a project that will not be + a new etsy shop!

this is a little different than the things i normally make and post here (ummm... i don't usually make things that say "BFF" and "OMG",) but i created this little concept board/kit to try to get a freelance job that, unfortunately, isn't going to happen. so, i thought i'd show it to you here!

AND, this is also a great opportunity for me to tell you about my *brand new etsy shop*, called shadow juniper! the shop is a place for digital, printable clip art, scrapbook kits, and other things you can use to make your projects a little more fun! please check it out and let me know what you think-- i'm slowly adding more items to the shop, and am open to suggestions for what types of digital products you'd like to see there!

so, i've put this digital kit in the shop, and i think you'll love it. it has 8 12x12" printable papers, 2 circular frames, 4 large round circular embellishments, 16 various small embellishments (which can be used as stickers), and 2 large word embellishments.

{all files will be emailed to you within 24 hours of purchase.}

i hope you like it! and again, please leave me comments to tell me if there's anything in particular you'd like to see in the shop-- custom etsy shop banners? printable stationary? hang tags? do tell!

super 8 video wedding

ok, i am totally and completely in love with this idea. i was reading a a cup of jo this morning and came across this wedding video shot by friends with rented super 8 cameras.

**where can i rent a super 8 camera in the los angeles area??**
and if i do, how do i get it turned into a video afterwards? i know nothing about video. if any of you have any thoughts on this, i will love you forever if you share! can you imagine having a keepsake like this for the rest of your life? wow. i'm in love.

illustration: grady mcferrin

oh yes, grady mcferrin's work is mighty fine! the colors are too good to be true.

i like his website, too- super fun.

calexandra

oh, sweet heavens. you've probably seen these beautiful flowers gracing the etsy front page recently, and i'm completely enamored of them. calexandra, you've won my heart.

i'm thinking wedding. yes?

want to win an original painting?

as of this morning, I've had 961 sales in my etsy shop, which means I'm getting close to the big 1,000! so to celebrate, i'm having a contest, and it goes like this:

for each and every item you purchase from my etsy shop from now until i reach the big 1,000, you will be entered into a drawing for a *free* small original painting! so if you buy 3 things, you'll be entered 3 times. make sense?

you'll be able to choose from these 4 6x8" paintings:

so, if you've had your eye on anything in my shop, now would be a great time to scoop it up, because there's a chance you'll win a small original painting, too!

new painting: candy mountain

i'm really a fan of the colors in this new painting, called "candy mountain." this piece is 10x10" and done in acrylic, gouache, india ink, and linoleum block printing on wood.

also, now i want to make a repeating pattern out of the hexagon-ish pattern on the background mountains. wouldn't that make an awesome skirt?

miss marjorie

i don't even know how to tell you how crazy about these pieces by miss marjorie i am. oh my gosh, i love them! i think i may have met miss marjorie over the weekend at the inman park festival (where i was hawking my wares all weekend in the gorgeous weather), but i can't be sure. she added me as an etsy favorite on saturday and lives in atlanta, and i talked to several people that day that said they, too, had etsy shops, so i'm thinking she may have been one of them.

{miss marjorie, if you are reading this, tell me if i met you on saturday!}

anyway, i'm pretty much nuts for these pieces. you should probably go check out the rest of them in miss marjorie's etsy shop. oh my god, i might have to spend some of my earnings from the weekend on the piece above, i'm not even kidding.

art show this weekend

i'll be exhibiting my work at the inman park spring festival this saturday and sunday, so come on out if you are in the atlanta area! the weather is supposed to be PERFECT (low-80s..... i *love* springtime in georgia!), and i'd love to meet you if you stop by.

i'll have prints, resin covered prints, original paintings, necklaces, coasters, napkins, and more! and i hear there is a crazy parade that galavants through the festival, so that should be fun to see.

here's wishing you a stupendous weekend! i'll see you monday morning.

kat hannah

i saw one of kat hannah's pieces on the etsy front page last night and immediately clicked over to her shop. wow, do i love her work! just gorgeous.

{more on her website and in her shop}

an old piece: 'beach people'

this piece (called 'beach people') has been hanging on my wall for years. literally, years. it's a monoprint that i created way back when, in a monoprinting class that i taught. it was intended as a quick example for the class, but i ended up really loving it! i've been meaning to frame it ever since then, but instead it's been hanging on my wall with a piece of masking tape. ha!

i'm teaching a monoprinting workshop at top drawer art center* in providence, RI in june, and i sent this over for the postcard image yesterday-- and it made me remember how much i love it! so i thought you might like it, too. it also made me wonder why i haven't been monoprinting lately.

*{top drawer art center is a nonprofit visual art center providing art programs for adults with developmental disabilities. their aim is to promote the idea that art is a universal human trait that gives purpose to one’s life and works as a bridge between people and communities.}

jessica dacher

i'm so happy to have discovered jessica dacher's work this morning- i was just browsing through the blank space gallery website (the gallery is in oakland, CA), and jessica's work was right there on the homepage for my viewing pleasure.

the colors are marvelous, and i love the big, bulbous shapes. yeah! now i want to paint!

how do you market and organize yourself?

diana of please sir suggested i write a post about this topic yesterday, and i thought it was a fabulous idea. i was tweeting with some folks yesterday (tweeting... as in twitter.... are you on twitter? if so, you can follow me if you please!) about ways to organize and keep track of clients and marketing efforts. one of my goals for the next couple of months is to really get my marketing system in order, because right now it just is not working for me.

i have about 10 excel spreadsheets, all with different info and different schedules, and they're so confusing to keep track of that i procrastinate and don't use them! i want something easy. intuitive. something i'll use. so my question to you is: how do you organize and keep track? (or do you at all? are you like me, and it just feels like too much?


i downloaded a free trial of bento yesterday and am going to give that a try, and i also downloaded flick, which seems like a great way to keep track of artwork, inventory, and clients. do any of you use either of these?

do you have software or methods that you swear by? i'd love to know! i think this could be a very useful topic for us all, and i'll be sure to share my progress if you are interested...

