Thumbs up Thursday

 As you are aware from my previous posts this week, I have been at Castle Mall in Antrim facilitating Art for Schools. While I was setting up for the first school this morning, a lady stopped by and asked to shake my hand. She said, "I just think it's a wonderful thing you are doing here and I wanted to say thank you for giving all these children such a lovely opportunity to make art." It was a lovely and thoughtful sentiment to hear! I would love to have taken the credit, but it's actually Castle Mall that very kindly invites me to come and have loads of fun teaching art all week and provides so many children the opportunity to come and create.

Castle Mall really supports families by understanding the value of providing creative opportunities for kids, so they deserve a big thumbs up! The kids have been working hard all week and have done such a great job, so I think they deserve a big thumbs up too!

Work in Progress Wednesday

This week's work in progress shots are more Art for Schools student works, rather than my own. This particular group was quite large...30 children in all, but they were so focused that they were easy to teach. I think they have done a brilliant job with their project and have done themselves proud!

Talk Art Tuesday

It's Art for Schools Week at Castle Mall in Antrim and I have been invited to facilitate an art project for about 250 children (approximately 50 kids per day). Given the time of year, it's not surprising that I was asked to come up with an Autmn based theme, so we're making stuffed tree sculptures! We begin by painting card with red and yellow, allowing some of it to blend to orange and setting those pieces aside to dry.

Students then attach a long piece of folded card to a square piece of folded card to create the basic sculpture form. The sides of the card are taped shut, leaving one side at the top open and the bottom of the trunk open for stuffing with crumpled newspaper later. A string is attached to the back and rolled up, then taped lightly against the card to keep it out of the way. This will be for hanging the scuplture later. If we had more time, we might round off the edges at the top, but the project takes many steps, and it's not strictly necessary.

The 'trunk' is painted brown and scratched into with the back of the paintbrush to create the bark texture. It's been fun watching students modify my demonstrated technique with their own ideas, scratching in initials, hearts lines and whatever takes their fancy.

At this stage, we ripped the card they painted earlier into leaf shapes and attached them to the top of the tree forms with glue, allowing the shapes to overlap and come over the edges, disguising the square of the support.


This particular group got a late start and didn't have time to stuff them, so they will be finishing that part up at school. They seemed to have fun and I think their results are fab!

Art Market Monday

I am facilitating an art project with 250 school children this week and am on a tight deadline with 2 commissions, so I will not listing any new work and the special offer for gift vouchers is still available in my Etsy shop. During this offer, I will give you a voucher worth an extra 20% with every voucher you purchase! IE: Purchase a $50 gift voucher, get an extra $10 voucher for FREE. That means you can buy one for a gift and get a little something for yourself too. Check my SPECIAL OFFER section for vouchers starting at only $25. I have also added gift vouchers for custom original paintings at 20% OFF of their normal price (no additional voucher applies to these, as a discount is already reflected in the price).

If you are in Northern Ireland, a selection of my work is now available at Dream Jewels, 84 Main Street in Moira. Dream Jewels is the sort of shop that any 'girlie' girl will adore, so be sure to go and have a look. You can also still see my work at The Yard Gallery in Holywood and Montmarte Gallery, Lisburn.

I will not be at The Artisan Market at The OUTLET in Banbridge on Sunday this week, however, fellow artists that I exhibit with will be there representing my work from 1-6PM.

Solve it Sunday

Today was a good day. I sold 5 paintings and a few prints at the Artisan Market, so naturally I'm thrilled! I'm not any less tired though and I have a busy week ahead of me with several deadlines looming, so today's puzzle is an older piece. Francesca is one of my favourite nudes and looking at her makes me want to get back into painting them, so I just might have to do a few!

