"Mexican Paper Cut" or "Papel Picado" Sugar Skulls

Over 2 years ago, I went through a creative burst where I couldn't stop painting wood skull wall hangings. I had so much fun creating the characters in my head, and my sweet husband was constantly cutting these shapes in our garage for me. Like most of my projects though, I moved on to a new inspiration. Hmmm, maybe like a child with a new toy? I played with them, then cast them aside and found a new interest (I'm constantly doing this with my art projects). The other day, I discovered a stack of blank skull pieces, and I was hit with new inspiration! 

These guys were inspired by Mexican paper cuts (known as Papel Picado in Spanish). I absolutely adore the paper banners and designs from 
Mexico, and I decided to incorporate them into my wall hangings. It was fun to get back to painting these! They are newly listed in my Etsy shop here.

Here are some lovely images of traditional Mexican paper cuts:

                                                          Photo by Claire Montgomerie @ Monty       

                                                                       Paper cut photos courtesy of Peacay

Nocturnal Tattoo Series

I just completed a mini series of nocturnal creatures, and I'm pretty happy with them! They were inspired by requests I received for a wolf and bat created in my style. The wolf request was nearly 2 years ago, yep, it takes me awhile to get to these things! Yeesh. The bat request was just a couple months ago, that's an improvement in my delivery speed! Needless to say, I finally was able to complete a few inspired pieces from my "future creations" list:

BAT

WOLF

OWL  

Did I leave out any nocturnal creature you'd like to see? I had someone suggest a possum, those are cute in a "rodents of unusual size" kind of way...not sure I can envision how that would be illustrated though. Also had a dragon suggested, but perhaps will save that for a fantasy series. Day of the Dead dragon, unicorn, and Pegasus anyone? ;)

Birthday Fun!

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday! It was a great day, spent time running around town with Dave and had a family celebration. I received some amazing gifts, here are a couple that I thought you might like to see:

Love these vintage Mary and Jesus prints from my Mom! She's got skills for finding beautiful, old prints and frames. You should see her collection! She scored these on shopgoodwill.com, fab finds on there if you are a treasure hunter.

Dave gave me this cool chalkware Jesus wall hanging! He has realistic eyelashes and glassy, blue eyes. I've nicknamed him "pretty boy Jesus", because of his pretty eyes and facial features. My Grandmother also pointed out that the bread looks like a bolio, which having lived in Mexico and eaten these daily, I'm a fan of!

Even had delicious, mint chocolate chip ice cream cake!! I have to share one of my fave commercials of all time, because it makes me smile (which is more than I can say for most TV)! I can't be the only one that danced when this would come on...am I?



On the art front, I've been working on a "nocturnal" series. Here's my bat creation in progress, and I hope to add a wolf and owl to the series...

"Virgen de Guadalupe" Art Print Giveaway!!

Giveaway time! This newest illustration features my Day of the Dead version of the "Virgen de Guadalupe". I'd love to gift an 8" x 10" print of her, she's so vibrant in person! This giveaway is simple to enter - just use the links below. You can comment, like me on Facebook, tweet or follow on Twitter. This giveaway is also open to my International friends. Thank you in advance for entering! *Please note* I'm also giving this print away on my Facebook page, so you can enter here and on Facebook for 2 chances to win! They are separate giveaways. ;)

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy 2013!!

Happy new year, my friends! This is going to be a big and great year! Hmmm, could one of my new year's resolutions possibly be to get back to blogging? I'm shocked that it's been nearly a year since my last blog post. I miss the blog world and my blog friends - I look forward to catching up on everyone's writings. To catch you up on me in 2012 and what's in store for this year, here are the major occurances:


1. Dave and I got engaged in June! I'm so excited to be marrying my guy! We just had our 8 year anniversary in December, so I think we can safely say that it was about time! ;) Our wedding is only 3 months away on March 30th (3/30/13 and I'll be 33 when we're married - lots o' 3s!) It's an early 1900s themed wedding, and I'm eager to share some fun photos of vintage finds and projects for the wedding. Here's a couple shots from our retro engagement shoot (with Edward in a bow tie, of course):

 

 

My engagement ring is from the 1920s, I adore it! Disclaimer: As a painter and person that uses my hands for all kinds of crafting projects, my nails NEVER look like this, lol! These wild red tips were only for the photo shoot!

