I love my Mini Moos!

Many of you know about Moo.com and the great printed products they create but for those of you who don't, this is a good old fashioned plug for the company because I just love my mini moo cards.

Well promoted throughout the Etsy community, Moo.com is and online printer of business cards, postcards, and greeting cards. The thing that makes moo so different and appealing to me is that they give you the option of using up to fifty different images on your cards. This feature sold me. How great to be able to show people with each card a new image of my artwork. As a testament to the appeal of multiple images, one time I put out a stack of my mini-cards at a show opening and had couple ladies zone in on them. They went through the entire stack and chose a handful each of their favorite pieces. I didn't expect that to happen! Needless to say, I went home with a lot less mini-cards.

The second appealing feature to Moo.com is their easy photo load up and edit features. I was well guided through the creation process and the loading speed was quite fast. As well, when I got my cards they were exactly as I had previewed them on the screen. I don't think I even had to wait the four weeks they said it might take for delivery.

I use my mini-cards whenever I ship and item and I make sure to keep some handy in my purse for when the need arises. As an extra bonus, Moo also sends out a monthly newsletter about promos and unique ways in which their customers have used their products. Always filled with great links, the newsletter is a nice read. My favorite idea so far has come from Etsy seller Fashion Fushia who turns her mono cards into magnets. What a fantastic idea! I , of course, had to try it out and created a couple with my cards. While not the strongest or most durable magnet, they make for great thank-you gifts for buyers and perhaps for stocking stuffers.

For those of you thinking you might like to get into the Moo.com craze, I'm posting my referral code for you to get free standard shipping on purchases of a minimum of $20. This code is good until the end of the month (31st) so you have to hurry. So snazz up that business card and show off your products with each one you hand out.

Wordless Wednesday

Cabin

Radcow

Ureshii

Bueno Style

Pikaland Giveaway

Is it time for another give-away? It sure is! This time Pikaland will be hosting and my "The Visit" glass art pendant will be up for grabs.

I just love the Pikaland blog and all the amazing artists that Amy features. I find every post an inspiration and reminder as to why I love art and illustration so much.

To enter the give-away go onto Pikaland and follow the instructions. There won't be tons of "following" or subscribing to do. Just add a comment about a favorite piece. Happy browsing and good luck!

The walls are closing in.

Okay....I know that I've been saying this for a while now but I really have to organize my studio. The problem is that we have so many interests and supplies for those interests that we just can't fit it all into one room. As such, we keep piling things against other things. The floor space is getting smaller and smaller and we're starting to look like hoarders. I haven't even shown the stacks of frames and boards starting to accumulate in the hallway. My print drawers will barely close now because they are so full. I guess the only solution is to give up some studio time and get the mess cleaned up. Cluttered space equals cluttered mind, right?

Wordless Wednesday (Vancouver Edition)

Minou Pitou

Track and Field Designs

Le Petit Papillon

Sweetie Bees

Wordless Wednesday

Jane O' Hara

Yokomono

Rizzo Tees

Paper Crafts by K

Fish, fish, swimming in the water

One of my pieces was recently featured in an Etsy treasury about chickens and I thought it was such a good collection that it made me want to curate a treasury of my own. I, however, am not that adept at snagging a treasury and decided that it would be best if I just posted a collection on my blog. My chosen theme today is fish. I would like to thank all those people who responded to my call for all things fishy and fantastic. Here are my picks:

Left to right, top: ZukZuk, Blue Cicada, Roz Art

middle: Two Tree Designs,Ahpeele, Babayagada

bottom: Ann Made Stuff, Bel Jewel75, Five in the morning lino

Wash When Dirty Giveaway

Kristina from Wash When Dirty has posted a giveaway currently exclusive to her readers. Check it out! It's stuff by me!

These three super strong 2" magnet tins are my Moon and Star set which have not yet gone to retail. All the images are all originals done by me. To win this set for yourself go to the Wash When Dirty blog and follow the entry instructions. Good luck and happy blog reading.

Wordless Wednesday

House of Six Cats

Art Faerie

The Haunted Hollow Tree

Yono's Creations

It's time for a STUDIO SALE!

Over the years, while busy creating artwork, I hadn't bothered to show or sell my work. The work slowly accumulated between periods of no production whatsoever do to moves, new jobs, and having children. Since having my second child, that tiny artistic voice in my head just got too loud and I could no longer ignore it. Committed to spending time in the studio, I longed to creative more and more. To that end, I have a stockpile of work that needs to find a new home. There is more that I want to create but no where to put it. As such, I'm having a huge studio sale and offering some really big discounts. Some of the pieces will be up to 50% off. The majority of the work on sale will be original monotypes (singular prints) but I will have some smaller editioned prints as well. As a bonus, I will be offering free shipping and insurance on the purchase of larger pieces. The sale will run for the month of August and I hope to add new pieces throughout the month.

Many viewers of my artwork are confused as to what a monotype is and don't realize that the prints I create are one-of-a-kind. The monotypes that I do are called reductive in that I roll the whole plate with black ink and then “draw” into it with rags, cards, fingers, etc. to achieve the whites and grey tones. Once I feel the image is complete I lay a piece of dampened paper onto the plate and roll it through the press I keep at home. Now all the ink has transfered onto the paper and the image is in reverse. This will be the only print I can pull. Once dry I may go into the print and hand colour it with chalk pastels.

While there aren't too many artists who do this kind of print I was able to find a few Etsy. Take a look at the following printmakers 's shops to see how wonderful this medium can be.

Plate Ink Paper

Frettke

B.DelPesco

Flying Monkey Studio

Hadley Hutton

Linnea Tobias