i won a floor rug .. a glorious floor rug ........ yippeee

i am very very very excited. 

i received an email today telling me that I won a floor rug in a facebook competition from The Rug Collection.  the most beautiful stylish rugs you have ever seen. the best part is that i can choose which one i want.  it's the best part, but also the hardest part as they are all so magnificent.  but i thing i have narrowed it down to the ones below - photos of which I have taken from their website.

 

Do you have a  favourite?? 

I think I am leaning towards the last one as it would hide the red wine spills better.

Is it Christmas in April??? My ABCD Meetup Stash...

last night at the ABCD Meetup was just great. i met so many wonderful and talented and fearless girls, i was in awe of so many of them.  makes me realise that i can make a living from my art.  

and i got such great and needed information that will save me hours and hours of research.  thank you so much.

..... and the stash from the goodie bags. wowee.  such beautiful and creative things, check out the photo .....

bliss.

Phew ... panic over and totally unnecessary

why oh why do i panic and stress.  had a great day at my first market.  the weather was overcast and a bit blowy (my stock was flying around at times) and there was rain in the afternoon.  but it was great. i received so much encouragement and so many oohs and ahhs to fill me up with confidence and make it worthwhile.

i was really happy with my sales for my very first market. and a quiet market, as it is a very new market.  my friend in the stall next to me had the worst market in TEN years, so i figure in a busier market i will do really well. 

the setting is just beautiful.  and there were sheep in a field just behind me.  yay.  love sheep.  it is in an old heritage listed farm, so there are beautiful old farm outbuildings with rusted roofs and falling down fences.  just great.  

here are some photos of my stall and the farm.....

my next market is sunday 3rd april (yes next weekend) at Heritage Craft Fair at St Ives.  really excited about this one.  

bliss.

Planning ::Painting::Printing::Panicking - not necessarily in that order

... ten days until my first market and trying not to panic.  trying not to let anxiety take over.  it won't. i can do it. its no big deal. for once in my life i want everything to be perfect.  i know it wont be as i will leave so much until the last minute and not get it all done.  no i won't. 

i am going now to write a schedule of stuff to do. there will be no panic.  hooray!

it will be bliss.

to market .... to market

very very very excited.  i have booked into the Bella Vista Artisans Market!  yay to me!!!  i know it's not that big a deal, its just that I have been thinking, talking, dwelling on it for so long I can't believe that I have actually gotten off my fat behind and done something about it.

so now, apart from panicking, i am madly painting away.  have decided to sell some canvas paintings that I am surprisingly loving in every way.  i am loving making them. i am loving the end result.  really loving. and they are so different from anything i have ever done before as they are not my usual girls of varying descriptions.  i think it is the colour i enjoy the most.  as well as the two in the colour scheme below, i have also done a couple of pink-ish ones, but the canvas is larger and they won't fit on my home scanner so can't upload them.

as i am not working at the moment and want some extra money, i wanted to produce some paintings that i believe will sell that are aimed at the target market of the market, which i think would be women with small children.  i have come to that conclusion as that is the prominent demographic in the area where the market is.  hope i am right as i think these paintings would look great in a kids room .... gee i really hope i'm right! think i need to test them with some friends with small children ... great idea Jenn.

i decided on bunting as a theme as when i was researching how to make bunting in a non-laborius way (as i wanted to make about ten metres of it to string up around my market stall) I thought - hey, what about painting some as well.  and i quite like the result. and they are relatively quick to make unlike my girls that seem to take days to get their eyes and skin right.

wish me luck ..... bliss

leap and the net will appear .....

