Sparkle!: A New Home for My Art

I wanted to let you all know about a new retail home for my prints and many of my products! One question I get at my shows quite often is, "Where do you sell your merchandise in the area?" Well, now I'm happy to say that I have someplace local that carries many of my different goodies!

The shop is called Sparkle! and it is right in downtown Lawrenceville. If you haven't been to downtown Lawrenceville, you should definitely check it out if you're local to the area. There are many unique stores and restaurants that you just can't find anywhere else. And Sparkle! is definitely one of those stores!

Sparkle! carries many unique, handmade items. They have a huge handmade jewelry selection to choose from as well as many other fantastic items like art, cards, hair accessories and more. They support many local artisans by featuring them and their artwork. Every piece has a story behind it and I just love that. They even host jewelry making parties! It's a very fun store to browse and find just the perfect gift for someone.

So, I'm very honored that Sparkle! has utilized a portion of their store to display my prints and products! Right now, Sparkle! has a huge selection of my ACEO prints, 5x7 Prints, 8x10 Prints, Hand Cut Stickers, Sticker Sheets, Bookmarks, Greeting Cards, Postcard Sets and Framed Prints. So, if you prefer to shop in a store rather than buy online, definitely go check Sparkle! out to see my selection of merchandise!

Here are a few photos!

Greeting Cards, Bookmarks & Postcard Sets

Framed Prints

My Items Beautifully Displayed at Sparkle!

My Prints and Products at Sparkle!

8x10 and 5x7 Prints

5x7 Prints and Sticker Sheets

Coloring Page Packs & Hand Cut Stickers

Close up of Rona & Krista

More Framed Prints

My Entire Selection at Sparkle!

Publix Apron's Simple Meals

One goal of mine is to cook more often! I don't make eating well and cooking healthy meals enough of a priority. It seems like I put all my extra energy and effort into my artwork and art business. I just can't seem to find any energy leftover for normal things like eating well and cooking. When I do go grocery shopping, I just sort of wander around and grab things that look good. Then when it's dinner time, I don't ever have the right things on hand to make a meal, so my husband and I end up going out to eat or grabbing fast food. But I know that needs to change! And I'm definitely going to try. =)

I recently found something at Publix, my local grocery store, that helps me so much. They have a program called Publix Apron's Simple Meals. Each week they feature a different recipe at the front of the store. They sometimes have someone cooking the meal so you can try it and they also have a free recipe card that you can take with you. The best part is, they put all the ingredients you need to make the meal up front. So you just grab everything you need from one display and you're out the door! The recipes are also really super easy to make. But there's still enough cooking to do so that you feel like you made a nice home cooked meal.

The recipe cards also suggest sides and desserts to accompany the meal. I love this part, because I feel that I always grab the same old side dishes to make all the time. So it adds a lot of variety to our normal routine.

My husband and I have already tried quite a few different meals and we've enjoyed all of them!

First we tried Meatball Marinara Sliders with Pasta Salad and French Fries. Next was Country Fried Steak with Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes. And our last recipe we tried was my favorite: Brats in a Blanket with German Potato Salad. I had never tried Brats before and now I actually like them more than hot dogs. And the German Potato salad was very delicious!

For those of you watching your calorie intake or other nutritional values, all of the stats are listed right on the menu card. For instance, I am watching my calories, so on days where we try a menu that's a little heavier on the calories (like the Country Fried Steak meal), I cut back on my portion size. It makes it super easy to figure out what you're eating.

I can't wait to try out our next meal! I think the next one is going to be Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup with Ham and Cheese Pinwheels.

I'm also thinking about starting to take pictures of all the meals! I'm always so proud when I plate everything up lol. Anyways, I just thought I'd share this little tip in case any of you have a Publix nearby and are scraped for time like I am (who isn't these days?). I definitely recommend giving these meals a try. =)

After Show Sale & New Product Preview Sale - Huge Savings!

For a limited time, I will be offering all of my prints and products for sale at my reduced show prices!! Due to having no shipping costs, store fees or Paypal fees, I am able to offer all my merchandise at reduced prices at my shows. I also give big discounts for purchasing multiples of the same item. I wanted to give all of you who couldn't attend my shows a chance at purchasing everything I sell at the prices I offer at my shows.

These prices are only available through the month of October, so act quickly if you're interested! I will not do this often, so take advantage of this while you can. This is also a great time to stock up on early holiday presents and stocking stuffers.

Not only am I offering all the products you know and love at reduced rates, but I also have many brand new products that I've never offered online before! You all will get first dibs at these brand new products before I put them in my online stores!

All orders will be processed via Paypal directly through me. Please do not purchase items on my website or in my Etsy/eBay stores and expect these rates, because I am not offering these specials there.

