Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds Watercolor Illustration

Just in time for Spring and the arrival of the Ruby-Throated hummingbirds back from their migration journey. To me hummingbirds are one of the most amazing creatures we have on this planet. I'm always amazed at the super-sonic speed of their little wings and their intrepid force to retrieve the nectar, dive-bombing the other hummingbirds to feast. These little birds are voracious when it comes to the luscious red nectar! Oh how I love watching them, so beautiful, so tiny...

nature is brilliant!

My original piece was created in watercolor. Prints are now available in my Etsy shop.

front page - woo hoo!

I'm really excited because my For Charles and Ray print was featured on the front page of Etsy. This is a first for me (well, as far as I know anyway) so I was really excited when I saw this!

new + improved

For awhile now I have been thinking about updating my Etsy shop and blog banner, but it was such a pain the first time around getting it sized right that I have been putting it off. Today, I sat down and it was so simple. I have no idea what I was fretting about?

valentines day : oh, how i love you!

I love Valentine's Day! What's not to like about a holiday that has solely to do with love? It doesn't necessarily have to just be about that special someone. There are so many people in my life that I love and that I am truly thankful that they are in my life. I love them with all of my heart. There are things, places, and memories to love too!

Here's a few new valentine cards I've posted to my Etsy store and will be available at Yellow Door Art Market, starting Saturday, January 14th. I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day!

Dancing Cups

A2 size card: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" with red envelope

micro-fine glittered details on eiffel tower & lamp posts

front: be mine

inside message: happy valentine's day

Also available in an 8x10 customized print!

Valentine Owl

A2 size card: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" with red envelope

micro-fine glitter details on heart

front: hoo love u?

inside message: i do! happy valentine's day

Also available in an 8x10 print!

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Also, I'm bringing back my Puppy Love card!

Puppy Love

A2 size card: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" with red envelope

digital illustration with microfine glitter details + stitching

inside message: with love

buttons, buttons and oh some magnets too!

I'm pretty excited about some new items that I'll be offering at Yellow Door and my Etsy shop for 2011!

My sock monkey illustration buttons were quite popular at the Detroit Urban Craft Fair holiday show so I've decided to add some more designs to mini 1" buttons. Adding to my button collection, I'll be having the three Eames chair illustrations and seven Barbie illustration buttons. I've decided to sell the buttons in sets at Yellow Door and I haven't quite decided if I'll be selling the buttons in sets or sold individually on Etsy. Decisions, decisions...

For those of you that love magnets, I'll be having mini 1" magnets made of each of my three Eames styled chair illustrations and the seven Barbie illustrations too! I'm going to sell the magnets in singles.

Look for mini buttons & magnets at Yellow Door & my Etsy store mid-February!

I have some other new items coming soon for 2011! I can't wait to tell you about them really soon!

witchy wishes...

As soon as there is a crispness in the air, I'm already thinking about Halloween because I just simply love it! I just finished a new, gouache illustration called "Halloween Flight" with a cute, little witch on her broom and her sidekick Ollie the owl. These two are zipping about the Halloween night skies.

I printed the illustration for the card on a bright, white French Paper Co. cardstock, and embellished each card with some iridescent glitter medium. It's terribly cute! They are each packed with a Poppy Orange, Paper Source European styled envelope with rounded flap and packaged in a cellophane wrapper. The card is called "Witchy Wishes" and is now for sale in my Etsy shop.

personalized stationery : a special gift

About five years ago, I spent a few years solely designing wedding & special event invitations before I went back to advertising. I must admit it was one of the most fulfilling times of my design career. I found that brides or clients planning that special event are very happy and appreciative people. It was very rewarding.

Anyway, going back to my stationery roots, I started making a birthday card a few months back for our Aunt Kathy. I didn't like where it was going and never finished it. Then my Dad's surgery came up and everything in our life was put on hold. I never forgot though that I still wanted to do something for her. But, I wasn't sure what it was going to be. Then it hit me... how about some special personalized stationery. She always sends the prettiest cards, so I think she would think that would be very nice. She lives in a lovely home, that sits almost nestled in the woods, where she can view many woodland animals that come very close to her home. Since she loves her birds and botanicals so much, I designed the hummingbird & flower motif for her. I printed the stationery on a heavyweight, metallic opal coverstock and the text is a reddish-chocolate brown (pantone 498 to be exact). I also added just a smidge of superfine metallic brown glitter to the flower. To make them extra special, I lined her envelopes with matte chocolate brown paper and printed her return address on them with some other small hummingbirds. I hope she likes them -- she should be receiving them in the mail any day now.

