Life's Little Ups and Downs..

Life is full of these - or so it seems to me, anyway. I have always thought that you actually need the lows in life in order to fully appreciate the highs.Some low points are obviously worse than others and take longer to recover from than others, but all the same it's nice when you get a high point after a low - this is what happened to me last weekend.

I'd done another event - part of a Family Fun Day - and not sold very much plus received some odd, rather thoughtless remarks about my work. Looking back, it was nothing, really, but at the time I felt quite upset about it. Therefore I was delighted to receive notification the next day that one of my painted wooden photo frames was featured in a blog all about sequins. The lovely Vixxie, who saw the frame on my Etsy site, wrote the blog, which you can read for yourself by clicking on the link Matin Lapin. It may only be a small thing, but somehow when another artisan selflessly promotes your work for you, it means so much. Thanks Vixxie, I really appreciate it!

Here's my painting of "Life's Little Ups and Downs" which was inspired by a series of such last year!

Zanzibar notebook in Etsy Treasury

One of my painted notebooks has made into a Treasury on Etsy over the weekend. Although I'm not entirely sure what the full title of the Treasury means, it is named "Roy G. Biv is Rainbow Bright" and has been curated by Toni Becker. It is full of brightly coloured items and well worth a view if you have time.

You can see the Treasury in detail by clicking here. (which opens the link in a new window for you). Many thanks to Toni Becker, whose Etsy shop, Whimsical Jewels,  you can see here.(again, opening in a new window)

I will be updating my Etsy shop again this week, which you can always take a peek at : Arty Aitch on Etsy

Frost Free Finds - Etsy Treasury

I've just created another Treasury of items to have a look at on Etsy, hopefully one that will make you feel warmer in this frosty weather!

You can view it in detail on my page over at Arty Aitch on Etsy, which opens in a new window if you click on the link.

Here's a snapshot of the Treasury:

The pleasure of hand-made

I've been sorting through photographs that I've loaded onto my PC today, and amongst the many since before Christmas, I remembered one I took of a felt brooch that I treated myself to from fellow artist and craft-maker, Andrea Farmer.

This particular little gem called to me first of all in April last year, when I received a box full of goodies from Andrea to sell at a craft fair I organised. It didn't sell at the craft fair, but I took it and other items with me to the craft fairs I've taken part in since, sometimes having the space and/or permission to sell the items on my table, at other times they have just come along for the ride! It wasn't until all my fairs were over that I finally picked out a couple of other items to give as stocking fillers for my two grand-daughters - for Matheea I bought a red, black and cerise coloured button badge (her current favourite colours are red and black, so she thought this was "Cool" when she opened it). For her sister, Evie, I bought a white and pink button badge, with little pink owl buttons along all the petals - she was also chuffed, and as she was wearing a pink outfit the day I saw them, she put it on straight away. Both girls have developed a love of "Make and do", so they have learnt to appreciate hand-made gifts from a young age, which I encourage as much as possible. I also made them a wardrobe styled trinket box each for my sister to give to them as gifts for Christmas - and as a place for them to keep all their badges and other small trinkets.

The brooch I bought for myself was a perfect match for a cerise coloured cardigan that I'd recently bought, and it is a firm favourite of mine at the moment.

I've taken photos of the three items I bought from Andrea, apologies for the poor quality, I had to take the photos in a rush before I wrapped the badges up for Christmas and in between other jobs!

Andrea sells a large proportion of her craft based items in her Etsy shop online, but if you live in the Chelmsford area you can visit "Make, Do and Mend" at 94 Byron Road, Chelmsford CM2 6HJ. They stock many hand-made gifts by local people and also run various workshops - more details on their web-site here.

The beautiful felt brooch made by Andrea, which is now MINE!!!!!

Matheea's button badge

Evie's pink and white owl badge

For the gifts my sister commissioned to give to Matheea and Evie, I opted for their favourite colours again and as I like to name my creations, I used their names also, and personalised them a little further by painting their initial on the top of the box.

Evie's mini wardrobe trinket box.

Matheea's mini wardrobe trinket box.

I think hand-made items are so much more than just a gift - you are giving a part of your personality away as well, and I only hope that whenever someone is given a gift made by me, they feel the same as I do whenever I receive something hand-made.  I smile at my felt brooch when I wear it, and always imagine the work that's gone into making it, and somehow that makes me take more care over it.

My mini wardrobes have mainly been created for commissions, although I am hoping to build up enough stock to sell them at local venues as well as in my Etsy shop online.