{images via bpodr}

don't you want a new necklace?

i have a couple of new necklaces to show you today (plus another funny photo of me!) both necklaces are reversible/double-sided-- the first features these first two photos (sofia and mallory patterns), and the second features the next two photos (peacock feathers and kelp patterns).

the necklaces are $28 and are available in my etsy shop, and i have many more to come!

i am also happy to make custom necklaces, with whatever of patterns of mine are your favorite. if you are interested in this option, send me an email!

hee hee... there i am!

new painting: good luck charm

wow, a new painting, you say? incredible! i've hardly been painting at all the last couple of months, and it feels good to get back to it. this piece is called "good luck charm", and it's 6x8", acrylic, oil, india ink, and linoleum block printing on wood.

flickr favorites

it's been a while since i've shared some of my flickr favorites, so i decided today was a good day for it, and i'm pleased because i love how the mosaic looks! here's where all these lovely images came from:

1. preparing the path, 2. from my heart, 3. my knowledge is in your heart., 4. welcome to the bubble world...:-), 5. not long now.........., 6. like the falling snow..., 7. preparing early........, 8. spirit of the beehive film poster, 9. doing the ritual dance in the sun, 10. yves saint laurent's sister-in-law, 11. 3-headed, winged, lollipop person, 12. 2 fish, 13. line/leaf, 14. heavy zen, 15. betweenie, 16. walk this way

illustration: nitzan klamer

i'm completely loving these illustrations by nitzan klamer (aka: kipizki on flickr) this morning-- they're making me giggle, especially the one directly below:

i just adore how he drew the man in the bath-- so creative!

and these creature drawings are just the greatest. look at the sperm whale!

{much more of nitzan's work can be seen on his flickr page.}

brand new surprise product!

oh.my.GOODNESS. i don't think i could be more excited to show this to you-- remember last week when i posted those circles and asked you all to guess what i was making out of them? well, my dears, here is the answer: necklaces!

i have been working on these for a little while and finally have my formula down-- the pendants are ceramic (bisque fired clay) and the patterned images are ceramic decals. the best part is that each necklace has a different pattern on each side, so they're really two-in-one!

{this necklace features my spiky flowers and wispy wispy patterns},

they are very sturdy, and will come with an 18" steel cord. you can see how they look on a person below. (ummmm, that person is me. the only other model available was my kitty, anika, and that would've been a bad idea!)

so, this little beauty is available in my etsy shop, and it's the first one! i will be listing more through the next couple of days, and i'll probably show you some more photos in the coming days, too, so stay tuned. and tell me what you think! like? don't like? have suggestions? please share!

giveaway alert!

i'm excited to tell you that there is an earth day giveaway going on over at indie fixx that features my work! cat from polarity and i collaborated on these awesome necklaces (part of her etsy artist locket series) that she creates using recycled car parts-- so the giveaway consists of one of cat's necklace sets featuring my artwork, and a matching print from me as well!

head on over to indie fixx to see the details on entering the giveaway, and feel free to tell me your plans for earth day this year in the meantime!

279 days to overnight success

good morning friends! hope your weekend was magnificent!

recently i started reading chris guillebeau's blog, the art of nonconformity, and WOW, it is a treasure trove. i figured this was the perfect way to start out a brand new week!

chris recently published this manifesto, called "279 days to overnight success,"
intended for bloggers, artists, writers, and anyone interested in creating a new career or expanding their influence through social media. i've started reading it, and let me tell you, it is *awesome*. (oh, and did i forget to mention that it's free? chris wants as many people to have access to it as possible!)

i highly recommend reading it, as well as following chris on twitter and reading his blog. he's so inspiring! (currently he's trying to visit every country in the world by april 7, 2013, and he's been to 107 out of 197. what an amazing goal!)

SK8 or Die IV at Young Blood Gallery

i just finished painting my skateboard that will be part of the upcoming SK8 or Die IV show at Young Blood Gallery here in Atlanta, and I'm so excited to show it to you! I've never painted a skateboard before. It was fun. :)

i think i'm going to call it "in the universe" or something like that. any suggestions? the show runs may 2-31, and 105 artists were invited to participate! what a fun show it will be to see in person. the boards will be in a silent auction on opening night, and then $100 after that.

i wonder if anyone will buy mine? it's sort-of girly. :)

i hope you all have a fabulous weekend! i will be working away on my animation, which is the never-ending project, and i am obsessed with it. see you monday! xoxo

little friends of printmaking

this print by the little friends of printmaking is making me giggle- it's so darn cute! it's called "year of the ox", and that little lumberjack is just too cute for words.

and the colors? to die for. perfect.

more goodies from the little friends of printmaking can be seen on their fun website!

yumalum

i recently discovered yumalum's etsy shop, and i'm totally in love with these prints. they're so graphic and wonderful! plus, the phrase just makes me smile. i would like to have one of these hanging next to my mirror! it would be a nice reminder to be kind to myself when i'm noticing things like a bad hair day, a zit on my chin, some smeared make-up.... you know those kind of thoughts! anyway, check out yumalum's shop, because there are some seriously awesome prints there. (this one is another of my favorites).