Baby's Got Some Back.....Grounds :) Art Everyday Month Day 12

 

Let's just say I have a whole bucketload of ATC's on my art table today.  That's in addition to the bucketload of supplies, and tools and tricks of the background creator's trade laying around :)

 Tomorrow I'm doing a demo on making funky backgrounds for your paintings and Artist Trading Cards. I could probably make about 200 cards if I had time there are so many cool things you can do!  I like  LOVE making backgrounds!!!!

 I know, I know...eventually the backgrounds need to turn into paintings but heck, they are there for when the inspiration hits.     Check out the burnt umber rusty background above....That's a part of my citra solve experiments with a paint color wash over top.  FUN>

 Another from the same stash with a phthalo green wash.....Yum :)

Sweet funky flowers....love making these too....

So many possibilities so little time.  We won't even go into the 400 some dollars I spent today on new art supplies and canvases...LOL.   I better get off this computer and get creating to pay for my shopping excursion at the Art of the Carolina's today!

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If you are in the Raleigh area tomorrow, be sure to stop by the Art of the Carolina's at the North Raleigh Hilton.  I have 2 demos scheduled..one I know for sure is at 4:15 in the make and take room hosted by the Carolina Mixed Media Guild, and the other will be a demo/discussion over at the Strathmore booth featuring their new product, Visual Journals.  Not sure on the time for that one though...somewhere between 1:30 and 3:30 :)  I'm just excited to be going and to hang out with so many of my artsy friends!

Shop Local, buy Hand Made this Season!

Just in the nick of time for the holidays--new prints in my shop, ACEO (Art Cards, Editions, and Originals in the standard size of 2 1/2 by 3 1/2). My prints are adhered to matte board for additional stability, printed professionally on Kodak Endura Lustre paper.
Each of the prints are only $6.00 and include FREE SHIPPING for the holiday sales!

As a part time working Artist, I would like to encourage you to buy hand made this year for the holidays.

If you are looking for some deals 'ala' Black Friday style, check out some of our Metsy team members shops for some great specials for the 4 day span of Friday thru Monday after Thanksgiving.

Or perhaps the thought of shipping turns you off from shopping online--check out these shops highlighted on the forum thread on Etsy that will be offering FREE SHIPPING.
When I signed up, I believe the thread was on page 17 or so--now there's over 70 pages and counting of sellers offering this tremendous value!!

If you are a bargain hunter, then no doubt you should check out these shops for even MORE DEALS--again, I signed up near the beginning of this post and now there are 900 pages worth of sellers offering free gifts, discounts on many unique and one of kind items. Perhaps you have someone hard to buy for or you are wanting a treat for yourself--Etsy is the place to shop this season!!!

In the mail this week, I received a special treat from a blog contest from dear Magdalene , a lovely person and wonderful artist. She sent me 2 (not just one--but 2!) sets of her beautiful note cards of her paintings. They are absolutely wonderful. I haven't had a chance to take a picture of them yet but please take the time to visit her shop, Gifts of Creation or blog and say hello!! I will get a picture up this week to show you how lovely they are.
A great big Thank you, Magdalene for picking me out of so many entries!!

I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is almost here. I woke up today in sheer panic. I hadn't done any food shopping, hadn't made a cohesive list until yesterday--had no idea what I was making or who was coming over, the house wasn't clean enough to have guests over, I had 25 magnets sitting on my table waiting to be finished, 25 ACEO cards prepped but not finished, these prints that needed to be cut and adhered to matte board, pictures to be taken, scans to be done of the finished product, regular prints that need to be listed, 3 originals that I'm working on for a new article that is due next Monday and just barely started, 2 orders that need to be sent out next week, another grouping for my Winter in NY set that needs to be finalized (scanned and signed and sent over to the store), a meeting on Tuesday night, cooking to be done, not to mention my regular day job and mothering that is built in---oh my. I am not well...lol. I have been sleeping maybe 3 hours a day lately.
I got up at 4 am to start on all the above projects and I'm happy to say I got the majority of them done so I feel better. ACEO's are listed. Magnets completed. Cleaning done. Pictures taken. Grocery shopping done. 3 originals started. Article started. I even managed to cook today. Haha.

I'm trying my best to keep up and do things right for everyone and myself but it's not easy. If I haven't replied to a message or visited your blog lately--please don't take offense, I will be back to normal soon. I have one more show that I'm featured in on December 5th at Flynne's coffee shop in Southern Pines. She is featuring an artist in each of the genre's she has in her store and having an Artist Reception to induct her new gallery attached to the shop. I'll be representing the Mixed Media category. I want so very badly to have several new pieces to send to her so that's my last big push after this article is written.
If you are in Southern Pines, NC on December 5th--please stop by Flynne's on Broad Street, downtown Southern Pines, NC from 5-7 for a great show of local talent!! I'd love to meet you!

Okay so everyone, wish me luck. I hope I can keep up on this pace for the next couple of weeks. No matter how tired I am, I am no where near as drained as I was when I worked retail during the holidays!!!! Perhaps that's where I learned the trait of endurance?!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Art Everyday Month-Promotions of Artwork

I've neglected to post some of my Art Everyday creations over these last few days as I've been crazy busy with the promotions end of my work--but some good things are coming together that I've been working on--for now, check out my new cards:

Just a quickie post to show you all the scans of a few of the ACEO's I've made recently and have just uploaded to my ETSY shop!

As a SPECIAL offer for the Holidays, I'm offering free shipping on all ACEO's. Later this week, I'll add some new prints and ACEO prints that would make great holiday gifts and stocking stuffers.

I had a whirlwind weekend between volunteering and helping out at the Art of the Carolina's and then going to Myrtle Beach for a friends birthday and even managing to start my Christmas shopping. (((big WOW...that usually doesn't get started until December!!))

In my next post, I'll highlight the trade show and our adventures there. Jeanne Rhea did a great job at recapping some of the highlights so please check out her blog post. Check out some of her fantabulous cards here . Lots of great things happened during the event--so much fun!!

Last but not least, if you aren't sure how to display ACEO's, here's an example of how they look framed--soooo cute! These are some prints of my Carolina Blue collection and Winter in NY series which I will also be offering in my Etsy shop this week. They turned out WONDERFUL!! I adhered them to matte board to make the prints more stable.

For a sneak peak on my new pieces I'm working on--check out my flickr page!

Until Next time--hope you listen to your creative muse and enjoy the journey wherever it takes you!