Green...

My little one is down for a nap so I went outside to get some much needed cleaning done. :) My poor little greenhouse needed is soo badly! I was able to give it a good hose down, and also stack all of my old plastic pots. The terra cotta pots also needed emptied and stacked for next spring. It seems so hard to believe, they have already served their purpose this year.

Well, I have had the sprinkler going, and thought I would take a quick break from the heat, share some pictures with you and update my blog. :) BUT, I must get some more weeding done!

Thank You!

Just wanted to give a little shout out to those who have taken the poll. :) It is much appreciated!

Today, we have just about finished up one image for projectgrabbag to transfer to totes, pillows, onesies etc. This image will have a hedgie added sometime tomorrow. He is illustrated, and waiting to be transferred to the computer!

Another addition to the fleet...

I added another trailer to the "I heart sweet home series" Its been fun, I think I may temproarily take a break from this series, and start on a collection of black and white/red modern style trailers. They are so much fun to create. :) Now that I have four completed, they should be ready tobe sent over to allisonsphotography. Look for some coasters appearing SOON! :)

After working on this one, I am as always... hungry for something sweet! I cant help but wonder why I began titling these the way I did! :)

I also added another pirate print to my Illustrated through the viewfinder series. That means I can finally print up my film strip print! :) I will post a picture as soon as I do!

super new!

I am really excited to introduce my Through the View Finder Illustrated series. I have been having SO much fun, combining my duaflex camera and illustrations. :) I have tried my hand at through the view finder photography... and not quite got the hang of it yet. So, when I see the results I got trying this out, I was THRILLED! :)

The three pictured are already in my store. BUT, I have plans for a larger size (8x16") film strip linking three or more of these illustrations together. I hope to get this listed sometime next week. :) Check back here for updates, though.

<---- if you click the picture, it will appear in a new window, but clear! :)

New poll!

blogger has now introduced a new feature... the ability to conduct a survey, how exciting! I plan to try and use this tool to help create art, a little more customized to your personal prefences. :)

I am going to start the first poll off with colors. The poll will run for 2 weeks, exactly and then I will begin a new survey. Please select the colors you decorate with most. Maybe this will inspire me to create a new piece based upon your color choices! :)

Oh- and if you dont see a color listed please drop me a comment here, I will add it ASAP. I KNOW I missed some, its still fairly early.. and I am in a bit of a hurry. :) Also, feel free to describe your choices here a little more in depth.

Pistachio Ice Cream

Yeah! A new trailer has been added to the fleet, and one more to come by monday. :) You can see it here . Pistachio Ice Cream was inspired by my wonderful husband. It amazes me, how much he can inspire me... by even saying a couple of words, or rambling some random thought. I guess we are kind of like butter and popcorn. We bring out the best in each other. :)

Tuesday night I showed him my sketch of the trailer, and asked him what came to mind. After a couple seconds of staring at the sketch... he says " I dunno... it needs a bike.. or a moped." Of course, all of a sudden I am like "why did I not think of that?" But, that thought only lasted a minute because I was so excited to get back to my drawing.... finally seeing it as it should be, with a bike!

Well, an update on my garden... Let me just say that I lasted an hour in the heat, before I had to come in... and well I kind of ended up staying in. :) BUT! I did get my shelf (filled with my craft supplies) 90% finished! So, that was good at least. This picture was taken before weeding... I promise! :)

I must admit though... I am somewhat of a scaredy cat when it comes to spiders... and in the hour I was outside, I seen 7 daddy long legged spiders in my garden! 7! eeeww... now, I know daddy long leg spiders are supposed to be good for your garden. They apparently eat all the bad bugs, and I think even black widow spiders, (or maybe my dad told me that as a kid so I wouldnt mind them so much) so you can almost think of them as super heroes for your garden. BUT, I get the heebie jeebies every time I see one!

A lesson re-learned from yesterday... mom knows best. As a kid, to give me incentive to keep my room clean, and clutter-free... she told me that a messy room gave spiders places to hide. And that I would most definitly have more spiders in my room if it were messy rather then clean. Needless to say, I had a clean room all the time. well there was an occasional spell of laziness... but never for very long!

Anyway, my point is... my garden is alot like that right now. waaay too many places for the 8 legged fiends to hide. I definitly have more incentive to keep it weeded now. The next time I go out there, I am wearing tennis shoes to protect my vulnerable feet from creepy crawling things. Oh, and did you know you can spray aerosol hair spray at a spider at stop him in his tracks? Yep, thats what I have heard... I intend to test that. Armed with tennis shoes, garden gloves, and a can of aerosol spray... they wont know what hit them! Well, I just may try that... tomorrow. :)

My plans for the day....

