LOVED "Make Art That Sells," Part 1

I'm back!  Remember me?  I know, it's been awhile, but don't you worry, I've still been living in artsy land over here.  I've just been in my little learning/research mode a lot lately (ok, I admit, I tend to get stuck in that phase from time to time).

I did want to pop on here for a minute, though, and tell you all how much I LOVED my latest ecourse that I took!  I mentioned it last time, but I'll tell you again.  It was called "Make Art That Sells" taught by Lilla Rogers.

Isn't the banner even so dang cute?

I can't even say enough good things about this course!  I looked forward to the posts every day.  There were amazing assignments, great videos, wonderful classmates, an incredible community of talented, supportive artists....  The Flickr group alone was worth the money!  Let me tell you, there is some amazing talent out there!  It was just a constant stream of awesomeness coming out of that course! 

In fact, I think that one of the best things I learned from the course is that I have a lot to learn.  Honestly, it really helped me step up my game, and realize that I need to give it everything I've got, if my stuff even stands a chance out there in this art-filled world.  It was great, though, just what I needed.

So, you wanna see some of my assignments?  It was tough, because we had an assignment due each week, so I was on a deadline.  It really helped me stay focused, but, of course, that last night before each one was due, I would always stay up way too late, putting my finishing touches on it.  And you know how us artists are - a piece is never really "finished."  I could've just kept fiddling and embellishing forever.  So, yeah, it was good I had a cut-off point.

Anyway, here is some of my lovely work:

This is my plate design - a bouquet of donuts.  Who wouldn't want a bouquet of donuts?

And here's my layout for the "Children's Book Illustration" week.  Whew - this was a toughy, but I still had fun.  : )

This is from "Collage" week, and the first time I ever illustrated a bird in one of my pieces.  I had a lot of fun with all the different textures on this one, and learned some new techniques.

K, this one has to make you smile, right?  For inspiration this week, we were supposed to turn to things that we collect.  Well, I really love Superman and Hello Kitty, so combine those two and, viola!  Super Kitty is born.  A special thank-you goes out to my kitty cat Pixie for letting me use her cute, fluffy face in my work.  : )

So, there you have it. I really loved the course, so much, and guess what?  Part 2 is starting up in October!  Yay!

I Am an Artist!

Guys, I have a confession to make.

Sometimes I still have a hard time convincing myself that I'm a *real* artist.

I don't know.  It's weird.  I can't quite figure it out.

Maybe it's because, growing up, I didn't even really draw that much.

Or maybe it's because I've never taken any real art classes (unless 7th grade art counts).

I don't have a degree.

I didn't really start doing illustration-type-work until I was in my thirties.

It's like there's this (really annoying) voice in my head, telling me things like, "Who are you kidding, you can't draw!  You're not a real artist, unless you started when you were little.  You have no idea what you're doing.  It's never going to come out right."

Do you guys have those voices of negativity sometimes, too?

Eeef, they drive me crazy, and I'm constantly trying to prove them wrong.

Well, you know what?  I'm just going to come out and say it:

"I AM AN ARTIST!!!!!"

Ahhhh, that feels better.

Seriously, I just love making art SO much!!  And it just keeps getting better and better!

The more I learn and experiment and create, the more fun I have.

Do you ever get the feeling sometimes when your doing something - this overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness, like you are, at that moment, doing something that you were born to do?

Oh, it's the best!

That is how I feel sometimes when I create art.  It just sparks something inside of me that makes my spirit come alive!  I love it!

So, voices of negativity, I am not going to listen to you anymore!

In fact, I must be completely taking myself seriously as an artist, because I am currently enrolled in an an AWESOME ecourse called "Make Art That Sells," taught by Lilla Rogers.

http://lillarogers.com/make-art-that-sells/

Guys!  This class is so amazing!  I'm a week and a half into it, and I am just loving it so much and learning so many great things!

