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

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...

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

• Maple Buds on Light Green
• Raspberry Plant on Green
• Crema Stripe
• African Daisies - Blue Stripe
• Small Bird Feathers on Blue

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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

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!

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!

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!