3 years, 6 months & 5 days...

...that's exactly how long it's been since my last post. Wow! I feel my blog has been sitting in the closet getting dusty and it's now time to dust it off and get back into it...it's been long enough.

I guess I'll keep this short and sweet, and just share my latest piece of work.

This is a mini portrait of a dear friend, painted with acrylic paint on a 2"x3" canvas. (yes, it's tiny!) I've been tempted to do a little series of mini works, and have a little obsession with tiny paintings in big chunky frames, so this painting definitely has kicked it off for me. Here is the original photograph I used as reference for my painting (photo by a fellow artist/photographer Abe Samuel Quilling).

...and here is the finished piece.

I will definitely be adding more to this "tiny series" as I go... and this time it won't take years. I'm back :-)

The + Waking + Artist featured on Heartsy!!!

Exciting news! I am being featured on Heartsy tomorrow, June 18!!! Heartsy is an awesome online website that offers exclusive daily deals on handmade items from crafters and artisans all over the world! Thanks to my friends for voting for my deal and helping to get my shop featured!

Since this is the BIGGEST sale I've ever offered to date, I wanted to be sure to share it with you and give you a little information on how to purchase a voucher ($15 for $39 worth of store credit, 62% savings!) to use in my Etsy shop if you wish! Just click on the image below for more info...

So tomorrow's the day, (June 18th) that my deal will go LIVE and will be open to anyone and everyone who wishes to purchase a voucher for my shop! There are other great deals featured daily, so if you don't find anything you like in my shop I'd recommend subscribing to Heartsy's daily deal newsletter so you can be sure not to miss out on something good! If you're after even steeper savings, you can join up as a VIP on heartsy to get an extra $10 worth of credit on top your current savings! Woo hoo!

You can have a look in my etsy shop here to see all the new items for sale. A few of the things you will find include vintage brooches, handmade earrings and rings, unique art blocks, limited edition prints, and original paintings.

Thank you again for helping me to get my shop featured for stopping by my blog!

50% OFF EVERYTHING IN MY SHOP!!! The most ginormous sale ever.

Okay, pretty big news here... with all the new changes that I have been working on over my blog, website and etsy store, I have decided to offer a humungous sale THIS MONTH ONLY to kind of help me move along all my current stock and make room for the new! So here it is...

50% OFF EVERYTHING (yes, you heard right!) Please, please, PLEASE take advantage of this deal while you can, because once this stock sells out, that's it!
Here's how it works.
#1. Once you've added items to your cart, your screen should look like this:

here you can select your country for shipping, and then you'll see just below where you have the option of entering in your special discount code. Type in your code "mothersday" and click "Apply" button.

Wa-la! It will then apply your savings of 50% off your order!! Now just continue on to paypal to complete your purchase and you're done!
Hope this makes it a bit easier for you...please feel free to visit my shop and have a look and I hope you enjoy my special offer!

xx

a cluster of treasuries ♥

Just thought I'd share a few of the recent treasuries that I've had the honor of being included in! Thank you to the following Etsy treasury curators: LeshasArtShop, Lemiecreazionidarte, Toshisworld, annekleppe, MycyclesArt, cirruscloud, dnoyes and Melisuma for including me in their beautiful collections!

"The Bear will have the Cabernet & the Bunny will have the Merlot"

by LeshasArtShop featuring my art block "Madam Ivory"

"Tea and daydreams"

by dnoyes featuring my print "Mother Earth"

"None color...just a touch!"

by Lemiecreazionidarte featuring my art block "Brown Eyed Girl"

"Rojo details..."

by Toshisworld featuring my print "Wine Love"

"Silver springs garden wedding"

by annekleppe featuring my print "The Gardener"

"Keep calm and put the kettle on!"

by Melisuma featuring my print "Bella"

"Old nature"

by cirruscloud featuring my print "Mother Earth"

"An eye on style"

by MycyclesArt featuring my print "The King's Daughter"

I won... imagine that!

As you know, I recently participated in the final "One World One Heart" event, hosted by the creator Lisa Swiftka... it was amazing, once again! Though I was sad to find out that this would be the final year, I was equally excited when I found that she will be starting a brand new blogger event in 2012 called "Our World Our Art"! So the journey continues!

I announced the winner of my drawing yesterday, and shortly after found that I actually won not ONE, but THREE prizes this year! I was jumping up and down, literally. The first announcement came from Donna, a very talented artist from http://www.adonnathing.com ...bearing the great news that I won her original painting "Tilda"! You can sneak a peak of her painting it here:

eyes from doings of doone on Vimeo.

I already have a special place on my wall especially for this special gift ~ Can't wait to see it in person!

