New Products and Giveaway!

I'm beyond excited to share with you 2 brand spanking new categories of Swell Papel products and 4 new products!  I have been working so hard lately and so I'm both ecstatic and exhausted!

Well, the first product that I'm really excited about is a 2014 Digital Calendar available as an instant download for only $6!

All you do is go to the shop, purchase this listing and download the file.  Once on your computer, you can print them on letter paper and cut them out.  It looks amazing displayed on an easel!

This calendar is also available for purchase as a printed calendar.

The next product is a 2014 Printed Calendar featuring the most popular Swell Papel prints and printed on fine art paper with pigment inks which make the prints POP from the paper!

Also, I'm offering any 5x7 versions of any of my prints!  They come in sets of 2 and you get to choose which ones you want!  These are perfect for those who don't want to commit to a large print and want something to bring a bit of color to their space!  Click here to go directly to the listing.

Finally, a reworked version of one of the prints nearest to my heart, it's titled HOME is where the HEART is.  

Please remember I ship worldwide, so don't hesitate to shop around.  A Paypal account is easy to set up if you don't have it already.

In celebration of all of this good news, I'm hosting a giveaway on Facebook!  Go to my page, find the post mentioning the giveaway and leave a comment.  Your name will be entered to win one of two prizes-

1) One digital file for personal use of Swell Papel's 2014 Digital Calendar*.

2) One 2014 Swell Papel Calendar, printed in fine art paper with archival inks and shipped wherever you want.

*By commenting on the giveaway post, you agree to the following terms-

1) This file is for personal use ONLY. You cannot redistribute it in any way (printed, digitally, etc).
2) You may not share, alter, sell, or re-sell this file. 
3) Electronic transmission to third parties is strictly prohibited.
4) Purchase does not transfer copyright to the buyer. You may not distribute, copy, or sell in any way.

A Little Bite of Love

Today I woke up with a craving for a dish that's been a favorite of mine forever, one that my mom used to make (and still does when she can)- pay de atún. 

And so after an early morning trip to the market, and in between baby's naps and other events of the day I began the different tasks- mixing, kneading, chopping, dicing, simmering, reducing, baking... And finally by dinner time, I had made a pretty darn good pay de atún. 

All throughout the day I thought of my mom, and how SHE carefully planned and flawlessly executed this recipe many times before me. I felt happy like I did way back when I came home from school and saw this dish on the table. There were many meals my parents and I shared and even though those days seem so far away, their memory is very near my heart.

So tonight I made pay de atún for my family in hopes that they can perhaps make memories like I once made. I hope that when they're older and perhaps have families of their own, that they strive to carry this on with the same warmth and love that I feel now because of my parents, those shared meals, and this recipe. 

PAY DE ATÚN

Preheat oven to 350. 

Crust

3 cups flour

2 bars of butter, room temperature

1 Philadelphia cheese block, room temperature

Mix ingredients with a fork and then with the hands. Knead until well mixed. Separate into 2, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1 hour. 

Roll out one of the parts for bottom crust, and the other for the top. 

---

Stuffing

1 tomato, no seeds, diced

2 cans tuna in water, drained

1 potato, diced and boiled 4 minutes

1 carrot, diced and boiled 4 minutes 

2 tbsp green bell pepper

2 tbsp pimento stuffed green olives

3/4 cup evaporated milk

Lightly cook the tomato in a bit of oil. Add tuna and stir for a bit. Then add the potato, carrot, pepper, and olives. Mix well and add the evaporated milk. Let reduce so that its not too liquid. Once reduced, let cool. 

Spoon the stuffing over the bottom crust, cover with top crust and seal the edges. Poke the top with a fork and bake for however long it takes for the crust to turn golden. 

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?

Of Star Nurseries and A New Print

One of my favorite things to do to unwind before bed is watching science and nature documentaries.  One of my favorites is The Universe.  The Husband and I love learning about the Big Bang, pulsars, quasars, supernovae, and in general, what is going on out there... in big bad outer space.  It just blows my mind of how tiny we are in comparison to everything else that surrounds us.  

My new print, Nebula is a geometric reinterpretation of the clouds of space dust and gas in outer space that are the nurseries for new little baby stars.  My new mommy mode has made a sweet spot for all things baby and so, those huge patches of gas and light were a natural inspiration for my newest work.

Make sure to visit the shop and check out Nebula!

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!

Little Update

I have been meaning to post forever. And after procrastinating for 18 months (18! Yikes!) I've decided that perhaps I should try to post more often... Ya think?!

Life is happening, dreams of years ago made to come true. Family, love, friendship, and growth. All of that sums up the past 18 months. We have a new bundle of joy who for 8 weeks has brought so much love to our lives. The boys, now 9 and 7 couldn't love him more or be more doting. I am just head over heels over this little boy who's changed my life in the best way possible. Things are good.

The shop is closed for now, but it'll open eventually. I am working on setting up a new studio and so that needs to be done before Swell Papel gears up for 2013.

Swell Papel is Out There

Hiya Internet!

I have had the good fortune and pleasure of being interviewed by Danielle from scribe & maker and the post is up today!

Please check out the interview here.

I will be back to posting regularly soon... promise!

Happy Place

There are many lessons that I have learned in my life.  One of them is not to bother calling the hotel you just checked out of from the airport asking for the Prada sunglasses you left in your room.  Your Prada sunglasses are gone.  Get over it and move on.

But this blog post has nothing to do with life lessons or Prada sunglasses.

