Yo... Ya Wanna Buy A Bookmark??

Pin It

In the interim months when I wasn't painting I had to find some other, less exhausting, way of "letting the Art out". I discovered that I loved just allowing my mind to create pen & ink drawings that were pleasing to the eye. I actually found this soothing and I could put it away whenever I was too tired. If you want to see any of the photos close up, just click on them to enlarge.

Pin It

I've ended up with twenty two bookmarks that are ready to go up in Etsy. I also made up a few word cards, like "believe" and "thank you". Now all I have to do is get a laminator an I'm off to the races! What fun, I've always wanted a laminator, do you wonder whether I'll be laminating everything that stands still? I should probably stop at the paper money. lol.

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

I added some color to these next bookmarks, as they seemed a little boring as just black & white images. I've looked around Etsy and it seems that hand drawn bookmarks range from a measly $1.50 to an exorbitant $19.99. The general range, though, if one eliminates the ends of the bell curve is between $3 and $6. I was thinking $4. What do you think? They're on very good quality thick watercolor paper and all hand penned. All original pieces of art. Am I under pricing myself? I know that's the easiest way to have NOONE purchase you. Visitors think...

"Well, if she doesn't even value her work, why should I?"

I was thinking that these two cards above might make nice sets. I may see what the cost is to print these up in batches of half a dozen. Would you buy them? Would you want them to be all the same or all different? I welcome (and totally covet) all comments. Oh, and if you want a bookmark just speak up and I'll set it aside for you. I also take requests, just put a dollar in the tip jar on the piano... hehehe.

Officially...

       

I'll see you lovely revelers in the New Year. Many blessings and wishes for Peace in 2012.
Best,

The Last Flickr Favorites With Artmind

This is the last mosaic that I'll be doing with Artmind, as she has decided to put a little more ease into her life. I can understand her need. I have been "thinning the herd", so to speak, all this year of superfluous things cluttering my time. I have to concentrate on the things that are important, like painting and learning and making the life I want to live. I certainly will miss the weekly perusing of flickr for pictures of just how I'm feeling at the moment. In fact, I may still do my own flickr favorites every so often when I feel the need to "pictoralize" feelings. It can really de-clutter the mind and focus one's spirit. Thank you, Mitsy, for hosting this weekly get together, it was a joy to participate.

Click To Enlarge

1. * {70/365} pray for japan. ♥♥, 2. Hope, 3. wish, 4. Dream, 5. laugh, 6. LOVE, question mark., 7. i believe, 8. Breathe - owp, 9. live [v]: breathe; laugh; hope; smile; cherish; believe; inspire; bask; dance; indulge; color; love; wonder; dream; fly.

I also want to mention a new blog I cam across a week or so ago. It's so enjoyable to read that I wanted to share. The blog is "Abby Has Issues". She's funny, irreverent and easy to read. Totally enjoyable. Her latest blog post had an incredible line in it that gave me pause. The line said everything I've been striving for this past year.

"...strength of character can be written in at any time."

Thank you, Abby, for that brilliantly insightful line. I'm keeping it close to me, it keeps me warm & comforts me when I'm unsure of my way forward. That's what my mosaic is about this week. Remembering to include all those nine words while I move steadily forward.

Talk to you all soon,
Next time, ART! Woohoo! :o)
Best,

Apparently I Was A Good Girl, Who Knew?

Hello everybody. I'm sure you're all milling around your Christmas tree, admiring all the open presents and lamenting the cleaning up you'll have to do soon. Have another sip of Champagne and enjoy a little blog post instead. Don't worry, the crumpled wrapping paper and ribbons tangled around the cat will still be there in 20 minutes.

Isn't it wonderful to peruse the bounty of Christmas morning? I thought I'd brag, I mean share with you what Santa brought me for Christmas. Ok? Here we go. Santa decided that this chick needed to rock out and since Apple had recalled her very old but still working perfectly ipod nano first generation, (well, except for the possible fire hazard from the exploding defective battery, apparently...), he stuck a new ipod nano in my very favorite color green under the Christmas tree. He was very generous and thought I should also be totally high tech and go wireless, so he added Logitech wireless headphone earbuds and a bluetooth converter for the ipod. I can't get over just how SMALL the ipod nano is!! It's almost as small as a postage stamp. It weighs almost nothing and has some seriously awesome features. Like the clock that makes it into a watch if you add a watch band! Wow. That's what's showing on the screen now, my Animal clock. Hehehe, I love it!

I also received  some beautiful peridot and sterling silver stud earrings. Can you tell I like the color green? Ya, a lot. It and bright, sting your eyes, pink. (the color I'm currently rocking on my toes, lol) They're happy-making colors for me. I smile a lot when I look at my toes. I'm sure people think I'm a little touched, but hey, at least I'm made happy by simple things. :o)

My aunt got me a body powder, Neige (it means snow in french). She knows me soooo well. She not only got a beautiful scented powder but it came in a sweet little bottle with a feather puff on top. You shake it and the powder descends into the feathers which you use to put it  on with! It's so ostentatious, I'm in my glory. I love my Aunt Mic. We spoiled her though, too. Last minute we noticed she didn't have a mouse for her laptop so mom ran out on the evening of the 23rd to purchase her a mouse and some black construction paper. I made Mickey Mouse ears for the package and when she was opening the package were singing... "Mickey's Mouse... Mickey's Mouse, forever let it work so well for youuuuu!! M-I-C-K-E-Y-S  M-O-U-S-EEEEEEEE! (remember, her name is Mic, short for Mickey), hehehe. She laughed so hard she nearly choked. Such fun.

