I woke up like this

New Prints- The Fairies

Having a spot of tea..

Hanging with their bird friends..

In the garden with the flowers..

Do you think I have gone fairy crazy?? Well you might be surprised to know these fun new prints I created were for a potential program in a major retail chain..ahem.. ( Michaels) but they didn't make it through!! I could just wallow in the fact I spent hours glueing and painting and drawing but instead I have decided to put them up in my shop for all those who feel they would like them. This way I feel its not a total loss, well to be honest my designs are never a total lost someone will always want them for something its just a matter of who, what and when.

I am sorry its been awhile since I last blogged but as you can see from above I have been very busy! I am currently working on my 5th fabric line, which is shall we say super cute and fun for boys, and that is all the hint I am going to give.

Recently at a college reunion an old friend pointed out that myself along with my best friend Ron are probably the only ones he knows of that still actually paint! I looked around and thought..well he is probably right and how strange this seemed. How could it be that all these art students ended up in media and teaching etc. and very few stayed true to the path they started out with. Funny how life just takes over, but I guess for me and Ron we could never imagine our world without a medium in our hand. So if the client didn't take my designs its no big deal.. its still the fun of creating that makes me feel full everyday and the thought that I get paid to do something that fills up my soul is the icing on the cake!

I am intending on trying to blog more.. but finding it hard to do with the amount of work I have on my plate now.. so guess what?? Once my cold is gone I am going to do some video blogs!! Yes people you are going to hear my voice and hear some words of wisdom. I have been meaning to do this for some time but have yet to get around to it, FYI probably because I hate my voice and always have, its neither feminine nor masculine.. its somewhere in the middle and I just hate it! Plus I have this distinct problem of speaking too fast, which probably is because I hate it so. Either way look out my videos are coming so prepare for it!

In the meantime I hope you all have a great day and get out your creative spirit, keep plugging away at your hopes and dreams and never let anyone try and bring you down.. just push them aside and walk on by!

Ellen

Rip-off Rugs!

Okay folks here it is! I for the record want to say I love Paula Deen and her story is quite amazing, but when she signs her name to a product she needs or her people need to do their homework! Take this for example that came to my attention yesterday. The company Kaleen, who produces Paula Deen's rugs has completely ripped off my design along with many other well known artists such as Paul Brent, Carol Eldridge and Jennifer Brinley to name a few, basically they ripped off our client Homefires!

This sort of stuff needs to stop!! I recently exhibited at the Atlanta Gift Mart and had an amazing show, but I did overheard Paul Brent's licensing coordinator tell people that 6 companies had ripped him off at that show! This is sort of thing is outrageous and has got to stop. We spend our life building up our brands and to have these companies try and rip us off with a celebrity name attached is just disgusting! I am sure Paula Deen herself would be saddend to hear me, a mother of two boys also was having her designs ripped off! How would she like people taking her recipes and making a profit from it? I doubt it would go over well.

Just to make my point clear here is the rug in which Kaleen says they cleared the copyrights too.

and here is my Jellybean/Homefires rug that was made back in 2005!

Homefires did these rugs in two colorways, and its obvious to me all they really did was flip two surfboards and change a little pattern in 2 but clearly they look so similar to the average person that copyright infringement has occurred, and lets get technical shall we, copyright laws state that it is infringement if to the average person they can not discern between the two, can you see a big difference? I cannot!

So as this came to my attention, what did I do? I wrote about it on Twitter and what do you think happened after that? I got a phone call from Paula Deen's media people and they basically told me I should watch what I say! I should watch what I say? I said "are you threatening me?" naturally he said no, but doesn't that sound like a threat to you? I mean who do you think you are telling me to be quiet over something that is clearly in the wrong? I will not and therefore tweeted that out as well. If I was so in the wrong then why did Kaleen take all the rugs off their site today? What are they hiding? The truth is what they are hiding, they do not have the rights to use these designs and they know it!

This is why I love Social Media, if not for the fun of it, its for getting the word out to thousands of people all at once! I found out about Michael Jackson's death faster than any news service because of Twitter. I think we are onto to something when a tool like that can make a company change their website and the people of Paul Deen call me only an hour after I tweeted that her name was placed on goods that she did not own!

Yes! Power to the people! In the old days it would takes weeks if not months of letters and such to reach a company to the misuse of products and copyright infringement, today its a matter of seconds. Whenever someone says to me "why do you waste your time on Twitter its a time-suck!" I will say "because it has a power that you cannot comprehend!"

So use your voice people, thats what it's there for and never let anyone try and bully you into thinking you can't!! That is America! get used to it!

I also wanted to thank all my friends who supported me and my friend Carol Eldridge on getting the word out! This ripping off artists has got to stop!!

Ellen

My 10 things to do in 2010!

As I jump into the New Year I have finally complied my list of resolutions I think I would like to conquer in 2010... and so here it goes in no particular order..

1.Make a picture book.

2.Re- commit myself to my exercise program and manage my diet better.( I hit amazing strides in this in 2009- but this year I am going full- tilt to rip myself!)

3.Be more organized. ( this one will be my hardest to date I can tell you!)

4. Travel allot!

5. Create more!

6. Enjoy my family/friends more.

7. Get the biggest contract I have ever got!

8. Work harder.

9. Learn Photoshop! ( this I really need to do!)

10. Relax!

Lastly this design above is a new print in my shop.

So there ya have it folks!

What is your list, or better yet what is it you want to conquer in 2010??

Ellen