Simply Saturday and October Giveaway

I am bone tired today! The hubby and I have both been fighting off colds all week and I think it's really taking it's toll on us. Neither of us has had the energy to do much tidying and the kitchen looks as if a tornado hit it. On top of that, I was painting in my jammies the other day and ran downstairs to grab some supplies out of a bag I had left sitting in the front hall. Of course, the postman picked that moment to arrive...as I was bent over in my paint spattered jammies with the hole in the tush. Yeah, I'm that classy. I was horrified and hope that he just put the post through the door without peeking in! LOL Oh well, I was overdue for an embarrassing moment.

Just a reminder, my giveaway for an original painting is still open for entries for a few morew weeks. Visit the original post to find out how to enter the prize draw for a chance to win the 5 x 7 inch painting on canvas shown below.

Fresh off the Easel Friday

Instead of new paintings on canvas to show, I have a few new bangles again this week. The process and materials are very similar to how I create my backgrounds and I'm really enjoying making these little pieces of wearable art!

Thumbs Up Thursday

A friend posted this video on Facebook recently and I was blown away! It's hard to explain the sense of patriotism that is ingrained into we Americans, and this video has brought me to tears each time I've watched it. However, you don't have to be American to be moved. I think anyone of any nationality would be moved simply by the talent of these little girls! The Cactus Cuties, as they are known, were ages 6 through 8 at the time this video was recorded. They absolutely deserve a thumbs up!

Work in Progress Wednesday

I did a semi-abstract nude series and was quite happy with most of the pieces. However, this particular painting troubled me right from the get go, so it was left untouched from its early stages and has been buried in my studio for at least 4 or 5 years! For some reason, I recently decided it was finally time to go back and work on her again.


Right away, I could tell that what bothered me most was her proportions. While the series was about soft curves and textured backgrounds, rather than realistic details, her proportions were just too off for me to be happy. As I built up color, I also adjusted her proportions, giving her a more curvacious figure. She's still not quite there, but I'm happier. I used to juxtapose straight lined hair against the curvy figure, but it doesn't feel right anymore, so I changed her hair to the more flowy, curvy hair that I usually do now.


I'm also not sure I'm happy with the current placement of her arms, though to be fair, it's hard to tell for certain since I haven't started defining them yet. At the moment, they are just roughly sketched in with a large paint brush. Before I go further with her, I decided to play around in Photoshop and try a few other options. My mouse control is terrible, but I am still able to get a general idea of how it would affect the composition if I move her arms to her sides. It's probably a more expected placement, so I'm not sure I'll change it. Many of the other pieces in the series have arms lifted high or swinging around, as if they are dancing, so leaving them in their current position fits in with that concept more.

I'll give it some thought and just see where she takes me. I probably won't have time to work on her until closer to Christmas, but hopefully, it won't take me another 5 years to finish her!

Talk Art Tuesday

I was hoping to share the tutorial that I recorded last week with you, but editing over an hour and a half of video has proved to be more daunting a task than I expected! I'm exhausted and still working on a deadline with commissions, so I have decided to share something else with you instead. Now, some may debate that this doesn't belong on 'Talk Art Tuesday', but I would argue that Jack Vale has definitely turned pranking people into an art (he has over 100 prank videos). I'm not ashamed to admit that I find his 'pooter' hilarious. I don't ever want to be so grown up that I can't laugh at some immature toilet humor. Luckily, I doubt that will ever happen!

Art Market Monday

The introductory offer for gift vouchers is available for another week in my Etsy shop. During this offer, I will give you a voucher worth an extra 20% with every voucher you purchase! IE: Purchase a $50 gift voucher, get an extra $10 voucher for FREE. That means you can buy one for a gift and get a little something for yourself too. Check my SPECIAL OFFER section for vouchers starting at only $25. I have also added gift vouchers for custom original paintings at 20% OFF of their normal price (no additional voucher applies to these, as a discount is already reflected in the price).

If you are in Northern Ireland, a selection of my work is now available at Dream Jewels, 84 Main Street in Moira. Dream Jewels is the sort of shop that any 'girlie' girl will adore, so be sure to go and have a look. You can also still see my work at The Yard Gallery in Holywood and Montmarte Gallery, Lisburn.

