What's Next For The Purple Door?

A Few Accessories Added

Take a Step Through...

Here is our purple door further along in the process of completion. Although the door placement itself is architecturally average, the color choice plus the accessories selected create some fun!

This door is the front door to our vacation cottage rental. Available for vacationers to come and stay one mile from the gulf coast beaches in Pinellas County... the purple color choice has blossomed into using The Purple Door as an icon for The HLH Vacation Cottage. I could have selected the typical beach colors, but instead I wanted to create a color scheme descriptive of the cottage's name and theme.

Your adventure begins... 
Just through... The Purple Door!

A Marketing Theme Developing

By LaAFL! (Living an Art-Filled Life!) -
being artistic enough to choose a color I like -
inspiration of that choice has led to a uniqueness that I can use to market the cottage.

We will be expanding on the Key West vibe of this natural artistic property encouraging vacationers to feel relaxed and creative about spending their vacation here based on the Heartlocket Hollow Property!


Please note that choosing accessories that compliment the door color allow the choice to feel right and less radical. As the design is added to, accessory choices have a direction... anything purple, "Key-Westish", vacation themed and/or artistic themed will add to the overall design until it is the fun-filled vignette to remember! We have inspiration for future improvements and a statement that communicates the emotion and theme I desire to create.

This is what I call putting your heart in the art and LaAFL! Part of my heart is in the artistic choices!

Come and stay at The HLH Artistic Cottage! For more information:

• Visit The HLH Artist Cottage website at:        HLHArtistCottage.blogspot.com
• Visit The HLH Artist Cottage on Facebook:    HLH Artist Cottage Facebook Page
• Visit The HLH Artist Cottage on Craigslist:     HLH Artist Cottage on Craigslist

LaAFL! Though Paint Color Choices

First Coat on the door - The walls will soon be pale
lilac & white trim. Then we will add the accessories to
complete the look!

The Purple Door
What color will you paint yours?

LaAFL (Living and Art-Filled Life) easily extends to paint color choices, yeah?

Who is to say that you have to paint your own home is such a fashion that it is resell-able?  If you go in and out of your own door 10 times in one day... 7 days a week... 52 weeks in one year... why would you not treat yourself  to a delightful color? Let the next owners paint the door their own color!

In the mean time:

Live Your Own Personality!!!

So we can say that LaAFL! is about expressing oneself, while at the same time discovering oneself. Being bold enough to put it on your very own front door is a coup (stroke of genius, achievement, accomplishment) that will greet you many times a day!

How do I choose the right color so that I will like it when it is finished?

How to I handle the comments from others who don't get it? 

What other accents can I add to compliment my colorful front door?

These are questions we hope to explore in upcoming HLH blog posts! In the mean time... I would love to see any front door out their that has personality. If you would love to share a picture of your front door, please post a picture of it on the Heartlocket Hollow Facebook Page. Then please a comment with your own suggestions and ideas below!

To leave a comment click on the word "comments" below. This will open a comment box where you share your thoughts and ideas! Please share this with your friends who are interested in LaAFL! by clicking the sharing links below! All new subscribers will receive a free HLH Bookmark! Send me an email hlhartstudio@yahoo.com to receive your free HLH Bookmark!

Join Us:

• on Facebook @ HeartlocketHollow on Facebook
• on Twitter @ CMarshallArts on Twitter 
• on Pinterest @ Christie on Pinterest

Introducing Liilee!
Sparkle Expert Extraordinaire

Meet the newest member of our Pixee-Fairee Whims Team - Liilee! She is joining us in January 2013.

You've heard Frank Sinartra sing about "Swinging on a Star" & "Carrying Moonbeams Home in a Jar"....

well...