Colours to Cheer

Without wishing to sound like a moaning old woman, I've been feeling a bit crap lately. I try to stay positive as much as possible and generally do achieve this, but this lead up to winter and the prospect of cold, dark days and even colder, darker nights for months on end really do depress me. On top of that, I've been feeling pretty fed up of the cold I developed last week, which is making me ache and has given me a sore throat which in turn prevented me from going out to sing last night as usual.  Not really something to complain about, I know, but I thought I'd cheer myself up a bit in a creative way and spread some of that cheer to others by curating a Treasury on Etsy. Entitled "Seasonal "Cheer", I included items that I liked the colour of and that appealed to me for various reasons. I simply had to have a cat in there, for instance, and some knitted/crocheted items - that is something that I don't think I will ever be able to do with any success so I always admire those that can!

You can view the Treasury in detail by clicking on the link to it here.

Please feel free to click on the individual items in the Treasury and check out the rest of each member's shop - also, you can share this treasury on your web-site if you wish, or on your FB page, twitter etc - just use the link I've provided above!

Two items in ETSY Treasury!

I was thrilled to receive notification that two of my items are featured in this Treasury entitled "Red for...East Yorkshire Etsians" recently. Created to celebrate Yorkshire Day at the beginning of this month, I am pleased to have my red "Holm" notebook and my mini painting "Textured Heart" featured in this delightful collection, as you can see below.

 You can view the Treasury, created by cardsbyjane, by clicking on the link here.  As I have not been featured in many treasuries, it's always a lovely surprise when I discover that someone has included one of my pieces in theirs!

You can view my Etsy shop any time by visiting Arty Aitch.

Mini Painting No.2...

Very quickly, this is a painting done using a brush combined with a glue spreader (much more pliable than a plastic palette knife) which represents the view from my studio here in East Yorkshire, one grey February morning!

Alice goes to Essex......

I've recently sold one of my magnetic notepads and it is now winging its way to Essex! The notepad, Alice, will be a surprise for the new owner, I believe - so I will not reveal anything other than to say thanks very much and here's a photo of it before I posted today:

I will be uploading more mini paintings and notebooks over the next few days, but in the meantime don't forget you can always browse my Etsy shop if you fancy buying any of them. Just click on Arty Aitch.

First sale of 2011

I have just made my first sale of the year via Etsy, which seems to be proving a very useful site for me in terms of sales. It is also a good place to connect with other arts & crafts people from all over the world. 

I sold one of my decorated note-books, which are probably the most popular of my latest craft creations. The one I sold, above, is called "Tidal". I will be posting it tomorrow. I don't think I will ever get over the feeling of excitement I get when I open my emails and discover someone has bought something I've created - there's nothing quite like it!

Sold on Etsy!

Geometric Green - trinket box on the left.

I have just sold another one of my decorated trinket boxes on Etsy - the above named "Geometric Green" . Most of the sales I make on Etsy seem to go to the United States - perhaps they are more keen to buy hand-made pieces  than the people in the UK are! I shall have to ensure I get to the Post Office today before the snow arrives again as promised!!!

You can see the rest of my Etsy items in my shop here at Arty Aitch. Most of my items would make ideal Christmas presents - but you will need to be quick in order to ensure delivery in time, especially with the current weather  predictions!

"Chocolate Inspiration" featured in TAS Treasury

I am pleased to say that I have just been added to a Treasury on Etsy curated by the founder of Total Art Soul, Cathy Savels. This particular Treasury focuses on members of the art site that Cathy created and is a great way of thanking us all for our continued support and input.

Total Art Soul is a free website set up to unite artists of any discipline across the globe and it started in January of this year. Already it has gained 1974 members (as of today - the number seems to increase almost daily!) and the forum is an active area of inspiration and helpful tips and advice to others. The site also has a blogging area for all members, as well as individual blogging facilities and a gallery where you can upload up to 2 images per day. Please have a wander across and see what you think to this global community at http://www.totalartsoul.com

I am therefore very proud to be part of that thriving community and honoured to be included in this Treasury. You can see all the items individually by clicking on the link here.

 My trinket box "Chocolate Inspiration" is shown on the bottom row of the Treasury.

Thanks to SAA!

I received a lovely surprise in the post this morning from the SAA (Society for All Artists). Earlier this week, having failed to get a response locally from craft suppliers, I emailed the SAA with a request for a couple of art related items as a donation. I didn't receive a reply, so assumed that they too had decided not to contribute. How wrong I was!

In the parcel was a black long brush case (seen on their web-site here) and a Derwent black A5 sized sketching journal. These will be used as prizes for a competition at the Christmas Craft Fair I'm running at the theatre in Bilton on 4th & 5th December. The competition is for children to design a Christmas card and already it has generated interest from the members of our Junior section at the theatre. I have also invited the children from the local primary school in Bilton to come along - they run an art club at the school so I'm sure there will be plenty of children interested in joining in.

I also received a lovely box full of items yesterday from fellow Rogue Gene Collective artist, Andrea Farmer. Her hand-made brooches, hair accessories, bib necklaces and some small paintings on canvas board are all coming with me to the craft fair. I'm sure a lot of these will sell - particularly to the teenage girls who I know will be attending. Andrea usually sells these crafts on her Etsy store here.