Next, I got an email from Dale just across the ditch in
Australia...She experiments with all manner of textile experiments working on both fabric and paper with her needlefelting machine - her work is so colorful and beautiful! You can visit her at http://downunderdale.blogspot.com/
She made this beautiful wee felt book, with lots of stitching and detail on the outside as well as inside...gorgeous!

My third surprise "prize" announcement came all the way from the Norwegian Woods! Bibi from Norway hand-made this sheet of deeply etched rubber stamps called Pines Fir Yew! Plus a card made she made using stamps from this sheet, AND a yummy something from Norway (it's sweet, brown, and very addictive .... I have a feeling its chocolate - yum!)

You can visit Bibi HERE and see more of her beautiful work! A very big THANK YOU once again to Donna, Dale and Bibi for 'gifting' me with such amazing prizes! They will be treasured always!

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My winner is...

CONGRATULATIONS
REBECCA from http://rebeccasrainbowkisses.blogspot.com/!

Congratulations, Rebecca! I'm excited to announce that you have won my original painting! Thank you so much for visiting my blog, and I'm so excited to have met you and find your blog through this special event!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway and for taking the time to leave your beautiful comments and I look forward to getting to know each of you more. I have discovered so many creative artists during this event and I want to thank Lisa Swiftka for hosting this incredible One World, One Heart event and giving me the opportunity to share my work as well as discovering yours!

Please feel free to stop by and visit me again, and I look forward to seeing each of you again soon!

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Have I finally figured youtube out?

After many hours of sweat, blood, and tears (literally)! I've finally managed to film and edit my very first "speed-painting" video, which is now live on youtube for all to see! I have the recent OWOH event to thank for the extra push to get this done before the 17th, since this is the painting I did especially for this event to offer as a "prize" to one lucky winner (you can enter HERE as long as it's before the 17th deadline!). I wanted to post the progress, from start to finish, for you to see... so without further adieu, I bring to you "The Unveiling"

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a few new goodies...

If you haven't seen them before, let me introduce you to my antique domino brooches! Each one is hand-made by me, a mini-print from one of my original paintings is then mounted on top of an original, antique wooden domino which is then sealed with several coats of gel and varnish.
A unique, wearable piece of art.

Antique Wooden Domino Brooch "Twiggy"
$15
(free shipping)

Antique Wooden Domino Brooch "Tabitha"
$15
(free shipping)

Antique Wooden Domino Brooch "Free Spirits"
$15
(free shipping)

Antique Wooden Domino Brooch "Virgin Mary"
$15
(free shipping)

Antique Wooden Domino Brooch "The Gardener"
$15
(free shipping)

The final "One World, One Heart" event - 2011

Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Shariyah, and I am an artist, a wife (to the most amazing and might I add MOST deliciously handsome man in the world), & a mum to my little French Bulldog "Cash". This is the third year that I will have participated in Lisa Swiftka's "One World, One Heart" event, and I'm thrilled to once again be a part of such an incredible "blog party"! You can find out a bit more about this exciting event by clicking the photo below:
As a little "Thank you" for taking the time and visiting my blog, I will be giving away a special prize! A "drawing" will take place right here, on February 17th! I put a lot of thought into what prize I could offer this year, and after much contemplation I have decided to give away an ORIGINAL painting, inspired solely by this wonderful event.
My work usually consists of acrylics and mixed medias on wood or canvas, and my color palette tends to linger in the darker, rich tones. I am inspired by the old masters, as well as being deeply fascinated with the 19th century mexican folk artesanía. (and, in case you haven't noticed- Frida Kahlo!)

Watch my live speed-painting of this HERE!

Mixed medias on canvas. Size: 6 x 6" Depth: 1.5"

How can you win this painting? All you have to do is say "hello" (or whatever you wish, really!) in a comment below THIS POST. I will be using random.org to pick the lucky number, so the person who's comment falls on that number will be the winner! Please make sure that I will be able to contact you by either having an active blog, or leaving your contact details in your comment! Thank you :)

So I invite you to take a moment and look around, make yourself at home...I hope that you can find a thing or two here that may be of interest, or put a smile on your face :) I look forward to meeting each of you, and visiting your blogs as well... and I wish you all an incredible "One World, One Heart" journey!


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OWOH ENTRIES NOW CLOSED. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY!

Drowning Sorrows

Original mixed-media painting on 100% cotton watercolor paper, mounted on 9" x 12"wooden panel. Layered with texture and muted tones of grays and blues.

Text is carved around edges and reads the following:
"I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling." ~Frida Kahlo

$200

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Thank you for visiting my blog!