"Like a Diamond in the Sky"

Last night I popped a new 8x8" painting up for auction HERE. It's called "Like a Diamond in the Sky".

"Like a Diamond in the Sky"

I had fun painting the detail of the diamonds. I might add some more jewels to paintings in the future! 

Twinkle, Twinkle!

Slow down!

Ok I know that I said my "theme" this year is "ramping it up", but 2014, you may have taken me too literally. Things are "ramping up" here a little too fast for my liking.

Miss 5 started school last week!

My tiny baby girl is starting school!!!

 I've been thinking I will have a ton of extra painting hours while she is at school, but it isn't so. We're still getting into the swing of things, but so far it's been busy! Lots of art related work with Baby A as my rather high-maintenance assistant has made sure that there hasn't been a dull moment.

My Personal Assistant.

Mostly I've been working on some commissioned paintings. I just finished the "White Rabbit" themed piece that I was talking about in a previous post. Hopefully I can share some pics with you soon, once the painting is safely with it's owner (it's currently Europe bound!).

 Today I'm busy working on getting a wholesale order ready to post, along with a commissioned painting that has a February deadline. While I'm excited about things 'ramping up', I'm also keeping in mind that it's important to slow down and take in the little moments too. It seems like only yesterday I was holding Miss 5 as a newborn in my arms, and now she's off to school. How the time flies when you're having fun.

That's all for now - Baby A is asleep so it's the perfect time to get some real work done.

Wish me luck! :)

"Little Green Vine Fairy"

  Over the weekend I managed to finish off another little 5x7" painting. This one is called "Little Green Vine Fairy" and she is up for auction in my eBay store.

Do you like her freckles?

We also went on a road trip to visit my Grandparents in Warwick, it's been over 6 months since we've seen them so it was so nice to catch up with them and the rest of the family. Happy Birthday to my Gran who's 89 today!

6 Things I'm Loving Right Now.

1. Getting organised.

Although I'm a Virgo, you might be surprised to know I'm really not all that organised. I live in pretty much what I call "organised chaos" most of the time. I really appreciate clear, functional spaces, but I have a terrible time trying to maintain them. Maybe it's because I'm a tortured artist, or maybe it's because I'm a Mum. Either way - I'm enjoying plotting out my days in my 2014 Frankie journal, and the feeling I get when I do accomplish organisation of some sort.

2.  Handmade toys.

Although Miss 5 is obsessed with Lalaloopsy dolls and My Little Ponies, I do love finding one-off, handmade toys for my kids to play with. I certainly can't make everything myself (I can't sew for the life of me!) but I am always on the look out for fun DIY things to make with the kids. Today I stumbled upon one of Merilee's latest tutorials over at Mer Mag which I thought was pretty cute:

 I absolutely love the colours she used on these stacking house blocks!

3. Iced coffee.

Is having at least one iced coffee a day classed as an addiction?

 

My home-made recipe:

1 tblspoon instant coffee powder/granules

1 tblspoon raw sugar

 ice

milk

ice-cream (optional)

Dissolve coffee + sugar in a few drops of boiling water, add ice to cool the water down, top up with milk and add a scoop of icecream on top.

Confession: Lately I've also had a few Macca's coffee frappes. I don't even want to know the calorie content of those bad boys!

4. Vlogs.

In those rare, quiet moments when the babies are asleep - I can get out the paintbrushes and watch trash tv. Lately, I've swapped the trash tv for youtube vlogs. Among my faves this week are:

grav3yard girl
and
dailyBUMPS

I would love to find a full-time Artist/Mummy vlogger. Are there any out there??

5. booko.com.au

Someone recommended this link (via Twitter I think?) the other day and I love it! It gives you the best price (incl. postage) on books or dvds across nearly all bookseller websites.

 6. Art by Daniel Merriam

I stumbled upon this artist on Facebook, and I'm completely in awe of his use of colour and intricate details. Mesmerizing.
 

 

 

That's all for now. I have 2 crazy little creatures to attend to. Dinner to make. Commissions to work on later tonight. :) Hope you're all having a nice week!

