Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. 

The Christmas decoration 'Christmas' is on my tree, it is one of my favorite ornaments. It makes for a great shot along with the blue moon and the red bauble.

Looking for a Christmas Gift?

Generally speaking it is not hard to buy a gift for those who love to create. Many artists want paints, paint brushes, art pads, sketch books, pens, pencils, easels anything art related really but what about something a little different and unexpected but has a multi-purpose use?

This product has to be one of the best investments our there for everyone and could potentially be the most talked about Christmas present. 

I suffer with cold hands, I am often tucking my hands in my pockets or wearing cumbersome big gloves when I am outdoors. I like to be able to have easy access to use my mobile phone or touching and feeling textures with my bare hands often when I am outside or something as simple as picking up my keys from my bag.  Even when I am indoors, typing on the computer, painting, sketching or watching the TV I am often pulling my sleeves down to cover my poor freezing cold hands, particularly during the cold months. 

Hand Warmer 2. $89.99 plus tax.

Wearing gloves in an office isn't really the done thing either but there is another alternative. The hand warmer pictured is excellent for artists, office workers, outdoor workers and sports folk alike. However my focus is on artists and more often than not artists are venturing outside to find inspiration, whether it be taking pictures, going out and sketching or painting, it is important to keep warm but also have the ability to keep hands free. To have such conveniences I have been using the hand warmer from iHeat Wear . I have the black one which is now on sale for $69.99 plus tax.

It took some convincing at first, I remember using hand warmers or 'hand muffs' (as we used to call them), when I was a kid and to be honest I wasn't a fan. However, this is different because the iHeat hand warmer has heated elements inside which is controlled by you. It is soft inside and oh, so cozy. It comes with  a rechargeable battery which is attached inside and concealed in the hidden compartment where you can see the zipper. The adjustable strap as seen in the image goes around your waist.

 I am in love with this product, my hands quickly heat up inside the warmer and I can easily release my hands when I need them to be free. My kids also loves sneaking in their hands after a snowball fight.

This is a new Canadian company and they have other available products like heated inner-liner gloves which I hope to get at a later date to go over my normal gloves, great for winter bike rides, hikes etc. They also have ski gloves which I am seriously looking at purchasing for when I go skiing. 

I highly recommend this product, you won't be sorry.

Doodle Frenzy.

Sometimes I don't want to paint and in-between paintings I like to doodle, sketch or do something creative. In my new art journal I have been using felt tip pens and here are a few drawings I have been working on.

#makeart Now!

Landscape.

Dolphins.

C.S. Lewis was a remarkable children's author. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is my favourite. It there was one door that I would open it would be the door of the wardrobe into Narnia. This sketch was inspired from the Walt Disney Movie cover. 

It is nearly Christmas, afterall.

#MakeArt Now!

Come and visit me on my Facebook page. Would love to see you there and build a conversation about how you make art, what you do and use my Facebook page to spread the word of who you are and promote your work. Facebook and Twitter for that matter is so saturated that it is hard to find you and what you do. Use the #makeart on your social media platforms it will make it easier to find you.

Spread the word. 

#makeart Now. 

Christmas is Nearing.

A few days ago we woke up to this in our garden, the white cold stuff, it makes you go, brrrrrr! It is so lovely to see the sun peaking through the trees and seeing fresh snow on the ground particularly when it is on a weekend and there is no need to go anywhere in a hurry.

I haven't been painting much for a while, I have a few ideas but I am working on sketches on a new, fresh, untouched art pad and I have purchased some lovely new colourful pens. I have ran out of most of my paints which is annoying but I hope to find a parcel under the Christmas tree, wrapped in glorious Christmas paper with lots of art supplies. This remains to be seen since I forgot to put it on my Santa list, I still have time though. 

Photography is also my new found passion and I am learning how to use my DSLR camera to its best ability.   

So with that on my mind I am taking a pledge where I will make art whether it be taking pictures, creating images for my blog or headers, sketching and doodling or making things with my kids like baking and getting the glue sticks out. Getting creative can help to clear the mind and be a stress release by having fun. 

I am looking forward to Christmas and I hope you are too. After what I have been through over the last few years I could do with a nice rest and peace of mind, that would be the greatest gift of all.