I have been neglecting my garden. ALOT. I have soo many weeds threatening to take over...that I am afraid this will turn into an ALL day job.

So, I am going to fill up Trinitys pool, throw on her swimming suit, head outside... and start pulling those weeds!

PROJECT ORGANIZE

Project Organize has been along time coming! I have needed to organize my little space here for quite a while. :)

This little shelf is housing the magority of my paper, craft supplies and etsy packaging. :) I am hoping that by posting these pictures... I can maybe get motivated and committed to finally organizing it! I will most definitly post new pictures once I do. You know... proof that I do follow through with what I say I will... ;)

oh yes... and complete with labels!! I love labeling things. :)

Turtle Love

Yeah! After much time spent trying to get the colors to my liking, I finally finished this... at about 1:00 AM to be exact. :) I really like how she turned out. I almost think I like it better cropped, with her face and the turtle in detail. I may end up offering this in a cropped version as well, if there appears to be some interest towards it.

The inspiration behind her was pretty non-existant. I grabbed my clipboard, laid on the floor and just started drawing... the skecth of the girl, immediately looked as though she was looking sweetly at something. It only seemed right that there be something in her hands. I tried workin with a bunny, and I just wasnt feeling it. So, came the turtle idea... and I loved how they worked out. :)

I also made cookies last night. I like my cookies soft and chewy.... and these were more like milk dunking cookies. They were just a little more cooked then I like them. But, they do turn out to be PERFECT for dunking cookies! They can soak up a ton of milk, and not crumble into your glass of milk. Although, it is always a nice surprise to see your pieces of cookies at the bottom of your milk glass! Although, now that I think about it...I am sure that probably grosses some people out. :)

As promised... the ACEOS are making their way to etsy. I will list two ACEOS a day for the next few days. There is currently one on etsy, and another to come today. :)

I would love to hear your feedback on them! If you have an idea for an ACEO, you would like to see my try... mention it! I love to be inspired by new ideas. :)

ACEOS! :)

I created my first original ACEOS today! It really was a new challenge working in such a small area... (3.5x2.5") but, was really fun! I will begin listing them tomorrow on etsy, after I can get some pictures in good lighting.

Oh, I always forget not everyone know what an Aceo is... If your one of those people, let me try and clear it up. Let me begin with a small legal disclosure:

"WARNING: collecting ACEOS can be addicting, SparksFly will not and cannot be held responsible for any injuries to your finances due to these adorable cards! This includes, (but not limited to) damage to walls, pocket books, wallets, saving accounts, or clutter issues..."

Ok, now thats out of the way.... ACEO stands for "art card, editions and originals" The only rule to an ACEO is that it be 2.5x3.5" This allows artist's to create an ACEO with just about any medium. Which makes each one truly unique! :)

What can you do with an ACEO? The sky is the limit! You can frame them, store them in photo albums, or send to friends.

Just finished this litte guy up today! I am not too sure where my inspiration for this drawing came from... However, it began with the story line that his parrot was neglected... after the poor thing has no shoulders to perch on. He has to settle for his fellow captain's head.

The direction of the drawing changed when the water was added. He instantly became overboard... and hence the title "Walk the Plank." :) I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I am really working hard trying to get some non-pink drawings in my store. ;)

Yeah for Illustrated Art!

Its finally here! :) After MUCH hard work the past few weeks, I now have completely remodeled my etsy store! I have taken out all of my promotional goodies, (but still available to my existing clientelle) and replaced them with my Art. :) It feels so good to have a blank piece of paper in front of me, and pencil in hand. I had forgotten how relaxing drawing could be!

There has been so much change in the last few weeks it will be hard to address it all! First off, I have to give a big shout-out to projectgrabbag of etsy. I have done quie a bit of custom work for her in the past, and it was her adorable softies that inspired me to pick up drawing again. From that inspiration came "project friends." A series inlcuding pirates, soft friends, and mushrooms ( gnomes coming soon :) was born. Shannon and I began a collaboration that is still in the works. You will be able to purchase my artwork on her pillows, totes, t-shirts, and onesies. This should be available by the end of july in her etsy store.

If your wondering why the direction of my store has changed... here are some frequently thought questions that should answer that question. :)

Q) Why are you no longer offering promotional custom work, like bookmarks, business cards etc. I thought you enjoyed it?

A) I do enjoy it, but lately found I was taking on more then I could handle. Custom work is very time consuming, I also HATE being paid before I complete a job... and well custom work has to work that way! It was affecting my family time, housework and my poor garden...err weed patch.

Q) Will you be taking on anymore custom promotional work in the future?

