Spring Bunny Digital Stamp Freebie

 

I've had digital stamps on the brain lately, so after whipping up this little spring bunny for Annelie to color in whilst watching Sponge Bob last week, I decided to turn it into a digital stamp for my bloggity blog. However, I wanted to make it downloadable via MediaFire, which I can't for the life of me figure out... and I failed.

So here it is. Not downloadable via MediaFire, but here for you just the same!

 

If you want it, just save it to your pictures. You can color by hand, or do what the awesome Alyssa did, and use Photoshop:

www.Alytopia.wordpress.com

LOVE!

And if you are of the pinning to Pinterest persuasion, or want to share it on your own blog, would you mind using the watermarked version only? It makes me SO SAD to see handmade pictures floating around the internet with no links or source, and I don't want my bunny to float linkless and sourceless, too.  

Looking for more cute freebies? LOOK NO FURTHER than my good pal April's blog, Apple Loves Orange - because she's made a ridiculously cute poster up for grabs. 

Here's a sample:

 

Click the pic to see the whole thing!

Hope you are all enjoying spring so far! It's been crazy busy round these here parts. I'm looking forward to a LOOOONG vacation... but I still have two months months of busy-ness first.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

xoxo,

Rediscovering My Roots and Rekindling the Fire (or a post in which I draw again, and get cheesy about it)

Holy interplanetary yardsticks, Batman, has it really been about a month since I blogged last?

Yep, it has.

But crazier, I have spent this last month DRAWING.

Okay, that shouldn't seem so crazy. After all, drawing is what I DO. Or at least, what I did.... and I came to the realization that the last time I picked up a colored pencil and sketched was NINE MONTHS ago. And before that, I went six months without drawing.

Let me just say, Marisa without a drawing pencil is a sad Marisa indeed. And I didn't even realize it. For a handful of years, my life was draw, erase, sell my art, draw, erase, sell my art. Since '10, however, my life has been strictly write, delete, rewrite, write, delete, rewrite, and so on - still creative, but a whole 'nother kind of creativity. And it has been solitary work, when before, I spent my days drawing at the kitchen table with my growing-up-way-too-soon kiddos.

The above samples are from the children's book project I was working on for a friend during Feb/March - a therapy book for preschoolers, as part of her dissertation. It was kind of immense. And exhausting. And the hand cramps, oh man.

But when I started drawing again, it just felt good for the soul, in a total Campbell's soup commercial kind of way.

My kids have been in heaven - drawing again has meant more time sharing table space with them kiddos -- who love tracing my pictures and coloring them in, and adding millions of details of their own.

(Annelie's picture)

And after seeing how excited the girls were with my sketches, I started digging though Ye Olde File Cabinet of Curiosities, where a stack of unfinished Elegant Snobbery sketches - a stack at least an inch thick - has been lurking since '07.

My good pal Alyssa has been pushing me to do digital stamps for ages now, and I've been smiling and nodding and completely ignoring her.

But I think it's time to start listening to the wise gal that she is, because I ADORE the idea of turning my old designs into digital stamps. And it just might prompt me to color a couple of them in, which I can pretty much guarantee I'll love doing, too.

And I know my kids'll love it - maybe even more than me.

How about you guys? Any old loves you've rekindled lately? Any loves that need rekindling?

Hope the last month has treated you kindly, folks! Happy Thursday!

xoxo,

Free Shipping in Elegant Snobbery!

I was all set to announce FREE SHIPPING FOR CYBER MONDAY in my Etsy shop and then I thought, Let's be real for a second, Marisa. How likely is it that you'll remember to put your shipping settings back to normal when Monday is over?

Yeah, not likely.

So.

FREE SHIPPING FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Woo! I'll be leaving my shop, Elegant Snobbery, open until Dec. 15th so Christmas orders can arrive in time for Christmas.

My shop is getting close to empty - from over 150 listings down to under 50! Woo! But also kind of sad. It's been nearly two years since my non-stop drawing days, and I just realized today that it's been SEVEN months since I even sketched a picture, let alone picked up my colored pencils and had fun.

Sad.

I might need to add "draw lots and lots" to my list of New Years resolution this year.

Have a great week, folks!

xoxo,

Strange Things Are Brewing...

That's right, Elegant Snobbery Illustration fans - My Etsy shop is open after a 7 month hiatus, but ... I am only back for a short time to clear out my pre-printed inventory!

Quantities are VERY limited (some prints only have a quantity of ONE) So, if you see something you'd like, you better snap it up!

Come on by Elegant Snobbery and see what's left!




xoxo,

SHOP SALE! and Shop Closing...

My Etsy shop - ELEGANT SNOBBERY - is having a holiday half-off sale! From now until Saturday December 4th, every item in shop is 50% off!

But that isn't all my news... when the sale is over, I'll be clearing my shop out and closing it down. Probably not indefinitely, but I have no idea when I'll be opening it back up again.

Selling on Etsy has been amazing and I love and adore each and every one of my customers. Knowing that so many of you, my lovely readers, have my art up on your walls, and knowing that my illustrations are some of the first pictures your kids see when they wake up each day, or on the walls of their playrooms, or kitchens, or those of you who have used my art to decorate your cubicles at work... well, hearing all that and knowing all that never fails to amaze me!

