Oh Snap! New Prints Available

This past weekend was absolutely amazing. My little family went away to the beautiful town of Rockport, MA. It was so nice having the beach as our backyard for a couple of days! As I'm going through hundreds of photos, here are some new prints added to the shop the last week or so. I'm feeling so incredibly blessed. I can't wait to show you all the lovely memories we made and the really cool town of Rockport. Sunsets, sunrises, quaint handmade gift shops, yummy lobster, sand in my toes...bliss. Hope you had a memorable Memorial Day weekend!

Click on each photo to be directed to the item listing. Happy Hump day, beauties xoxo

Be About It {Free Printable}

This phrase has been on my mind the last month or so:

"Don't just talk about it. Be about it." - Marie Forleo

I've realized that I used this space to vent (a lot) the last couple of months and probably have some followers lose faith in me. After taking a much needed break, God has really focused my attention and brought clarity to my cloudy mind. This year I don't want to just talk about projects, I want to DO the projects. I don't want to just plan or share my passions, I want to BE them. Does that make sense? Can you relate?

Here is a free printable for all you beauties! It's an original pen and ink illustration. Just right click, save to your computer and print. It's that's simple. Just a few things to note:

• If you love the graphic, please share the love via your social media, linking back here.
• This is for personal use only (home decor, wall art etc.)
• Please DO NOT distribute as your own or use this image commercially. If you'd like to, email me at helloawesomeshop@gmail.com and we can discuss details. 

Thank you & enjoy!

Pencil Obsessed /// Illustrated Prints

"FRAYED" /// 8x10 matte print of original pencil illustration

It feels so good to be drawing again. I've come to the conclusion that no matter how I try, I cannot give up art. It was a nice break though. I was inspired and came back refueled. Today I just wanted to share with you two new prints that are available in the shop. They are called "FRAYED" and "Fancy." 

"Fancy" /// 8x10 matte print of original pencil illustration

Pencil illustrations are at the core of my passions. The simplicity of using a pencil on a blank piece of paper intrigues the heart. As a young girl, I delighted in smudged fingertips lost in imagination. As an adult, nothing much has changed except maybe inspiration. I'd love to know what you think of these latest works. 

Do you enjoy pencil drawings?

What is creative childhood memory of yours?

Help, My Creative Mind Won't Stop!

But seriously though...I can't catch a break! I wake up in the middle of the night, mind full of ideas, my creativity overflowing that sometimes I give up precious sleep minutes to my project obsessions. I know, you can't relate.

What kind of obsessions? Custom premade illustrated blog banners, for one! I am like so in love with making these. There are only these three designs available in the shop right now but there will definitely be more coming. I also can do all custom ones special for any blog. As I'm typing this, I realize I can make them better by adding navigation links to the banner as well. You know, like "Advertise" "Shop" "Contact" etc...these will of course be clickable. *Sigh* See what I mean? My mind won't stop! Looks like I need to go tweak the designs but anyway they are super affordable and if you buy one, we can work on custom navigation links.


Another obsession: being creative in the kitchen. I've been wanting to share more recipes here but have realized it doesn't fit into what this space is about anymore. Sure, recipes can be creative and that is what I'm going for on "Art By Jacy". Yet I thought, why not start another blog? It's not like I have a house and a family to take care of or anything. But I started the "Food By Jacy" blog anyway! I'll post whenever I feel like, probably a few recipes a week. So please take a moment and head over there right here or by clicking on the screenshot above and check it out! Leave a comment with your honest thoughts. I'll be adding more recipes this week and there's still some things I need to add but I am impatient and wanted to share.

This week I'm planning/getting ready for David's 1st birthday party! Can you believe it? Yeah, me neither. So even though my plate is full with all of that, my mind still won't stop being creative in my design & blogging projects. Oh well, story of my life.

What about you? What projects have been keeping your mind going?

I'm a Trendsetter...{Shop Update}

Before I shamelessly/excitingly share with you some of the fun art shtuff that I've been up to, I just wanted to take a moment to welcome all the new followers!! You guys are super-duper awesome, thanks for not just stopping by, but deciding to stay a while :) {Hope it's worth it haha}

Okay, so, I've been working my tail off updating my new online shop! I'm still over at Etsy, but honestly, I'm too poor and cannot afford paying any more fees! {ya'll feel me?!}
Then thanks to my girl Alissa over at Rags to Stitches, I heard about Storenvy. I'm still getting the hang of how they do things, but seriously guys, they rock so far! Haven't had a sale yet so I don't know how that part goes but the updating process for products/photos/listing descriptions etc is soooo much easier {and social media friendly too, yay!}

Here are some photos to preview what I have in my shop thus far {click on the image to be linked}:

Pretty fun, huh?
I've been having a blast with these!!

The thing is, I'm not sure how to organize my shop tabs...should I keep it, by category/theme OR go by print size/original art/etc? I'm just wondering if my tabs are too cluttered looking? You tell me!! Please click on the link below {or the "Shop" tab at the top of the blog} to be forwarded to my online store, then come back and leave a comment with a critique/opinion. Who better to trust with this decision then my amazing readers?? :)

Can't wait to hear what you guys think!!

DIY Painting & Fabric Illustration {Tutorial}

We have moved passed Random Wednesday and now today I give you a behind-the-studio peek at what I have been working on...the question should really be what HAVEN'T I been working on!

I had a brilliant light bulb moment and decided to try it out. I LOVE fabric (tomorrow is Fabric Friday woohoo!) but I also love painting. So I have been wondering how can I combine the two loves...

then it hit me like a ton of snowballs. Canvas IS fabric, der! Just stretched and painted.

Then came the idea of using acrylic paint, a needle and thread, some scrap fabric, and my drawing skillz...

Here is a step-by-step look at what I created:

 

This is an illustration that I did and I have to say it's one of my favs. I used this as my inspiration.

(Do you like it too? Check out my shop for your very own print!)

 Okay, so I took an 8x10 canvas and painting the entire surface aqua.

Then I used an acrylic white wash technique and created white stripes.

Love stripes!

 That created a nice background. I then sketched on top with pencil, and went over it with sharpie.

Okay...I LOVE sharpies too! I have like every color...

You will notice I drew everything except the little flowers.

 That's when the fabric comes in! I measured about 11" and cut it into a strip.

Hint: The longer the strip, the bigger the flower.

 I then hand-stitched (as best as I can lol) across one side of the entire strip.

When I got to the end, I pushed the fabric down the thread like this. This created really neat ruffles :)
Then take both ends of the strip, bring them around in a complete circle, and sew them together...

 Like this! See, instant flower!
But I wanted to add some pizazz to it, so I grabbed my fancy-shmancy craft beads. 

Wala! All I did was sew the beads by hand to the middle of the flower.
Then I trimmed the edge afterward to the shape I wanted. Isn't is cute?!
Next, I needed to sew it to my illustration on the canvas...

 How awesome?! The needle goes right through, no problemo!
I placed my fabric flower where I wanted it, and sewed it to the canvas, tying it all together in the back.

Are you kinda getting the big picture?!

Just one flower wasn't going to be good enough,
so I made two smaller little rosettes to complete the hair accessories...

 See!! How cool?!

Now for the finishing touch...paint!
I do recommend doing this first though before putting on the flowers.
You don't want to get paint on the pretty little things
but I was just too excited to do this the right way! haha

I added a little water to the acrylic to give it that "washed" effect.
I do love how the hair came out :)

 Awww isn't it precious!

My light bulb idea worked. Now I'm wondering if paintings like these will sell??

What do you think??
<3