August is Anniversary Month in My Art Shop!

It's my art shop's second anniversary on Etsy. So, what does this mean for you?

Every item purchased in my art shop during the month of August will entitle you to a raffle ticket for my anniversary drawing. This is what you see in the photo above. Included is a blank card, a signed ACEO print of one of my most popular paintings, a 1" square pendant of my artwork--with chain, 2 stickers, and a magnet.

You'll receive a free print of my choice with every order. I have pulled some of my older prints to make room in my shop for newer ones and I'd like a good home for them.

Don't forget to take 10% off your entire order at checkout! Use coupon code "save102" when you check out with your order and save money.

I have been truly blessed with my customers and friends' support these past couple years. I can't thank you enough. Happy shopping!

A Little Color

Upon completion of a drawing, I consider whether a picture's appeal will be enhanced by color or if the adding color will become a negative distraction. I've ruined many good drawings by coloring them in the past. Now I scan the piece before I add color this way I can create prints, if nothing else, out of the black and white drawing should I be unhappy with the painted version.

Adding color can really bring a piece to life. The colors I choose often reflect the mood I'm in. For this reason I often give it a day before painting.

Above is an example, before and after, of one of my drawings. I don't always draw out my pieces first--only if I think I'll like it more as a black and white piece. More often I outline and detail after I paint.

The Big "C"

The big "C" I'm talking about is "cancer". Recently another close family member of mine was affected by this disease; my mother-in-law. It seems all too common now days and no doubt cancer can have an impact on the whole family as well as the patient.

My husband and I traveled out of state to be there for his mom while the doctors removed her tumor. As we returned home after a successful surgery, I thought about how wicked cancerous tumors are. I prayed for my mother-in-law's continued recovery and complete healing. I thought about how God can take something so awful like cancer and make something beautiful out of it. I envisioned what His love love could grow in the place of my mother-in-law's cancer: love, perspective, endurance, patience, faith, strength, perseverance, courage, hope and compassion, to name a few. This vision is what inspired the piece to your left.

This exact drawing will go to my mother-in-law but I will be offering prints of it in my shop soon. 50% of the profits will be donated to cancer research centers in hopes of one day finding a cure.

If you know someone who is about to go through chemo therapy and risks losing their hair, I'd like to recommend a shop on Etsy called English Traditions. This seller makes and sells well crafted chemo scarves. She will ship directly to your loved one if need be and thoughtfully wrap the items and include a personal message if you wish to send one. My mother-in-law's package also included a nice poem.

THANKSGIVING SALE!!! Preview

This is the biggest sale of the year for me and for the first time, I will have great sales in ALL THREE stores! Etsy (the site my stores are on) has made it so we can issue out coupon codes. The reason this is so great is you don't have to wait for me to refund savings any longer. You get your savings immediately at checkout.

So, onto the sale specials. These specials will begin on Thursday. This means the coupon codes you see here will not work until then. These codes will all expire Cyber Monday.

Embound (jewelry store)

Use coupon code "thanks201" for 20% off your entire order. This includes chains that never go on sale (nor should they with today's silver prices) as well as the already discounted items in my clearance bargains catagory.

EmBoundArt (my paintings shop)

Use coupon code "thanks102" for 10% off your entire order. PLUS, buy 3 of my necklaces in this store, get 1 free. Just enter your selection at checkout and please allow up to a week for shipment. THERE'S MORE! With any $30 purchase (after savings, not before) get a free "thank you" gift! This is a sample pack of my work. It includes a blank card, 2 stickers, a glass magnet, and a metallic ACEO signed print. Your pack will vary slightly. One per customer while supplies last.

EmBoundGem (my store for loose gemstones)

Use coupon code "thanks103" for 10% off your entire order in my shop. This is really special because I've never done a sale in this shop. I price my gems competitively anyway and often find I've priced them lower than I can replace them for. Nonetheless, they are overstock of my personal collection and are great for creating your own jewelry or just adding to your own collection.


So, there it is. Please know I really appreciate all your support :). Happy Thanksgiving!!

Terraterra and EmBound

I just had to show off these adorable Scrabble tile pendants made by Maybe Kinda Crafty, Etsy user name "terraterra". These pendants were produced using my art images and are fantastic ideas for stocking stuffers. Terraterra sells these necklaces at $7 each plus shipping, however, if you buy 3, you can choose a free one.

Here is a link to view necklaces made from my images: http://www.etsy.com/shop/terraterra/search?search_query=emboundart&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5430443&shopname=terraterra

Thank you Terraterra for featuring my art in your jewelry!

In other news, My EmBoundArt shop is going to be debuting it's new necklaces too. They aren't scrabble tile pendants but a little bigger. I have 1 inch circle and square necklaces. I've been working on these for quite some time. I've considered using this pendant style to do custom art pieces as well as customer's submitted photos. My "goal" is to have these necklaces listed sometime this week. But with 3 kids, and a busy schedule I'm not going to hold myself to that.