I enjoyed making them so much, that I'm thinking of starting to get back into personal stationery for purchase. If you know anyone what needs stationery or invitations, have them contact me!

my little friend Contadina

You might be wondering, why on earth I'm posting about a tomato paste can? She has a very important job even though you can't see her. She's in about ninety-percent of my photos on Etsy. What? You still can't see her. That's right you can't, because she's my prop girl. She's small and petite and the perfect size too. She's my "behind the scenes gal" helping out to make sure they standing tall and every now and then she makes it into a batch of marinara sauce too. I thought I'd give her a little credit today, so thank you little Contadina!

by mary

My Mom has 3 baskets full of these popular crochet animals that she has been making. Today I posted just a few of the amigurumis in my Etsy shop. They are just too cute!

Halloween strikes again... new jewelry!

I cannot even express to you how much fun I have been having making Halloween jewelry from polymer clay. I've posted three new pairs of earrings and a wacky brooch. You can check them all out in my the Holiday section in my Etsy store!

Wacky Pumpkin Brooch

Eyeball Dangle Earrings

Angel and Devil Ghost Earrings

Glow in the Dark Eyeball Dangle Earrings

Halloween trinkets : it's never to early!

Fall is just about around the corner and down the bend, and pretty soon one of my favorite holidays will be here... and that of course is HALLOWEEN! I love picking out pumpkins and carving them, decorating the house, passing out treats on Halloween night, going to costume parties and the list goes on and on. If you like Halloween like I do, maybe you'll like some of my latest Halloween ideas too!

I had a few ideas looming around in my sketchbook for some jewelry and ornaments. I'm still making some things, so while I'm still in the process on those items, I wanted to start posting the ones I have finished in my Etsy shop.

The jewelry is made out of polymer clay and adorned with various materials, such as glitter, wire, acrylic paint, crystals and more. Below are the items I have in my store thus far.

Spooktacular Pumpkin Earrings

Boo-tiful Ghost Earrings

Spooky Spider Dangle Earrings

Bewitching Pumpkin Brooch

Black Crow Halloween Ornament

Best Friend : new watercolor painting

So, sometimes I can be a bit of a procrastinator, or maybe it's just that I take on too many projects at once. Whatever the case may be, this new watercolor painting isn't really that new at all, in fact, I started it over the holidays and never finished it. YIKES! Well, at long last, here he is finished and as cute as a button -- "Best Friend", that is now available for sale in my Etsy store.

inspiration : Sweet Smoothies Birdhouse

I just finished up a new birdhouse for my Etsy store. That's right, the first birdhouse to show up for sale! It's small and adorable and if you're into bright, fun colors this one is for you.

I painted it to look like a little Smoothie Hut. It has rubber fruit accents, wood signs, a sparkly, watermelon painted roof and even a plastic straw for a chimney with wire smoke. It's too cute!

inspiration : "sprinkles" cupcake painting

I'm not sure what it is but I'm enthralled with cupcakes. Not so much the eating of them, but just how cute they are. From the perfectly piped frosting, to the detailed decorations, even the ones with a big plop of homemade frosting that a grandma might make. It could be the scalloped-edge wrappers in all their fanciness too. Maybe it's because they are a delicious treat made specifically for one. Could it be the sparkly sugars, silver-glistening non-pareils or colored sprinkle balls? Whatever the case may be, they are too cute and they have inspired me to paint. I can see more cupcake paintings coming soon, because this one was just too much fun. Let me introduce you to "Sprinkles."

All of the merchandise you see in the above photo is now available in my Cafepress shop. Items are located in the following sections: Baby & Kids, Apparel, and lastly the Stickers, Buttons & Magnets section.

The "Sprinkles" cupcake print is now available in my Etsy shop and the original will be available for purchase soon! Stay tuned.

etsy grand opening!

