Watermelons and the Farm-Sweet-Farm

I'm sitting here thinking about what to include in this blog post as I am eating the last piece of the first watermelon of the season.  A life time of summer memories come to mind and watermelon is always there, chilled and sliced ready to be enjoyed.  I just can't imagine summers without this amazing fruit.

Not to mention that red and green are my favorite decorating colors and that they are complimentary colors on the color wheel.  I like other melons well enough.  Cantaloupe is good and there are also crenshaw and honeydew but they really can't hold a candle to the watermelon for taste and aesthetics.  Watermelon is really such a beautiful fruit.

With all my thinking about watermelons, I couldn't help but want to create something fun to mark the occasion.  I decided yesterday to practice my graphic skills and create a planner sticker page that had watermelon as it's central theme. 

I should at this point, regress and talk about another happening this week that played a hand in this decision to design my own sticker sheet.  My really good friend, Victoria Thatcher (we have been friends more years than we both would like to confess) is a really gifted graphics artist.  She has been creating beautiful things with her computer for years.  In the past several years she has become somewhat of a SUPERSTAR among the "Planner Sticker People".  You know those organizers that have transcended from the plan leather binder that contains a calendar and several tabs to organize everything you do and has now become more of a scrapbook everything in your life including stickers to count how many glasses of water you drink and what day is laundry day.  I personally don't get it but I do love journals and calendars and lists and so I guess I just need to try to make them prettier.  She has a Facebook group @VictoriaThatcherPrintablesGroup that has over 9000 members and I can tell that they all love her and her work.

Anyway, I'm getting of subject here.  Victoria and I had an idea to do a collaboration sticker where she designed the sticker sheet using my original art.  She called Farm-Sweet-Farm and as with all her other sticker sheets she made it available as a free downloadable file to all of her thousands of sticker fans.   Here is the link to check out all her amazing sticker collections.  If you download something, let her know that you found out about her website via my blog.

Victoria Thatcher Printables


I found myself so inspired by what she had done that I decided I would give this sticker stuff a try.  I found some awesome images on Pixabay.com and just made a little collection of images that I wanted to use.   I think that is when I decided to call it "Watermelon Summer".  Unlike Victoria,  I decided that I would add it as a listing to my ETSY Shop but it is only $1.95 to download all 19 colorful stickers.  I sized them the same as the ones that Victoria designs and so they should fit in an EC Vertical planner and with a little graphic know how, you can size them to fit other planners I'm told.  I don't anything much about those fancy cutting machines, but I'm pretty sure that you can use them for this application too or you can just do what I do and grab the old fashion scissors.

Julie Townsend Studio Etsy Shop

A Free Christmas Gift From Me to You!

There is just never enough time it seems in the month of December.  Okay...I know that the month has 31 days just like the 6 other months of January, March, May, July, August, and October but December is different.  We are asked to cram so many events, shopping, meal preparations, gift giving, baking and in my case painting into such a busy time.  I am declaring that for 2017, I am going to start thinking about Christmas in July, even if it is 115 degrees outside here in Las Vegas!

Yesterday, I was scanning my Facebook account when I saw this really great idea for Christmas.  I decided that I was going to make gift tags that featured my own original Christmas artwork.  I searched the internet and found another blogger that had written a very helpful blog post a few years ago on how to create stickers using Microsoft Word.  Now I am not good with graphics programs such as Photoshop, even though I really want to learn that program.  I only use Photoshop right now to crop and adjust my photos.  Word is however a program that I am comfortable with.  Let me share that link with you on how to create stickers in Word:  http://justagirlandherblog.com/make-labels-in-microsoft-word/ 

By the way this blogger, Abbey Lawson of justagirlandherblog seems to have figured out the blogging world and has an impressive home business that she and her husband have built.  I am going to spend more time going through her posts and maybe some very positive changes to this blog will be coming in the future.

Anyway, back to the gift tags.  I couldn't wait to figure out how to accomplish my own gift tags.   My first attempt actually didn't turn out too bad. I made them 2.5 x 3 inches and printed them using white card stock on my Canon Pixma Pro printer.  I cut a complimentary card stock that featured a Christmas print 1/2 inch large so that I could have a nice colorful border and add to the substantiation to the overall tag.  I think it turned out really well and I was pleased.  I really see adding a matching gift tag to each of my individual greeting cards that are sold or even selling packs of gift tags.  Either way I'm excited to attach them to my own gift giving efforts this year.

A side note here....As I was getting ready to write this blog, I had a dear friend who IS THE QUEEN of graphic art and a MASTER sticker creator, Victoria Thatcher at  http://www.victoriathatcher.com suggest to me a few improvements and with her suggestion, I got rid of the black outline of my text boxes.  I didn't know how to do that before hand.  She also told me how to upload the file as a PDF and put it on my Google Drive so that I could share it with you today.  Thank you so much Victoria for your friendship and constructive critique.  Be sure and check out Victoria's blog because she is amazing!

My Original Artwork titled "Except for the Mouse"

As part of the GIFT GIVING season, I have decided to make available a free printable document of my gift tags that feature a number of my 2016 original artworks.  This file is for personal use only and isn't to be sold or redistributed without my written permission.  All you have to do is click on this link SORRY LINK IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR THIS OFFER.   Please leave me a comment if you downloaded this file.  If you are interested in prints, cards, commissions or original artwork send me a message so that I can discuss it with you.  You can also find my work at my Etsy store.

My Christmas Gift to You!

Christmas Gift Tags 

Merry Christmas and have a Blessed 2017!

My Original artwork on display.  

Art Journaling

It was an epiphany!  My fascination with calendars, organization and art journaling, none of which I do very well could all be combined into one.  I never considered it until just now.  I have a dear friend, Victoria Thatcher who has always been so crafty and has really beginning to get noticed for her graphic creation of her lovely planner stickers.  I look at her stuff and while I love all of it, I just don't see me successfully keeping up with "THE HAPPY PLANNER".

How do you balance the technology the calendar on my tablet offers and the beauty of an artistic journal.  Even on my tablet I can't find the perfect calendar that allows me to both journal my day, have a to do list and document all my appointments. It is also so cold and sterile looking.  Certainly nothing to get excited about.   I don't think there is a perfect app out there so I'm just going to have to embark on a journal journey.

Every year I buy a new Marjolein Bastin planner, not because I just love the way the planner is organized but because of the beautiful illustrations she has done and the feel of an artistic journal that it has.  Her notes about the illustration printed on each page.  To be truthful and honest, I barely use the planner during the year but love to look at her amazing artwork.

I usually carry with me a portable sketching bag that contains several small sketchbooks and a "Creative Journal" but I hate to admit that both are sadly neglected.  I'm turning 55 this summer and what am I doing with my time!  I want to record my thoughts, special things in life and yet I just don't do because I"m so worried about it looking perfect or not having the "RIGHT" book with me at the time.  

NO MORE!  I'm turning over a new journal leaf and creating a gallery to document my discoveries. If you see me, you are not going to see my "LIFE JOURNAL" far away.  I read this blog yesterday by Hali Karla  and I love her quote

"An everyday {art} journal – one that you carry with you as much as possible – is a way of keeping track of the breadcrumbs in your life – you know, the little shimmers and synchronicities that vibrate in a moment but can be so easily forgotten as the moments move on."

I came up with this design this morning and snapped a quick picture of it with my phone as I ran off to work.  The pressure comes in when later I have to fill it with something that I hope is inspiring because 2016 is almost half over.  

A Blank Page in my Journal-ready for me to record my day