This week has been productive. Last night I managed to FINALLY get a bunch of new gems listed. I have morganites, sapphires, tanzanites, alexandrites, zircon, and more. I've got many more items to list but the camera battery died so I'm off the hook for now. I also got quite a few custom paintings done (likely to be reveled in the next blog).

I'm excited to see what new items other Etsy sellers are putting out as the holiday season draws near. If you're a seller, feel free to post your shop and what's new in the comments. I'm looking for cute inexpensive gifts for my nieces and other family members if you would like to share some ideas with me.

Digital Collage Sheets for Artists

I'm excited to introduce my digital collage sheets available in my Etsy shop now. These are great for making Scrabble tile pendants, glass tile pendants, magnets, pins, buttons, scrapbooking... and so many other things!

I have 2 different sheets available. One is bugs (ladybugs, butterflies, dragonflies, bees..) and the other is birds, fish, crosses, hearts, abstract, flowers... Check out the listings for more details. The picture in this blog is reflective because my husband used photo paper to print the file out on.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmBoundArt?section_id=7413277

Metallic Prints

I just got back some prints I had done in metallic photo paper. These prints are truly amazing but you will have to take my word for it since the coolness will not show up on a computer monitor. Think about the pearly inside of a white plastic candy wrapper or the nacre on a pearl. It has that kind of a luster. The photo paper is glossy too. It really pops with the greens, yellows and blues.

Here are my current metallic print listings:

http://www.etsy.com/search_results_shop.php?search_query=metalic&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_7977585

Emma's Garden

Sunday my daughter Emma will be 2! My latest painting, an 11x14", I've named after her. These are some of the colors in her room and I'm now really toying with the idea of doing a bug theme rather than a french-chic. After painting her walls I felt the color purple came out too bright for my initial plan...

Anyway, I've listed my latest painting in my shop. It is listed at $65. It took me 6 hours straight to complete this and the photo doesn't do it justice. Unfortunately my scanner is not large enough to capture a better image of it so I had to rely on my camera which tends to wash out the color. I plan to have this scanned elsewhere so I can retain an image for Emma should I go the bug direction.

I currently have 2 smaller paintings called "Into Summer", parts 1 and 2 in my shop for $10 each. They were the initial paintings that sparked my desire to create something on a bigger scale.

Prints: Their Debut

I just got done stocking my shop up with tons of prints! Some of the prints I'm now selling were never sold as originals in my store. I've gone with the more affordable-for-all option of using the photographic paper for prints rather than the pricier giclees. My prints are on Kodak Professional Endura paper. The Endura paper is made to last up to 200 years if kept in a dark space out of sunlight, and up to 100+ years with typical display! The colors are bright and overall, I'm happy with them. My scanner doesn't tend to grasp the crisp lines and often exagerates color but this can all be seen in most of the first photo images of each painting in my shop. I don't mind this as it makes images more vivid.

Pricing is as follows:

3.5x5" is $ 3.75

5x7" is $ 6.00

8x10" is $10.00

How It's Made- Painting Edition

I thought it would be fun to show some of my paintings from start to finish. I don't always paint my work this way. Sometimes I'll do stippling first. Lately, this is how my paintings have come to be. First I start with a sketch. Typically I see the basic idea of what I want before I even pick up my paper.

I really like to use watercolor pencils for more detailed work. Today I began working with a green pencil for the leaves.

Once I've sketched what I want with my water color pencils I begin to paint; fanning color where I want it. I also use watercolor paints as well. Below is what my paintings look like prior to breaking out my markers.

With my archival pens I can bring out the details I want. I prefer using pen because I like how it looks against the paint.

On these paintings I tweaked the colors a bit and removed some color from my roses. I've cut out my paintings and have since named and listed them in my Etsy shop.

All together almost 8 hours went into these. Most of my time is spent detailing my paintings with pen. I paint because I enjoy it and work mostly at night while my children are sleeping. Iam not sure what I'd do with all of them when finished so I've been selling my work in my Etsy shop. I love bright colors and nature. Please check out more paintings of mine in my shop: EmBound Art

Hi All,

I've been on a ladybug kick lately and made a couple versions of ACEO series of them. With Summer having arrived I'm longing to see bright colors. It has been overcast and rainy here in Oregon. Please visit my art store when you get a chance.

I also have a special going on in my Embound shop. $10 off any of my ID style bracelets until the end of June and $5 off my leaf pendants.

My gem shop was recently stocked with many new listings so be sure to check those out.

New Paintings Coming Soon!

I haven't gotten any of these listed because my scanner isn't yet hooked up. We've been doing some reorganizing of our den. I may list just photographed images of my paintings in the mean time.

Some of these paintins were done back in November. The very first image were the first paintings of 2010.

I'll be listing more jewelry probably in February. Right now I am focusing on clearancing my current inventory.

