2nd Annual - It's my birthday but you get the gifts giveaway!!

Hi all!

As some of you know next Friday is my 36th birthday and I'm not dreading it like I was last year! I'm looking forward to it for some strange reason and you all can look forward to some fabulous gifts from some wonderful sponsors! YES that's right GIFTS! I'm giving away things, some are mine to give, others are donated from some wonderful Etsy shops and artist friends. You can start entering by midnight tonight and I will stop the comments on the morning of the 9th. Here's the list of the generous sponsors:

Becky Hilgendorf - 5 Original Art Cards

Amanda Makepeace - Original Frog ACEO

Mindy Murphy Lacefield - Tim's Sally - Acorna Pocket Mirror with bag

Erin Keck - EK Creations - "Love Within Our Reach" mixed media necklace

Shelli Dorfe - DazeyChic - Print of your choice & a journal!

Zuda Gay Pease - Handmade Beads & Pendants - Original Polymer Sunflower Brooch

Amy Kane Smith - Amy Smith Mixed Media -

Handpainted & Stitched Card wallet (OR) a pair of earrings.

Amy Kane Smith Glass - $10 Gift Certificate

Kelly Nelson Warren - Happy Shack Designs - Glass Tile Necklace

Kim Geiser - Persimmons Gal - Original ACEO & A Pair of Earrings

Julia Jewels White - Jewels Dolls - Handmade Christmas Doll

Jodi Marie Foster - 3 Art Dolls Kit
(plastic carry case included, 3 fabric doll forms with materials for embellishing (feathers, beads, face cabs, fibers)

EBSQ - Self Representing Artists - One FREE month of membership!

& Me! - MazerDesign - Original Little Whimsie of your Choice (I have 3 originals left!)

Please be sure to visit these wonderful artist's websites and say hi!

I will announce the 15 winners on my birthday (Oct. 9th)!!

Here's the rules:

1. Add a comment on my blog (this post) to enter (that's not hard right?)

2. Tell me what the best birthday gift you ever received was!

3. If you want bonus points add a link on your blog (tell me about it) about this giveaway and you'll get your name entered 2 more times!

Good luck to all who enter and thanks for playing!! Feel free to pass this along to others as well! OK now go do something nice for someone! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND YOU! :)

Coming Soon!!!

Check back Oct. 1 and enter my birthday giveaway!! It will run until October 9th (my birthday) when I will pick the multiple winners!! We have some great sponsors this year who have generously donated some awesome goodies for you. I wish I could enter!!!! Just wanted to give you a sneak peek of what is to come! I hope you come and play!!!

MAZER!

Christmas Tag Swap!

I'm doing so many new things this year and a Christmas tag swap is one of them! The lovely and talented Pat May of Whyte is hosting this particular swap and I was lucky to be a part of it! I created 9 tags and will be receiving 9 various tags from 9 other talented artists! Exciting!! I had so much fun creating these buggers. I used lots of Pearl X powders in the background, white paint, caran d'ache neocolor crayons, pitt pens, stamps, ranger distress ink, gel pens, brads, fiber and some beads!! Each one is unique and all have one word stamped on it. Here are the words: joy, love, peace, santa, rejoice, sweet, give, sing and home. I even made a little tag on the back that says "made with love", etc. I'm glad I was able to participate!! Thank you Pat!! Check out Pat's great shop and blog! Show her some love and tell her Aimée sent you!

I always knew I was a bad girl!!

I'm proud to announce I am part of the Bad Girls Design Team!!!!!

This was the announcement on their blog:

Please WELCOME our new Design Team gals!

All good things come to those who wait... And, the waiting is over!

So, please join me and put your virtual hands together to welcome our new FABULOUS designers...

