Month: November 2007

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New Handmade Winter-themed Holiday Cards

I’ve just put together a few sets of blank holiday cards for my Etsy shop. They are suitable for any winter holiday, or to be given just because. Above is “The Rabbit Dances“.

This is “Snowy Night“. Both images are printed on 100% cotton archival art paper, using Epson archival pigment-based ink for longevity, which means they can be saved, framed, and displayed.

I attached the images to acid-free ivory card stock using acid-free glue to make cards that are 5 by 6 1/2 inches. They are blank inside, and they come with matching ivory envelopes.

They are available, for a short while, in sets of four, with a choice of four of one image, or two each of each image.

Prints of “The Rabbit Dances” can be found here on our web site, and prints of “Snowy Night” can be found here on our web site.

Happy holidays!

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Blue and Yellow Quilt, October Block

I’m still moving along on this Block-of-the-month quilt. Every month, I think I will slip behind, but I’ve managed to keep up with my class. I drew out templates on poster board and template plastic and hand pieced this block, as I have most of the blocks for this quilt. If anyone wants to follow suit and make templates, the blue and white corner squares are based on 4 1/2 inch finished-sized squares, with an diagonal line drawn corner to corner. The center white square is 3 inches, finished size. And the yellow and white rectangular sections are based on 4 1/2 by 3 inch finished-sized rectangles with lines drawn from corner to corner in both directions.

Cut out your templates and lay the templates on the wrong side of your fabric. Try to line up the outside edges of the main sections of the block and the outside edges of the block itself parallel with the straight of grain of your fabric. Draw around the templates with a pencil (the mechanical kinds work best, especially with a piece of sandpaper under your fabric to keep it from slipping around), and the cut out the pieces 1/4 inch outside the lines to create a 1/4 seam allowance. The pencil lines become your sewing lines. You just match them up by inserting a pin through both layers, and hand sew the pieces together with a small running stitch. Press your block once all the pieces are assembled.

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Christmas Elf Prints by Max Bailey

The sweet little elf above is dreaming of Christmas, while his chickadee friends keep him company. A big yellow moon is coming up in the night sky behind him. It is called “A Christmas Dream“.

In “Final Touches“, Santa’s helpers are very busy putting the finishing touches on a Christmas ornament. Only the most artistic mice get to be Santa’s helpers!

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Mini Giclee Art Prints, Kitties

I’m on my fourth try of a medication that doesn’t agree with me, but is hopefully knocking out this infection I’ve had the past couple of months. So, I’ll try not to say too much, lest I say something dopey, literally. I’ve been saying things like “bathroom” when I mean “background”. Yesterday, when asked what Andy Griffith’s real-life hometown was, I actually suggested, “Mayberry?” Good thing I was in the privacy of my own home. I might have gotten thrown out of North Carolina for that.

I’ve decided to introduce mini versions of my prints. I’m not sure how long I’ll offer them, but I thought it might be a good way to gauge interest. I’ve been struggling a lot lately, trying to decide what to paint. That may sound odd, since I usually have too many ideas, but that is the problem. I’ve been too caught up in what I see is popular as well. I think, “I could do that…but I don’t want to.” I was trying to come up with something whimsical, cute, simple, but it just didn’t suit me. In fact, it was making me quite cranky, which was the reverse of what I was hoping for.

I’m going to stick with the often-offered advice, “Paint what you like to paint.” For me, that tends to be fantasy art, florals, cats, and other animals.

These cat paintings are available as mini prints in my Etsy shop, or on our Ruffing’s website. They are printed on nice heavy-weight, 100% cotton art paper, using archival-quality, pigment-based Epson inks, and are signed below the image in pencil. They come in a protective cello sleeve. From top to bottom, they are “The Guardian“, “Laurence with Primroses and Daffodils“, and “Something Stirring“.