♥ ♥ ♥ Collector Love ♥ ♥ ♥

Yes, I know....we're still celebrating Christmas here (the fifth day today) but as usual I can't help getting ahead of myself, hehe.

Soooooooo, with Valentine's Day just a few short weeks away, I thought it was high time to share a little collector love....

I mean, collectors are the ones who enable us artists to Do What We Do. Where would we be without the wonderful people who support and encourage us, who treasure our creations and give them a loving home?

I truly wish I could create a little gift for each and every one of you, but I have just this one...


Remember back in elementary school when we'd make elaborate boxes from cardboard shoeboxes and construction paper to hold our Valentines? This box was inspired by those days - smaller than a shoebox, but much larger than my smaller trinket boxes, and perfect for holding your own Valentines or note cards, a few pieces of jewelry, keys, coupons, or whatever strikes your fancy.

If you're a collector, all you have to do is leave a comment here and I'll enter you in the drawing to win this piece. If you purchase a piece of my work from now through the end of January, you'll be entered twice (or more with multiple purchases). I'll draw the winner's name on February 1st and ship in plenty of time for Valentine's Day.

As usual, I'll be listing work on eBay and Etsy, and hope to pull together a blog sale next month as well.

In the meantime, there's just one new piece on Etsy, listed a few minutes ago - the last tiny trinket box until my supply is replenished later in the month. :)

While we're on the subject of *love*, I also have to tell you about the annual "One World, One Heart" event, coming up very soon. If you're new to this event, just scroll down on the right and click on the magic carpet banner for an explanation. Basically, it's a worldwide blog hopping cyber-party with lots of amazing giveaways (so I'll be creating another piece for this one). Here on this blog the giveaway will be open to collectors, bloggers and visitors alike, so stay tuned....

LOTS of new pieces are in the works, including a very special sewing or knitting chest with a built-in tray, and the first Halloween clock of 2010. I have notebooks all over the house with ideas and sketches galore, and only wish I had the time to paint them all, hehe. :)

I'll be back again on New Year's Eve, and until then I wish you all the blessings this beautiful season has to offer!

Much love,

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`• ~ Carolee

"Je t'aime"

With less than a month until Valentine's Day, I couldn't resist painting this sweet little guy, holding his message of love....


Valentine's Day has become kind of a big deal around here, where weather and funds permitting, the gifts sometimes go over the top.

It all started many years ago, early in our marriage when John (who is British) railed against the "stupid American holiday invented by the greeting card companies"...(nevermind the actual origins of the day are in fact British, we won't go there)....But suffice to say he was not on board with the whole candy and flowers thing.

My response was to arrange a mid-day workplace delivery of enough pink and red helium balloons to completely fill his office. Said balloons were tied to a coffee mug lettered "What a Guy", which was filled with Hershey's kisses and accompanied by a Valentine saying simply "Happy stupid American holiday". ;)

I've received a gift to mark the day every year since, hehe.

My gifts to him over the years have varied - from the risque to the ridiculous; the after dinner at a nice restaurant presentation of a gift bag, filled with chocolate body paints and brushes, and a note declaring "dessert's on me".....to very elaborately decorated valentines (we're talking HUGE valentines here - lace, feathers, sequins, glitter, perfume, the works) delivered every day for a week to his office....

And his gifts to me have been quite thoughtful; a romantic dinner out, an anthology of classic love letters, etc...

But last year's gift will be hard to top; the literal repair of a broken heart. February 2008 found me in the hospital's cardiac waiting room, and John in an operating room, as a surgeon repaired his damaged mitral valve. A successful outcome that day (actually a couple of days after Valentine's Day) was the absolute best gift I ever have, or ever will receive.

No clue what this year's celebration will be, but I suppose it's time to give it some thought.

(And if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them, hehe!)

~ Carolee