Christmas Craft Fair

I know it's early yet to start using the C word, but I just thought I'd share my plans for a craft event I'm planning this year, since it's the first one I've organised. It will be held in the auditorium of the Bilton Theatre, home to the Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society (of which I have been a member the past 20 years).

I have already contacted several of the sellers on Etsy who are in the list of "Shop Local" when I do a search in Hull, East Yorkshire. I'm hoping to have 6 or 7 various artisans present - either for one or two days, whichever they can manage. The idea is not only to create a unique selling event for local creative talent based on Etsy, but if it proves successful, it will also raise some funds for our Society as well as promoting the theatre at the same time.

Lowlander Dye - Trinket Box & Mini Painting with Easel

Decorated notebook

I will be selling my decorated notebooks, trinket boxes, magnetic shopping pads, mini paintings and hand-made cards. I have bought some more notebooks today for decorating, and Keith is planning to make some more notepad holders for me to paint.


I may even make some more fudge and tiffin to sell.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Fudge

Tiffin

Other artisans already interested include a photographer specialising in flowers, an illustrator who creates wonderful cat designs and a jewellery maker/handbag creator. More details will be divulged once I've confirmed all the sellers - with links to their Etsy shops. Next thing I will be designing is an application/entry form - no craft fair is complete without one!

New Items On Etsy

I have recently listed two more of my magnetic note-pads on Etsy, which you can purchase there by clicking on the title link of this post. I am taking all of these to the next RGC exhibition on May 16th in Cookham and still have a couple left to decorate before then.

They make great birthday gifts at only £6.75 each (on Etsy everything is priced in US dollars) and they are practical as well as arty!

On the left is "Palest Sprite" and  on the right is "Tartanic".

Latest Creations in Etsy

I have recently listed my latest mini art and trinket box creations on Etsy, which you can view either from the link at the right of this page, or by clicking on the title of this post.

Struggling to find a suitable title for these two items, I decided to do a bit of "cheating" and just entered the two main colours, yellow and red, into an online anagram solver. The result actually astounded me by providing over 4,500 solutions!! I went with "Lowlander Dye" because it just seemed to suit it, somehow, although I have to admit there were a few ridiculous ones in there that I was tempted to select!

Here are the two items as a set, although I am selling them separately:

New notepad for Spring!

Today I have been doing some traditional "Spring cleaning". What started out as just a bit of a tidy-up this morning turned into a bit of an all-day clean of the living room, hall and bathroom! I haven't touched our bedroom or the kitchen yet, but now that I'm in the mood it may just happen tomorrow. I have also been getting rid of some of the clutter that I used to call ornaments. I love cats, and have sometimes bought souvenir cat ornaments from places we've travelled to. However, there was a period when all I seemed to get for gifts were things cat-related and I feel enough is enough! I am keeping a few of my favourite ones, but I feel so much better for having a bit of a clear-out. I have also just had some photos taken of my latest note-pad, which I have aptly named Spring Fever! I will be posting it on Etsy when I get time either later this evening or tomorrow, but here's a sneak preview of it before then. The above view is of it hanging on a wall in our living room. The whole of the note-pad board is decorated, however, and can be seen in the image below.

I think I need some food now - once I get stuck into a job I tend to forget about eating - it's the same when I'm creating things, too. I think I just heard my lovely husband say something about chips, mmmmm, one of my favourite trashy snacks. McCain's Southern Fries!

Etsy Treasury

I am so chuffed to have been featured in my first Treasury, thanks to Andrea Farmer. I am featured in one of the newly created "Treasury West" treasuries, which I think are a temporary feature on Etsy.

The treasury will expire on Tuesday 9th February sometime in the evening, UK time, so if you read this post after that time, and can no longer see the page by clicking on the title link of this post, here's a screen shot of the Treasury.

The treasury is named "Small is beautiful" and also features one of Andrea's latest ethereal landscape paintings, "Blue Hills" which is a lovely painting on paper, plus a limited edition giclee print by another of my artist colleagues, Peter Williams - one from a set entitled "Horses/Western". You can see more of Peter's works on his personal website here.

Oooh, how I'm loving all these new sites!

First post testing!

Thought I'd start the new year with a new thing to try - my own blog. I really don't know how effective this will be either as an interesting piece of information to anyone other than myself or as a regular activity.

Initially I will be blogging about my work, my paintings and craft-related items that I create and sell through various outlets on the internet and in galleries.

Let's just see how it goes eh?

The image here is of one of my new series of artworks/craftcreations. I have co-ordinated a set of mini canvases and easels with some trinket boxes I'd already decorated. They are both for sale on Etsy and can be viewed here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtyAitch