HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween, everyone! I have to go to work and then I will be giving out candy as a cat tonight with whiskers and a pink nose and of course rosy cheeks :)

Here is "Autumn", now available as an 8 x 10 Print at my etsy shop!
www.michelleperkett.etsy.com

Michelle :)

PEPPERMINT FAIRY

Happy Halloween Eve, everybody! Cant wait for tomorrow, my favorite holiday. Its more like Christmas than Christmas for me. I was born on Christmas but always wished that I was born on Halloween!

I was watching scary movies last night and Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi. Love that show. Will be watching them chase after the ghosts and goblins tomorrow night as I give out my little Halloween witch cards with the candy to the kids.

After its over I will be working on Xmas fairy and my new little "Sweetie" the Candy Cane fairy. Heres my messy sketch! :)

HALLOWEEN MARKETING FUN

Here is my little Halloween card that I made to tie to the Halloween candy. I put a whole in the candy wrapper and a whole thru the card and tied them together with some colorful curling ribbon. They look really cute and I had fun putting them together. I did about 50 yesterday so my goal is to get 200 done by tomorrow.

I think I will make a new card for Xmas and tie it to candy canes! Fun marketing! :)

CANDY THE HAPPY HALLOWEEN WITCH

Here is "Candy - The Happy Halloween Witch"

I'm still tweaking the color but she's pretty much ready to spread Halloween Cheer!?! I cant spread any scary cheer so she has to be a cheerful witch :)

My friend Jamie came up with the best marketing idea (she is a creative genius by the way). I wanted to add a little print to the candy that I will be giving away on Halloween. Jamie suggested making a little card and attaching it with ribbon to the candy packaging. So that's what I'm doing. I will be making about 200 or so to give out to the kids in Orange County. I have friends that get alot of trick or treaters so they will get most of them!

Happy Halloween everyone! :)

HALLOWEEN WITCH SKETCH

I am so happy to be posting again! I havent been here in days and I feel like I'm back home again! Yay!

I have had an insane week with petsitting, just non-stop. I also have been staying overnight with 2 dogs that are keeping me up most of the night. They are Lilly Beth the one eyed snoring Shitzu and Julie the pacing black lab. As sleep deprived as I am, I love these two little munchkins. Its been about 3 years that I have taken care of Julie but Lilly Beth was just rescued and she is a little character. She sleeps in her big playpen with all of her stuffed animals.

Aside from the lack of sleep, I did manage to do work on my little Halloween sketch. I am determined to finish her by Halloween! Hope you enjoy her. Wish me luck, tonight is my last night with my little girlfriends!

Have a wonderful weekend!

HALLOWEEN WITCH - BOO! :)

I know I am supposed to be working on my Xmas Fairy this week but I have been so inspired by all of the wonderful Halloween illustrations that I had to do one myself.

I am working on a sketch of a cute little witch holding a Happy Halloween sign. I will be posting her this week but until then I hope you enjoy another little magical goddess, "Fire". Have a wonderful and creative day!

Michelle :)

NEW! "SNOWY FOREST FAIRY" LIMITED EDITION PRINT NOW AVAILABLE!

She is finally here! My "Snowy Forest Fairy" Limited Edition print is now available at my Etsy shop! Please visit her today! :)

And speaking of magical - what a night at Fenway last night! Thank you Red Sox! :)))

AN IN BETWEEN DAY

Blogging, marketing, selling.....We artists have these on the brain pretty much 24/7. Everyday we wake up searching for another creative way to market our art and where we can sell it.

I have days like this when I am so jazzed I'm jumping up and down like a 5 year old and I also have days where I have to make myself do something because sales are really bad and I'm not sure when my rent payment will be in my checking acct.

So today, I woke up at 4:00 and couldnt go back to sleep so at 4:30 I put the coffee on and began writing in my journal like I do every morning. Today I started with, Good Morning, God, thank you for.....and wrote 5 pages of everything I was grateful for. I then opened my magic sketchbook and filled 3 pages with Halloween sketches and lots of fun things. After that I got on the computer and worked on my little Xmas Fairy drawing listening to my "fairy" music. It was the best morning I have had in a while.

I am calling this day an In Between Day because this is the type of day where I am just going to "be". I am going to have fun with everything I do today, from my art to all of my dogwalks with my little friends. It is a day to just step back from all of my marketing craziness (not that I dont love it) and just have fun. I am going to put on my Red Sox jersey and root for my Sox tonight and have fun doing that. I will be making In Between Days a regular part of my life from now on to just be thankful, have fun and play!! :)

WHAT IS MOST DEAR TO YOU?

The California wildfires are raging again, as most of you have probably seen in the news the last couple of days. One of them was 2 or 3 miles from my house yesterday afternoon in Newport Beach. I saw the flames and the black smoke as I was heading home from dogwalking.

Thankfully, the fire department got to it early and there is a resevoir close by that a helicopter was able to fill its tanks and drop water on the fire to contain it within an hour. Thank you NBFD!!

As I was watching the helicopter put out the fire on tv, I looked around and thought about what I would take with me if I needed to evacuate. (this was my second time I was in this situation since I've lived here) What is so important to me? What if I only had one minute to get out? What would I take with me?

I decided my artwork files, which I keep in a metal fire proof box, would be the first thing. My computer and printers would have to stay ( I really need a laptop). The next 3 things would be my photos, the cards and letters that my Mom and friends sent me when I was in the Air Force, and my Dad's flannel shirt that I still have in my closet. He always wore flannel shirts and I kept one of them when he passed away. (As a matter of fact, today is the day he passed away in 1994 from cancer. I love you, Dad! Hope you are watching the Red Sox wherever you are! :))

Here's wishing that you always know what is most important and most dear to your heart.

Michelle :)

CHRISTMAS ON OCTOBER 12

You know that feeling, the anticipation, the restless night of sleep, dreaming of what will be there...

The feeling as a kid on Christmas morning! I felt that yesterday. For once, I had the day off and didnt have to get in my car or go anywhere. I was in heaven! I got up, made my coffee and got back into bed with my sketchbook. (one of my very favorite things to do!)

As I opened the page to the blankness of many possibilities, my pencil started to discover what was waiting to be created. I first did a drawing of a little birthday girl with a party dress, pigtails and lots of balloons, named Lilly.

I turned the page and who popped out but Sweetie, the peppermint candy cane fairy! I spent an hour figuring out what her costume looked like. She holds a present tied with candy canes and decorated with ribbon candy. Her little coat is striped with candy cane colors and she has a fur-lined hat, coat and little shoes! I cant wait to get her scanned to show everyone!

It certainly was a wonderfully creative day. Those are the days that feel like Christmas and my birthday all at once. (which by the way, IS my birthday! :)) I savored every minute of those sketches and went back to them before bed last night to draw more. Cant wait for the next time I get to stay in my jammies all day!