Happy Holidays!

Wow! Saying that life has been crazy would be quite the understatement. Holiday cards and gift orders have been coming in with a nice steady pace. Although, I can not complain about the business, I have had very little time to do any Christmas shopping or to get much into the Holiday spirit!

While I have a few minutes to breathe and try to inspire myself a little, I did manage to get my Christmas tree up last week. We now have one lonely present underneath! (which had not made it under the tree until after this photo)

Holiday Greetings!

Have you already put your holiday cards in the mail? I, for one, have not. I need to get on that, pronto! If you are like me and have waited until after Thanksgiving to even begin thinking about the holidays, check out these designs in my shop that are fun, unique and can be customized especially for you.

Free Shipping ends on Sunday, Dec. 7th, so act now and you can take care of that without ever leaving your house! Oh, and don't forget there are many other great gift items for all ages in the shop.




These are just a few of the holiday cards available in the shop. Check it out!

Click here to go directly to the ClaireEyeDesign Etsy shop!

*** FREE SHIPPING ***

New Motivation

I hope that everyone had an absolutely fabulous holiday! If yours was anything like mine, then you are now suffering from a food overload which is contributing to a serious lack of motivation. I believe every ounce of energy in my body is still being dedicated to digestion.

So...in hopes to get the creative juices flowing....Check out this assortment of beauty. Give me your thoughts on the ones you like. Hopefully, we can get each other motivated!

Each of these are for sale in my Etsy shop and makes a great gift!




"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." - Rachel Carson

Thanksgiving Memories

In the spirit of the holiday week, I thought I would add a photo I took earlier this fall. This image makes me think of dressing up with paper head dresses for Thanksgiving back in elementary school. What memory comes to mind for you? For those of you who don't check back...hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Holiday Cards

I've been working to get some of my holiday card designs posted and have finally made a little progress. I have more to come, but here's the first round of holiday card designs. What do you think?

Order your custom designs now!! Beat the rush on getting your unique designs printed and in the mail.

Modern Folded Customized Photo Cards...



Flat Customized Holiday Photo Cards

Wabi Tea Co.

Today, I finished the store display signs to be used in Tria Market, on the aisles where the products will be sold. As of now, Wabi Tea Co. products can only be purchased at Tria as well as in the Blissful Heights Healing Center. The line of loose leaf teas consists of 36 organic healing blends and 6 of these teas are yummy dessert teas. The tag line for the promotional campaign is a, "A dessert your body deserves"and I for one can vouch that they are indeed delicious!

For this project, I designed the package labeling you see in these photos for both the daily teas and dessert teas. I also did the design work for the store display signs.

This first pic is of one of the end aisle displays...

A photo of the display sign on the retail side of Tria Market.


This sign is displayed within Tria Market Restaurant, which exclusively serves the dessert teas.
Photo of the dessert tea line product tins, on display in Tria Market.

A glimpse of some of the daily teas that are for sale in Tria.

An Amazing Artist

While procrastinating this morning, I began shopping around on Etsy and came across this incredibly talented artist. I am in love with these paintings and so inspired by them. The colors and the abstract movements were executed beautifully. Check out her shop - SagittariusGallery These two beauties are original oil paintings, but she offers prints of these as well. What a great Christmas gift?!?! (hint, hint)

Black Crowes

Saturday night was a fun night hanging out with good friends and listening to some great music. We went to see the Black Crowes at the Alabama Theatre. If you have never seen the Alabama Theatre, you should check out their website (Especially the photo tour). I have been to several shows in the theatre and each time I visit, I again, think of the beauty within the venue.

Black Crowes jammed for a couple of hours and I slowly fell in love with Chris Robinson...sorry Caleb! :) Here is a not so clear photo of my new favorite musician!

Gift Guide Begins!

As part of the Southeastern US Etsy Street team, there will be a really cool gift guide that will publish each Friday between now and Christmas on the group blog! Can you believe it is really that time of year? I know, I for one, can not. Although, this guide gets me excited about the holidays and also makes me realize how many amazing artist live in such close proximity to me!

5 amazing jewelry pieces made from an eclectic group of southeastern artist. Click here and check it out! Here's a sneak peak...


