Swell Papel Coupon

Well, hello there!

I just wanted to let you know that I'm running a promotion in the shop this week.  Enter coupon code HAPPYPRINTS1 when you check out and you'll receive 10% off your order of $32 or more! Coupon is valid only until August 5, 2013!

Also, I finally have a whopping 13" x 10" version of my best-selling Mountain Range No. 1 for sale!  I've always said I'm open to creating my prints in custom sizes, but I never actually thought that having this print in a larger size would actually make it more convenient for my customers.  Better late than never, huh?

Anyway, just look at the print... doesn't it look lovely?

Open for Business

The shop is open again! Hurray!

I've decided to just go ahead and open since there have been endless delays with the addition we're building on our house (which includes my studio).  There's no sense in waiting any longer just because the built in desks aren't ready and most of my art supplies are in storage still.  

I'm not sure when I'll be able to make new work... I was so busy creating a HUMAN BEING for most of 2012 that all my creative.. ahem... juices... were used up.  But now that The Baby has been outta my body for 9 weeks, I think I can get back to creating new work in whatever time I can manage to spare. 

Ha.

Haha.

Spare time? I'm typing this entire post with one hand and while simultaneously nursing The Baby.

Clearly I must be delusional.

Here's a picture of what the studio looks looks like now-->

I'll be sure to post a picture once I set it up!

New Work - Powerline Tower

A new print is available at the shop!


This print was created because of my love for all things geometric.  I based the image on a photograph that I took while I was a stop light next to these metal giants.  


Forget the windmills! I think Don Quixote would be battling the heck with these guys if he saw them! 

Powerline Tower Print $18 USD by Swell Papel

Swell Papel Update - Photography

I just opened a new section at the shop for photographs!  I have two listings, each for two 5" x 7" photographs.

Fig Photo Set $18 USD

Lighthouse Photo Set $18 USD

Check out the new section here!

Swell Papel and the Etsy "Holy Grail"

Woah!


Swell Papel was featured on the front page of Etsy earlier this morning! 


Excuse me while I bounce from the excitement.


There.


Ahem!  Well, here is a screenshot:

And it's all thanks to Becca, from bake!  Please visit her shop here, and her treasury aptly named "It might be grey outside but not here..." here.


Thanks Becca!

New Work- Little Boxes

Little Boxes No. 1  /  Little Boxes No. 2

A couple of little prints named after one of my favorite songs "Little Boxes" are now available at my Swell Papel Shop. 

For these prints, I decided to go to a different format to make a bigger statement.  I use 13" x 19" paper and image size is about 11" x 14", so that it can be framed in a standard sized frame OR in a 13" x 19"(not-so-standard) frame without needing to matt it.

And now, a video with The Shins' version of "Little Boxes":

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Ahoy!

I feel like it's been a long time since I've posted.  Luckily, I've been very productive and have managed to post a new print on the shop!  It's called "Ahoy!" and I had a ton of fun making it.

Here are some of my inspiration pictures:

            

And in honor of this print, here is a clip from one of my favorite all-time movies, What About Bob? starring Bill Murray (genius, as far as I'm concerned) and Richard Dreyfus.  To give you a little bit of background before you view this clip, Bill Murray is Bob, a man with multiple psychological issues who decides to crash his psychiatrist's (played by Richard Dreyfuss) family vacation against his wishes.  In this scene, Bob is invited by the psychiatrist's daughter to come sailing with her and her friends.

Just looking at this clip cracks me up! Anybody who knows me well will tell you that I can quote this movie, almost in it's entirety, without even thinking about it.  It's one of the many talents of mine categorized under "Mildly Amusing and Useless".  It sits right next to knowing Disney's Aladdin by memory, and being able to raise my right eyebrow without raising the left one. 

Swell Papel on Tall Dark Roast

Have you heard the good news?  I have a new article up on Tall Dark Roast!   The newest one features a slew of Etsy artists who have captured my eye with their striking yellow goodies.