Liilee, our newest Pixee-Fairee Whim shows us that swinging on a snowflake is possible as well! Floating gently down into 2013 with wishes for a Happy New Year, she brings more sparkle to Heartlocket Hollow Studio. Iridescence & Glitter are her talents so we now have additional sparkling expertise to consult when needed! Not to mention Liilee's ability to embellish works easily and quickly on all studio projects. Imagination and creativity delight in the gossamer possibilities of embellishment with sparkle, don't you agree? Heartlocket Hollow Prints are available in embellished versions, which you will see noted in the pricing structure found on each page below the thumbnail images.

Please let us know your ideas for adding projects, illustrations and embellishment to the Heartlocket Hollow Realm. We always love to hear from you! Happy 2013!

LaAFL!
Christiane

Living an Art Filled Life! LaAFL!

Texting Lingo...  Web acronyms... Net speak... Quick Signature... Signing off... Ending a letter with sincerity and individually...

What could I use that isn't another trite standard closing like: Love, Sincerely, Lol, Respectfully yours, etc.? What would be unique yet something meaningful as my closing or text avatar expression? What would show who I am as an individual and what I hope for those I am communicating with? These are the thoughts that led to the discovery of my relatively new LaAFL! avatar signature.

What does LaAFL! (living an art-filled life) mean? What does it mean EXACTLY? Yet more than that - does anyone else care? Well... I  am setting out on a journey to discover the answers to these questions. I can travel alone, but I can learn more with others interested in discovering the many treasures to be found. Care to join in? Click "Follow by Email"  in the right column and you will receive an email each time another LaAFL! post is made. Join this month and receive a free Heartlocket Hollow Bookmark!

The desire to LaAFL! is one I have been searching for all of my life. I am passionate about art, love to create art, love to listen to and experience art. But... one has to live life. I have had to raise children, pay the bills on time, keep my world maintained and organized. One cannot always be surrounded by art unless they can earn a living creating art... or can they? Doesn't being surrounded by art mean going to the ballet or art museums? Well...

Art is so much more than what most people think. There is the art of conversation. There is art in romance. You will find art in nature or in new life. Art is a state of mind and a passion for being alive while not only seeing but enjoying those wonderful simple pleasures all around us. Bringing that consciousness into everyday - while you live life - is the goal. Accessing right brain vs left brain is the biological science behind this endeavor. Realizing that an artistic (aesthetic, creative, cultivated, cultured, decorative, dramatic, elegant, exquisite, fine, graceful, grand, harmonious, ideal, imaginative, musical, ornamental, pictorial, picturesque, pleasing, poetic, refined, rhythmical, sensitive, stimulating, stylish, sublime, tasteful) outlook on life will bring you peace, joy and a profound sense of being will be our goal. AND... that this can happen today and everyday for the rest of our lives! It is a created part of all of us human beings!

The destination will be the journey and visa-versa. The journey here at www.heartlockethollow.com will be the purpose of my blogging presence online. Join me and we will take the journey together. We will explore artistic projects simple and complex. We will share the art in our everyday life journeys. We will live artistic phrases and accomplish artistic challenges! Your thoughts will be as much a part of the journey as my blog posts. Your comments will be valued and important as well as a learning tool for everyone who visits! We will discover the joy and fun of LaAFL! together. We will celebrate the peace and joy that living an art filled life brings! And the activity of the journey will be part of us Living an Art Filled Life!

To leave a comment, click on the word "comments" below. This will open a comment box where you can post your ideas! Please share this with your friends who are interested in LaAFL! by clicking the sharing links below! Send me an email to receive your free HLH Bookmark! 

Join Us:

• on Facebook @  HeartlocketHollow on Facebook
• on Twitter @ CMarshallArts on Twitter 
• on Pinterest @ Christie on Pinterest

 Introducing Merissia
MerFairee Extraordinaire

Meet Merissia....
HLH Studio's first MerFairee!
She is inspired by my daughter Tiffani.

Tiffani loves all things tropical marine. Created on the week of Tiffani's birthday,
I wanted to step out of my usual garden theme to imagine what a mermaid fairy would be like. 