Cinnabar and Swarovski earrings from karma711.

Oh! And don't forget the giveaway contest below! Ends tomorrow at noon. Enter now and win :)

Chicago Blues

What better way to get your morning going than a little James Cotton?! Hope you enjoy this...Man, I love the blues!

Blog Giveaway!

Ok, here's the deal - I feel like giving something away! Yay!

What is it? A shot at winning at An Original 5x7 Professional Quality Fine Art Photographic Print (That would be signed by the fabulous artist...yours truly)

How do I win? The game is "Name that Print" - This photo was taken in Maui, HI at sunset from the balcony of our ship on our first wedding anniversary. I have only been so clever as to come up with, "Hawaiian or Maui Sunset"...unique I know. Well, that's where you come into play.

Leave a comment with your most creative title and if you win not only will you be the person who named this print, but you will also get your signed copy, with the winning name on the back.

So, good luck and I'm excited to finally have a cool name for the print. Help!

I love this print. I have it framed in my house. Now...Name it and win it!

Oh, and the deadline is this Saturday, November 15 at noon, CST. Yay!!!

Leonardo Da Vinci

Yesterday afternoon, I finally went to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit that was being shown at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Not only did I see his amazing work, but also learned many interesting facts about Leonardo himself. I never knew that he was not a prolific painter. He had fewer than 20 paintings and of these not all of them were finished. Although he had few paintings, he had hundreds of drawings and sketches. Some of these sketches and drawings are what made up the exhibit that we saw yesterday.

While studying the art, I found his minimal stokes to be quite fascinating. It only took him one stroke to convey what it takes most many shades and shadows to create. He makes it look so easy...as does anyone who is brilliant at their craft.

This photo was taken of a promotional piece created for the exhibit. The original piece was part of the exhibit.

Beach

Here are a couple of beach photos taken a few weeks ago on the Alabama Gulf Coast, in Fort Morgan, AL. This area is quite secluded and was a perfect fall get a way. This particular day the waves were crashing and the air was cool. Can't wait to get back over the holidays!

Golden Leaves

Stepping away from my computer and work, I decided to clear my head on a short walk through the neighborhood. Impossible to ignore, these radiating leaves caught my eye from the house across the street. Although Winter is peaking its head into most places, Fall is still the season here in Alabama.

Calm and Heal

Creative expression always helps me in more ways than I ever realize at a specific time. It is always when I look back that I see how I was able to vent through art. Painting, photography, or whatever your passion may be - when you think of it as a way to use your art as a way to clear your head and to redirect your negative energy - You will be amazed at how you will let yourself go into your work.

Painting is one of my creative outlets. If I am down on myself, stressed or worried about something, painting always seems to be an excellent way for me to release the negativity. This one, in particular, took me a little time because I kept adding layers and wanting to add colors in different places but I think I am officially calling it quits on this specific therapeutic piece!

Simply named, "Abstract" for now, I will be posting it in my Etsy shop soon when I decide how much to charge for it. I have yet to post any paintings in my shop, therefore any thoughts on the piece, pricing or anything else related is appreciated. Hope this inspires you in some way!

Photo + Paper

In October of 2007, my husband and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our anniversary. While in Maui, we took a bike ride down Haleakala Crater - This photo is one of many that I took while coasting down the volcano.


Who ever would have thought, that from these photos, that I took Hawaii, a set of holiday inspired cards would be created?!?! Inspiration comes in the strangest of forms. The key is to recognize the inspiration when you see it. Now for sale in my shop, are these cards the Artistic Evergreen Note Cards.



I currently have these listed in the "Holiday" section of my shop. Do you think this is the best place for them? I would love to know your thoughts. I had a tough time decided where to categorize the design.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! This is a special card made just for my blog supporters. I took the photo last night of the Jack-O-Lantern I carved and created the card this morning. Isn't he fun?



Did you know?
Halloween, referred to as All Hallows' Eve, was originally a holiday celebrated by various northern European Pagans, in which they honored the dead. Costumes and masks were worn to mimic the evil spirits. It was celebrated on October 31, since this was the last day of the Celtic calendar, and the celebration dates back some 2,000 years.