My final gift was a beautiful leather turquoise wallet. I so desperately needed a new one and I can't get over the wonderful quality of the leather. It's deliciously soft and supple and the inside is quality. Thank you Mom. I love my family. I'm a lucky, lucky human being. Now I'm looking forward to the New Year. New health, new weight loss and new paintings. Hopefully new blog readers. Thank you to those of you who have come back to me, I appreciate your loyalty. I'm filled with Christmas spirit, maybe I'll go out caroling or something.

"Tis the season to be jolly.. hhmm hhhmm hhmm hhm hhm hmm..."

I'll be back soon. I'll make coffee and bring some lovely left over lemon squares. They're yummy. For serious. All lemony, sweet and tangy. Is your mouth watering now? We'll talk. We'll toast the New Year. It'll be great. Mark your calender, pencil me in. Remember the lemon squares. They're the best ever. Talk soon, K? Yes!
Best,

Eye Candy!

I just love finding and then perusing a talented artist's blog. It makes me giddy to go from post to post soaking up all the new eye candy. Just this last week I discovered two totally amazing new artists. They epitomize what it means to be talented.

Click to Enlarge

Andrea Joseph is a moleskin and zine creator. She fills these little sketchbooks and zines with the most amazing drawings. Her blog is a delight for the eyes. I actually purchased one of her zines literally minutes after discovering her and her Etsy shop.  I can't believe that the zine I bought was created using a four color ball point pen. You remember those pens, don't you?? You know, from your school days, you could click either black, red, green or blue down to use it. I can't wait to soak up every word and nuance of her artwork. This is one of the photographs from the zine I purchased tonight.

Here are a couple of the pieces of artwork she is selling in her Etsy shop. Aren't they just delicious looking? The one on the left is named "Chips" and the one on the right is named "Exercise Book". Andrea is an amazing artist and I'll continue to purchase her products.

The second artist I came across is  Tilen Ti. He creates incredibly colorful watercolor paintings that he sells on Daily Paint Works. He is also on Deviant Art.  The brightness of the watercolors reminds me of the paints I use (Holbein). I want to just sneak into his paintings and walk the streets, sit on the benches and climb the stairs to these welcoming homes! I think his pieces are so happy looking. I would love to paint like this. Here are some exquisite examples of his work. The names of Tilen's work are as follows, from left to right. "Grignan, Provence, France-VI", "Granada, Spain-I" and "Esquerdes, France-VI". Please click on them to see the wonderful detail and skill.

 

It's such a joy to be blogging again! I'll be uploading pictures of  a bunch of pen & ink work I've done while I was recovering. I just couldn't stop being an artist, even if it was too much to paint. Thank God for zentangling and inking pens!

It's getting to feel a lot like Christmas here. We did a little baking yesterday (lemon squares) and it was such fun to get that Christmas kind of messy in the kitchen with my Mom. It's gonna be a quiet Christmas but I'm so looking forward to it. It's a good time to be alive and it's gonna be a grrrreaaaat New Year.

Happy Christmas to Everyone,
I'll blog soon, probably with Christmas presents, "ehem" to brag about. Hehehe.
Later!

It Took A While, But I'm Back!

Hi everybody. Nope, I didn't die. This is a good thing. I did get really sick though. Not such a good thing. I had planned to take a little time off for myself, like two weeks or even a month. Ya, you can see how well those plans worked out for me. lol.

In the beginning of this year I began getting tireder and tireder. (I know tireder isn't a word, work with me here people! Hehehe.) I thought ...

"Ya, not eating right, not taking care of myself, have to lose weight and exercise more... Yep. Better do something about it."

I did a little not so serious dieting and figured moving around the house was enough exercise for now.(Jenn rolls eyes thinking about just how stuuuuupid she was a year ago.) Then I seemed to be actually gaining weight instead of losing it. I was puffing up with excess fluid like I was the Michelin Tire Man. "Ok", I thought, "No more salt or sugar, and I'll eat foods that have diuretic properties!" I took that a little more seriously but I was even more tired so no exercise for this girl. What... do I want to exhaust myself of the little energy I can muster?? (Ya, stuuuupid again.)

Now, I believe that God sends us all little hints, little pushes in the right direction. He starts with a nudge, "You're tired Jenn, eat better." If one doesn't listen (arrow pointing to Yours Truly), out comes the two-by-four.

"Ouch! Damn that one HURT!! "

Ok, message received, loud and clear. I ended up in the hospital for 6 days the first time and then had several short Emergency (read: one day) visits over the course of a several months. My lungs were the major problem. I've always had asthma, but with my weight creeping up, I guess I hit the "tipping point" and just wasn't getting enough oxygen. That on top of also finding out I was seriously anemic, (so even if I could get the oxygen in, I didn't have the red blood cells to carry it around!) made for the perfect storm to sideline Jenn.

You'll all be happy (she says hopefully) to know that I am improving every day, I've lost a whole boat load of weight and I exercise. (Did you hear that? I think Hell just froze over! Jennifer exercises??? Regularly??!?) Well holy heck balls, as my favorite blogger "Joy The Baker" would say. I even enjoy it. Actually I'm enjoying life so much more than I ever did. I am now officially a happy camper and I finally have the energy to start painting and blogging again!

For all of you who read me before, I hope you come back. I promise to never go away like that again. I realized, when I was so ill, that I really loved blogging about art and talking to people. I appreciated all your comments before and I sincerely hope you all come back to read me again. We had such fun sharing, let's do it again, K? Yes Please!

We'll talk soon,
Merry Christmas to all you wonderful people out there, I'm just so grateful to be back!
Hugs to you all,