Special Little Illustrations

I've been wanting to create more limited edition pieces for my shop, as well as offer the originals, so that my customers can have something fairly unique and very special.

Remember last summer when I put on my big girl pants, sucked up my courage and added original art to my shop?

Well, it didn't take long for me to chicken out and tuck those originals right back into my portfolio. Yes, I have major issues cutting the apron strings on my beloved illustrations. I just worry that they wont be loved as much as I love them. Yes, I am an overprotective mom.

But now, with 170+ items in my Etsy shop, and about 50+ sketches waiting to be finished and added, I've begun to find my shop very overwhelming. In order to keep things from getting too out of control, and to keep my stock fresh, I think now would be the best time to start adding the limited editions and originals.

To make this event even sweeter, I'm pricing them at a very awesome price... so that customers can really have something special. So, here are the first two that are in my shop.

Jolie and Marmalade
5 x 7 inch

Flutterby
5 x 7 inch

I hope you all love them as much as I do! And stay tuned, as there a plenty more to come -- I really wasn't kidding when I said I had 50+ sketches ready to be colored.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Gracie-the-Genius and The Golden Miturier

I figured I was challenging 4 year old Gracie enough, by teaching her how to read and write her letters and numbers. But she pretty much has them figured out now, and lately, has been growing bored of the alphabet.

I was completely zoned out at dinner the other night, staring off into space, when I realized that Gracie was going on and on about "The Golden Miturier" and had been for some time.

"What is The Golden Miturier?" I finally asked. Gracie rolled her eyes, like, Duh, Mom. Haven't you heard? Everyone's talking about The Golden Miturier.

"It's a letter in the alphabet," she said between bites of spaghetti.

Oh.

"I haven't heard of that letter, Gracie. I thought I knew all of the letters of the alphabet."

She rolled her eyes again (4 going on 14, seriously). "It's a different alphabet. It's a magic alphabet."

So she pulled out a piece of paper and drew part of her magic alphabet for me.

She drew the Golden Miturier, the Lemon Miturier, the Ayvee, and the Diamond Factory - thats what they are called, you know.

And my favorite - one that I'd hate to have to write more than once (seriously, her magic world must not have too many handwritten books... these are quite complex, even for fairy creatures) - is the Step Stair.

How cute are these? Perhaps I need to enroll Gracie in Greek or Chinese - or Tolkien's Elfish. I think she might do well! Inventing her own language at the age of 4 - my daughter is a genius!

I've been telling people, since the second she was born, that Gracie is a complete and total genius. We moms tend to do that, don't we? Bragging rights, when it comes to how smart our kids are, are always in order... or so I like to tell myself as I continue to go on and on about Gracie-the-Genius.

Come on now - you brag about your kid's genius, too, right? Yup, that's what I thought. For genius children everywhere, here are a few of my favorite handmade learning toys for youngsters.

Learning letters and colors is fun for kids, with these fabric and felt shapes, and this awesome fabric ball made by Amy of New England Quilter.

She also has a great assortment of children's handmade fabric matching games in her shop.
www.newenglandquilter.etsy.com

I love this handmade Tangram puzzle game from Little Alouette.

For ages 5 and up, this Tangram puzzle will help your child learn problem-solving, geometry and fraction skills, and pattern recognition, in a way that children have been learning for centuries.

www.littlealouette.etsy.com

For the DIY crochet-loving mama, this pattern from Crafty Anna is perfect for learning colors... and is sure to inspire creative play in little ones.

www.CraftyAnna.etsy.com

And last, for all the baby geniuses out there... how cute is this rainbow ribbon soft baby Jumble Ball from Wood Pond Designs?

I agree. Very cute.
And it has a jingle bell inside!
www.WoodPondDesigns.etsy.com

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Happy Day, My Sweet Land of Liberty!

So, I know the 4th of July is really in celebration of America gaining its independence from Britain (hence, the reason Will calls today Good Riddance Day - still bitter, ya think?)... and while I'm super appreciative that the first Americans fought so hard to create this fabulous nation...