I kinda think this class was made just for me.  It's pretty much exactly what I need. : )

You wanna see my assignments I've been working on?

Here's my one from last week:

We were supposed to design a vintage kitchen-themed fabric.  Lilla mentioned that we could include vegetables in our work, and I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I've never drawn vegetables before.  Vegetables aren't really my thing.  You know what's my thing?  Candy and sweets!"

So, there ya go!  Vegetables that look like they're in a candy shop!  : )

I had so much fun making this piece, but I gotta tell you something.  I don't know if I should admit this or not, but I have to say that I was pretty proud of my little piece when I was finished.  I was thinking I was kinda hot stuff for creating something so clever and cute.  

But then (dun dun dun......)

I saw all the other work that the other students were submitting and, man, there are some talented people out there!  I think I actually heard my big head being deflated.

Everyone in the class (yes EVERYONE) is so amazingly talented!!!  I was honestly blown away when I saw everyone else's work!  Beautiful!  Incredible!  Adorable!  They were just about the cutest patterns I'd ever seen!

And I realized that I have A LOT to learn!!

Well, I guess that's why I signed up for the class, right?  

I think the very best thing for me right now with my art is just to create, create, create, and then maybe some day I'll be as awesome as my classmates.  : )

Anyway, one last thing (sorry, I got a little carried away with this post).  Here's what I've been up to tonight. 

My assignment for this week was to design artwork for a ceramic plate - something with a pod-like floral theme.

And, what was speaking to my artsy soul this week?  Ice cream, of course!

Can you tell it was floral inspired?  I hope so.  I just finished this a few minutes ago, so I may still go back and do some tweeks.

We're supposed to make 2 - 4 designs, so next I think I'm on to donuts....or maybe cupcakes.....or lollipops.  We'll see.

Anyway, me and my officially-declared "Artist" self is off to bed now.

Goodnight!  : )

Jesus Said Love Everyone - NEW Art

Hi Guys!

I've missed you!  I have not been able to work on my art at all for the past three weeks, and it's been KILLING me!  Seriously, you artsy people out there will understand what I'm talking about.  We need to create, right?  Making art is like getting my life battery recharged.

So, here's my excuses:  First, I had a HUGE project at my day job that sucked up every ounce of free time that I normally could come up with, and then, my sweet little angel baby boy fell down the stairs the night before his second birthday and broke his leg!

Oh my gosh, can you even handle that sweet face?  Honestly, my heart broke in two! 

The good news is that it's been a couple of weeks now, and he's been handling everything great!  He is just such a good boy - so brave and so sweet!

So, agh, life has been toughening me up a bit lately.

This week, I finally feel like I'm able to function somewhat normally.

And, yay, that means new art to offer you!

I've had the idea for this art piece for a couple of months now.  I was inspired one Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church.  I had my "Church Songs" playlist going on my ipod, and this song came on:

"Jesus Said Love Everyone" Performed by Paul Cardall

 

It's called, "Jesus Said Love Everyone" by Moiselle Renstrom (the same lady who wrote "Once there was a Snowman."  She is so awesome!).  It's a song I've sung in church ever since I was a little girl.  Here's the lyrics, if you're interested.

 

The funny thing is that it was written as a 30-second little ditty, but then Paul Cardall magically turned it into this 4-minute instrumental masterpiece.  He is amazing, by the way!  So talented!

 

So, anyway, the song came on, and it just struck me all of a sudden - "I need to make an art piece of this!" 

 

So I did.  : )

I actually created this piece a few weeks ago, before my life fell apart, but I just needed to put some finishing touches on it tonight.

See, at first, I wasn't quite sure which direction to go in, so I decided to take a vote from my lovely Facebook friends.

Here's what I posted:

And here are the results (most popular to least popular):
     A - 15
     C - 9
     F - 3
     D - 3
     E - 1
     B - 1

Hmmm, interesting, interesting.  You know what I learned from this?  I learned that I should trust my original instinct.  I, personally, liked A the best too, but I was second guessing myself because I thought it might be too colorful for other people.  Me?  I like to decorate with every color of the rainbow, but I know that's not everyone's style.

