Little Joys

It's September and I feel refreshed after my August break. I didn't mean to slack off so much but it worked out because there is something called the the August break. I think it's something I'll try out every year from now on! Check it out and join me next year.

Anyway, below I have some photos of things that just make me smile.

My portulaca plant that I found at Whole Foods. I've been wanting one for the longest time so I was so happy when I spotted it! Look how cheerful it is! I have it on the front porch so whenever I come home it greets me

Cat butts

When Midnight sneaks up onto the bookshelf from the cat tree and looks down on us with his dusty whiskers!

This tree along Storrow Drive in Boston. I have been wanting to take pictures of this tree for the longest time. The hubby and I finally went out and captured some. I have more to share in another post!

This tea bag rest that a friend at work gave to me. I love putting small candies like jelly beans or skittles on it so that it looks like the kitty has a tummy full of candy!

Old Lady Morgan when she's full of goofy purrs accompanied by drool and kneading paws

This stripey girl

What little things make you smile? I'd love it if you shared them with me!
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Celebrating August!

 

Hey everyone! Can you believe we're in August?! I love going into a new month. It's so exciting!! It's like each month is a holiday and it needs to be celebrated. In August there are a lot of fruits out on the trees and bushes. Sunflowers are out and the birds are munching on their seeds. My mom saw a goldfinch eating the seeds from her purple cone flowers. I'm jealous that I missed it! I love paying attention to nature throughout the year. I love watching out for all the little changes that could otherwise be missed. 

I even designed my own calendar page for August to help me plan out what I need to do to the blog this month. It's one of my favorite activities to celebrate the coming month. Do you celebrate the months? 

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Just a little update

Hey guys! I've been doing a lot of journaling lately trying to figure out what I want to focus on in my little creative business and I decided that right now I want to focus on my blog. I had a blogging schedule in mind but I'm kind of struggling to keep up with that. I've also been putting a lot of pressure on myself to creative things to list in my Etsy shop. I allowed all of the pressure that I've been putting on myself to paralyze me and it's kept me from doing anything. 

I'll still be making artwork I'm just not going to be pressuring myself to make it perfect to sell. I just want to create things that I can share with you on my blog and my Instagram and Facebook feed. I want to really enjoy making art. If I create something that I want to add to the shop I'll set it aside and work on getting it listed later. Right now I want to inspire you and I also want to find my niche online. 

So for now I want to focus on introducing myself and focus on building a foundation for my online presence. Does that make sense? I guess I've been feeling overwhelmed and I think that focusing on one thing will help. Once I have a better hold on my social media platforms I'll get back to working on the shop. The shop will stay open I'm just not going to worry about adding anything new for a little while.

Oh did you also notice that I changed the name of everything from Susanne Fyfe Art to Suzy Fyfe Art? Suzy feels more relaxed. It's not rigid sounding like Susanne might sound. I want my artwork to make you smile or laugh. When you're smiling or laughing from the heart I think that you're going to be more relaxed than if you're angry about something.

The name change to something more relaxed fits in with my choice to focus on social media only so that I can really relax with my artwork. I'm just seeing that now. I love when that happens! 

If you got this far thank you for reading! I hope that it wasn't too all over the place. But I think that it mirrors how scattered I've felt over all of this ha! I think it's great when artists share behind the scenes stuff. It helps you to get to know the person. I want to make sure I'm keeping everything real. I want you to see the real me. The girl with the cat fur all over her clothes and the frizzy hair. 

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My Love of Calendars

Hey guys! Calendars make me so happy. Ever since I was little I've gotten a wall calendar every year for Christmas. It kind of became a tradition for my mom to give me one every year. I still get excited about turning the page for the new month. Not just to see the new image/artwork but also because it's a new month! I love celebrating new months. 

Recently I've been having fun drawing out my own monthly calendar pages. I haven't been doing it every month but when I do it it's so much fun. It helps me to think about what's coming up for the month and what I want to accomplish too. It makes me think about birthdays which I'm terrible at remembering!

