I woke up like this

Dreaming of a beach day.......

Okay now that its almost the end of January I am getting to that time of year when I can no longer stand wearing snow boots, dressing the kids up in their snow clothes, drinking cocoa and trying to keep the sand and snow out of my office! Yes.. I am done with winter can't you tell from my obvious post of cabanas. I am longing for the feel of wet sand on my feet and the sun beaming down upon my skin..nothing like it in my book and living in a state that is known for its rocky beaches and chowda, its hard not to want to crave the summer. I would prefer surfing than snowboarding and hanging out by the fire on the beach toasting marshmallows rather than my living room, now don't get me wrong I love the fire at home, but the beach is so much better.

So is anyone else feeling like they have had enough? Is there a consensus that enough is enough and please.. please mother nature bring me my spring early this year.. how I long to see that first burst of color from the crocus and the smell of daffodils in the air. Why can't you just see it... I know I should be patient but if you have not guessed by now patience is not one of my strong points.. I am afterall an Aries and we need instant gratification if you know what I mean. I am trying to channel my Sag rising on this one but I think they are slightly impatient too, not sure. In any event I will try to break the monotony by getting away this weekend to NYC and seeing some old close friends. Nothing like the chatter of old friends and cocktails to make you forget about winter....... So here is to you winter may you leave as fast as you came!

Ellen

New Products

I have a couple of new things to show everyone today, and I wished I could have done a post yesterday but with all of the excitement about Obama I just never got the chance. Here are some new cards I recently received in the mail. These are from a company called Pictura they are a Swedish company that does great cards. These are a part of their glitter line, I am sure I will be using allot of these soon with a whole bunch of parties coming up!

These next set of cards are from another new client that I love called Gina B Designs. The quality is great, the cards feel like they are almost hand painted on beautiful watercolor paper. I love the heart note cards with their touches of glitter, I am sure I will using allot of these too! I have more cards that they recently produced and as soon as I get them I will post them. I am sure you might recognize some of the art in that collection.

Since my life seems to be crazy I find I keep forgetting to post about projects that I wanted to share. I worked like crazy just before Christmas to make these next items for the boys. I had such limited time to do them but I think they came out great.

Here are some cute penguins I made using my fabric that was sold in Jo-Ann's this season. I specifically made the eyes looking at each other as if they were the boys looking at another in their beds. Since my boys wanted to share a room, I designed the penguins to be as if they were Colby and Hayden looking at another, so Colby is on the left and Hayden is on the right! I think they came out great for an amateur stuffie maker.

These other guys, my snowman took a little more leg work shall we say, and here is the reason why. You cannot see from this picture but in the back they have a musical wind-up that plays " We wish you a Merry Christmas". I had a hard time trying to find a wind-up that played " Frosty"! I cannot tell you. My oldest son Hayden has a snowman similar to this that as a "frosty" wind-up which was made by his nanny(babysitter) when he was two. Colby wanted one just like his of course forever and I did my best, but I could not find that darn tune anywhere!! It was worse than trying to get a toy they really wanted I tell you and next year I think I will have to forget about making handmade goods right before Christmas. Its just too much to do in such a stressful time.

Anyway getting onto another point, what did you think of yesterday and having Obama as our president finally? I was soo moved when the t.v. showed the roaring crowd of over a million people yesterday I cannot tell you. Finally someone who can give us hope and life us up to create a better life for everyone. My favorite line in his speech is when he talked about how over 50 years ago his dad could not sit in the same restaurant with white people but that now his son is President of the United States! Love it! Yes! Change has indeed come to America, finally!!!! Let's hope it stays that way from now on!

Here is to a new birth of this country and in all of us, may we become better for it!

Ellen

New Prints

fun owls!

fun birds!

fun Valentine!

Hello all, I have been very busy these days creating all kinds of new and exciting designs for various clients. These new Valentine prints were created for some of my stationery/papergood clients and who knows who else would want them. I have to tell you of some very exciting news. I signed on with a new fabric client Clothworks! a great company with fantastic fabric. I am happy I am with a company with some of my great licensing friends like Leere' and Barbara who are also my Facebook friends too.
Clothworks will be producing my " Forest friends" collection due out in October so hopefully I will be going to Quilt Market to check it out. They also are doing a black and white collection due out in November and another great spring collection I will talk about later.

I have been trying to get collections made with my designs for awhile now and looking for the perfect company to do them and finally it has all come together. I will post the full collection when I can and let you know where you can find it.

I don't know about you but I am very excited about Tues January 20th because its the day
of President Obama's Innaguration! I am soo glad to see Pres Bush go I cannot tell you, and several of my friends are glad too. I have one friend who created a site you must check out called Help Bush Pack! you can click on the various items and see what he says, its very funny!

