Ornaments

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I've been bingeing Hallmark Christmas movies and painting kawaii character ornaments. This is a tradition I've been doing for a few years now, and something I always look forward to.

These ornaments are hand painted, so each is one of a kind even if it's the same character. Supplies are limited, but I am trying to do as many as I'm able before I close up shop for the holidays (which will probably be around the beginning of December. Keep an eye out for an official date.).

I've been taking your suggestions on characters you would like to see. So far this year I've made a few Harry Potters (always a favorite that sells out fast!), Ron, Hermione, Luna, Castiel, 10th Doctor, and Leia.

I don't take actual custom requests for these, but please let me know if there is something you would like to see and I will try my best.

The first batch of ornaments will be available for purchase this Friday, November 10th at 10am CST in my Etsy shop.

Inktober Supplies

It's the most wonderful time of the year....FALL! Sunday is October 1st, which means it's time for Inktober. If you don't know what Inktober is, it's a 31 day drawing challenge. You can find out more information here.

I thought I would share my supplies (with links!) and a few prompt lists I've been thinking about using. 

• This year I decided to go with my favorite sketchbook, Moleskine, but thought I'd try the watercolor album.
• I also grabbed the Pentel Arts Aquash Water Brushes, which I've been meaning to try for a while.
• Something I thought would be fun (and possibly a challenge) is Ecoline Liquid Watercolor. I am planning a color scheme and this Blue Violet (548) seemed like a good place to start. I'm hoping to use this for outlining with a brush, which is something I need to work on. 
• A few old items I'll be using are my Angora Watercolors, various Copic Markers and Prismacolors Col-Erase pencils.

Last year I didn't have a theme and did Mab Graves Drawlloween Prompt list. I was excited because I got more than half way through the challenge, which is pretty awesome for me. This year my goal is to finish the challenge and I picked a theme: witches (since I really love Halloween). 

Sam at Raicodoll just released this witchy prompt list that I thought I would try.

I felt like this one from Mossery was vague enough that you could use it with any theme.

Are you participating in Inktober? What prompt list or theme are you going with?

Mystery Sticker Packs Are Here!

It only took a week of watching NCIS while I cut out almost 200 stickers, but I got it done! Mystery Sticker Packs are in the shop while they last! Each pack contains a random assortment of sizes and stickers from different collections. Some of the collections include: Hello Quirky Wizards + Wizard Villains, Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Studio Ghibli.

I used sheets that I had printed when my computer was crashing and I was printing like a mad woman. I'm currently in the process of redoing my stickers into sheets using my Silhouette Cameo, which will make things easier on my hands. I'm hoping to do more planner size stickers, so you get more on the sheet + the sizes work better for in your planner.

I'd love some feedback! Let me know what you'd like to see! xo

Shop Update + Where are the stickers?

Yesterday I updated the shop with some of the fabric samples, notebooks, and VERY LAST of the HQ Wizard cards I've been hoarding. Things have been going fast (especially the cards!).

I'm sad this design won't be around any more, but I just finished sketches for another Harry Potter-ish design. Hopefully it will fill that Harry Potter hole in everyone's hearts.

You may have noticed all my stickers are gone from the shop. I am currently working on mystery sticker packs with what I have printed (and not cut yet >_<) of some of my favorite geeky designs. I've decided to redo the stickers (possibly on sheets) so I can use my cutting machine instead of cutting them all out by hand.** There will be Harry Potter/Villains stickers in these mystery packs since I won't be selling them any longer.

Make sure to check out what's left in the shop and keep an eye on Instagram or Facebook for when the mystery packs will be released!

Thank you for all the support! xo

HQ Wizard Fabrics Removed

Yesterday I got an email from Spoonflower saying all my wizard designs have been removed by request from Warner Brothers. I knew it would be coming eventually since my wizard designs are fan art and I don't own Harry Potter. I was still gutted.

I've already received emails from people asking me to put back up the designs, but obviously I can't do that. I also don't want to be sued by Warner Brothers because of some cute fan art I initially made for myself.

Truthfully, I've been leaning towards fazing out my fan art. I have kept it up as long as possible because it was supporting my business while I have been trying to work on new products. I am hoping to find a way to make fan art in a way that isn't infringing on any copyrights (is that even possible?).

If you want to more information just google 'fan art and copyright infringement'.

I do still have a few wizard products that I will be selling on my own website, but I will not be remaking them in the future. I will probably be removing my wizard design from Society 6 as well.

