CCreech Studio - Sketches and News

New Jotter Journals!

2012-01-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

QUICK UPDATE: I have been working on some new jotter journals to list in my Etsy shop and just put my first set up.

These feature a print of my American Red Raspberry plant illustration. I look forward to creating more sets featuring other original illustrations including more botanicals, natural objects and wildlife. Stay tuned!

2012-01-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

I have been a busy bee for the last few weeks and am happy to finally announce that my Etsy shop is now open!

I have listed 6 bracelets and will be adding more of those as well as some of my botanical art and hand-bound journals.

Please stop by and take a look around and feel free to share with your friends.

I'd love to hear what you think of it and what else you might like to see there - just let me know!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

And here we are to New Year's Eve already! I want to wish each of you a very happy, healthy, creative new year in 2012!

I thought I would round out this year's posts (my 200th, in fact - wow!) with some images of gifts I created over the holidays. I was bracelet-crazy this year and had a wonderful time making these for friends and family:

Double wrap in 1.5mm brown leather with 4mm sodalite beads and a dark blue button closure.

Double wrap in 1.5mm brown leather with 4mm sodalite beads and a pearly button closure.

Double wrap in 1.5mm brown leather with 4mm lapis lazuli beads and an antiqued gold metal button closure.

Single leather wrap with 6mm flower amethyst beads and a cute purple and silver button closure.

Red leather macrame bracelet with a cute candy-cane striped bead for the closure.

Double wrap with 1.5mm dark brown leather
and gorgeous 6mm Tiger's Eye beads and a swirly brown and tan button for closure.

Double wrap black leather with elegant 4mm cat's eye quartz beads and a black button closure.

Another double wrap with black leather and 4mm cat's eye quartz beads, this time with a cloth-covered black button closure.

Double wrap in 1.8mm black leather with beautiful, vibrant green malachite beads and a faceted black button closure.

Double wrap with dark brown leather and 4mm Charoite beads. The swirls of browns, earthy greens and golds in the beads matched very well with the leather and gold metal closure.

Double wrap with 1.5mm black leather with fun snowflake obsidian beads and a silver metal flower button closure.

I also did a couple of additional jotter journals with some of my Spoonflower fabric swatches.

This is small jotter, approximately 3" x 3.5" made with 32 blank pages for notes, lists, doodles, etc. I used waxed linen bookbinding thread to sew in the pages and added a few white beads for embellishment. This is quilting weight cotton fabric in my roses pattern.

This small jotter is also approximately 3" x 3.5" made with 32 blank pages for notes, lists, doodles, etc. I used dark green s-lon beading thread to sew in the pages and added some flower amethyst beads on the spine for embellishment. This is quilting weight cotton fabric in my cyclamen pattern.

I am looking forward to a new year of creativity, drawing, beading, and perhaps more bookbinding. I am also interested in opening an Etsy shop, and I have some of my own ideas of what I'd like to include...what things would you like to see there?

Well, stay tuned for more creative adventures. I'd love to hear about the new things you are hoping to try in the new year, too, so let me know!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I thank you all for following along and for all of your comments, which I so enjoy reading. I look forward to having you join me for a new year full of artistic adventures!

Ink and colored pencil study of my Christmas cactus.

More Jotters! Wrapped Edges and End Papers.

2011-12-22T14:33:00.002-05:00

These are for you, Anita! :)

My friend Anita made a comment on yesterday's jotter journal post about my edge-fraying problem. We both agreed that wrapping the edges of the fabric around the card stock would be a good solution. I wasn't sure if it was worth the time to do that and include end papers since this is such a quick project. However, I decided to try it today and it worked beautifully! It really did not take much longer to do and I think it gives a much more finished look to the journals.

So, in today's experiment, I created two new little jotters. Both were done using my Tree Stripes fabric in cotton silk. It has a lovely sheen and gives a slightly fancier look to the finished product.

The first is about 3" x 3.5" and in addition to wrapping the fabric around the edges, I also sewed the pages in a bit differently, adding a large, decorative bead at the bottom for a little embellishment.

After gluing the card stock to the fabric, I trimmed the edges an prepared to glue them down. I also cut end papers to fit. What isn't shown here is that I had to trim diagonally across the corners leaving about 1/8" fabric so that when the edges were folded there wasn't too much bulk.

I glued the fabric edges down using my glue stick and after they dried a bit (under some waxed paper and a heavy book), I trimmed up the little bit of extra sticking out in each corner.

Finally, I glued down the end papers, again using my glue stick and pressing it under some waxed paper and a heavy book to dry.

The finished product! The quarter is in the photo for scale.

The second was inspired by the work of Louise Thompson, an artist from New Zealand, who makes incredibly beautiful and often miniature leather-bound journals. Check out her sites - she has a blog as well as an Etsy shop. Her shop is under the name Bibliographica. If you enjoy bookbinding at all or miniature things, you will really love it.

Anyway, my mini jotter is just 1 1/4 " square. It was made using the same cotton silk fabric in the Tree Stripes print.

Both journals have 32 pages of blank paper inside for little lists, notes, doodles, or thoughts. Also, the mini is very handy for my 4-year-old daughter who is using it as a book for her stuffed animals. :)

NOTE: I did both of these earlier today off and on with interruptions from the kids, drying time, etc. It really was a quick project. I can see me doing lots more of these.

My first Jotter Journal Attempt!

2011-12-21T18:40:00.005-05:00

What do you do with your extra fabric swatches and scrap pieces?

I discovered one great way to use them - create a jotter journal! What are jotter journals, you ask? They are little notebooks, quickly made, that you can drop into your purse or work bag to jot down notes, grocery lists, to-do items, etc.

Being a list-maker myself and accumulating quite a stack of Spoonflower swatches from recent proofs, I decided this was the perfect way to use some of them up to create fun, unique little jotters.

I first came across this idea at The Creative Place, an art and craft blog by Ashley Connelly. She recently posted a wonderful tutorial on creating these so I finally gave it a try. Here is the final result!

Ashley's tutorial gives all of the step-by-step details, but I modified my project a bit according to what supplies I had on hand as well as the fact that my machine sewing skills leave a bit to be desired. My supplies included:

Kraft cardstock - cut to approximately 6" long by 3.5" wide
Plain white computer paper - 8 sheets cut to approximately 6" long by 3" wide
Fabric swatch - I used a swatch of quilting weight cotton in my Orange Star blossom print. Because of the small journal, I have just enough of the swatch leftover for another jotter of this size.
Glue stick - craft size...it's a little wider than your average glue stick. Ashley used spray adhesive.
Waxed bookbinder's thread - about a 5-6 inches. This is for sewing the pages to the cardstock. It is what I have on hand, though you could use embroidery thread, yarn, or other decorative cord. Ashley sewed her pages in on her sewing machine.
Heavy needle with a big eye - mine is a bookbinder's needle that I had from a kit I bought one time.
Two bulldog clips, or other binder clips
Scissors
Credit card for smoothing the fabric.

I won't go into each step here, but I followed Ashley's tutorial, substituting my supplies as needed.

RESULTS and TIPS:

I found that the glue stick seemed to work just fine for adhering the fabric to the cardstock. Definitely make sure you get glue all the way to the edge of the cardstock and make it an even layer (no clumps of glue or it will bleed through the fabric.) One problem I seem to still have is a bit of thread here and there peeling away from the very edge. I'm not sure what the best fix is for that aside from folding the fabric over and gluing the edge to the inside of the jotter. But then you need to create end papers to cover the exposed fabric edge and it becomes a more involved project. Perhaps it is not a huge deal for an informal jotter like this?

The other big difference in my project was that instead of using a sewing machine to sew the pages to the cardstock, I simply cut a length of my waxed bookbinding thread, poked 6 holes, evenly spaced, in the pages and cardstock, and hand-sewed the pages in.

I put two small knots on the outer threads to hold it in place. You could get fancy and leave a longer tail on the bottom and add a decorative bead to it if you wanted. Or, you could also sew in a little closure that wraps around the journal horizontally. The bookbinding possibilities are endless! :) But for this simple on-the-go jotter, I thought a few well-placed stitches in the center would do just fine.

I am looking forward to creating more of these little gems with other fabric that I have. I might even get crazy and put some of my good drawing paper and create an on-the-go sketch journal! Lots of great ideas brewing. Let me know if you give this project a try - I'd love to see your results!

Stehekin MailArt Project! Celebrating a Tiny Town's Post Office.

2011-12-15T14:27:00.001-05:00

There is a really fun art project going on right now. It's called Stehekin MailArt and it's being put together by artist Earnest Ward. From the Facebook Event page description:

Stehekin is a small isolated township of 85 year-round residents located at the upper tip of Lake Chelan in Washington state. It is also the southern gateway to some of the most breathtaking scenery (and over half the glaciers) in the United States. Stehekin has no outside road access, no telephone landlines, no cellphone service. The post office serves as a link to the outside world, community bulletin board, and provisioning point for Pacific Crest Trail hikers.

Join us in celebrating the USPS decision NOT to close the township's post office by sending in your mail art.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Dec. 30, 2011
INSTALLATION: Jan. 15, 2011

The project website has additional details on what you can send (there are three themes - maps, fauna, mountains) and how large/small the artwork needs to be, as well as the mailing address.

I wanted to send one of my illustrations on a postcard. It didn't quite fit one of the themes, but I modified it a bit to be map-like. This is what I sent in today:

All of the artwork received will be posted on the website and in January will be installed in Stehekin's Golden West Gallery. What fun!

There are still two weeks to go and Earnest has mentioned that the deadline is a bit loose so as long as things come in by January 15, it should be able to be included. So, get your creative juices flowing and send something out!

Holiday Fabrics! Poinsettia now available.

2011-12-10T10:19:00.001-05:00

And here are a couple more for you! I took advantage of the recent fat quarter sale at Spoonflower and ordered a length of my poinsettia fabric in organic cotton sateen. It turned out beautifully! It's an elegant, simple design in black and white, based on my original pen and ink illustration of a poinsettia flower.