As always, you can meet me and see my work in person at the Artisan Market at THE OUTLET in Banbridge on Sunday, from 1-6PM. The special offer applies to purchases at The Artisan Market as well.

Solve it Sunday

It's been a crazy week, so I am spending this evening catching up with old friends in chat, enjoying some time with my hubby and playing with my new mobile phone. Today's puzzle is a charoal and graphite drawing that I sold this afternoon. I'm guessing this one will be a tricky one to solve because it's monochromatic! Muwahahahaha!

Simply Saturday

I've been watching videos on Youtube all week as I paint. You've heard me mention how much I love it before, though I previously tried to deny that I have a Youtube addiction. When I hit 5000 videos and my best friend threatened to stage an intervention, I swore I could stop anytime. When I got to 5500, I said, "Hey, the videos are all less than 10 minutes, so it's really like I have only watched 916 one hour TV shows. That's not so bad, right?"

I have now seen 6,264 videos and the other day I actually watched "The Making of a Male Model", a movie from the early 1980's starring Joan Collins and Jon Erik Hexum. It was unbelievably cheesy and soooooo predictable, but Hexum had his shirt off for the majority of the movie, so I sat through all 9 segments of it. So yeah, I have a Youtube addiction, but I have decided to embrace it...and maybe I'll go watch "The Making of a Male Model" again.

Fresh of the Easel Friday...well, the Art Table Anyway!

This is my 100th post. Woohoo! As a celebration, I'll send one of my bookmarks to the 1st person who comments on it!

As you know, I am quite busy with commissions in the last few weeks, so I don't have any new paintings to show. I don't intend to share the commissioned pieces publicly until after they are with their new owners, however, I won't leave you hanging!

I love doing commissions, but I also often find it necessary to take quick breaks from them to keep my creativity flowing. I think it's because with commissioned pieces, there is pressure to blend someone else's ideas in with your own. If I find my creativity blocked, I simply stop and work on something that it doesn't matter what the final result is. I can experiment, get it out of my system, then get back to the commission with my whole heart.

This week I experimented with these bangle bracelets and am so thrilled with how they turned out! The material I used to create the form of the bangle is recycled. Can you guess what it is? I'll also send a bookmark to the first person who guesses (or the person who gets the closest if nobody gets it exactly), so you could potentially get 2 bookmarks!

Thumbs Up Thursday

You might remember Autumn Rae Art from when I featured her work in August. I am completely smitten with her paintings and have since added one to my ever expanding art collection. The other day I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she is now creating some fabulous fiber art jewelry. I love how Autumn has taken elements, such as butterflies and birds, straight out of her paintings and has interpreted them in a whole new way into wearable art. Afterall, why should just the make believe ladies get to wear such wonderful adornments?

The piece above happens to be my favorite...don't you just love the bird and the feather!? Autumn has listed a few of these wonderful new pieces in her Etsy shop, so be sure to support a fellow artist if you love jewelry. Anything this unique definitely deserves a thumbs up!

Work in Progress Wednesday

I began this painting by loosley creating the basic composition in black paint. I then filled in the table with black and randomly scattered black around the top part as well and dry brushed black withing the flowers and vase. I usually work dark to light, but in this painting I mixed it up a bit. I added a bright red on the table and filled in the areas on top that didn't have black in them. When the red and black layers were completely dry, I added a bright green over the background. I applied thick paint with a fairly dry brush, so the texture would really show. I then added a darker red on the table, vase and flowers.

Next I began to build the flowers up, applying more dark red paint, then a brighter orange/red with my fingers. I left hints of the dark show through the center and applied the paint in semi-circles to subtly give the flowers a rose shape.

Finally, I added a bright blue, then some of the same blue mixed with a tiny bit of white. Because it was applied over dark colors, it makes the blue appear very bold and rich.

Here's a a close-up, which really shows off the texture!

And here's the finished piece with plenty of red...my favorite color!

