Last year I doodled some cute little Valentine’s Day cards and put them up on the blog as a PDF file. I’m still smitten with them this year and I hope you will be too!

You just have to download the file and then print it off at home onto some heavy paper or cardstock. Cut them out and voila! Totally free Valentines for you to give to your special someones. Yay!

Download the PDF here

If you’ve never downloaded a PDF before, you may need to install a program to open it. The most common (& free) one is Adobe Acrobat.

printed on card stock & cut out

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

I had the loveliest afternoon planned with my mister the other day. First off – skating at the new outdoor ice rink in Robson Square:

photo credit: entheos_fog via Flickr

Now I haven’t skated since I was a kid, but the weather has been nice, the skate rental was only $3 & I figured my hockey-playing mister would find my incredible lack of balance hilariously charming. We were all set to have our romantic comedy movie moment when we arrived at the rink only to find it packed with people taking OFF their skates & the ice being covered with rolls of carpet. Drat! Foiled by a winter fashion show!!

We poked around the shops on Granville for a bit before heading to the second planned location for our date – a showing of the 1933 version of Alice in Wonderland. I’ve never seen the version featuring Cary Grant and W.C. Fields, and it sounded like a great way to boost my creative ideas for a new painting series. We got into line with plenty of time (or so I thought) only to have a very official sounding lady with a clipboard come out a few minutes later to inform the line that the show would sell out and there may not be enough tickets for everyone in line. I tried to keep my hopes up. I couldn’t have my plans dashed twice in one day, could I? Oh yes! Yes, I could indeed.

Clipboard Lady went back into the theatre, then returned a good while later with an official remaining seat count. She started counting off the people in line ahead of us:

You…how many? Two, three…how many? Five, six…single? Seven. And eight!

That’s it! Sorry folks.

The last ticket went to the diminutive lady standing directly in front of us. The show sold out literally right in front of us. *sigh*

We managed to salvage the afternoon by drowning our sorrows in a fantastic eggs Benedict at a local pub, but I can’t help being a little disappointed. The theatre only scheduled that one single showing of Alice, so I’ll have to be content with the DVD releases and clips I find on the interweb. And my imagination, of course.

Despite taking it easy for the last few days – visiting with family, playing with my nephews, eating lots of home-cooked, home-baked yumminess, sitting around our big farmhouse kitchen table to play cards – I still can’t believe 2009 is over! This year flew past for me and I’m so, so excited to see what 2010 will bring.

I’m one of those annoying types who loves to plan and set goals and make lists. I’ve probably spent a solid hour poring over the day planners at 2 different shops and STILL have not found the perfect one. (I like the calendar laid out as 1 month on a page so I can jot in art show dates etc. & then the daily pages with more room for details. This is proving impossible to find, for some reason.)

Before I launch into 2010, I want to take a moment to say thank you. Thanks to each & every one of you who has made my 2009 experience a little brighter.

I have met so many wonderful people this year! From the folks who stop to leave a comment on my blog or send me a note on Twitter to my amazing customers who have supported my art and encouraged me to keep creating to my family who have supported me in a different, but oh so crucial way.

My mister has been unbelievably understanding during my busy, crazed deadlines and did things like interrupt an all night painting session just to bring me dinner. Literally – just dropped off a plate, then closed the door, not even expecting me to stop & eat *with* him. I’m so lucky to have such a fabulous partner in crime.

One of the highlights of my year was the insanely busy holiday market season. It was a huge success and I can’t help grinning when I think about how many people opened up gifts this Christmas that were from me. At some point I imagine myself walking past a complete stranger who is wearing one of my necklaces. With my art on it. That *I* made! Without tooting my own horn too much, how freaking cool is that???

I realize it’s probably bad for my hip artist “cooler than thou” image to admit this stuff, but…pffft. I’m sure everyone who makes things goes through this. How fun is it to imagine Stephen King getting his picture taken standing in front of his first book on the shelf at a Barnes & Noble? heehee

My favorite moments of 2009 (in no particular order):

1) Organizing my First Group Show

I’d been part of group shows before, but they were only the type where the artist fills out a form and sends the work. Getting to be part of every detail from choosing the concept, the venue, designing the poster…awesome.

2) Hitting my 1 year Etsy Anniversary

Yay! I love selling my work online. I never would have dared to dream I could become a full time painter (or, more accurately, creator) if I hadn’t seen artists successfully representing themselves online. From personal websites to eBay to ArtFire, there are so many possibilities now that artists 20 years ago wouldn’t be able to fathom. I’ve shipped my art, a little piece of myself, all over the world. That feels amazing to me.

