New art, a paper trimmer, new Thumper/Bambi greeting cards, and a secret!

my current project

New art: Remember the BIG Ugandan Sun I was working on (begun here)? Well after working on it for literal hours this weekend, I took one look at it and decided, It's deathly boring. In fact, I was even bored of painting it. I showed the painting to my husband for confirmation of this depressing fact--he agreed: while we love the mosaic pattern, the shape of this particular sun was far too rigid and uniform to be of any interest.

As I was about to scrap it in frustration, Caleb suggested, Why don't you make the third color blue instead of yellow? Why don't you keep the circle part since that actually is interesting? Why don't you crop it down to a square around the circle and make it into an abstract? Oh, and why don't you give it to me when you are done? :)

the former Ugandan Sun turning abstract

My disappointment turned to instant excitement as I decided to implement each and every one of his suggestions. My efforts were not a waste after all! Have I mentioned that I adore my husband?

I also have finally gotten my hands on some quality black cardstock and metallic pens, but let me back up a little. A long time ago my father brought me back a red, black and gold silk purse from one of his trips to China. I wrinkled my nose at it initially, but my dad asked me to "just wear it once" for his sake. Since I adore my father, I agreed, and ended up falling in love with the purse anyway! I wore it for years until the fabric handles began to tear and the lining became completely detached from the outer fabric. I've kept it ever since in hopes that I could revive it in an art project. Behold, my new set of thank you notes:

the Chinese purse thank you notes

I love how these turned out and am thinking about selling them in my Etsy shop. However, three of them have slight wrinkles in the fabric (you can see this in the second photo above) and I'm wondering, does that add charm and beauty, or is that tacky? Please help me out here!

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New series: A while back one of our local libraries held a book sale. For the last hour of the sale you can bring your own any-size bag and fill it with whatever for a total of $3. Nice, huh? So I rescued a whole bunch of children's books, and this weekend have begun making the salvageable pages into greeting cards with matching envelopes. So far I have worked with just one book, a sweet little story about Thumper (from Disney's Bambi) getting himself and his three little sisters into then back out of trouble. So cute!

front of card/front of envelope (1)

inside of card/back of envelope (1)

I am pleased with the overall results, though I'm still thinking through them. What do you think, should I add sentiments? Any other embellishments? I rather like the minimalist look they have right now, and the customer could always request a sentiment. I was thinking of cutting out words from the leftover scraps and making those into collage-like sentiments. What do you think?

front of card/front of envelope (2)

inside of card/back of envelope (2)

Also, does anyone have any idea about any copyright issues I might run into with these? Just curious, as I have seen other people selling similar items without problems.

front of card/front of envelope (3)

inside of card/back of envelope (3)

front of card/front of envelope (4)

inside of card/back of envelope (4)

front of card/front of envelope (inside of card is blank) (5)

front of card/front of envelope (6)

inside of card/back of envelope (6)

front of card/front of envelope (7)

inside of card/back of envelope (7)

Soooo cute! Next I'll be working on a (smaller) greeting card set from a Peter Pan book. I'm really excited about that one.

I also made a few random butterflies, not really sure what I am doing with these yet:

Also, these are the business cards/magnets I mentioned last week. If you have any feedback on my dilemma, let me know:

New stuff: So my paper trimmer arrived Friday:

my brand spanking-new paper trimmer

I love it! It can cut several thick papers or a mere thin sheet at a time, and up to 18", too. I also purchased a new pair of fiskars scissors. Exciting! That brand is the best, my mother's pair has lasted her years and it's still beautifully sharp.

New secret: Finally, my new secret. :) It's a new multi-medium series involving black cardstock, watercolors, metallic pens and maybe even colored pencils. I can't tell you much yet, but it was inspired by my Ugandan Sun series and is something my hubby and I cannot wait to see materialize. Stay tuned!