Do you like paper planning or digital planning? I could never get digital planning to work for me. Physically writing things down is the way to get things to stick for me. It makes it more fun too because then I can add doodles!

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Art Journal Play

Hey guys! As you know from my last post, self care is important to me. There are so many ways to take care of yourself and I find that just playing with my art supplies is one way I can do that. I have so much fun with it that I lose track of time. I find myself in a state of flow. 

Today I decided to use some of my artwork from my daily creative challenges. I'm always doing my own ICAD (index card a day) challenges so I have tons of decorated index cards everywhere. Why not use all of that art hanging around in your art journal spreads? Using magazines for collage is fun too but I think it makes the pages even more special when you can use your own artwork!

This page is from an art journal that I made myself. I had already painted and added some magazine collage and some wrapping paper on a different day. Today I wanted to try to add my own stuff.

I actually decided to make an envelop with two cards from 2 different ICAD challenges. I taped them shut on the top and bottom and at one end leaving one end open. I then adhered the envelop to my page from the bottom so that I could flip it up and down so that you could see both images.

Inside the envelop I put this little guy. Do you remember him from a few months ago on my Instagram account?

It's the jaguar I drew after visiting the zoo in May!

On the other side I decided to draw this silly little scene of a kitty trying to steal some treats from a tea party.

I hope that this inspired you to play in your art journal if you have one. Maybe it inspired you to start your own daily creative practice. Remember that everyone can draw. There's no wrong way to be creative. Do what makes you happy. Just have fun with it! 

Oh I shared a little video on my Instagram (@susannefyfe) account showing how my little envelop is stuck onto the page. Go check it out and feel free to follow me!

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My Happy List

Self care has been an important topic for me for quite some time. I think I really started thinking about it after I started my first job after college. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what makes me happy? What do I need everyday to make me feel good.

I decided to make a list of things that I need in order to stay sane, be happy, and to feel good. In fact I illustrated my list in my art journal.

So let me elaborate a bit on my list in no particular order.

1.  I know that I need to drink lots of water. If I don't drink enough then I feel terrible and I'll most likely get a headache. I always think it's funny when people say they don't like the taste of water. I love water. It's the best. I guess sometimes I want something with some flavor but when I'm super thirsty water hits the spot. I guess if you don't like the way water tastes you can always add some fruit tea too it or fruit juice ice cubes? Anyway, I'll worry about me and you worry about you. No judging any non water people. 

2. I know that I need to get outside. The sound of the birds and the breeze through the trees is so relaxing! I love to sit on the back porch with my hubby and watch the birds at the feeder and to water my plants and see what progress they've made growing. Taking a breath of fresh air is the best. Oh and it's best if I can go outside barefoot. Feeling the ground under my bare feet is just so therapeutic somehow. Nature is amazing and I love observing it. 

3. I need to be active! I feel so good after going on a walk or on occasion get a work out in. I'm good with getting the walks in but I feel like I should do workouts in the house when walking outside just isn't going to happen because of the weather. Do you guys after any fun youtube workout videos you like to watch and workout to? Blogilates is a really fun one if you're looking.

4. I need a really good hug from my hubby. I like the extra squeezy kind that feels like a massage. Hugs just make me so happy.

5. I need to journal or have a brain dump everyday. I feel so scattered and can't remember anything unless I write it down. I find that paper planning works better for me than digital planning with an app. Everyday it helps if I make a list of everything that I need to do. It also helps to just free write in my journal. Get everything out of my head without worrying about spelling or grammar. This is for me to get my thoughts straightened out. It also really helps if I sit down with my paper calendar at the beginning of every week and just review what's coming up. Otherwise I'll forget that we have a show coming up or a wedding or we're visiting family. Write everything down.

