How could I not post that here? Except for the news, What Not to Wear is the ONLY new tv show I watch! So yeah, pretty exciting...
5.29.2009
"I love Eloise" -- a celebrity endorsement?
Okay, so she didn't actually "endorse" flapper doodle, however... at my art show this weekend, I overheard Stacy London from What Not to Wear say to her friend whilst perusing my flapper doodle prints "I Love Eloise!"
5.28.2009
Eloise and Ramona go sightseeing in Paris
The original painting is actually in color, but I thought it looked too cartoony. Plus, I was going for an old snapshot kind of feel, and this seems much more 1920's-ish. I may even try sepia tone instead of black and white... what do you think?
It's watercolor, gauche, ink and acrylic on paper.
5.27.2009
pocket mirrors now available! yay!
After a bunch of roadblocks, I have finally finished and listed my flapper doodle pocket mirrors!! I have four different designs available right now, plus an option for a custom mirror.
They are 2.25", perfect for slipping in your vintage handbag whenever you leave the house!
I may try to take better pictures tomorrow, but I think the forecast says it will be just as rainy, dreary and not-the-right-conditions-for-taking-photos as it was today...
Eloise and Ramona, ballerinas
I drew this at my show in NYC this weekend,
and I couldn't picture Ramona's pose in my head,
but I knew exactly what I had in mind. So I did a
small example of the pose for my brother, who
then proceeded to hold the above pose for a few
minutes while I sketched this out.... on the street
in New York. He can really get on my nerves, but
embarrassing himself in public just so I could
draw this was very sweet.
On an etsy note, I have the mirror-making process
down pat now, and I've already made four mirrors!
As soon as I figure out the packaging, I'll be posting
them for sale on etsy! They will be $5 each, and
although I have a few designs in mind that I'd like
to sell, I'll also have one custom option where you
can pick your own design from any of my drawings.
5.24.2009
One month anniversary sale!
Today is the one month anniversary since Eloise and Ramona made their debut, riding a two seated bicycle as un-named characters in a silly doodle that I posted to flickr. To celebrate their birthday, I'm offering a one week only sale in my flapper doodle shop-- Buy 1 Print, Get 1 Free. Any size, no limit to how many you buy. Just add ONE of the two prints to your cart, and indicate which you'd like free in your message to seller at checkout. If you buy two, you will get two free, and on and on. Please also write BOGOFLAPPER in your message to seller, so I know why you are asking for free prints :D
Thanks, and Happy Birthday Eloise and Ramona!!!!
5.22.2009
Another flapper painting..
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if I like this one.
Well, I like it, I just don't love it... I may go back to
doing a few black and white ones for now before I try
painting them again.
Anyway, it's called "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries"
because that is the sheet music on the piano (don't
try to zoom in, it's just gibberish.. but because I'm
the artist, I say it's Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries!)
To hear the song, click here.
5.21.2009
Eloise, Ramona and Clarissa dance the Charleston.
This is what I had in mind with adding color... I like
having the flappers in b/w, and the background in
color.. what do you think? Not for every single
drawing, but just some of them..
5.20.2009
flapper doodle stationery!
The flapper doodle stationery is now for sale on etsy!
Includes:
12 sheets of printed paper
(4 each of 3 designs)
8 sheets of blank paper
20 envelopes
and a voucher for a free sheet
of stickers when I finally figure
out how to print them!
New exciting Eloise & Ramona themed products coming in the next two weeks!
I'm branching out a little with the flapper doodle artwork, into "not just prints and originals" territory! Starting this evening you can buy flapper doodle stationery sets, complete with 12 sheets of paper, 12 envelopes and (possibly, because I haven't quite figured out how yet) stickers & a pencil. I'm on a "people should start writing letters again" crusade, and speaking from experience, I think having a pen pal is one of the niftiest things ever. It's so nice to see an envelope in your mailbox that isn't from a bank, store or credit card company!
And starting next week I'll be offering flapper doodle pocket mirrors (ahh! so excited about this!) I think Eloise and Ramona are just MADE for gracing the front of a pocket mirror! :) I got a neat kit for making them (my dad actually used to own a really good professional kit for making buttons & mirrors, and donated it years ago... darn!) and I'm super enthusastic about it-- I'm going to spread out all the supplies on my floor, sit in the middle, put in a DVD and make mirrors galore!