... it is one of my most favourite sayings and I have decided to finally take it's advice.

i have wanted for so long to try and sell my art somehow other than online - not that i have been online for that long.  so i have decided to try a couple of art and craft markets.  i have visited two in the past two weekends - the first not so great as it was full of hand made children's clothes.  then i visited one today that was wonderful - Bella Vista Artisans Market.

today was only the second time it has operated and there were alot of stalls, although several sellers told me that it was very quite day.  i remember reading an article years ago about establishing a market, and it said that it takes about 12 months for a market to be well know and establish, so there is alot of promise for this one as it is in a beautiful setting.

i did speak with a very talented stallholder there called genevieve who is an artist and sells online through redbubble.com.  her artwork was wonderful and i really enjoyed talking to her.  she was selling prints of her work in varying sizes as I want to do.  she seems dedicated to the market and has been there for the first two and plans to be there next month.  

so i am busy investigating the most cost effective and professional outcome for printing, designing the look of my stall (the fun part), getting insurance, oh and I must remember to book in to the market.  Bliss

the art of silliness

i have just signed up for another art course - The Art of Silliness.  can't wait. and it's just what i need at the moment - a daily dose of fun (and it's wonderfully silly). 

and where else do you get 30 lessons for US$25 ??!!!

bring on 5th january and the first lesson.  

bliss

garage sale bliss bliss and more bliss

i love a garage sale. absolutely. no denying it.

it is quite difficult to find a really great garage sale where you want to buy everything they have.  my theory  ...having been to many many many many .... is that every 5th one is GREAT!!!  that doesn't mean you get through 4 horrid ones and the next is vintage bliss.  it means that if you suffer through the greasy old bbq's and disgusting plastic garden pots for long enough you will hit heaven like i did on saturday (see below photos for evidence).

there was so much great stuff that i didn't buy (no room, have enough already).  the best bit is that this wonderful woman that was having the sale has just moved into the area and does this as a hobby.  collects vintage goodies from charity shops and garage sales then every few months off loads what she doesn't really want in a garage sale.  Love that woman! Bliss.

The white table is in great condition and most likely from the 50s or 60s.  the brass trolley's top shelf is a removable tray - love it.  Not too sure about the oil paintings, but i loved the colours, may take the frames off and take another look at them. the mirror is deliciously dilapidated and i thought it needed a happy home for its final days. Happy girl!  And it was my birthday on Saturday, so doubly happy girl.

just remembered .... a few weeks ago at a garage sale i found a 5 arm vintage crystal chandelier for $3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes THREE dollars.   I grabbed it and didn't let go of it until I got to the car.  What a beauty!

Bliss to all.

Prudence, Wilhelmina and Millicent

Yes, the girls all have names.  I thought it is the least they deserved as they have given me so much pleasure and happiness creating them.  They are lovely girls.  Very friendly, amiable and would bring great joy to any household.  So I know they won't last long in the shop window before they are snapped up.

I have listed prints of the gorgeous girls on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBlissfulBrush and also on Made It - www.madeit.com.au/TheBlissfulBrush

This is a really big thing for me, I can't tell you how thrilled I am with myself.  Yes, alot of patting myself on the back. It is a small step I know, but a big one on my journey to living the creative life that I dream of.  Yay to me!!!

Now get back to work Jennifer and bring some more crazy haired girls to life!!

Etsy here I come ....

Am finallly finishing some paintings ready for Etsy and my new life with an Etsy shop - woo hoo, very excited.  I am not even contemplating that they will sit in the shop gathering dust.   I am expecting success!! Huge success!

So here they are - two of my gorgeous girlies!

I am getting quite attached to these unusual creatures, having spent so much time with them recently, and have only just this minute realised that I should name them. They deserve unique and unusual names to match their appearance don't you think? What about Methusla, or Gwendolyn? Hortense... Constance ... Lucretia?  ... Wilhelmina? ... Prudence? 

Really need to give that some proper thought.

Woo hoo - my first blog post!!

Hi, it's me .... Jennifer with my first blog - woo hoooooooooo!!!!

Finally have taken the first step and started a blog. I've only talked about it for more than a year (can't believe how fast the past year has gone by the way). I am expecting REALLY big things to happen.   No clue what - but BIG BIG BIG things!!!  But really ....anything would be great.

I have far too many questions in relation to my blog though:

• Will anyone ever read it?
• Will anyone ever leave a comment?
• Does it matter if no one ever does?
• Will I totally freak out if someone does?
• Can I really be authentic and say what I want in my blog without caring what others think?  (now that's a hard one).
• Will I love writing in my blog?
• Will I hate writing in my blog?

Who knows .... but here goes hey!

Welcome to Blog World Jennifer - scary and exciting as it is, I am sure you will love it!! Woo hoooooo!