A) Feel free to contact me if you had hearted any of my items/services in the past. I can't guarantee I will be able to help you, but it doesnt hurt to ask. If you catch me at a slow time in life, I may just very well be missing doing some design work, and be able to help you. No promises though!! :)

Q) I am an existing client, and wanting to re-order, or put in a special request for a new product. Can I still?

A) I know what its like to be a complete crazy person about having everything coordinate. If your anything like me, your hearts racing, because you think there just *may* be a chance your business cards will not match your hangtags... if you have to go somewhere else to re-order. Take a deep breath, and dont worry! I like to keep my customers 110% satisfied, and last I checked leaving someone high and dry leaves you in a far from satsified mood. Just contact me, and we can work it out. :)

mMmMMMmm

Lately, it seems most of my posst have been centered around food. I suppose that is something I should take into consideration... Last sunday we went over to mom and dads and BBQ'ed. Yummy it was soo good. We even pulled out the small charcoal grill and did the chicken on that. But, of course the highlight was the fruit pizza! If you have never tried it, you are soo missing out! An oatmeal cookie crust topped with sweetened cream cheese, and your choice of fruits. This is somewhat time consuming to make, so we rarely fix it. So, I usually request it for my birthday instead of a cake. This year it sounded like too much work, so I opted for cake.

So needless to say, when Heather requested it for her birthday, I was thrilled!! :)

playtime

Life is so much simpler when your a child...I think the most stressful part of Trinitys day was learning (all over again) to share her toys from Jada. Since Jada has been away for the last month, we have all missed her! We will miss her, as Jono and Heather move away to california this next weekend.

I offered to watch her today, hoping to make it a little easier for her mom and dad to finish packing up! Her and Trinity have been spending some much needed play time together. Even though at times it seems they bring the worst out in each other... :(

After some fairly noisy playing, I was suddeny (VERY suddenly) aware of the silence.... I quickly (VERY quickly) went to investigate, and was surprised to see them both sitting quietly reading a book in Trinitys room. Jada on the floor, and Trinity on the bed. (see middle picture above)

It looked soo staged, I had to grab my camera... of course it did not last long. But long enough for me to snap a few pictures of the memorable moment.

craving...

I was looking through my pictures this morning and came across this one...

A picture I took a month ago at Burger Ranch. We had taken a walk downtown with some friends, and stopped in for some ice cream. I chose the birthday cake ice cream with a waffle cone. It was soooo good! I fear another trip to Burger Ranch is in the works... who needs to diet anyhow!? :)

Attachments...

We had three new kittens added to the family about a month ago. Of course, since we have two cats already...keeping on of these new babies is completely out of the question. BUT...this little guy is most definitly hard to resist. I have noticed Jaydon showing him favoritism as well...so I cant help but wonder how long it will take for us to admit that we are in fact keeping him. :)

I will have to let you know... of course IF we keep him, it will without a doubt be for Trinitys benefit! ;)

Look what I got in the mail today!

I was pleasantly surprised to find this beautiful pendant in my mailbox this morning. :) The wonderful artist... "glassfuser" of etsy. While she has yet to add anything into her etsy store, she does have another spot on the web, right here and its filling up fast with her glass creations....

She sent me this pendant as a thank you for some recent work I had done for her. From the moment I pulled it from the manilla envelope, Trinity has wanted it.... I finally gave in and let her try it on. She was very pleased to say the least....and very anxious and eager to pose for me. :)

Thank You Sandra, I will recommend your work to anyone! The quality of this piece is wonderful. :)

Soap as an ART

Ok, after ordering from NVSOAP I was completely inspired to photograph her beautiful soap! :) I never knew that soap could be so gorgeous. This picture (one of many) will be gracing my bathroom walls! They turned out totally awesome. But dont be jealous of mine, buy your own. :)You will NOT be dissapointed, her soap is the best I have found yet...

:drumroll: and the winners are....!

Dragonfly Gems and janetlyn! :) Congrats, my husband pulled your names out of the coffee mug! There were 18 other people who responded to my request in the forums, regarding the perfect earring tag. http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5072581 I have been hit with quite a few custom orders this week, so work on the earring tags will have to be delayed until later next week. Be sure and check back to see what I can create with the help of these lovely, talented ladies. :) I will be sure and post pictures of what we come up with!

-sparks

homepage this morning...

I made it to the homepage again today! yyyeeaaahhh! :) One of my favorites pictures too...Also label me clothing has featured me in her blog. Stop by and take a look, she has one of the most put together pink blogs ever! Thank you. :) http://labelmeclothing.blogspot.com/ when your done, stop by her store htt:p//LabelMeClothing.etsy.com

Have a great day!!