Merissia resides here on studio grounds,
so she's adapting to pool diving, bird bath bathing and fountain showering rather that swimming in a stream or lake. Her hair is silver white so she shimmers while darting around from water feature to water feature like an evasive light reflection. She seems as happy swimming as she is flying about as her wings escort her wet or dry. I'll bet she sometimes ventures over to the enchanted spring, just beyond the HLH borders. I would, were I she.

Merissia's iridescent coloring acts as a built in camouflage, so she will venture bravely close to cat, human and dragonfly. She may be looking over your shoulder when you visit! I'll bet she swims with Jerry our yellow-bellied slider turtle when he gets a chance to swim in the pool. We are glad to add Merissia to our Pixee-Fairee menagerie! Look for her lovely fins and wings to be featured on Heartlocket Hollow Studio items in the months to come!

Send your ideas about what you would like to see her featured on and receive a free ACEO of Merissia! Make your comment below and we will gladly contact you for mailing address. Thanks for visiting HLH Studio!

LaAFL!
Christie Marshall

Christmas 2011
Introducing Dayvee

Join us as we welcome the newest Pixee-Fairee Whim to the Hollow. This little guy brings a warm candle glow of enchantment to the Heartlocket Hollow Realm. He isn't much bigger than a candle flame yet his personality is as bright as daylight - thus we named him Dayvee. As we get to know all of Dayvee's talents, he will be joining in on the work of the studio, where he will be adding to all that we strive to bring alive.

We are all hoping that you have a wonderful holiday season and a wonderful upcoming New Year!

Live the art filled life,
Christiane

Slice of Art Bookmarks

"Just One Step At A Time" HLH Art Bookmark (back & front)
click on picture to view larger

This series of Bookmarks are taken directly from a HLH Painting. A "slice" is cropped showing  main subject matter or sometimes a section of  secondary detail.

To create a bookmark "slice", I begin by looking at a piece of my artwork. As any artist knows, there are parts of your own work that you are happy with......  and parts that you aren't! Picturing a section as a bookmark, I use Photoshop's cropping tool and crop the image to typical proportions. Then.... here comes a critical part... I walk away for several hours. When I return, I view the slice. Is it good enough? Is it cute enough? Does it portray the studio aesthetic?

Once I have decided that the "crop" is a viable design; I tweak the image in Photoshop - highlighting colors, cleaning up the foreground, softening the background. At this stage, a title comes into question. Is the original title good enough? Will a new phrase work better? In the example shown above: "Just One Step at a Time" is a new phrase. The title of the original painting is "First Steps", but... this new phrase says more than the obvious - a baby girl taking her first awkward steps. The new title words, typography design, plus the image conveys a comforting message. JUST ONE STEP AT A TIME is all you have to do.

"Flowers Smile" HLH Art Bookmark Front
click on picture to view larger

"Flowers Smile" is the title of the second bookmark design, and of the original painting. But in this bookmark, I did not use the main focal point of the original painting; I used supporting side details, which laid out beautifully.

A Fun Tassel is added

After the image has been digitally prepared as a bookmark, it is professionally printed and laminated or placed into a crystal clear sleeve for protection. Choosing matching materials for the tassel is way to fun to be work. (Actually the whole process is fun!) Once selected, the tassels are completed and viola - a slice of art is at your fingertips to accompany you as you travel through that wonderful reading material!

"Flowers Smile" HLH Art Bookmark Back
click on picture to view larger

I have so many more ideas for bookmarks! It is artwork that is useful, inexpensive and near & dear to the heart of any avid reader. If you would like to receive notice by email when new designs are created, please fill in your email address in the "FOLLOW BY EMAIL" section on the right side bar.

These bookmarks are available for sale at the Heartlocket Hollow Studio Shop for $4.99 each! The PixeeFairee Whim Bookmarks from the previous blog are 3 for $10.00 or all 11 for $30.00. There are more designs to come!

If you leave a comment below, or join "Follow by Email"... I have free Hearlocket Hollow Studio Bookmarks  for you! Send me an email (see the contact info page) with your address telling me that you left a comment or joined by email and I will see to it that a free bookmark is sent out to you by snail mail! Enchanting to have you visit! Please buzz by again soon!