Click here to check it out!


Don't forget to leave a comment and to follow Tall Dark Roast and Swell Papel on Twitter!

Om

Last night was my first yoga class over at a local yoga studio.  My only experience with yoga was a few classes at a noisy gym but I got a great offer via Groupon that I just couldn't miss: 5 lessons for $25!  I had been curious about yoga since I've been reading The Art of Happiness and I thought yoga would help me "connect" some of the things I've read in the book with real practice.  And it did.


I got to the yoga studio early - really early - because I was worried that I wouldn't know where I had to leave my shoes while I was in class (weird, I know).  So I arrived 30 minutes earlier (ok, I'm lying... I got there 55 minutes before class) thinking I would have enough time to figure out where the shoes go and not look like a complete dork.


It took me like 2 minutes to figure out where we were supposed to put our shoes so I spent the rest of the time reading a yoga magazine and watching the people come and go from the studio.  The time finally came for the class- Short Form Ashtanga which is basically a specific series of poses followed in a specific order.  The class was amazing!  There was a lot of emphasis on breathing and being mindful of our bodies.  After we finished the series of poses, the instructor guided us through meditation, which I found to be very relaxing and therapeutic. I left there energized and content.  I can't wait to go back next week.  

In other news, I received a note from Katie at b u d this morning telling me that she had included one of my prints in her lovely blog which features dreamy collections of items she finds on Etsy.  Her website is really well curated and super inspiring, so please follow the links to her shop and blog. 

Swell Papel Update - Treasury Love

Swell Papel prints have been chosen to appear on a number of Treasuries on Etsy.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Speed of Light by b u d

Lovely Roots by MaaP Studio

you know I love geometry by nomilk today

Imagine a Map by Big Brown House

Less than 10

Autumn Geometrics

Redecorate the home in warm seasonal colors

New Shops! Vol 4

Take a Look at These

National Honey Month

Being part of the Etsy community has been so rewarding and I am really grateful for the opportunities to have my prints show up in these wonderful treasuries.

Swell Papel on Tider Designs' Etsy Favorites

Swell Papel's Mountain Range No. 1 Print is featured today on Tider Designs' Etsy Favorites blog!  


Please check out Diane's beautiful metal, resin, and enamel jewelry in her Tider Jewelry Design shop on Etsy. 


Her MidCentury Chair Necklaces are to die for!

New Work- Ovo

Wow! I started this week hoping I would be able to produce another shop-worthy print by Friday and I think I did it!

This is Ovo, and it's available in the shop!

Ovo -  by Swell Papel $18 USD

New Work- In the Mountains

One of my favorite things to do on a plane is take pictures through the window.  There's something really peaceful and abstract about images taken of the earth down below.

Here are some of my favorites:

Inspired by some of these images, I created In the Mountains, a new print available in the shop!  

In the Mountains - 8.5 x 11 Print - $18 USD

Out of the Blog-ffice

Hey there! I just wanted to write a quick note to let ya'll know that I will be out of the "blog-ffice" until Monday since The Parentals are coming.  



OMG... The Parentals are coming!



They should be here any minute now!  I haven't seen them since August (which is a long time for my little family of 3), so I'm hoping to take advantage of every minute of them being here. Hurray!


And they couldn't come at a better time because I'm about to throw out yet another one of my dining room chairs!


Enjoy yourselves and stay tuned next week when I'll have some new prints up for sale in the shop!



Oh! To keep in the theme of family, I wanted to share with you this wonderful Etsy shop by cozyblue.  She does amazing, custom family tree prints which are delicate and lovely!  One day, I will have my own cozyblue family tree print!

Family Tree Print by cozyblue $30 usd

Click here to check out cozyblue and order your own!

Thoughtful Mail

I just know that it's going to be a great day, despite the gloomy Michigan weather we're having today.  It started off with a quick early morning workout, my Starbucks coffee, and the delivery of my Jen Collins "No Place Like Home" print from hellojenuine.  