Halloween Costume Part 2

Halloween is only one day away and my sweet dog now has the best dog costume ever. As promised...the final result of the Konasaur! haha Hope you get as good of a laugh out of this as we have! She is such a good sport. Although...she kind of freezes when she is wearing it and only moves her eyes. HAHA Would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on this one!

Halloween Costume

Well, it is safe to say that my mother is in need of grandchildren. She is super crafty and has been venting that energy towards giving my oh so cute dog a great dinosaur Halloween costume. Yay!

Surprisingly, Kona has been very cooperative during her fittings. I know this thing has been quite a chore since dog costume patterns only come in small dog sizes, but not only does it fit, it will have to be taken in a little before the big day.

This is just the beginning of an adorable costume. She will be adding polka dots too. I will definitely post photos of Kona in her final costume. Cutest. Doggie. Ever. Stay tuned for the final masterpiece!

Fall Flowers

This beautiful fall morning, of 70 degrees with a cool breeze, I have been cleaning out the dead brush in all of my flower beds. Forgetting how many flower beds I have to clean, is something I easily manage to do. I focused on my front yard today by planting some purple, orange and yellow pansies. Pansies add such great color to carry through until Spring. I also added a pretty pink Snapdragon and potted a white mum, which in my opinion...is a perfect Fall flower!


The rich purple color of these sell me every year! I put some in my flower bed walking into the front of my house and also added a small pot by my front door.

Ahhh...Snapdragons. I may have to go get a few more of these...

And...my white Mum! I love it and can't wait for it to be a blanket of white flowers when entering my home!

Healing Teas

The past few weeks, I have been working with Blissful Heights Healing Center. Blissful Heights is a rare gem in Birmingham, and I'm helping the center to promote business and package some new organic healing teas that they are offering for sale in their shop.

While designing the labels for the teas, I have learned so much more about teas than I knew prior to starting on this project! Did you know there was a such thing as a "Blooming Tea?" I...did not. They are quite beautiful.

Check out this photo (which I borrowed from www.artofteas.com).


This particular one is a white tea. If you are interested, you should really check out the website. Teas, etc. is another good site.

And since we are talking about teas, here is a photo I took in the shop at Blissful Heights. It is just of one, of the many, Asian-styled tea pots she has for sale.


The shop also carries a lovely line of jewelry called Satya. The pieces are elegant, unique and high quality.

Nature in the South

It was another absolutely gorgeous, perfect fall weekend here in Alabama. Unfortunately, I spent quite a bit of time behind this computer getting work done but found time to snag a few hours to soak up the days.

Early in the day, I went into my backyard and just took some shots of a few basic things around the patio. I got this cool photo of a fern branch. One that has struggled to come back to life after my many days of neglect last winter.




While on a walk with Kona behind the elementary school down the street, I noticed wildflowers growing all over the place. I decided to walk back over closer to sun down and was able to catch a few of these wild free-growing beauties.

Shop for the CURE!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In doing my part to help fund the cure, my mother and I will be walking in the local Race for the Cure on October 11th. Also, as part of the Southeastern US Etsy Street Team, I will be running a promotion in my shop!

From now until October 31st - 25% of all sales, out of the "For the CURE" section of my shop, will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation For the Cure!



Here's a link to the For the Cure section of my shop...Check it out! Help out the CURE!

Music City

Caleb and I had such a fun time celebrating our anniversary this past weekend in Nashville, TN. We will have been married 2 years on October 7th! Due to the Titans having an away game next weekend, we opted to celebrate a weekend early.

After a complete fiasco regarding our game tickets, we finally got on the road. Saturday we got to check out some amazing bluegrass music at a swanky little joint called the Bluegrass Inn. We took a seat at the bar, drank delicious Tennessee micro brews and tapped our toes away.



Following our afternoon bluegrass listening session, we explored a little through downtown. Found a cool dog riding a horse...


and the finest showgirls in Nashville...


Last and certainly not least, we awoke from a fun night to go watch the Titans beat the Minnesota Vikings with a final score of 30-17. This win led the Titans to go 4-0 for the first time in franchise history! Go Titans!