Watercoloring, to-do lists, and ALL that Jazz!

Holy August!

Lately I've been struggling with super long SCARY to-do lists, and trying my best to catch up with all the things i feel like i 'should' be doing more often... like blog. It makes my heart sad b/c i really DO want to blog more consistently, but other things that need to be done ASAP come up and blogging gets set to the back burner. 

But on the BRIGHT side.. I've been working on an all new "30 Days of Doodles" and it's ALL original watercolor doodles. I'm OVERJOYED and have been happily working on it nightly. It's going to be so encouraging and beautiful and lovely! I would love for you to join me on this 30 days of encouragement if you're interested. :)

I'm going to keep most of them a secret until the launch but here is one of my recent ones on the front page of Women You Should Know's website.Yay!

Today i will CELEBRATE that i got a WHOLE blog post done!! [something off my to-do list! hooray!] ;)

What can you CELEBRATE that you got done today??

-Jenipher

Facebook, Cheese making, and Asking for help.

I just want to start out by saying not everyone will agree with me... boy certainly wouldn't... but Facebook is amazing.

To keep myself from spending pretty much any money, and to make myself get everything done that i have to, i really haven't left the house. Like, at all. In days.

The problem with that is by the end of the day i start to get sad. Especially random nights when boy has plans and i know I'll literally be alone and home from early AM to late PM...

Tonight, while having a mini sad-down, i posted on Facebook and asked what people suggested. 12 people wrote back. 12!!!! I'm literally amazed and thankful.

 

My friend [and neighbor] Jenny was randomly online, and invited me over for tea.[her husband was at the same event Boy was] We ended up making ricotta cheese from scratch while i was there which was BEYOND cool! Then i came home, painted and packed orders. It was perfection. 

Asking for help sometimes isn't bad. Even if it's online. Don't be scared you're going to annoy people or share too much. The right person will respond. Or in tonight's case... 12. 

#thankful

Hooray! It's Monday!

 

 Happy Monday friends! 

 

How crazy! I'm posting this post EARLY! ;)

But I'm babysitting most of the day, i won't have time to post later.

So.. this week wasn't quite as 'eventful' as last week, but i still did a bunch of fun projects as you can see!

 

I tried painting ala my friend Carissa Paige, and relized all of my tension about making the 'perfect' zine by JUST DOING IT! 

 

I made a super cute unicorn doodle, and make a BUNCH of jewelry! Last but not least, i sold one of my first Bar Mitzvah cards this week. [hooray!]

 

 

What did you do this week friends?

Hopefully fun things!

-Jenipher :)

Motivational Monday! YAY!!

^^ eeeee i'm SO excited to show you more of these...but FIRST... ^^

I know it's late and i need to keep more of a schedule for blogging, but it's REALLY important to me to blog my Motivational Monday post ON Monday. [and not the night before]. It's a great way for me to actually reflect on a whole work week to see what's new and exciting!

So this week as UBER productive!

My work got accepted into THREE more shops in addition to the Modca show i wrote about last Monday! [which is now going to be displayed in May, not June]

 

So! That's a total (5)!!! shops I've gotten into in LESS than a year! And one i can add more by the end of February! 

How freaking cool is that?!

 On Saturday i got my 1st shipment of canvas' for my art show and i spent almost all of Sunday painting painting painting!! 

I can't express to you HOW excited i am to get the opportunity to paint these and show all of them in a few month! I've only painted these few and have gotten SUCH good feedback to far!

Off to keep on painting! 

[and watching Big Bang Theory!!] 

What's new and exciting with you?

-Jenipher   

thinking about paint.

Thinking about painting; and how very much i miss doing it.

I don't understand how i can enjoy doing something so much, and yet, feel... trapped and overwhelled at the thought of it.

Maybe this weekend i can try picking up those brushes again and take them for a spin! 

I'm hoping i'm not the only one that feels this way. :D

Have a lovely day!

-jenipher

Magical Creative Day.

* Midnight painting adventure tonight.

* Decent work day.

* AM guitar playing/song writing.

* PBJ

* "To be Fat Like Me" - on Hulu. Good movie!!

* Smiles.

* Planning my trip to NY.

* ohh...so many doodles!

* Encouragement.

* i LOVE these paintings!!!!!!!

* Apples and Greek Hummus.

* bananas. always.

* Yoga was SO good tonight!

* My instructor, said i did a GREAT "pigeon" :]

I hope you are having a wonderfully creative day!

Love,

Jenipher :)

FIRST EVER nightly doodle PAINTING!!!!

:D YAY!!!!

More pictures soon!! :D

i heart Jim Houser's work.

A Day In The Studio of Jim Houser from Art In The Age on Vimeo.

Wow...his work is brilliant, and i LOVE this video of him working. It's very interesting!

Lovely Sparrows of Paper

Tuesday night i hung out with this talented lady. Andrea from Paper Sparrow. She makes awseome illistrations, and collages mostly, but dabbles in a few other genres as well. :)



I love this picture of her!! :)



I'm so stoked to have someone to bounce ideas off it, and to understand what it's like to try and make it as a working artist. Andrea and I have some great ideas in the works! Stay Tuned!



In the mean time...check out her Etsy shop!

Oh! Treasure[ry] yay!

The lovely Rebecca from Fuchsia Bloom Studio featured me in a treaturey! Yay!