I'll be posting pictures of the stationery sets later tonight (my brother has commandeered the family camera for the afternoon) and posting them on etsy this evening as well. They are going to be made to order, so you can pick out which designs you want if my standard ones don't tickle your fancy.
Ah! I'm giddy with excitement :D
Eloise in technicolor!
Eloise frets about what to wear to Coney Island.
This is my first attempt at painting the flappers! I think I like it, though I know it's just a start... I have yet to figure out how much color I should add, if I should do all-out full color paintings, etc. But at least I can have fun with the outfits :) Sometimes b/w just doesn't work when I want to add detail to a dress.
This is also my first foray into gouache, instead of acrylic! With acrylics, I can only paint on really sturdy surfaces like wood or canvas because it is so thick it can warp paper. Gouache on the other hand works fine on paper, which is great because I wanted a thin, smooth surface to paint on so that I could still do the details in marker (impossible on canvas, at least impossible for me!)
Most of my flappers will still be in black and white, but I like having this option when I want to add color.
5.19.2009
Self Portrait
Okay, so I'm much shorter, have way less awesome hair
and usually wear pj's and socks instead of chic dresses
and heels when I'm working... but otherwise....
this is my self portrait.
5.17.2009
Eloise and Ramona drink lemonade while Emma paints
Yesterday I was at an outdoor art fair in NYC, and it was actually really chilly but there was a guy selling fresh squeezed lemonade about a block away from me. I could see it from my booth, and although I was desperately thirsty and the idea of lemonade sounded ridiculously intriguing, the sight of lemons piled up in a garbage bucket at his stand sort of put me off of the idea.. So I had Eloise and Ramona drink the lemonade instead. Of course, now that I'm home, I'm planning on making a nice refreshing pitcher of lemonade today :D
I haven't titled this one yet, but I drew it yesterday at my art show while I was daydreaming about being home painting instead of standing outside at a chilly art fair while bad music wafted through the air... At the time, I was titling it "Emma loved painting much more than selling her art at outdoor art fairs" -- but now that the show is over, I'm thinking of just calling it "Emma enjoys painting" or something like that... suggestions?
5.15.2009
spiffy
ahhh! I'm at it again... make her stop! make her stop!!
I was looking on etsy this morning, and I saw so many great things I wanted to buy but, alas, can't afford... but some of the artists I was looking at deserved to have 20000000 sales and only had a few. So I decided to do ANOTHER blog (I know, I'm going to be doing this full time pretty soon!)
This one is going to be just for me to feature artists I love. I spent about eight hours designing it tonight, so I hope you'll just swing by and take a look at my handy work. Plus, I picked my first artist to feature, Gintare Bruzas, an etsy seller who does fantastic watercolor paintings of 1920's ladies.
The blog is called "spiffy" - a 1920's term for smart, snazzy, nifty, chic, etc. I actually wanted "the bee's knees" or "hotsy totsy" first, but they are both taken (as is "bees knees") by people who abandoned their blogging endeavors in 2002 or 2006, one person actually never even blogged, they just stole the name so that nobody else could ever use it... you know, sometimes I wish that e-mail addresses, websites, blog names, etc. would be set free again after people abandon them instead of staying reserved for eternity.
And.. since this consumed the better part of my day, it won't be until tomorrow that I can finally post art (am I a procrastinator, or WHAT?!) but now that my little brood of blogs are all up and running and I can finally just sit back and maintain them, whisking away the summer hours blogging and doing art. (Provided I don't get another scathingly brilliant idea and do ANOTHER blog later on. Please no!)
5.14.2009
Ramona wears a new hat, and Emma is fascinated with The Great Gatsby
Remember when Eloise and Ramona went shopping last
week? And Eloise was carrying a large hat box? Well, here's
the hat! I'm having so much fun drawing in black and
white, but sometimes I really want to add color... I just
don't like the way markers and colored pencils have been
looking, and I don't want to draw on canvas, so for now
I just have to not add color... tis a shame, because that
cloche would look divine in a light buttery yellow!
Emma stays home to read again-- after finishing
Main Street, this time she's reading The Great Gatsby
and she is absolutely fascinated! Good thing Ernest
lent it to her.
5.13.2009
Eloise and Ramona were blogged today! yay!!
