Getting Ready For The Holidays

A week ago I woke up to a beautiful snow covering over everything my eyes could see.  It was gorgeous!  It was a taste of what is to come :)
Not only are some places already getting snow but Christmas music is already on the radio.  To me, Christmas music is very calming and peaceful.  Before all of the holiday craziness sets in I have been getting into the habit of sitting back and enjoying the little things in life.  It has been said that the holiday season has the highest rate of depression.  Try and enjoy the season, go into it with positivity and don't let money and gifts stress you out.  There are only 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, it is going to go by fast!
Everyone always says they are going to start shopping early and then they aren't able to.  I used to always say that and I am happy to say that I have already started my shopping this year.  I caught myself saying I'll have to remember to pick this up for a Christmas present for my dad or brother.  Why wait?  I had the money so why not buy it.  If you don't want to buy much, make your own gifts or buy homemade items.
I have been making a bunch of jewelry to sell and give for gifts.  Whenever I make jewelry it is always so hard because I want to keep all of it for myself!!  At the moment my jewelry is going to be sold at a sale my friends are having and I am so excited!  The sale is the weekend after Thanksgiving and all of the jewelry I am making before Thanksgiving is going there.  I am going to make more and put them on my etsy shop with a coupon code if anyone would like to purchase some for gifts.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoys the holiday with their families!!

Always,
Savannah

I'm Back!

Hello everyone!  I have taken too long of a break from my art work and blogging.  But have no fear I am back, motivated, and have already started working!

Within the past 7-8 months I have gotten married, moved, and started a whole new life.  I am loving every second of it!  The wedding was absolutely amazing and so much fun!  My new life includes new adventures.  I have just received my materials to study Herbal Medicine, Naturopathy, and Yoga.  Hopefully, I will be certified in these areas in 2 years!  I am so excited and interested in these topics.  My future blogs may include some of the new information I am learning.  I enjoy sharing with everyone who reads my blog :)

Back to business....

This is my time, my favorite time of year.  The colors have been popping for weeks now and are so inspirational!  I donated a new piece of work to the Shades of Pink Brest Cancer Fundraiser.  I wanted to go for a more peaceful piece to match the way I have felt.

Lotus flowers are becoming one of my favorite flowers.  They are so serene.  It felt so good to paint this in my new art room.  My husband and I share it, half is my art room and half is his fly tying room.  I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.  We are both able to be in our own worlds together.  It felt so good to paint again.  Hopefully I will be doing it more often.  Lately, I have been trying to contact consignment shops in the local towns to see if I am able to put some work in them.  Wish me luck!

My jewelry side is up and going again as well.  The newest branch is necklaces.  The first one has been made and there will be more to come!

My etsy shop has some pieces up, if you know of anyone that would like anything pass the link along :)
www.etsy.com/shop/SavvieDesigns

I hope everyone is enjoying the season!  Fall definitely brightens up my day and every time I step outside.  I will be writing more soon!

Talk to you later,
Savannah

Falling In Love With Chalkboard Paint

It has been so long since I have blogged!! I have started to try some new things since the last time I wrote.  Going on Pinterest, Etsy, and googling lots of different favors, table number signage, and place cards for the wedding gave me some new ideas!  I bought a can of chalkboard paint and have painted the glass of a picture frame.  I am going to be using this as a to do list/ note taker.  It is so much fun!! You are able to write on it with chalk pens or sticks of chalk.  As a teacher, I hate getting chalk all over my hands and clothes so I prefer using the pens or use chalk in a holder.  The chalk pens also work on glass.  I was writing and testing them on a wine glass.  I have been using a wet sponge to erase the chalk pen.
Here is the completed one that I made today.

I am finding that this new way to take notes is great!  Since it is in a frame, I can hang it on a wall or stand it up on any table top.  When I have my own classroom in the future, this is definitely going to be an essential item on my desk.  Working with kids, I wouldn't use one with glass.  I would use canvas or wood.  I painted chalkboard paint onto paper, canvas, glass, and fabric canvas to see how the paint would look/ work on different surfaces.  The next surface I am going to try is wood and cardboard.  I think my favorite surfaces are going to be the wood and canvas surfaces.

