Gifting

No More Boring Gifts!

One of the great things about the internet is that artist made products are literally EVERYWHERE, both original items and printed or graphically designed wares. I actually have a couple shirts I ordered from Threadless in college that I’ve kept for 8 years and can’t part with, though they are now either disintegrating or have super attractive sweat stained armpits. I’m planning to do fabric wrap canvases with them and use them for cool wall art because the designs are so gorgeous, I just can’t abide by throwing them in the trash.

Plenty of artists are out there on ebay and etsy and multitudes of similar platforms willing to customize their work to that special someone you may have in mind. I myself have just finished up an eclectic variety of custom requests, from hand drawn pendants to dolls to an artsy floral arrangement, which was definitely a first.

Basically, there is no excuse for giving a boring gift.

My day job (a pretty cool day job, if I do say so myself :)) is working as Program Coordinator for Express Yourself Artshop, an inclusive arts program geared towards serving all adult students, including those with disabilities. Many of the students are learning how to sell and market their work, and with Spring here we are beginning to prepare for multiple art and craft fairs.

With Mother’s and Father’s day coming up, it’s always best to start early. Creative gift guides are awesome, but oftentimes everything listed is in the 3 figure range …  I’ve put together some affordable guides that are a little bit of what I have to offer, a little bit from some of my amazingly artsy aquaintances, and a little bit from artisans I admire throughout the web.

Mother’s Day

Original Watercolor Seascapes $20 / Stained Glass Jewelry $47  / Artist Designed Mugs $15 / Artist Designed Hardcover Journals $20Hand Painted Votive Decor $6Hand Painted Wine Glasses $6Artist Designed Tote Bags $20 / Artsy Personality Dolls $15 / Handpainted Personalized Wooden Peg Family $116 / Hand Crocheted Pendant Necklaces $20

Ok, so the personalized wooden family is kind of pricey, but it’s just so darn cute!!!

Father’s Day

Artist Designed T-Shirts $25 / Steampunk Assemblage Desk Sculpture $15 / Superhero Bow-Ties $24 / Retro Sci-Fi Decor $20 / Artisan Wooden Boxes $30 / Artist Designed Tech Cases $45 / Artist Designed Travel Mugs $25 / Artist Designed Coffee Mugs $15

There are plenty of regular neckties to be found on etsy as well, but as the 11th Doctor says…

I hope you’ve enjoyed perusing. Now, hop to it! Time waits for no one ;).

 

 

 

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Exhibitions and Other News

Updates On Art and Life – Babies, Cake Homicide, and The Fear Of Yellow

I know I’ve been terrible at keeping up this blog lately. I promise to do better! Honestly though, I’ve been working on a plethora of fun projects which is the main reason for my lapse (Also, it’s the holidays. No one has any spare time right now, do they???). This post will be kind of a hodgepodge of everything that’s been going down in the past couple weeks while my blog has been silent.

First and most importantly, a new year coming up can only mean one thing … The grand reveal of Pantone’s new Color of the Year! I’m a huge dork, and honestly do look forward to finding out what the new color is each year … I hate not knowing things!

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In my opinion, it’s ok. I was kind of scared while watching the reveal video where they add one by one the different pigments to stir together for the big reveal, because they were dumping a WHOLE LOT of freaking yellow onto the palette first off. I’m so glad it’s not yellow – I am not a fan of yellow. Gold, ochre, fine – but crayola crayon yellow? Yikes. I read an article awhile ago that featured a test gauging how many colors in the spectrum your eyes could detect. People who could detect the largest amount of colors possible tended to be irritated by yellow. I did decide I wanted a bright yellow sports car in 8th grade, but that was just because I wanted people to think I was cool and glaring, eye-offending color seemed the proper type of vehicle for a devil-may-care attitude. I ended up with a silver used car with sparkly blue “gothic flame” decals on the side and a hello kitty license plate holder once I got to high school, so I was still kind of a badass at least in my own mind. This pondering over the color reveal sent me down the internet rabbit hole, and of course I had to go back and check what year the Pantone Color had in fact been a yellow. It seems there was a shade of yellow in 2009. 2009 was quite a strange and tumultuous year filled with all manner of general awkwardness and unpleasantry now that I think about it. Perhaps the color was to blame.

I have also been working on a new piece for my ongoing series I hope to show in ArtPrize next Fall.

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I must have been crazy to do another piece with more damn butterflies. Detailing the wing patterns is all great fun … until it’s not. The process can get a bit tedious, though the end result is worth it.

My other butterfly piece that was shown at Studio 23 sold after the show! I’ve never had a piece go the first time it was exhibited. I was of course over the moon excited, but also felt a bit of sadness since I’d just finished it only just a month before. We were just getting to know each other … I suppose this is how parents must feel when their kids go off to college or something.

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I also did something I never ever do … I worked all November on a collaboration with former art student and all around cool girl Heather-Dawn Deogracia. We got into the upcoming “Dynamic Duos” exhibition also at Studio 23. Look what happens when we put our minds together. We didn’t end up killing each other or getting into a fistfight, and we  didn’t even yell and rip our project in half, so I’d say it was a successful venture. How would you interpret the story in this piece? Feel free to comment! I’d honestly love to know everyone’s thoughts. This is a fun one for hearing others’ interpretations.

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I’d also been doing a lot of crafting for a holiday art fair I attended 2 weekends ago. I went crazy with inventory and have a ton of cool stuff still left, so be sure to visit my ebay store for last minute gifts! Everything is 20% off this week through Sunday at 12 am, so check it out.

