Learning To Add A Pinterest Board To My Blog

I've been wanting to share some of my Pinterest boards here on my blog... but, I was unsure how to go about doing that. I knew it was possible, but for some reason, I couldn't get it to work. As always for me, I learn by researching and a whole lot of trial and error!

Today I stumbled upon a YouTube video by Ana Maria Menezes on How to Embed a Pinterest Board to Blogger. I watched the video a couple of times and it cleared up the issue I was having about where to add the extra small piece of HTML code that is needed to make the board show up.

As I'm writing this post in the "Compose" mode, I can't see the Pinterest board that I've added using HTML. However, when I preview  what I've written... Voila! There it is!  :)

Another cool thing I've found in this process is that, once I've published my post and the Pinterest board is 'live'... you can scroll up and down on the board. If you click on a picture, it will take you directly to that Pin.

Pretty nifty neato!

I hope you enjoy my I {Heart} Etsy Pinterest Board! My collection of all things handmade will keep growing... It is such a huge part of who I am and what I love!

Happy Halloween!!

 (This is one of the doodles from my sketchbook!)

Halloween is coming up next week!... I always look forward to seeing the little Trick-or-Treaters who come to our door for goodies! It's the preschool-aged children who tickle me the most!... the tiny Supermen and princesses, the wee pumpkin babies in their parents' arms.

Last year we had an amazing butterfly visit us, with gorgeous sparkly wings! And, of course, there are bound to be a few friendly ghosts, a pirate, a robot, a zombie and a gypsy too. I always love to see the creativity of homemade costumes! (by some very loving parents putting together crazy outfits for their kids in the late night hours!).

This year, I've managed to hide the 'treats' from my husband, so (hopefully!) there will be plenty to go around!  :)

What does YOUR family do for Halloween?... Do you carve pumpkins? Make your own costumes? Go to Trunk-or-Treat parties with friends?... I'd really LOVE to hear what YOU do!

Wishing you a Fun and Safe night of Trick-or-Treating with YOUR family this year!!

"Little Ghost And Bat In The Pumpkin Patch"

Showing Up On Etsy

"Every Child Is An Artist"

I thought it was really very simple... I just wanted to create my kinda fun, quirky, whimsical, colorful, silly art and offer it in my (very cute!) Etsy shop to people who like fun, quirky, whimsical, colorful, silly art too.

No big deal... right? But as it turns out, it's not quite as straight-forward and easy as that...

What I quickly discovered after listing my whimsical little pieces of art on Etsy was that I couldn't find them ANYWHERE when I searched for them later! And if I couldn't find them... then it followed that nobody else who might like to find them was discovering them either...

My heart felt soooo discouraged!!  :(

So... I started to research. And I began to learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how to optimize my Etsy shop.

It didn't take long before I found out about Danielle Spurge-Swavely from The Merriweather Council! She offers a free Etsy Lessons Email Series that contains a 20 minute SEO training video that was a HUGE help to me! After implementing Danielle's suggestions, I was so happy to see my artwork showing up in Etsy's listings so buyers can finally find them!... YaY!!!  :)

I highly recommend The Merriweather Council Etsy Lessons Email Series to any Etsy seller who is trying to get their products to show up in searches on Etsy. Danielle explains the process of titling and tagging your products in a very clear and helpful way. I was thrilled with the results that I've had from following her advice... and I think you'll be happy with your results too!

From Sketch to Painting

About a week ago, I drew this sketch of a boy and his dog, thinking it could be a fun autumn scene... but I only had a vague idea at the time what the background might look like or what colors I might use in the final painting.

After transferring the boy and his dog onto a 5x7 inch canvas panel, I sketched in some trees in the background, and started to paint the sky a bright blue, the leaves on the trees vivid orange & yellow, and the grass two tones of bright green.

It was at this point I suddenly realized that my painting was going to be super colorful!... and I wasn't quite sure how to choose the colors for the 'main characters', the boy and his dog. Hmmm... This would be challenging!

"A Boy's Best Friend"

After a bit of trial and error, this is what I came up with... and I'm happy with the final painting! A bit of a wispy white cloud helps to balance out all that color!... and some outlining with a micron pen gives the painting a little dimension.

