I have returned.

To those of you who follow me, I offer an apology for having not written. It has been a couple months now, and honestly the whys of having not matter not. But it has not been time wasted. I have grown as an artist during this time, as well as a person and a wife. We have had more life changes than were imagined just two months ago, and so are riding the roller coaster of life. So, I will have to work hard to get back into the habit of writing.

For a start I am going to post you three articles this weekend. The first is simple and some what vain. Here I will provide to you pictures of my recent work to let you know I haven't been sitting around twiddling my thumbs! In my second article, you shall see that even my love affair with the indie community has continued, as I provide to you a list of awesome mothers day presents to consider. And for today's finale, I have save the treat. A new interview, one of my favorites for sure, and one I have wanted to do for so long. I will save the details to surprise you later. On with the show!

I still LOVE handmade.

There is no better way to put it. The longer I am an artist, the more I adore artists. The more skills I learn, the more I envy those I see elsewhere. And the more creations I am fortunate to view or ever so blessed to own, the more I hunger to share the beauties I cross with the world.

As Mother's Day approaches, I have begun to shop early. I always try to, in case my inner fire sparks with inspiration of something to create her myself. This year, though, my fires are burning almost rampantly, with way more begging to come out of me than I can manage. I dream of the day that I can hire elves to produce my lovelies in the evening whilst I dream of them.

Anyway, when you are considering your mother today, begin to consider her needs, her loves, her personality. And consider then how many of these she cannot continue to live with out, and how quickly she will fall in love with any of these beauties. This year really try to present her with a token of your love, not just another another shelf-sitting, dust-collecting, run-of-the-mill Thing.

For the mother who loves her career.
Keep her desk as attractive and organized as she is.


For the mother who loves to bake.
Deliciously cute cupcake containers, usable for so many other things.


For the mother who loves to create.
A feminine set for repairing or creating, which will always keep her organized.


For the mother who is always in style.
A beautiful red poppy tote bag, perfect for carrying her new purchases.


For the mother who loves her tea.
Amazing flowers that bloom in the water while creating the perfect tea.


For the mother who has everything.
A custom drawing from one of your mother's favorite photos.

I HAVE kept busy.

As you know, I returned to school this term for another goal at finding the right fit of a career for me. Most of these pieces are carry over from what I produced there in Illustration classes, and many of these I may use in my professional portfolio later on.

I have enjoyed doing some of these styles so much that I have begun searching out people to commission me to do more. I am also creating similar pieces for gifts. Look forward to more this year family!

One of my favorite new things lately is creating terrariums. I have never had a green thumb. I don't think I can emphasize the never part enough. I buy a couple small plants a year, and make my efforts, but always my flaky forgetfulness ends up foiling my plans. This year, after viewing so many terrariums lately on Etsy, I decided to start easier (and so much cooler) than one plant that depends totally on me. A mini eco-system that supports itself is so much more ...convenient for me! This is just one of them (I have about 6 right now), next to one of the only plants that has survived me more than a year!
Of course I am still creating jewelry, but I am sad to admit it has been a bit on the back burner. But a good ol' friend from college recently commissioned me to create a set of jewelry for his girlfriend's birthday. This is the pair of earrings, of which I fell in love with and if I ever get my ears pierced, will probably make a pair of these for myself.

This is a pen & ink portrait I stipled for Illustration class. It is my niece Brianna, of who you can see pictures of on my Facebook page. Let me know if you can't find me there for some reason! (Currently, it is on display at the school. Yay!)


This is a linocut I created for school. It is a piece from a three part series, and one of the pieces, an all black print is also on display. If you are not familiar with linocuts, I carve into a block, roll it with ink on top, and press the paper to it. Time consuming, but I love how they look.


I enjoyed doing the linocuts so much that I decided to branch out. This is one I created after my sister's college graduation, for my grandmother and aunt (the women on the left and right, respectively).


This is a portrait of my husband I created for Illustration, made by layer different colored papers. I love looking at his beautiful face.


This is also a paper-cutting, with looots of layers. The purpose of this piece was to be a stamp series illustrating how adults should teach children to appreciate nature, and each corner represents a single stamp.


This is part of a four piece paper-cutting series, concerning the color wheel and how to pair up colors. Elementary, my dear Watosn.


Thanks for lookin!