stuff about artstuff.

Sparkles.

Sparkles sparkles sparkles sparkles sparkles.

Just in case I wasn't clear the first time.  I said sparkles.  Sometimes I wonder if my licensing partners put sparkles on every single thing they produced with my art, if my head would simply explode from sheer joy.  I do love me some sparkles.  Someday when I'm queen I may just have to demand that.  A royal proclamation.  Sparkles on everything.

Anyway, followers of my Facebook page may remember I shared the link to this card by Leanin Tree last month.  But today I received the actual samples on my doorstep, and I swooned.

Because of the sparkles.

And the other details that make this an awfully nice Easter card.

You can buy it here.  Did I mention it had sparkles?

Magical.

When I was little, one of my favorite things was to draw under the Christmas tree.  I would lie on my belly for hours at a time all season long with a stack of paper, a pencil, and a sharpener, and just draw. Girls in fancy outfits with outrageously high platform heels, fairy tale characters, imaginary families who lived in extensive underground tunnels or inside trunks of giant trees.
I loved drawing by the warm glow of the tree lights, surrounded by the sparkle and the magic. I always loved to draw, but there was something extra special about this.

What is it that makes a Christmas tree so magical? It's illogical that such amazingly beautiful energy can come from a dead tree wrapped in electrical cords and covered in shiny stuff.  But there's no denying the magic.  I can even feel it taking our evening dog-walks through the neighborhood, soaking in the glow of others' trees from inside their homes.

Flossie, the ultimate love-sponge, will even forgo a comfortable lap to sit under it.

Part of it could be that rarely in life is there such a high concentration of things we love all in one small space - every single thing on there means something special.  It takes something pretty sturdy and powerful to carry that kind of energy on its branches.
Thanks, tree.

Wishing you all the best this holiday, with, of course, the highest concentration possible of things you love.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Sparkly Halloween Greetings!

Happy Halloween Weekend everybody!

You know how excited and gushy I get over a few sparkles.  I just can't help myself.
Well my pals over at Leanin' Tree have done it again, they've made another super-cute card with my art and then they added sparkles, quite possibly, just to make me gush about them a little harder.
Or it could be because their design team just knows how to make a lovely product with attractive special touches.  Either way.
Really this card is even sparklier and cuter in person!  Oh, and did I mention?  You can purchase it right here!

It's Officially Summer!

And you know what that means in much of the Art Licensing world:

Christmas!

Those of you paying really, really close attention might even remember what I was working on last summer (bonus points duly awarded).  And now this summer I can finally share with you what that was all about.
Many of you already know about my genetic obsession with Christmas and decorating for the holidays.  My Granddad actually designed and built their family home with holiday decorating and enteraining large groups in mind.  The place was a wonderland from November to January, the hum of his little handmade motors buzzing quietly in the background as festive figurines danced, angels flew, snowflakes fell; whatever Granddad could imagine some crazy little decoration might do to make it more interesting, he figured out a way to wire and mechanize it somehow.  The whole place moved, glowed, blinked . . . it was truly magical in every way.
And there were elves.  Lots of elves.  Everywhere.  I suppose this, along with the fact that grownups like to tell little children that Santa's elves are "always watching" had a lot to do with my recurring childhood nightmare that creepy little beings were hiding in the tree outside my bedroom window watching me while I slept.  But that's another issue for another day.  Many of those elves live with me now, and we're all quite happy and peaceful about it.
One Crazy Christmas Eve is a super fun holiday collection full of sweet, friendly elves (not stalkerish at all, really) and oodles of retro style inspired by the decorations we grew up with.
If you follow my Facebook page you probably already know this, but the group is now available at The Fat Quarter Shop (and was featured on their own Facebook page last week).
I can't wait
to make something
with this...
But wait, it gets better: there's actually a storybook in this one.  No really, a for-real storybook!  Harriet, one of the amazingly creative designers I work with at Henry Glass, wrote the cleverest Christmas story especially for this (what fun this was to illustrate!) and there's a 1-yard panel with the book pages and instructions for sewing your own soft-book!  How cool is that?
Um, Flossie, I'm trying to show the people what the book panel looks like.
Please?
On the Henry Glass website there's even a neato quilt pattern - just click "New Free Projects" to download the PDF.
So, in the spirit of the season, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good summer!  Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

One of my fun new bandanna designs from Carolina Manufacturing!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 
Hope you're having a super sweet day!

xoxo

...And Whiskers on Kittens

Just sharing a few of my favorite things.

I do hope that you have been enjoying this wonderful holiday season surrounded by loved ones and all of your own favorite things.  And just in case I'm not back here before ... Happy New Year to you all, and thanks so much for visiting.  I appreciate each and every one of you who drop by here!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Holiday Decor for the Garden

So the eaves and window-frames are glowing, Santa's on the roof, the porch-railings are adorned with greenery and ribbons ... your entire home is completely bedazzling, I must say.

But your garden?  It might be lying dormant but that's no reason to ignore it.  How about a cute holiday garden flag to perk things up?
All these festive designs are available here and several other online shops, as well as at your local garden center.

Shoppingstuff

If you haven't checked it out lately, I've been adding new items to my Etsy shop every day!  Prints, handpainted items, fabric, cards ... maybe even just what you need to finish your own holiday shopping.
 

All orders placed by Tuesday, December 21, 9:00AM PDT are guaranteed delivered by Christmas.

Happy Holiday Kitchen!

It's less than a week away: that day of turkeys and pies and goodies and fixins' ... oh my.  The big kickoff to the Holiday Eating Season.