Pam Colosimo

Jaz Lee Soo Hui

Anna Dąbrowska-Pękocka

Kathryn Johnson

Wendela Lam

Katie Turner

Julie Ann Shahin

Francesca Di Leo

Tania Davey

•••••••Aimée Wheaton •••••••

Look for lots of exciting things to happen RIGHT HERE over the next few weeks... the new DT's bios, headshots, the FIRST CHALLENGE (WOO-HOO!!!!!!!), and much much MORE!

CONGRATS again ladies... And, WELCOME!!!!!!

And the winner is ....

Angie in Arizona!!!! No joke it picked number 1! I'll contact you on FB for your address!! Congrats!! And thank you to everyone who commented and wished me well!! You're all the best!

Aimée

It's my 200th post!!

I love giving!

Under the weather and feeling crappy but I wanted to brighten your day! This is my 200th post and I feel like giving you something! I can't believe I've almost been blogging for 2 years! Insane! I think I started in mid-October of 2007. Well on to this giveaway! I am giving away a brand new copy of "Creative Awakenings" - Envisioning the life of your dreams through art. You can read more about the book by clicking the link.

All you have to do is leave a comment and I will pick a number using the random number generator or possibly picking a name out of a hat depending on the amount of entries. I will leave this open for 2 days and will pick the name on Wednesday!

OH also wanted to let you know I'm planning a large birthday giveaway starting Oct. 1st! That's right I'm getting old again so you know what that means, you get the gifts! I have some fabulous artists lined up who are donating some pretty awesome things!! You won't want to miss it. I will run it until my birthday on the 9th and will then pick the multiple winners!! Be on the look out for that!

OK off to blow my nose and drink some tea!

Spill It!!

I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo excited about a new online workshop I'm taking called Spill It! I just happened to see it on Facebook the other day. Most of my friends on Facebook are all artists and I get to see these goodies now and again! Anyways the workshop is being taught by mixed media artist Carmen Torbus and you can win a spot in her class by following this link if you don't win it's only $43 which is soooo reasonable. I've learned so much in the online classes I've taken and build upon my techniques and skills each time. The class starts Oct. 1 and runs through the 31st but you will have access to the videos for 2 months after. You work at your own pace. The purpose of the class is to have fun and get your creativity going, key word "your"! It's you on canvas!! Just thought you'd like to know!

Blessings!

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

Lorelei gets her cast off tomorrow morning at 9:15 am! I'm so excited and nervous all rolled up into one. She has been such an amazing, strong, little girl through this whole process. She totally got it the entire time and knew that something was wrong with her leg but the huge, hIdEOus spica cast was going to make it all better. We had some incredible bonding moments with Lorelei during this time and we tried to make the best of it on a daily basis, it wasn't always easy but here we are at the end! Six weeks felt like an eternity but then it also flew. We all survived and found out how strong we really are.

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind thoughts, prayers, words of encouragement (for J and I), videos and gifts galore for Lo and things to keep her busy. I have some amazing people I call my friends. A lot of you who sent things I have never met in person but you still cared for us. I am blessed by all of you and truly thankful for you all. I know for a fact the tremendous outpouring has blessed others around me. You are all amazing and kind and for that I love you.

It's going to take some time to get back into the normal routine and for Lorelei to walk normal so continued prayers are appreciated. I am going to be her physical therapist as well and take her swimming as much as I can during the recovery process. I know my little dynamo will be back stronger than ever, probably sooner than I can imagine.

I just wanted you to know how blessed we are to have you in our lives. Thank you.

Much love,

Aimée, Jason and Lorelei

Reminder - Can't keep up is a good thing!!!!

Hi all!

