Valentine's Day Prints and Cards

I know, I know, it isn't even January yet. But here's the thing...it's really only 6 weeks until Valentine's day. If you are planning on ordering online (hello gentlemen!) then you've got a few weeks to look and order, especially if you want something custom made. I am working on small 'nosegay' sized paper flower bouquets for those ladies that dislike watching their beautiful flowers die (these will be precious forever!). I'm also planning on a serious of smallish 4x4" wood block collage pieces with hearts, etc. I may be covering those in encaustic wax (ooo...romantic!) instead of varnish.

Here are some things I have already ready for you though!... (I also do custom quotes all the time)

Prints...

Mr. Darcy's famous quote from Pride and Prejudice

You Are My Sunshine (available in other colors)

Love You SO Much (also available in other colors)

There are other prints too, like "You Fill Up My Heart" and "You ROCK My World". And all my prints are available in multiple colors and custom colors. Or, if you are feeling creative, tell me what you want to say and I will work up a custom piece just for your special someone!

Cards...

Bookmarks...



So there's some ideas for you for now. I'll be sure to post later when I have the flower bouquets and art pieces finished. Viva amor!

angie

Christmas and the Aftermath

Christmas was freakin' fantastic at our house this year! Richard actually understood what presents were for the first time and absolutely loved every thing he received. He walked out into the living room at 7am to find an already set up basketball goal and ball. He is STILL carrying around a basketball everywhere he goes; this includes to bed and also while brushing his teeth. I made him leave it in the car when I dropped him off at daycare this morning and I thought he was going to kill me. Ha. Not to worry, it will be waiting on him when he gets home!

Here's an overview of the tree and presents before they got ravaged...



After many, many hours of endless play and eating of junk, this was the result at our house (that's Grandma)...



Today I had the task (oh, darn) of going to Anthropologie to return a shirt my loving husband gifted me that was a bit too baggy. Ladies, they are having a mega sale. If you are an Anthro girl like me, run, don't walk to your local store. I got all this stuff for under $230 including tax!



The thing I love most about Anthro clothes is the attention to details and the fabrics. Look at all these yummy colors and textures...



YAY CHRISTMAS!!

On the Ferntree front...I'm working on a new project...coloring books! These will have black and white drawings of mine and will actually be purse size (like 4x5") and will include a box of half size colored pencils in an adorable ribbon closed pouch. I'm thinking of these more for adults or teens that like to doodle/color when they are bored standing in line, or at lunch or on the train or something. What do you think?

Weddings

I'm beginning work on a wedding scheduled for this summer. The bride contacted me back in the fall and I sent her out a few individual flower samples. Now, she's ready to move forward on designing the centerpieces. I've done up a handful of samples to show her some of the different 'casual' styles we could work with.



This is the most fun part of creating flowers for weddings. I love getting creative with my brides, and helping them make their special day as perfect as it can possibly be. Since I can use absolutely any papers, we can use favorite old photos, their wedding invitation or really gorgeous scrapbook papers like you see here. Every wedding is unique to the couple. And since I can do the work months in advance, by the time wedding day rolls around, everything will be perfect. Making people happy is a fabulous gift and the best part of this job. :)

angie

Intestinal Fortitude

So the last of the day job paychecks has come and gone. I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. But nothing tragic is happening yet. No huge bills left unpaid, no bank account with zero money. I can't help thinking the day will come though. Perhaps it's just a part of being your own boss. The stressors are definitely not what they were at a day job. No fear of the mundane. No dread of the endless red tape. No sadness in the face of the day to day. But rest assured that there is still stress. Did I make the right choice? Can I succeed? Am I good enough? Am I worthy of a blessed life? Is this fair to my loved ones? Will this ever feel comfortable? Damn gremlins.

But, you get up every morning, kiss your baby goodbye at daycare and you work your ass off all day so there is no question that you are giving it your all. You remember that your husband did support you when the time came to make that critical decision to jump. You remember that your son will draw from this that life involves risks and intestinal fortitude and success and failure, but most importantly he will learn that life is made up of the choices we make.