I'm really in it for the fireworks, which we have a bunch of, all ready to be lit tonight!
Wooo hooo! Hurray for legal fireworks in Texas!

I welcomed the day by marching around the living room, singing uplifting, falsetto renditions of You're A Grand Old Flag and My Country Tis of Thee - and then, so Will wouldn't feel left out, I followed them up with a God Save the Queen chaser. It's a good song for my British/American hybrids to know, I think.

Gracie and Annelie just stared at me like I was nuts and then started singing B-I-N-G-O - which Gracie sings like this: There was a farmer had a dog - E-I- E-I -O... and then she gets confused, and pauses for a while before breaking into the B (clap) I (clap) N (clap) G (clap) O (clap) part.

Patriotic songs are a little lost on my kids, who have no idea what the difference between Abilene, Texas, California, America, England, Wales and London is. And, as I'm fairly tone-deaf and far from a pop-star, my kids were more than happy for me to stop the racket.

Oh well. At least they'll have the fireworks to remember the occasion.

Happy Independence Day, America!

xoxo,

My Computer is Very, Very, Veerrrrrryyyyy Slow. And I Have a New Fan Page

I have about 10,000 other things I want to post right now, but, as my computer is the World's Slowest Computer (has absolutely no memory), I can't do anything that would require me to hook up my camera or scanner... and all my posts require pictures.

So. Instead, my dear readers, I am going to beg. Yes, that's right. Beg.

You see, I had a fan page on Facebook (as you might have guessed based on my Welsh words/random post from earlier this week). And that fan page had fans. And I loved my fans. But my fan page was giving me trouble and I had to delete it (actually, I was just really annoyed at my fan page and the technical difficulty angst it was forcing upon me, not to mention the slowness of my computer... so I deleted it in a moment of rage. Yes, I have a terrible temper. You may not have known that about me. But it's true).

But now I have a new fan page and it is even better than before. Well, its mostly better, because I don't have my blog feed on it, so my poor fans are not going to be harassed to read my blog like they were before (the technical difficulty I mentioned).

So, to make a long story short, if you have a Facebook page, and you like to fan things, and you also like my illustrations and want to shout it from the rooftops, I would be honored if you'd fan me. I really would. Also, if I get 100 fans, I can dibs the Elegant Snobbery Illustration name (which I'm kinda thinking is in the bag, as there aren't any other ES Illustration shops around. I know because I Google myself, remember?).

So here is my page: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Elegant-Snobbery-Illustration/98678143889?ref=nf

See? Wouldn't it be better if it just said www.facebook.com/ElegantSnobberyIllustration, rather than all that muck? Me too. I need 100 fans.

If you have a page that you'd like me to fan, go ahead and post it in the comments! I love being a fan as much as I love having fans.

Thanks!

xoxo,

5 New Snobs

Addison
2.5 x 3.5 inch

Addison, the elegant snob, is turning her nose up at the shrimp puffs, which are not nearly as good as the ones she had in Paris last April.

I've colored in and listed a few of Sunday's ACEO* sketches and I'm absolutely loving the snobs.

*Not sure what an ACEO is? Read on: An ACEO (Art Card Edition and Original) is an art trading card. They measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches, which is traditional ACEO size. They are wonderful little collectibles, and the perfect way to own awesome art and prints without breaking the bank. Think baseball card, only waaaay cooler.

The originals are listed in my shop, but there are 13 prints of each (although I'm going to have to tell ya, Gracie dibs'd one of each, so only 12 will be for sale). Only the originals are in shop, but if you have a hankering for a printed snob, just send me an Etsy convo and I'll list one.

Eclair DuRuff
2.5 x 3.5 inch

Eclair DuRuff, upon her tuffet, is happy to be pampered.
She deserves the best, doesn't she? Yes.

Sir Charles Kittensworth
2.3 x 3.5 inch

No, Sir Charles is not dressed up for Independence Day... he is dressed up for Good Riddance Day - as he, being a posh British cat likes to call July 4th. Because, as he is a civilized English tea-drinker, he believes he is far superior to the heathen Americans. Such a snob.

