Olivia. Made by Tiddlywinks.

Some of you may remember my previous post about Olivia, my little lamb, made by the fabulous Tiddlywinks. I love her a lot, and last night I did a painting of her, and just thought it would be nice to share. It's not a very good scan of the image, so I'll replace it with a better version later.


I have to prepare for a gallery show I'm doing tomorrow (a month long thing), so I should get back to framing... I'll post some pictures of my art once it's framed and hanging in the little store. I'm pretty excited!

New Photos & Roberto!

Here are some new (technically old) images I've been working on. They're all from October 4th of 2006 (back when I was 15). My dear friend, Roberto, and I went for a drive to take photos of whatever we thought was interesting. We arrived at an overlook, and next to it was this cliff that had a sign that said somethign like: "Proceed at your own Risk. Experienced Climbers Only." Well, of course we just had to go there, there was no way Roberto and I were going to miss out on something that said "at your own risk". We were soon at the bottom of the mountain, at this river. Just upstream is a tourist attraction, a pretty big waterfall, so it was cool to be so close to it without breaking any rules. This first one is called "Once Upon a Time", and is a long exposure image.

I did have my tripod with me, but I lent it to Roberto who went downstream for a bit to get some shots, so I used a boulder in the river and my coat to rest my camera on. Surprisingly, it stayed still long enough for me to get some decent shots. This second one is called "Ever After" and is (obviously) the second in the series. I simply pointed my camera to face upstream for this second shot, and it is one of my favourites to date. I am very glad I looked through the folder again today, and rediscovered it.

This one was actually one of the first ones I took. Roberto and I play soccer together, so we we were driving away, and paused for me to take this and him to get a shot in the moon (not shown in my photo) with his 200mm lens. This particular image is actually a mixture of two (like HDR), I took one image for the sky and one for the ground, so I could have a very broad range of tones and colour. I, personally, think it looks awesome.

And lastly, here's a photo of Roberto I got in November that year. We went climbing that day (and on a photo shoot, as usual). Beyond being my photography partner, he loves to climb a lot, and is a tattoo artist! You can see one of tattoos on his arm in this photo. Currently Roberto is back home, in Mexico, but I eagerly await his return. :D

Business Card Designs - Part III

Tuscaloosa was my first card design client. She wanted a vintage-like theme with a flower and cowboy boots (to fit the theme in her shop). I wasn't able to make cowboy boots work (though I was willing to try more images), I showed her a proof with one of her necklaces on it instead and after one revision (adding stuff, moving stuff, etc.) she approve the image and it was sent to be printed.

The business card design printed beautifully with a smooth matte finish. I took the sample photo late at night, with poor lighting, so the photo is of pretty poor quality, but I was very happy with how they turned out.


Swan Mountain Soaps was my second business card design client. My first proof wasn't so hot, but after lots of great feedback, I was able to create the card Christina had in mind.

She wanted it to be a bit like my business cards, a luxurious, green almost vintage/Victorian look, so I got to work. Using some handwritten and paper textures, I created a card much like my own, without just dragging the same background for her card (I like to build stuff from scratch).

The beautiful swirled soaps were a perfect item to be placed in the middle of this card. The colours of the soap are bold and bright, and pop just perfectly — sure to catch the attention of her customers.

I created a matching back (which lined up perfectly with the front) with her contact info. The printed cards were amazing, also with a smooth matte finish. I'm sure she'll enjoy showing these off!


Stay tuned for more card designs! Feel free to inquire about pricing for your own custom business cards (starting at $35.00), by contacting me though etsy, or emailing me: madelaine.etsy@gmail.com

Featured Artist: emilyday

I discovered this artist quite some time ago using the Pounce (undiscovered) Feature. I have returned to her shop to be surprised that she still has not had any sales. Instead of waiting for my funds to build up to be able to buy them for myself (at those prices, how could anyone resist?!), I have decided to show you all my lovely little discovery, Miss Emily Day.

Emily is a fantastic photographer with very dramatic self-portraits.

"i'm gonna die alone and sad" is a well-composed, stark image. The lighting is strong, but soft at the same time. Black and white with red ribbon is a favourite of mine in photography. It allows for very nice contrasting, especially good for dramatic, conceptual work. If I were you, I would most certainly display this image next to my own work The Fall.

One thing I adore about her work is that there is not a face in sight! (well, half a face here and there). It makes her work ever so mysterious. I am very excited to see more of her images as she evolves in her shop and as an artist.


"who do you work for baby" features a lone, delicate, vulnerable figure in the midst of snow flakes and snow-covered evergreen trees. Being not appropriately dressed for such weather gives a nice emotional impact on the viewer, evoking feelings of both wonder and concern.

Emily's work is truly beautiful (and lonely sitting there in her shop). Go forth and conquer all there is to be had. Her prices are great (too low, in my opinion). Not your style? Well, I am certain there is someone in your life whose style that is, and everybody love gifts. Please go show your support for this new, undiscovered Etsian Artist.