But, "A" was clearly the winner, and I think it probably also had a lot to do with the circle border, too.

When, I posted the picture, I was predicting that "C" would be the winner, and it did come in second place.  That is a really pretty color, right?

So, anyway, as I was saying, tonight, I finally had some time to do my final tweaks, and here is what I have decided to offer for sale to the world:

My personal favorite, the orange rainbow one:

And for those of you who prefer a more subtle color pallete:

Ahh, it's nice to be back in my artsy land!  I think I'll go celebrate with a midnight bowl of ice cream.

Good-night!  : )

P.S.  And keep an eye out next Valentine's season - I'll be offering a limited edition Valentine's version! 

I Will be Happy Anyway - NEW Illustration

Hello Beautiful People!

I hope everyone is doing well on this gorgeous spring day!  Don't you just love this time of year?  It's my favorite!  I love watching everything come to life around me - so inspiring!

So, I have a new little treat to offer in my Etsy shop - my latest illustration, entitled, "I Will be Happy Anyway."

I was inspired to create this piece when a friend of mine was telling a sweet story that happened with his 5 year old daughter.  They were chatting about her upcoming birthday, and about all the fun things that she wanted to get for presents.  He then asked her, "But, what if you don't get everything that you want?"  And she simply replied, "I will be happy anyway!"

It really touched my heart, and I wanted to take those words into my own life, and remind myself that even when I don't get exactly what I want out of life, I can choose to be happy anyway - no matter what!

As we all know, this world can be a frightening, discouraging place, but I truly believe that we create our own happiness, and we can find it all around us, if we choose to.

Enjoy!

Abundance

I have a confession to make.

I'm a little bit obsessed with having the perfect house.

I just love picturing my dream home.  I love thinking about all the improvements I would do to my current house.  Or, I love browsing Zillow, looking for that beautiful home in the perfect neighborhood where I'll live when all the problems in my life go away.

It's so much fun, in the moment, to fantasize about creating my own little perfect bliss-land in my future home.

But then, you know what happens?  I come back to reality, and I start to get annoyed with my current circumstances.  I begin to notice all the things that I don't have.  I focus on everything that's wrong with my house and my yard and my neighborhood.

I get discouraged and frustrated.

Now, I'm all about having goals and ambitions and dreams, but you know what I think is even more important?

GRATITUDE

Honestly, you have to start with that.

Otherwise, we will go through this life feeling completely empty and disappointed.

So, you know what I'm going to do?  I'm going to stop looking for things that are wrong with my current home, and instead, be grateful for what I do have.

I came across a beautiful quote the other day that I fell in love with. It goes like this:

“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience 
Heaven on earth.” 

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach ~ 

Wow! When I read that, it just brought tears to my eyes.  It seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear at just the right moment. (Don't you love when that happens?)

You know, I found myself complaining the other day, and I mentioned how I wished I lived in a home with a great view.

Funny thing happened.  I was looking through my pictures later that night, and came across a few that I had taken in my yard over the past few months:

The "great view" has been there all along.

Yes, abundance surrounds all of us.  

Always. 

Whether we see it or not.

I plan on opening my eyes a little more.  

  

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.   Breathnach, Sarah Ban - See more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/17776/#sthash.okkLHHXJ.dpuf

 

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth. - See more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/17776/#sthash.okkLHHXJ.dpuf

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.   Breathnach, Sarah Ban - See more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/17776/#sthash.okkLHHXJ.dpuf

Stop Comparing

Don't you hate when you have this brilliant idea, and then you go online and find out that somebody else has already done it?  And they're doing it way better than you can do?

Grrrr.

That totally happened to me today.  And I'll admit, I was jealous.  And mad.  And annoyed.