Receiving this print was an amazing experience. Keep in mind that I only paid for the one print, yet I got 3!  From the printed envelope with the cute little fox on it, and the handwritten thank you note and the extra bake a cake postcard from Jen's Nice Advice postcard set, and the carefully wrapped print... opening this envelope kept me engaged and turned opening my mail into a happy experience and not just some ol' boring task.  

Jen's thoughtfulness just made my day and it made me wish all my mail was like receiving one of her prints.  Can you imagine getting credit card offers with thoughtful handwritten notes from the credit card company's CEO? I think those notes would read something like : 


Hi Mariana!  


I hope that you don't mind that I'm writing you, but as I was sipping my morning coffee, I thought of you, and how much you could benefit from having one of my company's credit cards.  Not because I want to make money off of you, but because I noticed you don't have one, and it could really help you build your credit, which is something I think you may want to do.  


Whether you decide to go with my credit card company or not, I would still like to send you this $10 gift card to Starbucks, a little watercolor painting I did for you last night, and free access to our exclusive concierge service for life.  I've also made a generous donation to benefit the children of third-world countries in your name. 


Please let me know if you would like to receive more information about our credit cards.  I am looking forward to hopefully working with you in person to answer all your questions, and come up with a few personalized solutions.  If you do not wish to hear about these options, let me know and I will cancel all the mail you've been getting from my company.  While it will be sad to see you go, I would still love to keep in touch!  


Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I very much look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Joe, the CEO

-----------------------------


OK... maybe that level of familiarity from a credit card company would be a little creepy, but wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where everybody (even big companies) was thoughtful and personal?


Anyway, hopefully you can swing by Jen's shop and blog found by clicking here.

By the Way...

Today's the last day for-- 

Come visit the shop.

Save the Whales - They're Nice

One of my favorite things to do before I go to bed is watch nature documentaries.  I've watched so many that I think I deserve a masters degree in Nature Documentary Watching. 

Doing this, has not only opened my eyes to the amazing places found around the world, but also, the irrevocable damage that human beings have done to some of those places.  I get genuinely sad about the polar bears not being able to find food like they used to, or about the threat that the coral reefs are facing.

Today, I'm making this print available in my Swell Papel Etsy shop.  Some of the proceeds from the sale of this print will go to Oceana, a large international organization dedicated to ocean conservation.

Ocean conservation is key.  Not only do oceans control the climate, but they make up 71% of our planet!  By donating to causes that help save the ocean... we are helping 71% of the planet. Sounds like a good deal to me! 


 Please visit Oceana's website at http://na.oceana.org/

Home and Heart

A house is not a home without a heart.  Living so far away from my family and most of my friends, I strive to do my best to make my tiny one-bedroom apartment as homey as possible.  I clean it, I organize it, I make sure it is as warm and inviting as my parents' home is when I go visit them. I put all my heart into it and I love it!

It's important for me to feel like where I am is home. I like to feel connected with my environment- like I belong, and I like others who visit me to feel comfortable and welcome too.

But "home" is not just a place, but a feeling too.  It's a feeling that I'm lucky to be able to carry with me wherever I go.  So, I've made this print in honor of "home" as a feeling.

Of course, it's available in the shop.

I hope you are feeling home. Always. And wherever you go.

NEW WORK! Sweet Dream

Dreamy, creamy new print available in my shop!!


I am looking at this print right in front of me and I can't stop smiling.  Does it make YOU smile too?

Keeping the Bees- New Work

While taking a drive around the countryside this weekend, we came across an orchard and these wonderful little apiary which just blew me away!  Inside of those boxes live thousands of bees which help pollinate the orchard and produce fruit for the farmers.  I love bees.

I was inspired by all of this and I was actually able to transform that inspiration into a couple of new prints which I just posted on the shop. 

Here they are- FRESH!

Keeping the Bees No. 1

 Click here to place your order!

Keeping the Bees No. 2

Click here to place your order!