Rabbit Distractions

A little closer to the end now...I can not wait to do a test run of this beauty...

Misa thinks she helps to keep me on track but her cuteness is the ultimate distraction!!

I Got Em

Every 3 days for almost a month I was going into a local thrift shop to bid

in a silent auction for these gorgeous lino cut prints.

When I saw them in the window, I gasped out loud & thought they were so so beautiful.

When I look at them I feel happy, at peace & like running to my studio to work...

now that's the kind of artwork I like to have in my home.

 

 

Well, just last week, I got the call that my tenacity won out & that they were mine...WOHOO!

I've never bid in an auction like that & must admit it was fun..well it was fun to win, ha ha!

(It's a dream of mine to someday go to a real auction house & witness the action)

Anyhoo, I still have to paint the gold frames white, but I couldn't wait to get them up.

YAY.

DownTown Christmas Walk & New Lino Cuts For Our Show

Tonight is our small city's Annual Downtown Christmas Walk...the whole street is closed, there is music, cider, hot chocolate and treats, the big tree is lite up & all the shops are open to welcome in visitors & shoppers...and I'll be one of the artists welcoming people into our beautiful art collective 'Art On Main'.

The evening also marks the opening night for our Member's Christmas Show/Fundraiser...all new works and all for either $50 or $100...

Want to see the pieces I have in the show???....

I did 3 hand-burnished & hand-coloured lino-cut prints on Stonehenge paper & put them in silver metal frames, the prints themselves measure 8 x 8inch and priced at only $50.00 each...

I am at the 12th Annual City Streets Sale/Show tomorrow...I wish all of you lovely blogging peeps were able to magically transport yourselves here because I know so many of you would come out to visit me in support...

...I just hope I don't have a sore head like the past couple days!

P.S.  You only have a couple more days to enter your name for my November Giveaway...the winner is announced on Tuesday...Good Luck.

XO M & The Dill & Bean Munching Bunnies

A New Under Glass Pendant

New to my Etsy shop today is another under glass pendant, this time featuring one of my favourite lino cut images...it is of our very first rabbit, Beanie, the one who started my love affair with bunnies and it is called "Solitary Watcher"...

...Interested in purchasing 1 of the 7 pendants I have with this design, just click here.

Join me here Friday for some favourite new photos of a brilliant yellow beauty...

Introducing Glass Pendants...

For any of you who have followed my blog for awhile now, you've probably seen these little lovelies in my photos of different sales/events I've done locally BUT NOW I am finally getting around to putting them into my Etsy Shop...This lino-cut bird of mine is still one of my favourites so I thought I'd show you all this design first.

...as you can see the backs of the glass pendants are sweet also with a fancy little dragonfly as the clip ring/bail, each is signed to show you they've all been handmade by me...and each shipped in a lovely organza bag often with special treats from me to you...

If your interested in purchasing one of these necklaces they are now in my shop for only $10.95u.s.d or you can email me directly & we can do a pay pal transaction, whatever is easier for you. I made about 10 of them and there are only 4 left, grab them whiles you can because at this point I am unsure if I'll be making more. I am listing only 1 at a time over at the shop, so click here or visit there for more info.

Cheerio lovely blog land peeps:D

Just Popping In For A Quick Hello

So I start this new week with renewed purpose, vision and ideals and I can't even begin to tell you how very excited I am....and it all began with one short little meeting with a store owner selling my greeting cards. So today Iam anxious to get to things and begin a productive week so I am just popping in quickly to say "Hello"...

We had an excellent and productive weekend. Only one migraine ruined part of Saturday and yes I consider that a success!

This photo is one I took not long ago of one of my lino-cut prints in the living room.

Lots to do this week, I'll be doing short but sweet posts this week so keep tuning in. I got involved in one of our local gallery fundraisers and I really need to concentrate on my piece for that this week.

Until tomorrow, be well and wishing you a productive and warm week. XXOO Mandy.

New Mini Lino Cut "P.S. I Love You" & Phantom Pregnancy Again!

Something new and simple to show you today. A new mini lino-cut printed on handmade paper, with abit of white coloured pencil added and some thread stitching up the two sides. The scan doesn't do it justice somehow, but I am very happy with the original, it already has a home in a frame in our dining room. The message is a personal one, as simple as the image is, it does have meaning...it will act as a reminder to me...but I want you to see your own story in it so that's all I will say.

Okay Okay, ha ha...I have not kept up with my 3 new mini lino-cuts per week. Mainly because well other creative things have side tracked me and in my mind, as long as I am being creative I am letting myself off the hook. And because my lino supplies are quite low and I've heard that you can't buy the same stuff anymore, yikes!