Now, I'm not going to tell you who it is that's way better than me, but I will tell you that I have since changed my attitude around.  Yay for me.

I know it's not good to compare and think terrible thoughts like, "What do I have to offer that hasn't been done already?  What's so special about me?  That person is way more talented than I am." 

It's hard, though, right?

Well, I've decided that a helpful little thing to do when I feel those thoughts start to beat my spirit down, is to stop comparing myself to everyone else, and just compare my current self to my past self.

Pretty good idea, right?

So, yeah, I'm not a wildly successful artist right now with licensing deals and more money coming in than I know what to do with, but if I compare myself, to the Laurie from 5 years ago, than I'm doing pretty awesome.

For example, this is totally embarrassing, but do you want to see one of my very first attempts at digital art?  Eeek, here it is:

 

I honestly had no idea what I was really doing.  I had been using Photoshop for years, but only for working on photographs,  I had never tried to create an art piece from scratch before.  I didn't know anything about all the different Photoshop brushes out there, and how to make my own brushes, and how to add texture, and lots of other tips and tricks I've learned along the way.


So, here's my advice to myself today:

Focus on the progress that you've made.

Know that you have something unique to offer the world.

  There is only one of you.  

Keep expressing your unique creative voice!

Wow, I do feel better now.  Thanks, Laur!  : )

Shine Your Light - New Illustration

You know what amazes me?  The limitless amount of potential that we all have inside of us (and don't you just love the word "limitless"?)

Honestly, I really don't think we understand the greatness that we're capable of.

And we all have it.

It's a gift.

I see glimpses of it shining though people all the time.

I saw it the other day as I was sitting in church listening to a talk from a sweet 12 year old girl.

She was talking about all the wonderful things that she would like to accomplish in her life, and also how she wanted to be a shining example of goodness to those around her.  She said that she wished she could shine brighter than the brightest city lights that shine so bright, they can be seen from space.

It made me smile.

It reminded me that there is so much greatness in this world, and so many good-hearted people.

I thought of the light that all of us have inside, and this is the phrase that popped into my head at that moment, "Shine your light.  It's brighter than you know."

I quickly jotted it down, and knew that a new illustration was soon to be born.

And the sweet girl who gave the talk - her favorite color is blue.  So, this one is for her.

Maybe it will help you, too, feel the greatness inside you.

I hope so.  : )

More Digital Downloads

I am a digital paper-making machine, Guys!

I've been having so much fun tonight playing around with color.

I figured that since I said that my first set of digital papers was part of my "Hollow Circles Series - Matte,"  and "Hollow Circles Series - Shimmer" I better have more than one, so it actually is a series, right?

So, Voila!  Here you go!

I added two more to my "Matte" series:

And two to my "Shimmer" series:

Fun, fun!  : )

*NEW* Digital Downloads Now Available!

Yay - I did it!

I finally have digital downloads available in my Etsy shop!

And one of the best things about them - they're INSTANT!

That means that when someone places an order, I don't have to do a thing! 

My happy little creation just magically gets delivered to their email.

This is going to be fun!

I'm kicking off my digital downloads with 3 lovely packs of Digital Paper - perfect to use in scrapbooking, creating photo albums, greeting cards, invitations, announcements, websites, banners, and more!

Ta Da!  : )

Inspiration is Everywhere!

Isn't it amazing how inspiration can be found anywhere, if you start to open your eyes?

It's incredible, really.

If you don't believe me, just go outside, pick up the first leaf that you see, and look closely at the texture.  Then pick up another leaf. 

It's different, right?  Sometimes it's only different by a little bit, but it's still unique.

Design and art and beauty are all around us.  I love it!  : )

Like the other day, I was wearing this pink, ruffled, sequin shirt.  Here, I scanned it in, so you can see:

For some reason, I've always been drawn to circles.  I just love them! 

So, I looked down at my shirt, and was just fascinated by the repeating pattern of the circles, and how the light caught each sequin at a different intensity and made the shirt shimmer and shine with a rich texture.  "Hmmm, how could I create a digital version of this to use in my art?"  I thought to myself.

