Life Book... Under 2 weeks until classes begin.

Just a reminder that there is less than 2 weeks (yes that's right, 2 weeks left until the amazing LIFEBOOK begins. 

Would you love a whole year of Creative Bliss, with like-minded people?

Would love to learn from AMAZING teachers, 

like Tamara Laporte (AKA: Willowing), and many, many others?

Then this is the course for you. 

To find out more click on the image below. 

I do hope to see you there.

Big Smiles,

Kyles =D

Mixed Media ATC swap. For Lucy.

The theme for the month of November was 'Ancestors' and I was partnered with the lovely
Prudence Pudleduck of 'Puddle Duck Grange' blog.

Here are the ATC's I sent to Debi:

I don't think they photographed very well, so I was reluctant to post them. So at the request of sweet
Lucy Chen, here they are.

Hugs,
Kyles =D

ATC Swap with Kirstin McCulloch

The theme for the month of December was 'Baby Animals' and I was lucky enough to be partnered with the lovely Kirstin McCulloch of 'Listening to the squeak inside' blog.

You can view her amazing work on blog or her Flickr site.

Here are my ATC's I sent to Kirstin:

If you feel like you want to be apart of an ATC swap, pop on over to Willowing.ning.com. Who knows, you may end up being my swap partner.

Big Smiles,

Kyles =D

Elixir of the Gods! My Mixed Media Mail Art.

I love receiving mail, with the exception of those dreaded bills, of course. The picture above is what I received in the mail last week. It looks great here, but so, so much better in person. I LOVE it. Thank you so much Cameron.

I recently came across the blog of lovely Cameron at 'Paint Myself Pretty'. On discovering her blog I landed on this 'Elixir of the Gods!' post and instantly fell in love with her art piece. I headed straight over to her Etsy store and brought it. It now is up on my wall in my studio. What do you think of it?

I also brought another art piece recently, but will save that to show you in the next post.

You still have time to enroll in Life Book. Classes start January 1st 2012. I can't wait. I hope to see you there.

I hope you are organised and have all your Christmas shopping done.

Big Smiles,

Kyles =D

30% Off in my Etsy Store.

To celebrate Christmas I thought I would have a SHOP SALE.

From now until the 14th of December I will be offering 

30% off on all my art prints and original ATC's 

in my Esty store.

I'm planning on adding more original artworks up for sale in the new year.

In the meantime, here are a few items you will find in my store:

No fancy photos or layout today. I have to go and do some recording for my Life Book classes.

Happy Wednesday (or whatever day it is for you),

Kyles =D

Sneek peek at my new Mixed Media Portrait

Ok, here is a sneak peek of my newest commission. I think I may be giving away too much here. I hope the portrait recipient does not follow by blog. eeek! This commission is going to be a Christmas gift, hence the sneeky peek only.

Still trying to get more creative with my pics. 

I'm also working on small original works of art for my Esty store. How scary? As well as working on the classes I'll be teaching on Tamara Laport's course, LifeBook.
If you haven't signed up, it's not too late. To find out more click on the image below.

Hugs,

Kyles =D

Pencil Portrait Completed

I have finished one of the commissioned pencil portraits I have on my agenda at the moment. Hooray! Unfortunately I can not show you this portrait in it's entirety, as it is a surprise gift for someone. But I will show you at a later date, once it has been give to the recipient. 

I've tried to spruce up my images a little, instead of the my usual style. What do you think? I used a free photoshop template from Rita over at The CoffeeShop blog. I highly recommend you pay her a visit. 

By the way, I'm now on Pinterest and I am addicted. You can add a 'Pin It' tab to your browser and 'Pin' anything from any site. It's awesome. Great for saving ideas to refer back to later. Have a look at my pin boards and you'll get the idea.

Until next time,

keep creating,

Kyles =D

Watercolour Portrait of Mum

This is another portraits I did of Mum. It was my very first attempt with watercolours. I wasn't very happy with how the watercolours turned out, so I added water colour pencils over the top. This is my favorite portrait of Mum, thus far.

Still working away on my many, many projects at the moment. Working on all, finished none. ***sigh***

One commissioned portrait just about finished and another that needs a lot more work.  

Working on original artworks, as well as some other special items, for my Etsy store.

Planning my classes for Life Book. There is still time to sign up, if you haven't already.

May you have a wonderful day.

Kyles =D

Portrait of Mum

I don't think I ever posted the final painting of my painting of my Mum.
This is acrylic on canvas and is approximately 1m x 1.2m. It's on a very large easel.
You can see the original drawing here.