Clink the image or the link below to see it, and comment away! I hope it makes the front page! [[crossing fingers]] Thanks again
Rebecca!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=113170




Mission Possible.
$19.00

Sculpty clay and Colored Dyes. :D

I went to my friend Patti's house to do crafts last weekend and had a great time! We decided to paint and make pendants with Sculpty clay.

I've never used clay in any form, so it was such a treat so try and completely different technique.




They came out so cute!!

After you stamp the clay, you cut out the pieces and bake them for 15 mins.





We used colored dyes and mixed them with clay glue to paint onto the clay pieces.



I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stamp! I literally danced around with it, took MANY images of it, and then stamped it on quite a few pieces of clay.



After you paint on the pieces, you bake them one last time for 10 mins to set the color.

Look how perdy the pieces came out after we baked them a 2nd time!

This technique is super simple, didn't take very long and had great results, i HIGHLY recommend it!

Girls Art Day!

Some lovely craft lady folk came over last weekend to have a crafting day! Twas quite fun. We had delicious food, painted and a had a relaxing Saturday.





We decided to have a painting exchange. We all started a piece and then switched and switched until all 5 of helped create the final painting. It was a really cool idea and i hope we get to do it again soon!



We all set up shop in my stellar bed room and crafted for hours, listened to some good tunes, ate junk food and chatted.





We are at a really yummy organic, vegan, cafe in Orlando called Dandelion. Seriously! They have AMAZING food. I've never had a bad meal there. :D





A perdy image of our friend Amanda at Starbucks.



Playing "pass the painting" is actually a pretty neat activity. Highly recommended. :D It's really hard to start a piece of art and then ship it off to someone to finish. But it's good healthy challenge, i'd love to do again.

All and all it was a perdy stellar day. A day we're going to have MORE often right ladies? Like every month!!! :D [i hope!]

Colorful Colorful Life.

Sometimes life has SUCH abundant colors that you can't but embrace yourself in it's beauty.



This pretty butterfly was donated i believe in Hollywood Flower. I honestly can't remember the same of the artist, but they have a whole gallery on Lincoln Road, Miami. If you're ever in the area you should partake in this gallery! It's pretty fantastic!



My friend William painted this beautiful painting during a service at church one time. I love the message and love this photograph. :)

What beautifully colorful things have you seen lately??

Craft on!

Jenipher :)

These are a few of my favorite things....

I've always taken a liking to that song, so alas, i might as well take a liking to sharing some pretties i have found!!



1. "Remember" by Geninne. These colorful drawings are absolutely amazing!

2. "Cherry Baby" by Jen Nale. This plate is right up my ally! Can anyone guess why?

3. "Sorry" by PressaRussa is by far the coolest sentiment for sorry I've seen. -card

4. "Make Art" by Melissa Vest is a bag everyone should carry!

5. "Into the Woods" by Eva Soehjar. Her style, her jewelry, every things adorable!

Calorie Free Cupcakes

Jessie has a shoppe called Cake Spy. I've been happily reading her blog for some time now, and am quite pleased to write about her on my blog. Her drawing style is RIGHT up my ally! She has her own adorable drawing style, and humorous adventures her little "cake spy" takes.

I have been making stuff since before I can even remember! My mom has a picture of me in my high chair with pigtails, concentrating intensely and coloring happy faces.



That having been said, I am rather new to the crafting culture, and so far have only been doing framed pieces. I am looking to add cupcake plushies and figurines to my offerings soon.





I try to get inspiration from everyday life, in a flaneur-like fashion: bakery cases, cool buildings and architecture, and magazines and books. I also love a lot of "blogs" out there, from design-y ones like Oh Joy or Decor8 to foodie ones like Cupcakes Take the Cake, Whipped, Bake and Destroy and the Urban Housewife. In terms of art, I love great line drawings--some of my favorite artists are Saul Steinberg, James Thurber and William Steig; for painters, I adore Wayne Thiebaud (the cake guy!) and Jean Miro.





Some challenges I've found have been cost of goods--since I sell framed pieces, the costs can really add up so I have to be smart about that. Also, it might be a little bit outside of what you asked, but taxes!! It's a whole lot more to keep track of than if you had a day job and had your employer do it all for you. I have to mentally take 20% off of each sale for the taxman!



She's a very talented gal, so go check out her etsy, and then head over to Jessie's blog to read about the cake she spies. :)

Adorable Avocados

Abbie from Miss Avocado has adorable drawings of women. I really enjoy her style and unique layouts for her art! Although the image below is what 1st captivated me to message Abbie, i really really enjoy the cafe girl, and the angel man on the unicycle.



How long have you been crafting?

Growing up, my Mom kept a range of art supplies around: sequins, fabric, poster paints, construction paper, and more. I guess in light of this you could say crafting has always been a part of my life. I grew up making homemade gifts and sewing (although I have to admit I knit some outrageously over-sized sweaters as gifts when I was first learning).



Did you always craft in this genre?

For Etsy I've been producing collages and prints of my illustrations mostly. I do really enjoy working with textiles though and tend to knit and crochet a lot (easily mobile crafts are the best).





Who or what inspires you?

Old bookstores, good coffee, reading blogs, my nieces, going for walks, random trips to the library, design magazines, and new sketchbooks waiting to be filled up.



What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

I think a challenge for me is finding the balance between the creative, right-brained side and developing smart business practices (keeping records, research for instance).

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Check out Abbie's other prints at her Etsy site. :)