PeaPod Necklace Giveaway!

Hi all!

Just saw another great giveaway today! Visit Persimmons Gal's blog!! She's giving away this adorable polymer clay peapod necklace!!! Check her out! She sells some adorable things! Just thought you might like to enter!

Aimée

Wordless Wednesday - Tea Party with Blue

Lo having a tea party with Blue, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

And the winner is ....

Lucky number 13 which was Jodi Ohl!!! Congrats Jodi! You've won my 4 Bistro prints. I will be contacting you shortly Jodi! You all need to check out Jodi's art!! She's fanta-bu-lous! Jodi is also on the same Etsy team as I am. Metsy (mixed media etsy). You can search Metsy on Etsy and every artist on the team's work will show up.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for entering this giveaway!! I learned so much from your responses and got a lot of great feedback. Thank so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to help an artist out! I truly do appreciate it.

I have already started the clean up process in my shops. I'll no longer be offering bookmarks regularly but may throw some in every now and then. I've also taken out the prints that haven't sold in a super long time. I am going to refocus my energies on series and OOAK pieces. I hope that helps a bit.

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I also wanted to thank those of you who have been praying for my Nana. She passed away this past week on the 13th of all days which was her birthday. This is what I wrote the night it happened.

Just wanted you to get the feeling of Nana's surroundings tonight. I am just now getting home. Nana died peacefully tonight and was at peace and surrounded by her children. I left about 15 minutes before to head home with my Dad and Becky. I am relieved but really sad at the same time. I loved this woman more than anything in the world. God was there it was evident in the peace in the room, also the view from her bed was of God's wonderful creatures. We were joking that Nana was Snow White because all of these wild animals were at her window or close to it. Chipmunks playing, squirrels, a badger, 2 young deer, rabbits, various birds. I am not kidding one bit. The animals were all there and not scared at all. The hard part was when 2 cardinals landed on the bench near her window. Cardinals were Nana's favorite birds and were with her at the end.

Again thank you all for your support and blog love!

Aimée

Goals and a Giveaway!!!

I'm a big goofball and needed a laugh! LOL

I don't know about you but I could use a giveaway for all my sweet readers. hmmmm. Any takers? More about the giveaway in a bit. This post is all about goals. I have had a lot of goals in the past that haven't happened due to my laziness or poor planning. Being a mom has taught me that I need to properly plan a day otherwise things just will not happen that you want to happen. I've decided to take that to the next level with my art. My art came about from being bored during the long Northern NY winters we have here. It ignited a passion in me I didn't even know existed until really this past year. I found my niche in Mixed Media and I'm not looking back!!!!! I think it's from all those years of using Photoshop at my old job doing graphic design that did it. Why? Because in Photoshop you use layers to build your compositions and that's exactly like mixed media. I just LOVE it and I think it comes naturally to me because of my previous graphic design experience.

Art = Life to me right now. It makes me happy inside. Lately I have heard that from a lot of people who like my art, it makes them feel happy and that in turn makes me happy all over again! OK so I rabbit-trailed a bit. I'm sorry. Anyways what I was getting at is I'm taking my goals to another level with my art. This year it is my goal to get my art published in at least one publication!! I would love to be in one of those fabulous Somerset Studio publications any one or my favorite Cloth Paper Scissors, I don't care which!!! That is my goal. I'm realizing I'm not making art now that I think people will want to buy, I'm making art that is coming out of my soul. This is helping me with my goal because I have been getting some great exposure lately. I think it helps to say it out loud too!! I have a mental goal list that I plan and hope to accomplish this year. Have you done that too? I think it helps to keep me on track, I probably should write it down.

One of my other goals is to simplify! My art is all over the place and now that I've found my niche I need to simplify my shops. I think I'm getting out of the bookmark biz and may do a sale of those. I am also going to discontinue prints that haven't sold in a year except for a few special ones. Gotta keep it simple and clean!

Last but not least is the never changing lose weight goal! UGH! Seems like it never ends. I am on track though and started the South Beach Diet last week and LOVE the food. So we'll see how I do on phase one and if I'll continue but man it's a struggle!! I know I'm not alone. I'd love to look like this again!

The goofball that I am! This was after losing almost 40# and before Lo.