I wasn’t kidding when I said a lot has been going on … in addition to all the art stuff, I had the pleasure of meeting the new baby of one of my best friends from high school last weekend! She is the first of my core group of friends to reproduce, so it’s still super surreal at this point. I never know what to do around kids. At my boyfriend’s family Thanksgiving, I was sitting next to him in the living room and his niece kept hovering around me, backing up against my knee. I hissed to him, “Why does she keep rubbing her butt on my leg?” He responded, “She’s trying to get onto your lap, pick her up.” I responded back in whispers, “How do I do that, will I break her?” I tend to be clumsy with inanimate objects like dishes, so I’m always scared of picking up tiny adorable children, though I’ve heard they’re far more resilient. When my friend passed her daughter, Darshini (Isn’t that an awesome name?), to me to hold she of course immediately started howling. She was hungry and had  a dirty diaper allegedly, so totally not my fault. I held her later and she was calm and didn’t think I was scary.

I hope you’ve all been well! I have a couple more projects to share, but some are Christmas gifts so they must remain a secret for now :). So long! Now that the craziness has died down, I solemnly swear I will be writing more often again.

 

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Exhibitions and Other News

Material Girl – Artsy Gifts For All

… Just kidding, I actually can’t stand Madonna’s music, but it seemed an apt title to use when talking about all the fun artsy things I have for sale.

This past weekend the program I direct at Creative 360, Express Yourself Artshop, hosted an art and craft fair. A number of our students participated, and a fun time was had by all. I was having so much fun making stuff that as usual I went a bit overboard so I have a lot of surplus stock, which I have posted in my ebay store and will continue to add to.

I have two kinds of plushes, both incorporating unique upholstery fabrics and hand-sewn and hand-painted details along with vintage embellishments.

I also have hand-painted wooden art dolls that range from adorable, girly fashionably dressed characters to holiday themed and even some mermaids thrown in.

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In addition, you will find affordable art prints (including wallet size ACEO prints for $2.99!) and original pieces for sale, as well as a wide range of paper dolls. I’m up to over 10 different designs, and all the clothing is interchangeable which is super fun.

I also have two print-on-demand shops through Redbubble and Zazzle. I own a selection of products myself from both sites, and have been so impressed with the quality for a really affordable price. Both sites offer slightly different products and designs including jewelry pendants, clothing, mugs, tote bags, stickers and cards, notebooks and journals, phone and laptop cases, pillows and other home accessories, and more.

Moongirl Designs Redbubble Shop

Moongirl Designs Zazzle Store

It gets so tedious to shop anywhere the later into Fall it gets with the holidays coming up. With stores filled with grouchy, hurried people running into each other like bumper cars, I am a huge fan of online shopping. Plus, giving something people have never before in their journeys through big box stores will make you the coolest of gift givers for sure :).

I love supporting others’ art as well. Are there any shops on etsy, ebay, or print-on-demand websites that are your go-to for gifts?

 

 

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Exhibitions and Other News, Uncategorized

Hello Spring! Holidays Are The Best.

The first day of Spring is here (Well, I live in Michigan so it sure doesn’t feel like it yet, but at least there are blue skies and lots of SUN!). For those like me who may in fact be some sort of human/plant hybrid as we absolutely wilt in the cold and require a certain amount of sun each day to function happily and properly, this is fantastic news. I must say, I didn’t get the winter doldrums this year like I usually do, and I think being busy creating has a lot to do with that :).

Along with the possibility of temperatures above 20 degrees (woohoo! Again – Michigan), spring also brings us into the holiday times again after that lull that falls following the nonstop celebration over the 3 months from Halloween through Christmas. I am a big holiday person, mainly because my family has always kept up special traditions for all the major through minor holidays, and I look forward to any reason to do something out of the ordinary and shake up the routine of life. Any excuse to get excited and celebrate something? I’m all over it.

Along with my birthday in 10 days, Easter and Mother’s Day are coming up! I love finding people unique gifts that they aren’t going to find anywhere else, especially items with beautiful artwork that really fits the recipient’s personality. Local handmade gift shops as well as Etsy, Redbubble, 10,000 Villages, and other online shops featuring independently designed or handmade gifts are always my go-to. Back to the thing about my family really loving holidays, I still get an Easter basket. I’m turning 27 end of this month. If you too have Easter baskets to fill, I have a lot of fun, super affordable gifts that will make both younger (and maybe older) kids smile.

Small, inexpensive wallet size prints of my artwork (called ACEO for Art Cards, Editions, and Originals if you haven’t heard of them) are available on ebay in a ton of different designs and are an easy gift to stick inside a basket or card. In addition to the fun stuff I have on etsy and ebay, I also have a RedBubble shop which offers a lot more functional items and home decor featuring my designs. For kids, there are die-cut waterproof STICKERS of my art. Who doesn’t like stickers?! There is a wide range of unique gifts handy for Mother’s Day, even if all you need is a card.

Paper doll sets available on both etsy and ebay

Paper doll sets available on both etsy and ebay

Plush hair clips perfect for Easter - bunnies, strawberries, little birds, and more on etsy!

Plush hair clips perfect for Easter – bunnies, strawberries, little birds, and more on etsy!

Coloring book enjoyable for kids and adults alike featuring lineart versions of my most popular illustrations! Available on ebay and etsy.

Coloring book enjoyable for kids and adults alike featuring lineart versions of my most popular illustrations! Available on ebay and etsy.

All kinds of earrings from chandelier to stud on etsy

All kinds of earrings from chandelier to stud on etsy

Surround yourself with art, and turn someone else's world into a more interesting, inspiring place :).

Surround yourself with art, and turn someone else’s world into a more interesting, inspiring place :).

This Spring, why not surround yourself with art? I promise it will help to melt away that dull, uninspired winter fog. As for me, I am going to continue being my own little self-sustaining factory and will be cranking out more designs daily so be on the lookout! So long for today, going on a nice long walk while the sun lasts :).

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