School Has Begun!

The Girl PixeeFairee Whims on Bookmarks

BOOKMARKS!
Featuring the PixeeFairees
From Heartlocket Hollow

I love stories and reading.....
Don't You?

There is just something so cozy and magical about good books. Fiction, non-fiction, long, short, picture books, chapter books, paperbacks, leather bound....
Books impart knowledge and imagination from one mind to many other minds. Through books you can go beyond your everyday world and travel to the place written about. It is about discovery and escape. Ah, yes... where would we be without books!


Dedicated to love of reading and everything stories... We have been creating bookmarks (the pixee fairee whims and I). Viewing other artist's creative bookmarks only ignites the imagination further. Oh, if only production of art went as fast as the brain imagines! Of course nothing but our best design work will do!

The Boy PixeeFairee Whims on Bookmarks

Pictured here you will find the newest tangible results of this journey down bookmark lane. The characters on this series of bookmarks are from the Heartlocket Hollow Stories. Designed to teach children good behavior traits in a whimsical way, each bookmark features one character.

We have had so much fun... is this work?

Many other designs and ideas are waiting for their place in the creation process. Check back to see the results!

These PixeeFairee Bookmarks are available for purchase! Your way to own a little piece of the Hollow and share with the children in your life the magical fun of reading and learning how to behave! Each is printed with archival ink on photo quality heavy weight matte paper. They are available in sets of 3 and all 11 at the Heartlocket Hollow Studio Shop.

• 3 HLH Bookmarks  -    $10.00  
• Full set of all 11  -         $30.00

To order visit the Heartlocket Hollow Studio Shop on Etsy or contact the studio by email or telephone.  To receive email updates of activity at Heartlocket Hollow... add your email address to "Follow By Email" in the sidebar. If you would like to receive a free surprise by snail mail, place a comment in the comment section and snail mail address - you will receive a free HLH Studio goodie!

Each bookmark is packaged in a crystal clear bag and shipped in a protective sleeve inside of a flat sturdy mailer. Colors may vary slightly from what you view on your computer screen due to monitor calibration. The purchase of any Heartlocket Hollow Artwork does not transfer copyright or reproduction rights, purchase is for the actual items only.

Soar With Imagination!

In the backyard,
Or at the park on the swing...
Long timeless summer days...
Closing your eyes, sure you could fly.


This illustration is dedicated to that place,
Where you can fly.
Where you can SOAR!
As if you had wings!

Never loose that essence of creative adventure!
Take that whimsy...
That fresh unencumbered youthful fun...
Add to it the wisdom of adulthood,
Lessons learned and possible new adventures.

With Imagination As Wings, Soar To New Heights!

This illustration is available for purchase as an open edition print. Each print is printed with archival ink on photo quality heavy weight archival matte paper. They are not matted or framed. They are available in 11x14 or 16x20; and can be embellished by the artist with fairy dust and glitter if desired.

• 11 x 14    -     $20.00  standard print,     $25.00 embellished print
• 16 x 20    -     $30.00  standard print,     $35.00 embellished print

To order visit the Heartlocket Hollow Studio Shop on Etsy or contact the studio by email or telephone.  To receive email updates add your email address to "Follow By Email" in the sidebar. If you would like to receive a free surprise by snail mail, place a comment in the comment section and snail mail address - you will receive a HLH Studio goodie!

Open edition prints will be signed by the artist on the back of the print. Each print is packaged in a crystal clear bag and shipped in a protective sleeve inside of a flat sturdy mailer, or tube for larger prints. Colors may vary slightly from what you view on your computer screen due to monitor calibration. The purchase of any HLH Print does not transfer copyright or reproduction rights, purchase is for the actual print only. The HLH Studio watermark will not appear on the shipped print.

Morning's Glory

Celebrate Mornings!

When I first saw a morning glory flower blooming, 

that was it...

They have been favorites of mine ever since.