Easter and mintd

The girls had a blast yesterday hunting for easter eggs. It was a little breezy, but all in al a fairly nice day! No rain, till late that night!! wheeeew :)

........................................Also, I have openened up shop at the completely fresh new mintd. Be sure and stop by, they have a totally awesome place. My store name is SparksFly http://www.mintd.com/stores/show/151-SparksFly

stop by my ever growing store.... :)

busy, busy!

I have been staying pretty busy with a few custom orders, and trying to squeeze in some new projects at the same time. I have been having a lot of fun making my matchbox books. I have now completed a "Weathered Collection," and also a "Botanical Collection." I bought more supplies yesterday, and have HUGE plans for these recycled boxes! :)

I also finished my 4x4 photo palm book! Its listed and ready for viewing. :) well, off to fix breakfast!

-jess

Short walk to the post office...

Today is absolutely beautiful out! I was having a bery stressful day trying to get a few orders out. I had a slight headache, and was having printer problems... making mistakes left and right. Wasting expensive photo paper, always makes me sick. So, I decided to a walk to the post office would do Trin and I both some good. I got my orders done, and we walked the VERY short walk to the post office. It is just so nice outside! It makes me want to work in the garden and my tan at the same time. :) Now if I can just get Jaydon to rototill an area for my new garden... Well, I am off to bake some cookies!

stealing my walnuts!

Ok, so I have seen this little guy... or one that resembles him to a "T" stealing the walnuts (I hadndpicked last fall) out of our bucket sitting so conveniently underneath this tree. Now keep in mind we were "blessed" with three enormous black wanut trees in our front yard. I would love to cut them down. They make the biggest mess imaganeable this last fall. The walnuts swell, and rot which then sticks to your shoes...and wind up in our brand new living room carpet. Unless of course I am extra careful and stop everyone the moment they walk into our home! The city wont allows us to cut the trees down. I hear there is some sort of a shot you can give the trees to keep them from producing?

This little squirrel has stolen from me before. I suppose since I hate walnuts, I kinda hope he keeps taking them. :) Less I have to crack...

Customized Bookmarks

My customized bookmarks have really been taking off on etsy! I have been so thrilled to work with each person. It is so enjoyable to me to be able to use all the talented Artists' work, and turn it into a bookmark. :) One thing I am growing to love about custom work, is getting to know the other etsy sellers on a little more personal note. Rather then accept they're money and send out an item...I then get to work with them, and talk with them. Etsy people are some of the nicest most willing ppl to help out! :)

I keep my bookmarks affordable, use them in place of a business card. They are so much cuter, and even more uesful!

Spring days ahead!

It was soo nice out yesterday! The weather was perfect, Heather brought Jada over. She wore cute little hawaiian print shorts for the first time this year, they were adorable! She kept walking all over the house with different toys on her head. We have been noticing the past few days that she has been doing this alot lately. She has gotten so good at it...she can bend over to pick something up and not have the toy fall. Thats talent, and a lot of cordination for one lil toddler.

We were joking about it, saying that she will be on some talk show years down the road... confessing to having a hat addiction...and blaming the whole thing on her mother. "She had a store on etsy...and she constatly used me for modeling her new hats, now years later I have squandered my life savings away on hats!" Well, surely its a phase she will outgrow. But its just too cute to not warrant documenting it...

4x4ing

This weekend we spent our saturday up near Bickelton, WA in the mud and snow. It really was perfect weather. The sun came out while we were up, and there was still snow for us to play in. Mom and Dad, Jono and Heather, and Jaydon and I, all went.

Jaydon ended up snapping a rear driveline... Which meant dad got to try out his new warn winch... and also meant we were stuck up there waiting for dad and Jaydon to temporarily make it driveable. Roman and Jono passed the time and made a snow fort, but got it done just as we were ready to pull out. :)

We fortunately managed to get away with not using 4WD on the way home. Altho his gearing was making a really bad noise in 3rd gear. Fortunately we were not in too big of a hurry, to get home because it took a little longer then it should have!

I plan on making a 4x4ing photo palm book available in my etsy store with a few of the 300 pics I took yesterday!! Bookmark me and check back often.... :)

Legwarmers

Trinity now owns a pair of trendy leg warmers! She absolutely loves them. My sister custom made them for her, and I purchased them through etsy. She also has a store on etsy. She seems to really be doing good on it! A link to her store... http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5491851 She sells the most adorable hats for your children, scarves, she does several custom orders. Right now she seems to be staying very busy creating custom labels for other fellow etsiers! :) Go Heather!

Finally made it to the homepage

I was sooo stoked yesterday morning when I seen that one of my photographs had been handpicked by an etsy moderator, to adorn the home page! This is something I have been hoping for well...forever! The picture itself so far has been one of my more popular photographs...Even though a sale hasn't come of it yet, it completely made my week. Today I am still excited about it! I also added 2 more photo palm books to my website. Each a different collection.