My Christmas Mojo is back!

I’m actually feeling it this year. That magic feeling of the holiday season.. and I can’t believe it!

I’m usually the “bah humbug” type. Upset over the commerciality of the whole thing. Feeling pressured into buying gifts, not because I want to, but because I feel guilty if I don’t.

Last year we didn’t even bother setting up the tree (mainly due to lack of space, and the stress of a cat who spent the previous year diving head first into it.) I did manage to send out cards though, but once again because I felt it was my duty as they started to arrive in the mail.

I never thought I would actually be in to it again. My disdain for Christmas is learnt behavior. I come from a family where Christmas always seemed like a burden. Just another time to worry and fight about money. I remember a year in my early teens when my parents said to me and my brother “you don’t need any more junk.” We agreed half heartedly, assuming it was just talk. However, we didn’t know that they were actually taking our agreement seriously. We woke up Christmas morning to find absolutely nothing under the tree. I tried not to look upset, but it broke my heart and stole what little Christmas spirit I had.

My husband hates that I’m not into Christmas. He comes from a big family with lots of cousins. In their family the focus is on the happiness that comes with getting a chance to see each other, eat great food and appreciate one another through gift giving. But even seeing their approach to Christmastime didn’t convert my negative attitude.

This year is so different. It’s December 1st, and I’ve already made my Christmas card. I’m excited and want to put up lights on our house! I can’t wait to see my family and friends. I think it has a lot to do with Kieran. I know he doesn’t have any idea what’s going on yet, but he’s awoken the Christmas Spirit in me. I feel like the Grinch when his shriveled heart starts beating again.

Bah humbug to bah humbug!

Back it up to Halloween

Halloween was a bust for me. I ended up with the H1N1 flu – or another bad flu – I wasn’t officially tested. Anyway, turned out I was forced to spend the whole weekend in bed while my husband took Kieran around trick-or-treating for the first time.

Since I was pregnant for Halloween last year my hubby said he would take Kieran and I could have a fun night out with the girls. My closest friend recently moved out of town and was coming back for the weekend. That was the worst part, missing out on seeing my friends.

At least I got two mid-week Halloween parties with Kieran in before I took ill. One at my work, and one with my baby playgroup. The playgroup Halloween party actually had the most excitement..

We had four babies lined up for photos. One of them was dressed up like Elvis. Gold pants, ruffles and all! Some of them weren’t quite sitting up yet, so it was a total balancing act. We were all laughing at how cute they all looked in their costumes and then BLARRGH! The little Elvis projectile vomits all over himself. I’ve never seen so much barf come out of a baby before! Guess he was really into the Rock Star persona.

One Magic Night Christmas Collab w Flergs!

Christmas collab with Studio Flergs! 20% off this Weekend!
Pick it up here

It's almost that time of year again. Time to start making Christmas Cards and think about what to get for all those special people in your life. This year I've teamed up with Studio Flergs to bring you "One Magic Night" a Christmas collaboration featuring my handpainted elements and Flergs' wonderful bits and baubles.

Here is some inspiration from our combined CTs (and yes, that's my LO with Kieran on the top right):

Also out @ Studio Alana this week.. Doodle Frames 1! Hand painted, neutrally colored, these are the perfect artistic touch for your layouts. Get them this weekend at the introductory sale rate!

One last thing, if you’re on my newsletter list you’ll be receiving this candy cane frame freebie that compliments One Magic Night!

Enjoy!
- Alana

BLOG - SHOP - ILLUSTRATION

Doodle Frames 1

Here are some fancy doodled and painted frames for your scrapping pleasure. The Celtic styled frame on top is actually a full page 12x12 border. I just shrunk it down for display. The rest are shown actual size.

I have them on SALE until next Monday.

.. and coming next Friday Nov 20th, a magical Christmas themed collab with Flergs! Here’s a sneak peek..

Keep an eye on the galleries to see some CT samples mid-week.

