Giveaway and Tagged it's 6's

Jan of Expressive Papers just tagged me! I've never been tagged before this. Thanks Jan! The goal is for me to blog about the 6th picture in my 6th picture folder. So not only will I blog it but you are free to save it and use in your paper creations. This is a scan of a hand marbleized sheet of rice paper. I use it as a texture background in my illustrations. It makes a beautiful sea and sky layer.

You can download it here in my gumballgrenade flickr photostream!

Pale

I'm ready for the wildlife to come out and enjoy spring. Rarely do I think of spring and Easter without also thinking of Beatrix Potter and her amazing depictions of little, forest creatures. My grandmother gave me an inscribed collection of her tales when I was little and it is still a cherished gift. With the advent of spring weather coming I have a strong desire to get into the mountains. I want to see Spring coming out of it's long slumber. Getting into the mountains is something I need to do more. What I have been doing more of is making one of a kind pieces lately. Here is the latest piece called Pale. Available in my Fables and Foxes shop.

Romantic Little Love Plaque

Today I finished up this little romantic piece, "You Were My Ship" scalloped wall plaque. It's a wooden scalloped plaque which measures about 5 x 7 inches. It called out to have something Victorian-like so I used one of my papercut designs as the focal point and added some lovely blues, browns, and creams to give it a dusty, almost ghost-like feel. It's one of those pieces where you finally get what is in your head onto the surface. It's scratch and dirty and very old looking. It's currently available in my Fables and Foxes etsy shop!

Danger! A Must Have Apron!

So I thought I had blogged about this! It was one of those things where you think "Oh that's something I'd like to add to the blog." and then you play it in your mind and the next day you think you've actually done it! But I didn't do it, I just wholeheartedly believed I did! So here's what I've been meaning to share:



So cute! I can get over her use of color and the green faux bois pattern! And look she used my "Wolf and Little Red" fabric. I'm giddy! So much detail and love when into it's creation. This my friends is the pure craftiness of Polly Danger! Who is Polly Danger you ask. Well here's her bio:

"Polly Danger wishes she could inhale air and exhale flowers, but since she can't (yet), she crafts! She's inspired by color and texture, is currently obsessed with gardening, and is continuously obsessed with sugar. Mmmm, candied violets . . ."


Along with just being completely enamoured by the craft apron above, I'm also quite smitten with the name "Polly Danger." It brings to my mind the image of a crafty woman wielding a pair of scissors and a sewing needle like a samurai! With a facial expression that seems to say "Bring it." And she clearly does as you can see from this picture of her "Hot Martha" apron.


Find out more about what's crafting in Polly's world by visiting her blog and shop: PollyDanger.etsy.com

New Original Artwork! Safe Keeping

"Safe Keeping" original 5 x 7 mixed media on wood.

I remember when I was little I was always on the hunt for tiny little treasures. Once found, the next important task at hand was to find the safest and most secret placed to keep them. Flowers were tucked in books. Coins and sparkly trinkets went into the ballerina jewelry box. Little plastic figures of deer and gnomes were tied around a scrap of string to hang around the neck or tucked into a pocket. But some of the wishes one holds most dear are meant to be kept in the most special place of all, planted into a quiet little corner of your soul and left to bloom in due time. Available for purchase here: Gumball Grenade

Thinking about the Life of a Tree...

Curious isn't it. These are new pieces that I created from two of my original paintings. I really wanted to portray an old and vintage feeling. It reminds me of those jagged, old, stop and go, black and white , flickery films and animations, I'm sure there is a term for that style of film and animation, and if not then there should be. I picture this fox and deer moving around inside these little vignettes in that style, with the background noise being the whir and clicking of an old projector. Makes me want to learn animation. STOP MOTION - that what the style is called I think? These pieces will be available as prints in my Fables and Foxes shop.

Dirty - This took me a year!

I've neglected this painting for over a year now. Maybe longer. It was just one of those pieces where I didn't know where to go next. So I set it aside and there it sat in a dusty corner of the basement, completely alone and unloved. Today I grabbed it and finished it! It's a larger piece and it's going to hang in my formal living room which has been completely bare for the last two years other than furniture, so it will be nice to add something personal to the room finally. I dream of the day I can take over the room and convert it to a studio space. I'll take some pics once it's framed!

Sour Grapes Painting is Finished! Yay!

Well here's the problem I went and played around with the painting digitally and I prefer the digital version! So the digital version is going up as a print in my Fables and Foxes shop. The "Sour Grapes" painting is...I don't know...it is here for me to ponder.

I've been smitten with the tale of how the saying "sour grapes" came about. Some poor little fox spies a bunch of delicious ripe grapes hanging from a grape vine that has grown up a tree. Despite his best efforts the little fox is unable to reach them. In the end he walks away, with the thought that the grapes were probably sour anyway! Life is like this sometimes. You blow up an idea to insurmountable proportions and then with the flick of fate the idea is no more. Reality hits. You realize that what you desired so much wasn't attainable, or wasn't worth attaining. So you walk away. Isn't desire interesting.

New Art over the Holiday!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and if your here in the U.S., then I hope you were able to partake in the three day holiday! I can't say that I did anything incredibly exciting with my weekend, but I did find some time to connect with other artists and start some new work which is exciting for me! It's always energizing to me to be able to connect with other creators, it seems to give me a creative kick in the pants! So here is sneak peek at one little work in progress called "Sour Grapes."

A Little Bird Told Me Valentines Limited Edition Art Print

A Little Bird Told Me...that I was loved. What did your little bird tell you? This is a limited edition print for Valentine's Day 2009! It's 50% off today only! It's available in my Gumball Grenade etsy shop! Yay! Happy Valentines Day!

MOST Favorite Valentine's Day Cards EVER!

Let me tell you how excited I was last week when I received my Valentine's Day Cards order from artist and illustrator Julia Pott! If you haven't seen her work and are a bit of a twisted romantic, then you may find that her work is the perfect blend of humour, cute, with just the right sprinkling of morbid (see panda literally giving his right arm for his love!).

The cards read:

"I like you. You don't seem to have noticed"

" I am not thinking about you"

I'm also a HUGE fan of her animation work so I've included that in this post as well! Enjoy! Be sure to visit Julia's Etsy shop for even more illustrative goodness!

The Big Bad Wolf in Silver!

It's been such a busy week. The little ones and I had a bit of a cold. We are all feeling much better now and are enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon. So I'll take this quiet moment to share one of my latest fine silver creations, Little Red Riding Hood's Big Bad Wolf! Made entirely by hand out of fine silver PMC / Metal Clay! I love working with metal clay. I just don't don't get a chance to do it as often as I'd like to! He is now available in my Fables and Foxes etsy shop.

Ahhh My Shadow! Etsy Finds Groundog Day!

It's Groundhog day! So funny to type G-r-o-u-n-d-h-0-g lol. As I was flipping through the Storque articles I was surprised to see one of my shadows! Actually one of my silhouette papercuts "Things I've Read of Bears" made an appearance in their collection! Yay, Thanks Iheartmoustaches of Etsy! Here's a link to the article. Scroll down a bit in the article and you'll find me! And can I just say how much I love that Peter and the Wolf Necklace and La Cerf that make up my neighbors in this collection!

Little Red Riding Hood Cast in Silver!

While I do adore the craftiness of shrinky dinks there are some things that just need to be done in fine silver. I thought about making some shrink plastic pins and brooches of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf but the designs seemed to call for something a little more. So over the weekend I made some fine silver necklaces influenced by the design. I think the dark patina suits the fairytale image well. Here she is:

Available for purchase in my Fables and Foxes Shop.