Great Sale At Greeting Card Universe

Take advantage of a great sale going on at Greeting Card Universe and get a head start on all of your holiday cards.

Buy your Christmas Cards early and Save 50 Cents per card!

Use promo code CHRISTMAS229 at checkout.

Thanksgiving Cards
Mabon Cards
Christmas Cards
Solstice and Yule Cards

Of course you can use it on any card you buy from my store.

New designs are on the way too.

Need matching Postage stamps or Sticker seals to finish off those envelopes?

Thanksgiving/Mabon Postage
Thanksgiving/Mabon Seals
Christmas/Solstice Seals
Christmas/Solstice Postage

To see the current Zazzle Coupon Codes Click Here




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New Designs Across The Board

Well it has been a busy last few days and I got quite a bit done and a few new designs to show off too!

New in 13 Black Cats Designs

Staring You Down Bag

Today's doodle is a quick pen and ink with watercolor. The idea just kind of popped in my head, well sort of flashed but flashed long enough to grab a piece of paper and jot it down. This morning I drew it out on a piece of watercolor paper, did the ink work and added color with paint. I wanted a kind of marker appeal to it, almost like a comic book and while that is not my forte I think I pulled it off a bit.

A very simple design I rendered in Illustrator a few days ago called A Cup Of Joe

Cup Of Joe Mug

This design started out as a circle, flattening the top and adding a few swirls for the handles and steam

New In J'adore Paris - 4 new designs premiere

Paris Photo Binder 1.5"

Marie's Sunflowers Mousepad

Paris Fruit Market Postcard

Arc de Triomphe Triptych Print

The first one is a collage of different shots around Paris set into a color slide filmstrip. The second, Marie's Sunflowers, are a field of sunflowers growing nearby The Hamlet Houses, were Marie spent her last days before being taken and later beheaded. The third, Paris Fruit Market was shot just wandering around Paris. Not only does Paris have these beautiful gardens scattered about everywhere but they also have these beautiful, unique storefronts that are obviously taken care of with great pride. The last design for J'adore Paris is a triptych of the Arc de Triomphe, standing in front of it looking up. Unfortunately I could not shoot this further back, It would have meant I would be road kill for that is one serious round-about that I would dare not cross. I fully understand the reasoning for the underground passageway to get to the "island" the Arc sits upon.

and finally what's new in Pen And Ink...

Crazy Squares Letterhead

Crazy Squares started out in Illustrator with colored diamonds amongst black and ecru ones. Then was finished up in Photoshop with a bit of a cubism effect.

Well, there are my last few days in a nutshell. I really do enjoy what I do and want to thank all of my customers, fans, followers and admirers. I am honored that you take the time out of your day to follow what I am doing and I am happy to share my work with you. Until next time have a great weekend!


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Breast Cancer Month

Everyone knows that October is breast cancer month and how important it is to be aware. Zazzle gave a call out to it's designers to donate a design for their Pink Ribbon Store. This wasn't too hard for me, the design came very easily. I drew it in Illustrator adding the words into the ribbon, brought it into Photoshop - shaded and highlighted it then used a select focus.

Unfortunately my family has been touched by cancer as so many others have too so this is a way to remember my loved ones. *I have donated the design below to the Pink Ribbon Store for sale on T-shirts and Postage where Zazzle will donate 20% of the net product sale to breast cancer related causes* The rest will be available in my store for sale.

*pending review and upload by Zazzle

**20% of the net sale of all the products in The Pink Ribbon Store will go to support breast cancer awareness causes. For postage products, net sale is defined as the difference between the sale value and the face value of the postage.

I AM, I DID, I WAS Cancer Pink Ribbon Sticker

I AM, I CAN, I WILL Cancer Pink Ribbon Sticker

I thought I might add some great designs from artists I admire:

Pink Ribbon Button by floatinglemons

Love your Boo-bees by cfkaatje

Burned Butterfly

Burned Butterfly Sticker

Latest design on Pen and Ink and 13 Black Cats Designs too!

I began fooling around with brushes and swirls in Illustrator yesterday to see if anything would come of it. I began to randomly draw swirls and they started to take the shape of a butterfly wing and so a butterfly was born.

After getting one side of the wing finished I had to expand the brush strokes so I could reflect it to the other side. I drew the body using circles and ovals and tied it together with a solid wing behind the swirls.

Originally I was going to do a monarch type butterfly in orange but when I opened it in photoshop it just wasn't working. I accidentally fell upon a teal color when randomly clicking around the color box. (Art is so precise isn't it?) Once the teal color was chosen I thought I would set it against a dark brown so I made a background, added the noise filter and then crosshatched it to give it a bit of a vintage look. The butterfly was still a bit too bright so I change it's opacity to Color Burn, merged it with the brown background and gave it a bit of a glow.

Since this design started to develop a vintage feel to it I made a background like an old newspaper. First I started with a cream background and burned the edges, added a slight bit of noise and applied a monotone color of brown to age it. I typed some random letters to fill the page and changed the opacity to overlay and then 50%. merged it down and there you have it, old newspaper! The full line can be found on Pen And Ink and a variation of it can be found on 13 Black Cats Designs.

From Pen And Ink:

Burned Butterfly Invitation

Burned Butterfly Gift Certificate

Burned Butterfly Name Tag Button

From 13 Black Cats Designs:

Burned Butterfly Bag

Burned Butterfly Mousepad

Burned Butterfly Shirt

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This Is What Happens When You Sit Alone In A Sushi Restaurant

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Kitty Print

Save 10% on Posters And Prints On Zazzle

Le Poulbot Print

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.

Père Lachaise Cemetery 1 Print

Notre Dame Light The Way Print

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

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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