Maria from the lovely blog The Indie Handmade Show did a blog post today about the flappers! It includes several of my newest drawings and some very sweet words-- please take a look here!
yay!!
5.12.2009
Eloise and Ramona play badminton (and get a new bicycle)
Eloise and Ramona play badminton (which, until today when it
got a red zig zag line under it, I thought was spelled badmitten)
This one may look familiar to you-- it is almost exactly
the same as my very first flapper doodle -- but I was not
happy with the heads on my original flappers, so I just
totally re-drew this today. And now, I am very happy :)
Ramona frets about what to wear this evening while Eloise goes for a ride on her Vespa.
I could easily do hundreds of versions of this drawing with different dresses in each one! This dress is really long, so she must be going out somewhere fancy, but I'm not sure where yet...
Maybe I will do a little "Ramona's closet" series :D
The semester is now officially over, so I have until late August now to just draw and paint (and overhaul my bedroom, my little project for the summer!) and I am too excited for words!
I also did this one tonight, too ---
When she isn't riding her two-seated bicycle with
her friend Ramona, Eloise goes out on her bright
red Vespa scooter.
5.11.2009
Originals
I've finally decided to add my original drawings & paintings to my etsy shops-- this will be the Silents and Talkies paintings, my silly pun artwork & the flapper doodle drawings. The flapper doodles range in price from $15 - $30 each, and they range in size from 3" x 5" to 8" x 10" --
I have what I hope is a fantastic idea for a flapper doodle, and I'm going to go work on that now :D
ps. Just discovered the flickr toys site.. uh oh! :)
Birthday
I had another customer order prints for a birthday! The prints are for her mom, for whom a giant flapper-themed 50th birthday bash is being given! How fun!!!
So I did another surprise birthday card, this one with "50" number candles on a cake! I wish everyone was ordering prints for birthdays because I love drawing birthday cards! Well, I love birthdays in general... does anyone else love the smell of candles after they've just been blown out? *sigh* I wish I didn't have to wait until November, because now I'm in a birthday mood!!
Friendly Blogger
John Hayes at Robert Frost's Banjo has given flapperdoodle the Friendly Blogger Award -- if anyone deserved this award, it was John. When I was floundering in a sea of debt after my laptop fell off the back of a chair last month, voicing my woes and financial anguish on my other blog, John swooped in with a purchase from my etsy shop. In addition, he has been incredibly kind and sweet as I've chugged along the last four months in the blogging world, welcoming me right from the start when my blog had only been around for a week or so. That he chose me as a friendly blogger is one of the best compliments ever.For extra doses of friendly bloggingness, please visit the following blogs, whose writers will now be Friendly Blogger Award-winning blogs!
Elizabeth at Oh by Jingo! Oh By Jee!
Millie at Classic Forever
Lolita at Lolita's Classics
Casey at Noir Girl
Sarah at Cinema Splendor
Nicole at Classic Hollywood Nerd
Graciebird at Dreaming in Black and White
DKoren at Sidewalk Crossings
Thank you for all being such lovely, friendly ladies, and great blogging friends :D
ps. I'd like to give one to Raquelle at Out of the Past, too but she's said that she isn't a fan of blog awards --oh well, she deserves this one anyway! :)
5.09.2009
More adventures, and an un-named cat
[the as of yet un-named cat] takes Eloise for a walk.
(help with a name, please!)
Ramona makes flapjacks for breakfast,
but Ramona doesn't much care for them.
(inspiration: Christmas in Connecticut)
Eloise practices yoga.
(how do you think they stay so trim & fit?)
5.08.2009
Eloise and Ramona prepare for a night on the town
Eloise and Ramona prepare for a night on the town
in their new frocks, ready for an evening of dancing
at some hotsy totsy speakeasies!
ps. Ramona's wrap is fake fur, and a little disclaimer-- even though Eloise looks very chic, smoking is not.
5.07.2009
Emma... oh-so-bored
You may recall that I said Emma was my autobiographical character... well today, she was more like my alter-ego...
I had jury duty this week, and until this morning I didn't have to report. When I found out I had to report today, I was initially kind of dispirited (especially since jury duty starts at 8:30 am and I usually wake up around 3pm) but I actually got excited about the prospect when I started packing my activity bag.