If you want to purchase my items at these reduced rates, contact me via email: nikki@aurella-art.com. Let me know what items you want to purchase, the names of the images you want and the country you live in so that I can factor in shipping correctly. An example of what your message could look like:

5 ACEO Prints: Arden, Telsa, Ryla, Angelique & Giselle
2 Pocket Mirrors: Constance & Kiandra
Live in United States

Estimated Shipping Prices:

Small Items (i.e. small prints, stickers, magnets, bookmarks, etc...)

USA Destinations = $2.25
Canada Destinations = $3.25
Everywhere Else = $4.25


Large Items (i.e. 8x10" prints, Coloring Packs, etc...)

USA Destinations = $3.75
Canada Destinations = $4.75
Everywhere Else = $9.00

SEE MY GALLERY HERE TO FIND ALL THE NAMES OF YOUR FAVORITE IMAGES

Unless otherwise specified, all of my products are available in all of my many different images!

After I receive your email, I will send an invoice to your email address via Paypal for easy payment. Once I receive payment I will ship your order to the address listed on your Paypal account unless otherwise specified. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me and thanks so much for your support of my artwork!! =)

Now onto the incredible specials!!!

ACEO Prints - $2 each or 3 for $5

These open edition prints measure 2.5x3.5" and come in a plastic sleeve.

5x7" Prints - $5 each or 3 for $12

These open edition prints measure 5x7" and come in a plastic sleeve with a sturdy backing board.

8x10" Prints - $10 each or 3 for $25

These open edition prints measure 8x10" and come in a plastic sleeve with a sturdy backing board. They are printed on paper that measures 8.5x11" which leaves a small white border to make matting and framing easier.

Stickers - $2 each or 3 for $5

These stickers measure approx. 3x4" each. They are a permanent matte sticker and come in a plastic sleeve with a tag topper.

Magnets - $4 each or 3 for $10

These magnets measure approx. 3x4" each. They are a flexible, thin magnet and come in a plastic sleeve with a backing board and tag topper.

Pocket Mirrors - $6 each or 2 for $10

These pocket mirrors measure 2.25" and are made with quality button parts. The mirror on the back is very clear.  These also come with a black velour bag for storage. They are packaged in a plastic sleeve with tag topper.

Buttons - $2 each or 3 for $5

These buttons measure 2.25" and are pin back buttons made with quality button parts. They come in a plastic sleeve with a tag topper.

Greeting Cards - $3 each or 4 for $10

These cards measure approx. 4.25x5.5" and are blank inside. They come with a matching envelope in a plastic sleeve.

Bookmarks - $8 each or 3 for $20

These bookmarks are one of my favorite products! They measure approx. 2" wide and 7" high at their highest point. They are made with beautiful glossy paper and have a hand beaded tassel. They come packaged in a vinyl sleeve for protection.

Sticker Sheets (Set of 24) - $12 each or 2 for $20

You will receive 4 total sheets with 6 stickers on each sheet for a total of 24 stickers. They are semi-glossy stickers and are square with rounded corners.  They measure 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" each. They come beautifully packaged in a plastic sleeve and a matching tag topper.

I have two sets available:

Portrait Series #1 - Arden, Telsa, Cassandra, Astrina, Constance and Vienna

Witch Series #1 - Heather, Cassia, Aria, Kirra, Ryla and Tabitha

Handcut Stickers (Set of 4) - $8 each or 3 for $20

You will receive 4 sticker cut outs in each set of the same image. All of them are hand cut by myself. They range in size but most are around 3.5" wide and 5 inches high. They come packaged beautifully in a clear sleeve with matching tag topper.

Limited Image Selection (Aelita and Jax, Tabitha, Heather, Constance, Angelique, Telsa, Vienna, Cassia, Arden, Mina, Cassandra, Ryla and Krista)

Coloring Page Packs - $10 each or 2 for $18

Each pack comes with 10 black and white 8.5x11" sheets of paper to color (the coloring area is 8x10") and one cover image in a plastic sleeve with backing board.

Two packs available:

Pack #1 (Arden, Belle, Cassandra, Cassia, Heather, Sabrina, Neva, Zoe, Talia and Vienna)

Pack #2 (Kiandra, Tabitha, Astrina, Angelique, Gwynth, Ryla, Tracey, Valencia, Edeline, and Telsa)

*BRAND NEW* Keychains - $12 each or 2 for $20

These are so fun! They are very intricate mini frames put on a keychain with my artwork in the inside! The frames are resin and they are so colorful. The keyring is a very good quality keyring and opens up all the way to easily add your keys. I have a limited image selection on these items. Please see the photo with numbers below:

*BRAND NEW* Bottle Cap Magnets - $3 each or 4 for $10

The image measures 1 inch in diameter and they are placed inside a very fun and colorful matching painted bottle cap! They come with a super strong magnet on the back.

