Cards, Cards, Cards...

I just love cards... especially interesting, handmade or artist cards! I am always looking for interesting designs & I hate going to the store & not being able to find something cool enough for the person for whom the card is intended. To remedy that, lately (when I'm not too tired from working at CCS), I have been playing with card ideas. I thought it might be neat to create cards from my photographs. I wanted to create something a little bit different than just a print on a card so I decided to create decorative borders to go with specific photos. I am planning on offering them with greetings inside as well as blank so that they can be completely customizable. They will also have coordinating envelope closure stickers as well.
Here is a little in-progress preview...




I would love some input in regards to which greetings to offer.
Thanks ahead of time!

Etsy Promo

I have a new promo for my Etsy shop!!! I've had it a while but forgot to let everyone know about it. Lately I've been very busy with my other job. I paint & repair pedestals for the spring show at CCS(College for Creative Studies). It's pretty physical work & I've been unusually tired the past two weeks. As a result I totally forgot to write about my new promo bookmarks!!!

Anyway, I am very happy with how they turned out & hope that you will be too! They are full color front & back on heavyweight(15pt) paper stock with a gloss coating on both sides making them very durable. They measure 2"x 6" so they aren't too big for those smaller books.



You can get your free bookmark with any purchase from my Etsy shop! link
Also...For the rest of April & all of May I am offering Free Shipping on domestic orders over $25! So please stop on by!

Finished ACEO's

Here are some finished ACEO's. I finally had some time to scan them. The mandalas are done in watercolor & colored pencil with the exception of the last one which is only watercolor.

Illustration Friday- PRIMITIVE

I love tikis and find the so called "PRIMITIVE" cultures very interesting. This illustration was done in Photoshop using hand-drawn textures and photographs I created.



Signed 8"x 10" prints of this illustration are available through my Etsy shop.

Nancy Stahl Workshop

Last week I had the privilege of attending a workshop with Nancy Stahl. For those that don't know, Nancy is a legend in the illustration world. She used to do air brushed illustrations and was one of the first illustrators to go digital. Ever since then, she has been pushing the bounds of digital illustration. Generally she doesn't do workshops so this was an incredible opportunity. During this workshop she focused on showing us how to use textures to make our digital work look more painterly and less digital and flat. I usually work in Photoshop or Illustrator but because Nancy prefers Corel Painter, I was able to try it for the first time during the workshop--very cool. She was very knowledgeable and helpful during the workshop so my head was swimming with information by the end of the day! She's a very down-to-earth, nice person and I feel grateful to have had this opportunity to meet her and attend her workshop.

For those that wish to see her work, here is a link to her website: Nancy Stahl

Here's an image of the signed poster I got after the event...

Illustration Friday- SAVE

A few years back I took an illustrative painting class with Cathy Gendron. One of our assignments was to create an illustration for an article about the feral chickens on Key West in Florida. One of the controversial solutions was to pay citizens to round up the chickens without harming them. I thought it would be funny to portray a cowboy "roundup" from the chicken's viewpoint. I guess you could say the chicken wants to be SAVED from the cowboys!



It's acrylic on cold press illustration board.

Announcing my Cafe Press shop!!!

Here it is!!! I have finally opened my Cafe Press shop! For starters, I am offering my mandala designs on select products. I have ordered a sample of every product that I am offering in the store and have been very pleased with the quality of the items. I especially love the keepsake boxes!



The boxes have hinged lids and are fully lined on the interior and the bottom. The artwork is printed on a nice ceramic tile that is inset into the lid. The finish is a nice laquer finish that comes in either mahogony or black.



The journals are unlined paper in a spiral binding. Great for quick sketching or jotting down ideas.



The ornaments are ceramic with a satin ribbon for hanging.



I am also offering all of the designs as magnets.
I still have more items to add but I would love to have you stop by & let me know what you think.
Marcyanna's Cafe Press Shop