My current favorite Etsy Shop

I found this adorable shop on etsy and I just wanted to share: StudioPolkaDot

I spoke with Penny and she was kind enough to tell me all about herself and her shop. Mother daughter team, Martha and Penny, created Studio Polka Dot in 2009. They sew handmade creations inspired by the children in their family, their own wants and needs, and their beautiful surroundings in Asheville, NC. They repurpose, recycle and upcycle materials to give them new life whenever possible.They are just getting started with Their shop but you will already find kids' aprons, hats, tote bags, wristlets, boxy pouches, and coffee sleeves. Stay tuned for hats and Christmas stockings from recycled sweaters, flower hair clips, flat zippered pouches, Nintendo DS cases, and a beautiful bird mobile.

Be sure to check out their blog and follow her on twitter for all the newest items

Beach Inspiration

I have been going to the beach, obviously. I decided to bring the painting supplies with me. It was quite a site, me in front of my portable easel, brush in hand, grooving to my ipod while trying to capture the beauty and serenity of the surf. Several people stopped by to ask me about what I was doing and the lifeguards came over just to compliment my work.

Painting can be quite an isolating activity so I always happy to engage onlookers. I am looking forward to being outside while the weather is nice. It will also be nice in the fall when I begin selling some of these pieces at craft fairs to have work that reminds them of the summer months.

Painting Again

I decided that it was too nice a day to sit inside so I grabbed my acrylic paints and drove over to Yarn-It. I expected to paint a semi-urban landscape (which you could say I did) but fixated on this little tree outside Bari's store. It was all alone in its concrete box while plants and trees flourished in the open just across the road.

I sat outside in the heat for 2 solid hours before I was forced to take a break and sit inside in the air conditioning. It is for that reason alone I am glad I chose not to paint on the beach. There would be no escaping the heat there! Plein air painting is a lot harder then it sounds. Besides the fact that it was hot out, the sky was constantly changing and shifting shadows over time. My canvas got knocked over several times as well, thank goodness I was using acrylic! I did enjoy the aspect of being outside though.

I dont like mondays

It is inevitable that I will be tired on Monday morning. No matter what the weekend activities are, I wake up with little energy for the busy day ahead.

This weekend, we spent Saturday at Great Adventure and Sunday at the beach. Though there was little "activity" at both these activities, catering to the needs of my children is emotionally exhausting. My poor little boy was scared by one of the costumed characters at the theme park and spent the entire day trying to avoid a central area. He only went on one ride the entire day. My daughter, on the other hand, was off riding coasters with her dad. She was able to fully enjoy her 6 year old day.

The beach was less eventful. My children splashed in the kiddy pool while I sat in the shade. We were ejected from the beach when a storm began looming in the distance. An hour later, the storm was over but we were already home in pj's watching WALL-E and eating popcorn.

The force is strong here.

I think I have gone a little crazy with the star wars themed golf club covers. The chewbacca is the second one I have completed, but Princess Leia is just waiting to have her famous hair attached to the sides of her head. As you may have seen, Yoda has been listed for a week.

I would love to say that I was inspired by the recent excitement over Comic-Con, on now in California, but that is just not true. I am a super geek. 

My Current Favorite Etsy Shop

I was browsing through the site (like I have nothing better to do) and found this page:

Handmade by Sandi

Her designs are eclectic, as you can see. She does have an underlying theme. Every piece is beautifully handcrafted.

Why I love it: well, I have kind of a personal connection to a felted bowl. When my son was a baby, we used yarn and a felted bowl to duplicated the picture "baby with a bowl of spaghetti on his head." It is one of the cutest pictures, and no mess! Her market bags are just really beautiful and useful.

Why you should love it: Her prices are very reasonable for high quality, one-of-a-kind items. The market bags are like carrying a piece of art on your shoulder!

We Have a Winner!

Sadly, the July giveaway is now over. But the good news is the winner has been chosen and it is KnittyKitty! KnittyKitty Re-tweeted my giveaway promotion to all of her friends and was randomly chosen by a cool slot machine type name picker. I am not sure yet which photo is her favorite, but as soon as I hear from her, I will be getting that in the mail.

If you are interested in buying the print you chose, there is currently free shipping on all photographs at Red Linc Art. And you can find all of my golf club covers on for sale now at Tracey Knits.

The Girls Are In The House!

Just finished a couple of new golf club covers, the girls (and soon to be boys) club.

They are just too cute for words. The original pattern is in the archives on my blog. These were originally designed as a mother's day present for my mother in law, an avid golfer. She has 3 grandchildren so I was able to make her a perfect set for her golf clubs. Since i chose not to put numbers on them, each has on a different colored shirt. Sadly, they were so cute that recently one of them was stolen from her bag! I have been asked to duplicate it for her and am currently working diligently to get that done.

Make sure to check out all the new golf club covers as they go up, and enter in my giveaway. Win a print of your choice from my shop.

May The Force Be WIth You

Just listed: the Yoda golf club cover. As you can see from his picture, he is super cute, just like his namesake.