I still have some cute fabrics available on Spoonflower and I have plans to make new designs (although I'm rethinking if I should even bother with the Studio Ghibli one I was working on T_T).

Thank you to everyone for the support and love of this design! xo

Sketchbook: OOTD

I'm pretty proud of myself for actually keeping up with my 100 day project and working on other sketches. I haven't really posted much, except glimpses in my sketchbook on Instagram stories.

This week I thought it would be fun to draw what I was wearing, but only managed one day. Things have been pretty busy around here.

I'm not sure if I would actually leave the house in this outfit, but it is something I wear around the house. I've always been really weird uncomfortable about wearing shorts out in public anyway, but I'm working on it. The summers here in Texas are brutal, so shorts are a must. It's always cold in my house so I tend to wear tights under my shorts (and sometimes socks with my sandals). I'm addicted to cardigans and my friend got me this amazing Totoro one for my birthday!

I am going to try and do more of these quick outfit of the day drawings in the future and hopefully share some more of my cute food sketches.

Have a great weekend!

May Goals

I've seen several May Goal posts floating around, maybe it's because I've been on Twitter more, but I decided to try and hold myself accountable by posting my goals. I made a few goals for myself last month that I actually completed. Woot!

May Goals:

1. Get wooden heart ornaments painted. This is on my to do list every week....

2. Design 2 new fabrics. I'm currently trying to focus on a Ghibli + possible Star Wars design.

3. Continue 100 Day Project. I am still working on this drawing challenge! I haven't really posted much of my work, but I'm still trying. Some weeks I end up playing catch up by doing several days at once, but hopefully I'll get better.

4. Make more vegetarian/vegan meals. One of my New Years resolutions was to eat more vegetables. I bought a new cookbook (Isa Does It) and plan to make all the yummy things! I already have 4 recipes planned for this week.

5. Continue blogging once a week. I'm not a hard core blogger, but I think it helps as an artist/small business person to keep people informed...so I'm working on it. :)

6. Finish putting together my pixel afghan. This thing is a monster and I keep putting it off because I hate the sewing part. I also want to finish so I can start a new crochet project.

7. Organize art closet. It's like Tetris in there and I can't find anything.

That seems like a lot to work on...I've definitely been more motivated since I started going to these exercise classes 3 days a week (yay endorphins!) Getting out of the house has been a big thing for me this year! I've even gone to a few geek girl events. Sadly, I haven't been able to attend any Sketch Club meetings because we've been out of town a lot this year.

What are your goals for May? xo

Supernatural Stickers

I realized I had never made these cute Supernatural guys into stickers! They are now available in my shop!

I made these a tad smaller, so you get 2 of each design. I'll be testing out new stuff + would love your feedback!

PS If you are a fan of Supernatural, you can find this design on fabric too!

Short post, but I hope everyone is having a good weekend! xo

Shop Reopened!

 ETSY

I've finally reopened my shop! I kept thinking I needed to wait until I've made a new collection + products. I couldn't decide what platform I wanted to use. Stuck in indecision, I just didn't do anything.

I finally kicked myself out of my weirdness and just decided to reopen. I had so much encouragement from everyone, which made me remember people liked some of my older products. I am slowly working on new stuff, but for now you can find some old favorites. (There are new sticker packs and fabric samples available though.)

HelloQuirky.net

I decided to use both Etsy + Big Cartel. (Etsy for the marketplace and Big Cartel for my own site that is under my control for the most part.)

Etsy is always making changes, which is hard to keep up with or annoying for sellers + buyers. Big Cartel is a flat fee and super chill, without all the craziness of Shopify. I almost thought about Storenvy again, but last time I ended up charged with so many hidden fees I didn't feel it was worth it. I would recommend trying them out to find what works for you. (End platform rant)

Thank you for the continued support and look forward to new products soon!! xo

New Fabric: Harry Potter Villains

I just got the new sample of my fabric in the mail! I really love how the blue background came out and makes the characters pop!

Someone on Instagram suggested I do non-directional fabric, which I tried on this one. I plan to do a non-directional of my first HP fabric, with a possible colored background. It's on the list of things to do...

You can find the fabric here and the sticker pack here.

The 100 Day Project

Instagram is my jam. I check it a million times a day...one day I saw the #The100DayProject and how many of the artists and creatives I follow were starting this week. I thought this would be a good way to kick start getting out of my own creative run and try something new.