And you look forward to the day, be he 25 or 52, that he realizes that what he wanted to be when was just 10 years old is quite possibly the best thing he will ever be.

I wanted to draw.

Appreciate The Slow Days

We're sick here at the Traunig household. We're all headaches and boogie noses.

But, this has afforded me the opportunity for paper garlands, all day pajamas and unnecessary cookies.














I'm so 'go go go' with my work all the time, just thinking that if I slow down I might miss out on some networking opportunity or let a great idea disappear into the ether.

Sometimes you've gotta stop and smell the roses, or in our case, eat the cookies.

Happy Turkey Day!

I know it's tomorrow, but I ain't gonna be on here tomorrow y'all! (Yes, my father would be very disappointed in my poor use of the English language.)

Since the holiday art shows are now over for me, I've been focusing on rearranging (new furniture, yay!) and cleaning up. Mostly I'm just trying to unearth my dining room table for our meal tomorrow. Good Lord, I have a lot of crap! All work related mind you; and totally justified. :)

Once we get done with Thanksgiving, I'll be working some of these...

Crazy Busy Holiday Time!

I'm in the middle of creating like a crazy lady right now. I'm trying to get my stock up and new gift options ready for 2 big shows I have this weekend and next weekend. Here's some of what I'm up to...

That was a long tease!

Sorry, I kinda forgot to come back and post the real pictures of my newest creation! I have started making mobiles out of my paper flowers, and I have to say they are lovely. Very ethereal. Perfect for babies or for whimsical wedding decor!

Teaser!

I'm off to get better pictures outside...

Rock Lobster!

I had a customer inquire about lobster artwork, so I up and did it! I think they go really nicely with my other ocean themed prints; the Crab, Jellyfish and Octopus.












Then I went wackadoo and did a ROCK lobster! :)

Doctors and Slugs

So I spent all day today going to doctors' offices either for appointments or to pass out my business cards to OB/GYNs. It was a productive, if not long, day. And when I got home, after dinner and playtime, I just had to finish this piece and get him up on Etsy. Slime is the new cute!

Ferntree Flower Bouquets

Just a couple pics. I finished wrapping the hydrangea stems. It looks really lovely with the simple bow and super long streamers. Apparently this is a big trend right now. It's all over Martha Stewart Weddings, etc.

Christmas in July, sort of

So I went out and about last week looking at local Atlanta boutique stores. I found 3 I really liked, Beehive Coop, B. Braithwaite, and Young Blood Gallery. I've got some things in the works for the other 2, but right now it looks like I will for sure be at the Beehive Coop starting in August! That means my artwork will have a retail outlet for this year's shopping season. :)

I have to figure out how to merchandise 2, 2 foot square wood tables. I'm thinking I'll take them some bookmarks, cards, prints, some small paintings that can stand up on their own and these collages I've been working on.



Anyway, I'm super excited, but I've got printing to do today, so this is it for this post!

angie

Life and Art Updates

Well we just got home from 2 weeks visiting my family in Australia. Wow that's a long plane ride with a toddler! He did great, but we are fighting some major jetlag...

Our trip included Richard's first visit to a beach! Does it make me a bad mama that I let my 1 year old eat beach sand because it made a cute picture? He did spit it out after all. It was also a bit windy.

I do have one gorgeous little boy though!

As for my art, I've been busy like always. I've been featured on a couple great websites, including Babble.com's Top 50 Etsy Moms!

I've opened a second Etsy shop called Ferntree Flowers, where I am offering luxury custom handmade paper flowers for weddings, special events or home decor. I'm having a lot of fun with paper and colors and glitter, oh my! :)

Anyways, you can see that I have a LOT going on! I hope to keep you updated more often, but I can't make any promises based on my past inability to blog! ha.

angie

No, I'm Not Dead, Just Busy

Blah blah blah...it's been 4 months since my last confession.

Okay, so I'm going to make a whole hearted effort at writing on my blog. Really, I am. Between working full time, being a mom to a teething wonder, having dogs and cats begging for my attention and trying to work my husband in there sometimes....Oh, and working full time at my Etsy business creating and selling custom artwork...I WILL BLOG.