Periwinkle Blue coloring by first choice, 

the array of colors they bring 

to the world are so enchanting.

They bloom only one day.

But the next morning... 

another fresh delicate blossom 

is presented for your enjoyment!

Mornings are like that too,

a new fresh one is presented to us every day!

To celebrate mornings

coupled with morning glory blossoms 

and the other details mornings brings...

This illustration shows my morning delights.

What are yours?

This illustration is available for purchase as an open edition print. Each print is printed with archival ink on photo quality heavy weight archival matte paper. They are not matted or framed. They are available in 11x14 or 16x20; and can be embellished by the artist with fairy dust and glitter if desired.

• 11 x 14    -     $20.00  standard print,     $25.00 embellished print
• 16 x 20    -     $30.00  standard print,     $35.00 embellished print

To order visit the Heartlocket Hollow Studio Shop on Etsy or contact the studio by email or telephone.  To receive email updates add your email address to "Follow By Email" in the sidebar. If you would like to receive a free surprise by snail mail, place a comment in the comment section and snail mail address - you will receive a HLH Studio goodie!

Open edition prints will be signed by the artist on the back of the print. Each print is packaged in a crystal clear bag and shipped in a protective sleeve inside of a flat sturdy mailer, or tube for larger prints. Colors may vary slightly from what you view on your computer screen due to monitor calibration. The purchase of any HLH Print does not transfer copyright or reproduction rights, purchase is for the actual print only. The HLH Studio watermark will not appear on the shipped print.

First Steps

Any Adventure... Begins With

the First Steps! 

When my children were very young, finding time to draw, paint or create was next to impossible! Yet, they were constantly doing things I dreamed of illustrating. Snippets of pure cute were paraded before me providing idea after idea! It was then that I produced "First Steps"; as a vow to begin to fit in time to draw and paint.  I illustrated what was going on. One child was just learning to walk... so her first steps into the upright world came to signify my first steps into producing art on a regular basis.

So... it is only appropriate that I will use this illustration as the first post on this art blogsite!

When you set out on any adventure, only one step at a time will get you going in the right direction - and the first ones - although shaky and unbalanced - must be traveled to get there! We would love to hear about your upcoming adventures. Maybe this image will offer inspiration to you to take those first steps and make it happen! Send me your story via the comment section below!

Whether celebrating a real baby's first steps or symbolic first steps, we hope this painting will delight you and bring a smile to your face. Any cat lover's out there? Well this little kitty is watching the action take place, but look out... that rattle will soon konk his nose!

This illustration is available for purchase as an open edition print (THE ORIGINAL IS OWNED BY THE STUDIO AND NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE AT THIS TIME). Each print is printed with archival ink on photo quality heavy weight archival matte paper. They are not matted or framed. They are available in 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20; and can be embellished by the artist with fairy dust and glitter if desired.

•  8.5 x 11  -     $15.00  standard print,     $20.00 embellished print
• 11 x 14    -     $20.00  standard print,     $25.00 embellished print
• 16 x 20    -     $30.00  standard print,     $35.00 embellished print

Shipping costs are $3.95 standard post. Allow 10 days to 2 weeks for shipping.

To order visit the Heartlocket Hollow Studio Shop on Etsy or contact the studio by email or telephone.

Open edition prints will be signed by the artist on the back of the print. Each print is packaged in a crystal clear bag and shipped in a protective sleeve inside of a flat sturdy mailer, or tube for larger prints. Colors may vary slightly from what you view on your computer screen due to monitor calibration. The purchase of any HLH Print does not transfer copyright or reproduction rights, purchase is for the actual print only. The HLH Studio watermark will not appear on the shipped print.

New Heartlocket Hollow Studio Blog

Hey all of you art lovers out there! I am enjoying visiting all of your sites, so much so that I am joining the team of art bloggers. Right now I am in the process of setting up an Etsy Shop! As soon as that is complete, you will see this site completed. Visit me later in June to see the new Heartlocket Hollow Studio Blog!!!

Christiane