It's finally December

In this year that has lasted close to a decade somehow, it is finally December: the last month of the year. The light in the Northern Hemisphere may be dwindling, but on those days when the sun is out, there is a clarity to the light that I find wonderful.

Today as I write this, it’s cold and clear outside, and it absolutely feels like winter in my corner of New Jersey. I am thankful for the fire pit that Morris and I bought, since we can still spend some time outside on temperate winter days. You can see a pic of our fire-it and some of that beautiful sunlight below.

Now that the election is done, I realize how much space it was taking up in my head. Even with my renewed worries about COVID, I am finally able to pick up paintbrushes for the first time in more than six months, and have started a new piece. It feels good to be working on new art again. You can see the start of the new piece to the left, above.

Speaking of art: I will be doing a live studio sale this Saturday, December 5th starting at 2 p.m. I will be live on Instagram. Here’s a link to my page. If you follow me there, you can find me live at 2 this Saturday with a clean studio, all clean and set up with art for you. (Which means I better start cleaning and setting up.)

If you would like to order any art or greeting cards (some are above) as gifts, please get those orders in by December 11th, so I can get them in the mail in time for Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. I’m offering you a special discount, since the holidays are here!

Just enter code FALALA at checkout for 15% off all orders over $20 from now until 12/11/20.

What's for sale so far!

Well, if you’ve been following along on Instagram or Facebook or the homepage of my website here, then you already have an idea. But just in case not, here are some pics of last weekend’s studio set up. I still have 5 heart cards (at $3 each, plus postage), both tambourines you see here ($36 each, plus shipping), the four heart collages on canvases in the top left picture ($20 each, plus shipping), the two bright paintings on the wall together (the yellow roses have sold), and the “If You were coming in the Fall” collage ($90, framed, plus shipping).

Over the past week, here are some of the items that have been offered for sale, with prices:

Original heart collages. Smaller ones are 5” square ($20 plus shipping), larger ones are 6” square ($25 each, plus shipping).

Flowerburst

24”x30” mixed media on canvas, $200 plus shipping. (Discounted from $325)

Below, you see my Chakra Heart garlands—each close to 7 feet long, with fourteen rainbow-colored hearts to correspond with the seven chakra colors, all made of hand-painted paper and strung on red & white baker’s twine. Usually $8 each plus postage, they are for sale for $5, plus $2 postage. Two of the hot air balloons that I posted this week remain, priced at $30 each plus shipping ($10). The four original collage hearts this week are different from the ones offered last week. The smaller, 5” squares are $20 plus shipping, the 6” squares are still $25 each, plus shipping. They can sit on a shelf, as seen here, but they are also wired to be hung. The remaining nine pieces are original watercolors, which are matted and ready to frame. (Apologies for any glare from the protective packaging.) The square ones are in 8” square mats, the rectangles are in 8”x10” mats. Your choice, $20 each, plus shipping of $5.

I would love love love to make some more space in my studio, which is why I hauled out all the holiday pieces for tomorrow’s live sale. Here’s a sneaky peak at what the studio looks like today:

“You Only Cross My Mind in Winter” 24” x 36” on canvas. Acrylic ink and paint with charcoal. $250 plus shipping. Cat not for sale.

I hope you will stop by tomorrow at 5 pm EDT for the sale. If you miss it, it will remain on Instagram for a bit, and also be posted to my Facebook page.

You guys! I just have to share the love!

I don’t want to bury the lede here, so I will come out and tell you straight away that I am giving you all a holiday present this week, and it’s kind of a big deal. (Some people might even call this “a sale”.) So if that’s what you are looking for, feel free to scroll on down to that straight away to get the details.

But first, I’ma tell you why I’m giving you all a present, and it’s because I am so so grateful for all the love and support everyone has been giving my business. Yesterday was the open studio event I created, and you guys, it was totally appropriate that it was called “A Most Wonderful Time”. It was such a treat for me to have Erin from Clove & Cedar, Lisa from Natures Energy, and Rita from Jularee here yesterday, because they are super wonderful people. And also because supporting other small businesses, other makers, other women, other local businesses . . . that is super important to me. And while these wonderful women don’t fit in ANY box, they manage to tick off all those important boxes at the same time.

