Monday, September 21, 2009

Save 10% on Posters And Prints On Zazzle



I have been slowly posting my photographs and artwork on J'adore Paris for you to enjoy. The above is a digital painting of Le Poulbot an adorably decorated and quaint restaurant in the Montmartre area near Sacre Coeur. As my very understanding friend can attest I waited here for a good twenty minutes for people to clear out of the way so I could get this shot. I think she just about gave up when I stumbled upon a snail in the cemetery and waited for 10 minutes for it to come out of it's shell. Hey, I did warn her before hand.




For the Père Lachaise Cemetery 1 Print I laid the camera on the ground and shot upwards looking down the cobble stone path. The day was grey and it was a bit chilly with a warm sun. A perfect day to visit the cemetery. There is a lot of beauty here and a quiet peaceful solitude.

Light The Way was shot in Notre Dame with existing light, camera steadied by a column. The church itself is stunning and no photograph can do it justice by any means. It stands in the very center of Paris and as I looked at it I wondered about all the history that this church has witnessed. I also understood how it could inspire so many to create such works of art such as my favorite book by Victor Hugo "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame"

10% off posters

Shop posters and prints in any of my stores and get 10% off with coupon code: SEMPROMO1007.

Expires 9/30/2009.

More details: 10% discount applies to each qualifying Zazzle poster product. The coupon code SEMPROMO1007 must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. Offer is valid from July 2, 2009 through September 30, 2009 at 11:59pm PT. This offer does not apply to past purchases and may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only and is not valid on Smilestore.com, Zazzle.ca, Zazzle.com.au or Zazzle.co.uk orders.



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Today's News:

By The Light Of The Moon Invitation invitation
By The Light Of The Moon Invitation

By The Light Of The Moon
gets a TBA from Zazzle!


Today I was honored with another TBA for my Halloween invitation above. My invitations are easily personalized right online of course if you need something special or help feel free to email me through my store.

Here is a coupon for new customers:

Free shipping on Custom Invites & Announcements for new customers
Coupon Code: ZAZZLEINVANN
Expires: 9/30/2009




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Friday, September 18, 2009

J'Adore Paris Gets A New Look




I have come back from my first trip to Europe and the first vacation I have had in five years. I had a wonderful time and the people of Paris are friendly, nice and helpful (except for one grumpy waiter)


Paris is an artist's dream come true, everywhere you look is a painting or a photograph waiting to be captured. I had barely took a step without snapping a photo and all in all I took around 1,200 within the week. The challenge lied in having a very steady hand as most places do not allow flash photography or tripods understandably. I like shooting with available light above flash but in the darkness of some of the churches and buildings you had to become creative.


We managed to get a lot of sightseeing and might I add some extremely good food into the week. It took me 40 years to finally see Notre Dame, the setting for my favoriite book up close. It's beauty is so astounding I easily took over 200 of it alone. Père Lachaise Cemetery was also a highlight for me. It was an overcast day and the leaves on the trees are starting to turn colors and fall. Moss covers most of the tombs and cobblestones wind through a maze of around 300,000 graves.


Versailles was interesting. The castle was a bit much for me and did not hold my interest until I got out in the gardens back by the Hamlet Houses. I fell in love with the beauty of that whole area. It was as if a storybook had opened up and you walked right in. Little cottages lined the lake, a small mill, a spiral wooden staircase, cute little gardens fenced in with wooden gates and a farm with the most handsome, entertaining pig I have ever met. He honestly had me laughing the whole time. We ended up nicknaming him Jambon, the French word for ham, not because he was a pig but for the way he hammed it up for everyone passing by.

"Jambon"


The only thing I did not get to see because of a week long power outage was the catacombs. I was really looking forward to that but perhaps next time.

I have redesigned the store to better reflect the way I felt about Paris. I gave it a warm and inviting feel to it and I have begun to upload some photos and digital paintings. I have in the works a few watercolors that will be posted down the line a bit. I also plan on adding short stories to the photos I have already put up. It is a very big job so please be patient. I hope you enjoy what I have to show...


Zazzle's New Products


It seems that Zazzle had pushed back the relaese of the new products and they just released today. New letterheads, stationery, invitations and more can be found in my 13 Black Cats Designs store. Being away and not having access to a computer I was not able to update the progress of it all so I am sorry to leave you hanging in that sense.

Anyway it is back to posting my photos and catching up on some painting - Let me know what you think!



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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

One Last Design... Alright Three

Today I posted three new designs before I take the week off to refresh and relax. This will be a short and sweet introduction to them.

The first one is Pink Poodles On Parade a trio of fancy patterned poodles prancing around. I was feeling a little silly when I drew them.



The next two are type designs one each for a boy and a girl both spelling out baby, baby, baby

Baby, Baby, Baby Print print
Baby, Baby, Baby Print



I will not have access to a computer for the next week or so, so please be patient if emailing me. I promise I will get back to you as soon as I can. Have a great week everyone and be sure to check out Zazzle later on today for the new top secret stuff!



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Monday, September 7, 2009

Top Secret Stuff Part Two

Have you guessed yet? Still no clue? Well Dexter is busy looking over my shoulder to make sure I don't spill the beans before tomorrow. What I will say is Zazzle has some new and exciting things coming up on September 8th so be sure to visit us tomorrow and see what the excitement is all about.



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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Top Secret Stuff

Top Secret Stuff Going On Behind The Scenes


Hmmmm, what could it be?


Hopefully Dexter does his job and all will be unveiled on September 8th so stay tuned!



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Friday, September 4, 2009

Free Shipping for Labor Day

Labor Day Sale

FREE SHIPPING on $35+ orders!

Use Code: FREELABORDAY

Ends Tuesday!




To qualify for this free shipping offer, one or more Zazzle produts must be purchased with a net sale price equal to or greater than 35.00 dollars. Free shipping offer does not apply to skateboards, or photo sculptures. The coupon code FREELABORDAY must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. The free shipping offer is for standard (or economy if standard is not available) shipping to U.S. addresses only. Shipping charges will apply to oversized orders and orders being shipped on an expedited basis or outside the U.S. Offer is valid from September 3, 2009 through September 8, 2009 at 11:59pm PT. Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only and is not valid on PicturePeople.com, Zazzle.co.uk, Zazzle.com.au or Zazzle.ca orders.





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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Another New Halloween Design



In my quest to learn something new I came upon this tutorial and thought I might give it a try. I like paisley and I LOVE Samhain so I though why not combine the two? I have to say the tutorial is very easy to follow and if you are learning Illustrator or want to learn something new this is a great site.


The paisley design I came up with (a small portion is shown above) involved two of my earlier designs, you may notice the skull and the spider has appeared before plus a new appearance by a bat. I chose citrus colors against black with touches of white. I think it worked well It wasn't hard to do but it was very time consuming. Perhaps it was because I didn't have a plan in my head, I just went along throwing things together, some worked some didn't. Along with the paisley design I made three seals to go along and compliment everything. While these show up in the final paisley they also stand alone.





Enjoying the process and wanting to practice a bit more I drew the next paisley piece.

Green And Pink Paisley Profile Card profilecard
Green And Pink Paisley Profile Card


I have noticed that I have been getting stuck using my favorite colors lately and the original design was no exception. After I finished I went back in and chose a palette I would not normally go for. I would like to do another two or three paisley designs and make them in pastel colors or perhaps jewel colors. Something to break up the norm.


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