OK on to the FUN part! The giveaway!!!!

(Part 1) I would love to hear your goals and aspirations this year. What are you planning on doing and how are you going to accomplish it? (Part 2) I'd love to know which of my art is your fave whether it be style, medium or actual piece. This will help me when I'm cleaning up and simplifying my shops!

The prize will be the ENTIRE set of my Bistro series!!! Yes all 4 prints which I normally sell for $40 as a set. These are so great together and would make a colorful addition to your home and hopefully make you really happy!!!!

But wait!!! That's not all folks, for just a little write up on your blog announcing this or if you become a follower of my blog I will throw in a print of choice to you if you're the winner! You can pick another print that you want, any print!! Just let me know that you've done either or both. Also make sure I have a way to contact you. I will leave this giveaway open for a week. Next Sunday I will pick a winner at random using the Random.org integer generator. I hope I've brought smiles to everyone's faces today.

Thanks all for your support, kind words and blog love! I truly appreciate it!

Aimée AKA Mazer

Le Cirque Series - Now Listed

All 5 paintings!!!, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

Hi all,

I finally got my art back from the APW gallery today in the mail. I have since listed 4 of them. "The Costume" has already sold. Each are listed for $100 each and all are mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas and coated in beeswax.

ArtFire Listings

Etsy Listings

I'm so glad to finally have these back. I hope they find new homes quickly! If you have any questions feel free to email me!

Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mom's out there. I hope you have a special day. Free shipping for all mom's this weekend!!! Use code Mom09 in either shop.

I have a Lovely Lulette!!!!

I'm so very excited about this little piece of art!!! If you don't know what a Lulette is then check out Jenn McGlon's shop!! These miniatures are super popular and now I know why, they're simply adorable!! I've been trying for over a year to get one! She sells out almost as fast as she lists. I tried once and I didn't even have 10 seconds to preview the item before it was snatched up. These are hotcakes! I had a very rough day with saying goodbye to my Nana and this box was in my mailbox when I got home which brough a smile to my face. It's super cute with a big splash of pretty! I took photos of the opening process!! Her packaging was adorable too. Anyways BIG SHOUT OUT to Jenn at Noodle and Lou! Check her out you won't be disappointed. Thanks Jenn!!







Also I promised you photos of the art all hung up by other artists in my studio and here they are.

Excuse the lack of trim, this room is still a WIP!

There is only one piece in the mix which is mine. Enjoy!!

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers during this hard time. It's great to have you as my friends.

Aimée

2 More Little Ones

Out of the Blue - Mixed media, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

Got busy last night creating and it felt good. I think my creativity is going to help get me through this rough time. I'm so thankful for this gift from God.

Out of the Blue (pictured above)
I made molds of these flowers out of vintage pins, buttons and beads so I can recreate them at any time!! I may do a series of these with limited color schemes. It was so much fun!! I melted UTEE in my melting pot and poured them into the molds!! So much fun and a whole new world to explore!!! This is a 5 x 5 piece and has water color crayons, acrylics, UTEE flowers, silver marker and oil marker. This is now listed on ArtFire.

A Little French
I started this piece a few weeks ago and never finished it until last night. I like how it turned out. I used a light molding pasted for the Fleur de Lis and stamped in the image from a foam stamp I have. It has lots of nice texture to it. It's now listed on Etsy.

Enjoy!

Off to get my daughter to her 2 year check up, fun fun!

Thank you to all who responded to my blog yesterday. Reading everyone's heartfelt comments made my day a bit easier. This is a rough time and I know she will no longer be in pain so that eases it a bit but I'm sure going to miss my Nana. I'm working on another tattoo in memory of her. It will probably include a cardinal, a strawberry and some lily of the valley flowers. All her favorites. I'll keep you posted on that.

:)

Aimée

Blogging through the tears.

Visit with Nana, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

This is the last photo I have with my Nana and Lorelei. This was taken last summer. We have rough winters here and it didn't make it easy to get across the lake to VT unless we took the ferry across. The ferry is ridiculously expensive and so most of the time we don't go across either way. My biggest regret is not getting over there more to visit my sweet Nana and Papa with Lorelei.