I also ordered a length of linen cotton canvas in my holly print.

Either of these would be great for holiday decor (placemats, table cloths, etc.) or even as reusable wrapping for gifts!

Hope you are enjoying the season so far!

New Fabric Designs For Sale!

2011-12-07T07:16:00.001-05:00

I love seeing a Spoonflower package in the mail :)

I received proofs of 6 new designs - all of which are now available for purchase! I was really interested to see how my Orange Star Blossom design printed up. It is based on my original graphite illustration of a beautiful little blossom from an Orange Star plant (Ornithogalum dubium).

I put it on several different backgrounds, including a dark blue, medium green, and white. I also did some variations on the blossom itself in my photo editing program and came up with a variation with an orange flower on a white background. All of these are a smaller-scale print that would look great on napkins, placemats, quilts, or other home decor.

Orange Star Blossom on Blue. This sample is printed on the limited edition cotton poplin fabric.

Orange Star Blossom on Green. This sample is printed on quilting weight cotton.

Both of the samples below are printed on the organic cotton sateen, which has a bit more sheen to it. The photos don't show that as well since I wanted to make sure you could see the design.

I also had my Tree Stripes, a complimentary fabric for my Trees collection, printed on the wonderful, new cotton silk. It's beautiful! I love the richness and shine.

Finally, I had one of my new Red Leaf in Autumn designs printed. It looks gorgeous! This sample is a fat quarter on organic cotton sateen.

Do you have a favorite one from this most recent batch? Or maybe you go for a different style altogether? I'd love to hear about your favorite fabrics and colors!

I think I'll have to start brushing up on my sewing skills. I'm starting to accumulate a nice stash of samples! Just like a blank piece of paper, there is nothing like the potential of a length of fabric. It's just begging to be transformed into something beautiful. :)

SALE - Two for One! Fat Quarters at Spoonflower.

2011-11-28T20:16:00.001-05:00

All this week, Spoonflower is running a 2-for-1 fat quarter sale. Get two fat quarters for the price of one. It's a great time to stock up on different designs or order a tea towel calendar!

Looking for a unique gift for the sewing or crafty person on your list this holiday season? I have 92 designs ready-to-order.

Or maybe you want to stock up for your own projects? Here are two of my designs, but you can find much more at my shop - have a look!

Red and yellow tulip squares Maple Tree Buds on Green

Small Business Saturday! Support Your Local Small Business, Including Artists!

2011-11-26T08:20:00.001-05:00

Today is the 2nd annual Small Business Saturday!

It is a wonderful opportunity to support your local small business owners, including artists and craftspeople, during this busy holiday shopping season. There are many talented artisans offering unique, high-quality handmade goods as well as artists offering original art of all genres on practical and fun products from print-on-demand companies like Zazzle.

Here are some great resources to get you started - check them out! I think you will find some terrific gift items for both the hard-to-buy folks in your life as well as some great gifts and stocking stuffers.

indiExhibit Holiday Gift Guide on Pinterest - Offers a wide variety of styles and products, from both handmade and print-on-demand artists and craftspeople for everyone from kids and teens to men and women. All items are produced by the very talented members of The indiExhibit, a global group of independent artists and creatives.
CCreech Studio on Zazzle - my original botanical, nature, travel, and wildife artwork featured on a wide variety of print-on-demand products including cards, t-shirts, mugs, coasters, tote bags, iPad cases, and more. I have been creating a number of new products on newly offered items by Zazzle including gel mousepads (great stocking stuffer!), puzzles, notebooks, ceramic tiles and gift boxes, and plates. Definitely worth a look around! Lots of great discounts being offered as well - check out Zazzle coupons as well as weekend deals.

Other artists worth checking out:

Country Mouse Studio - Zazzle store of artist Carole Barkett offers original watercolor and digital paintings of favorite subjects including birds, wildlife and all of nature.
Lynne Reichhart Fine Art - Zazzle store of artist Lynne Reichhart offers original artwork including archival prints.
Bugs, Beasts, & Botanicals - Etsy shop featuring the art of Mindy Lighthipe.
Bibliographica - Etsy shop of Louise Thompson, a New Zealand artist offering unique hand made journals, botanical photographic studies, & miniature wearable treasures.
Mary's Jewelry Designs - Texas-based jewelry artist Mary Bishop creates beautiful and affordable pieces, many of which use some of my favorite semiprecious stones like jasper and agate.

Whether you shop from any of the above stores or your favorite local artist or small business, be sure to show your support this holiday season and all year 'round!

Happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:15:00.001-05:00

Wishing all of my readers a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a chance to enjoy the day with family and friends and lots of good food. :)

Bracelet For Sale! Double Leather Wrap with Botswana Agate.

2011-11-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

Bracelet For Sale!

Botswana Agate with Warm Gray Leather.

This double-wrap bracelet features gorgeous 6mm Botswana agate stones in swirling banded patterns of apricots, dark grays and dusty purples. The 1.5 mm warm gray leather and antiqued metal button complete the look. This has two closures to fit wrist sizes 6 - 7.5 inches.

Metaphysically, Botswana agate is said to be a stone of harmony, giving courage, energy, strength, and emotional comfort. Agate also enhances creativity and stimulates the intellect.

$35.00 plus shipping. Michigan residents add 6% tax.

Email me if you are interested: carol @ ccreechstudio.com (Don't forget to eliminate the spaces in the address!)

FREE Standard Shipping for 24 Hours! Spoonflower Custom Fabric.

2011-11-17T07:56:00.001-05:00

Check it out! Spoonflower is offering FREE standard shipping on all orders for 24 hours!

My shop offers custom fabric designs featuring my original illustrations available in 9 different types of fabric including a wonderful organic cotton sateen, new cotton silk and a limited quantity of cotton poplin.

Take a browse through my shop to see if my designs fit any of your project needs!

Here are just 3 of my 51 currently available designs. If you see something and would like it in a different scale (smaller print or larger), just let me know.

Happy shopping!

House Portrait - Finished!

2011-11-15T16:21:00.001-05:00

I have completed another house portrait in pen and ink!

This was done on smooth Bristol with my 3x0 (.25) width Rapidograph pen. The drawing is 10 x 8 inches and will mat up to 14 x 11 and fit into a standard frame. I like working with the thinner pen width as I feel it gives me a little more control, especially with the size of the drawing.

This one is for a friend and her family who are building a new home at the same site. Her children, especially her youngest, expressed 'missing the old house' as they await moving into the new one, so I thought it would be a nice little memento to have of the original home. I worked from a photo of the house early-demolition, so I hope that it comes close to the original!

I hope to deliver it either in person or via mail over Thanksgiving. They may actually be close to moving into the new home then as well, so the timing is good!

Bracelet For Sale! Mookaite Jasper with Dark Brown Leather.

2011-11-13T08:41:00.001-05:00

Bracelet For Sale!

Mookaite Jasper with Dark Brown Leather.

This beautiful single-wrap bracelet features 6mm Mookaite jasper stones in rich tones ranging from dark reds and golds to creamy white. They come wrapped in dark brown leather with anatural wooden button closure.

Mookaite, like other jaspers, is said to be a very protective stone, and is particularly good as an emotional protector.

Fits wrist size 7-8".

$25.00 plus shipping. Michigan residents add 6% tax.

Email me if you are interested: carol @ ccreechstudio.com (Don't forget to eliminate the spaces in the address!)

Fabric Fun! More on Spoonflower...

2011-11-09T10:33:00.003-05:00

I have been having some fun on Spoonflower again :)

I am practicing creating better repeats in my patterns and have two new ones to show you:

This one features my new autumn leaf drawing. See the other leaf designs, which are in my Trees collection!

Also, I have been playing around with my graphite drawing of Orange Star blossoms and created a 'ditsy' or scattered print:

Check out the rest of the Orange Star designs!

And the Giveaway Winner is....

2011-11-08T07:58:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Leticia who is the winner of my bracelet giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest!

Giveaway! One More Day To Enter!

2011-11-07T06:45:00.001-05:00

You have one more day to enter my blog anniversary giveaway of this beautiful bracelet! It would make a great gift for yourself or for someone else this holiday season.

See the original post for details on how to enter. I will choose a winner by random number generator tomorrow, Tues., Nov. 8!

http://ccreechstudio.blogspot.com/2011/11/giveaway-time-my-3-year-blog.html

A Beautiful Fall Leaf!

2011-11-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, some new artwork! I had a rare opportunity this afternoon - toddler was napping and my older daughter and her friend were out in the yard playing on this gorgeous, fall day. They were bringing me leaves and this little gem was in the stash.

I haven't looked up what tree this is from - any ideas?

I was able to do an ink and colored pencil drawing on Fabriano Artistico (extra white) 140 lb hot press watercolor paper. I used my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils.

I really love the green and yellow mottling in the center and the rich reds throughout the leaf. Glad I drew it as soon as they brought it in as it's already mostly brown and the vibrant colors have faded.

What fun, autumn arts and crafts have you been up to lately?

Giveaway Time! My 3-Year Blog Anniversary!

2011-11-02T16:42:00.001-04:00

It's Giveaway Time!!

3 years - already?! Wow. Time sure does fly!

As a thank-you to all of you who have followed along on my wide-ranging artistic endeavors, I am giving away my latest creation - this beautiful, double-wrap leather beaded bracelet:

This earthy adornment has 16 inches of light-gray leather (1.5 mm wide) with a gorgeous strand of 4mm Rainforest Agate gemstones. The multi-colored stones include tones of moss green, rich red and light cream and the closure is a small, dusty-purple/red pearly vintage button.

Metaphysically, agate is said to balance yin/yang energy, enhance creativity, strengthen the intellect and give courage. It is a protective stone and one that eases anxiety and stress.

To enter the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post.
For a second chance to win, visit my Facebook page and leave a comment on the giveaway post there.

I will choose a winner via random number generator next Tuesday, November 8, my 3rd blogiversary!

Be sure to let your friends know about the giveaway. This would make a wonderful gift for someone for the upcoming holidays!

As always, thanks for reading and good luck!