*BRAND NEW* Postcard Sets (Set of 6) - $12 each or 2 for $20

I have two different sets available:

Portrait Series #1 - Arden, Telsa & Cassandra

 Witch Series #1 - Heather, Aria and Kirra

Each comes with 3 unique images - 2 postcards of each image for a total of 6 postcards. They also come with 6 matching iridescent envelopes packaged beautifully in a plastic sleeve, with backing board and finished off with some twine and a charm. These make a lovely gift or a fun present for yourself!

Framed Prints - Various Sizes

I also have some beautifully framed prints leftover! If you are interested in purchasing any of these framed prints, please contact me with the country you live in and I will send you a price for the framed print and an estimated shipping cost.

Portrait of a Witch #1 - Willow - Congrats to the Winner!

I just wanted to show you the linework for my latest painting and announce the winner of my naming contest! This is my next piece that I will be painting and she is going to be called Portrait of a Witch #1 - Willow. Congratulations to Annie Hagopian for suggesting the name Willow for this piece! I ended up choosing the name Willow, first off because I love the name. I love it so much that it is actually the name of one of my kitties. =) I also think the name fits this piece perfectly with the vines and branches in her hair. So thank you so much for the name Annie! You will receive a 5x7" print of the finished piece. Please contact me at nikki@aurella-art.com to claim your prize! =)

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my naming contest! I will definitely have more in the future. I love contests and giveaways and do them very often. So just make sure you keep an eye on my blog and my Facebook Page. You can now subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the top right hand corner. It works kind of like a newsletter subscription. You will receive an email every time I make a new blog post, so you're guaranteed not to miss anything!

Well, I hope you all like the linework. This was done with the pen tool in Photoshop. I create these lines for my rubber stamps that are licensed through Sweet Pea Stamps and also for my coloring pages. I use them for my final painting as well by printing them very lightly on the final watercolor paper. It's a quick and easy way to transfer my linework to my final paper.

I will hopefully start painting Willow very soon. I can't wait to get started!

Show Wrap-Up

Hi everyone! It's been way too long since my last blog post. I thought I'd take a few minutes to update you all about what's been going on in my world lately! The past couple months have been super busy as I was in quite a few different fall festivals and art shows. This was my first time doing outdoor shows seriously, so it was a big task to purchase everything that I needed and get all my displays together. But it was also very rewarding to see all my ideas come together into a finished set-up that I was really happy with!

It was also wonderful meeting everyone who came to see me! I have sold online for so long, that I forget to go out in the "real" world sometimes to show my artwork. I enjoyed receiving feedback instantly, sales were great and it was just overall a fantastic experience!

I wanted to show you all that couldn't attend, a few pictures of my set-up. These are pictures from the last show I did in Duluth, Georgia. It was my biggest and best set-up so far!

This is an overall picture of my booth.

This is the left side of my booth. You can see my 5x7" prints and my framed prints.

This is the right side of my booth. You can see my 8x10" prints and my Coloring Page Packs.

This is a close up of my 5x7" print rack. These were my biggest seller! Everyone loved the spinning rack. It's a great way to display a large amount of different images. It worked a lot better than having everyone flip through a stack of them.

This is a close up of my Pro Panels! These were one of my biggest purchases for my show, but worth every penny. They break down so they can fit in our cars. They also hold really heavy framed paintings. These are all my beautifully framed prints that I had at my show. I just loved the way it all ended up looking!

These 5x7" framed prints were brand new for this show and a big hit! I love the colorful, intricate frames.

Here's a close up of my banner with my fairy Arden! I got it at Vistaprint and it was very nice quality.

Here's a close up of my small product peg rack. These are gridwall type cubes put together to form a rack. Then I placed pegs on them so that I could hang my products up. You can see my stickers, magnets, buttons, pocket mirrors and key chains.

Here's a close up of my necklaces, bookmarks and keepsake tins!

Here's my bottle cap magnet display. I made this myself out of a cookie sheet and some fabric. Then we attached it to some more gridwall cubes. It worked great and these colorful magnets were a big hit. =)

This is a close up of my hand cut stickers, sticker sheets and gift tins. Customers could choose four magnets and then pick any sparkly gift tin to put them in. It was a lot of fun!

Here you can see my greeting cards, ACEO/mini prints and my coloring page packs (another big seller!)

And here is a close-up of my postcard sets, 8x10" prints, and business cards. I also put out a little explanation of my painting process from sketch to finished painting!