Hello Spring!

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Gotye- Somebody That I Used To Know

I'm sorta having a mini obsession session over this song and video.
Watch the painting move all over those bodies.



I heard from friends in Europe that this song is making it HUGE over there.
It may be big over here on the North American continent too,
but I guess I live under a rock sometimes, so I wouldn't know ;) Jason Bieber who?

I think Gotye (pronounced gore-ti-yeah) is Belgian, or Australian. It's a little difficult to tell.
Guest appearance by Kimbra.

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Happy Holiday From Organic Pink Lady!

2012 Trailer Camper Caravan Calendar

Check out my new calendar design for 2012!
Who can resist cute vintage airstreams and campers?
So many adventures happen in these happy colorful trailers all year long.
Do you love it? You can find it in my Etsy Shop right now :)

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Holy Confetti Birdbaths and Cupcakes!

It's Springtime! And I'm super honored and happy to let you know that Organic Pink Lady is a Featured Artist at Firefly Handmade's Springtime Market. It'll be on April 9-10th up at Historic Chautauqua in collaboration with The Makerie - what is sure to be an inspiring creative retreat. They even have a shoe making class. Shoe making, peeps! So if you're a local or visiting beautiful Boulder, Colorado, early April, come on by for a slice of Handmade Happy Heaven ;)

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Illustration Friday on Monday Afternoon

© 2011 Juliette Nelson

It has been aaages since I've contributed to IF. This week's theme is "layer".
A good handful of my paintings are layer or stack-like, aren't they.

© 2011 Juliette Nelson

This time I thought I'd share a couple of sketches from a page in my sketch book, where (yes, my sketch book is a place) I sit for hours and hours engrossed in creating and following invisible lines, colors and rhythms, rendering them visible. When I sketch, if I'm not out in the world, I like to sit at my drafting table, or on a couch, surrounded by pens, watercolors and colored pencils of all varieties. I love having them all at my finger tips, that way I can scan the array of colors and textures available and pick up the one that matches the moment :)

Make sure to check out all the amazing work on Illustration Friday!

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Feliz Ano Novo! Happy New Year!

Can you see the two million people on the beach and street? That's New Years in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, friends. In my opinion, it's the very best New Years in the entire world. Everyone wears white, lights candles on the beach, jumps over 7 waves on one foot while making a wish, throws flowers in the ocean for the goddess of the sea and then the fireworks are beyond spectacular.


The best part, though, is the absolute love that can't help but explode between strangers. You really do feel part of a huge human family and you kiss and hug as many of those strangers (and your own friends and loved ones too, of course ;) as you can. Then you dance on the street all night, watch the sunrise and walk back to your Vovó's apartment. You wish her good morning and a Happy New Year, wrap her in billions of love, and go to bed.


It is in this spirit that I Thank You for being a friend of Organic Pink Lady this past year. I appreciate your enthusiasm, support, friendship and encouragement more than you can imagine. Thank you. May all of our truest dreams be realized in this dawning decade.

Love,
Juliette

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A Flowering Tree

Here are the ornaments I made for my Ornament Swap friends. There were 10 different designs. I made them double sided with a gold thread sandwiched between the two sides for hanging. You can sort of see almost all of them in the photos.

That was fun :)

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Tiny Tree with Teeny Tiny Lights with Handmade Ornaments

This tiny tree (the tip of my friends' tree) is my Xmas tree this year. It's only about 2.5 feet tall but I did string teeny tiny lights on it. What a sweet Xmas it has been, sitting around my tree, basking in all of its darlingness, several times a day and night. I've especially enjoyed all the handmade ornaments I received! I didn't even bring out any of my other ornaments! The second swap in which I participated was organized by Nicole of freshlyblended. There were 10 of us in my group.

From left to right, Thank You:
1. Gabrielle 2. Courtney 3. Theresa
4. Annie 5. Kelly 6. Susan
7. Krisi 8. Claresa and 9. Suzi

What fun! It was like Xmas in my mailbox for a full couple of weeks! Thank you, everyone! I love them all :)

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Ornament Swap

Recently, my studio has spread from "the studio", to a table in another room, to a couch, to yet another table and, the floor in another room! Ah, the holidays, what fun it has been to make and send off so many packages. Three of my packages were sent to Lola, Louise and Annette. I don't know these wonderful people in person, but I made and sent them each an ornament. And Annette, Bree and Jennifer don't know me personally either, but they made and sent me an ornament each! It was

The

organized by the ever creative Louise Gale! Our challenge was to create 3 ornaments using only red, green or gold (black and white were allowed as well). I'll show you the ones I made, but first, marvel at the amazing ones I received!

