Little Street

Little Street is a mixed media work on three panels, that you can either hang in a group, but also hang further away from each other. You could even keep one panel and give two to loved ones, so you can be united in art.

The panels are 10 x 10 cm, roughly 8 x 8 inches. I used acrylics, water colour and scrap book paper. The sides are covered too, so the panels do not need framing.

The third panel is signed, EH stands for Eveline Hessels, and that's me!

Books, books, books

Nanowrimo has started. Yes! Finally! This year I did not do what I normally do, which is start at midnight on Halloween, I was too tired from a long day shopping and then all those trick or treaters at the door. So I started this afternoon and finished my first chapter at 2491 words. I'm happy.

I keep my notes in a notebook. Due to my lack of preparation this year, I'm using a simple spiral notebook, ruled. Ruled! I hate ruled pages! If I had prepared like I normally do, I would have searched for a lovely book, a notebook I would proudly take everywhere, a notebook I would cuddle, stroke the pages of in anticipation of the words that would soon fill it.

A book like the ones My Handbound Books makes, perhaps. They look absolutely gorgeous!

Did I mention Christmas is coming up, and that my birthday is on December 30th? Hmmmmmm.......

Creative Challenge and OSWOA

Yesterday was the last of my Creative Challenge! I have to say these last 21 days have absolutely flown by!

It has been pretty amazing that not one day I skipped doing 'something creative', even if it was colouring in the drawings I had already done in my sketchbook, or thinking of Nanowrimo-ideas (I think I've got one! I'm working out details, but I honestly think I can work with this idea, yay!). I have learned that I feel lots better when I do sit down and do something creative, and that I don't have to 'finish' something that same day in order for me to feel satisfied.

Maybe I should just continue doing what I have been doing for these last 21 days, what do you think...>

Also....

Just when you think you understand what ACEO means (Artist Card, Editions and Originals, but you knew that, right?), there's something new: OSWOA. It stands for Original Small Work Of Art, and they are slightly bigger than the ACEOs, giving you more space to work with, and more art to enjoy. OSWOAs are 4x6", making them the same size as standard photo's, and therefor easier to frame or put in a photo album.

I just listed my very first one in my Etsy shop, so come and have a look and start your very own OSWOA collection today!

Sometimes things do not go as planned....

.....and sometimes, that's a good thing!

When I started this painting I had no idea what I was doing. I just did the background and was very happy with how that turned out. I used several layers of different shades of pink, lots of gesso in between, and I just really liked how it looked. But then I had to decide what to actually do with it...

I noticed a colour different on the side, and that inspired me to do a figure peeking from one side, so you'd only see half of her face. So I decided to do a sad angel, with dark eyes and dark hair. A moody kind of painting, for a change.

But no, the painting decided it did not want to be moody. It wanted purple eyes, and lots of butterflies that I had to cut out of a book I picked up at the car boot the other week.....

So all of a sudden there she was, Butterfly Girl! Not planned, but I'm very happy the way she just 'happened'.

To see more pictures of her and read more about her, please go to my Etsy shop.

It's raining cats and dogs!

When I was in school back in Holland learning English, of course I learned about all these weird proverbs and sayings. Us Dutch didn't come off to great, with Dutch courage and a Dutch uncle.

But 'it's raining cats and dogs' always seems the weirdest of them all. If it was raining cats and dogs, would you ever think of going out? I know I wouldn't, I'd be too afraid of being hit in the head by falling golden retrievers, or stepping on wet kittens.

If you want to see more pictures of this ACEO, come and have a look in my shop, Timeless

Guerilla promotion

'Guerilla art' is art you leave in public places for other people to find. According to Kerri Smith it is 'a fun and insidious way of sharing your vision with the world. It is a method of art making which entails leaving anonymous art pieces in public places. It can be done for a variety of reasons, to make a statement, to share your ideas, to send out good karma, or just for fun.

You could use the principles of guerilla art for promotion.

Today, I read about a Dutch woman who put free buttons with her shop logo all over Amsterdam, making it look like billboards and posters were wearing her buttons. Such a great idea.

As much as I like sending off business cards to people asking for promo's, or handing them out, there's something much more fun about being 'sneaky' and secretive.

I think we can learn a lot from those million dollar ad campaignes. You know the ones: first you see billboards all over town that don't tell you what they are about, but you see them so often you're starting to wonder what it's all about. And then, after a few weeks, you get your answer....

Maybe you can do the same on a smaller scale. Be a mystery. Put art work out in the real world and see if people are taking it, and then go from there.

I'm getting all excited just thinking about it.

Wish I could get my super chalks out (not right now of course,it's pouring down and besides, it's 1 am here in the UK....)

Please share your guerilla promotion stories! I'd love to hear them!

Look what I bought!

Today I received the pendant I bought from Nicholas & Felice.

It is a hammered and swirled 18 gauge sterling silver wire to make this celtic inspired light weight pendant.

It measures about 1 3/8"( 3.5cm) from the top of the sterling silver bail to the bottom of the pendant. It is about 1/2"(1.3cm) across the widest part.

This pendant came with a long satin cord, which is great because you can tie it as long or as short as you'd like. Which I love!

And the best thing yet, they still have this pendant in their shop, along with other absolutely gorgeous items.