6. I also need to create something everyday. I might not be in the mood to draw or paint something everyday but I know that most days I really enjoy it and I just get lost in it. Time just disappears. I think that it's a better way to spend my time that being a couch potato. Creating something everyday whether I'm in the mood to or not helps me keep it a daily habit. If I don't do it, it feels weird!

So I invite you to make your own list of things that you need to do everyday to make you happy, keep you sane, and feel good. Illustrate it if you feel called to. I think it would be really fun to see your doodles! Do it on some really pretty stationary if you feel called to. I think that really spending time on this list and having fun with it is a form of self care because you're paying attention to your needs. 

Let me know what you think about self care. Is it overrated? Do you think it's important? Have you gave it any thought? I think it's a good thing to talk about.

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3 New listings on my Etsy shop!

Hey every one! I added 3 new listings to my Etsy shop today!!! And I've made 2 sales already! They're people I already know which is awesome because I think I would be so nervous about messing something up if it was a stranger! So thank you my darlings (you know who you are) for for being my first customers! You will be receiving some extras for being my first customers. 

This first one is called Chickadee Social. I love this one so much!! I am planning on doing more with this print. So look out for note cards and maybe more sizes of this one.

Garden Tea Party is so fun! I love having tea with friends and family. This one was inspired by visits to my mom's house. We always have tea and treats together in her sun room or the living room overlooking her flowers in the front yard. There are always plants around in the house and I always feeling like I'm having tea in the garden.

Moses and Marmalade is inspired by my sister's kitty Moses who has made friends with a neighborhood cat that they call Marmalade. I wonder what they talk about when they sit together. Any ideas?

I hope that you see something here that you like and that you check out my shop! I would also love it if you sent along any friends or family that you think would like my art to my shop too.

Oh and Autumn says hi!

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Messy Studio Nook Tour by Miss Autumn

Merow it's me Autumn! Happy Caturday Sunday (Mommy has been slacking!)! Today I'm going to share with you where Mommy and us helpers work. She has a little studio nook in our play room. Aren't we so nice allowing Mommy to use up so much space?

Today Mommy is working on getting her new art prints ready for the shop meow! The sizes are a little funky so she's mounting them on card stock to get an easy to frame size. Look how messy Mommy's desk is sheesh!

While I'm at it meow, I'm going to share the rest of her pigsty I mean, studio nook.

Here is her bulletin board where she tacks things up that she needs to remember. I don't see the point meow! She still forgets everything especially birthdays and she has a list of birthdays of friends and family members by month on there!

Right next to her desk is her drawers of papers and stencils. She has scrapbook paper, magazine clippings, and some of her artwork for collage. On top is a bunch of paint brushes (I don't know why she has so many, she only uses like 5 of them meow!), pens, glues, gift cards for spreading paint and flattening glued down items in her art journal, and a bunch of other junk that I can't really get too because she has too much up here meow!

Next to her paper and pens and stuff is her cube shelves. Yep more junk meow! On top she has her scanner, printer, and her laptop is kept here too. This is also where she keeps all of her paints, markers, jewelry supplies, inks, stamps, index card art, camera, and extra papers.

 

Mommy also has a little closet on the other end of the room that's not shown. In there she has finished journals and where she keeps her paper cutters and who knows what else. I am going to make Mommy tidy up and show you how it looks when it's nice and clean meow!

Mommy is hoping to get her artwork listed on her Etsy shop tomorrow. I'll make sure she keeps you updated. I am the social media strategist after all! 

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New Artwork to be listed on Etsy soon!

Hi everyone! I have some new art prints to share with you today! I'm planning on listing them this week so stay tuned to my Facebook page or my Etsy shop if you're interested. 

Please excuse the photos. By the time I got them home it became dark with rainstorms so the light wasn't the best but I really wanted to share these with you! I'll have better quality pictures for the Etsy listing of course and the prints themselves will be flattened down.