Another Tiger's Eye Wrap Bracelet

2011-10-26T11:01:00.001-04:00

I have finished another Tiger's Eye leather wrap bracelet!

This one is going to be a gift - a big thank you to my customer who commissioned it! It has a wonderful swirly brown button at the closure that I think goes really well with the colors in the beads. It is a double wrap with 6mm Tiger's Eye beads so it has a nice heft to it.

I hope that the recipient enjoys it!

Tiles, Trivets and Boxes - Oh My!

2011-10-22T14:48:00.000-04:00

Zazzle has recently made some wonderful new products available in the marketplace. We can now create tiles, trivets, and beautiful gift boxes!

I am so excited at the possibilities since I have always thought tiles (and products featuring those, like trivets and boxes...) would really suit my artwork quite well.

I have been plugging away at creating the tiles first since you can choose to frame the tile as as trivet or put it into a gift box once you click 'customize'. Take a peek at some of my new products below and stay closely tuned as I continue to add more!

Daffodil Tile with Green Stripe

Garlic Scapes Tile

Add a trivet frame for a useful and decorative kitchen gift!

Japanese Crane Gift Box

Find all of the tiles I have created so far here: Tiles

Find all of the gift boxes I have created so far here: Gift Boxes
Note: you will see tiles here, too, since you can create a gift box from any tile. Simply click the 'customize' button when viewing a tile.

Any of these new products would make fantastic gifts for family and friends!

75% off of 75+ Holiday Greeting Cards at Zazzle!

2011-10-15T10:49:00.000-04:00

Zazzle is having a fantastic sale on holiday greeting cards:

75% off of orders of 75+ cards!

Use Code: JOY2THEWORLD at checkout.

That may sound like a lot, but I know we send out over 80 cards to family and friends each year, so it's really a pretty great deal!

Remember, you can choose different designs - they don't all have to be the same. You might like some of my offerings below and then find more of another designer on Zazzle. All of them can add up to you 75+ for the 75% off!

Maybe you'd like one design for your co-workers or employees, and a different one for friends and family? My current cards are below. All of these can be customized with your greetings, name, and more:

The offer is valid through October, 31 2011 11:59pm PT. Happy shopping!

More Spoonflower Proofs! Organic cotton sateen is so smooth...

2011-10-09T14:29:00.001-04:00

Here is the latest batch of proofs from my Spoonflower fabrics. All of these are now available for purchase.

I chose to order all of these in the organic cotton sateen, which has a lovely glossy finish and smoothness. It would make for terrific pillows, place mats, or clothing items. Of course, all of the other fabric styles are available for these, including quilting weight, organic cotton knit, upholstery weight twill, linen cotton canvas, silk crepe de chine, cotton voile, cotton silk. NOTE: They included a small swatch of the new cotton silk and it looks dreamy! I can't wait to order some.

All of these are swatch size except for the maple tree buds in green (far left) which is a fat quarter. I think they all turned out rather well, and I was particularly impressed with the 'Crema' stripe (center) which was an entirely digital design. It printed up beautifully! Oooo - what a luxurious book cloth it would make!

Stay tuned next week for a few more swatches that I ordered, including a sample of my Spring Rain Daffodils and more Maple Tree Bud variations.

Colorful Edibles! A new coloring book by the ASBA.

2011-10-08T16:11:00.001-04:00

Hot off the Press! The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) has published a wonderful new coloring book, Colorful Edibles. It features 28 pages of delicious line drawings by 26 ASBA members selected from nearly 80 submissions. I am excited to say that two of my drawings have been included!

You can find my garlic scapes on p. 14 and my raspberry plant on p. 22.

Contributing artists are: Bobbi Angell, Mary Bauschelt, Beverly Behrens, Irene Blecher, Doreen Bolnick, Silvia Bota, Carol Creech, Carrie DiCostanzo, Jan Denton, Beverly Duncan, Joel Floyd, Keiko Fujita, Gretchen Halpert, Carol Hamilton, Wendy Hollender, Lois Jackson, Jeanne Kunze, Marjorie Leggitt, Derek Norman, Suellen Perold, Kelly Leahy Radding, Maryann Roper, Nancy Savage, Pauline Savage, Judith Scillia and Kelly Sverduk.

Informative and attractive, the coloring book makes a great gift for children of all ages. Proceeds from sales benefit ASBA's educational programs. The book will be for sale at this month at the ASBA conference in Boston, and if you are interested in ordering, please contact the ASBA for details:

Phone: 212-691-9080 or Toll free tel (USA only): 1-866-691-9080

Email: asbamembservice@aol.com

Double Wrap Bracelet in Blue!

2011-10-04T08:54:00.000-04:00

Here's my latest bracelet! I mixed it up in the color department this time, going with 2mm black leather cord, 8lb smoke grey Fireline thread and 6mm sapphire blue round shell beads.

Yet another button from Gram's tin. This is a very nice, faceted black button which gives the closure a subtle bit of flair, I think.

I included an "in-progress" photo in case you were curious about how this looks as it's being done. It's easiest to keep straight if you clip one end to a piece of cardboard or other flat surface. I really need to invest in a simple clip board as I have seen others use. For now, I am getting by with this, but it's a little too short for this double wrap length. I also bought a bracelet beading tray from the craft store which is great for lining up beads, sorting out ones that are too small or damaged, and generally keeping the project in one place. It also has a handy lid that I can pop on top to keep it closed off from kids and cat. :)

I had a little birthday money to spend last week, so I made a nice trip to the local bead shop the other day with my girls. Bless the bead shop - they had a kid drawer with crayons and coloring books, so I actually was able to shop uninterrupted! I bought some beautiful 4mm Rainforest Agate and 1.5mm warm grey leather cording. I hope to make a nice double wrap (at least) out of that, so stay tuned!

I do find that at this point, at least, it's easier for me to stop and start work on a small sewing project like these bracelets than do much drawing. I hope to get back to some pencils and paper soon, but for now, I am happy to keep some creativity going with the beads!

50% Off Cards at Zazzle! Check it out!

2011-10-03T08:53:00.001-04:00

Zazzle is offerring 50% off card styles - see my full selection of postcards, greeting and note cards. Invitations are also included. Save big on your holiday mailings, thank you notes or invitations!

Use Code: ALLCARDSSALE

"Savor the Season" Holiday Card

Invitations are completely customizable with your event information. You can also choose paper style and color.

Take a look today!

Need Your Vote For My Mossy Frogs! 'Ditsy' Print Contest at Spoonflower.

2011-09-29T16:16:00.003-04:00

Spoonflower's contest this week is for small-scale, scattered prints, called 'ditsy' prints. I entered a variation of my Mossy Tree Frogs (see below).

I would love to get a vote from you! Just go to the contest page and click on the fabrics you like. You can vote for as many as you want, so browse around and remember to click on my mossy frogs! Voting goes through next Wednesday and the winner (as well as top 10) are announced next Thursday, October 6.

Thanks!

Tiger's Eye Leather Beaded Bracelet

2011-09-28T08:30:00.004-04:00

I am continuing on my fascination with wrap bracelets!

I completed a sweet little single wrap, this one with 6mm Tiger's Eye round beads and dark brown leather cord (2mm). It actually has a surprisingly nice heft to it, which is why I chose to only do a single wrap.

I love the look of Tiger's Eye as it has a silky sheen to it, an optical reflectance effect seen called chatoyancy seen in certain gemstones. It's like seeing swirls of honey and caramel wrapping around your wrist!

I paired the stones with another button closure from my box, this one a simple style in a matching dark caramel color.

Metaphysically, Tiger's Eye is said to be a grounding stone, bringing calmness, serenity, and harmony and the ability to see clearly.

Photos from the indiExhibit at the 63rd Annual Emmy Awards Gift Lounge

2011-09-25T21:04:00.000-04:00

Here are some additional photos from the 63rd Annual Emmy Awards gift lounge where The indiExhibit had a booth. The group distributed swag bags containing items donated by indiExibit members to visiting celebrities and included handmade jewelry and other handmade items, prints and products featuring original artwork, books written by members, and more. We were fortunate to also have included the first volume of IE Magazine, featuring member ads, a great way to further promote the independent artists and creatives who are our members.

This was my first big events with The indiExhibit, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to participate! I have an ad in the IE Magazine, and I was able to include a binder for my display item that featured my Woodland Peony illustration and my contact information. My swag bag item was a simple, but elegant packet of botanical seals featuring two of my other original botanical art pieces, the African Daisies and my Daffodil.

Below are just some of the celebrities who came by The indiExhibit booth and received our swag bag. Yes, I deliberately chose photos that show my binder, either in the front or the background. :) As you can see, the celebrities often hold one of the display items for the photo.

Jim O'Heir of Parks and Recreation - holding my display binder!

Alan Cumming

Beverly Mitchell

Joe Mantegna

Kate Linder of The Young and the Restless

Nia Peeples

Scott Adsit of 30 Rock

There was a great deal of interest in and support of The indiExhibit's mission to elevate the brands of independent artists. It was a very successful event!

For more information on The indiExhibit, founded by Shannon Justice of Lollipop Labs, visit their webpage or find them on Facebook.

Here's to a New Decade!

2011-09-21T08:55:00.000-04:00

Today is my birthday and it's a big one - 40! It is such a nice, round number :) I am excited to start a new decade.

I have spent a lot of time in the last couple of years setting up my Zazzle and Spoonflower stores, creating my business Facebook page, and updating the look of my blog and my website. Now that much of the infrastructure is in place, I think that one of my big goals in the coming year(s) is to simple do more art! I always have more botanicals that I want to do, and I am very interested in doing more beading, including more bracelets, but also working with seed beads. I would love to play around with some bookbinding as well. So, plenty of interest areas - I will not be bored, that is for sure!

Speaking of creating, I did manage to finish another wrap bracelet this week - a double wrap with lighter-colored leather and white and brown swirled shell beads (6mm this time.)

Well, I am off to do some regular stuff around the house and hopefully squeeze in some playtime with the beads, perhaps. Have a wonderful day!

indiExhibit Display at the 63rd Annual Emmy Award Gift Lounge!