I hope you like this little autumn scene of a boy and his dog!... I sure had fun creating it!!  :)

"A Boy's Best Friend" can be found in my Etsy shop, PholkartStudio.

My Very First Mixed Media Pumpkin Project

"Harvest Pumpkin"

A few weeks ago, I was browsing in my favorite local craft shop... and discovered the PERFECT pumpkin-colored piece of scrapbook paper! I knew right then and there that that orange polka dot paper was coming home with me, to be used for some future pumpkin-y project.

I've been painting for a while now and have gotten pretty comfy with my self-taught technique... but I'm a newbie to mixed media and I've been wanting to try my hand at it. So I printed out an enlarged version of one of the digital stamps I used to design, "Folk Art Pumpkin"...

...and modified it so it would fit on my 5x7 inch canvas base. I had to crop one of the 'swirlies' and flip another 'swirlie' around to the opposite side. I also decided to delete the heart on the pumpkin for this project.

After base coating my canvas panel with black paint (it took two coats!), I flipped my printed pumpkin over and transferred my pumpkin design onto the back of the orange paper using dark graphite paper. I did the same thing with the leaf design, transferring that onto a textured green paper. It took no time at all to cut out my pumpkin pieces, since this is such a simple design.

Next step was the Modge Podge. I carefully brushed the back of the pumpkin with a thin layer of Modge Podge. Then I adhered it to the middle of the canvas panel, making sure to smooth it from the center toward the outer edges, so the edges were glued down firmly. I eyeballed the placement of the green leaf and Modged Podged that too.

Last of all, I transferred my 'swirlie' pattern to the black canvas with a light colored graphite transfer paper, and penciled in 'harvest' in the upper left corner. The rest of the design was finished by painting the lettering and the 'swirlie' freehand using a small round brush. A couple of coats of Krylon matte acrylic spray and my Harvest Pumpkin was done!  :)

Now that I've created my first mixed media project, I've definitely caught the bug! Can't wait to figure out what my next project will be!

(...and of course, now I have an excuse to collect all that gorgeous scrapbook paper I've been resisting! *wink!*).
 

A Little Update on My Newly Re-Opened Etsy Shop...

"Mermaid Treasure"

It's the end of August now, and I've been happily working away most of the summer in my studio, painting little canvases. So far, most have been just 4 x 6 inches like this little mermaid above... but a few have been as large as 5 x7 inches, like this sweet angel below:
 

  "Whimsical Angel"

I'm still not quite sure as I've been working along if what I'm painting has an overall theme or feel... "Whimsical Folk Art" is hopefully there; but also, "Playful Childrens' Art," "Happy Family Art," "Family Friendly Art." I don't know yet... Hopefully all of the above! *wink!*

 "Enjoy The Simple Things"

However my artwork ends up being characterized, I hope it ends up making you SMILE!!!

Hello July 2017!

Photo Credit from Pixabay: Workandapix

Happy July Friends!... Here I am, once again dusting off my neglected blog. It's been a year and a half since I've written (insert emoji with eyes rolling here!). After taking a looong break from Etsy while my husband Joe & I were helping to care for his mom, I'm now gearing up to reopen my shop again (hopefully pretty soon!).

"The Lemonade Stand"

Last time my Etsy shop, PHOLKART*STUDIO, focused on digital stamps for cardmaking. But this time, I'll be offering something completely brand new! I have fallen in love with acrylic painting!!... and I'm having the best.time.ever drawing my cute little illustrations on canvas panels and painting them with yummy, colorful acrylic paints!  :)

I'm also experimenting with creating hand painted ornaments. The tiny yellow house in the upper right corner of my blog is one of those ornaments! I've got that one hanging in my studio right now for inspiration. And I made the "quilty" star below for a sweet friend who is a quilt-lover just like I am!

As always, my blog is a work in progress (like I am!). I'd be honored if you'd like to follow along with me on my art journey. If you'd like to receive email updates about my new blog entries, there's a little form at the top where you can do that. And as always, I'd LOVE to hear from YOU! :)

Blessings & Happy Creating!!

Patti