My favorite holiday recipes tend to be scattered far and wide: folded pieces of paper nestled in a particularly wrinkly and stained section of one cookbook or another, cute recipe cards generously shared by great cooks hidden between others cut from old newspapers, magazines, and cardboard packaging, all shoved into a not-so-attractive folder that I may or may not know where to find when the time comes; many that I'd love to try are bookmarked on favorite food blogs ... hopefully I will remember to check my bookmarks when the perfect occasion pops up to wow festive guests with what I was sure at some point would be the most fabulous dish of my dreams.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a place for all the holiday-type recipes you've loved for years or are dying to try?

Well ... check this out!
The clever folks at New Seasons have created another gorgeous recipe binder to compile all those holidayish goodies in one super-organized and beautifully-designed place.
I had a blast drawing all the little goodies for this one (remember this?) and it's so cool to see my art made into such a nicely done product - once again! 
 

With cute recipe cards, pretty pages, fun stickers, practical pockets, even little recipe cards with coordinating envelopes ... what a thoughtful way to share a favorite recipe with someone you love!

You can find these now at Sam's Club, Costco-Canada, and BJ's.  Enjoy!

PS:  Many of you have been looking for refill pages for your binders.  The manufacturer of this product doesn't sell refills for their binders at this time, but I've designed coordinating downloadable PDF pages you can print yourself, available in my Etsy shop!  You'll find a "La Cuisine" Recipe Binder refill set there too !

He's Back Again...

Yes, our old friend the Cute Halloween Kitty has returned (remember him from the last few years?) and is making another adorable appearance this season on greeting cards on the Hallmark and Hallmark Connections labels. These cards are a great value, super nice quality and even printed on recycled stock! 
Inside reads:  "...is one of the best treats!"

Peek-a-Boo

Although my own childhood Halloweens were spent trick-or-treating and then hopping into a warm and cozy bed under lots of covers, I often secretly wished that I could get away with sitting out an entire night alone in some cold - yet extremely sincere - pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear.  Or even Snoopy, pretending to be him.  That would have worked for me too.

The closest thing I've got to a pumpkin patch right now is a marginally-sincere foot-square mess of a mildewing zucchini plant, and well, after the wimpy growing season we've had (seriously, even the zucchinis were small and few) I suppose even The Great Zucchini will be avoiding my yard this year.  Oh well.  Looks like once again it'll be warm and cozy covers on Halloween night for me.

But for those of us without our own sincere pumpkin patches, there's always this guy:
This happy little kitty and even happier pumpkin friends (and sincere, did I mention they are extremely sincere?) are available this season as garden flags by the nice folks at Toland Home Garden.  You can find them here, here, and here, and of course at your favorite neighborhood garden store.

Who knows, with this flag up, The Great Pumpkin may find the yard just sincere enough for a visit.

Welcome Fall!

I know it's officially been here for a while already, but on our beautifully misty, foggy dog-walk this morning I noticed that the trees here in my neighborhood are finally beginning to look the part.  Pretty soon these subtle little splashes of blush amongst the green will spread like wildfire and every tree will burst with fiery color - I can't wait!
And for an official welcoming committee, there's this cute little not-so-scarycrow and his feathered buddy - available as a garden flag by Toland Home Garden, in a garden center near you and several online shops, like this one!

Dia de los Muertos

Halloween's not the only skeletonicious holiday just around the corner, don't forget the 3 day celebration following Halloween...

And for all your Day of the Dead craft-y sew-y needs (you don't think I'm serious?) Joann has brought back my fun flower-skulls pattern again this year!
You can purchase the fabric here or in-person at your local Joann store.

It's October...

...and you know what that means.

One of my favorite things, Halloween.  I love, love, love designing Halloween stuff.
This happy little witch is available as a cute sparkly (and recycled!) card by Leanin Tree, in stores and on their website.  Have you checked out their neato site recently?  It's pretty awesome.  As well as their cute e-cards, you can view and purchase all sorts of very cool card-cards (paper send-in-the-mail and hold-in-your-hand kind) and even see the interiors (and backs) before purchasing.

Christmas in July

Or in May, or June.  Sometimes in August, sometimes March or April.  But rarely is it actual wintertime when my clients are looking for new holiday designs.  I've gotten pretty used to drawing wreaths and stockings and snowmen in the backyard on a warm, sunny summer afternoon. 
Even the bug who buzzed in for a quick little visit was decked out in a festive holiday red and green. 
This assignment is full of elves, presents, toys ... and of course Santa himself.   That's all I can tell you now, sorry it has to stay top secret for now.  But you don't want to think about that now anyway, it's July and you have places to go and watermelon to eat, stuff like that. 
Leave the thoughts about holiday stuff to me and Flossie (you know she is a big fan of Christmas).

But first, a super-vague little sneak-peek at my new fall/winter holiday flag designs for Toland Home Garden ... my samples just arrived and as always I'm so pleased with how they turned out! 
I'll share them with you in more detail on more seasonally-appropriate dates.   For now, I strongly suggest you return to your regularly-scheduled summertime activities.

Happy 4th!

Hope you are all enjoying a relaxing and fun-filled weekend with friends and family! 
(from "Patriotic Picnic", this month's pcHugClub Bonus-Creatable from pcCrafter)

Happy Easter!

Hope you all are having a lovely spring weekend and enjoy the holiday!
 
(fabrics available this season at a Hancock store near you!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 
(another little cottage from the Artstuff Archives)

Go n-eiri an t-adh leat!

Love, Love, Love.

It's all you need, after all.

And this ashtray. And this paddle game. And this remote control. And this lamp...

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go there. All I meant to do was to tell you that this design is now available as a garden flag by Toland Home Garden. And this one. And this one too.

You can purchase any of my heart-themed flags here, and Bee Loved is also now available as a windsock! But wait, there's more (...and these matches, and this chair, that's all I need). Toland has also created cool little thermometers, too.