stuff about artstuff.

Illustration Friday: Bicycle

A fitting subject for Earth Day, don't you think?

I haven't played along with IF for a while so it was kinda fun to see this subject in my in-box this morning when this was already one of the drawings floating around my brain, in the running for sharing with you all today in honor of clean, fresh air and all.
You might still find this design lurking around as a garden flag by Toland Home Garden or coasters by Legacy Publishing, although it's been a few years for both products.

As for today, I suggest you go ride a bike over to your favorite tree and give it a big hug for me, ok?  Happy Earth Day, everyone.

Good Things.

Taking a peek around this blog, one might get the impression that heads are planted firmly in the sand over here at The Artstuff's.  Although I can't deny being at least a little bit self-absorbed now and then (quite often more than I'd like) the empty yet peaceful grasshopper-chirping sound coming from this corner of The Interwebs on the subject of The Outside World (beyond my immediate studio and garden) has not been due to lack of concern, frustration, anger, even heartbreak over the tragedies and atrocitites going on in the world.

Partly because I'm still having difficulty wrapping my little brain around so many sad and terrible things; my heart feels heavy and sometimes my brain and stomach feel like they don't remember which parts of my body they should be sitting quietly in.  And partly because I would like this to be a place where maybe you and I both could escape those feelings and think, just for a minute, about things like pretty flowers, or nice drawings, even nice drawings of pretty flowers.
And speaking of a little much-needed positive energy, I just discovered this neato little news site that focuses on good stuff, thanks to one of my favorite blog-lurks ... just this morning I subscribed so they'll send "one good thing a day" to my email box, seems like that might be, well, good.

5 Minutes

There's a maybe-too-often-used saying around these parts that goes something like "if you don't like the springtime weather here, just wait 5 minutes because it will change."

The other day after a particularly ark-inspiring rainstorm, amazing shimmering droplets in the branches just outside my studio window caught my eye.  Well, ahem (kicking the floor sheepishly here) the window is terribly dirty (funny how I don't notice this until I try to take a picture through it) so I wasn't sure if I'd capture them, and just snapped one after another after another for about a minute.
As I suspected, the sparkling crystals barely showed up in only 2 or 3 of the shots, and don't really do justice to the magical scene I was witnessing in that moment, but what happened to the sky in that single minute was pretty cool.

One of these days I've got to wash these windows.  But that's another subject for another day ... sigh.

In other happy spring news, the adorable little vegetable seedlings I bought at the Seattle Tilth early-spring sale seem to be surviving their first week out in the cold, harsh, real world, and that makes me smile.
Such a hopeful season, spring.
Hope you're enjoying it so far.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

One of my fun new bandanna designs from Carolina Manufacturing!

Spring.

I know, it's not really.  But it will come eventually.

It always does.

Doesn't look much like it now, at least here - and I'm guessing most of you are in the same boat.  Looks more like a sugary doughnut outside my window right now.  A bitter cold, hard, frosty, grey doughnut.  Ok, so winter might be losing some of its powdered-sugar charm at this point, but that's not what this post is about, it's about spring.  And new fabric.  Hooray spring, hooray new fabric.  Those are both nice, right?
My new April Showers collection by Henry Glass is available now at an independent quilt shop near you!  With 16 springy-fresh coordinates plus an adorable apron pattern, maybe our dreams of warmer, greener days won't seem quite so distant.

Soon I will have fat-quarter bundles and yardage available in my Etsy shop.  Right now, though, an extra computer is occupying the only fabric-measuring-and-cutting space in the house and it will remain there until I am sure I've retrieved all the important data from the tired, crippled old thing and gotten it safely into the new system (good times) but for immediate gratification, you can find it here or here right this second!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 
Hope you're having a super sweet day!

xoxo

Waxing Nostalgic on a Waning November Moon

Just returned from a cold, crisp dog walk a little while ago; it was one of those walks where I'm lucky to have stayed upright the entire time as I couldn't seem to keep my eyes below moon-level.

Did you see it tonight?  Nice, right? 

Back on another dog-walk on the opposite side of winter, at the opposite time of day, there was one just like this - facing the opposite direction.  That particular morning I was so enchanted by the roundness and skinny-ness, the colors and gradation of the sky and the shadows of the trees, that I had to try and remember it somehow with a quick little drawing ... so out came the little sketchbook.  Well, there were animals to be fed and coffee to drink, but then, the little sketchbook.
And, well ... I guess I can just look at this one backwards when I want to remember tonight's moon.

Summer Dreaming in February.

During these dark, grey months,  inside where it's warm, where the lights are bright and cheerful, I can still still dream; today I'm dreaming of a long, hot, blue-green summer day accented by the refreshing coolness of  the sprinkler.  Aaahhh.

 
So, according to that adorably-soft-and-squishy-yet-always-somewhat-confused-looking Pennsylvanian rodent, spring is actually "on its way".  Little comfort, understandably, to those of you presently experiencing wind-chill-factors well below zero ... but he made his official proclamation yesterday morning, so, well, we've got that going for us (which is nice).

