pamgarrison

i do love MOO

Recently, I was contacted by MOO to see if I'd like to try some new products and review. Having loved MOO products (I even wrote a little bit on them for Teesha Moore's  Art&Life Zine quite awhile ago)  my reply was "yes please, and thank you!" And as with all my past orders of MOO products, they did not disappoint. I choose some business cards with my new logo, and some of paintings too:

One of the greatest things about printing with MOO is that you can use many different photos/artwork for one order. You can see that for some business cards I used about 10 different photos of paintings. That's unusual and really cool for printing vs. minimum orders (usually of 100 or more per design) that other printing companies require. I didn't fully take advantage of all that MOO can do, as I didn't print a photo on the back. Next time I'd like to try their new Luxe Business cards. There's lots of fun ideas over there that are sure to inspire. 

I also ordered some postcards, and new Sticky Labels. Love them both, but I was thinking mailing labels when I placed the order, so I didn't really design the sticky labels well. They are the size of those "hello my name is" stickers, and I failed to pay attention to size when ordering (I've done the same thing with things like ledgers on ebay... I must learn to read the measurements of items). These would be great if I had designed them properly and would be great on various packages etc. I did recommend they develop mailing labels as well.

(I included the Sticker Book in the photo I ordered long ago to show you another fun product - again, an example of how may different photos you can use per product order, very cool. )

I really do love the paper everything is printed on, it's soft and smooth yet sturdy (I chose the least expensive), and the super cute and clever packaging makes me happy too. The new, lower shipping rates are appreciated as well. Really, I love MOO, and think you would too...if you aren't familiar with MOO, you can check out their blog here. Do you MOO? Hmmmm? Do you?

negu & some recent journal pages

Hello, I'm sitting here, at my new little computer station (instagram above). I am spending too much time at the computer for work these days to continue things as they were...a too tall desk with the computer off to the left, not straight on...really wasn't doing my back any favors. Wasn't sure what the solution would be and then I stopped by my friend's house to collect some kitchen chairs she was giving to my Dad, and she had placed this little old children's desk out there too in case I could use it. She knows me well :). In the car it went. Once home, I took it into the garage for a quick scrub down, sanding, and application of some dark stain (because I was too impatient to buy and use a can of paint). All that was left was lining the darling drawer and it was ready to come inside and sit next to the big desk. It's the perfect hight for me to sit and type at, and right now, I've got the drawer pulled out as a little keyboard tray. Gotta love it when you make do and it's close enough to perfect to move onto another to do on the list!

Been painting and journaling a lot lately, usually squeezed in late at night. These are some of the pages.

This last page above was a page made after going to my son's baseball meeting where we were given NEGU patches to put on their uniforms in honor of a local young girl named Jessie Rees who was diagnosed with two inoperable brain tumors. It was her dream to inspire people, especially children fighting cancer, to Never Ever Give Up, no matter what. Although Jessie is no longer with us, her message and good works live on through her foundation. You can read more about Jessie, her NEGU foundation, and their Joy Jars here. 

the new (& even better) Souvenir Magazine

Heather has re-vamped her lovely Souvenir and has gone from a nostalgic gazette to a full blown beauty. You can hear Heather describe the changes here, and follow the Facebook page for it here.

 

{Instagram taken after gathering up some supplies and getting ready to head out the door for photo shoot}

I'm very happy to continue contributing to the beauty she is creating. This issue I had the most fun when playing photographers assitant/flower arranger/prop stylist alongside Amy while Heather captured the magic right before our eyes.

           {more photoshoot supplies instagrammed before loading into the car, Souvenir bound!}
  {one last instagram taken of flowers I'd been arranging before rushing out the door to get my son}

You can sign up to be notified each time a new issue is available right here . The newly formated Souvenir launches Tuesday, March 20th, hope you'll be savoring the beauty too!

new paintings, new prints

I've been having such fun painting, painting, painting, thouroughly inspired by my playing alongside Jennifer Mercede weekend before last. Above is one of my favorite new ones. Here are some more in the works:

 

                     Here's one that I showed last post, it's a little farther along now, still not done though:

I will be listing some original paintings on etsy when I have a few more done, but for now, I am super excited to have finally made up some prints of the paintings for my etsy shop! Thanks to the teachings of Sarah, my computer tutor extraordinaire, I've got some ready to list. I'm so thrilled with the quality of the prints. They'll be up in my etsy shop soon too, and I'll be printing more of each, and adding to them as paintings are completed.