Our fuzzy sweet Ella-Luna has 'phantom pregnancy' again. This is the 10th or 12th time. Yesterday afternoon, I dragged some supplies and fresh mini canvasses outside but instead of getting much work done, I ended up chasing Ella around to stop her from pulling all of her belly fur out! You see female bunnies, usually twice a year suffer from what is called 'phantom pregnancy', this is when they think they are pregnant but aren't. During this twice yearly occurance our Ella Luna pulls out (herself) all of the fur off her belly and she gathers this in some dark and protected corner of the house...why does she pull her fur out you may ask...it is so so sweet actually, she is building a nest for her 'phantom babies', so they'll be nice and warm when they are born! I know it sounds weird, it is kind of weird, the first time it happened I freaked out and ended up calling Jonathan home from work ha ha. Because all you see is this tuft of hair hanging out of her mouth, but then you notice she's running all over the house (or in yesterday's case, the yard) to find the perfect nesting spot. The first time, I caught her and plopped her on the bed, then proceeded to get the hair out of her mouth, but much to my horror the hair kept coming and coming and coming...like a magician's scarf, it's very surreal. We've finally learnt that she pulls out alittle less hair, if we collect it for her and put it in her chosen spot. Usually if we throw old dishtowels or bits of cloth and clothes on the floor, she'll collect these too and bring them into the 'nest'. In the summers, like yesterday and today, she'll run around the yard collecting all of the long grass, until she has this huge mouth full and she bounds over to her burrow and puts it all in there. It is quite the spectacle and part of her magic but also with it comes abit of worry about hair balls of course, so over the next week we'll be giving her fresh pineapple juice to help smooth and pass any hair balls inside her precious tummy. Oh Our Ella-Luna, you do keep us on our feet sweet one, ha ha.

And with that rabbit story told, I shall say 'until tomorrow blogging friends, Happy Creating & Be Well'. Please feel free to leave comments on any of my posts, I love to hear from the people reading my blog.

New Items In My Etsy Shop

Hi again. Just another quick note for today. I've added a few new items to my Etsy shop. There are several original hand-burnished lino-cuts you can buy and also a couple new original watercolours. Click on my Etsy widget on the sidebar or go to http://www.bijouswhimsy.etsy.com/.

Here is just one example of the kind of lino-cuts I put on sale today. The editions are quite small, making them collectors items and all are easy to frame, so don't wait too long. Thanks!

Friday's Freedom and Coffee Friday

Good Morning Everyone. Wow, I don't know what I did to sleep so well last night but I slept like a baby and woke up bright and early feeling refreshed and excited for my day...I just love days like this don't you?

Let me just quickly show you the sight that usually awaits me when I go up the stairs from my studio...

What could be better, ha ha.

I feel abit free today and I know exactly why! I was putting off some work that I really needed to get done, but I wasn't sure how to go about illustrating what needed to be illustrated etc, so I just kept putting it off and putting it off. Last night I worked till about 11:30 and I got both sketches done and now I feel great. Whether they are going to be approved or not is another matter but I didn't realize how badly I was procrastinating and now that I did the hard part...filling up that blank page and getting them emailed off to the authour, I feel free today to work on other things I've been craving to get to, Yay.

I think this whole nasty procrastination thing is really something that I struggle with. Do most creatives suffer from it, I don't know honestly. My best friend is such a disciplined worker, she never puts off tomorrow what she can do today, and I admire that. My creative disciplines are defiantly better than most I believe, but I am aware that I still have some work to do and I welcome the struggle actually. If any of you have any suggestions or stories about how you over come your procrastination please feel free to share. I think for me, I get so overwhelmed with trying to figure everything out ahead of time, and you just can't function that way because well of course you never know how things are going to turn out. So I think I need to just keep listening to my heart and my instinct as to the next step to take, and than do just that...just take that next little step. Viewing things in tiny little steps/stages just makes anything scary melt away...projects and plans don't seem so insurmountable. Sure, things may move forward abit more slowly, but at least I am doing what is most important; constantly trying; getting back up when I fall and always moving forward.

I do notice a difference in the last few months in my attitude towards work, a change for the better. Because I suffer from Chronic and Acute Migraines and on average have a throbbing head 4 out of 7 days a week. I find myself working really hard on days when I feel great because I know when that migraine kicks in, sometimes 2 week long ones at a time, that I work alot more slowly and sometimes I can't work at all. So yes, what I am trying to say is 'seize your creative day, don't take it for granted, and just suck it up and get to work'.

Now let me show you this week's stamps;

I am really happy with this morning's stamp of the bird. I almost stopped doing them because the 'slave to the industry' side of me poked about it's not so pleasant face and said 'this is a waste of time...' but I kept going, because I am doing these linos strictly as a creative flow exercise, I promised myself that I wouldn't worry at all about their intended application. So next week, I'll do 3 more and than 3 more the week after that...

This morning when I was making my breakfast and mixing orange juice in my favourite new glass pitcher, I realized that I should share this website with all of you. It is called Ten Thousand Villages, an online market providing third world artisans a fair income by marketing and selling their handicrafts. My friend Becca bought me a couple wonderful presents from there and I was thrilled not only at the gifts but at the whole ideal behind it. Check it out at http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca/.