I am working on patterns for other Star Wars characters so that I can create a set of three. The most likely contenders: Darth Vader, The Emperor, Princess Leah, Padme Amidala, or maybe a wookie.

If you happen to be a creative person, you can do it yourself! The pattern for this cover can be found here

Be sure to enter my giveaway! Win Your Choice of any print from my shop.

Weekend Away

I spent the whole weekend making art and you will probably never see any of it.

As I mentioned last week, I spent the weekend camping with my mother at the Omega Institute. Together, we took a class in which we learned a process called Touch Drawing. To briefly describe the process, paint is spread on a board and paper placed on top. Then with only your hands, images are created on top of the paper. In this class, the process was used in tandem with mediation and introspection.

Being such a structured artist (I cant believe I am saying that) I had a difficult time letting go of formalism. When I finally did, I saw things in the looseness of my scribbles and was able to bring them to the forefront. Because images are created so quickly, I have piles of sketches from the class and only 2 finished pieces.

The process itself is wonderful for those that cannot hold the small tools required for most art or who do not have formal training. There is no one way to approach the paper. And, it is more about what you are bringing to the art then what the final image appears like.

Make sure to sign up for my giveaway! Entries accepted until July 20th!!!

On my way, away

Today I head out for an art class at the Omega Institute. It is a holistic retreat with my mom. We will be camping on the grounds and eating vegetarian meals in the cafeteria. I have gone a few times before, but never without my step-father.

On one hand, it will be quite relaxing to get away from my children for 2 full days, but on the other, I will be with my mother without children to distract her. We have a good relationship... I am going to keep saying that as she lectures me on how to run my online business, something she has never done or knows anyone who has done. I am just hoping all the art supplies I have brought will distract both of us from getting into it.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway! Any photograph in my shop, yours free!!!!

GIVEAWAY!

In celebration of July's photography promotion, I have decided to do a giveaway!!!

You could win a print of YOUR CHOICE from my shop, Red Linc Art. A print will be dropped shipped to your door directly from the printer, a $25 value! Entries must be in by Monday, July 20th, 2009.

How to enter:

each action will give you one entry in the giveaway

1. visit my shop and post a comment on my blog. Make sure to let me know your favorite item!

2. share this giveaway with your facebook/twitter/myspace/blog friends and let me know

3. list your favorite in a treasury on etsy

4. come up with something creative to let others know about this giveaway and make sure to let me know what you have done.

Cant wait to hear from all of you!

Just doing my job

Today I am not going to talk about my etsy shop, as I can imagine it is getting quite boring. I do find the whole process is taking over my life. I wake up in the morning, turn on the computer, eat breakfast, check in to etsy, list and re-list items, twitter then blog then twitter. This is the plan I have come up with to limit my time sitting at the computer desk. Good plan? Maybe, we will see if it works in the long run.

Unfortunately for my plan, I do have children. So far, in the two days i have been doing this very basic plan, they have slept in. That saves me a lot of grief. But children are unpredictable, and I am imagining that by day 4 there will be some major change that will make this schedule impossible.

In the meanwhile I will sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor, knitting in the backyard instead of sitting at my computer!

Tracey Knits is Online!

As promised, I have begun to separate the two diverging sections of my shop, knits and fine art. This little guy here, can be found at my new shop; Tracey Knits. He is made from durable acrylic yarn in the miami dolphins football team colors. I am only creating one at a time, but if you are looking for a set of 3 with numbers I would be happy to make them for you.

If you are craftier then the average bear, make them yourself! The pattern for both the golf club cover and the add-on football helmet are her, on my blog. The ones for sale at my shop are a slight variation on this pattern, but look almost identical.

Fabulous July Promotion

I am so excited to be offering FREE SHIPPING on all photography purchases through the month of July!

Many of my images were taken at the beach near my home on the Jersey Shore. A perfect way to have a beach holiday year round.

You can also find lots of other fun summertime items like my very popular golf club covers. These, by the way, if you are in the neighborhood, will be for sale at the Deal Sidewalk sale July 22-24. Stop by and check out the full range of covers in person, place custom orders or just chat. I will be located in front of Yarn-it on Norwood Avenue.

as you can see by the banner above, changes are being made in my Etsy shop. So far I have changed the banner, avatar and front page. The other changes will take more time. I am planning on splitting my shop in two; one will be all of my art, the other all of my knt items. It was starting to look odd and I dont want the dominance of my illustrations to overwhelm the cute golf club covers. My knit shop will open shortly.

creative day

I am hoping today turns out to be a creative day. I woke up in a terrible mood, but unlike my norm, an inspired terrible mood. I am just hoping that I don't lose my momentum by taking the time to do some errands first.

Other then that, I had a fabulous 2 days at the beach with one of my best friends. I thought that I was hoping to get some great photographs or get a lot of knitting done, but no such luck. At least I found some great new etsy tools that I am hoping will help me pump up business.

BTW: I am working on updating my Facebook Fanpage more often. If you have any suggestions about what makes your fan page work for you, I would love to hear them!