I love you guys, seriously, LOVE you guys, and hope to re-open sometime in the future with some new and awesome stuff!

xoxo,

Moon or Bust!

"Moon or Bust"
11 x 14 original
(11 x 14 and 8 x 10 prints will be available)

"Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars..."

I finished my outer space illustration and I'm quite happy with it!

I think if a Lego and a gumball machine had a baby, it would be my new illustration. The candy-coated cuteness is just what I was going for, and hopefully you all like it!

Here are some close-ups:

And the gumball planets.... I think all planets should look like gumballs, don't you? Actually, I think all planets should BE gumballs. That would make space exploration so much more fun!

Happy Monday, folks! And for all of you beginning NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year ... what are you doing reading my blog?? GET WRITING!

And since I'm participating in NaNoWriMo... I better get writing as well!

xoxo,

Babee Cakes Bakery and a Logo Design

My fantabulous friend April - a fellow cupcake-lover, tattoo-lover, and music-lover - is working hard toward opening a cupcakery in San Antonio, TX, and I had the pleasure of whipping up her logo (much easier than baking cupcakes, as I'm the World's Worst Baker).

Naturally April needed a pink and turquoise tattoo-style cupcake, to go with the GORGEOUS cupcakes she makes:

(banana, walnut cake soaked in rum syrup,
topped with brown sugar buttercream
and homemade caramel sauce)

I received a package of April's cupcakes in the mail recently.

Oh yes I did.

Delicious.

Check out the Babee Cakes blog: http://www.babeecakesbakery.com/

And thumbs up her Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/babeecakesbakery

And because this post is about April, it naturally needs to have some Roisin Murphy to listen to, since April, like me, is a huge Roisin Murphy fan. And here is the song that has been looping in my head on repeat for days:



Happy Monday, folks!

xoxo,

I Gotta P!

So, yeah... I didn't think it was going to take me a hundred years to get my Animal Alphabet collection finished and in my shop. But alas, a hundred years it will probably take, because I'm a terrible multi-tasker, and my to-do list features a million Things-That-Have-To-Get-Done-Or-Else-The-World-Will-Stop-Spinning-Or-Probably-Blow-Up a day.

Yes, I'm making excuses for myself.

But today, I have an update for you all! Introducing P is for Peacock!

A polka-dotted peacock named Penny!

I have a LOT of letters to finish, but next up are R and V!

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Back in the Saddle

The other day, I pulled out my colored pencils for the first time since February. Let me just say, holding my pencils in my hand again was like coming home after a long, long journey.

Cheesy, I know. But seriously, I hadn't realized just how long it had been since drawing last, or just how much I missed it.

My muse and I have been on bad terms, lately. I think she missed my colored pencils, too, and has been rudely taking it out on me. I was finally typing up the very last chapter of that dang book I mention writing every so often, and was ready for that final fight between good and evil and all that...

But the last 84 pages I'd written - everything since May - were complete and total crap, so I dumped them in the trash and stepped away from the computer for a few days, in desperate need of a breather.

A custom illustration came at the perfect time.

Here's a little sneak... more to come soon!

And remember a million years ago, when I had that giveaway for Alphabet prints? Well... guess what's on the drawing board?

P for Peacock...

R for Rabbit...

and V for... I'm not sure... Vulture, maybe?

Well, whatever I come up with for the letter V, I'm just happy to be scribbling again!

Looking forward to showing you my finished illustrations soon!

And as for that book I've been hacking away at... my muse is in better spirits this week. On with the end!

xoxo,

WendiWinner

After picking a winner for my giveaway - which is none other than WENDIWINN - I wanted to post a congratulatory video. And what better way to celebrate than with a marching band!

Huzzah!

But also, I wanted to show my sympathy for those who did not win since I know all the rest of you who entered and lost are deeply disappointed (right? Yeah, that's what I thought). OK Go is the only band that offers both celebration and a reminder that you can't let the disappointment of not winning my Elegant Snobbery giveaway get you down. The disappointment shall pass.



(or maybe I'm just an OK Go fan and wanted an excuse to post this video)

Congrats to Winn and thank you everyone else who entered my giveaway and tweeted/blogged/facebooked all about me!

xoxo,

Super Duper Summer SALE (and a Giveaway - hurray!)

I used to have sales a lot more frequently, but alas, my poor Elegant Snobbbery shop has been neglected these last few months and I haven't had a good sale in ages. So. Time for a summer sale, methinks!

Because I probably won't have another sale for at least half a year or so, I'll make it a good one. A VERY good one.

In fact, for the next two weeks (July 1st - July 14th) everything in my shop will be 50% off (prices as marked).

Yup, that's right. Everything. HALF OFF.

But that's not all... if you, my totally rad readers, post my sale on your blog/facebook/twitter/email-spam-to-everyone-you-know .... you will be entered to win a GIVEAWAY of any one item in my shop (your choice of item, big or small) absolutely, positively, 100% FREE


(Believe what you will)

How to enter my giveaway:

Please leave a comment to THIS post letting me know where you've promoted my shop sale! Each location you've promoted will get you ONE entry to win (and if you really do spam everyone you know in an email, that counts as one entry total - and also, wow, thanks!)

So come on by Elegant Snobbery and have a happy summer, folks!

xoxo,