I've only had jury duty once before, and I spent about three hours in the jury pool room reading before being shuffled off into a courtroom for about 45 minutes. So the idea of three hours of me-time again sounded kind of nice... I packed my sketchbook, pens, pencils, Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, Now Playing, a notebook and some cereal and water. I was all set!
I arrived at the jury pool room, unpacked my little bag, started drawing an Eloise and Ramona sketch and then... not even five minutes had passed before we got called into court. Ugh!
I've always wanted to be on a jury (I have visions of grandeur -- I often dream of Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men the whole week I have jury duty) but the actual process of jury selection is excruciating! Most of the courtroom activity was done in sidebar, where the lawyers & the judge would whisper so that nobody could hear them, so there was nothing interesting to listen to. And the "look at me in my cool police suit" guard standing almost right next to me seemed like the type to issue a contempt of court fine if I whipped out the sketchbook.
So I just sat. and sat. and sat. and sat.
and sat.
Until FINALLY four hours later I was excused. Whew! In the meantime, I did have a one hour lunch at which point I drew this little doodle of Emma *my alter-ego* falling asleep during jury duty. I wish...
5.06.2009
happy birthday.
I had an etsy order this week for a girl who was ordering the prints for her sister's birthday, and I drew this design on a card (as a surprise, so I hope she doesn't look at this blog! lol)
I'm thinking that this might be a fun little series -- flapper birthdays. Hey! The insides of the cards could say "Have a hotsy totsy birthday!" or "I hope your birthday is the bees knees!"
Six Degrees of flapper doodle separation
I had this CRAZY idea last night --
I was just sitting around, thinking about art, and how to get people to see it. I personally think it's the toughest challenge you face when you decide to be an artist-- nevermind the creative blocks, artistic frustration or financial woes. Getting people to actually SEE your art is probably the hardest thing to do.
SO, I was just sitting around, thinking about art, and how to get people to see it. And then this idea struck me....
Six degrees of flapper doodle separation. With each order, I'm sending *and on this blog I am posting* a little form that is kind of like a snail-mail-meets-21st-century referral program. Each person that refers 6 friends to my flapper doodle store gets a free mini print, and the friends all get a coupon. Then maybe one of those friends places an order with that coupon, gets a 6 degrees of separation form in their order, and so on and so on until my art has TAKEN OVER THE UNIVERSE! muah ha ha ha! (cough cough)
So anyway! Here is the snazzy little booklet I designed for my orders, and which, from here on in, will be accessible through my blog sidebar :D Click on the images to view larger versions.
ps. If you are an artist, feel free to steal the idea & let me know how it works for you!
Eloise and Ramona go shopping, while Emma stays home to read.
Eloise and Ramona go out shopping, and poor
Ernest is left holding all of their packages.
Emma stayed home to re-read Main Street by
Sinclair Lewis, her favorite book ever.
5.05.2009
Eloise and Ramona celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and play jacks & pin the tail on the donkey!)
Eloise and Ramona celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Eloise and Ramona play jacks.
Eloise plays pin the tail on the donkey.
5.04.2009
Eloise and Ramona on etsy.
I had started putting Eloise and Ramona in my silentsandtalkies etsy store, but, like I did with the blogs, I decided silentsandtalkies and the flappers needed separate spaces. So Eloise and Ramona now have their own corner on etsy -- flapperdoodle.etsy.com. It would be neat if you'd take a look *especially* because I really like the banner I made for the store :D
Before I had started the move, though, they were on the etsy front page again! yay! This time it was Eloise and Ramona eating neapolitan ice cream. AGAIN I missed seeing the front page, so I have no picture! If anyone is an etsy addict and ever sees my art on the front page please take a screenshot for me!
Well... lots to do! I will hopefully have one or two Eloise & Ramona drawings uploaded tonight -- today was mainly set aside for boring computer work, like creating the etsy store & adding all of the drawings. Thanks to everyone from silentsandtalkies who came over here to the new blog! You're all too sweet :D
5.03.2009
More fun with Eloise, Ramona & Clarissa
Eloise and Ramona play hide and seek.
Eloise, Ramona and Clarissa celebrate May
with a trip around the Maypole!
Eloise and Ramona on the telephone...
Either they are dumb, or their illustrator is--
because one of them should have a cup on her mouth!
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