trafalgar's square

and the winner is....

Kara Uhl!

Hurrah!

Thanks so much to everyone for entering the giveaway.  I really enjoyed reading everyone's comments, stories, favorite flowers, and quotes!  It's so much fun to hear why certain flowers are preferred over others, and to see how the people in our lives are such an influence on the way we appreciate beauty.  

Thank you again! Here's wishing you a happy weekend!

 

note: if you could send me an email, Kara, with the address you'd like your giclee sent to, I'll get that in the mail asap.  Thanks and congrats!  :)

 

giveaway day!!

This giveaway is now closed.

 

Finally.

Ok, so today's the day.  I think this is the first giveaway I've done on this blog and I'm so happy that this print gets to be the kick-off of many more future giveaways.

But first, a bit of back-story...

Ahem.

My mother loves to sing.  Growing up, some of my most favorite memories are of her singing to us and teaching us old songs; songs like "Oh You Beautiful Doll," "Old Man River," and "Under the Bamboo Tree." Sometimes she would sing the Beatles "Blackbird" to us.  I once heard a version of the song with blackbirds chirping in background.  Those blackbirds, combined with my mother's voice, would play in my head and I'd see yellow fields filled with wildflowers and crowned with blue skies and lazy clouds.

I've always wanted to have that image in a tangible form, so when I was scouting around for phrases to illustrate for RambeWild, Blackbird's "Take these Broken Wings and Learn to Fly" was one of the first to come to mind.  I think it took maybe a week of sketching and re-sketching to finally pull the image that had been in my head onto the paper, and another week of painting and inking before everything looked just right. And all the time I was sketching and painting, I'd hear the phrase "take these broken wings and learn to fly" and I'd think about how often I've had to do that in my life...how life will sometimes give us ugly, broken situations and not even have the decency to make sure they are the poetically ugly situations.  Things like living in an ugly house with bumpy, mustard-colored walls, and a tiny backyard that reeks in the summer of the neighbor's dogs...bleh...when all I really want is that old farmhouse with the wood floors and pretty molding, and huge shady trees and lots of grass and space for my littles to stretch out their legs and get a good run (note: this is only a minor pet peeve of the author's and is not in any way reflect the majority of the pet peeves the author has)....Anway, how did I get on to this? Oh, that's right. Well, I would work on this painting and hear the phrase from the song, and once it was all finished, it was such an incredibly happy feeling to have this in front of my eyes instead of behind them, I had to do a little dance and then promptly put all the small fry in the car and took the painting home to my mother's to show her what she inspired.

So, to make a long story short, I hope you like Blackbird as much as I do, and that it might inspire a few happy thoughts to brighten up your day.

 

And now that I made you read all the above to get to this part, here's the giveaway!

"Broken Wings"

  by Kit Chase

  13"x19" giclee on archival watercolor paper

Enter to win this print by doing these two things:

 

1. blog, tweet, facebook, or tell your friends about the giveaway (the more the merrier)

2. leave a comment and tell me what's your favorite flower, pet peeve, or inspirational quote    

   

The giveaway is open to everyone worldwide; the winner will be selected via random.org and announced next Friday, the 15th of June.

I can't wait to see your comments!

 

 

ub...

See this guy?

 

This is really me.

Well, the male version of me that is.  Ok, so I don't draw as well as him (boy, I wish I could!), but this is what I looked like this week.  Especially the hair.  And the face. Remember that giveaway I was supposed to do back on Wednesday?  Well, it looks like I'll have to make it for next Wednesday.  What started as a calm and peaceful week turned ino a crazy drawing/painting blitz after Tuesday.  But it was totally worth the craziness-more on that later-but at any rate, I promise that giveaway will be next week.  Cross my heart.  Really truly.

Ramble Wild

Life has just been moving at a whirl wind pace lately.  Between finally finishing the sketches for my book (that was a year+ long feat-btw, they are fantastic looking if I do say so my modest self), and starting the painting for those, and working on a bundle of new prints for Trafalgar's, as well as trying to keep up with my littles, I've also managed to put up quite a few new prints for Ramble Wild.

This piece is by far my most favorite.   I think it took me somewhere around 12+ hours of brain-wracking to bring it into existence, but it was worth it.  I really love it.

FYI, you can find the prints (and quite a few others) here on our event with Zulily http://www.zulily.com/brand/ramblewild.html   The prints are available at 50% off for the next three days (event ends June 1st at 6:00 am PST).

 

By the by, I just realized that I haven't put on a giveaway in the longest of time.  I'm thinking tomorrow and Broken Wings may be just the combo for remedying that...

 

a little bit of lovely --- giveaway---

I am grinningly happy to introduce our new line of wooden brooches to you.  Here's the first, the very lovely FoxGirl, magically transformed from my illustration into a real, live beauty.

 

We received them quite a few months ago, and after the first initial squealing fest was over, as well the varnishing and pin-attaching party, the next challenge was to find just the right packaging for them.

 

 

I can't tell which I'm happier about, the FoxGirl brooch, the label of little Trafalgar Rabbit trying to catch stars, or the crinkly brown paper that fills each box.  All in all, I think this definitely one of my favorite creations.  And it's just in time for adorning fall cardigans and back-to-school totes.

 

I have two more designs that are almost at the up-for-sale stage, so I'm thinking all these little treasures will be available for purchase on Thursday of this week!

 

So, now about that giveaway I mentioned earlier.  What better way to kick off the brooch collection than with a little giveaway?  This time, there will be two winners, and each will receive a FoxGirl brooch tucked snugly in a little gift box. 

Enter in two easy steps:

1.Leave a comment (please limit one per person) below stating which illustration from trafalgar's square you'd like to see as a future brooch

 2. Blog, twitter, facebook, or tell a friend about this giveaway.

That's all there is to it.  The giveaway ends Friday at midnight and I'll announce the winners on Saturday morning, so be sure to check back.  Here's best of luck to you!

Kit

giveaway day

Yay! Just in time for Easter, I'm excited to share this peachy-keen card set of bunnies.   
          My favorite thing about them? I love the pink and brown envelopes.  

Neopolitan ice cream comes to mind...

It's a set of four cards, two of each image, and 2 pink and 2 brown envelopes with the little hopper printed on the front.  The cards have printed text on the inside, with the Rabbit Girl reading "somebunny loves you," and Happy Bunny saying "Hoppy Easter!"

And, to complete the giveaway package, here's "Happy Bunny" herself as a 5x7 print.

 

The giveaway is open to everyone, including international readers, and ends on Tuesday, Aprl 19th.

 

How to enter:

1. Follow the blog

2. Blog, twitter, or talk about the giveaway 

3. Name your favorite Easter candy or springtime treat in a comment below.

 

Have a Hoppy day!

 

Kit