Ramping It Up

I've noticed the trend for New Year's Resolutions this year is to not have one, but rather have a 'word' or 'theme' that you are keeping with for the year. I have a few resolutions in my mind that I've roughly set (the usual - eat healthier, move more, paint more, write more), but my theme for this year is "ramping it up!"

It mainly relates to work, but also a few other areas of my life too. Baby A is nearly 10 months, and slowly gaining more and more independance, and Miss 5 is off to school, so there's going to be a change in routine this year. I still plan on mainly working from my home studio, and slowly ramping up my hours as we go. With Baby A home with me most of the time (at least until he's weaned from breastmilk), I can't go off 'maternity leave' completely, but I think I can dedicate a few more hours to painting than I've been able to the past few months (in between feeds, sleeps & school pick ups!).

I've started taking on some commissioned pieces again, however there's still a waiting list of a couple of months, so if you have something in mind, let me know as soon as you can. :)

Today I've been working on this little guy:

It's going to be a White Rabbit painting for a baby boy! He looks a bit scary at the moment, but it's just the under-painting part. This is only a section of the painting, because I don't want to give too much away just yet, but I hope to share the whole thing once it's completed. Most of my paintings feature girls, so it's fun to work on something with a boy theme!

Speaking of boys, I have a 9 month old one that needs my attention right now. So that's all folks!

 

"Pink Party Fairy" and "Little Blue Butterflies"

It's just Baby A and I at home today. So while he's asleep, I've had the chance to list another little 5x7" painting that I finished up a couple of nights ago.

She is called "Pink Party Fairy".

 

She is painted on a 5x7" stretched canvas, so it's ready to hang straight on the wall. I've started the auction at $10, so everyone can have the chance to bid. :)

My other auction at the moment is "Little Blue Butterflies", and it ends tomorrow!

"Little Blue Butterflies" Original Painting

There aren't any bids yet, so this might be your chance to grab a piece of my original art at a bargain price!

I'm enjoying doing these smaller paintings in between commissioned work that I have. While I'm waiting for paint to dry, or on an email reply, I can potter away at these little canvasses, and eventually pop them up for bargain prices. :)

Ok, time for me to go hang some washing out while bub is asleep...

 

Gemini, Little Blue Butterflies & Movies!

I've had my latest Zodiac painting in the works for the last couple of months, but had to take a break from it while I worked on things with Christmas deadlines, but last night I finally listed this one for sale. It's "Gemini" - one for all of the May/June babies out there. It features the "Twins" holding the symbol of Gemini between them. They are standing amongst all of the birth flowers for this sign: lilac, azaleas and lavender. I gave the background a floaty, swirly design as Gemini's element is Air, and the colour yellow is closely associated with this zodiac sign also.

"Gemini" Zodiac Twins

If the original painting is out of your budget (or sold by the time you read this), there are also prints available. 

Click here for the 8x10" "Gemini" Art Prints

Click here for the 12x16" "Gemini" Art Prints

Click here for the "Gemini" ACEO Collectable Art Cards

I also have a small (5x7") original painting up for auction HERE. Starting at just $10!
 

"Little Blue Butterflies" Original Painting

 ***

 

This morning the kids and I went to see 'Frozen'. I had heard rave reviews about it, even one person saying it was "the best Disney movie since 'The Lion King'". I have to say it certainly lived up to the rave reviews (it was a fabulous movie!), but I think that 'Tangled' was better. I LOVE Tangled! :)

"Tangled" vs "Frozen" - which do you think was better? Leave your answer in the comments below.

 

Hello 2014.

Happy New Year! 

We're back from camping over the New Year's break. It was our first camping trip with the kids and we're really glad we did it!

Photo courtesy of http://www.campingcountryaustralia.com.au

Notes (to myself) for next time:

Get a bigger tent. 

Our tent was a 4 person tent (but can really only fit 2 people comfortably!). Luckily we brought an extra dome style (beach) tent that we were able to store our 'stuff' in, because the floor of our tent was entirely covered with our beds. Which brings me to the next tip...

Get a better bed.