 

It's it obnoxious to be in love with one's own product? Because I am; I'm really proud of them and so pleased with the quality. Here are some closer peeks:

     But for tonight, I've still got paint on my brush and a few more marks I'm wanting to make.... I'll get         back to the computer to list them after the ideas stop coming so quickly that I'm afraid I'll forget them!

Back soon......

painting with jennifer mercede

             

{an instagram taken while looking over one of my paintings in progress this morning}

This weekend I was lucky enough to take a painting and doodling workshop at Studio Crescendo taught by Jennifer Mercede.  I have always loved her art, and have posted about it here before, but was thrilled to be able to watch her create in person and hear more about her process. The class certainly did not disappoint. I woke up this morning inspired and dying to paint some more. Haven't been able to yet, but soon, I must get back to it soon. During the class I instagrammed a few photos like this one below of Jennifer and me at the very end. We are holding my purchase, a Jennifer Mercede original. Lucky, lucky me.

               
Here's what it looks like hanging in the living room:

 

              

                                      This instagram was taken when the paints first came out :

               

          and later this one of one of mine (a giant 30x30 canvas) in the early stages:

                 

which, after various exercises (including one where we had to cover over 90% of it) now looks like this:

                  

It's still not finished, but when I look at it I see a barn on the bottom center that I just don't think I'll be touching, that way I can call it "she bought the farm" ;) . Like I said before, I'm itching to get back to painting on it.

This is as far as I got on the 2nd board, a 12x12" piece:

                 

The doodling part of the lesson came quite naturally as you can imagine if you've seen my journals or other paintings.

Then there was this piece below :(the closest I got to finished? Not sure.) It's on a birch board sized 20x20.

                 

            Here are some of the "sweet spots" to me:

                        

             

               
                 

On the 2nd day I brought in some other pieces that I had started previously or that were blank so I could take the opportunity while the paint was out if inspiration struck.  I worked on all of them at least a little bit. Working on lots of things at one time is what is most comfortable to me, if I had to work on one and only one at a time, I would feel very constrained. I like the freedom I feel with lots to choose from. I also usually have a journal present when painting to slap the extra paint down on some pages. You know I'm crazy like that. It doesn't bother me at all until it comes time to clean up.

                    

                   

                    

                         

                    

                  

The best part really was getting to know Jennifer though, and getting to see her think while she worked. Here is another instagram of her painting Jenny's dogs, using a photo as inspiration:

                    
Want to see the final portrait? Go to Jenny's post here and see it from start to finish. So cool.

I could go on, but really, I'd be saying the same thing over, so instead, I'll finish by saying a great big thank you to Jennifer for coming down to teach, and Jenny for asking her! I think her teaching gigs have just begun...if you like to paint or doodle, I highly recommend you enroll yourself in Jennifer Mercede's Paint and Doodle School!

 

bit by bit

                       

Do you like my new blog design? I love it!  It's all thanks to a visit from my computer tutor. Yep, I have a computer tutor and it's really been fun. Sweet Sarah is my tutor, and she is so calm and patient and never laughs at me, only with me (haha). We started with some general computer organization and photoshop help, progressed to learning how to make rubber stamps out of some of my hand drawn alphabets, and ended up working on my blog design. After watching her figure out how to code the links above so that they change colors when you roll over them, I know that that much learning is not for me. Not now anyway, next session it's back to photoshop and other how-tos I need to learn to make some new products.

                   

I've inserted some recent journal pages for interest. "Bit by Bit" says the post title and the writing on the top journal page. It's a reminder for when feeling overwhelmed about how much I have to learn or do etc. that it is possible in bits. Just like the blog spiffing up, logo design, more products etc. Eventually the bits add up. Sarah's help is making a big difference, I  feel excited about what we've covered so far, and what we will accomplish the next time.

Sarah's working on courses, both live and online, and has some in person or Skype consulting slots available. But please leave room for me ;), like I said, I've got a lot more to go!