Well, here you go:

I started with my original circle file, which I told you about in my last post.  I then selected random circles through-out the pattern, and changed the color, to give it that shimmery look.

Ta da!  Ooo, the possibilities!  I could have so much fun with this!

Good news for you, too.  It's going to be for sale later this week in my Etsy shop!  I'll keep you posted!  : )

Slowly Learning Adobe Illustrator

I just have to say that learning Adobe Illustrator is so dang hard!

I've been using Adobe Photoshop for years, but with the direction that my art was going, I realized that I needed to learn Illustrator as well.  I thought to myself, "Hmm, I'm pretty good at Photoshop, I could probably just play around with Illustrator for a minute and figure it out."

False!

I feel like I am learning a foreign language!

A really hard foreign language.

I've been working on it for months - taking classes at Lynda.com, watching YouTube videos, searching endlessly through forums and websites, reading tutorials....

It's been taking every last drop of brain power.

But I'm sticking with it!!  And here's why.

So, I wanted to make a circle pattern to use as backgrounds in my art pieces.  Sounds simple enough, right?

I whipped one up quickly in Photoshop, not really taking too much care in lining everything up perfectly - just eye-balling it.

At first glance, I was quite proud of myself.  "Hmmm, that was pretty easy,"  I thought.

Then, I had the idea that I could easily (so I thought), turn my little creation into a pack of digital papers that I could sell in my Etsy Shop.

Well, as I took a closer look, this is the horrible truth that I discovered:

Arg!  I just couldn't get all the circles to line up precisely to the guides!  I was experimenting with several different methods, but finally came to the conclusion that it's pretty much impossible to get a pattern to line up perfectly in Photoshop.  After trying my best, I still couldn't get it to be exact:

Yuck!  Look at how far off everything is!  This is a zoomed in shot of the bottom left-hand corner.  The top right-hand corner was pretty much lined up, but I found that if it's only "pretty much" lined up in the beginning, then by the end, it's WAY OFF!

And some of the circles were overlapping just a little tiny bit, too (and that was really buggin'):

I had to have my circles perfect!

"Grrr, ok, ok, I'll re-create the entire thing in Illustrator!"  I yelled at myself (I know, I'm weird - I do that sometimes).

Well, several tutorials later, I am happy to announce, that I did it!  Perfection!  (Oh, I also decided that I liked the circles a little bit fatter).

Ahhh, yes, finally the frustration paid off!

I made good use of the Transform Palette, and the Blend option, and yay!  There you have it - perfectly aligned circles!

And now that I know how to do it, I can re-create the effect over and over in endless ways!  Horray!

So, the first thing I wanted to do was create a simple paper pack, featuring my perfect little hollow circles.  I decided to use one of my favorite color palettes of all time - my special creation that I call "Retro Rainbow."

Oh, by the way, it took me another hour to figure out how to easily change the colors of the circles.  But, I now know how to effectively use the "Global Color" setting.  Cool. 

I was hoping to get a few paper packs listed in my shop tonight, but I ran out of time (again).

But, here's a little sneak peak:

I'm totally going to have this and a few other paper packs I've been working on for sale in my Etsy shop next week!

And I'm happy to say that all the circles are perfectly placed - no random over-lapping, no funky stuff, just perfection!

And that's the way I like it.  : )

Paper Pack Banner

Most of the time, I love my little artsy biz, and I think it's just the greatest thing ever and the answer to all my problems.

Then, there's nights like tonight.

Here's what my plan was:  I was going to design the ribbon/banner thing to go across my new digital paper packs that I'm going to start offering soon.

Then, I was going to create 2-3 more paper packs.

Then, I was going to upload them to my Etsy shop and get all set up for instant downloads.

And then the cash was going to start rolling in from all my orders.  : )

Sounds good, right?