2011-09-19T16:04:00.000-04:00

Here is one of the first pictures from The indiExhibit display table at the 63rd Annual Emmy Award Gift Lounge sponsored by GBK Productions. The event was held two days prior to yesterday's Emmy Awards.

This was my first event with The indiExhibit, a fantastic, supportive and global group of independent artists and creatives who pool resources to promote their work collectively through celebrity gifting and charity events.

The table looks fantastic and so many wonderful artists are represented here, including jewelry makers, writers, fine artists, multimedia artists and more. You can see my red Woodland Peony binder on the far right of the display.

The event was a huge success for the group with a number of celebrities stopping by the table to see our display as well as receive our swag bags with products from each of the artists. A big thank you to the indiExhibit staff, including Shannon Justice, Kerry White, Kathy Adalian, Heather Nelson, and Joan Kelly, whose hard work made this such a great success.

Check back this week for updates and additional photos from the event!

My Pinterest Page! Check it out.

2011-09-17T10:39:00.001-04:00

I have been hearing about Pinterest for awhile and finally created a page for myself. What a fun way to create visual bookmarks for yourself as you find things of interest on the web! I can definitely see using this to mark things for artistic and creative inspiration.

So far, I have boards for my Spoonflower Fabrics, things I find of interest in Bookbinding and Book Arts, and also Beading and Bead Embroidery. I am sure I will be adding more!

http://pinterest.com/ccreech/

Any other Pinterest users out there?

Broccoli Leaf - Ink and Colored Pencil - Advice?

2011-09-08T15:19:00.001-04:00

I am working on a broccoli leaf in ink and colored pencil, but am having trouble with the color.

The leaf is actually sort of bluish-gray/green with an almost chalky look to it. I can't seem to find any pencils in my current stash to render it correctly. I am using Faber Castell Polychromos and so far on this have used light green, permanent green olive and chrome green oxide.

I have many layers to go yet, but this shows you the initial stages of shading. The stem and underside of this particular leaf were more in the sun and do indeed have a yellow-green hue, but the top part of the leaf is almost a white-gray-blue-green. I am trying to figure out what colors to use in addition to how best to layer them. It will take some experimenting, for sure! And perhaps a purchase of some additional pencils.

Do you have any advice on how to get the blend of colors right? I'd love to hear from you!

I will keep plugging away and post more in-progress updates as they develop. Thanks!

Need Your Vote in the Bird Fabric Contest!

2011-09-08T12:54:00.002-04:00

Spoonflower hosts a number of design contests and this week's is for a palette-limited bird design. Three colors were set by Spoonflower and a fourth color was chosen by the artist.

I altered the colors and arrangement of my Japanese Crane drawing to meet the design requirements and entered it!

Here is what it looks like:

I would love to have a vote for my design if you are so-inclined! See the 'Vote for Bird Fabrics' link at the end of this post.

You can vote for as many fabrics as you want, so feel free to browse through all of the entries and click away at the ones you like. You can vote through next Wednesday evening and the results will appear on Thursday, September 15th. Thanks and happy bird-browsing!

Vote For Bird Fabrics

Great Giveaway from artist Lynne Reichhart! 50 Free Custom Brochures via Uprinting.

2011-09-01T22:46:00.002-04:00

Check out this giveaway of 50 free, custom brochures being offered by artist Lynne Reichhart (via Uprinting) at her blog:

An artists's ramblings by Lynne Reichhart

http://artbylmr.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-am-offering-another-great-giveaway.html

What a great opportunity to get some free, high-quality promotional materials!

See the blog above for details on the giveaway and how to enter, including multiple chances to win. You have until September 8th, but don't wait too long!

Good luck!

Mousepads from Zazzle - they look great!

2011-08-25T09:10:00.000-04:00

I recently ordered three of my designs on mousepads from my Zazzle store. They arrived yesterday and look fantastic!

The images printed up very well - crisp and clear with bright, true colors. Gorgeous! I am very pleased.

Japanese Crane - original done in ink and colored pencil.

American Red Raspberry - original done in ink and colored pencil.

Rose with buds - original done in colored pencil.

The holiday season is approaching faster than you think! You can find all my mousepad designs in my store here: mousepads

Keep these in mind for a useful and decorative gift for friends, family, employees and co-workers!

FREE Swatch Day today at Spoonflower!

2011-08-18T08:00:00.019-04:00

Today is FREE SWATCH DAY at Spoonflower!

You can pick from any design in the Spoonflower marketplace today and order one, free swatch. Not only are there many, amazing designs to choose from, there are a number of wonderful fabrics, too, so go out, browse and order!

NOTE: I just saw that the free swatch day is between 12 noon today and 12 noon tomorrow, Aug. 19. So wait until this afternoon to order!

Enjoy!

Fun with beading - my first bracelet!

2011-08-16T09:05:00.001-04:00

I have created my very first piece of beaded jewelry - a triple-wrap beaded leather bracelet!

I have seen these bracelets and love the look of them, especially with semi precious stones as the beads. I also know they are very popular and can be found all over Etsy as well as different stores for a wide variety of price points, but they looked fairly straightforward to me and I thought I could give it a try.

I have used a variety of stones like this in my bead embroidery, and knew I probably already had some of the supplies to get started.

I rooted through my bead box and found a nice stash of small, 4mm round Mookaite beads to use. According to the insert that came with them from the store:

"Mookaite is a jasper named after the local area it comes from, Mooka Creek in the Kennedy Ranges in Australia. Metaphysically, Mookaite is said to be a very protective stone, and is particularly good as an emotional protector. Hardness: 7"

Interesting! Regardless of metaphysical properties, nifty as they are, I love these stones mainly because they are multi-colored. The strands I have are a swirled with a warm range of colors from maroons and tan/gold, to warm white and dark brown. So pretty! With that in mind, I bought some dark brown leather cording at a craft store to go along with the warm-colored beads.

I did some web searching to find some details on how to make these and found both an online text tutorial as well as a YouTube video that were really helpful:

How To Create A Beaded Leather Wrap Bracelet

How To Make Wrap Bracelets - AuntiesBeads.com

Without getting into too much detail (that's what the tutorials are for) I used:

Fireline thread in a dark color to blend with the leather cord. It is much stronger than the Nymo thread they mention and works better for a bracelet like this. You can also use contrasting thread to make it stand out for a different look.
For the closure, a 'vintage' button from a tin of buttons from my grandmother's stash that I inherited years ago.
I did not glue the thread down on the ends as recommended, though I probably would do so if making another one. Either that or more securely sew the end beads so there is a little less movement.

I read/watched both and basically just decided to jump in and see how it would go. I can't emphasize enough that you should measure accurately! Twice I had to restart because I was short on thread and/or cord...in too much of a hurry! As my Dad always said, "measure twice, cut once!"

It only took me probably less than two hours to make (once I had the right length of thread, etc.), even with interruptions from the kids. It was pretty easy to do. One nice feature of these bracelets is that they can be made with an additional space or two at the end for the closure so that it can be adjusted to different wrist sizes. I can't wait to make another one!

Have you ever made one of these? What is your favorite type of bead to use?

FREE Swatch Day at Spoonflower! This Thursday, Aug. 18th

2011-08-15T08:00:00.002-04:00

Guess what? This Thursday, Aug. 18 is Spoonflower's 3rd annual free swatch day!

Having just joined Spoonflower earlier this year, it is the first time that I have had a chance to participate in, as well as order, a free swatch.

You can find my designs at my profile here: CCreech Studio - Fabric Designs or just click the Fabric Designs on Spoonflower link in the navigation bar at the top of this page.

Even if you are not interested in one of my designs, this is a great opportunity to stop by, have a look around and see what piques your interest.

If you have any home decor or other sewing projects coming up or just want to see what it's all about, mark your calendar and get your free swatch!

P.S. I'd like to send out a big THANK YOU to the individual who purchased a fat quarter of my Japanese Crane design this past weekend. You are my first official customer! :) I hope you enjoy the fabric!

Fabric variations! Trees and Feathers.

2011-08-03T16:14:00.001-04:00

Isn't it fun to play on the computer? I've been working on creating some variations for my fabric designs in Spoonflower.

I have created several different backgrounds for my Maple Tree Buds. I love how the buds line up in the repeat and think it would make a terrific home decor fabric for pillows, placemats or table runner, or chair cushion cover.

I have also been playing around with the feather illustration and created a few new variations (see different background colors in my Feathers collection):

All of these designs are not yet available for sale until proofed by me. I would love to know what you think and which you like best!

If you are interested in any of them in particular, or think another background/colorway would work better let me know!

In honor of Shark Week!

2011-08-01T08:34:00.000-04:00

Guess what? It's Shark Week! The annual Discovery Channel special features new shows about this fascinating animal. I am not a big water person, but for some reason, I just love Shark Week.

Spoonflower, perhaps not coincidentally, is having a Sharks-themed design contest with submissions ending tomorrow 8/2. Rather than go with a typical full-body shark or silhouette, I decided it might be fun to focus on teeth instead.

I used some public-domain reference photos and rendered a couple of smaller teeth alongside a larger tooth in ink and colored pencil. Though not entirely to scale, the larger tooth represents the ancient, extinct Megalodon which was the largest prehistoric shark.

Check out the Spoonflower contests page later this week to vote for your favorite shark design!

House Portrait in pen and ink - another finished!

2011-07-31T19:17:00.000-04:00

I have completed my most recent house portrait commission that I showed you in-progress earlier this month. The final turned out very well, I think. It is approximately 10 x 8 inches and was rendered with a 3X0 (.25) Rapidograph technical pen on smooth Bristol paper (100 lb.)

I have one more house portrait to start on and then I think I will be working on some more botanicals. But you never know what might catch my eye in between, so stay tuned!

Have a great week!

The Feather - In Progress

2011-07-26T10:37:00.000-04:00

I took several photos of the small feather during my drawing process. As I mentioned before, this was a fairly quick drawing (spent maybe a 1/2 hour, interrupted several times by the kids!), so it definitely could have been done more carefully. I was so excited to find it that I didn't want to let the opportunity to draw it pass, so I accomplished what I could in the time I had.