This one was made by Annette, in Australia :)

And this one by Bree :)

And this one by Jennifer Phillips :)

Thank you Annette, Bree and Jennifer!

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It's ALL about LOVE

Give Love! Don't be afraid! Give your Love away! It'll be okay! Love is Life!

I Love this song and animation by MC Yogi
The colors, the sound, the words, the everything.


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This One Is For Cyclists

Know any cyclists? Know any cyclists who looove climbing mountains? Know any cyclists who looove climbing mountains that get steeper and steeper, where their only companions are the pikas?

Something like

this :) ?

This is a card I designed for Organic Pink Lady. You can get it right here.
There are two slightly different versions in the set. If you'd like more than one of either design or both designs, awesome! Just let me know.

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It's never too late to send Festive Greetings!

Oooo I've been busy stocking my little online shop with lots of cards recently.
There are 12 "Festive Trees", printed as "posting cards", from a collection of 36.



I may have a few more printed, we'll see.



Do you know what "posting cards" are? I think I made the term up.
Essentially, they're part postcard, as in you write on the reverse side,
yet they're part greeting card, in that you send them in envelopes.


They're sort of like prints too. Special.


You could even give one, or an assorted set, as a lovely gift.



I listed 3 sets of 4 different cards. Most of them you can get individually too.
If you'd like a particular design/number, I'm happy to accommodate pretty much any request.



In fact, if you'd like regular folding cards instead of "posting cards", well, no problem,
they're absolutely sweet as folded cards too.



There are lots of other goodies in my Etsy Shop. Come visit :)


Happy December, friends. I love December.

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And ... we're open!

My little online Art Shop is back in business, Friends! To celebrate its opening, I'd like to introduce you to Organic Pink Lady's first ever 2011 Desk Calendar.

I'm quite pleased and proud of how it turned out. Each month features a different design by me and all 12 months fit sweetly into a CD case that flips back to sit on a flat surface. I hope you love it too!

Please help me spread the word of its existence, as in a couple of months it will no longer be available. You can send your friends, family or coworkers a link to my site: http://www.OrganicPinkLady.com or a link directly to my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/organicpinklady (PS. I love shipping internationally). Thank you! Any help you can offer in getting the word out about my online presence and shop is greatly appreciated! Here's to a wonderful beginning!

I'll be adding more goodies to the shop everyday for a while. Mini drawing journals and coloring books, fabric ornaments, customizable holiday cards, glossy cards, new prints and maybe even some original paintings.


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Here's a Sneak Peek

at Organic Pink Lady's 2011 Desk Calendar in process!
(and a few gift tags in the mix ;)
It'll be ready any day now. It's going to be sweet. It'll all fit into an adorable CD case which will flip back to sit nicely on a flat surface. The Calendar will kick off the re-opening of my Etsy Shop. SOOOPER HOOORAY! I'll be adding new items regularly all month ... new Prints, Holiday Postcards, my Cupcake Bobbles, Notecards, Sticker Sets, a Mini Coloring Book or two and maybe even a few Fabric Sculptures. Stay tuned :)

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Sewing Is Like Construction

Supplies Roll-Up
This project, the "fruit roll up", as I tend to call it, is something I've wanted to make for a very long time. And of course, probably for that reason, it was one of the more challenging ones so far. But really, sewing, I've realized, at this stage anyway, is like construction. You just attach one piece to another piece, in the right order, avec beaucoup de patience, and voilá, you've made something! It's quite satisfying and the process is completely different to how I paint. It is true that there are painters who paint this way, (they think, they plan, they lay it all out and construct their paintings), it's just not the way I paint these days. I suppose as one becomes more skilled and confident in front of the sewing machine, one may become more free to improvise, adding and subtracting in the moment.
See how "the fruit roll-up" works?
In this case I rolled up all the different pens I use to sign my paintings.

Pencil Case
This is the second reason I wanted to learn to sew. Who can resist an adorable zippered pouch?
I can't believe I installed a zipper.

