings.  The colors of this photo are a bit off from the original. I just couldn’t get a good shot with all the gray clouds out today. New picture up.

I am nursing myself, trying not to go into full-blown cold mode. I’m feeling better now that I’ve done a bit of painting. Always makes me feel better.

Here is my art for today.  I worked on it all day, a bit inspired by my bird yesterday, which I still have plans of colorizing. If you are new to my blog, then I have to tell you how much I LOVE birds. I really do.

My colors are bright, as my style seems to be.   I always “think” that I want to mellow out my color palette, but I am simply drawn to brightness.  Maybe its the constant brightness of the Arizona sun, I don’t know. But as much as I try otherwise, this is how it must be for now.

find the treasure of your true self

A quick (sorta) pen and ink sketch in my art journal.   I think I may have to transfer this image onto canvas with color,  I like it so much.

Happy Tuesday!