Hearts For Haiti

Hearts For Haiti

an artist's project

Everyone is aware of the devastation that has occurred in Haiti this past week. We have all seen the images and many of us have felt helpless. Recently a bunch of artists headed up by Jamie of Jamie Creates decided to put their talents to use for a good cause.

Hearts 4 Haiti is a Zazzle store that features donated designs by various artists. All of the designer's fees will be donated to the Hope For Haiti relief efforts. I am proud to join my fellow artists with a design that I have donated.

My Design: Give A Little, Gain A Lot

Haiti Relief Valentine Stickers by Hearts4Haiti

If you are an artist and would like to make a contribution to the store please visit the Hearts For Haiti Facebook group for instructions.

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Wow, What A Week!

Well it has been quite a week for me on Zazzle and I have been blown away by the success of my relatively new store Pen And Ink. Zazzle has chosen it to be a featured store last week and has awarded me two Today's Best Awards and I am honored.

It is funny sometimes where inspiration comes from. All last week I have noticed people putting old retro photos of themselves on Facebook. It started me thinking a bit of my childhood and the summers my family and I would spend down the shore. Most of my childhood was spent in Wildwood, New Jersey at a place called The Siesta Motel. It is funny how some things can fly you back in time and for me it was the colors of this motel. It was a throwback from the fifties even if it was the early seventies at the time and it was all done up in black, white and baby pink. I remember it as if it were just a few moments ago and I remember it clearly. After time they remodeled the place and it was painted in the neutral colors of brown and cream, not nearly as special as it once was. Sadly the hotel has been knocked down to make condos but it will forever live in my memory.

Siesta Motel 1" Binder TBA winner and Most Viewed 1/15/10

Siesta Motel Recipe Letterhead TBA winner

Siesta Motel Business Card

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Gifts For Gardeners

I admit, I haven't been updating here as much as I should but in my defense I have been a bit busy trying to tie up loose ends in my stores. That includes adding to existing designs like my Spring Tulips.

Spring Tulips Garden Journal

The one thing I have always wanted to see Zazzle carry is journals (and address labels but that is a different story) Anyway I decided to take the already existing calendars and make one myself.

I love gardening, I love flowers and all the things they attract. I like mud and the smell of dirt too and I don't mind worms and bugs. I have a very large shoebox filled with little envelopes of seeds, old favorites and new ones on the market. I will try it all although not to full success but where is the fun in that? I am not by any means an expert gardener either, I just love to sit in my backyard on the hammock my dad once sat in and stare at the blooms gently swaying in the wind. I could do that for hours.

Above is a garden journal that I had designed for myself. There is plenty of room for notes, different seeds and plant types and in the back is a few pages set aside for recipes. I have already started filling mine up with my favorite plants that are just waiting for spring thaw. I think if you are a gardener, you just might like it. Zazzle was even kind enough to award it with a Today's Best Award.

I added some more products to the Spring Tulips line. I had made this background for a design from my Pen And Ink store. I thought it would go perfectly with the tulips. You will find binders and letterheads that can also be used for gardening and a whole array of matching products too.

Spring Tulips Garden Binder

Spring Tulips Letterhead

Spring Tulips Bag

Next thing to tackle is a very outdated website, oh where to begin with that...


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It's Party Time!

Ahhhh, the holidays have come and gone and I can come out from hiding. While I was ducking behind the couch I was playing with some color. Anyone in the Northeast right now can tell you it is cold and today the wind is raging to the point of almost being frightening. To keep the thoughts off of the rather large tree in my backyard I decided to add to my Celebrate section as it is not very full by any means. I can say I had quite a bit of fun doing this design and it didn't take me very long in Illustrator but did take quite a while in Zazzle.

Party Hats Photo Card

First off I wanted to take advantage of the great photocards Zazzle now offers. I set this one up in both horizontal and vertical with thoughts of using them as announcements or thank you cards for after the party. It is easy to personalize, just upload your photo and type in the name and it is ready to go.

I added a whole line of party supplies, things for the birthday boy or girl and some things for the professional party planner too.

Party Hats Card

I'm The Birthday Boy Party Hats Shirt

Party Hats Invitation

On another note though I had planned another tutorial for everyone as I was working on an illustration for the Owl and the Pussycat. Well as I was drawing and inking the design I realized that I had mixed up two nursery rhymes in my head and there is a moon jumping cow where she is not supposed to be. Make sure you look for the NEW version soon, as for me I am going to call it an early day of designing.


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