3) Selling My First Painting in a Gallery

The flip side to being a self-representing artist is, of course, buckling to the traditional idea that “real” artists sell their work in galleries. I’m incredibly fortunate to have found a gallery owner I adore, who works hard for her artists and who I’m actually happy to see earn 50% of my sales. I’m really looking forward to more group shows in 2010 and continuing to be inspired by the other amazing artists who show at Jem Gallery.

Work stuff aside, I had a fun year of personal highlights too – moving to a new house (still renting, but I love it here), going mountain biking for the first time (& not bailing), getting the pug to swim, flying in a sea plane.

I feel a little bit guilty posting such a rah rah cheerleader description of the past year, especially since I know so many people lost their jobs and their homes, but I hope you do get a moment to remind yourself of all of the good moments of 2009. And even if the bad outweighed the good, it’s the start of a new year – a clean slate full of possibilities!

What do you want to see in 2010?

What is your WILDEST dream?

If money was no object, if you could do anything, if you could BE anyone, what would that look like?

* ~ * Happy New Year!!! * ~ *

Happy holidays everyone! I spent a quiet Christmas at home with the mister’s parents, lots of new books and way too much food. Pretty much perfect!

I’ve actually never stayed home for Christmas before; we always end up traveling to see his family or mine. It was a unique experience to have to cook the big holiday feast, but fortunately my mother-in-law brought a turkey, perogies and cabage rolls with her. My mister whipped up an amazing yam/corn dish. The only thing I had to do was scoop the cranberry sauce out of the can and mash the potatoes! Thank goodness too, because I don’t do well with cooking under pressure. I need to make one dish at a time & my brain just can’t handle so many pots going & all needing to be ready at the same time. Argh!

I hope you made the nice list and you’re surrounded by warm people, warm thoughts and, of course, have a full belly. If you need a chuckle, check out this story of a guy who came home to find his entire apartment wrapped up as gifts – even the curtains! And the food in his fridge! lol

Having a birthday right around Christmas is not ideal. I usually get my presents lumped together or forgotten about completely, since everyone is already so busy with the holiday craziness. I totally understand – I’m swamped too. But it still kind of sucks.

When I was a kid, most of my classmates couldn’t come to my birthday party. School was already out, families were away on holidays or they were just too busy balancing all the other Christmas parties. My mom was great though; she actually moved my birthday to the summer so we could have a big pool party. We still did a little family party on my actual birthday, but my best memories are camping out in the backyard with my girlfriends and having a big slumber party. So much fun!

Since I’m (technically) a grown-up now and not allowed to move my birthday to the summer, it’s especially nice to have a good boyfriend who makes the day special. He booked an appointment for a massage and then a haircut, some much needed pampering after the last two months. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect gift. Next we went out for lunch during which I snapped a pic of my new fab hair:

Second best gift? One that I bought for myself. hehe. I used one of my Amazon gift certificates to order Mark Ryden’s the Tree Show. It came a week or so ago, but I wouldn’t let myself open it up until yesterday. The oohing & ahhing & drooling continued well into the night.

And now? Back to work! I still have a few pendants and lockets left, so I’ll be doing a big Etsy update in between tidying the house and getting ready for family to arrive. Cookies must be baked, presents wrapped and some time needs to be set aside for watching the lights on the tree twinkle while drinking eggnog. Truth be told, I’m not a huge eggnog fan, so I’ll just take the rum instead.

Happy holidays everyone!

One of my favorite holiday traditions that always gets me in the Christmas spirit is baking shortbread cookies. I have fond memories of rolling the dough out with my mom, selecting which cookie cutter to use (to maximize the dough layout, of course) & then that smell. Mmmmmmm…nothing beats the smell of fresh baked cookies.

Shortbread dough is much easier to cut into cookie shapes if it’s cold, so we’d usually make a big batch & then store it in the fridge. Roll out a couple of pans of cookies, then throw it back in the fridge – we had fresh baked cookies every couple of days!

I’ve been so busy with all the craft shows that I still haven’t had time to pick out a Christmas tree, but I did manage to clear a spot in the living room tonight, so at least that’s progress. I’m glad my boys took it upon themselves to don our house with Christmas lights. Just sitting at my desk and looking out the window I can see them twinkling warmly. And then I pretend it’s snowing instead of raining.

Have I mentioned how much fun I’ve been having making new fancy schmancy jewelry? I’ve been doing the Scrabble tile pendants for a little over a year now, and while they’ll always have a place in my heart (so light & cute & fun), I’m smitten with my newest creations.