Business Card Designs - Part II

Here is more from the thread I started for people volunteering their shops for me to make sample business cards out of.

The Radical Thread Co. is the new name of my mom's business/shop. She's going to get juried to get into a very big gallery in our state (full of grants and other opportunities), so she needed me to make her some business cards, for some essential shop branding. I started off with a nice fabric texture, to help portray the fact that she's a textile artist. I used some images of her appliqués directly from her etsy shop, for some tiny samples of what she does. I used trees because they give off the the impression of "green", which is a big part of her shop, as she upcycles her fabrics and recycles her packaging.


LittleLovables volunteered herself in my thread, which was very excited, because of love her little felt deer! Her shop is bright and girly, so I settled on a rather simple, pink and white polka dot background. Two of her felt deer were arranged to create a sort of frame around her shop name. "Little" was made with a simple, petite, almost childish font and "lovables" with a curvy, sweet, sort of romantic font. The purpose of this was to visually represent exactly what the words mean.

More designs to come, once approved by my latest clients!

Business Card Designs - Part I

Several Etsy users were kind enough to let me use their shop name and photos to create these sample business card designs! More to come, feel free to post in my Etsy thread.

Brittain Road Designs has very clear images — hand sewn designs on white clothings — that were super easy to work with. I loved this little whale, and later decided I should include another sample of her work on the card. And so I gave the little guy some delicious ice cream. Another version I did is a little monkey with a cupcake!

If you need some clothing for little ones (friends' baby, younger sibling, your own child, etc.), Brittain Road Designs should definitely be on your list for Etsy stops!


Jeanette of Vessels & Wares makes some very pretty (and fancy) designs. I bought several plates and a tea cup and saucer from her in December, she was extremely helpful and communicative.

I was very excited to see that she had volunteered in my thread, as I am (obviously) a fan of her work, and her photos are so clean and sharp, they're a joy to work with. It was very easy to make one of her product shots into a dramatic business card buyers and potential customers would love to receive.

The font was a lucky find in my collection. I have collected about hundred fonts from around the internet that are free to use in commercial work (it's too much work to keep track of which ones I can and can't use commercially). This one had a perfect tall style to it, which I think fits perfectly.



Rebecca Hanna of hoorah, is a fabulous ink and watercolor artist with simple, retro and very refined pieces. Again, a portrait-orientation business card. I seem to really prefer making them this way.

I wanted to leave a lot of dead space to allow the card to properly portray her style (in another version, I left out the boat-making instructions). I was sure to include nice texture on the card, as textures are a very important part making art.

The text on this sample is one of my favourites — very simple and retrained. I only used one font, and think that it turned out excellently. I integrated it into the paper's texture to make it look slightly faded and not stick out lie someone simply typed over the image of her work.

Thank you for all the great feedback on my last post! And thanks again to all who've volunteered so far. If you like my style and want some custom made business card, feel free to convo me on etsy, or send me an email: madelaine.etsy@gmail.com

Featured Etsy Purchase and Artist: Olivia from Tiddlywinks

I got a little lamb for Christmas, who I've since named "Olivia". She was made by Scottie of Tiddlywinks.

I have fallen madly in love with my adorable little Olivia. She's super soft, adorable and the perfect size to delicately hold. I have not slept one night without her since the first day I got her. The night before my SAT (exam needed to get into college) I couldn't sleep at all, and then I remembered that Olivia was sitting on my desk, I got her, and once back in bed I went to sleep so quickly (and later did excellent on my SATs, and accepted into the school I wanted). She is lovely and keeps me very happy.


So far she's traveled to New York, which was lots of fun, because she got to stay in a very old New York apartment. and walked around the block with me, tucked in my coat to stay warm.

Silas (my younger brother), who used to hate Olivia, recently has decided to like her, and even sneaked into my room to put this little sweater on her. Here is proudly showing me what he's done, as he sits on my stairs. He was very excited that his adventure was worthy of a polaroid photo (he knows they're very special because I only have a limited amount of film left).


This is a photograph I took of her sitting on a chair next to my boyfriend's window. I brought her with me to his farm and one afternoon the sun came through the window as beautiful as it always does, so I sat Olivia up on the chair next to our bed and was able to capture this beautiful moment. The sun was so pretty on her, although you can see her worn-out (but still soft) fur.

She's sitting on a beautiful tank top made by Max Studio, which I got for 50¢ at a thrift store (I don't think it was even ever worn).


You can get your own lamb or other lovely little pet from Tiddywinks — even one custom made out of fabric that has sentimental value (wedding dress, baby blanket, boy/girlfriend's shirt, etc.)

This little lady is already made and ready to go, and is available for sale in the Tiddlywinks Etsy Shop! There are tons of little to choose from, and make perfect gifts for yourself, kids or friends!

If you can't afford one, but love them nonetheless, be sure to regular the Tiddlywinks blog, as she gives one away every week!