Dave's western shirt and my dress are both from an awesome vintage clothing shop on SoCo in Austin: New Bohemia

 2. For our Honeymoon, we are going on a 5 week train/backpacking adventure through Europe! Starting in Ireland, through the UK, ferrying on over to Paris, traveling down through Italy, and then taking a night ferry over to Greece to finish our adventure. Dave and I are practically more excited about this journey then the wedding, as we've never been to Europe. I'm bringing my camera and journal, I know I'll have much to blog from our travels when I return! 

 3. For my art, I'm grateful for this past year and am excited for the coming year. As usual, I have so many ideas for what I'd like to create for ILLUSTRATED INK, and with all the amazing life events happening this year, I hope to make the time to follow through with them. I've been inspired by planning our wedding, and realize that while it's growing, there are limited offerings for the "alternative bride". I'm considering a separate line of wedding decor, table cards, etc. for the bride that wants something outside the box. We shall see if I can make that happen! :) I'm open to any feedback or requests, as I'm still very much in the brainstorming phase.

 

Working with Wood!

This week I've happily been getting more painting time in, with Edward patiently lounging under my chair. Thankfully, he's moved past the eating my toes/shredding shoelaces phase to simply resting his head on my feet. :) I completed a "Memento Mori" coat rack, which I crafted from a wood plaque and pegs. FYI: I used to hunt down second hand racks, sand them, and then paint them. Very time consuming! Now, I simply purchase a pine plaque and bag o' pegs - and with a little drilling and measuring...voila!

I did take a recent thrift shop purchase and give it a good sanding. It was a "welcome" sign, but the "welcome" was written in magic marker (it seems they lost their enthusiasm upon reaching the lettering part of the project)? The wood working on it is rough, but I really like the primitive aspect. You can tell that someone made it by hand, and I like that. After sanding it down, I painted my own "welcome" sign. :) Not my usual skeleton bird, but a bit more folk arty. It was fun to paint something outside of my norm!

Spoiling Myself....

Valentine's Day is a time to show others your love, but after a recent overflow in my mailbox - I'm realizing all the packages seem to be to me from me...hmmm, is that wrong? Well, in a way I'm showing love to some of my favorite creative people that I've been so lucky to connect with in my online world.

First, I received my package from "The Virgin Rose", whom you can read about in my blog post (from a year ago, already!?) here, and visit her fab Etsy shop here! When I first saw this, I think I stopped breathing for a second...it is just too marvelous that Madeline combined Frida, Mexican folk art, and mermaids into one fantastic piece! I mean, this was made for me (seriously, how could I not get it?) !

Next, I received my package from "Oma Linda", which was full of what she calls "Not Quite Right Hearts". These are sooo right to me, I purchased a couple from her last year and fell in love with them. So, I had to have more this year to give to my family and friends for Valentine's Day (okay, okay - this package wasn't all for me)! They are such a fun collage of love, color, and craftiness. They remind me of everything I adore most about the artist markets in Mexico. Please check out Linda's Etsy shop here for your own hearts and one of her fabulous blogs here (where I'm currently her featured artist *blush*)! I already gifted three of the hearts before taking a photo, but here are a couple for you to see:

Last, but not least, I received my package from "Michelle's Art is Life"! I saw on her blog, that she started offering crocheted bracelets in her Etsy shop, and I thought they were so cool. Not to mention, Michelle smudges and blesses them - which offers positive energy, protection, and abundance. I love that aspect! I requested a simple, black one with an Indian Head Nickel button. She even blessed mine additionally on her full moon altar AND sent me an awesome bonus bracelet with a skull button. *Pssst* Michelle is currently having a giveaway on her Facebook page!

Thank you so much to these ladies for bringing a smile to my face and enriching my life with their fabulous creations! xx