In the Art Studio + Shop: Black Friday/Small Business Saturday Updates

It strikes me that I haven't done an art update in quite some time.  Given that I have some special holiday happenings in the art shop, and that the holiday shopping season starts tomorrow (I can't believe it's already that time of year again!), I figured that I should probably pop in a little update before tucking into a quiet Thanksgiving day.

In the Art Studio 

 

 

Between the arrival of our sweet rainbow baby and my gimpy (but slowly healing!) arm, it's been hard to get some good art time in, as expected.  But a few weeks ago I did manage to start a new piece -- featuring my second ever mixed media boy!  I wanted to try making some boy art to hang up in Jacob's room.  And frankly, there are precious few pieces featuring boys in the mixed media world, at least in my experience.  I'm quite pleased with how it's going so far -- my first attempt at a mixed media boy looked a bit too womanly for my taste.  

 

I've also been having some fun prepping background pages in my two art journals.  I'm not really "good" at art journaling -- meaning that I've tried it in the past and quickly grown bored.  But lately I'm feeling the pull to have a space to be extra messy, and to try new things.  Besides, going nuts with paint and a brayer feels really, really great -- and it's quick, which is good for squeezing in during baby cat naps.  

The pages above are from a journal I'm making for Jacob.  Inspired by Tam of Willowing, I thought it would be a fun and meaningful gift to give Jacob when he's older.  Right now it's mostly little letters to him written over painted pages plus photos and random other things glued in, and it's been a lovely new challenge to assemble.  

In the Art Shop

 

I have a few fun things happening in the art shop for the holidays:

• every purchase from my art shop from now through January 1, 2012, will come with a free fine art postcard of your choosing (just let me know in the "notes to seller" box at checkout)
• I am offering a sweet discount bundle of fine art cards (above), which make great Christmas/holiday cards -- you can mix and match any combination of images from my shop on 16 amazingly high quality, frame-able cards
• you can find all my holiday-themed art in a single handy section, here

Also, my newsletter subscribers are receiving an awesome exclusive discount code good through Saturday, November 24.  It's the biggest coupon of the year, which is totally fun.  And it's not too late to get in on the action -- you can subscribe to the newsletter here.  I'll be resending the discount code again on Friday for new subscribers. 

 

I hope that you have an amazing Thanksgiving, American folks, and that this weekend is a sweet and peaceful start to the holiday season for all.  I know that the holidays are not the easiest of times for some, but I hope that they surprise you in a beautiful, unexpected way this year.