New Zodiac Girls

Over the last few weeks I've been creating a new set of zodiac girl prints for my etsy shop. They come in four different sizes ranging from 5x7 inches up to A3. For a peek take a look here - there is 10% off all zodiac girls until the end of the week with coupon code ZODIACTEN.

Here are some of the girls -

Capricorn

 Leo

 Aquarius

 Aries

Bird watching

I thought I'd stop by to give you a little update on my work at the moment. I've been pretty engrossed with painting birds and elements of nature just now. I love looking at the feathers on the birds and begin to see patterns emerging, I mainly work from a collection of photos but last weekend I took part in the RSPB big garden birdwatch and I managed to see some up close. I really didn't think we'd see all that many (I took my son and one of his friends) but we counted over forty in the hour and we managed to spot nine different types.

One of the birds I've enjoyed painting is this barn owl. It's now available as a giclee print in my etsy shop. I hope you like it, I was going for quite an airy cheerful vibe (I'm sorry it might look a little grey on your screen, it is very much white).

 

I've been painting out one or two new ACEOs as well, I love working on a small scale now and again and couldn't resist creating some of my little birds in this size - here are a few...

 



I've also reduced one or two items in my etsy shop to half price, so if you want an original art bargain have a peek at my sale section. I'll share some more work soon.

Smaller Works

I hope everyone has been having a lovely Easter and enjoying the break. Yesterday we had our egg hunt as I mentioned in the previous post, that went well and the Easter bunny left lots of cadburys creme eggs in the garden (I think he even left one for me ;0) it didn't take Max too long to find them and I gave him a bit of help as we were rushing out to a family lunch. It was a really lovely Easter Sunday - good food and company.

That's us half way through the Easter holidays here and surprisingly I've had a fair bit of time to do some painting. I've been doing a mixture of A5 pieces and also some ACEOs, I really like working on a small scale I have to admit. I'll share with you the smaller ones today and I'll probably pop back later in the week to show some of the larger artworks.

This little lady is called Dance Through Life and I painted her on a 4 x 4 inch square (approx) I don't usually paint on squares. I thought she looked like she had been twirling and just stopped.

I created two new ACEOs - the first is called Thought Bubbles, I think I always feel like I go through every day in a bit of a haze, I like the abstract shapes and mark making surrounding my ladies to give a feeling of this, I'm sure I'm not the only one - I hope!

The Second ACEO is called Mind Alight, it's about ideas coming into your head, I think the pink swirls look a bit like fireworks.

I've put these ladies into my etsy shop at a reduced rate for a limited time. I've also been quite busy this week on custom orders and hopefully there will be a blog post coming very soon to show these, I don't like to blog about custom orders until they are with their new owner and I know they are 100% happy. I like getting custom orders because I love to have a bit of a brief to work to and it's always a bit of a challenge to put my own style with the ideas someone has in their mind.

Happy Etsy Birthday Giveaway!

Well I have been a bad blogger, bad at blogging, bad at reading blogs. I've been away from the computer for a fair bit lately, just recharging my batteries and working on some personal projects (which I can't say too much about at the moment but all will be revealed in the months to come).

The big news is that I've been on etsy for a year, a whole year tomorrow - I cant believe it. It's hard to say how well I've done in terms of shop success, I seem to have peaks and slumps. I do think promotion is the key to a successful etsy shop and that you really need to be consistent and keep on top of it ( perhaps why February hasn't been the best month for me, ooo er!)

Anyway as a little thanks for following my blog and supporting my work I've decided to have a giveaway- one here and one at my facebook page. Here you have the chance to win the two aceos shown below, just leave a comment under this post and I will pick a winner at random Sunday night. Also for the next 24 hours approx I'm having a birthday discount for my shop with 30 % off (coupon code - BIRTHDAY30). If you are on facebook join me there too and have a shot at that giveaway.

What are ACEOs ?

I recently carried out a little survey on facebook to see how many coramantic fans knew what ACEOs were, the results came back that about a third did not know what they were. I thought I would share a little ACEO info over here for anyone who does not know what ACEOs are or would like to know a bit more about them.

 Red Head With Glasses ACEO by
Little Nore

Do you remember as a kid having a sticker book, or trading cards where you would try to collect them all and build up a great assortment, it was fun finding the ones you needed and great swapping doubles with friends. ACEOs are a bit like this, only maybe more for grown ups (well I say that but anyone can collect). If you like art and have a favourite artist or two but really you don't want to be buying large pieces of art from them all the time then ACEOs are the solution. You can also buy albums and sleeves especially for them.

 

 Baby Crow At The Spa by Magic Love Crow

ACEOs have one main rule and that is that they must be 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches in size. I usually make mine from card with mixed media including gouache, pencil and ink but they can be made loads of different ways - collage, acrylic, watercolour etc. ACEOs can be original art or prints and when buying them it's important to check which one it is you are getting because prices can vary greatly. I like to only create originals personally as I feel collectors can build up their own unique collection.

 The Hunter by Nightsparklies

Etsy is a great place to find ACEOs you will find all different, wonderful styles, all the ACEOs in his post are available on etsy. One warning with ACEOs though - they can be addictive!

New Ladies

Just a little post to show you some of the new illustrations I've been working on. Mainly a collection of little ladies, experimenting with expression as you know I like to do. I've had a couple of custom orders lately creating these little ladies to certain styles- if you have anyone in mind I'd be happy to create one for you, from ACEO's to A4. All of the artwork shown below is available for sale in my etsy shop.

Mother Nature

Through All Weathers

Agatha

Pocket Mirrors and Packaging

In my etsy shop I have one or two pocket mirrors for sale and below I have a photo of some of the new mirrors I am going to be listing soon. I would love some advice on the packaging of the mirrors - do you think the two I have listed in my shop at the moment look better than they would if I were to list them free from packaging? As a customer is it better to save a few pence and save packaging or not? I do think if they were for a gift then perhaps the packaging is better. I'm just not sure, advice would be appreciated.

Doodle Brooches

I wanted to share with you some doodle brooches that I've been making for my etsy shop. These are little plastic brooches that I drew, coloured, shrunk and then gloss varnished. Each brooch is different to the next because they have all been hand drawn by me. I've listed two in my shop so far and more will be appearing over the coming days.

I'm also happy to take custom orders on brooches if there is a colourway or an illustration of mine that you have in mind.

Stick Me - Art is Us

Here are some pictures of the collaborative sticker book I mentioned in my previous post, it's for sale on etsy now.