20% To Fight ALS Walk

As some of you may recall, my brother-in-law is dying. He hasn't been given much hope to even make it to the end of the year. http://embound.blogspot.com/2009/10/als-walk.html. In support of him and others with this horrid disease, I will be donating 20% of my sales in my art store to the Fight ALS Walk. (see my blog in link above for more details).

Today is the last day of the $5 off sale in my store (http://EmBound.Etsy.com/). In the mean time I'm preparing to release some new pendants, some of which contain dichroic glass provided by TheCraftyKind on Etsy. I plan on doing some work with Art Clay and dichroic glass as well. Some of my latest pendants also contain faceted tourmaline rondelles in addition to apatite. I tried to bring out some of the colors in my design.

In my art store, I'm currently doing an indefinite promo of some free little goodies with any purchase. I won't be publishing what those things are. :)

I spent some time today sorting through gems. I've only listed a small portion of gems I have on hand. I have about 30 listings I plan to do this week in my gem store.

Please keep in mind, I love to do custom orders when I can so please don't hessitate to ask!

Happy shopping :).

I've been busy listing this week. Today I have 4 new paintings in my art store. The one above is perhaps the most detailed one I've done yet and samples many of my bugs and other life forms.

This one took me more than 6 hours to work on. A nice way to relax at the end of a day though.

Promotion Time Again...Think Holiday Shopping!

SPECIAL!!...$5 off any wire wrapped or fine silver pendant/necklace--EACH PIECE! $5 will be refunded to your Paypal. Offer doesn't apply to special orders, $5 promo neckchain or earrings. The holidays are right around the corner! Offer is good through Oct. 11th. http://embound.etsy.com/

So, as you can see, I have this promotion going on. I've reduced many of my pendants already and wont be doing promotions too often so please take advantage of this offer.

I also just got done listing a ton of gems in my gem store http://EmboundGem.Etsy.com/. If there is ever something you like there and want it put in a casting for you, please let me know (email me through one of my store pages) and I'll see what I can do for you. I have MANY, MANY more gems on hand if there is something special or unique you're looking for.

Also, remember I've taken some discounts off many of my paintings. http://http//emboundart.etsy.com/.

To save shipping between stores, if you convo me, I may be able to combine shipping between my 3 stores. Happy Shopping.

Abstract Thinking

I LOVE the metallic pens I got! I love metals anyway. You can't totally get the cool effect from the scan but these pieces were so much fun to paint and fun to look at in person.

I've been on this dimension kick when painting and drawing lately. These pieces will be available in my store http://EmBoundArt.Etsy.com at a later date. Right now I'm trying to focus more on my jewelry inventory. If you are interested in any art pieces here, contact me in my store and I'll be happy to list them for you as a special.

I Like It!--OH, and Check Out the Offer!!

I just got done painting this ACEO today. I really love the color combo in this one. Maybe it takes me back to my childhood where my parents ran a then Union 76 gas station and auto shop (colors blue and orange). I'd like to do something a bit larger in similar colors.

This ACEO should be listed sometime this week along with some larger paintings (and more ACEOs if I can get to them).

If there is anything you'd like to see, convo me here: http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=EmBoundArt

Any purchase in my http://www.emboundart.etsy.com/ store will entitle you to a discount of 20% off of one item in my EmBound jewelry store http://www.embound.etsy.com/. This offer will continue through Sunday September 13th.

If multiple items are purchases at EmBound, discount will be refunded from the highest priced one. Refund will be issued via Paypal.

Labor Day Listings

Last night and today I've been listing like a mad woman. Here are a couple of MANY new listings using stippling and watercolor pencils. The painting above took 5 hours to complete, just to give you an idea of the attention it got.

I think the paintings look softer in person which is why I try to include a photo of the piece outside of the scanner. I've been on this bug kick and my husband was happy to see last week when I painted fish. I'd like to attempt some frogs and eventually animals.


My oldest son is so honest. He'll tell me what he thinks looks good and what looks "weird". These got the thumbs up from him and he's asked me not to sell them. Please take a moment and check out all my new listings at www.EmBoundArt.Etsy.com. I'm still waiting for my first sale in this store. Also visit my original EmBound store where I have quite a bit of hand crafted pure and sterling pieces at www.EmBound.Etsy.com or www.EmBound.net.

Finding My Style

Lately my niche has been using a stippling technique (thousands of tiny dots put together to create an image) to put my visions on paper then, sometimes, painting it. Stippling can also be seen in a couple of my Art Clay silver projects, albeit not much. This has been really hard on my eyes though. I've just got my new glasses prescription and still finding it a strain. I have such shaky hands so drawing alone hasn't been my thing. Anyway, I don't want to get stuck on butterflies and ladybugs forever but for now I'm having fun with it. Fall time will bring new inspiration I'm certain.

Here is a before and after painting from one of my projects. These paintings will be available in

my store soon at http://www.emboundart.etsy.com/.