I'm absolutely heartbroken right now. The last time I spoke to Nana was right before my trip to Holland. We were trying to arrange a time for them to help us get to the airport in Burlington. It didn't work out because of schedules, they weren't going to be around when we got back from Holland because they were going on vacation to Costa Rica, something my Aunt set up for them. My cousin and their grandson lives in CR and they were going to see him and get some warm weather during our cold winter. She went there as Nana and came back differently.

Nana suffered a fall and stroke while she was there and was put on Life Support in CR for weeks, then she started improving is what we were told. We couldn't get a straight read on her CAT scan of her brain. The care there was phenomenal I was told and she was in good hands. Various family members went to visit and care for her as well. I was going to try and go but it was too difficult financially for us as well as who would take care of Lo. I never went.

She was just medivac'd back here last week and put in the local hospital. She has a DNR order in place and my Papa was told by the local neurologist that her brain has atrophied and what she is now is what she will be, basically a vegetable. My Nana would never have wanted this to happen. She was so full of life and energy and lived up to her red hair!!

My Papa made the choice 2 nights ago to let nature take it's course. Not sure how much longer she'll be with us. I'm going to try and go over on Tuesday to say my goodbyes. How do you say goodbye to the most wonderful woman in the world? She was the glue in our family, she loved a good party, she still worked out 3 times a week at her gym even at 88 years old. She was a strong woman of God. Devout Jesus follower and the best Nana I could have ever had. She wasn't just my Nana she was a dear friend. I lived with them for 6 months and we had some great times together. It was in the 90's and I even taught her the macarena!! We used to dance together in her kitchen to it and I started calling her the "Maca-Nana". We had so many inside jokes the two of us. I am going to miss her spice for life, her laugh, her face squishes and big kisses. Her calling to talk to Lorelei just to say "I love you". She is truly going to be missed and a big chunk of my heart is being ripped out. I love you Nana more than you ever will know.

Part of me is at peace knowing she's going to Heaven. She is going to be reunited with her Savior and also her son Michael who died 20 years ago. What a happy reunion that will be. I've had months to come to grips with all of this but it's not helping. Please pray for my family as we go through this hard time.

"Renewed" - ©Kathryn Riechert 2009

I bought this necklace as a reminder of her and as a reminder to pray while she was still in CR. It helped me out. It was meant for me because of the name and the stone. My Nana's birthday is May 13th, her birthstone is the emerald which was one of her favorites. I bought this necklace from one of my favorite sellers on Etsy named Kathryn Riechert. She has become a sweet online friend and has made some special pieces of jewelry for me. It's a keepsake for sure. This necklace was named "Renewed" by her and it just jumped off the page of her shop and I bought it instantly. I was looking for something to remind me to pray for Nana, this did. I have only taken it off once since I bought it. It has an emerald for a stone. My plan was to bury this with Nana once I knew she was renewed. I was hoping she would get better and I was going to give it to her or if not I was going to bury it with her. She wants to be cremated so now what do I do? I think I might hang it on a wall with my art or something as a memorial to her. What do you think?

I'm sorry for the long blog but my heart is just overwhelmed and I needed to get this off my chest.

Thank you for reading.

Time to Clear Out!!!

Hi all!!

I've been cleaning out my studio the last few days and it's a disaster zone!!! I should have those yellow warning strips all over the place. Caution look out for falling art! The good thing is I have found things that have been missing for forever, things I have forgotten about and more. I am starting to see my desk which means more room for more art. I've put purchased art up on the wall where it should be finally and will post a photo when my studio becomes clean again.

Speaking of art, I have listed 4 originals on ArtFire and 4 originals on Etsy. We'll see which sells faster! I need to get rid of these pieces, I have no more room in my bulging studio. If you see something you like please TWEET it or pass it on to someone else I would like to clear things out.

Here's what was listed in my ArtFire Shop:

Swirlyville Flowers
Love
She Discovered What Was Inside
Stand Out In Your Field

Here's what was listed in my Etsy shop:

Everything A Girl Could Want
Among the Blossoms
Chocolate Chip Bouquet
In the Land of Good and Plenty

PHEW!! That was exhausting!

And ....

since some of you haven't seen her in awhile ... here's Miss Lorelei modeling for me! She's getting so big and so fun! Thought you might like to see her.



Thanks for stopping by!

Aimée