But don't just let me tell you, go and have a look!

Cyber Monday

You may have never heard of it, but today is Cyber Monday. After Thanksgiving in the US, the Friday after is called Black Friday, named because that is when people go mad shopping for the holidays. Shops open in the middle of the night, and people actually queue up in the cold outside waiting for special deals.

Today, Cyber Monday, is the online equivalent. Online stores hope to get a massive amount of sales, and Etsy is no different.

Because I took the Buy Handmade pledge, so I am on the lookout for great handmade items. At Etsy you can literally find anything from handmade notebooks to complete outfits, the cutest cuddly toys, geeky things for your nerdy friends, beautiful jewellery, houseware, and even (handmade and commercial) supplies so you can get your craft on yourself.

If you can sneak in some time at work to come and have a look at Etsy, and of course preferable Timeless, my Etsy shop, that would be great!

Happy shopping!

Vote for Etsy

Time.com has a list of the 50 best websites of 2007 up and they want to know what we think of them. And guess what.. Etsy is on the list!

You can vote here, and refresh and vote again.

Etsy is currently on number 5! Check the poll results to see if we can Etsy get even higher!

Peg pirates

I know how hard it can be to shop for boys. They seem to already have all the cars they'll ever want, all the Lego, and after last year's disaster you definitely don't want to give little Joey another sword or toy that comes with batteries and lotsss of noise.

So how about something hand made? Something they can play with for hours and make up their own stories with?

These peg pirates will steal your little boy's (or hey, maybe even your girl's) heart!

Want these, looking for more than 6 pirates or maybe looking for different colours?
Come and have a look at Timeless, my Etsy shop.

Look what I just bought!

As soon as I had sold my eggcups, I bought this '4 in 1 zippered tissue-lip balm-key chain-business card holder' as its full name is. I had to have it! It's cow print! And not only that, it holds tissues (or phone!),lip balm, keys and business cards!

Happybee was sweet enough to put it up reserved for me, so I could wait for my buyer's Paypal check to come through without having to worry about someone else grabbing it before me....

Gotta love Etsy with all its lovely sellers!

More seahorses!

This picture frame, with the same seahorse design as on the eggcups, is perfect for your beach holiday pictures!

Come and see more detailed pictures at Timeless, my Etsy shop!

Seahorses

These seahorses came about while doodling. I was just doing my usual curvy lines when all of a sudden, I had a little seahorse! Of course they had to be painted on eggcups!

The cups have got lots of glitter, too!

Come and see more pics at Timeless, my Etsy shop!

Cats on cups

These cats on cups have already been sold (well, reserved for someone, and hopefully they will be on their way next week!), but if you like them, I could do them again for you. We could even have a chat about the colours you'd like.

Give me a shout through the 'convo's' at Timeless, my Etsy shop!

Hard boiled egg, anyone?

My new 'obsession' is painting eggcups. They are miniature pieces of functional art and best yet, I love doing them! Even though the shape can sometimes be limiting, that in itself is a wonderful challenge.

These white eggcups with a fantasy Dutch blue (or 'Delfts blauw') decoration show off where I was born; Holland. So when you take these into your home, you will have a little bit of Holland.

Come and have a look at Timeless, my Etsy shop to see more pictures!

It all started with pebbles....

As I said in my previous blog, my Etsy adventure started off with pebbles. Though this Moonrock is not one of my first ones, it is one I am very proud of. I love the way it turned out.

I first painted the pebble in a silver paint, and then added blue to the background and finally painted the moon in different shades of blue. I decorated the pebble with some silver stars and that was it!

I love my moonrock and I would love for it to find a home as I think it deserves that. You can use it for decoration, or as a lovely paperweight.

Go and have a look at Timeless, my Etsy shop, for more pictures!

Welcome!

Welcome to my Timeless blog, where I will show you my finished products as well as talk about the creative process and wonderful wonderful Etsy where I have my own shop.

Before anything, I think I should introduce myself.

My name is Eveline, I'm a 33 year old Dutch woman living in England. Last summer I moved from Holland to the UK so I could live with boyfriend Tye.

In school Arts was never my favourite subject. Yeah I liked messing about with paints, but it was never 'good enough' according to my teachers. I did not have any sense of scale, I always messed up the horizon in my drawings and it just never turned out 'just like the example'. I dropped Arts as soon as I could. Writing was more my thing anyway.

Late last summer I stumbled across some websites on rock painting. I was inspired! I could do that! Well, maybe not the detailed animals, but I sure could give it a go and see how it would turn out!

And guess what, I loved it. I spent hours and hours painting pebbles I bought from a local gardencentre (rather than hunting for my own especially in the rain..) and before I knew it, I had too many to even know what to do with.

'Why don't you try and sell them?' Tye suggested. And that's when I found Etsy, a website where you can sell and buy handmade items. I put a few pebbles in my shop and the next morning Tye woke me up (he works nights) telling me I sold my elephant! I was shocked! In a very, very good way.

After that I sold some other pebbles and have now also started painting on wood, and terra cotta items. The terra cotta have not made it to my shop just yet, but I am planning on listing them very soon.

Please feel free to have a look at Timeless and let me know what you think!