My initial graphite sketch.

This looks more delicate and perhaps I should have stayed with a graphite drawing to capture the downy aspects at the bottom of the feather.

Ink drawing.

You can see I got a little messy with the pen work on the dark spot on the left. I should have stopped further from the center shaft. I used a 3x0 (.25) Rapidograph pen (the smallest size I have) and it still looks too heavy to me.

Perhaps I should have put less lines down and just hinted at the structure more rather than trying to draw all of it in. It's a learning process!

Final colored pencil drawing.

You can tell this photo was taken in natural light by the window. The feather looks much whiter at the bottom. In person, that area is more gray and the photos of the previous stages above are more accurate, I think.

I used my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils: walnut brown for the dark spots, raw umber and burnt sienna for the lighter brown areas, layered with some warm grey V and warm grey II.

Have you ever had done any feather drawings? How do you keep the delicate nature of the drawing intact, even when using ink? I would love to hear about your experiences!

Another Feathery Find!

2011-07-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Feathers are apparently a theme this summer! Ok, I've only found my second so far, but that's two more than I have found in the past 4 years here, so I would say that would count. Perhaps the birds would like me to expand my subject matter :)

This most recent find was on our front porch when I went out to water my hanging baskets this morning. It is about 2.5 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. It has a smoky taupe color with two dark brown patches on it. The downy bits at the bottom are a lighter gray with a bit of the browner/taupe color here and there.

I attempted to do a quick drawing in ink, so I think that overall, my drawing is darker than the feather itself, but I wanted to try out the line work. Because the feather is so small, I might have been better off sticking just with very sharp colored pencils, or graphite.

I added some colored pencil on top of the pen to get a sense of the colors.

I am not entirely sure what bird this came from - any ideas? We have several small birds that hang out around our porch, but I am not sure if they are sparrows or wrens or something else?

Hope you enjoy this most recent find!

Notice anything new?

2011-07-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

Why yes, that's a new logo! :)

I am excited to debut the new look for my business - check out the updates on my website, store, and Facebook page!

I love the simple, yet professional look of the logo. It was created for me by a graphic designer, Alejandro Farfan, who walked me through a creative brief and three rounds of suggested logos before I decided on what I wanted.

Three rounds for something so simple, you might ask? Yes! It turns out that analyzing how you want to represent your business takes a bit of brainstorming. I found it very interesting to think about, for example, whether I wanted an emblem-type logo to symbolize my business or just the business name, a logo in color or black and white (the text, especially), what type of graphic I wanted to include, and whether I wanted a larger, more involved graphic vs. a smaller, more subtle one. Not to mention, having in mind my audience, who I market my work to, how I want them to view my business, etc.

Alejandro was instrumental in taking my comments and ideas and putting them into visual form. That gave me concrete examples that I could then look at, think about, decide what I liked and didn't like about them. I was sort of surprised that I decided to go with just the text of the business name, but after much thought, I feel that the final result truly represents me and my artwork. Simple and elegant, yet personal, reflecting my interest in and inspiration from nature. I love it!

Have you ever gone through a similar process for your own business? What did you find most surprising about the process?

House Portrait in progress!

2011-07-22T15:37:00.000-04:00

I am making good progress on my current project - an 10 x 8 inch pen and ink house portrait.

This property has quite a few trees and foliage around the house itself. One of the trees is situated right in front of the front door. I always try to make sure at least part of the door is visible, so I have been working with the owner to determine how big to make the tree.

Here is a progression that you might be interested in seeing - from initial pencil drafts through several revisions of the front tree:

Rough pencil draft placing house features, trees, etc.

Additional details on the house and landscaping.

I sent this draft to the owner to see if the scaling-down of the front tree was acceptable.

The owner wanted to expand the tree a bit more to reach up to the upper window, so this is the adjustment I made.

The owner approved the height of the tree, but I did some additional tweaking on the sides to fill it out a bit more.

I actually did some more revisions on the brick work as I thought it looked too heavy and uneven here. Stay tuned for the next update to see the finalized pencil draft and beginning pen work!

Visit to Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, MI

2011-07-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

So the kids and I were looking for something different to do last week and decided to head up to Matthaei Botanical Gardens for a visit. The weather was warm, but not too hot, and we had a great time.

They have a wonderful Conservatory inside - we took a quick look through where we saw a number of beautiful plants including some I couldn't find identification on. My girls are 4 and almost 2 - they weren't stopping for long to let Mom look for signs - so I snapped a few photos hoping to identify things later. If you have any ideas on what the unlabeled items are, please let me know! :)

We then made our way outside to the Gaffield Children's Garden. It's a fantastic place for the kids to explore, interact and enjoy. I highly recommend it if you are in the area!

Purple Heart

Not sure - very cool leaves, though.

Not sure? Love the variegation on the leaves.

Pincushion Cactus

Black-Eyed Susans

Another not sure - beautiful leaves on this tree. Any ideas?

One of my all-time favorites - Purple Cone Flowers

Have you had a chance to visit any of your local botanical gardens or other interesting summer-time sites? I'd love to hear about it!

Do you have a favorite summer flower?

As usual, I can't wait to do some sketching, even if from my reference photos. So many fun shapes and textures to capture!

Squirrel on Tree - Ink and Colored Pencil

2011-07-14T08:46:00.001-04:00

This is another sketch from a few years ago. We live near the University of Michigan campus here in Ann Arbor, so squirrels are always around. This one was climbing down a tree as we sat outside on a beautiful fall day. It is skinnier than you normally see at that time of year!

I tried to capture the wonderful curves of the tail as it swished around, so I included some of the line work here, even though it may look a little odd in the finished drawing.

I quickly added some colored pencil after the fact. It should probably be a little more gray, but at least the color adds a bit more life to the drawing.

African Daisy Blossom - Graphite Sketch

2011-07-06T14:53:00.000-04:00

I've been busy traveling a bit lately and haven't had a chance to do much drawing. But I am tired of looking at my last post! :) So, I figured I would upload a sketch I did a few years ago of an African Daisy blossom.

I love the unique shape of the petals, which are also known as a Spoon Daisy or Spider White. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Do you want to learn a little more about me and my art?

2011-06-20T13:54:00.001-04:00

Are you curious to learn a bit more about me and my art? Just nosey? That's OK, too! :)

Come on over to Meet the Makers, Interviews with artists and designers from around the world. They have published an interview with me today:

Creative Carol Creech

Hope you enjoy learning a bit more about me! Have a great day.

Blog Design Update!

2011-06-19T13:15:00.001-04:00

As you can see, I've been working updating the look to my blog!

I have added a link bar to the top for easier access to my other sites including Spoonflower, my website, Zazzle store and Facebook. I have also tried to increase the font size a bit -- still working on getting the posts to a larger font (think I have to just do that one at a time as I make new posts.)

Anyway, hope you like the new look. Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, etc. I'd love to hear what you think!

In the meanwhile, I will be working on more drawings (have a couple of house portraits in the queue as well as more wildflower drawings to do...), so stay tuned for more drawing fun!

Spoonflower Profile - Newly Updated!

2011-06-18T10:28:00.001-04:00

Spoonflower recently reorganized the shop profiles, adding easier navigation and viewing. You can now have a shop banner and can view fabric designs by:

Sale Status:

Fabric for Sale - these are designs that have already been proofed and are available for purchase.
Designs Not for Sale - these are designs I am working on, but have not yet had proofed (i.e., printed up on fabric to approve.)
All - view all designs, regardless of selling status

Sorting: Now you can also sort (yeah!) by:

Recent - recently created designs
Popular - most popular designs
Collections - designs by collection. I have expanded on some of my floral designs, so I have split these up into collections such as Woodland Peonies, Iris, Daffodils, Tulips, etc. For all design viewing, you can click on Show Me More Designs to see more in that collection.

I think the new organization is so much easier to use. Feel free to stop by and look around! As always, I would love to hear what you think of any of the designs, constructive suggestions included :) You can comment here on the blog, or right in Spoonflower at the bottom of each design view page. Happy browsing!

Red-Tailed Hawk Tail Feather - First Molt?

2011-06-07T17:14:00.000-04:00

I had a rare find when I was out and about recently -- a beautiful feather. I looked it up and think it is a red-tailed hawk tail feather from a first molting. I was able to do a very rough sketch of it and took some photos. I hope to do a more detailed pen and ink study of it, adding color. This is graphite pencil with some colored pencil added to get a sense of the color scheme.

I love the pattern of dark brown, tan, and creamy white and was fascinated to see all of the details up-close.

Have you ever found anything unusual in your wanderings that you were able to draw or photograph?

Trillium line drawings in ink

2011-06-04T08:32:00.000-04:00

I have started working on some wildflower drawings using sketches and reference photos I took on my art retreat last month. Here are two line drawings of trillium wildflowers. My goal is to work on adding colored pencil to these. Stay tuned to see how they are coming along!

Working on some more fabric designs - flowers, lions. stripes, oh my!

2011-06-02T08:31:00.000-04:00

I have been doing a little more work on my designs in Spoonflower - adding some slight variations to my botanicals can transform a pattern. For example, this new design featuring my purple cyclamen could be used in a number of ways, but I can see it as a delicate scarf!

Another example is my rose with buds - can you tell I like stripes?! :)

I also have gone back to black and white with this lion study in pen and ink. I could see this being used as-is or paired with a solid fabric for a quilt, tote bag, place mats, kitchen tea towel and more.

What colors or patterns do you like in your home or for projects?

The Fish Bridge to Japan Project - Gyotaku printmaking

2011-05-27T22:55:00.002-04:00

What do you know about natural science printmaking? Not much? Me either, until just recently!

Through the Guild of Natural Science illustrators (GNSI) I learned about a project that one of the GNSI members, Stephen Di Cerbo, is working to get funded through Kickstarter called The Fish Bridge to Japan. Stephen has been developing his technique in Gyotaku printmaking for over 20 years and is hoping to travel to Japan to study under the tutelage of master Gyotaku printmaker Mineo Yamamoto.