Priscilla Only Eats Swiss
2.5 x 3.5 inch

Personally, my favorite cheese is Brie... but Priscilla only eats swiss. What a snob.

I'm Content To Just Sit, Thanks

2.5 x 3.5 inch

Original *SOLD*
prints available

Penny Pottingsfield looks mighty fine, perched upon her branch.

She knows it, too.

Hope you love them as much as I do!

Enjoy!

xoxo,

A Must-Read Book and it's Lovely Book Trailer

Maggie Stiefvater's new book, Shiver, is coming out soon (August 1st) and I'm quite excited about it. I'm a huge fan of Urban Fantasy, and her book, Lament, was fantastic. Now that I only have a month to wait for Shiver to come out, the anticipation is killing me. I hate waiting for things I want. I'm a lot like Veruca Salt in that respect.

I love the trend of authors creating book trailers. The bookworm in me spends more time watching book trailers on YouTube than movie trailers, I have to admit. Maggie did a beautiful job on this one. She hand cut the paper, assembled it, did the stop-motion, composed and arranged the music... wow, right?




Here's the Amazon.com blurb:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Oooh, its going to be good.

So, if you are a fan of YA Urban Fantasy (Twilight readers, you know who you are!) be sure to check out Maggie Stiefvater's work. You won't be disappointed!

PS, And she's an award winning colored pencil artist and mother of two, writing by day and drawing by night. Basically, she's who I'd like to be when I find that genie in a bottle (not the Christina Aguilera song, thankyouverymuch) and have my wish.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Croeso y Elegant Snobbery! - or - A Random Post With a Few Welsh Words Thrown In

click the image if you are interested
enough to go in for a closer look

So I Googled my shop name last night (don't even tell me you don't Google yourself. I won't believe you) because my Google Alerts aren't very alert, as they always tell me crap info - such as, "Hey you just listed a new item in your shop!" and "Hey, you just added a new blog post!" which, hello, I obviously know. Meanwhile, there might be something cool going on - such as someone in Wales viewing my Facebook fan page in Welsh...

And my alert doesn't even tell me that!

Okay, perhaps that isn't very cool to anyone... but it is to me. Well, mostly because, as I was looking at the "Elegant Snobbery" finds that came up, I saw a whole bunch of jibberish with "Elegant Snobbery" thrown in and thought, "HEY! That's in Welsh!"

In case you are wondering, I don't speak Welsh. I do know a few things, like "Welcome to Wales" (Croeso y Cymru) - which is on every street sign in Wales, so I think just about any tourist knows that. And gwesty means hotel, but I only know that because I love the story of how my MIL thought there were a ton of 'Hotel Gwesty' chains all over the country, not realizing all the hotel direction signs were just written in both English and Welsh....

But I don't know anything useful, and I certainly can't read it, which is why I was so shocked that I recognized my Facebook fanpage in jibberish was actually in my hubby's native tongue (lie! he doesn't actually speak it, but he can sing the national anthem, though he does a few 'la la laaaaa's where he doesn't remember the words).

Last night at the dinner table, Will asked Gracie if she was American or Welsh and she rolled her eyes and said, "I'm Welsh," and the way she said it like, duh, what an obvious question, Dad, had me wondering if Will secretly drills into the girl's heads that they are Welsh, Welsh, and only Welsh, whenever I have my back turned.

Speaking of Welsh hubbies... guess who got his Green Card?

If you guessed Will, you'd be correct! HURRAY! I think I did a pretty good job disguising the fact that I was a total basketcase in February as we were finishing the last (for the next 10 years, at least) of the government paperwork, not knowing if Will was going to get the big red 'denied' stamp (it happens!).

But yay, he got a Green Card, instead. It just came in the mail the other day.

Anyway, so about that Welsh person looking at my Facebook fanpage... I actually shouldn't be so surprised, as I know quite a few people in Wales, some who speak Welsh. And Will knows a whole lot more. It was probably one of them, but... it just seems cool, though, doesn't it?

Or if you were in Wales, you'd say that last sentence as, "It just seems cool, like, is it?"

Ah, well. I did say this was a random post with a few Welsh words thrown in.

xoxo,