These days its more and more clear that this country needs an overhaul and one that will shake things up. I am hoping that Obama will finally be that person and really show Americans that we need to be a big part of re-creating this country. People have to learn not to go beyond their limits and pay more attention to what is really important. I think so many of us get caught up in wanting things, myself included that we forget the real picture. I have vowed as I said in my last post to get my act together this year, and so far I have been on track. I have to come to terms with where I am at in order to move on and realize that things take time, which for me an Aries is quite the challenge. I have never been one who likes to wait for anything, and I mean anything. So this is going to be my growing year and I am sure for others as well. As we watch Obama swear in on Tuesday we should reflect on not what has been done, but what we can do in the future. Here is to a new beginning and growth for all!!

Ellen

Where Woman Create

During the Holiday I received one fantastic package and inside of it was this amazing magazine created by Jo Packham. I immediately went into its beautiful pages.

This is a picture of a studio that I would die for. Its the studio of Sally Jean Alexander and its breathtaking. I love all the shabby chic looking shelves and dresser drawers with crystal knobs. I have a room in my house that sort of resembles this and I always gravitate to this style for some reason or another. Maybe its because its soothing tones make you feel sweet and calm, or maybe its all the fun collections in the same tones.. who knows but I love it.

Another great room is that of Marcia Ceppos of Tinsel Trading Company a fantastic store in NYC that has the most amazing trims,threads, binding, ribbon etc. a favorite of many well known designers and has been featured on Martha Stewart many times. I remember going here often when I worked in the city and bought many trims for my apartment and some even for my wedding invitations. You can even take classes here on weekends, some of my blogging friends teach there like Jennifer Paganellithere is so much to see here that its worth the trip when you are in New York City.

Here is another great office from the editor and chief of Stampington & Company Miss Jenny Doh. I would some of her organization skills, I am lacking in that dept. I keep dreaming of a home organizer coming to my home and helping me out..hmmm some day.

You must check out this new publication, a lovely book with great photographs, and amazing work spaces. I am soo inspired that I am going to vamp my space up in the next coming months. Where we create as artists should reflect us as individuals and these days my office reflects a cut through for kids. Its gotta stop I tell ya.

One other thing that came in the mail the other day finally was a box of paperplates that I created for Solo Cup.

You can find these at your local grocery store,or even some chain stores. You might have to use your eyes to see my name on the front but its there. The one with the white background looks completely different from the original painting. The original one was all turqs and yellows which I loved but I guess the client needed to change it a bit. When this happens I do not mind, hey someone's gotta pay the bills. In any event I am glad to get some samples of these to use.

So I hope you all have been working hard on your New Years resolutions, I know I have. I have cut out all the bad foods I was eating and worked out 3 times so far this week. I plan on getting rid of all this extra weight I gained in 2 months, and if I keep up what I have been doing I am sure it will happen. Also I will have some new and exciting news to share in a bit so stay tuned and keep up all your good work.

Here is to creating a life worth living!!

Ellen

Welcome 2009! Here is to new beginnings.......

Okay so it may feel like I have fallen off the end of cliff since I haven't been here awhile, but with Christmas vacation it was just impossible.

I have come to realize that in order for my life to improve I am going to have to make drastic changes, this in no un-certain terms will be easy, but must be done. I have been struggling with many aspects of my life and its about time to get it back on track.

I feel like Oprah when I say " I can't believe I am here again!" but there it is. A few goals I can share is to get my character/brand licensing career going and push forward from art licensing. Though it has served me well in the past, I can no longer deny the
pull towards something I have wanted since I went to college, and now that I am 41 its about time.

Another big elephant in my room is my weight, and not unlike most its a problem for me these days. I cannot believe that me, a person who used to work-out 2 hours a day has let herself go. Let me assure you eventhough friends tell me I look great, I just don't feel it and I have to get that feeling back. After spending time on Facebook this weekend uploading old photos to friends I became very sad of how I have did this to myself, but fear not I am back on track! I lost 3 lbs this weekend and I am not looking back and I am very determined to forge ahead.

Okay so there are a couple on my list, others I cannot say but will be worked on for sure. I am glad to have 2008 behind me, it was not a great year for anything except for
meeting all of you! I have enjoyed chatting with my blog family and I am looking forward to another great year of that.

I think I will do a dance when Obama gets sworn in and then maybe a cocktail or two, because like he says things will have to change in order for progress to be made. Now I know what you are thinking how long will it last before I slip, but rest assured I am making precautions for that not to happen. I am going to enlist close friends and family to keep me on track.

So on that note, as I have to get back to my regular job before my "dream" one I hope you get all you wish for in this coming year, and remember its never to late to follow your dream....... ah if only I could sleep now, I am sooo tired!

Happy New Year!

Ellen