Pop Expo is almost here!!

I'm getting really excited for PopExpo, only one week left! I am still working hard on getting a few new items done in time Yikes! I'll have a variety of items for sale, hopefully you can find a little something to complete your Christmas shopping ;-) I'll be a booth #2129 so come by and say hello. Mention this blog and I'll give you a free bookmark!

Here are a few examples ( Please forgive the photography, my camera is failing to focus right and the lighting is terrible) :

Mini comics

artist trading cards

Big eyed art and keepsake boxes

Art Work

Key chains/ charms

A cat named Muss

As my next art/craft show, OVCC's Artisans @ The Archives: Christmas Market, quickly approaches I'm happy to announce that one of my characters "Muss" will be featured on a poster in support of a fellow guild member who is growing a "Monkey Tail" mustache for Movember. He is hoping to raise $200 for mens health research!  It's  fun to see Muss put to good use. Here's a peak at what the poster will look like:

The Christmas Market takes place this weekend at the National Archives, I'll be there selling my handmade cards and gift boxes, come by and say hello. In support of the Movember challenge I'll donate $1 from every "Muss" card I sell this weekend.

Here's Muss' Christmas card:

In a month I'll be participating in Pop Expo, this is so exciting. Muss will be there too! He's the star of a comic mini that is filled with all kinds of anime fun designed to test your knowledge,  this is the cover:

Lastly, if you're interested in seeing more of Muss' antics, he can be found here: What Muss Be

Talk to you soon :-)

Last minute prep for Christmas Craft fair

Tomorrow is the first of two Holiday craft fairs I'm participating this season. As always, I spend the day before a show worrying weather or not I have made enough, and trying to figure out the best way to display them. I'm still new at this and I find it difficult not knowing what to expect.

Anyway, I plan to relax and have fun over the next two days. I look forward to meeting new people and being surrounded by all the creative energy :-) Perhaps I'll see you there, come over and say hi!

My First Geek Market and other stuff

Well on this day one week ago I was running around and over stressing out about my first show this season. The second annual Ottawa Geek Market, was held Saturday and Sunday and  it was an amazing show full of all kinds of fascinating stuff.  There were  life sized board games, Lego creations, Dr. Who society, steampunk, lolita, masks, Star Wars, you name it, it was there. This was great event,  fantastic to see so much creative ideas in one place (and they say Ottawa is boring).  My only complaint is that the zone were I was located was a little light in traffic but I still managed to sell stuff. Here's a picture of my table set up before opening, I made a few modifications for Sunday. I am still working on the best way to present my merchandise.

My mini Tardis and Zom-B-Gone boxes sold out, but don't worry more should be ready for PopExpo.

The next show I'm participating in, The St. Mark Christmas Craft Show comes up in two weeks, I'm making new boxes and Christmas cards.  For this show I'm going to have a variety pattern boxes and boxes with fancy Japanese Origami paper. I will have more pictures up on Facebook (don't forget to "like" the page, I still have a box to give away when I reach 100 likes). Here's a sampling:

Getting Ready for Christmas

I thought I should give a little update on something I've been working on for upcoming Christmas craft shows happening in November. One of the things I enjoy doing is making greeting cards and  I will be debuting a new line of cards I call Party Chicks:

These are fun bright colored birds who love to have a good time and are super eager to spread their enthusiasm! Here is a sample:

A sub-group of the Party Chick are the Party Penguins, and they have been busy getting ready for the holiday season. You can find them hanging out on gift tags and cards. Here's just a few,  more will be posted on Facebook.

That's all for this week. I've got two weeks until Geek Market and sooo much to do. I'm getting nervous but excited too.  Now back to work!

What Now?

Well, this has been a challenging, yet exciting week. On the downside my tablet stylus got broken, leaving feeling a little dead in the water, happily I was able to acquire a new one, however, at an expense I wasn't budgeting on :-/

On the upside, check out the side bar, I've added  two more shows! The St. Mark Craft Show which happens on the first weekend  of November, and Ottawa Pop Expo taking place the first weekend in December. Altogether that means I've got 4 shows coming up in the next two months! I'm pretty sure I'm in over my head, but may as well crash and burn in a spectacular fashion :-)

This all means I'll be going full throttle for the next little while, toggling between my geeky and less-geek self, so try to bear with me. I hope to update at least weekly.

