LOVE

Just bought this great print for our bedroom, from Made By Girl.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to All! 

This is what Bean and I made for my husband this year, a paper cookie tray of stamped Valentine's "cookies." We mixed up some grey paint and painted a piece of watercolor paper to make the tray. Then we stamped several pieces of colored cardstock with different stamps. We cut the paper into heart shaped "cookies," which Bean then glued onto the painted "tray." Lastly we cut up some extra paper into the shape of an oven mitt and glass of milk and wrote a Valentine's note. An easy Valentine's project.

 

The best part of this project was working in my mom's studio with all of her fun paints and stamps. Here's Bean and her "Nunnie" getting started on painting the cookie tray.

The master painter at work

 Our little Valentine

Paris vs. New York

I found this link via A Cup of Jo, about a series of prints that depicts the differences between Paris and New York City. Check out the blog, Paris Versus New York, a Tally of Two Cities for the entire set of prints (that can be bought) and information on the new book that features all of the prints. Such a cool idea!! Here's some of my favorites:

And if you live in NYC, check out the book signing at The Standard Shop on February 2nd.

Today this makes me happy: The Feed Your Soul Free Art Project

If you haven't seen this, check it out. The Feed Your Soul Free Art Project is a website that provides FREE downloads from artists invited to participate. It's a fun website with tons of free downloads from some great artists intended to "hopefully bring a smile to your face and brighten your day."  All you have to do is click on the links and print. You can also scroll through the list of artists to view their websites and Etsy stores, to purchase originals and higher resolution prints. Love it.Here's a few of my favorites, but check out the site for details and more freebies!

Angela Traunig

The No Excuses Sketchbook Challenge Update

A few months ago I posted about the Sketchbook Challenge website. I also said in that post that I needed to challenge myself to draw and paint more. I've had the "I'm too busy and too tired to drag all the art supplies out" excuse going for the last couple of years. That's no good.

Thanks in part to my mom for helping me find some great art supplies, and thanks in part to my mother-in-law for a generous Christmas gift to help fund these supplies, I've actually been able to keep up on my own "no excuses" sketchbook challenge. The key for me was to find a medium that was readily available, easy to set up and clean up, and right at my fingertips so I'd have no excuse to not draw or paint even after long tiring days. Here's what I bought, and what I did to make sure I'd be able to keep up with my challenge.

 My supplies: A Caslon mixed-media sketchbook, markers, artist pencils, artist pens, erasers, a T ruler for drawing straight lines, and a gouache paint set. This is all I need right now. The markers, pens, pencils and erasers are all stored in an old cigar case I got at a Christmas gift swap this year.

 I keep all this stuff in a drawer in our living room. That way there's no excuse, it's all right there even if I collapse onto the couch after a busy day. Or if we're watching one of my daughter's Disney movies for the 2000th time. A lot of the time if I pull out my sketchbook while she's watching a movie, she'll drop the movie like a bad habit and join me in sketching. Another side benefit to having all this stuff handy in the living room.

 The markers I like best: Fabrico dual markers in a variety of colors.

 Pelikan brand 24 color gouache paint set with extra white paint for blending. You could also use watercolors, but I tend to like the range of gouache. You can get much darker and deeper colors with gouache, but can also water the paint down to create more of a watercolor effect if that's what you want. This little set is great (and reasonable at about $17), and allows for super fast set up and clean up as opposed to buying all tubes.

 Micron pens with a variety of pen tip sizes. I like the 03 and 05 tips best for drawing. Tuff Stuff eraser stick for easily erasing pencil marks, and a Sakura 0.7 nib pencil.

 One great idea for making set up and clean up even easier for paints: use cereal box liners for paint trays. All you do is toss them after use. Super, super easy. I keep a bunch of these around.

 Four paint brushes with at least one angled, one small round, one Filbert, and one flat.

And that is all I need for my "no excuses" challenge. So far it's really worked and my years-long drought with no art seems to be over. If you're one of those busy but creative people with no time for anyting and definitely no energy to pull out a bunch of art supplies and clean them up, give this a try. I bet it'll work.

Cheers



Wellies

Today I love this inspiring collage by Annika Lane on Etsy.

Etsy Favorites Friday

I have a lot of "Favorite" sellers on Etsy, which I'll start sharing here on Fridays. Who are your favorites? My first Etsy Favorite is Portland, Oregon artist Michele Maule. I love her drawing style, and her creative mixed media collages. Very inspiring! Here are some of my favorites from her shop.

Book By Its Cover Sketchbook Series

I'm so happy to have just discovered the blog Book By Its Cover, and the amazing Sketchbook Series on the blog. Book By Its Cover blogger Julia Rothman (who is also an illustrator, pattern designer, and author) features the sketchbooks of various artists and graphic designers in the Sketchbook Series, with photos of the sketchbooks, a little about each artist, and links to their personal sites and blogs. A very inspiring blog and series that I'll be visiting often! Here's a sample of a few of the artists featured, be sure to visit the site for many, many more artists and photos:

 Lauren Tamaki

 John Garcia

 Alex Eben Meyer

 Artist and blogger Julia Rothman

 Danielle Kroll



Wine Etiquette from A Cup of Jo

Did you know that you're supposed to only pour a third of a glass for red wine, half a glass for white, and three fourths for sparking? I did not, but now I do, thanks to this fun little wine etiquette guide from A Cup of Jo blog, with illustrations by Gemma Correll. A perfect lesson for wine drinking for the holidays, with funny but educational commentary and great illustrations. Check out the original post for the complete guide, and also be sure to check out Gemma's site for more of her very cool illustrations.

Cheers, and thanks to A Cup of Jo for sharing this post!

The Sketchbook Challenge

Have you ever seen the Sketchbook Challenge website? Check it out - they do different themes each month to inspire people to work in their sketchbooks. You can upload photos of your theme-related sketches directly to the blog, or upload the photos to your own blog and then post links to them on the Sketchbook website. They select a winner each month, and the prizes are usually great art supplies. Check out the FAQ for more info.

The website inspired me to start my own sketchbook challenge. It's sort of an early New Year's resolution, but the challenge is to try to draw in my sketchbook at least once a day. It's been a really long time since I've done artwork on a regular basis. It's hard to do - with so much time and energy required to chase a toddler and work, I never have the time or energy after she goes to bed to get out all the supplies needed for painting or collaging, or anything that requires much setup or cleanup. I get overwhelmed by the thought of all I have to do and then I end up just doing nothing. 

The sketchbook challenge reminded me that I don't really need a lot of stuff to continue to do art on a regular basis. Maybe I can't do big paintings or collages like I used to do and I probably won't be able to until my kids are a little older, but I can still draw. That doesn't take any setup or cleanup, just a sketchbook and a pen, and maybe some markers or oil crayons. It's easy, which is good for my chaotic life. I started my challenge last week and so far I've sketched every night. They're not good art by any means. But I don't care, if feels good to finally be doing some artwork again on a regular basis, albeit small. So try it - get a sketchbook and a pen, that's all you need. 

My new multi-media sketchbook - thanks Mom! These are relatively new, 

and good for all different types of media - pens, paints, and pencils.

 The blank sketchbook page, with endless possibilities, saying 

"Hey, draw on me!! No setup required!!"

 Some of my latest sketchbook pages, from my older sketchbook.

 As much as I can I'll try to get Bean involved. 

This was her last sketchbook page, she called it "Faces."

Inspired By: Kiki and Polly

This week I'm inspired by Kiki and Polly, the artwork of Lisa Golightly. Check out her website and her very inspiring blog, and her Etsy store for what she has for sale. Here are some of my favorites, but there are many more that I love.