In case you didn't see the self-portrait I did, which is exactly the same size, here it is:

These painting were to be a series of 3. I have made the third canvas, but have yet to make a start on it. It was to be either my Nana (grandmother) or my daughter, as the three would represent three generations. My style changes all the time, so who knows what the third one will look like.

A mixed media piece from The Secret Hermit - Micki Wilde

I brought a beautiful original mixed media art piece from Micki Wilde, otherwise known as 'The Secret Hermit', from her Etsy store. I was so excited when I saw the parcel from Micki in my mail box today. I thought it would take longer to get to me, so it was a great surprise. I really like it before I bought it (obviously), but in real life it's even more fabulous. I now LOVE it. =D

Micki is a very talented mixed media artist from the U.K and I have been following Micki's work for quite some time now. Every Monday (I think it's Sunday in the U.K) morning I wake to have a lovely coffee while perusing her latest post, to see what wonderful work she has created over the week. It seems that every time I have fallen in love with one of her creations, I head over to her Etsy store to find that it has already been sold. This has happened so, so many times. Thankfully I came across this little beauty and couldn't hit the 'Add to Cart' button quick enough. It was such a relief when my purchase went through.

I thought I would show you some of my favorites from Micki's vast collection of works. I hope to one day own some more of her awesome work.

 To see more of Micki's awesome, ever changing art work please visit her:

Blog

Esty Store

Flickr

Thank you so much Micki. Your artwork is now up in my art studio, inspiring me.

I hope this post inspires you all.
Happy creating,
Kyles =D

New artworks, Life Book and more.......

I've got a few things on the go at the moment and thought I'd show you snippets of a few. Below is another box I am making. This one is going to be a Christmas present for my girlfriend's daughter.

I have been seriously thinking of putting some original artworks up for sale in my Etsy store. At the moment I have a few original ATCs for sale, but the rest are art prints. I'd love to hear what you think.

Here is a sneak peak at some small whimsical works that I'm working on , possibly to put in my store.

 I am also in the middle of 2 portrait commissions, but I can't show you much, as they are for gifts and I would hate to spoil the surprise (even if the chances of the recipient seeing this post is very minimal). Here is a peek:

I am also busy working on my Life Book classes. That's right 'classes'.  The first of my classes is January 30th 2012. I have seen the itinerary and their is something available every week. Yes you heard that correctly, every week. If you haven't enrolled yet, you still have time. 

Classes start January 1st 2012. I hope to see you there.

Kyles =D

Famous Paintings & Heros ATCs

I forgot to show you a few ATCs I have received over the last few months.

For my August ATC Swap over at Willowing.ning.com. The lovely Beth Gould, from 'Dreaming of Tomorrow' was my partner and boy did I receive two wonderful ATCs.

The theme for the month was: Famous Paintings. You can see the two I sent Beth here. These ATCs below are the two I received from Beth. Aren't they great? There is even a little pearl bead glue to 'the girl with the pearl earring'.

The theme for the month of September was: Heros. The lovely Laura Zato Clemons sent me the ATCs below. Aren't they beautiful? You can see the two I sent to Laura here.

So, as you can see (especially if you've been following me for a while), I have a wonderful collection of ATCs. I just need a way to display them all in my studio. Any ideas?

I hope this post finds you well.
Kyles =D

ATCs and my Life Book Box

Here is a sneak peak at a few ATCs I've been working on.

Here are the ATCs I made for last months swap over at Willowing.ning.com.

Here is the two I received today from Gretchen Schroeder. They are so cute.

And here is a sneak peak at my Life Book box that I'm creating, to store the artwork in that I create over the course.

Best Wishes,

Kyles =D

Printmaking Class Work.

This is just a little something I was playing around with in my Printmaking class. This print was made using my hand carved vinyl plate and water soluble ink. After printing I coloured it in with pencils and markers. This was a practice before printing on good paper with oil based ink.

***Linda (Serendipity), this post is for you =D***

In other news:

You can now find me on Pinterest. And yes it is addictive.

You can still enroll in Life Book, the year long mixed media course that I will be guest teaching in.

Click here for more details.

Hope you're having a wonderful day.
Kyles =D

And the winner of my Life Book Giveaway is.............

Thank you all very much for entering my Life Book Giveaway.

In total I received 58 entrants into this Awesome Giveaway.

I went through each and every comment to see which bloggers needed to have duplicate entries, due to promoting elsewhere. I had 2 entrants who emailed me to enter and another 2 who commented on my Facebook page, letting me know they promoted on facebook.

Here is a recap of the prize on offer:

A place in the year long mixed media course, Life Book. 