Talk Art Tuesday

Tonight I have been making a video tutorial. Though it will definitely need some editing, teaching art is much more in my comfort zone than just talking on camera, so it didn't take 32 tries this time around like my video announcement did the other day! I sure had a lot of trouble remembering to keep the project in front of the camera though! At the moment, it's very, very long, but when I get it edited I'll post it here and on youtube. I don't want to give away exactly what the project is, but here's the tiniest of hints...it's a recycling project.

So for inspiration tonight, have a look at the work of Kieron Williamson, an artist from Norfolk. Once you see the quality of his work, it's hard to believe he has been drawing and painting for only a year. His progress and understanding of light, perspective and scale would be impressive for a person of any age. When you realize that Kieron is only 6 years old, it's shocking, but in the best possible way!

Art Market Monday

It's hard to believe I'm already talking about Christmas, but before we know it, the holidays will be here. With that in mind, I am listing gift vouchers in my Etsy shop, which are valid toward the purchase of any of my items. As an introductory offer, I will give you a voucher worth an extra 20% with every voucher you purchase! IE: Purchase a $50 gift voucher, get an extra $10 voucher for FREE. That means you can buy one for a gift and get a little something for yourself too. Check my SPECIAL OFFER section for vouchers starting at only $25.

If you are in Northern Ireland, a selection of my work is now available at Dream Jewels, 84 Main Street in Moira. Dream Jewels is the sort of shop that any 'girlie' girl will adore, so be sure to go and have a look. You can also still see my work at The Yard Gallery in Holywood and Montmarte Gallery, Lisburn.

As always, you can meet me and see my work in person at the Artisan Market at THE OUTLET in Banbridge on Sunday, from 1-6PM. The special offer applies to purchases at The Artisan Market as well.

Solve it Sunday and October Giveaway

Every month I do a prize draw and this month, I am GIVING away this 5 x 7 inch ORIGINAL painting! This giveaway is open worldwide and you have until 9PM GMT on 10/31/09 to enter.
The winner will be selected at random and will have 72 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. I will announce the winner on my blog, but if you would like to make sure you don’t miss out, leave a valid email address in your post and I will notify you personally as well. Thanks for entering and good luck!

Required for Entry: Visit my Etsy shop then leave a comment here, telling me what your favorite piece is.

Extra Entries: It’s easy to get extra entries (see below), but please make sure you do the required entry first, as well as leave a separate comment for each entry.

• Suggest a name for this painting (1 extra entry)
• Follow my blog publicly (1 extra entry)
• Become a fan of JolieArt on Facebook and leave your FB name here (1 extra entry)
• Add JolieArt to your Etsy favorites and leave your username here (1 extra entry)
• Start a thread in the Etsy Promotions forum about my giveaway and link back to this post. Leave the link to the forum post here. (1 extra entry)
• Subscribe to my blog feed via email and leave your email address here (1 extra entry) .
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to it. Leave the link to your blog post here, so I know where to find it. (1 extra entry)
• Make a purchase at JolieArt and leave your username here (5 extra entries)
• Refer a friend from Facebook, MySpace, Bebo or anywhere else and ask them to leave your name in their comment. (1 entry for your friend, plus an extra entry for you!)
• Mention this giveaway in your Youtube video and tell me where to find it. (1 extra entry)
• Follow JolieArt on Twitter and tweet this message "RT@JolieArt giveaway. WIN her gorgeous original painting! Details here: http://bit.ly/i3gCz". Please leave a link to your tweet in your comment. (you can tweet this up to once per day and get 1 extra entry each time!)
  

Here she is for a bit of Solve it Sunday puzzle fun!

Simply Saturday - And the winner is...

Since it's the first time I have opened my monthly prize draw to online fans, I thought I would make a video to announce the winner. Boy, it's not as easy as some people make it look! It took me 32, yup, that's right, 32 tries to get it right. Even on take 32 there were still a few ums and pauses and I would have preferred not to have the sleeve of my very ugly pink painting sweatshirt show up at one point in the video, but I don't think I could do another take! It has already taken me over an hour and a half to record a two minute video. LOL

And the winner is...