ScrapbookGraphics Funday!

Did you know that every Monday you can get 50% off one of my kits.. and have fun doing it? Just guess the word, enter it in the product search and enjoy the savings!

Hint: It’s a bird, it’s a plane…

If you can’t guess it, there’s always “You can’t lose Tuesday” where the answer is announced on SBG’s blog. The prices go up a bit with only a 40% discount.

MegaSALE!

I’ve never had a sale of this proportion before.. and I don’t plan on doing it again any time soon. So take advantage before I come to my senses. :)

To celebrate DSD take 40% off my entire store from November 6-9th.

.. and in other news. Look for a Christmas Collab between me and the lovely Flergs!! Coming soon! I’m so excited for this one.

Site Redesign

Hooray! I finally got my new site up and running. It’s not fully complete, but it’s good enough to launch. Tyrone took Kieran out on Saturday, armed with two bottles, so I had a whole glorious day to work undistracted! Motherhood sure makes you value free time. Please check it out.. complete with a flash gallery! Woo!

www.AlanaLand.com

..and because everyone likes photos of cute babies, here’s another one of Kieran. :)

Busy bee

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed over here. I’ve got so many things on my plate right now, and so little time to do them in. Here is a shot of a painting I’m working on for a Rock and Roll Poster show I’ll be in next month. It’s quite a bit more theatrical than the usual “silk screened” look for rock posters, but I figured I would do something in my style. It’s inspired by the music of Neko Case. If you’ve never heard of her I highly recommend checking her out.

On top of that I’ve been commissioned by a friend to paint a cute portrait of her daughter and dog. I’ve only started sketches so far, but it’s going to be great fun. She’s got such a good imagination for creative projects. Her last commission involved her puffy white doggy at a tea party. In this current painting her daughter and the same dog will be Sherlock and Watson searching for a lost soother. Needless to say, I love painting for her.

I’m also trying to plan out a redesign of AlanaLand.com to go along with a bunch of illustration promotion I’m doing. Detaching myself from my work and editing down my portfolio is one of the hardest things for me to do.

Along with this redesign I wanted to get my store fully functional. Currently I sell prints of my artwork but want to add fine art giclees and originals as well. I’ve also been looking in to setting up a zazzle.com store and am slowly experimenting with creating t-shirts and even cute onezies with my robot designs on them.

I send out a newsletter to my scrapbook design fans but I’ve got to get one going  for my illustration clients.

So much to think about!

Downtown adventures

I’m a downtown Mommy, which comes with some interesting walks. Most of them end up with me eating or drinking coffee.. there are just way too many tempting cafes. And I find it really hard to take a walk without having a destination. Somewhere to sit down, take a break, and then turn around and head back. It’s funny how interesting the city becomes once you have a baby. I’ve had countless random conversations with strangers on the subway. People are always offering me their seat, or helping me carry the stroller down the stairs. Babies are the ultimate icebreaker. Kieran has been making the rounds to local art shows and he’s a great conversation piece.

Most surprising to me has been the city’s homeless. There is a man in the park that we frequent. He sits on a bench bedecked in a stethoscope or playing a harmonica. As we pass by he makes the sign of the cross in the air and says “Bless you mommy and baby, have a nice day!” It always puts a smile to my face. I usually thank him and keep walking by. I know he has mental issues, but what a positive way to express them.

Other homeless people have put down their change cups and take a moment to make faces at Kieran. Or one man, who wanted to sit on the bench I was occupying first asked my permission.. then spotted Kieran in the stroller and said “Oh no, I wanted to have a cigarette, but it’s too close to the baby” and then kept walking on. It’s really nice to see some humanity in a city which can sometimes be so stone cold.

Monday Fundays @ SBG

NEW @ ScrapbookGraphics.com - Mondays are Fundays!

Starting today play along with us at SBG. If you can spy the word you can get some of my kits which are up for grabs at massive discounts.. but for ONE DAY only.
Play away here!