I was quite excited last night, as a woman from France actually came across my blog and wrote me a quick note saying she really enjoys my blog and work. I want to send out a thank you to her and also remind myself and everyone else that leaving comments behind or sending quick emails to people you admire and whose work you love is really important and uplifting to the artists/designers/illustrators. It is my firm belief that you can never get or give enough encouragement.

Last but not least, "Earth Hour"...did you all participate? I hope so. I loved it. I heard of it briefly on the radio and automatically thought "What a great ideal...and so easy to do". I kept running to the windows to see if everyone else in our neighbourhood turned off their lights too...honestly half expecting most to not care enough. Much to my surprise and happiness I would say 97% of the lights were off in the neighbourhood. It just filled me with a lovely feeling, that people do care about the earth and they are willing to make these small efforts, it really did mean alot to my spirit. So to go abit farther my Jonathan and I have decided to do an "Earth Hour" every week. Friday nights from 8-9 or maybe even till 10pm, we are going to turn off all of our lights.

Well, with my day of freedom I am going to sketch out some long-awaited things I've been wanting to play with. Than later this afternoon is my usual Friday coffee and cake date with Maria, I always greatly look forward to this time, especially after a week of being in my studio alone.

Have an excellent weekend all, be safe and be well.

Friday's Stamp,Some Favourites & a Sickie

Hi All. I think that I have to admit that I am getting sick. Serves me right for running around feeling all superior and proud that I was one of the only ones who didn't get sick, ha ha. Extra vitamin C here I come. I am not sure how much work I'll get done today as my stomach seems to be turning around and around like the wash cycle...actually yes that's exactly what it feels like. Not to mention every time I sneeze I get the chills and I also admit to be just a bit of a suck when I get cold. That's hard for a Northern baby to admit too, ha ha.

Anyhow I wanted to share a few things with you today. First being my favourite Easter Cards of this season. The smaller one is from my lovely friend Maria, it is by an unknown artist from the 19th century, it's just such a soft image and was a delight to recieve. The brighter one is from Germany, I just love getting cards from my family there because they are always in this blocky, bold coloured style, always with lots of gold edging...I can't understand a word on them, ha ha but I love them none the less.

The little gold rabbit charms are from Etsy, just in case you were wondering.

Whiles I was surfing my favourite blogs yesterday I came across this rabbit wall decal ...which instantly struck a cord in my heart, I love it when that happens, don't you? I could immediately envision the most wonderful place to put this decal in our house, where it would add the most wonderful bit of whimsy.

This can be found at http://www.stickmeon.com.au/. I just find it wonderfully inspiring.

Let me not forget to show you my mini stamp for this Friday...

I am not super happy with it, but it is what it is. I think it may make a nice addition stamped on to a floral pastel perhaps as an edging, we shall see.

I also want to mention this blog I came across which I really enjoyed yesterday http://www.creativethursday.com/blog/. If you scroll down alittle bit you'll find an article called 'My Creative Thursday over at Design For Mankind'. If your like me and really enjoy getting glimpses into different artists work process and daily creative lives, give this a read. I just love the way Marisa writes with such openness and humor, having your furry babies be a major part of your creative routine is defiantly something I can understand and appreciate. This was just a blog that warmed my heart and also inspired it because she seems to be doing quite well on Etsy, etc...good for you Marisa.

Well I think I've taken up enough of your time today. The weekend is here, I was suppose to have my 5 year old niece come for a sleep over but I think I may postpone it to next weekend as I can rapidly feel myself going down hill. Don't worry though, I'll be here Monday ready to post and with new creations to show you.

Wednesday Woes & A Stamp

Good Afternoon everyone. I've had a rough couple of days....dealing with contracts and payment problems etc etc...having to dig that extra mile to find my creative side, yikes! Once in awhile I go through this and I am always way to hard on myself. But it was nice in a way, even though I went to bed yesterday out of sorts and just feeling all jumbled, I woke up this morning much more clear headed and with renewed strength and determination. If any of you out there want to share on how you get over your mental hurdles please feel free. I think it's an innate part of my personality that just will never give up or lose hope. But also, I owe thanks to my best friend Judit and my sweet unwavering Jonathan...who patiently listened to me over the last 2 days and gave me great counsel.

So onto the creative bits...I have given myself the project of making atleast 3 lino-cut stamps a week. Just teeny weeny itty bitty ones, I think they are less than 2"x2". They are challenging to cut because they are so small, but it's a great way to relax for me because I have to concentrate so much on the cutting and on not cutting myself that I don't have time to think of anything else and my brain gets abit of rest, ha ha.

So here is my Wednesday stamp...
I have just been so inspired by stampers work, collage' and various mixed media often using stamps that I fell in love with the ideal of eventually doing similar things, but with my very own stamps. This one is hand-burnished on a lovely blue handmade paper from Thailand. So, think of it, if I am doing 3 stamps a week that will be 156 stamps in a year...I'll have to start my own stamping business, ha ha...one never knows, I guess that is part of the beauty of our creative businesses. Have a great day everyone and Be Creative.