Rita from Jularee, Erin from Clove & Cedar, me, and Lisa from Natures Energy

These women are seriously great. And we had so much fun, too!

My dining and living rooms were transformed to small shops, my studio was full of light and art, we have a kitchen full of snacks, the mulled cider was a huge hit (with or without spiced rum added in), and on top of that, we were joined by quite a number of lovely souls who came out on a grey drizzly day to support small, local woman-owned businesses. A massive thanks to EVERYONE who helped to make yesterday such a success, with a special thanks to my sweetheart, Morris, who kept an eye on the coffee pots and was super helpful all day. (He took that photo of the four of us, above.)

I know there were a lot of local folks who wanted to come, but had other things on their schedules for yesterday, just as I heard from lots of folks who don’t live anywhere near here, who wished they could make it.

So I have a gift for you all. I’m giving you 50% off all my collages and almost all of my paintings.

Starting today, and running until Thursday, December 5th, at midnight, all of my collages on my website are 50% off. In addition, nearly all my paintings are 50% off, so if you’ve been wanting one of them, now’s your chance to scoop them up at a serious discount! The only pieces on the Paintings page that are NOT on sale of the two remaining Jersey Shore pieces, which have always been value-priced at $48. Twenty-five percent of the price of each of the Jersey Shore pieces is donated to Clean Ocean Action, an organization dedicated to cleaning up the beaches in New Jersey—it’s my way of giving back to the shore, which inspired this series of seven original pieces.

I am just so thankful for all your love and support with my business, and this was the biggest present I could think of this year. No discount codes, coupons, or secret passwords needed . . . you get half off all my original collages and (most) paintings.

Oh, one more thing!

A bonus gift for the first 10 customers.

The first 10 people to purchase online (whether it’s one greeting card or something more) will get one of my Christmas-themed greeting cards for free! “I saw three ships come sailing in” was inspired by a line from a Christmas carol. The original collage (available on the Collage page) features three ships, each bearing its own seasonal decoration: a wee Christmas tree, colorful shields, and a holly leaf flag.

Again, I just had to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you: those who read this blog, those who came to shop yesterday, those who wanted to be here but couldn’t, those who have been cheering my small business on as it starts to get off the ground and tries to take flight. I appreciate you all so very much, and I’m so grateful!

So glad I live in a world where there are Octobers

October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”

Doesn’t that above excerpt from Chapter 16 of Anne of Green Gables make your heart sing, at least a little? That Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery sure knew how to write about the seasons.

The image at the top of the post is of a piece of art I created in 2017, which sold straightaway to a collector in Virginia, but I do have greeting cards featuring the image available in my online shop. And I did another original art piece featuring this quote, since I love it so much, the original of which is available online as well. Here’s what it looks like:

©2017 Kelly Ramsdell Original currently available at 20% off.

Of course, it’s only natural that autumn leaves drift by your window, right? So I also have a print featuring a rather wry statement by Elinor Dashwood, one of the two heroines (some would say THE heroine) of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. After listening to her younger sister, Marianne, rhapsodizing about how beautiful their now-distant home must be in the autumn, Elinor responds, “It is not every one who has your passion for dead leaves.”

©2017 Kelly Ramsdell Currently available at 20% off.

To celebrate the scarier part of the season, I created a piece entitled “Nevermore”, which features some Poe-like imagery, including a collaged raven perched upon a skull, rather than on the “bust of Pallas”. The original piece of artwork is in a private collection in Massachusetts, but greeting cards featuring the image are available in my online shop for the Poe lovers in your life (or just to send for Halloween).

©2017 Kelly Ramsdell Original sold. Greeting cards available.

And for this month, all four of these items (two original pieces of art, and as many of each of the greeting cards as I have) are discounted 20%. So these two greeting cards are offered at $4, rather than the usual $5. And each of the original artworks are 20% off as well.

Finally, I have two additional Halloween-related pieces available in my online shop. They are each $65 unframed, or matted and framed at $90. The first is listed as BOO!, and the second as Things That Go Bump in the Night. No further discounts will be taken on these two original art pieces for Halloween.

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