Making jewelry is such a different skill set than painting, so it’s been fun to learn something new and experiment with being creative in a totally different way – which beads to use, which charms, antiquing & getting different patina effects…lots to play with!

The new pendants have been popular at my local craft shows, so I’m having trouble staying on top of what inventory I have and getting it photographed and up in my Etsy shop. Since I personally antique the brass setting and add different beads and charms, each one really is unique and needs its own listing. They’ve been selling too quickly, which is, of course, a wonderful thing!

I have 2 more days at Simon Fraser University this week, then Got Craft on the weekend and THEN I can get back to focusing on my Etsy shop – which is just about too late for Christmas shopping! The last few weeks have flown by. I’m looking forward to the craft show madness to slow down so I can turn my attention to getting my own house gussied up for the holidays. The mister’s parents are coming out to visit, so there’s a little extra pressure this year. I’m kind of looking forward to curling up with the December issues of Real Simple and Martha Stewart, plus my stand-by cookbooks to plan something special. Yes, I am a dork like that.

What’s your favorite holiday recipe?

Almost dead, but not quite! I’ve been so sick over the last few days that I not only missed my gallery opening at Jem Cordova, but I also missed out on the Dunbar Craft Fair – the one I juried for back in June! Argh!

Getting sick is so frustrating when you’re self-employed. Not only do we not get “sick days”, but I lost my chance to earn income that day (of which there aren’t very many days left in the xmas shopping season) plus I lost my table fee. That was one very expensive day of laying in bed and coughing my brains out. Lame!

Today I’m off to Simon Fraser University to set up a table in the Students Union. I’m packing lots of tea & lozenges & a warm woolly sweater. Wish me luck!

I’m taking part in a group show opening this Friday at the Jem Gallery here in Vancouver. It promises to be great fun with a “Naughty, Not Nice” theme and art that is cash & carry, just in time for your xxxmas shopping. Heehee!

Since my girls tend to be more cute than sexy, it was an interesting challenge. I knew right away I wanted to paint a strong female icon, and give her the Cagey Bee treatment, of course. It ended up being a lot trickier than I would’ve guessed. I settled on the ultimate pin-up, Bettie Page, and sketch after sketch, it just didn’t quite work. She had rather deep set eyes (a lot like my own) and trying to capture a sultry gaze and the proportions of her face while making her eyes three times their regular size…well, let’s just say I have a lot of pages in the recycle bin.

In the end, I’m really happy with the way she turned out. I’m not sure if she’s instantly recognizable as Bettie, but I think she captures Bettie’s sassy spirit. I’ll be coating her with varnish tonight and then she’s off to the gallery. If you’re in downtown Vancouver, go take a peek!

I spent the last few days visiting my parents on a tiny island off the coast of BC called Thetis Island. My dad retired in the summer and the first step on their new adventure was to sell everything, rent a cabin for 1 year and move to BC. This was my first chance to get out to see their new digs and I had a blast.

This acorn didn’t fall far from the tree – all three of us love to dawdle around on the edge of the water, hunting for treasures. I spotted the odd fish, lots of crabs (from tiny to big enough that they started to look tasty), purple and orange starfish, and translucent pulsating jellyfish. It was awesome.

I did bring some work to do at the cabin and have to say it would be a lovely life to make pendants and package up postcards while listening to nothing but the sound of the waves lapping against the shore. I missed my boys, of course, but my house usually has the sound of a TV in the background – a sound I often try to drown out by playing my own music or podcast in my studio. The only thing to watch at the cabin was the water – oh, and the sea lions and seals that like to hang out on the rocks maybe 100 meters from my parents’ deck! So. Awesome.

Also awesome? I got to fly home on a float plane! I was a little nervous at first, but it was amazing. Such beautiful views and so fast! Instead of 2 ferry trips and over an hour of driving, I was up & down in probably 20 minutes. Highly recommended.

As much as I enjoyed my brief holiday, I don’t know if I could live on an island full time. The mister & I tend to be fairly spontaneous.

Wanna go see a movie?
When does it start?
15 minutes.
Let’s go!

Planning our lives around ferry schedules and being unable to make late night dashes for fast food would take some getting used to. Attending concerts or art openings would take so much effort that it would have to be something I’d *really* want to see. And even though I loved the break from the chatter of TV, eventually I’d start itching for the new Project Runway.

I may not have seals to watch out my window while I’m working on my computer, but the squirrels, birds and neighborhood pooches (& their owners) are enough to keep me entertained most days. Plus I can always visit.