Quirky Heartmade

One of the signs of being an artist is when you close your eyes after a long day and you see pretty colors and shapes dancing behind your eyelids.

my shop URL: quirkyheartmade.etsy.com I was just listing my finished artworks to etsy and it inspired me to talk a little bit about it. I was online looking at different contests trying to come up with a theme for a new art piece & I stumbled upon one for Valentine's Day that was limited to the colors pink, red, white & black. (The background is a peach color even though the light makes it look more orange-y than it is.) I felt like a girly, psychedelic make-up like piece would fit the theme perfectly so this piece popped into my head inspired by my favorite 70s artist, Peter max. He has a wonderful use of bright colors & pattern motifs. Google him if you ever get a chance! He's got a great hippy style!  About this work: (Description from my Etsy shop) This original illustration of a love face encompasses the feelings of love with its wide eyes, bright colors & love motifs and many patterns. Even the color palette is reflective of arduous emotions: red

I recently took an online art business class, after taking a hiatus from my shop, and it really enhanced my idea of what my art is all about. It gave me that aha! moment I really needed. The assignment to tell what our personal creativity story was what really sparked my imagination. That got rid of some of the clutter in my brain and showed me where my focus should be at in my art and it gave me the inspiration to fill my shop with more consistent pieces! You can see my somewhat full-er story on my etsy about page . (*will open a new window ) For me the most important sources of inspiration can fall into two categories: my love of hippy art and the shapes and colors and patterns that exist there and my love of my Irish heritage, specifically the lore and rustic feelings I get from there. Fun fact: I did my humanities paper on the Druids, an ancient tribe of peoples that were native to many Celtic lands and were very secretive but still written about in various accounts from ruler

I was inspired to use my puffy paint pens to create some fun pictures on colored paper! Me sitting on the couch having craft time! Before I knew it I had created a TON of them! This one kinda looks like a leaf to me! By the way I just created my shop on Etsy!  There's tons of cool stuff there if you wanna check it out. It's quirkyheartmade.etsy.com . Have an awesome day!

Since nature is one of my many muses I decided to upload a couple pictures I've taken throughout the beginning of fall to perhaps inspire others. As summer was dying down, I went to the park with a very dear friend. It was a day full of fun pictures. This was my top favorite, because the flowers reminded me of my grandmother's favorite. To me it was the most amazing picture- the way the bright purple flowers looked upon the rich, brown stump surrounded by the green leaves and shrubs. The sun was hitting it at the perfect angle, too.  I always imagined myself living in a cottage someday so this kind of beauty of the perfect nature shot always makes me smile. This picture, although a little blurry, is another one of my favorites. The leaves seemed to almost twinkle in the water and the tree reminded of one people carve their names into or even an owl or bird or other furry creature would be peaking their head out of. It was just a really quaint and cute little moment

HTML Editor - Full Version I decided to write a post on how I came up with my business name.    Coming up with a business can be difficult. I was racking my brain for months to come up with the perfect name making lists after lists. I was stressing myself out, which made it harder to come up with a name. My first one did not give me the feelings I was hoping for. I wanted something silly, fun, bubbly, passionate, and personal. Something that fit my dreamer personality to a T. My first one seemed more broad-scoped and painterly. I wanted something that made my creations shine! So after months of mind boggling, I took the "homemade" from the name of a craft seller's seminar I had attended (so happy that they inspired me but I was nervous to take the lead I felt it had) and the fact that it was my creation and combined it with the "heartfelt" that I wanted to use, because I make things from the heart. Then I went to work searching for the perfect