As described on Stephen's blog, Icthyography, Gyotaku is "a relatively new art form [that] came to America in the 1950s and its history can be traced back a couple hundred years. Used to identify species of fish and record size of catches, gyotaku is often seen as a parallel to Taxidermy. It has evolved into an art form and unique type of illustration, and techniques and methodology continue to be refined today. A form of relief printmaking, it allows for an intimate familiarity with the morphology of the fish.

Not only are Gyotaku images popular in gallery art and editorial illustration, the process is a great tool for art and science educators to expose students to ichthyologic identification and morphology, as well as relief printing."

How cool does that sound?

I have been a member of GNSI since 1998 and am continually in awe of the very talented artists and illustrators who are a part of this group. I am going to contribute to the fund and hope to encourage others to do so if you are so inspired!

Pledges start at just $1.00 and Stephen is offering pledge rewards to those who back his project including note cards, limited edition prints and more - check out the project details at The Fish Bridge to Japan. He only has until May 31st at 12pm EDT to reach his pledge goal.

Even if you don't want to pledge, click on over and take a look to learn more about this fascinating art form!

Spring Giveaway winner! And some big Zazzle Memorial Day sales.

2011-05-26T14:50:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Brittany R. who is the winner of my Spring Giveaway!

Thank you all so much for participating! And thanks for all of the additional Facebook fans and blog followers! I will be adding more drawings and creative posts throughout the summer.

But wait! There's more :)

Zazzle is offering some great Memorial Day sales. Come on by and check it out! Great gifts for graduates, Father's Day, summer fun and more!

40% off of prints and posters
25% off of all stickers (like my botanical seals, book plates, and regular stickers!)
15% off of iPad and iPhone cases
10% off of everything else!

Use this code at checkout: MEMORIALSALE

Have a great weekend!

Only One More Day! Reminder - Spring Giveaway!

2011-05-25T07:45:00.000-04:00

You have just one more day to enter my Spring Giveaway! At 12 noon tomorrow, Thursday, May 26, I will use a random number generator to choose a winner from the comments listed in my original post from last week.

See the post for details and enter today!

Giveaway! Botanical Art Note Cards and Matching Seals

2011-05-19T10:17:00.002-04:00

It's giveaway time!

In honor of spring, I am excited to offer another give away, this time it's a set of 5 of my botanical note cards with matching botanical seals! The set includes the following illustrations:

African Daisy
Purple Cyclamen
Daffodil
Woodland Peony Seed Pod
Tulip

Along with each card, the winner will receive 4 matching botanical seals for a total of 20 seals! Three of the cards are "thank you" notes, and all of the cards are blank inside. These make terrific additions to your stash of note cards for thank yous, congratulations, birthdays or other greetings. The set also makes a lovely gift for the gardener, botanist or flower-lover in your life!

Each card is:

4" x 5.6"
Printed on ultra-heavyweight (120 lb.) card stock with a gloss finish.
Each card comes with a white envelope and is blank inside.

The seals are:

1.5" x 1.5"
Gloss finish

To Enter

Leave a comment on this post with your name and contact information (email address or website/blog address is fine), by Thursday, May 26, at 12 noon (EDT), and I will use a random number generator to choose the winner.

For extra chances to win, leave an additional comment here to tell me if:

You already follow my blog OR you have become a follower
You have posted about this giveaway on your blog (please include a link to the post)
You have posted about this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter (please include a link to the post)
You go to my Facebook page and "Like" it! Or, if you are already "liking" it.

All of these cards, seals and much more can be found at my Zazzle store. Please stop by for a visit!

Be sure to tell your friends about the giveaway!
And thanks for visiting!

Circle of Art 2011 is today! Starting at 12 p.m. at Saline Picture Frame Company

2011-05-15T08:51:00.001-04:00

The 7th annual Circle of Art party is today! If you are local, stop by the Saline Picture Frame Company in Saline, MI to bid on your favorite small works of art. 100% of the money goes to Food Gatherers to feed the hungry in our community.

More than 450 pieces of art have been donated by local artists, including myself. My purple cyclamen is there, ready to be bid on!

New Fabric Swatches from Spoonflower!

2011-05-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

I recently received my latest batch of fabric swatches from Spoonflower. I wisely read the instructions online this time and ordered the swatch sampler, which was much more reasonably priced per swatch. I can get up to 30 designs on one large sheet of quilting weight fabric. I think this one contained about 27 designs and it was around $39 total with shipping. Much better than $5.00 per swatch, individually.

I think they all turned out pretty nicely, with a few favorites like the purple cyclamen, the tulip and daffodil variations with different backgrounds, and the woodland peonies. I also like how some of the frog prints turned out. Ok, I really like pretty much all of these. :) Most of these are now for sale in my Spoonflower profile (I may revise the windmill prints before posting for sale...), so feel free to check them out there for a closer look! I'd love to hear what you think and am always open to suggestions for improvements, different sizes, etc.

A little closer view - loving those tulips!

The purple cyclamen looks especially nice, I think. And I love the idea of using that large, single woodland peony on a pillow or tote bag.

Other project ideas? I'm thinking bookbinding (covers, perhaps embellished with some beading), a bag or purse, maybe a table runner or even a nice scarf. So many ideas, so little time! What fabric projects do you envision with these, or what fabric projects are you currently working on?

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Art Retreat - Part 2

2011-05-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

So, what kinds of things did I get to draw on my art retreat weekend? Take a look below!

[See Art Retreat - Part 1 for details on PCCI where the retreat was held.]

Most of these drawings were done in the field as I stopped when something caught my eye. I wanted to include color in some of these, so I made a point to do some sketches with ink and colored pencil. It really helps with the wildflower sketches since I wanted to capture what I was seeing at the moment and do my best to identify them.

As you can see, I often scribbled little swatches of color on the side of the page to see if it would match before adding it to the drawing. I used a tan-toned paper for this first drawing of beautiful little spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) that were all over the woods, many right alongside the trails. I think the paper gives the drawing some warmth, and I like drawing a white flower on toned paper. A number of the talented artists who were at the retreat with me already have a good grasp on the local flora, so I was able to identify these very quickly with their help.

I spent a good bit of time sitting on the ground (on my trusty garbage bag to stay relatively clean and dry) drawing the details of this small plant which was only about 4-5 inches off of the ground.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

I continued my walk along one of the trails and kept seeing small trees with these gorgeous, papery leaves that were all curled up. I believe these are beech trees and so I stood for a bit right in front of this tree and drew some of the leaves in graphite pencil. I love the shapes. They looked like speckled parchment, all rolled up.

American Beech Tree and Leaves (Fagus grandifolia)

Right after I had done the leaves, I thought I should do some more walking and not just sit in one spot all day! But then I saw this little peek of yellow on the ground and found a beautiful trout lily. Again, I didn't find out the name until later when I showed someone my sketch. They have graceful, bell-shaped flowers with really interesting, mottled leaves. The color in the sketch below wasn't quite right on the leaves, but it was the best I could do with the pencils on hand. The leaves were sort of thick with almost cloudy light green patches mixed in with darker purple/brown mottling. The drawing and colored pencil work here isn't as nice as I had hoped, but I took lots of photos of this one and others I saw later so I plan to do a nicer, finished piece sometime.

Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

I included this sketch of mushrooms on a log to show that field sketching often includes partial and not-so-attractive drawings. The point, though, is to work on visually capturing things that I was seeing. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I will always remember crouching by the ground doing a quick pen sketch of this.

Mushrooms on Log

These beautiful, red flowers were growing right in the bed near the Education Center. We think they might be a wildflower called Prairie Smoke. They had not quite bloomed yet and it was too windy right up on the sidewalk every time I went to draw them, so I just did a couple of quick sketches and took some photos for future use.

Prairie Smoke?

Finally, on Sunday, we did some more hiking where there were lots of wildflowers, and I saw a delicate little flower called Dutchman's Breeches. There are multiple flowers on one stem, so it was hard for me to capture in a quick sketch. They do have these frond-like leaves, so I drew part of one in this study. We also saw a number of white trillium, some of which were not yet blooming and some that were. I had a chance to sit and study some leaves and wanted to capture the drape and venation pattern of them, so I didn't mind that it had no flower yet. Again, I have tons of reference photos, so this is on my to-do list as well.

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) and Trillium Leaves (Trillium grandiflorum)

I hope you enjoyed following along on my art retreat adventures! The weekend went entirely too fast. I am definitely inspired not only to do more artwork, but to start exploring some of my local parks and of course the Arboretum here in Ann Arbor as the weather warms up!

Have you had a chance to do any field sketching or nature observation lately? I would love to hear about what you have done!

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Art Retreat - Part 1

2011-05-01T21:30:00.002-04:00

Relaxation, creativity and new friends! What a great combination. I just returned from a fantastic weekend art retreat at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute (PCCI) in Hastings, MI (near Battle Creek.) It is a 661 acre public environmental education center whose mission is to promote environmental education, research, preservation, and appreciation.

View of the back of the Visitor Center, heading over from the Education Building

I met up with nine other natural science artists and illustrators to spend some time recharging our creative batteries. It was a friendly and good-humored group, and I very much enjoyed spending time with like-minded artists in such a relaxing setting.

There are seven miles of trails to explore at PCCI, many of which are easy to walk and perfect for frequent sketching and painting stops. Everything from fungus covered logs and spring wildflowers to deer, birds, and wetland critters were visible and great subjects for sketches. I was able to squeeze in a few drawings while walking around and will post some this week. I also took a lot of photographs and have a nice stash of reference photos for future project use.

Part of the Blue Trail

Part of the Green Trail heading that circles the back of the Visitor Center

Spring Beauties that peppered the sides of many trails

Our accommodations were in Hyla House, a remodeled farmhouse with ten single rooms and one double room, four full baths and a kitchen. It was a charming and very comfortable place to stay with a short and pleasant trail walk to the Visitor Center and Education Building. We didn't need the kitchen at the house, though, as we had wonderful meals in the Visitor Center dining room created by the Institute's chef, Richard Centala.