Often, I have ideas float through my head, I never know if they are a good idea or not, however I've decided to just go with it. This week I present the Zom-B-Gone, which as is turns out, may be just what Pop Expo needs!!

A little bit of fan art:

Fan art is not something I do often, but it's fun to do every now and then.   

Here's a couple of super chibi Naruto and Sasuke (he's one of my all time favorite characters, I'm patiently waiting his return to Naruto Shippuden) 

They are done with markers and pastels, I didn't have the correct colors for Sasuke, it's as close as I could get it :-P

And then there's Pokemon, this huge in my house. Both my kids seem to be experts, me not so much but I try :D 

Making a Poke-box seemed like a good idea to corral some of the many Pokemon floating around the house. These are from Black and White  but we are all excitedly waiting for the arrival of X and Y next month!

Don't forget to like my page on Facebook ;-) That all for now, I've got to get back to work, lots to do.

Lots to do and ATC

Hi, I've been SUPER busy getting ready for a few upcoming shows. There is so much I need to do and even more that I want to do but I'm very happy keeping busy.

I'll be holding a draw to give away this wooden one-of-a-kind trinket box when my Facebook page reaches 100 likes:

I've got quite a long way to go so why not check it out and give it a  "like". It would be really cool if I could reach that number by the end of October.

When I have a quiet time I work on ATC (artist trading cards) I'll have them for sale at the upcoming Ottawa Geek Market. Here are a few of them (these have been watermarked for internet):

Monster Burst

I went away for a few days, nice to take a little break and spend time with the family. I didn't get to draw which felt  little odd so I'm ready to get back to work.

Here are a couple more Keepsake boxes, these ones I call  "Monster Burst" and they are a lot of fun to make.

The first one is a 12 cm round the other is 13.5 X 13.5 cm.  Both are one of a kind and feature high gloss finish on top and are painted inside and out.

I couldn't resist... Mini Tardis!

The shape of these trinket boxes begged me to do it. If only it was actually bigger on the inside, think of all the stuff you could store ;-)

Time to let my geek self shine!

Well I've been busy over the last few weeks working on new items for my next show. I'm SUPER excited to be participating in this years Ottawa Geek Market being held in October. You may have noticed that my art work has a decidedly Anime/ Manga feel. It's true, I spend a lot of time immersed in reading and watching the stuff. This show gives me the opportunity to let my Otaku self go full force!

Over the next couple of months I'll be sharing some of the things I've been working on. For now here are a few more keepsake boxes I've prepared (these are original one of a kind art works):

Watercolor cards

The summer is motoring by and I realize I haven't posted in a while. I've been working hard on some new items for the fall. In fact I may have overdone it, my shoulders have been aching lately!

I'm really excited about a show I have coming up but I'll talk more about that in a future post.

For now here is a picture of some cards I made back in the spring using watercolors, something I don't do too often. They are all one of a kind.

Talk to you soon :-)

Delving into Mixed Media

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working with mixed media. One of my first introductions into the wold of art just over five years ago was a mixed media class. I hadn't really done anything with it, but it was something I've kept in the back of my mind as something to explore.

The satisfying thing about mixed media is that you can throw everything into it. I can make use of my paper, acrylic paints, markers, watercolor pencils, stamps and stencils all at once. It's also freeing as I tend to worry less about precision.

Here are a few of my first attempts:

The love of black ink

Bookmarks, bookmarks, tons of bookmarks. I've always liked the shape of a bookmark but I found they were a challenge to design. They were also very time consuming as I make them one at a time.

However, I had  mini artistic breakthrough when making the last batch of bookmarks. I brought out the black marker and made a whole series of bookmarks using tons of black. It really made me happy. It was great just letting go and filling every inch of the bookmark. The lesson I learned is that there can never be too much black. The characters were so much fun to make I think I need to give them their own comic! Now I need to get to work.