The only down fall there is like all chalk boards, is chalk residue left on the board once it is used.

If I enjoy using it, someone else may as well!  I am even going to incorporate some of my drawings and paintings as decorations.  There is a nice sports one going through my head at the moment that I cannot wait to put into action!!  I have so many ideas going through my head that I am going to make new items and possibly post them on etsy to sell.

Always,
Savannah

It's A New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year!  Welcome 2013!! Woohoo!

Last year I started 2012 by making a list of goals that I wanted to achieve during that year.  It felt great and they all felt within reach just by having them on paper.  I kept that paper in my wallet until this New Years Day.  I went over my list from last year just to see if I actually did reach any of my goals and it made me smile because I had!  I was so excited that I reached a few of them, not all but I am happy with a few :)  Throughout 2012 I did look at my list a few times whenever I felt I needed motivation and to keep on track.  2 of the goals I reached were to sell at least one piece of art online and to start living a healthier life style.  I am really proud of those 2 goals!  So, to start off 2013 I made a new list for this year and can't wait to see what I will achieve.

This past year I have tried many new types of art.  I did some more abstract painting, I started making jewelry, and started to make a few hair clips.  I think I have enough different items for now.  I am going to concentrate on my drawing, painting, and jewelry for a while.  To start this year off I am going back to something I haven't done in a long time it feels.  Drawing in my notebooks.  Around the holidays and the barn sales, everything I was drawing or painting I was sticking into a frame.  I was drawing to frame it.  I'm going to take a break and draw whatever I would like with no perimeters.  Then in the end if I want to try and frame it, I will take care of it at that time.  I used to fill up my notebooks with charcoal drawings or just sketches and a lot of those I have put into my portfolio.  So for now, I am going to kick it a lil old school :)

I will continue to take pictures of the new drawings I have and share them with everyone.  I would like to think I will have a lot but bare with me during the wedding process because I only have 4 months to go :)  It is about to get a little crazy!

Here is, what I think, is an amazing and inspiring street art photo I found on pinterest.  I copied the website it came from so you can take a look at few more.

www.streetartutopia.com

If any one is interested in creating their own goal list for the year, I HIGHLY recommend it!  Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose and it is really fun!

Always,
Savannah

Savvie Designs Holiday Gifts

This month is starting to fly by!!  There are less than 10 days until Christmas, I can't believe it!  I'm sorry it has been a little while since I have written.  It has been so busy, I got a second job and it is in retail so the month of December has been spent working like crazy!!  There has been so much going on and I have to catch you up!

On the wedding side:  I now have bridesmaid dresses!! They are exactly the color I wanted (which is very important considering I am very color oriented at times) and we had our food tasting :)
Groom - check, Wedding Dress - check, Dresses - check, Food - check, Hotel - check....I am slowly getting there!

Now on the art side:
I proudly had a table at a holiday bazaar and did very well :)  I was so nervous!!  This was the first table holiday bazaar I have done.  I had been getting ready for the past few days and on the night before I had a wicked headache but had to keep preparing.  That was really hard, trying to make sure I had everything that I needed, trying to prepare and pack for the unexpected AND having to do it with a pounding in my head.  I find it so hard to even think sometimes when I have a headache.  I was nervous for the event and nervous I would still have my headache in the morning.  Luckily I didn't!!

At the Barn Sale the weekend before I sold over 50 pieces of jewelry and even though I did really well and hear such positive feed back about it, I still got nervous that I wasn't going to do well.  I don't think that will ever change, even years down the road.