I'll post the official entry guidelines to October's prize draw on tomorrow's post, so be sure to come back and check it out!

Fresh off the Easel Friday

Remember the show 'It's Your Move' from the mid 1980's? It starred Jason Bateman as a scheming teen whose mother was dating the new neighbor across the hall and he was always coming up with some outlandish plan to get rid of him. I used to love that show!...probably because I thought Jason Bateman was so cute. I stumbled across it on Youtube tonight and have been watching old episodes while I finished the 2 paintings I posted on Wednesday. I've just finished them, so the photos were taken in artificial light again.


I added more color to the hair, blending various tones to give her hair a bit more texture and highlights. I was going to make her eyes brown, but they seemed too flat to me, so I dotted a tiny bit of metallic green on top. Now they appear more hazel and also have a subtle, interesting sheen. I added some eyebrows and tidied some lines around her face and she's done!


I had originally planned on making this girl's eyes brown as well, but just wasn't happy with it, so I painted them over in blue. I used the same metallic green for her eyes as I did on the other girl, tapping just hints of it on top of the blue. It's the same green from the background, so it subtly repeats color and unifies the painting. I'm really pleased with how she turned out.

Thumbs Up Thursday

While getting my daily Youtube fix, I came across Florida band, Boyce Avenue. I have been subscribed to their channel for a while, but had forgotten about them and hadn't watched their videos in ages. After listening to their music again, I don't know how I could have ever forgotten...Boyce Avenue is amazing! I love the accoustic guitar and the lead singer's earthy voice. Boyce Avenue have many great covers, as well as a few of their own originals on Youtube, so I had a really difficult time choosing just one song to share.

Though they have certainly made it big on Youtube and have fans all over the world, they aren't superstars just yet. So imagine my surprise when I discovered Boyce Avenue is playing here in Belfast in just a few weeks! Besides the obvious thumbs up for Boyce Avenue, I've got to give a thumbs up to Auntie Anne's for bringing this fabulous band to town. I hope I can still get tickets!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Taken without flash, shows variation of color in hair slightly better

Taken with flash

Each Sunday, while exhibiting at The Artisan Market, I bring my paints along and work away. As I was working on the painting on the right, a family with 3 little girls stopped to watch. When I asked what color I should paint her hair, one of the girls answered, "lots of colors, like yours", so now she has hightlights! I still have to work on the eyes on both pieces and add eyebrows. I also have a bit of tidying up to do, as I tend to paint quickly and go back to clean up lines and lost details. Unfortunately, I forgot to get the camera out during the day, so I only have 2 mediocre photos to show at the moment. Now it's back to work on these girls for me. I think I'll put a movie on while I paint. Hmm...what to watch, what to watch?

Talk Art Tuesday - Gel Transfers

I'm no expert on image transfers. As a matter of fact, I've only tried them a few times, with mixed results. It does seem that there are about a million ways to do them though. I stumbled across this video by Darlene Olivia McElroy, known as 'collagegoddess' on youtube. Her technique is pretty simple, is different about it is that she wets the paper that she is transferring the image from, so that it dries at the same rate as the matte medium. I've never heard of anyone else doing that and it makes a lot of sense.

I love that she uses images more to layer in texture and interesting imagery, rather than using someone else's image as a major part of the art. The pieces she transfers an image onto started out very interesting to begin with, but the transfer added a spectacular dimension to it. It's got me itching to try it out for myself! With several commissions and a deadline though, it will have to wait. :(

Art Market Monday - FREE SHIPPING

I'm quite busy this week with commissions, so rather than making lots of changes tonight, I have decided to extend my FREE SHIPPING offer on select paintings and prints in my Etsy shop for another week. However, I am changing some of the items that are included on this offer, so if you have your eye on something specific, make sure you snap it up before it's taken off the offer.

