New Postcards + Giveaway!

Please check out the latest spot I've been featured, at StopsWithMe. :D

Today UPS dropped off a small, but heavy box. I opened it and was thrilled to see that it was 500 postcards that I had ordered.

They turned out lovely. I am really happy with them. The glossy front feels so smooth and soft. Although I only had one of my images printed, I am already offering little sets of postcards in my etsy shop.


Want your own? Comment with your favourite word to describe my shop (and your etsy username, or your email - just some way for me to contact you), and you'll be entered to win your own small set of postcards, and an ACEO. Winner will be chosen on the 21st of May. You don't have to pick a different word than the ones already posted. Winner will be chosen randomly. :)

This giveaway is being promoted on WinCrafty - the place to find handmade giveaways.

this giveaway is now closed.

Thursday Night Favourites

Here are some beautiful items I have seen around etsy lately. I pick these once a week based off of what is most recent in my favourites. Click on the images to check out the item listing.

I love this photo a lot. This is the original Polaroid - a beautiful one-of-a-kind photograph. The colours muted, but powerful. And the shape of that hat is to die for. Definitely a favourite. Oh, how I wish I had lots of money to decorate my room with, as I would be picking at least one photograph from matchstickgirl's shop.



Sadly, I think most etsy vintage shops (that I've seen) have pretty bad taste (or really good taste, but they keep all the good stuff). However, GreyBrocket's etsy shop does not disappoint. You are sure to find pretty clothing, cute (bright) shoes, and lovely housewares. Plus, she has some great screen printed stuff, too!



Although I am not a huge fan of animals (very allergic) this puppy is too cute to ignore. It looks so timid and weak and adorable. The huge, far apart eyes are to die for. This is almost too much cuteness for one post. Plus, Susan Sabo (the photographer) donates 50% to whichever shelter the animal she has photographed is currently living.



Simple. Pretty. Sophisticated. The colours and composition of this beautiful little tea cup set is just lovely. The delicate little illustrations leave me feeling so warm and happy. Something I would love to have in my kitchen. Esther Coombs' work is something to keep an eye out for!

Tagged and Front Page Madness!

I was tagged by the lovely Heidi, so now I have to tell you 7 random or strange things about myself.

1. I'm extremely sensitive (perhaps allergic?) to coffee (but I can drink caffeine just fine). Coffee makes me feel shaky, sick and very nervous.

2. I have a fear of fish out of water.

3. I make one loaf of bread by hand (no mixer) every day (occasionally not a loaf, like buns or cinnamon buns instead) and am extremely passionate about bread making.

4. I take photos with my left eye because it's the only eye I can keep open with the other closed.

5. My most popular images were created when I was 15.

6. In two weeks, it is our (my boyfriend and myself) one-year anniversary.

7. Giraffes are my favourite animals.

Okay, since I don't really know any other bloggers, I'm just going to tag the first five people who read this. Haha. Post a link to your finished tagged thing to the comments.



Also, I was on the front page twice today. I cannot believe how lucky I am. Usually I am about as unlucky as a person can get, but not today. It resulted in a bunch of messages (enquiries!) and sales. Yay! It was so exciting and awesome, I just have to show off again. :D

Front Page - twice!

I made the front page twice recently! I'm very excited. Today, my very popular self-portrait, how i got my stutter, was featured on the front page. This beautiful treasury was created by an amazing painter, Julie Beck. It features twelve artists and their self-portraits. I think it's great in both idea and execution, and was on the front page for about an hour! To the left is one of my favourites by Julie, The Land.



Here is the other treasury that was featured on the front page recently (March 31st), by Spongetta. I love all the colour in this treasury, and once again, you can see my print featured on the bottom corner.

Be sure to check out her shop!

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!