The first 10 customers to make a purchase will receive a free surprise gift with their order!

archival prints are now available!

Hooray! I finally have prints available in my Etsy store. The following prints are now available:

"A Perfect Cap" - size: 4 3/4" square to fit a 9x9" frame

"English Cottage" - size: 4 3/4" square to fit a 9x9" frame

"Venice Window" - size: 4 3/4x 6 3/4" to fit a 7 x 9 1/2" frame

From the Barbie series...

"Purple Sweater" - size: 4 3/4" square to fit a 9x9" frame

"Red Hat" - size: 4 3/4" square to fit a 9x9" frame

"Pearl Necklace" - size 4 3/4" square to fit a 9x9" frame

To make it convenient & affordable for all print shoppers I've made them to fit Ikea Ribba frames . The Ribba frames come in white, black, a brushed silver metal and a few natural wood finishes and each one comes with a very nicely cut mat. The frames are very affordable and prices range from only $4.99 - $27.99. In each listing you'll see which frame fits the print as well as the actual size of the image. Available now in my store, are images 4 3/4" square (frame 9x9" $7.99) & images 4 3/4 x 6 3/4" (frame 7x9 1/2" $6.99).

I've also added a new ornament with the English Cottage watercolor painting. Check it out! It's only $3!

let's take a moment to talk about...glitter

Glitter it's sparkly, comes in an assortment of colors & textures and makes pretty much anything snazzy. So while shopping for said glitter, which by the way I only wanted one little bottle of pink Martha Stewart glitter, but because I had a Michael's 50% off coupon, I got sucked into the 24-color essential glitter set. Yikes. I can't stop looking at all of the tiny jars filled with sparkly wonder.

My initial intentions for the glitter was to put pink glitter on all of the rosy cheeks of my lil' chef series ornaments, but then I saw the multi-pack and had the coupon, and well the twinkling glitter got the best of me.

On a side note, I think a little mouse (that mouse would be my husband by the way), took my digital camera with him up north on Sunday and my plans were to get a handful of prints ready for my Etsy shop but, since he took the camera, there's nothing new posted. In return, I served him brussels sprouts with dinner. HA! Which I happen to love. Soon... I'll have some prints available. All of the Barbie watercolor paintings, Venice window and A Perfect Cap coming to an Etsy shop near you.

In the meantime, I'll be playing with glitter and thinking of some new illustration ideas. So, if you see a girl walking down the street, with a glitter-flecked face, and if she's walking two big dogs, check them, they will have glitter noses too -- most likely it will be me.

a few new things...

So, it's 2:49am on Saturday morning, and I'm still awake trying to make some prints of the Barbie paintings to shoot and post on Etsy, once I get some sleep tonight (not sure when that will be, and for some strange reason, I haven't even yawned yet). But, for now, I've posted some a few new Holiday items in my store. A few felt bags, some shrink film ornaments and a few packs of holiday cards. Enjoy.

inspiration : a busy art-filled day

My Mom came over to visit and hang out today. Mom and I worked on a bunch of artsy fun things for my Etsy store. We packed up holiday cards with sticker seals. We also worked on shrink film ornaments & magnets. She also helped out with a mountain of laundry. My Mom rocks! Most of the things that we worked on today, are not quite ready to post, and I still need to shoot pics etc., but here's what I was up to today. Also, I started a new illustration this weekend, based off another cute photo that my friend Kelli shot. Kelli is a photographer and her photography business is based on kids, families, babies & even pregnant mommies-to-be. There are so many cute faces, how could anyone not be inspired by their darling faces? I only have the preliminary sketch so far, but it will end up being done in watercolor. Stay tuned!

aspiration : finally...a new banner!

It's finally done and I'm happy about it too. I think it reflects my style, personality, colors I like, and will compliment my logo nicely as well. Yes, it's finally up, my new Etsy shop banner... thanks to my friend Christine.

I was having such a hard time focusing on what I needed to get done. Christine suggested writing a list. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that, I make lists all the time for work, grocery shopping, etc... I think it was because I was unsure for so long what I wanted to do with all of stuff for Etsy. I've already knocked off a few things on my list as well.

Finish banner for Etsy shop....Check & Done! Hooray!

Next...reshoot my photos!