Also, because I have been working on commissions, I don't have many new girlie paintings to list, but will continue to put up some of the pieces you have seen on 'Fresh off the Easel' in previous weeks, as well as a few prints this week.

If you would like to see my work in person and are in Ireland, be sure to stop by the Artisan Market at THE OUTLET in Banbridge on Sunday from 1-6PM. We can be found in unit 63, near Warehouse.

Solve it Sunday

My student, Emma has been painting with me since she was about 4 years old (she's 8 now) and is enthusiastic about art each and every time I see her. We recently looked through her gigantic portfolio of art and boy, is it impressive! She has a body of work to rival any professional artist of 30 years. I hear she is working on a new piece and I can't wait to see it!

Today's puzzle is an impressionist style painting created by Emma when she just under 7 years old and it's one of my favorites. The view is of Belfast Lough, sketched, then painted while looking out of the window from her mum's 2nd floor office window. I always encourage Emma to take liberties while painting...after all, it is her painting and her imagination, so it can be anything she wants it to be, right? In this painting, I particularly love how she chose to include the train, but made it a shade of blue, so that it didn't detract from the sea she had so carefully painted. It was just such a well-thought out, mature creative decision and I think a very good one too! I wish I had taken a reference photo, so you could see her subject matter in real life. You can see more of Emma's work on my flickr.


Enjoy!

Simply Saturday

While checking the BBC One website tonight for information on the season premeire of 'Merlin', my husband discovered 'Waking the Dead', a show similar to 'Cold Case' in that it is about a team that investigates old, unsolved cases. I don't know how we missed it until now, as the show is actually in its 8th season.

You can watch many of BBC One's shows on their website for a few weeks after they air, so we thought, 'What the heck...we'll see if it's any good.' British TV tends to be a bit slower paced and less glamorous that American shows, and 'Waking the Dead' seems to be no exception. As an American, it's a bit of an adjustment for me, so I was surprised to enjoy it. As a matter of fact, because the show doesn't rely on gorgeous characters, special effects and a big soundtrack, it really has to be all about the storyline and the acting. There was a character that creeped me out beyond belief and I actually cried while the victim in this episode was describing her experience. I was just so engrossed in the story! I'm not sure if it's available in all countries, but if you can access the show, I definitely recommend watching it.

By the way, don't forget that I will be drawing a winner for my giveaway next Saturday, September 26th. If you haven't entered for your chance to win this original painting, be sure to get your name in for a chance to win! Have a look at the original post for details.

Fresh off the Easel Friday

This week I have been working on some commissioned paintings, but am not ready to show them just yet. I have also had the same two girls sitting half finished on my painting table all week and am finally ne-e-e-e-arly finished with one of them. I have a few finishing touches left to add to her before she is ready to be photographed. This painting, called Liana, was finished earlier this week and is on 5 x 7 inch canvas. She is one of several short haired girls I have painted recently.

Thumbs Up Thursday - Moleskine Journals

Sure, I've heard about Moleskine journals. Many artists swear by them, but I never saw the point of spending the extra money. I thought, 'Why would I want to spend 25GBP on a Moleskine journal, when I can get the same size in a different brand for only 5GBP?' I rarely work in a journal anyway, because I get frustrated with the fragility of paper and find the paint more difficult to manipulate.

That was then, this is now! Last week I had the pleasure of working in a Moleskine journal for the very first time, as part of Gary Reef's Create and Pass Journal project. I was a little nervous, as I tend to work my surfaces over pretty hard and was worried I would damage the journal...or worse, Gary's artwork, which was on the other side of my page!

What I found instead was that the paper could take a fair bit of abuse. Early on, I did have too much water in my brush, which caused the paper to pill a little. I soon got the hang of it though, and once I had the perfect balance of moisture in my brush, the paint glided so smoothly. The feel was absolutely wonderful and the finished result was so rich. I was amazed at how much visual texture I was able to create and how none of my work damaged anything on the other side.