I've been painting outdoors recently.  Outdoors in the bright bright light, where bugs and fuzzy plant matter land on my acrylic paints as I drink Diet Coke so watered down by melting ice cubes that it tastes like nothing.  Painting outside, although charming, comes with its challenges.  One must squint one's eyes in order to see what one is painting. One ends up being blinded by the reflection of the light off of one's painting.  And one ends up looking like an artsy Clint Eastwood armed with a paintbrush and some cadmium red in a tube.

One misses her Prada sunglasses.

Anyway, I'm completely enjoying painting outdoors.  So much so that it's become my newest happy place.

DIY - Jewelry Frame

This DIY project is so easy and it looks wonderful!  Total cost was $5 for the vintage frame.  I had all the other supplies here in my house.

I encourage you to try it out... now, I'll let the pictures tell the story:

DIY - Succulent Terrarium

I got all sorts of crafty today, mostly because I was overloaded with inspiration from some of the beautiful projects and things I've seen on Pinterest.  


My project today was making 2 terrariums with a couple of glass containers I used for my wedding's dessert table.  


I had a variety of things I could have done with those containers: filled them with limes, lemons, or oranges, turned them into hurricanes for candles, or filled them with sand and some decorative seashells.  None of these things really appealed to me (it's been done SO MANY times), but when I saw a few pins on terrariums on Pinterest, I knew that's what I wanted to do.


I followed Martha Stewart's Succulents Terrariums instructions and here are the results:

Such a simple and cheap project!

One of the new terrariums found a home by our kitchen window and next to a lovely Ashley G Woodsman wall art from Urban Outfitters.  


I also want to make a big enclosed moss terrarium later on.  I'm hooked now!

Toy Photo Shoot

Over this past weekend, it occurred to me that the boys need some new wall art for their bedroom and playrooms.  I've seen that they get so creative when they make their Lego bases, that I wanted to capture that as a keepsake of their amazing and unafraid creativity.


So, this weekend, the boys and I did this awesome project where they designed their Lego bases or scenes with their Star Wars figurines and I photographed them.  I loved the results!  They look almost like candid shots one would take of people without letting them pose. 


Here are some of the final shots, some of which will end up in pretty Riba frames hanging in the boys' rooms.  Yay!

Rust Belt Market

I love Ferndale, MI.  With it's indie and eclectic collection of shops, bakeries, grocery stores, and cafes, there's always something going on.  This past weekend was no exception.  The Rust Belt Market opened its doors for the first time, and I could not miss it!  Located in what used to be an oversized Old Navy store in the corner of Woodward and 9 Mile, the Rust Belt's Market just officially made Ferndale my favorite town in Southeast Michigan.

Think of the Rust Belt Market as the "farmers market" for cool, indie artists.  Instead of selling produce, the vendors there sell their amazing collection of handmade and vintage fare.  Kind of Etsy-ish, except less virtual and 100% real life.  Artists and shoppers have a chance to interact with one another, making this a super rich environment for the creative types to thrive in...  An oasis for people like me who are parched for a fresh source of inspiration and tangible sense of craft community.

While there, I discovered (perhaps a little late in the game), Detroit Lives! a group created by Philip Lauri to basically spread the good things about Detroit (high five!) utilizing all sorts of different media.  I absolutely loved artists who project a positive image of the city and Detroit Lives! fits the bill beautifully!

I'm so glad that this place now exists.  I've seen for 10 years now that there is a bustling craft/indie community in the area and the Rust Belt Market is another definitive sign that this community is here to stay. 

New Print - Detroit Water Tower

Today, I'm super excited to have posted a new print at the shop!  It's simply titled Detroit Water Tower and it is an 8.5 x 11 inch archival digital print with some bright colors you may remember from the Swell Papel all-time favorite, and most popular print, Mountain Range No. 1.

Here it is!

Detroit Water Tower Print

This print was inspired by a picture I took when the husband and I went to the D for Dally in the Alley.  I love love LOVE the geometric nature of water towers and the silhouettes they make.  I try taking pictures of water towers when I can but most of my collection is taken while I'm driving and with my crappy cell phone camera, so they don't make it any further than the confines of my phone's memory card.

Anyway,  I had been working on this print since last fall but I wasn't fully satisfied with it so I just left it.  And left it.  And then I got married and became a "bonus mom" and a wife, and a dog owner, and my workload spiked and I... I... I just left it.  Sitting in my little Drafts folder on my computer, this poor little print was finally pulled from the depths of my computer to fulfill its destiny as another print in the Swell Papel collection.  Yay!

In other awesome news, I was contacted by the writer of a very famous wedding inspiration blog to feature our wedding in it!  It hasn't been posted yet so I can't say much yet, but stay tuned!

Dreamy

It was a really snowy day, our wedding day.  Our wedding venue, Circa 1843, was decked out and glowing from the inside.  We had a small wedding- less than 40 people.  All of them braved the snow storm to join us on our special day.

Handmade Wedding Wreath

The ensemble did a great job and added an extra special touch

Custom papel picado hung over the ceremony area

Our desert table - Yum!

French macarons and Rockin' Cupcakes for desert

A wall of mirrors right behind the buffet

Different vintage chairs and simple antique bottles thoughtfully arranged

The venue was amazing! I loved the lanterns as well!

I'm still in love with our desert "table".  I got the cupcakes from an awesome cupcake shop called Rockin' Cupcakes.  They were amazing! And the french macarons... to die for!

Our photographer, Jen from Jen Lynne Photography, did an amazing job of capturing the coziness and warmth of the evening.  I couldn't be happier of how the pictures turned out and I cannot recommend her enough!

And of course, I couldn't end this blog post without my favorite picture (thanks so much, Jen!).