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.