If you look closely, you can see the paper pilled on the forehead, but the
paper is so forgiving that it wasn't that noticable.

Sadly, I had to ignore temptation to keep painting in the lovely little Moleskine journal and posted it on to the next person on the list. I did, however, buy one of my own the other day! I have called my girl that I painted in the journal 'Mirabelle', which apparently means wonderful in French. It seemed fitting, as she was part of my wonderful discovery of Moleskine journals. If you haven't tried a Moleskine journal, run out and get one...they get a big thumbs up from me!

Work in Progress Wednesday

I began this piece by painting the canvas black, then painting a layer of red over it after it dried, letting hints of the black peek through. I then mixed a little purple with black and loosely established the lines of the table and the shape of the flower pot.


I dry brushed a warm yellow on the background, added a purplish red color over the flower pot, and used the same color to create the flowers. I also brought some of that same purple/red color into the table. When the first layer of the flowers was dry, I began to build up color, starting with a very warm orange/red. I applied this with my fingers and was careful to leave the dark outline of the flowers.


Next I added a very pretty pink over the flowers, applying this with my fingers as well, using a soft, circular motion, skipping some parts to allow the previous layers to peak through. This gives it an organic feel that is vaguely roselike.


Now I start adding in the highlights by applying bit of white on the flowers, letting it blend with the still wet pink. I have added a turquoise blue on the left of the pot and a brighter green on the right, as well as brought those colors into the table. A general rule of thumb is to repeat colors around the painting, which helps with balance and to keep the eyes moving.


To tie everything together and balance the painting, the last thing I do is dry brush some of the pink I used on the flowers onto the table, allowing hints of the previous layers to peek through. I blended a little white with the pink on the right side, so that the shadow is on the left and light is on the right, as I did with my flowers. This reinforces my 'light source', which appears as if it would be shining from the right.

On this painting I used a color combination that I rarely, if ever use. I'm not usually a huge fan of pink, yet it just really felt right here and I love the final result.

Talk Art Tuesday - Standing out from the Crowd

Today, I stumbled across a blog post by Celeste Rockwood-Jones that got me thinking. On her blog she has gorgeous pictures and generously offers a free pattern for making paper fortune cookies. She used them to create lovely Valentine messages, but I have something else in mind.

We all love fortune cookies, don't we? We know they rarely say anything that makes a profound difference in our lives, but it's fun to break them open and see what you are going to get anyway. It's that element of surprise that is so great, so I have decided to take this concept and run with it!

I'm going to create a bunch of lovely 'fortune cookies' using scrapbook paper, but rather than inserting a fortune, I'm going to use them to market my work. I'll put a bunch of them in a bowl when I do the Artisan Market on Sunday and let shoppers choose one. They will contain various offers, such as '10% off any print', 'Buy a necklace, get a ring free', ' 20% off when you commission a painting', etc. It will be a great way to offer value wrapped up in a package of fun. I will also include some free stuff, such as 'Congrats! Choose any bookmark.'

I think this is a creative way to stand out from the crowd and will make people remember me, whether or not they choose to purchase any of my art that day. It's a concept that I can modify as well. Perhaps I can make origami pumpkins at Halloween (is there such a thing?) or mini Christmas cards that shoppers can dig out from a Santa Sack.

I'm terrible at learning from patterns, so I found this simple tutorial on youtube.

Art Market Monday - FREE SHIPPING

This week in my Etsy shop I am offering FREE SHIPPING worldwide on select paintings and prints. Have a look in my Special Offer section to take advantage of this great deal!


I will be continuing to list my 5 x 7 inch acrylic stylized girl paintings all week in my Etsy shop. They are only $55 each. Some are already listed on Etsy, but if you catch me BEFORE I list one, you can have it for a special blog price of $45 (plus shipping).


As normal, I will be at Sugahfix's Artisan Market at THE OUTLET in Banbridge from 1-6PM on Sunday. We have moved to Unit 63 opposite Warehouse.