I love these Black Capped Chickadees so much. They're one of my favorite birds because they have the sweetest little voices and they're so small. Such little cuties. I think I'll call this one Chickadee Social.

Garden Tea Party on the left and Moses and Marmalade on the right. Whenever I visit my mom I love having tea with her in her sun room or in the living room where we look out her big picture window. We always have little treats and there are always plants around. Even if we're inside it feels like a garden. I got the idea for Moses and Marmalade from my sister. She has a sweet black kitty who made friends with an orange kitty that they call Marmalade. So this is a picture of Moses and Marmalade hanging out in the nice warm sun chatting about life.

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A look at some of my daily doodles

Hello! I just wanted to share some of my daily doodles. I believe that to keep the creative juices flowing you need to create everyday. When you just aren't feeling it you have to do it anyway. It doesn't need to be a masterpiece. Just grab some watercolors and put some color on paper. Just play for 5 minutes. 

Below I have some of my doodles from my index card a day challenge. I like to do this challenge from time to time. You should try it too. Index cards are nice and small so there's no need to feel overwhelmed. If an index card still feels too big to work with just cut it in half. There are no rules! You can do whatever you want on your cards or whatever you want to use. Just do something everyday.

I hope that these inspired you to try your own little challenge. If you want to see more you can check out my Instagram page. You can look up @susannefyfe and please follow me so I can see your creations too! Oh and I got more prints made from more of my artwork! I'm extra proud of these because this time I scanned them into my computer and I touched them up myself in Photoshop. I got a call today that they're ready to be picked up so I'll get those this week. So look for an upcoming post about those and I'll have them listed in my Etsy shop by the end of the week! 💗

Meet my Furry Studio Assistants

While I create in my little studio nook I'm often being snoopervised by one of my 3 kitties. They remind me to get something creative done everyday. We had a little meeting over some catnip and tuna and we decided that they would be valuable members of the Susanne Fyfe Art Etsy team.

Old Lady Morgan will be in charge of the stock room and shipping items out to customers. She will make sure we're stocked up on shipping supplies and will keep products organized. She's a no nonsense kind of gal so I know I can count on her to keep products and supplies organized and in stock!    

 
Mr. Midnight will be in charge of inspecting the final product before it's listed in the shop. Midnight has shown an interest in snoopervising meal planning and making sure we're not about to eat something poisonous so I have complete confidence in his inspection duties.

Ms. Autumn will be my social media strategist. While I work she often comes over to see what I'm up to and gives me ideas for what I should be posting on Instagram. She's been a big help in coming up with ideas for my daily doodles and was a great help when I was doing my index card a day project. Autumn is also great at helping everyone get along. Morgan and Mr. Midnight often have little spats and she makes everything all better. Because of this I believe that should will make a great HR director. I have no doubt that Autumn will be a great help in the social media department and in keeping everyone in line.   💜

My Etsy shop is now open!

After several years of wanting to open an Etsy shop I finally did it! click here to see my shop! I have two prints listed so far and I am working on more! I got so caught up with wanting to get everything perfect and it was taking me forever so I finally decided to just do it. I can always tweak things as I go. I'm always going to be learning better ways to do something so it's ok if I don't have it all figured out.

So here is a picture of my first 2 prints. One of the prints has some pencil lines on it because I forgot to erase them on the original before having them scanned and printed. Oops! I still decided to list it and priced it slightly cheaper than the other one. I suppose it gives it character. What do you think?

I'm planning on stocking my shop with more nature prints like the ones here as well as some whimsical animals. Ever since I was little I've loved nature and I've had a special bond with my kitties. My artwork is inspired by my kitties and outdoor adventures both from when I was a child and from my life today.

I hope that you'll check out my shop and stick around my blog for updates on what I'm up to in my studio and to get shop updates. You can also stay up to date by following my art page on Facebook Stay tuned for an upcoming post introducing my furry shop assistants!

♥