‘Tis the season…to start thinking about Christmas cards! I can’t believe we are only one month away from Christmas, and that it’s time to start thinking about cards already. Do you mail out Christmas cards each year to family and friends, or do you think that it’s an antiquated holiday tradition? Personally I love to send out cards for all occasions, not just Christmas! And it’s always lovely to receive some holiday cheer in the mailbox in return, isn’t it?
This year, at the specific request of my mom, I have finally created a Christmas card design. I have added this “O Holy Night” card to my Society6 shop, and it is available in packs of 3, 5 and 10 (with the price/piece decreasing as the volume goes up). And, the best thing is that Society6 is running a sale right now, site wide, so all of my cards are currently 30% off! I believe the sale is running through this weekend, so if you have been thinking of sending out cards this year…now is definitely the time to grab them.
I’ve also added this design available as an art print, in case if you are a person who likes to change out your wall art for the season too.
Here we are already at the end of July and beginning of August! The summer seems to be going past very quickly- how about for you?
This has been the Year of Reading for me- I’ve just finished book #33. I’ve been trying to spend my evenings reading, rather than browsing the internet. It’s been nice to get through quite a few of the books on my list, although of course, as soon as I cross one off, I find several more to add to the bottom!
I requested Mistress Pat by L.M Montgomery from the library (review: not my favourite of her books, but still enjoyable) and the copy I received was this beautiful first edition from 1935! I love it when they keep older editions of books in circulation, rather than replacing them all with new copies.
We had some exciting visitors to our place; my sister walked out the back door, and spotted two lost Mallard ducklings in the flower bed! When their mom never showed up, we brought them inside and put them in a brooder, and then my mom brought them to the wildlife rescue shelter a couple days later. They were so tiny and cute, and actually very quiet as well. (At least compared to the chick we’ve got inside; we named him Mortimer, because he never stops cheeping!) They were hard to photograph and got a little bit panicked when my sister picked them up, but I’m glad I got a couple of pictures to remember them by.
I’ve been working on some more watercolour illustrations; this time houseplants. I’ve been trying out this mini format- just 4″ x 4″ and I quite like it. So far I’ve done a Kalanchoe, a grouping of Cacti and a Pothos.
I’ve added them to my Society 6 shop as greeting cards or mini prints. There are “hello”, “happy birthday” and “thank-you” cards as well as blank ones available. I will also be listing these original paintings in my shop here, but am waiting for some mats I ordered to arrive first (hopefully they arrive soon!).
Ps: I’ve also added some more photography prints to my shop, and am slowly adding more as I have the time.
How has your summer been going so far? I hope you have a great weekend!
Well, I vanished there for a little bit…but I have been busy while I’ve been gone! I rediscovered some of my watercolour pieces from a couple of years ago that I never completed or developed and decided that now was a good time to finish them up.
I’ve also been taking new product photos for my shop and have slowly been adding and updating the pieces in both my Poshmark and Artyologist Shops.
These two originals are now available here or here. They come with an 8×10 white mat, so they are ready to pop into a frame. I think that the straw hat illustration would be perfect for a dressing room/area or a little girls’ room!
I’ve also got four new card designs in my Society 6 shop.
A simple “Hello” card for any occasion. And I liked the hearts from my Valentine collection, and thought that a thank-you card would be another nice option.
The straw hat also makes a cute little “thinking of you” card. And finally these retro white sunglasses! I painted this for a “summer” prompt on Instagram a few years ago, and thought it would be a perfect “congratulations” card. I can see this one being good for a graduation or maybe even a wedding.
That’s all for today. I hope to be back with some more new posts, but we’ve had such a heat wave lately, and now smoke from the forest fires, so it makes taking photos rather difficult, unfortunately. I hope you have been enjoying your summer and that you have a great weekend!
Today, for the First Day of Spring, while the sun is shining in the sky, there is still a lot of snow out there, so no pictures of tulips and crocuses popping their heads up. We won’t have any growing things outside for at least a month either, here in Alberta, so I decided to both draw and wear my own flowers today instead. I also added in my favourite bee necklace for good measure!
I haven’t been outside to enjoy the sunshine today, though I was planning on going for a walk this afternoon, because I think I’m coming down with a cold. Perhaps going for a walk would be the best thing, though. Getting out and getting some fresh air and sunshine would probably be a good thing.
It’s been a strange last while, hasn’t it? The COVID-19 virus pandemic has managed to touch all of our lives. A few weeks ago, it felt like it was (quite literally) something happening on the other side of the world. Of course, things like this do affect us all, but my day to day life hadn’t changed very much. I’m an introvert, and I work from home, so “self isolating” is basically my everyday life.
However, now with this disease spreading to all corners of the world, it actually is starting to affect me. I may jokingly say that I self isolate all the time, but the reality is that I can go out whenever I choose to. It’s as simple as putting on my coat and shoes and walking out the door.
To suddenly be aware of the fact that you shouldn’t go out, well…it’s entirely different isn’t it? Realizing that you shouldn’t go out browsing the shops, that the library is closed, that the grocery stores are all out of rolled oats (and you really just wanted some porridge), that since you’ve got cold symptoms you need to stay indoors to protect everyone else (just in case it’s not a cold, but you’ve actually contracted the disease…), and that now is not the ideal time to be dropping off resumes and looking for work…well it can get a bit stressful can’t it?
Last night as I was reading my Bible, these verses came to mind, so I immediately flipped over to Philippians to read them again. I went to sleep with these words on my mind, and woke up this morning eager to put them to paper. And since it’s the first day of Spring, I thought that some flowers were apropos to add some sunshine and hope. Times of refreshing do come.
How are you celebrating the first day of Spring?
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 6-7
If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, it will be no surprise to you that I love Valentine’s Day. Every year, on Valentines I send cards, bake a heart shaped cake, wear pink, and spend time with my family eating the aforementioned cake. This year was no different! I was originally planning on posting yesterday, sharing the cards that I made this year, but then I decided to include a picture of the card my sister got me, because it was too cute to not share!
These are the cards I made this year.
And this is the card my sister got me! So adorable- it’s definitely getting framed and hung on my wall! The artist is Jane Carkill of Lamb Little Illustration– she has the sweetest illustrations!
Can’t have a proper Valentine’s Day without chocolate and hearts!
And lastly- I bought myself some flowers on Wednesday, because it’s February and winter seems like it has no end, it was Valentine’s Day, and why not? They do cheer up the place and I smile every time I look at them.