What is this called? A Pot Holder?
But it's not one of those things on which you place a pot. It's one of those things you use to take hot pans out of hot ovens. Anyway, I combined the 'pot holder' and 'bib' projects and came up with my first me-made pattern. Sewing over super thick and bumpy bias tape was very challenging. I completely redid it at least 3 times. I see now, why so many are so fond of their 'seam rippers' ;)
And here's the back. Made of a piece of dark jeans.
I'm happy to be sewing/making things! It's not that hard if you're patient with yourself and have detailed instructions designed for your level of expertise. Finding a way to roll those things up in your Supplies Roll-Up ;) might be the trickiest part of learning a new skill though.

(See Project 1)
(See Projects 2+3)

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Feeling Like a Total Rock Star

Project 2
A Drawstring Pouch.
The top blue fabric used to be pants.
It's amazing how perfectly the color matches the blue in the print fabric.
See, you can carry your drawing pad and markers in it :)
Project 3
A Tote Bag.
I managed to line it. Not entirely sure how I did that but it worked!
So pretty, isn't it.
(See Project 1)

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meet Sven :)

This is Sven, my 1970's Swedish sewing machine.

And look what we made:
A double sided napkin!
I can sew, by hand. As a child I used to go to a little (really, she was little) old (really, she was old) English lady's house after school once a week and she taught me to embroider. How I loved making beautiful things. Unfortunately, I don't have a single piece of the work I did then, but it was really nice.

My only encounter with a sewing machine was in Girl Scouts when they helped us sew an apron. I remember being nervous, but so excited to sew by machine. It was awesome. I was so amazed with my creation that since that very day, I have been wondering when and how I'd learn to sew by machine again.

Fast forward at least a couple of decades; I was gifted with a machine (yup, that would be Sven). For two, maybe three, years after receiving my gift, it sat in the corner of my living room, as I was too afraid to use it! I thought I'd never understand all of its complexities and possibilities, all of its dials & stitches, different needles, fabrics and thread varieties. I was sure it would be a horrendously frustrating, sad, lonely and disappointing ordeal. My feelings weren't logical, of course, as I've taught myself numerous skills by sheer imagination and trial & error, yet the sewing machine still remained an enigma to me.

Sometimes I'd lift off its cover, look at it lovingly, then close it back up again with a sigh. I'd imagine all the things I wanted to make. I'd leaf through beautiful instructional books, trying to understand. I'd drool at other people's beautiful creations and I'd even go to the fabric store and make mental notes of all the fabrics and prints I liked. Then finally, last Xmas, I was gifted once again. A seamstress friend of mine generously came over and showed me how to thread the machine and how to wind the bobbin (good job I didn't even know about the existence of the bobbin until that very moment). She told me a little about needles & thread and didn't seem freaked out at all. Then we fiddled with "the tension". All I can say is thank goodness I had absolutely no idea I had to worry about "tension" all of those years!

Anyway, I listened carefully, appreciating every moment of this blessing, especially her calm confidence in front of The Sewing Machine. That was 8 months ago and just last week I signed up for a short on-line class. Yes, me, the non-believer in on-line education (that's another post), signed up for an on-line sewing class! I did it two weeks after it had already started, (illogical feelings again), but I did it!

Wow.

Here's a sneak preview of project number 2 in the making :)

Only 22 more or so to go!

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Pencil Sculpture

Some of us passed notes and doodled on every scrap of paper while in school,
some of us carved pencils. Look at what Dalton Ghetti can do now!
Pretty impressive!

AND I was pleasantly surprised to read that he's originally from Brasil. He even has words of wisdom about how a change of attitude helped him successfully complete more pieces. I'll have to sit with his idea and apply it to some of my projects and "intentions".

The picture above is of one single pencil, peeps. Isn't it amazing.

Last year I wrote about Willard Wigan. His work is definitely worth another look this year. The original video posted is no longer available, but if you click on his name in that post, you'll be linked to a few videos on his site. I've watched them all at least a couple of times. Wow. It makes it ever more clear to me that no matter what we do, as children or adults, we ought to be encouraged and given lots of room and space in which to follow our passion. It's clear that the experiences and lessons gained are profound, worthy, and many.

I can't wait to see Dalton Ghetti's long 10 year piece complete.
I'm sure it'll be memorable.


PS. Thank you to my friend Karen Symons for first posting about this artist :)

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