You will receive a whole year of amazing artistic growth, art creating, personal development, joy, fun, laughter, friendship, art community, painting, painting, painting, mixed media, gluing, collaging, cutting, sticking things on, drawing, having crazy awesome fun!

And by the end of it, you'll have a beautifully bound journal (or Life Book) with gorgeous art that will have captured your special journey in 2012!

With the help of my trusty assistant (my son James).

 Drum roll please........................No. 29. ***looking over my list****

And the Winner is: Kate. 
Why not go over to Kate's blog to congratulate her.

Congratulations Kate. You are going to loooove this course.

Thank you to everyone who participate in my giveaway, particularly those of you who promoted it.

For those of you who missed out, but would love to enrol:  
Click here to view more details

Best wishes,

Kyles =D

My Interview & A purchase from Juliette Crane.

The lovely Deborah, from Scat N Style, has featured me and my artwork on her blog. You can read my interview here. Wow! Can you believe it? The universe is so good to me at the moment. I must have done something right, somewhere along the line.

Deborah is a Jazz singer who's blog is dedicated to music and art appreciation. There are many interesting interviews on her blog, so grab a coffee and read through a few on them, maybe even mine.

You can find her on facebook also, where she mentions my interview.

Don't forget it's not too late to enter my Life Book Giveaway, if you haven't already done so. 

I have another secret....................and yes, it is as awesome as the last...........stay tuned for this one.

I hope life is treating you well.

Kyles =D

Just thought I'd show you what arrived in my mailbox.

How beautiful is this. I brought this from fellow Life Book teacher, Juliette Crane. She has a beautiful selection of prints and original artworks in her shop. You can view her post on this and two other gorgeous journals here. She didn't have them long, as they sold like hot cakes. I was one of the lucky buyers and LOVE it.

Life Book Giveaway - Spread the Word

As one of the teachers on the up and coming course, Life Book, it is my privileged to be able to give away one spot to this year long mixed media extravaganza.

To enter this HUMUNGOUS giveaway all you need to do is click through the link here: 

"I would so LOVE to do this course"

and then come back and leave me a comment. Tell me what you would like to learn from me and if there is a particular style of mine you would like to know more about.

For a second entry, please be a darling and promote this post, either on your blog, facebook, twitter, a billboard on the roof of your house, sign writing in the sky, screaming it from the top of a mountain peak,  etc, whatever is easiest for you.

(please only comment once, but make sure you let me know each place you promoted for additional entries.)

I am still making decisions regarding the content of my contributing workshop, so your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Entries close Tuesday 18th October.

Good luck. 

Kyles =D

Life Book - I am teaching with Tam. Giveaway coming.

So much for the suspense.  I just can't contain my excitement any longer. Drum roll if you please...............

I am one of the teachers of Life Book. Yep. You heard that correctly. (High fives all around)

Life Book is year long mixed media course, created by the talented and wonderful
Tam "Willowing" Laporte over on her ning site. 

"Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU”

I will be joining Tam and at least 14 incredible art teachers, who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU, on this Awesome course. Themed around self-development and healing, you'll be creating a minimum of 2 loose mixed media art journal pages per month (through a minimum of 2 lessons a month) which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)!  You get a minimum of 26 spectacular mixed media lessons (videos & PDFs) plus loads of extras for less than $100. How cheap is that. And if that hasn't blown your socks off, on signing up you get to choose one of Tam's other online courses, at no extra cost.  (I should be hearing the words 'WOW!' by now)  So please click the link below, so Tam knows I sent you.

Click here to view more details

I will be having a giveaway in the next few days, so keep an eye out for that.
Till then,
Kyles =D
(dancing around the room)

I have a HUGE secret......and a GIVEAWAY.

Yes I do have a Humungous, Gigantic, Enormous Secret. I am so, so, soooooooo excited, I want to scream it to the moon.............unfortunately it is a secret, so I can't tell you....... not just yet, anyway.

I also have a GIVEAWAY coming up that you wont want to miss. If you haven't subscribed to my blog via email, you may want to do that now, as to not miss out on my next post. You wont be disappointment. 

I'll leave you with this eye candy. I printed out some of my digital ATC sheets for a future project. Don't they look great. You can view them all here at Blissfully Digital. 

Mail Art for Me

Look what arrived in my mailbox today. Woo Hoo!!! I brought these ATCs/ACEOs from whimsical Artist Megan K. Suarez. I have been following Megan for a while now and could no longer resist the urge to purchase some of her work. I love them and thought I would share them with you all. What do you think?

You can find Megan and her beautiful work at the following places:

• Her Blog
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Etsy Store

Do yourself a favor and pay Megan a visit. You will be glad you did.

Wishing you a creative day,

Kyles =D