ARG!  Well, it took me FOREVER to design a ribbon/banner thing that I liked.

I seriously went through about 40 different options.

I always say how much I love working digitally with art because it gives me so much flexibility, but sometimes the never-ending options are just too overwhelming.

But, guess what?  I finally came up with a design that I like!  Horray!

Can you believe it took me three and a half hours to just come up with this simple thing:

Hmmm, it is quite cute, though, I have to say.  I wanted to be extra picky with this, because this is the template I'm going to be using for all my digital papers.

And, of course, I couldn't just leave it as these colors all the time.  As much as I love them, they are not always going to match my paper packs.  So, that endless digital flexibility came in handy, and I customized the colors to match my first paper pack.

Ta da!

Ok, so, yeah, this is fun.

I think the frustration was worth it.  : )

Instant Downloads Coming Soon!

Guys, I am so dang excited right now!

Guess what?

I just figured out that I can offer INSTANT DOWNLOADS through Etsy!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!

For some reason, I was under the impression that I wasn't able to do that.  I was looking at some Etsy shops awhile back, and all the ones that I saw said something like, "I will email you your file within 24 hours."

Well, when my business becomes a booming success, I was wondering how in the world I was going to keep up with my mass amount of orders, if I have to manually email every single one.

Problem solved! 

Tonight, I went on Etsy and researched "Digital Papers" and bam - there they all were - all these lovely Etsy shops that offered INSTANT (yes, instant) downloads!

At first I thought, "Hmmm, this person just must be really on top of things, and check their email every 15 minutes and then send the file off."  (Sometimes, I have to admit, I'm a bit of a ditz). 

But, no, they have a magical service that they signed up for that automatically does it for them.  Automatically!  Meaning that I can literally be making money while I sleep!   Hee hee!  I'm so giddy!

So, who offers this magical service, you may ask?  It's a place called Craft Hub, and they are seriously my dream come true!

Ok, ok, I know I may sound a little over-excited.  I know my little Etsy shop only has 5 sales right now, but I told you - I have big plans.  I am going to be creating-it-up over here.  I am going to become a digital paper making machine! 

And, once I have all my fun little digital papers up in my shop - then, yay, I can set up my automated system, and sit back and watch the cash roll in!  (Yes, yes, I am totally a dreamer - I know, but if you're gonna dream, dream big - right?)

I already started my digital paper making tonight.  You wanna see a little sneak peak?  Eeee, here it is:

Yes, I know, more cupcakes (I can't help myself).  But, aaaaaaaa, I just LOVE making patterns!  I could seriously do this all day every day.  It's the best! 

So, I still need to design a cute little banner/ribbon thing to go across the middle with my logo and the name of my collection.  This one is going to be called "Birthday Cupcake" - my very first digital paper pack. 

Cute, or what?

Etsy Shop Re-Opened!

Yay!  I did it!  I finally re-opened my Etsy shop!  I am officially back in business!

I am back to my blog, too!  And don't you worry, I haven't been a total slacker these past six months (yikes - has it been that long???).

I've been doing some online training to learn Adobe Illustrator, researching the business end of things, and working on some new art pieces. 

Speaking of which, here's one of my favorite recent ones:

 Can you even handle the cuteness?  Of course, I just couldn't resist doing a few more cupcake art pieces. 

I've been having so much fun coming up with new ideas for art pieces and business strategies.  I just love my artsy biz SO MUCH!  : )

You know what else I love?  I love my new wavy frames that I added to my artwork!  Oh man, it just makes the art look so much cuter, right?

Here's what I did:

I bought a few really cute, whimsical frames, and had my photographer husband snap a picture of them at the studio:

Then,  I worked some magic in Photoshop, and Voila!  I have a whole digital framing department!  I can make the inside of the frame and the outside of the frame turn into whatever color I want!  Yes!  Digital art is my favorite!

So, yay, I'm back in business with my little Etsy shop, and I have some big plans!  Wish me luck!