The Atlanta Gift Show

Just back from the whirlwind of overstimulation that is Americasmart.
Wow, what a great trip.  The inspiration, warm friendships, networking, productive meetings, tired feet, oh my gosh the tired feet ... did I mention the inspiration?  And great friends?  Yeah.  All of that, and then some.

I wish I had made this one up: my friend Sue kept calling it "Icelanta" - oh my gosh, what a week to visit The South.
Serious ice still blanketed many streets, but the view from above was stunning.

These shots were snapped while enjoying a lovely reception hosted by the Greeting Card Association at the Westin's Sun Dial (it rotates, like the Space Needle!).

Back home again to real-life, lots of follow-up ... and feeling crazy-inspired to start new projects.  A pretty good place to be, I'd say. 

Thanks, everyone who made the week such a great experience!

Another Top Secret Card-Buying Tip for You

 
You might remember me telling you that this particular retailer prefers we vendors and licensors don't shout and holler or put up billboards advertising their name, but I did want to let you, my faithful and beloved blog followers, know that this month you'll find a few new Beth Logan card designs at ... er, uh, um ... well, right there on the little endcap around the corner from the Two Buck Chuck.
This time they are carrying 2 fun birthday cards and a cute wedding card.  Grab them while you can find them because as always, it's a stock-on-hand thing and you simply can't beat their awesome prices for this kind of quality!

New Year, Some New Stuff...

Hope you are all ringing in the new year tonight with those you love!
As for new stuff: for a start, in case you haven't noticed the new link in my sidebar, there's a Beth Logan page on Facebook now.   11 years in, I decided it's probably time to start catching up with this whole 21st century thing.  Wish me luck, I'm still sort of learning how it all fits together ... but I hope you join me there!

More new stuff to come.  Cute new fabric hitting stores this month, with more on the way this spring (including a fun Christmas group, I can't wait to be able to show it to you); more great greeting cards, more scrapbooks & albums, and other cool products I am dying to tell you about ... really I think this is going to be a fun year and I hope you stay tuned!

Thank you so much for visiting, for commenting, sharing, and lurking ... I appreciate all of you and look forward to traveling through this new year with you!

...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!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

More La Cuisine!

Samples just arrived of the newest version of the La Cuisine Recipe Binder: the "Deluxe" Binder now available at Barnes and Noble!
Still the same amazing quality product as the others, the Deluxe Recipe Binder is a slightly simpler version from the Ultimate Deluxe that has been selling at Sam's and Costco.  This one has a neato detail the others don't though, a coordinating memo pad & little veggie magnets - how cute is that?  What a clever (and affordable!) gift idea for the creative cook in your life!

And remember, when you've filled up the existing pages, I've still got your downloadable PDF refill pages that nicely coordinate with La Cuisine and Holiday Kitchen in my Etsy shop.

Original Art in the Shop!

I've just added more new items to my Etsy shop, including some fun little original paintings!

And remember, shipping by Christmas on all orders placed by 9am PDT on Tuesday the 21st.

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 !

Blue and Gold

There's an awful lot of grey outside my window right now. 

Just last week, though, it seemed to me that the whole world was blue and gold. 
 
 
And deep purply red and vibrant fiery orange and every shade in between.  Then the wind picked up and the clouds came in and now it's more than apparent that winter is lurking just around the corner...

C'est Bon!

I will begin this post with apologies to the lovely customers who will buy and enjoy the product I'm about to tell you about.  Sadly, about the only phrase I seem to have retained from my high-school French class is the completely useless, "Ecouter la bande!" which was repeatedly shreiked at the classroom full of giggling American teenagers by some faceless woman from said bande.

Of course, what the faceless woman wanted us to learn and remember was whatever phrase followed that particular command, but, well - for the most part, I don't.   I have to admit though, considering my own awareness of my extensive lingual limitations I am having difficulty refraining from sloppily sprinkling several more French words into this post and quite possibly setting up a wonderfully horrible Me Talk Pretty One Day moment.  I will bite my lip and continue, I promise, completely in English.

Anyway, for those of you much more fluent in that beautiful language than I, there is now a French version of my La Cuisine recipe binder by New Seasons, currently available at Costco stores in Canada!
It's the same great product in every way, except, well ... it's in French!  How cool is that?
And when you have completely filled it up with all your fabulous recipes and are looking for additional refill pages, check here!

More Time.

What would you do if you had one extra hour every single day of the year?

Would you get just that much more work done?  Create more?  Would you spend it with loved ones?  Take a walk and kick leaves that have gathered in little piles on the sidewalk?  Sleep in?

It's a recurring - no, constant - fantasy of mine: extra time.

Sometimes I think this might be my favorite day of the year, just for that extra hour.  But then I quickly remember Christmas, or a hot summer day-off at the beach, or the first warm-ish spring day tending the garden ... and I guess it has some pretty stiff competition for "favorite day".  It's just another day.  Nothing special, except, of course, for that magical extra hour.

And I guess it's been long enough that I've mostly forgotten that one Sunday last spring when I cursed this day, this stolen hour.  My apologies to Spring, I'll try to make the best of it.

Enjoy your extra hour today.