We had an inflatable air mattress, and yep, you guessed it, it slowly went down over night. Our friends that we camped with (more experienced campers) had a mattress that was half memory foam, half self inflating mattress, and I think that might be the way to go next time. Don't skimp on the bedding!

Take a marquee/gazebo.

We didn't take anything for shade at all! I was thinking we would hang out under a tree or in our tent, but it turns out that it was far too hot to do that. Thank goodness our friends brought a pop up gazebo with them, which we stayed under the majority of the time. We even had a little afternoon sleep under it, until I was rudely awoken by a goanna! But that's another story...

We camped at Charlie Moreland Camping Area in Imbil State Forest. It's a beautiful place to be. It really has a "middle of the forest" feel (because you basically are!), with birds singing and lots of wildlife around. There's flushable toilets but no showers, so you're best to have a dip in the fresh water creek there. We were there during hot summer days so it was fine to swim twice a day and the kids absolutely loved it! Talk about getting in touch with nature!

"Little Yabba Creek" Photo courtesy of Greg Roberts http://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com.au

2014 has set in, Hubby is back at work, Miss 5 soon starts school (OMG!) and although Baby A is still at home with me full-time, I'm slowly getting back in to work and plan on ramping up my work time as the year goes on. I have a couple of commissioned paintings in the works at the moment, but I do have a couple of months waiting list, so if you're interested in a commissioned piece for the early part of this year, please let me know asap.

I haven't set in stone any resolutions for this year (yet?) - rather just ideas spinning around in my head. Getting away from the little studio under the stairs and sleeping out under the stars has left me feeling rather inspired! 

What are your resolutions for 2014?

 

 

Christmas Hustle and Bustle

December is a crazy, busy, silly month...and this year is no exception. I decided not to do any markets this year, as Baby A is still so little, and the month really is busy enough. Thank goodness I made that decision because I really don't know where I would've fit them in. Print orders have been coming in steadily, and despite saying that I wasn't taking on any new commissioned paintings, I still had a few to finish with Christmas deadlines. Not to mention Christmas parties, preschool graduation, kids parties, present shopping, ipad repairs, family visits and endless trips to the post office. It just hasn't stopped. It's all mostly fun, but busy!

Then there's Christmas cards. There's a lack of paper cards arriving in my letterbox in recent years (thanks internet!), but I do think there's something nice about receiving a special card via snail mail sometimes. I also love when Miss 5 recieves little Christmas cards from her preschool friends - each with their own unique spin on them (whether it's a candy cane or carefully handwritten note with newly learnt handwriting - so cute!). So this year I made 33 of these little cards for her friends, thanks to the idea from MakerLand (via Giggleberry Creations).

Merry Christmas Lollipop Cards!

I really have to stop and check myself sometimes. What am I doing all this for? Oh that's right, to have fun. So that Christmas is enjoyable. So that my family is happy and I'm happy and everyone's having a good time. So stop...breathe...and don't freak out if the ribbon doesn't match the gift wrap. 

R-E-L-A-X!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 Here's one of the paintings I finished for a lady this week. She has previously purchased two of my other paintings and wanted a third to add to the set. This is simply "Pretty Pink Flower Fairy".

Rough sketch of the painting

Finished painting "Pretty Pink Flower Fairy"

Obviously the original painting has already sold, but if you like her, there are 8x10" prints available here.

As I write, it's now 2 minutes to midnight, and I could really use some sleep before another busy weekend/week ahead. If you are reading this, I hope in this week leading up to Christmas you have lots of little moments where you can stop, enjoy it, and take it all in. And I hope that I can take some of my own advice! 

Goodnight!

The Watch Flower

Last night I listed a little mini painting (4"x4") up for auction here. It's an eye study I painted over a few nights last week and I decided to add a few petals around it and create my first "Watch Flower". It reminds me of something Alice might find in Wonderland.

 

Side View:

I've signed and dated it on the back.

Back View:

At 4"x4" it is tiny so it would look cute sitting on a desk, or in a little nook somewhere.

I've had a big day today - ending with Miss 5's preschool graduation. Yes, complete with cap and gown and all! So incredibly cute. I'm going to bed one tired but very proud Mumma. 

Goodnight!