I've been bored with my art recently. It feels repetitive and unoriginal...something is lacking which in turn is making feel depressed about creating in general. I decided to pick a theme for this project that did not involve drawing people. Instead I'm drawing kawaii food!

I even started a Pinterest board, so you can see where I'm getting my inspiration from. So far this project has been fun. I'm not thinking too much about these little drawings, just sketching it out, adding some watercolor and outlining in my Moleskine.

You can find out more about The 100 Day Project here.

PS I've opened my shop + will be adding more as soon as I get the new stuff made! xo

Artistic Style

I was asked recently about how I developed my artistic style. In my mind I was screaming, still working on it! Of course I don't remember what I said, because I was panicking. Artistic style is always one of those things I'm stressing out about and trying to continue to develop. I feel like I'm the last person to go to for advice.

Artistic style is something I've slowly been working on in regards to custom portraits. I feel like all of my characters look the same, and I've been trying to break the mold I seem to be working from (even though I'm not sure how to do that). I was asked to draw some portraits recently, and my first instinct was to say no, because I'm just not ready. Instead I said yes, and drew them and I hated them, but they liked them and that's what matters....right?

A few things I've been trying:

• Speed sketching while I watch cartoons with my kid. I will try to draw characters and things from whatever show she is watching. I'm trying to think less and draw more. 
• Looking though old sketches and "Frankenstein-ing" things I loved about those with my current "style". 
• Drawing more!

If you have questions about developing your artistic style I suggest:

• Watching this video from Frannerd
• Signing up for this free email course from Pikaland 
• 6 week course by Amy from Pikaland starting this summer.

Let me know your thoughts on developing your artistic style. xo

Supporting Other Creatives

This year I haven't created much at all. I read books, crochet, drink coffee, and watch anime. I've been unmotivated and in the biggest slump. So far 2017 has brought me stress in the form of art theft that has left me bitter and on the verge of just giving up and becoming the cat lady I always wanted to be.

I follow lots of creatives on social media. I love supporting other artists and buy their amazing products + art whenever I can. Recently, a few creatives have inspired me and I decided to support them by becoming a Patreon.

Sonya Cheney has been such a huge inspiration throughout the years that I've followed + talked to her here in this crazy internet land. She has such a beautiful + deep soul. She knows who she is and what she wants from her dreams and life. I enjoy her zines and seeing little peeks into her very cute life. Her drive + passion for writing inspired me to sit down and think about what I'm doing and what I have a passion for. That maybe I could continue doing the things I enjoy even in the face those who would try and take it from me.

You can find Sonya's blog here and support her on Patreon here

Fran of Frannerd is one of my favorite artists + YouTubers. She reminds me so much of one of my friends that I haven't talked to in a long time. I love how down to earth and real she is about illustration + just living the artist life in general. I always look forward to her YouTube videos + she has inspired me to try new art supplies + techniques. 

You can find her YouTube here and support her on Patreon here.

I'm new to Patreon, but let me know who you support or if you have your very own Patreon! xo

Art Theft

I woke one day this week to several messages saying they saw my Harry Potter design being sold through TeeChip with no credit to me as the designer. As I checked out the campaign saying it was a best seller, I was heart broken to see that whoever this "seller" was who posted my work to this site didn't even bother to try changing my art that they stole. Every brushstroke was still the same as the original. I was so angry!

After sending a quick email politely asking TeeChip to take down my stolen artwork, they auto responded with a page of things I needed to do in legal jargon that made no sense. I'm a small fry who makes art when I have time, so I don't have a lawyer to take care of these types of things for me. So I did what any other sensible person would, I googled "how to get my stolen art taken off TeeChip".

Turns out this is a pretty regular thing for TeeChip, but being a professional and following their rules is the only way to get them to listen. I found this amazing article by Effing Decaf on Tumblr that said everything I could possibly say here and give you the what's the what on getting that DMCA ( Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notice written and guess what? It worked. Next morning I woke up to the campaign taken down and a very professional reply from a member of TeeChip's Copyright team.

Obviously this isn't the end of my struggles. I don't know who this "seller" is as TeeChip is the only one I could deal with in this situation. I'm sure whoever thought it was okay to steal my artwork in the first place won't mind trying to sell it again on another platform.

I'm grateful for this community I have and that you guys are looking out for me. I appreciate the support more than I could ever put into words. As an artist you get sensitive about your work and it was nice to not feel alone while going through this. So thank you all so much! xo