Coloring Love

I've had so much fun doing this coffee bag! It only seemed right to make the design into a Valentines coloring page for you guys. Feel free to download the larger printable version here.

If your in town this Saturday the 11th - stop by the Rocket Market (11am-2pm). Doma is doing a free coffee tasting of the Sea of Love...I'll be hanging out with crayons and coloring pages - as well as some coloring books, zines, and little items for sale just in case.

♥

CA or bust!

Big thank you to blogger friend Pretty Little Thieves! She referred my coloring book post to Common Thread Studios in CA. Not only did they want to carry the books in their shop - they also featured them on their blog (writing such lovely things). Read the post here.
So, if you happen to be near South Pasadena, go check them out! They have a cute little shop, and a studio with industrial machines for you to work on your projects. They also offer a wide variety of sewing classes.

...(Spokane could seriously use a place like this)!

100th post giveaway!

Having 100 posts on a blog may not seem like a huge accomplishment, except sometimes I have a hard time sticking with the things I start. So, to celebrate this small feat it seemed like a perfect excuse to have another super fun giveaway! A little thank you to those who support my work and read my blog! 

Your entry into the contest will be a photo posted on my Facebook Art Page [here]...this is an anything goes derivative work photo contest (it sounds scary - but it is far from). At the bottom of this post you will find some links of things to play with. You have full artistic freedom - the only rule is that there must be something of mine used in some way. Your art using my art...You could post a photo of a fantastically bright coloring book page hanging on your fridge, photoshop a speech bubble on (well) anything, or you could post a photo of your dog surrounded by a swarm of bumble bees - it's up to you. The possibilities really are endless.

Post the photo before Friday March 18th 8:00pm (PST) for your chance to win one of the 3 prizes. One photo per person (so make it count)! This contest is open to anyone anywhere - so tell your friends!

Here's what you could win:

3 prizes and 3 different ways to win.
1. The winner of the custom Pet/Animal painting will be chosen by a random # generator.
2. The Coloring Book - goes to my personal favorite of the giveaway images. I will dub it "The MOST [blank]." This blank could stand for 'surprising', 'horrifying', 'happy'...we will have to wait and see!
3. The watercolor illustration - goes to whichever photo has the most "likes" (thumbs up) when the giveaway closes.


[Here] is a download link for some items to play with.

Also, I know a bunch of you have D.I.Y. tattoo ladies and things I may have given you....so feel free to use other things of mine as well (as long as it isn't too much of a stretch).

Yay! Good luck - have fun! ♥


- I am reserving the right to disqualify/delete any overly offensive or evil spirited images.

Beauty Spots and Happy Thougths

I got my new coloring book back from the printers Friday. It turned out amazing. My partner and I had printed and bound the first one I did, a while back. It was nice...but this time I really worked on correcting all the things standard cheapo coloring books always get wrong. I even asked for tips on Facebook about what people would like to see in the perfect coloring book.

Here is what I came up with....

• The pages have a mix of larger and smaller sections in each image so a bunch of different colors can be used.

• The last page is speech bubbles for cutting out - so you can make the animals say wherever you would like...hence the "happy thoughts".

• The books are professionally printed by a local Mom and Pop print shop (with a little bartering for art to help cover the cost).

• We picked a slightly thicker paper and printed one sided images that are perforated.

• When you tear out the illustrations they are 8x10's to fit a standard picture frame without cropping...I love parents that frame their kid's artwork and hang them with the rest of their collection.

So far I am talking to two places in Spokane that are interested in carrying them...The Timann Too (Children's Book Store) and aNeMonE  (Handmade Paper Flowers). I will keep you posted on where to find them...and I do have plans for an Etsy shop sometime in the near future (It's probably about time!)

If anyone has any interest in carrying the coloring books in their store please feel free to email me.

coloring

So....I got my ass whooped by a 4 year old. Actually tons of people did (which I think is awesome)! There was such a huge turn out...so many entries! I think this was a great pick for GRAND PRIZE winner. To get an idea here are some of the thumbnails:
The coloring contest was for for Rice Boy Sleeps. The singer Jon Thor (Jónsi) Birgisson from the Icelandic band Sigur Rós and his partner Alex Somers have been making music together and exhibiting artwork/staging exhibitions under the name Riceboy Sleeps for several years now.

I found out about Jónsi & Alex just recently...they were having a coloring contest. There was a free download of some of the images from their 40pg coloring book (here is the link). It surprised me....but I now love the idea that you should decide what the image is about. Here are the 3 I colored for the competition (I had so much fun):I think that maybe it is time to do another coloring book. The first one I did got such a positive response. I had quite a number of requests for a new one around the holidays. Children are sooo my people...not that only kids color, it just saddens me the lack of original artwork out there for them to choose from. As a child I HATED all the "Disney" coloring books...and cartoon ones. I felt like I couldn't change the colors of the characters because I already knew what they were "supposed to be".

Maybe a coloring competition could go along with my new images? This could be a way for me to get rid of some of my art that I love dearly but can't stand seeing laying around with dustballs in my basement. Grand prize: choice of painting from down below. I could frame the winning entry and hang it on my wall - we'd call it a trade. Jacinda did just surprise me with a fancy Wacom Tablet which could possibly save me from hours of scanning. I guess I better start using it and get over the learning curve! Have a lovely lovely weekend everyone! Oh...and stop by and check out the new Empyrean spot if you haven't already! ♥