Hyla House

The weather held out for us rather nicely. The sun was shining brightly on Friday with clear, blue skies. Saturday was a bit windy and cool, but not too bad. And today started out warmer and cloudy, but by the time I left at lunch the sun was back out. We were fortunate to avoid any rain, which allowed for lots of exploring and outdoor time for those who chose to do that. The Education Center and it's classrooms allowed folks to enjoy a beautiful view of the grounds while working on projects indoors or taking a break from exploring the trails.

Sketchbook, pencils, wildflower

Sitting on the trail, on a garbage bag which was handy for getting close to those low-growing wildflowers, I worked on drawing a Trout Lily that you can see off to the left of my sketchbook. A close-up is below. What interesting, mottled leaves it has with a graceful, dangling yellow blossom.

Trout Lily

Even though it was a quick couple of days, I feel entirely different and appreciated having such a great opportunity to change the routine and focus on observing nature for a bit. The creative juices are flowing!

Check back for Art Retreat - Part 2 where I'll post more photos as well as sketches that I worked on this weekend. Have a great week!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:00:00.012-04:00

Blessed food for a blessed day. Hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Make your own fossil! Birthday party idea for kids.

2011-04-21T11:53:00.000-04:00

We had a 4-year-old birthday party last week for my daughter and a bunch of her friends. She loves dinosaurs, so we were using that as a theme. I wanted to have some kind of fun craft for the kids to do while they were here and did some searching online. I saw some good ideas about having the kids make their own fossils with plaster of Paris and plastic dinosaurs that they would 'bury' and then uncover later at home.

I went looking for plaster of Paris, but came across air-dry modeling clay instead. A glimmer of an idea took shape. What if the kids could make their own fossils with this? I have some sea shells at home and my daughter has a bunch of plastic dinosaurs of various shapes and sizes and they could use those to make impressions in the clay. It takes 2-3 days to dry, so they could play around with it all they wanted during the party and then take it home. It was easy, not too complicated and would give the kids something fun to do.

So I bought two small tubs of the modeling clay and split it up into small lumps in plastic baggies for easy distribution at party time. I had over 20 bags of clay from both tub. We had about 16 kids at the party ranging in age from 20 months to 6 years and some of the younger kids did not do the craft, so it worked out well in terms of quantity.

I bought some small, plastic plates and each child got a lump of clay and a plate. We put all of the 'fossil' materials in the middle of a blanket on the floor and everyone just sat down and made their own fossils. Dinosaur footprints were pretty popular!

The kids seemed to really enjoy it. When they were done, we wrapped some foil over the plate and put the child's name on it with a marker. They were able to take it home later when the party was over. Aside from a little bit of clay residue on their hands and a few clay bits on the blanket, it was not very messy at all. Perfect!

ASBA Member Profile is up!

2011-04-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

I have been a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists for a few years now. It is a wonderful nonprofit organization "dedicated to to promoting public awareness of contemporary botanical art, to honoring its traditions, and to furthering its development."

ASBA Membership is open to all artists and others interested in furthering the development of botanical art and members currently include over 1200 professional artists, students, botanists, collectors and gallery owners, and botanical institutions from throughout the United States and 25 countries around the world.

Members have the option of having a profile page appear in the online Members Gallery, and I finally got around to creating a profile and choosing two images to post. I am very early in the process of developing my botanical art skills, but am proud to be listed among so many talented and amazing artists.

Take a look around! It's a wonderful feast for the eyes.

Stickers and Preschool Presentation - How to tell 3-year-olds about drawing?

2011-04-11T14:53:00.001-04:00

So today I did a presentation to my daughter's 3-year-old preschool class about drawing.

How do you keep preschoolers interested in a short talk? Interactive and hands-on!

Ask Them Questions

I only had about 10 minutes, and so I did some back and forth questions and answers with the kids, asking about drawing, what they liked to draw with, etc. I told them what I like to draw, including houses, animals and flowers, and explained some of the materials I use.

Give Them Something to Touch

While I was talking, I passed around different paper (rough drawing paper, smooth hot press watercolor paper) so that they could feel the difference, and I showed how a crayon mark looks different on each. I also passed around some printouts of drawings I have done.

I think the biggest hit, however, were the daffodils that I brought. I told them how I especially like to draw flowers and gave them each one to look at up close. We talked about what shapes they saw in the center or in the petals and how that is a good way to draw something - by looking at the shapes you see. They liked pulling them apart, of course. :)

Something to Take Home

I gave them each a small piece of the rough and smooth papers to take home along with some stickers (of my tulip, daffodil and camel drawings--yeah for Zazzle stickers!) and a coloring page of the one daffodil drawing so that they could color at home if they want. I figure that if they took nothing else out of the little talk, maybe they would have fun coloring later!

Overall, not a bad first attempt at presenting to young kids! I owe a big thank you to fellow Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) members who gave me some great suggestions for making the presentation a success.

Have you ever presented your art or craft to young kids? How did it go?

CCreech Studio featured on ArtPlantae Today!

2011-04-06T14:08:00.000-04:00

I am happy to share that I have been featured in an interview on the blog ArtPlantae Today, a wonderful online resource created by Tania Marien whose aim is to increase botanical literacy by encouraging an interest in plants and nature through illustration. It is and educational website to connect artists, educators and naturalists.

Tania graciously offered to interview me about my experience with Zazzle, and how I use it to introduce my art to a broader audience. Read the full interview here!

While you are there, feel free to browse around - there are many fantastic posts interviewing very talented contemporary botanical artists, classes near you, and a store offering books and more.

Hope you enjoy and thanks to Tania for the opportunity!

New Stickers! Book plates for your personal library and more.

2011-04-05T13:24:00.001-04:00

Do you ever lend your favorite books to family and friends and worry about getting them back? Consider adding personalized book plate labels!

I have created a whole line of library book plate stickers in several different shapes and designs. Zazzle recently added new sticker shapes including square, rectangle, oval, heart, star and triangle, and they are now 25% off through April 11, 2011. Use code: STICKERSHAPE upon checkout.

These would be great for special sets of books in your home or business such as cookbooks, art books, gardening books and more. Take a look!

Circle of Art 2011! Turning Art into Food.

2011-04-04T17:12:00.000-04:00

Circle of Art is a wonderful local fundraiser hosted by the Saline Picture Frame Company in Saline, MI. This year is the 7th annual event. Local artists donate small works of art that are posted online for bidding. On May 15, a party is hosted by Saline Picture Frame Company where all the art can be seen in person and further bids accepted in a silent auction. All of the proceeds go to benefit Food Gatherers.

The money raised over the last six years from the sale of these small pictures, sculptures, fiber works, jewelry and more has enabled Food Gatherers to provide more than 125,000 meals to local people in need.

If you are a local artist, consider donating something! Artists can donate up to two pieces and donations are accepted through April 29.

Check out all of the wonderful donated artwork! You can see my original purple cyclamen drawing that I donated today.

Enjoy Your Own Art! Creating a Home Gallery

2011-04-02T22:58:00.001-04:00

Do you have finished artwork hiding in drawers, on shelves or other unseen places because you haven't had the time to figure out how to display it?

I do! Like many part-time artists, I don't have a formal studio, but rather a nice little corner in our living room where I have piles of sketch pads, works-in-progress, and finished pieces carefully stacked on my bookshelf to keep them up out of the hands of my curious young children. This means that I tend to forget about pieces or tuck them away in a portfolio until "later".

Well, I finally decided that later was now, and I wanted to see what I could do to get some of this art up on the walls here at home! I feel sort of silly when family and friends come over and I have to dig through my piles to find anything to show them. :)

So, I started thinking about what I needed to put some of my pieces and came up with a couple of basic points. I wanted:

A simple, neutral color for frames - this creates a unified display and puts the focus on the art.
Frames that included mats, glass (or plexiglass) and were ready-to-hang.

Recently, while out and about for the morning, I decided to stop by Michael's to browse around. Not one to be very vigilant with coupons or sales, I was happily surprised to wander in while they were having a 40% off frames sale. Yeah!

I was able to find some very nice, affordable black metal frames that have a great double mat inside. I really like double matting as I think it tends to showcase the art nicely, especially the botanical illustrations that I have been doing lately.

I chose to go with the double white mat (rather than double black) and found several different sizes to fit pieces I knew that I wanted to frame. I bought just two on my first visit and then went back later in the week to get three more when I saw how nicely they worked.

The frame backing is just like any photo frame with the little metal tabs that slide under the grooved edge.

The framing process took just a few minutes for each piece of art. I had a little trimming to do to make sure the art fit into the mat/frame. I did not even tape the artwork down, though you could use framer's tape to make sure it stays in place. Once that was done, I just replaced the backing and voila! Beautiful, framed, finished art, ready to put on my wall.

(having a bit of trouble with the blog orienting this picture vertically, instead of horizontally, but you get the idea...)

Now what? Well, fortunately, we have a great open floor plan and lots of wall space. I chose to hang the whole lot on our staircase wall. It can be seen well from both the main and upper levels of the house.

It's amazing how nice it feels to have my own art hanging on the wall!

And the finished pieces look so nice showcased in the white mats and black frames. You may notice that I have an oddball black mat in the middle. That particular drawing was a little too big for the mat in the new frame, so I repurposed an old one for the time being until I can get one that matches the rest.

Though these are not sealed-up-custom-framed to be preserved for all eternity, they look pretty darned nice, if I do say so myself. So, don't let your beautiful work languish in a drawer or in a folder somewhere on your desk! Pick up a frame or two here and there when you come across a good sale and in no time at all you can have your very own art show to enjoy at home.

Fabric designs - what do you think?

2011-03-30T17:03:00.001-04:00

I've been having a fun time playing around with some of my illustrations and creating new pattern designs to upload to Spoonflower.

The two newest ones are below - just click on the image and it will take you to the Spoonflower page where you can see the pattern, scale, what it would look like on various yards of fabric, etc.