The holiday bazaar went great!  It was fun talking to people about gifts, shopping, and about my products.  I displayed a few drawings, paintings, bracelets, earrings, and even a coin purse I painted.  Here is a picture of my table:

Special for the holidays, I am putting new items up on my etsy shop.  You can even email me with requests and I will let you know what I can do and put it up on etsy just for you.  AND I have a surprise...until the end of 2012 you can use coupon code:  FREESHIP12 to receive free shipping!  This way we are closing the year out right and whatever orders I receive tonight and on Wednesday the 19th, I will be sure to ship out on Wednesday and Thursday and depending on the post office, maybe some of you can receive your items before Christmas :)  I will be adding more items to my etsy shop on Thursday as well.

Here are some great gift ideas for your family, friends, and yourself!

Bracelets - My bracelets fit more than one wrist size and they are very delicate, simple, and very pretty. They are great stocking stuffers too!

Earrings - Earrings are always a perfect gift to give and receive!  They are the most interchangeable piece of jewelry and at times the first piece people see when they look at you.  My earrings are light weight and just as delicate and pretty as my bracelets.

Drawings & Paintings - Perfect for a desk at work or at home.  They are great decor that you are able to enjoy and change around seasonally.

You may ask yourself, what is the best part of buying my Savvie Designs items?
I put a great deal of thought, effort, and passion into each piece of art.  All of my pieces are hand crafted works of art made in Rhode Island.  I take care in packaging my items and creating them.  If you every have any questions or requests,  please do not hesitate to email me:  savviedesigns@gmail.com.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

Always,
Savannah

The Week Is Here

The week many people wait for every year is finally upon us!  Not only do you get to see friends and family surrounded by delicious food BUT you also get GREAT deals shopping!!
Thanksgiving is the holiday dedicated to being thankful for all that you have, especially the food on the table.

Here are some of my great pinterest finds:

If you are hosting Thanksgiving and are trying to find the perfect decoration for the center of your table,  you can put three of these (possibly different sizes with the larger one in the middle and 2 that are  the same size on either side.)  You don't have to put the dried corn in it, you could have candy corn, acorns, different seeds...whatever you see fit for the holiday.  Then at Christmas time you could use the same glass votives and fill it with cranberries or ever green or even pinecones.

 These pilgrim hats are adorable!! For the bottom cookie you can use the E.L.Fudge chocolate strip cookies and put the Reese's peanut butter cup upside down over the hole in the center.

Now on the jewelry front!
I have made a few more pieces and even have stands for my earrings now!

It's so funny, my fiance and I will be out to eat and he's showing me the cuts on his hands from the sheet metal and different things he works with every day.  Then I show him all of my little cuts from constantly getting stabbed by wire while making jewelry.  His cuts are always worse and deeper than mine.  But I just find it funny how I tell him how much cuts stink when mine are tiny compared to his!
I have many more pieces to show you but I will leave some for next week :)

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Always,
Savannah

And So It Begins

All of the stores and malls already have Christmas music and decorations up and in full swing.  With Thanksgiving being next week (that came so fast!), Christmas decorations are now on the brain.

For the Fall Barn Sale at Mangiacotti I drew these two acorn drawings:

The same woman bought both of them and I was told that she was raving about them and had wanted more but I hadn't made any more.  This gave me an idea I am currently working on for the holidays.  I know Thanksgiving hasn't come yet and I haven't drawn any Thanksgiving pictures yet but...I started my Christmas ones.

I personally loved my acorn drawings and was kind of hoping that I could keep them myself haha.  Since I liked them and another person did as well since they sold, I decided to draw some Christmas pictures along the same idea.  I have only done two so far but it is a little preview of what is to come in the next few weeks.

 I decided to go along the same idea as the sitting acorns and draw sitting bulbs/ornaments.

 These are drawn with graphite pencils.

 I wanted to try and add a little color but not much.  I used red and green pastels.  I'm not overly thrilled yet with out they have come out so far with color.  I think I need to still work on them and then see how they look in frames with mats.

 Here's one with a set of three ornaments.  I may keep these with only graphite and will try drawing some others with different ornament designs.

I will keep you updated and show you these as finished products next time.  I have many plans on Christmas/ winter drawings and paintings.  This holiday season is my favorite!
I have a bunch of new jewelry that I have been working on as well and will post about that next week.

Always,
Savannah