I’m giving away a 2012 calendar to a lucky reader this week! The calendar features 12 watercolor paintings of wild edible plants, it measures 4-1/2″ x 11″, spiral bound and ready to hang. {They are available to purchase here, there’s as printable version, too!}

Entries are open through Monday January 9 at 12 noon EST (entries are closed). Just leave a comment on this post to be entered & tell me your favorite thing about 2011 and what you’re most looking forward to in 2012.

For me, my favorite favorite most amazing thing in 2011 was beginning to have conversations with my little one. For reals, she’s a PERSON with THOUGHTS and feelings and dreams and joys and hurts and questions questions questions. It’s so amazing to finally be able to hear all about them. She’s still working on her sentence structure (”does I have a sister?” was the best question yesterday. My answer? “no, you don’t have a sister” and her reply was “no, I don’t. She’s at work.” Hah! I guess “work” is where people are when you can’t see them? Pretty good).

And what are we looking forward to in 2012? All sorts of big things. Growing my business in ways I have only dreamed of. Making real plans, accountability, scheming and ACTING on these plans! Yes, so I suppose what I’m looking forward to in 2012 is action! Last year was a looking-inward hibernating sort of year, just reveling in our little family life and developing a rhythm to that. This year we’re adding to that rhythm and it already feels really good. Yay 2012!

**update: the winner is Samantha! Congrats and thanks to all of you for playing along!**

New originals have been unearthed! These were painted earlier in the year; prints coming soon, as well as more originals from prints already in the shop. Click the images or here to buy.

Another new painting, plus a set of postcards now in the shop.

I’m cooking up some exciting things in the studio these days. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter and you’ll be in on all the super-awesome secret stuff (and by secret I mean a coupon code for holiday shopping!) SIGN UP HERE — but don’t worry if you’re already on the list, you’ll get it all too! Eeeeee!!!!

Also — everything in the shop now ships for FREE (yes, that’s free shipping! on everything!) through the end of the year. I guess I’m just feeling generous? Yippee!

Maybe it was the October snow? But I’m ready for the (winter) holidays!

our little monkey on her 2nd Halloween

]]> http://www.lauriecoyledesigns.com/blog/2011/11/3110/feed/ 1 http://www.lauriecoyledesigns.com/blog/2011/06/im-the-art-crush-of-the-week/ http://www.lauriecoyledesigns.com/blog/2011/06/im-the-art-crush-of-the-week/#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:12:00 +0000 Laurie May http://www.lauriecoyledesigns.com/blog/?p=2899

I am so thrilled and flattered to be Maeg Yosef’s (aka Edison Rex) Art Crush of the week! Check out the interview I did with her here!

good morning afternoon. Do I look tired? I think I perpetually do these days, but I’m working today (yay!) and getting things done! (and drinking lots of this green superfood drink to rev up my energy!)

Today I did an interview on a friend’s blog that will post soon. Then I uploaded a bunch of old (and some new-ish) images to flickr so there’s a current collection of my work there. It was getting pretty stale. And worked on my lessons from the online course From the Fishbowl to the Sea — so great! This course has me taking stock of where I am, where I have come from and where I am going in this big ol’ fishbowl of being an artist online (and off!). Being in business for myself has been so fun, but I definitely don’t think I’m running a profitable business and I am certainly running on the hamster wheel of survival and making it work but not “really” working. :::sigh::::

But really… where have I been? Sometimes I don’t feel like I’ve come very far since starting this business, but when I really look at it, I have! If anything, I have gained confidence in talking about it — saying “I am an artist” and “I am a business owner”!

I also think despite not making much work this past year (been otherwise occupied, it seems!), my style has evolved and I feel much more professional. Is that weird that I’m not doing as much work but I feel more professional? Hah. I guess I’m just not approaching it in such a carefree and casual way, it’s more important to spend time efficiently when I do get to work. I get stuck in this, too, though — I don’t want to “waste” my time, so I just end up doing little bits of things here and there, not really getting anything done most days. So here is my recent commitment, saying it to you might make it real: I want to paint more, make more, sell more! I am going to turn this into a thriving, profitable business one way or another. It might have to change completely, but that’s ok! Change is good. And sometimes welcome.

Starting with…. changing my business name? Just toying with the idea of dropping the “Designs” part…from the website anyway…. what do you think? I don’t even know how to do it on Etsy… I don’t think I can change the name there, but I could just change the banner and make it say “Laurie Coyle” with some kind of catchy tagline? Thoughts?

I had a little time to head down to my studio this afternoon (John took babybear out on some errands with him — she reportedly wasn’t impressed with the hardware store, though). I was so happy to have some time to work on my “Right-Brain Business Plan“! Remember collage? Yeah, it’s super fun!

someday I’ll give you that long-ago promised tour of the studio, but for now these sneak-peeks will have to do. Hope you can carve out some creative time this weekend, too!

that I have been trying for weeks to capture. Natalie’s new smooshy angry-looking super-happy face! Too cute for words, really. Where did she get it? Do I make this face? Awesome.

In other (but totally related) news: if you want to see more (and more frequent) Natalie updates, go here: http://upwillowstreet.tumblr.com/

And in other totally unrelated news, I’ve been attending the Right-Brain Business Plan Video Summit, and it is knocking my socks off. It’s free, & there are still 3 days left. If you wish you’d caught it last week and want to catch up, you can pay a fee and get all the videos and such to watch at your convenience, and there’s even an option to get in on some group coaching sessions and to join an online community. It would totally be worth it if you are in the process of (or thinking about or been meaning to) writing a biz plan or organizing your creative biz. Full of wisdom and actionable advice/tips. Totally awesome. Did I mention that it’s great. GREAT!

It’s been so long since I’ve sewn. I ended up with nasty tendonitis in both wrists around when Natalie was born, and haven’t been back at it since. It felt so (sew? haha) good to be back at it!

This little critter was a gift for the very beautiful 4 month-old Natalie’s manhandling in the photos below.  We hear the pointy owl ears are great for teething. Yum!

And the winner is…. Jean!! {I am so excited to send this off to you, Jean!}

Here’s her favorite holiday crafting memory:

Jean has a wonderful craft business going, Woolart, but I really hope this book helps her out in her pursuits of more craftiness in her future. We had the pleasure of seeing Jean at the BerkshrieMade Holiday Craft Show a few weeks ago, and got some awesome fulled booties for Natalie, an ADORABLE owl hat and a cute cute diorama ornament from her! I trust she’ll have more goods for sale in her Etsy shop soon… as soon as she gets a little free time from running her new farm in Maine, that is!

As for me and my favorite holiday crafting memories? One of mine is quite similar to Jean’s, actually! Every year my brothers and cousins and I would gather at my Grandma’s house a week or two before Christmas to decorate gingerbread cookies, as described in this post from last year, including listening to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” and the Chipmunk’s Christmas album.

that's me, gazing up on my brother's cookie decorating. Circa 1984?

I also loved making these little paper Easter baskets with my other Grandma every year. We would cut out little eggs from colored construction paper, to place inside our baskets made of paper stapled together to make a pouch, decorated with a drawn-on basket-weave pattern. I really thought those were the bees knees. I’m totally planning to make them every year with Natalie when she can, you know, wield a pair of scissors, or, um, talk.