What do you think? I would love to hear comments on the patterns, if you like them sized as-is or prefer smaller/larger? What projects could you see using fabric like this? I think of the obvious things like pillows, table cloths, place mats, etc., but also things like book covers and bead embroidery pieces. What creative ways do you use fabric?

Maple Tree Buds

Spring Rain - Daffodils in Bloom

Japanese Iris Blossom - Ink and Colored Pencil

2011-03-28T07:26:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday! I had a chance to work on and finish this drawing of a Japanese Iris blossom. I had bought a small bunch at the store a few weeks ago and had done some sketching at the time. I finally had an opportunity to add color to the blossom sketch last night. I just love these particular iris with the bright yellow midrib and delicate, draping blossoms. So beautiful!

I completed this with my usual array of Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils on smooth bristol paper, doing some basic pen work with my Rapidograph 3X0 (.25) pen. Interestingly, the center part of the blossom that was still closed in this view really is a darker, more reddish-purple color than the lighter blue-purple outer petals.

As you can tell from my posts, I really like iris and daffodil! I also really love tulips, but haven't done much drawing of them. What are some of your favorite spring flowers?

Recipe Cards! Do you prefer lines or no lines?

2011-03-22T16:09:00.001-04:00

Thanks to a suggestion from my cousin Jess, who is a fantastic designer and cook (check out her blog - The Saucy Kitchen), I have been creating new recipe cards in Zazzle.

I have been having fun with variations on a couple of designs. For example, the garlic scapes card above has lines for writing on both front and back. Some cards have solid lines on the front and some have split lines on the front for ingredient lists. Also, there are cards with images on the front (like the one above) and some just have images on the back.

The beauty of Zazzle is that it allows you to customize so that if you prefer a blank writing area (i.e., no lines), you can simply delete them from the card. In the front-image cards, you can also change the background color, or choose to return it to a white background, giving you flexibility to match your color preferences.

I would love to hear if you prefer lines or no lines, or if you would like to see other illustrations on the cards that are not currently there?

Feel free to browse around the new selections and let me know what you think!

Playing with Spoonflower - what kinds of fabric patterns do you like?

2011-03-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

I've been having a great time playing around in Spoonflower and have added a number of my drawings to the public design gallery for my page there:

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/ccreechstudio

Scroll down the page to see the drawings that are in the gallery.

Click on a drawing and see what the fabric pattern looks like. You can see the rulers in yellow on the top and side of the pattern to see how large it would appear on the fabric.

Which ones do you like best?

I am able to change the scale of the pattern on my end, so if you think something would look better smaller, or differently arranged, or larger, I would love to know. You can comment here, or right in Spoonflower at the bottom of a fabric page. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Zazzle update on Japan Relief products/royalties - fixed

2011-03-19T08:34:00.000-04:00

I just received an email from Zazzle that provides an update on the confusion surrounding the initial Japan Relief donation issue. They have been able to fix the situation as follows - thanks Zazzle!

"Zazzle is deeply saddened by the tragic events in Japan and has been working very hard in the last week to ensure that the Zazzle community can contribute effectively in support of relief aid efforts. In the Japan Relief store, you will find hundreds of Seller-contributed designs along with an official "Support Japan" t-shirt. While $10 of the proceeds from each official t-shirt will be donated directly to the Japanese Red Cross, all additional designs donated by Sellers will also benefit charity. For each donated design with royalties set at 10%, Zazzle will contribute a matching donation in addition to the donated royalties.

Last week, we were so moved by the news that we wanted to act fast, but as a result, we found ourselves in a flurry of misunderstandings as to what our system could and couldn't do. On Wednesday, we confirmed that we are able to withhold royalties manually, so we will be making those deductions from each Seller's account by hand for all donated products sold between March 11th and April 12th. The sales will still show up in Seller accounts, but royalties will be deducted prior to payment and donated to the Japanese Red Cross.

We sincerely apologize for any confusion about community donations, and we want to reassure you that our intentions are good! Many thanks to everyone who has already contributed toward this important cause, and thanks also for forgiving our eager initial response.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the people of Japan and their families at this difficult time.
The Zazzle Team"

Spoonflower Fabric

2011-03-17T09:15:00.001-04:00

I recently discovered another print-on-demand service that sounded really intriguing to me. It's called Spoonflower and they print your uploaded designs on a variety of fabrics. How neat!

I went ahead and created an account - it's free - and uploaded a number of my drawings. You can order test swatches of your designs to proof colors/size to make sure they look how you expect them to, and then you can post your designs for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace, or place an order for fabric for yourself, etc.

I received my swatches for 6 designs yesterday and am so excited! They look fantastic. The picture above shows what I created. The fun thing is that online in Spoonflower you can adjust the size and set of the pattern. So now that I know my drawings print up beautifully, I (or anyone who orders) can choose a smaller pattern of the drawing or a larger pattern (up to a certain limit).

They offer 7 different fabrics to choose from and what you see in the photo above are swatches of the quilting weight fabric on the left, and then I chose the upholstery-weight twill for the African daisy, and the linen-cotton canvas for the daffodil (and that is a larger sample called a fat quarter.) I absolutely love the weight of the twill and linen-cotton canvas and can see lots of interesting crafting possibilities using my botanical drawings to create pillows, tea towels, bags, or even art pieces with beading done on some of the heavier weight fabrics. The creative juices are flowing!! What fun things can you see doing with custom fabrics like this?

Now that I have seen the proofs, I have made these 6 designs available in the marketplace. You can see my profile and available designs here: http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/ccreechstudio

Happy creating!

Blog redesign - what do you want to see?

2011-03-15T21:54:00.000-04:00

I am excited that my blog will be 3 years old later this year -- time sure flies! In light of the fact that 3 years is an eternity in web-time, I would like to freshen it up a bit. I'm starting to do some research and collect ideas about how I can best redesign and there is a lot of good information out there on layout, etc. However, I also want to update the type of content that I post. So, I thought what better place to start than with you, my followers!

What would you find useful, fun, or interesting to include on an artist's blog like mine? What have you enjoyed in the past? What do you wish you could see more of?

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Japanese Earthquake Relief through Zazzle - Japanese Crane T-Shirt

2011-03-12T10:56:00.003-05:00

In response to the overwhelming disaster that occurred in Japan on March 11, Zazzle has created a way for shop owners and customers to donate to earthquake/tsunami relief funds by creating/purchasing products from this store: Zazzle Japan Relief.

For every t-shirt on the above page Zazzle will donate $10 to the relief fund, in addition, any royalties that shop owners would have earned will go directly to the relief fund as well.

NOTE (3/16/ update): Apparently there was some confusion in the initial days of the Japan Relief store. Zazzle has corrected it's page to say that it will be donating $10 to the relief fund from purchase of it's *official* t-shirt only, not from sale of others designed by store owners. I want to assure you that I will still be donating any royalties and earnings that I receive from the sales to the Japanese Red Cross. My apologies for any confusion and thanks to those that have already purchased!

I created a t-shirt featuring my Japanese Crane illustration as cranes are a symbol of hope and healing. There are also many other designs and products available, so please check it out! Every little bit helps. I will be keeping the people of Japan and everyone affected by this event in my thoughts and prayers.

NOTE: I have also created a button, mug, bumper sticker, iPad case with this design.

Japanese Crane -Helping to Heal Earthquake Support by ccreech21
See more Japanese crane T-Shirts

Purple Iris Study - Ink and Colored Pencil

2011-03-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

I bought a beautiful bunch of purple iris today. They have a bright yellow rib in the center that you can't see yet (I'll save that for another day!) I just love studying the buds before they open and then as the petals unfold.

I did this study in ink and colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico extra white 140 lb hot press watercolor paper. I am not entirely pleased with how the color of the petals turned out. They seem much more luminous in person. I think that I need to do more light layers of pencil as well as use some different colors (perhaps the purples I have are too dark...maybe need some medium blues...) How do you deal with colored pencils and dark flower petals?

Daffodil Sketches - ink and colored pencil

2011-03-05T08:06:00.000-05:00

I have added some colored pencil to these daffodil sketches. This is definitely a loose addition of color as I did not have lots of time to spend on it, but I love that it shows the brightness of the blossoms. This was done on Strathmore vellum drawing paper, so the texture was much rougher than what I usually work on (which is smooth Bristol or hot press watercolor paper.) The drawing paper adds a lot of nice texture, but it is also harder to get the smoothness that might work better with the blossoms in this case. It would take more layers of color, sharper pencils, and a bit more patience/time than I had for this round!

Vinca plant in graphite - line study

2011-03-02T20:54:00.000-05:00

This is a graphite pencil drawing of a Vinca plant that I did for a course in botanical illustration a few years ago. I thought I had uploaded it here before, but guess I had not. The piece was supposed to be done entirely with line work (employing thick/thin lines bold/faded to indicate depth when possible) basically showing what you could do *without* shading. Very interesting exercise. I hope to someday redraw parts of this in pen and ink, and then maybe get another plant and work on some light and shade studies.

Daffodil Sketches - Pen and Ink

2011-02-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

I had a chance to sketch some beautiful yellow daffodils that I bought from the store. These are done in pen and ink on Strathmore drawing paper. I haven't had time yet to add color - perhaps soon! I just loved seeing these in various stages of opening up. I practically itch to draw as spring comes around. So many flowers, buds, branches, and leaves - so little time! Getting a head start with some store-bought flowers will help prepare for when the flower beds and trees start blooming. Fingers-crossed that it will be soon! :)

House portrait - pen and ink. Finished!

2011-02-24T15:43:00.000-05:00

I just completed another pen and ink house portrait commission. It is a beautiful home that really worked well for this format/style of drawing. This one is approximately 10 x 8 inches and done on smooth Bristol paper using a 3x0 (.25) Rapidograph technical pen.

There were lots of fun details on this home including the wrought iron stair railing, front yard light post, stone work at the foundation and beautiful plants and foliage which help to soften the overall drawing and give it some warmth and dimension. I hope you enjoy this one!