holiday stamping fun

Yay, getting in December daily #7 just in the nick of time!  

Sugar Plums

Here are my "cutesy" themed stamps, showcasing another variation of my art illustration style.  These stamps just make me happy!  

You can find them in the holiday collection from Art Gone Wild. 

 These card fronts are stamped on white cardstock in black then colored with 

Copic markers. 

Just fun!  My whimsical illustration style on these stamps work well for a simple holiday card, and some good old fashioned coloring.  In art licensing, it's important to have a variety of styles to meet clients product needs.  The simple outlines and bold graphics on these stamps are influenced by my long history of designing decorative outdoor flags for many years.  

(You can check your Lowes Stores for some of my flags designs, i have a few flag designs in their line all year.)

Sweet Santa

This is for my Florida christmas card design that i am saving for when we move there in a few years.  

(Especially dreaming of that right now with 2 feet of snow out my window!)

This is a great time of year to Believe in magic!

My new stamps launching in January have will have a completely different "funky, artsy" feel, a different kind of whimsey, so stay tuned!

launching new stamps...

 I am so thrilled to say that i WILL be launching my NEW funky artsy rubber stamps with Art Gone Wild at CHA in January!  There are two collections: "Artfull Cardmakers"© joanne sharpe and "Colorings"© joanne sharpe.  Red rubber cling stamps will feature original whimsical artwork for cardmakers and art journaling, along with interactive sentiments and messages.  

Throughout the year my stamps will be showcased on a new blog called "Coloring Arts" which will feature techniques, free art, tutorials and online workshops.  It's the "One Stop Coloring Spot" for creative expression with Copic markers, inks, paints, mists, and much more.   Stay tuned!


December Daily #6

..."don't rain on my paraaaade"!!!

  

 Yes, the Barbra Streisand tune from the movie "Funny Girl".  Sorry to do that to you, but the song will be belting out and bouncing in your head all day!

 "Hello Gorgeous"!!!!...Barbra's iconic line in movie history.  By now you've figured out that these journal pages were created while i was watching my classic movies, this one "Funny Girl".  Adored every minute of this timeless story with Babs and the, oh so handsome, Omar Sharif.  


When i am watching and painting and writing, the words seep onto the pages as i hear them in the background.  It's a fun way to journal without consciously thinking about proper grammar or earth shattering messages, just write the words as you hear them.  Deliberately plan to write while you listen to music, favorite songs and artists, TV shows, movies, and see what comes out onto the page.  


The vivid background pages are layers of Ranger Color Wash (sailboat blue, wild plum, purple twilight, butterscotch and cranberry) with die cut flower shapes as stencils.  Spritzed the colors with water, blotted, and used my heat tool to dry in between layers.  Doodle and lettered with white paint pen when all dry after the "intermission"...(the movie paused and "INTERMISSION" read across the screen.  Remember when movies had real intermissions?  So nostalgic.)

So get out those BIG DREAMS and don't let anyone or anything 

rain on your parade!

DECEMBER DAILY #5

...a cool blue December day

"Live with promise. Love with passion.
Laugh with gusto. Have faith."

..Baby it's cold outside, and fresh snow sprinking all day.  Today's "Whimspiration" is in cool blue tones in watercolor with black text.  The writing on this was done with a black Sakura Glaze pen, nice and shiny.  (not showing up very well on camera or computer.)

Crazy for the sparkly and shiny, when my Ranger Pearls Mists arrived, i just HAD to try the turquoise over the entire page!  Really GOOD stuff, a very richly pigmented reflective shine.  Just the way i like it.

(different night time lighting makes this look yellow.....it's still very blue and crisp)

 you can see the shiny dimesional glaze pen lines....

December daily #4 complete...

just fly...

..

"She said she could fly...why won't she fly?"

....sometimes we know we can, and we don't.  Whatever it is, when you choose not to, you aren't stretching your wings.  Define what keeps you from really soaring.  You said you can fly, so just fly.   

A little black and white inspiration today, whimsical doodle in the most wonderful little sketch book.  Strathmore has a brand new product line of "Visual Journals" with a collection of paper surfaces that will take on assorted creative materials like ink, paint, paper, collage, marker, crayon, pastels, and more.  I'm crazy about them!  This is a Pitt pen on the Visual Journal Drawing book.  Love how it took the black ink.

The book is sitting on background fabric from a JoAnn Fabrics collection that i designed last season. (and all sold out)  There will be more of these fabrics in my Visual Journals to come.

December Daily #3, done.

Melekelekemaka....

 If i could only deliver this order in person!!!  Here's a batch of Christmas signs just shipped to one of my retailers in Hawaii.  Don't ask me how many canvases i ruined when misspelling "Melekelekemaka"! (of course i start singing to myself the song, from the Christmas Vacation movie, LOL!)  If you are in Maui for the holidays, these will be at Paia Mercantile, in Paia.  I think that's as close to Hawaii as i'll get!  Sigh. 

..."May you always have a shell in your pocket and sand in your shoes"...

...i'll think of this sweet saying from Paia Mercantile, while wading through the sloppy wet snow here.  It's so special when the shops customize their signs and sayings to their regional market and niche audience.   

 It hardly has let up, and I have been really busy these past few weeks painting, lettering and shipping these fun signs off to shops all over the country for holiday gift giving.  It's all good.

December Daily...

I've seen some of my artsy inky scrappy friends doing a "December Daily" journal, scrapbooks, blogs, etc.  It is commitment to daily recollect and reflect, appreciate and share.  What a great idea!  So i will do the same, and will post everyday til Christmas, hoping to be a little inspirational, joyful and grateful.

Today i am joyful and grateful for the beautiful first snow that we had in upstate New York, just gorgeous.  What was really fun, bringing my "big puppy" (6 months old, 54 lbs) Teddie out to experience her first snow.

This summer born pup had never seen snow!

ahhh........she like!

Bolting in typical Golden Retriever fashion, thus the leash....

  A good simple sweet moment...

My art inspiration for you today comes from this art journal page.  Reflecting on the "simple things" that make life hopeful and magical.  

"Faith, trust and pixie dust".....