Holiday Sketches & Howdies
Howdy, partner!
How goes it? We Austinites have been happily dawning our fall attire in the face of slightly colder air. As soon as the weather dips into the 70s (~22-26°C) we’re like… it’s hoodie season! Lol. But then a day later, near 90° temps return to inevitably dash our joys. So I guess we are still going back and forth between that right now.
Other than occasionally breaking out my “winter” clothes, I’ve finally drafted up the Shop Small Guide that I mentioned a few times earlier this year. It features the online stores of 15 talented artists offering unique, creative gifts that are perfect for the upcoming holidays. Expect it to hit your inboxes ahead of Thanksgiving next week! If you are knees deep in holiday stuff by then, no sweat. I’ll have plenty of reminders in following newsletters. (:
On the studio front, I’ve been listening to a lot of Clams Casino as I work, taking breaks to garden here and there, and tying up loose ends with some projects. I’d say I’m generally existing between the relief that a busy period has evaporated and the panicked anticipation of a slow period taking its place. Sketching holiday art has kept me busy, snapshots of which you may view below.
Work in Progress: Holiday Cards
Behold, the aforementioned sketches! As I look at them, I’m realizing that I truly have an affinity for personified animals. I never intentionally decided to make “youthful” artwork, but so much of what I enjoy creating does lean that way. I think exposure to the talking animals of fables and fairytales really locked something into my brain 30+ years ago, lol.
I’ll keep you updated on how these are progressing as I move into color. Hopefully I can turn them into greeting cards for licensing. Fingers crossed!
Shop Sale
Obligatory reminder that several of my shop items are on sale! I’m making room for new pieces, so a bunch of Art Prints and Greeting Cards are 40-50% off. Grab them while you can! Also, newsletter subscribers get an additional 10% discount off - use code FABLEFRIEND10
Cool Stuff by Friends
My sister started a business called Forward Nursing, in which she shares educational resources perfect for new nurses and nursing school students. Her guides are detailed, written in easy-to-understand terms, and steeped not only in a bunch of research but her experience as an ICU nurse for over 2 years.
My dear friend Dina Riddle has launched a baby clothing brand with her friend Kelsey called Little Bird Apparel. As an auntie-to-be, I’ve been stocking up on their goodies for upcoming baby showers! You may even see their work in the pending Shop Small Guide ;)
Studioworks Free Trials
I have free trials of Studioworks to give away, so please take them!
If you missed my spiel from last time (sorry to repeat this otherwise!), Studioworks is an invoicing and business management system for creatives founded by lettering extraordinaire, Jessica Hische. I joined earlier this year and got Founding Member status, which thus bestowed upon me a referral link that you may use to try the product for FREE for a month. If you decide to convert to a paying member, you help me out by giving me a month for free, too (thank you!). The company doesn’t do free trials any other way, so if you’ve been curious about their product, please sign up!
That’s it for this week! Thank you for being here and, as always, feel free to hit reply and say hello :) Catch you next time!
Au revoir,
-Liz