I'm exhausted!!! I have been keeping late nights and taking care of Lo who is still in her cast :( . I just can't keep up with life and my art life together!! I have been selling art like hotcakes which is WONDERFUL! The pieces I have been selling have been big and small alike. I still have my art in 3 places locally and if one sells I have to replace it with a similar sized piece. Well I just sold my very large piece that I didn't even have a chance to blog about yet called "The Earth Laughs In Flowers". It is 24 x 36 and very vibrant. It's light and airy and a different style for me. That same night I sold it I created a new piece called "Whimsical Garden" (same size) in a similar style. The big piece was a focal piece at a local restaurant so I didn't want there to be a bare wall. While there switching out things I met a lady who was looking at my art and may purchase a piece for her sister. The same thing happened before when I was hanging "The Earth Laughs in Flowers" 2 girls were looking at my art while I was hanging it and have since gone around town looking at it! I was busy getting things ready for the "All About Birds" show at the library which will be up for a month as well. I've been scanning prints like crazy and even started a new series called "From the Book" (all originals listed on ArtFire). Busy, busy, busy!!! PHEW!! Tired yet? I am!

This is great! I feel like I'm finally on a roll and all the late nights and constant marketing online is paying off. Thank you to all who have passed on my links or have purchased my art. Because of the sales I have been able to pay off 2 credit cards!! What a good feeling that is!!! Still a ways to go but it's a dent! I need to be debt free!!! THANK YOU!

I just found out last week that I am going to be in an upcoming artisan spotlight on ArtFire in a few weeks!! So I'm busy stocking up my ArtFire shop. If you see a new piece you like it will most likely be listed there. I am trying to generate more sales in that shop now. They have soooo many great features that are very helpful when listing items.

I also wanted to give you a heads up that I will be hosting a giveaway again once I hit post number 200 which is very soon!!! Be on the lookout for that. It may or may not be an original just for you as a thank you.

Well this was long! Here's the photos you've been reading for! LOL

"The Earth Laughs In Flowers" - SOLD

"Whimsical Garden" 24 x 36 Mixed Media

"Adventure Called" - From the Book Series 5 x 7 mixed media

"Keep Branching Out" - From the Book Series 5 x 7 mixed media

"NYC Visit" - From the Book Series 5 x 7 mixed media

"BFF Swoon" - From the Book Series 5 x 7 mixed media

LABOR DAY SALE IN MY SHOPS!

One of my newest prints! The Original sold before I had a chance to list it! LOL
"Autumn"

Take an extra 15% off entire order now through Sept 7th
No codes needed. Refunds will be sent back to PayPal at time of shipping. Shop away peeps! I have lots of new items in my shops!

I also have free shipping on my little art sachets in my ArtFire shop!

My shops are filled with new goodies!! Art sachets, new prints and new originals! Check it out when you can!

ArtFire
Etsy

I'm a tattoo designer too!! :)

My design

Tattoo (so happy it wasn't changed much!!)

Who knew I could do this? A friend of mine asked me on Sunday night if I could do this tattoo for her for her first tattoo appt. on Monday night! I had to quickly do this and it came together! I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. I even got out my old light table and tracing paper and started layering the pieces like I see them do on LA Ink, what a fun way to work!! I really enjoyed it! After I had my basic design down I scanned it in and cleaned it up a bit in Photoshop and added color to it. She absolutely loved it too!!! The rest is history! I now have a few more people lined up who want my art on their skin! How cool is that?

Here's a little story behind it:

Scripture used: Place me like a seal over your heart, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its jealousy is as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Sgs 8:6

This was written by my friend: (Her brother has some disease of which I'm not sure of but has had major health issues) this one is about me and my brother ♥ Love has sustained him♥ ( God has sustained him,for God is Love)...Love has beaten death,on two levels for him.Here ,and eternally. The bird symbolizes how I have seen my brother,in his glorified body in my dreams I have walked with side by side with him...I have seen him in spirit and in truth..and I have seen him fly :) -The ultimate Freedom ...blue- his favorite color and also representative of Revelation and the Holy Spirit. the heart underneath the eye...which I didn't even have to ask for -but was thinking about how to incorporate a red tear (and when Aimee sent it it was there :)-prophetic moment much Aimee?) to me represents two measures one of suffering in death(Jesus),and suffering in life (Keith's)....