Holiday madness

I don't know about all of you but I am definitely feeling that holiday madness. Always tired, always busy...ugh. It's funny how when we're little we never want to take a nap but when we get older all we really want to do is nap. Problem is at a certain point we're just too busy to take time for a nap. Makes me sad. :(

Anyway, let's get down to business! 

It may seem cheesy but I am super excited because I finally got my mugs ordered and they look fabulous! It took a bit more work than anticipated. I had to order samples of a few mugs before finding the one I liked. I also had to make sure they had a large enough imprint area so that my artwork would show up too. Some of the mugs I looked at were awesome until I saw how small the imprint area was. Hardly any space for artwork. After about a week or so I finally picked one and when they arrived it was like Christmas! I of course kept one for myself. :)

For the holiday season I even put together a special Wisconsin gift package. You get one of my awesome new coffee mugs with a WisCOWsin magnet, all 8 of my Wisconsin themed cards and a 5x7" Wisconsin themed print. Unfortunately it's not on my site yet but if you are interested in one please feel free to message me about purchasing one.

I've also had a ton of events this past month: the first annual holiday bazaar, winter northside farmers market multiple times, SPACES holiday pop up market and the makers market and pub crawl. I kept selling out of card designs so I've been constantly cutting, folding and packaging more cards. Doesn't leave too much time for creating new art but I don't think I did too bad this last month. I was able to create some new mini paintings, cards, illustrations and even a few larger paintings.

I finished the illustration I was telling you about last time I posted. It is an adorable raccoon which I still don't know what I want to do with. Maybe a bag? Other than that a lot of my illustrations lately have been of dogs and cats. They are just so fun to draw and they are absolutely adorable. I"m really in love with the cartoonist style I've been using for them. With that in mind I was thinking about possibly taking up doing pet portraits. I probably won't start taking commissions til after the holidays when I will have more time but I will be sure to tell everyone when I am.

Speaking of cats and dogs. At one of my events I bought this adorable little bow tie for my cat Xena. She looks so adorable in it that it has inspired quite a few new artsy ideas. One of them I actually completed and I am hoping to have it available for my last event of the year. More cat and bow tie themed illustrations and paintings are to come. :) 

Seriously though, isn't she adorable?

Now I know some of you are probably wondering about my coloring book and don't worry, I have not forgotten about it. I am just finalizing some images to put in the Kickstarter and then I will be launching the campaign. Trying to keep up with everything has been a hassle especially with the holidays and by the time I get around to getting together things for the coloring book I am so exhausted. In the end all I want to do is create something, eat and sleep. The book is coming though!

This month I have a lot of plans. Here's to hoping I can achieve them all. :) I will be launching the Kickstarter campaign for my coloring book, starting to apply for events for next year and working on presents for people for Christmas. Once I actually give everyone their gifts I will post pictures of what I made for them. I will also be taking the time to update my website. I hardly have enough time to create new art let alone update the site when I do so I'd like to set some time aside for that. I would also like to put together some new illustrations that I can offer next year. I've got a lot of work ahead of me but I think I can do it.

In the meantime feel free to take a look at all the art I've created in the past month. I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving and happy holidays!