Updates galore!

Well, I realize it's been awhile since I wrote. And with things that have been going on, it's been very difficult for me to get motivation to do much of anything. My motivation I notice comes in spurts. I know I was doing very well for awhile and then after I fell and hurt my ankle, my motivation.........well it just left. It was a huge shock to me and I felt it just took everything out of me.

Other things I won't go into too much detail, but of course there have been family issues that have been very challenging. It's very difficult to watch someone throw things away and nothing you can do about it.

Another big thing that has been difficult is a dear sweet friend of mine recently passed away. And when I mean recently I mean last week. He was diagnosed with leukemia about a month ago and just lost the battle. It just happened too fast. It was a big shock. I've been home and haven't been able to see much of my friends lately and it's been kinda lonely. Yes I love my family, but my friends are very dear to me. And I do consider them family. I'm happy that I got to talk to him a little for the last time, but it still hit me pretty hard. I haven't lost a friend in years and it's just another reminder that anything can happen. To anyone. And you can't ever plan for it. And that's what is so hard. You live your live day after day and things just happen. 

As a child you never think about stuff like this. Everything is supposed to go smoothly and you live your life everyday without thinking about all the hard stuff. And then when you are an adult, you realize how much pain and hurt is out there and it's so hard to understand and cope at times. I know this blog is mainly about art and happy stuff........but I really feel I needed to write this. Life can be great and wonderful. But there are times that you will get a HUGE slap in the face to remind you to not take things for granted.

Live your life. Enjoy every moment. Do not take people for granted. Remind your family and friends their worth and how much you love and appreciate them. Because if you don't, it will hurt more that you haven't had your chance to tell them. 

If you were able to get to the end of this, you are awesome. It's things like this that I put in my art. These things are part of my soul. I can't express everything I am feeling in words so this is why I have such a love to create. Because I can express everything I want to on paper.

I promise not all of my posts will be super sappy and sad, but this is who I am. And if you are going to buy art from me, you should at least understand why I do it and why I have such a love for it. My life, my experiences, my friends, family, everything.....this is what makes me ME. And this is what makes my art so special . Because in every piece, I'm putting a little of myself into it. 

I hope you have a great day and remember of all that you have.

My lovely friend Bree, me with blonde hair, and my late friend Noel. R.I.P

xo

Difficult time

Hi Friends,

I'm so so sorry for the lack of posts. I have had some things going on that has been incredibly difficult which I will blog later, but for now, I just wanted to do a quick update.

Please bare with me as this is a very difficult time right now. I'm hoping that on Sunday I will have enough pics and will have the time to post the things that have been going on.

I will also have some shop updates coming as well so keep watching for them.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

xo

The Winner!

I'll be starting on your picture right away! :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

xo

I want to be a princess!!

So as I have mentioned before, I am a major Disney geek.

We have tons of collectibles around my house that seem to be gathering more and more. Here are a few things we have from the happiest place on earth..............

I LOVE Jack.

Oh ya.....we have some big figs.... ;)

And yes....we LOVE our Jessica Rabbit.

This was actually our wedding cake topper. See? Big geek. :)

The reason I brought this up is because my SIL and I are going to be having a full blown princess party this year for my daughter for her birthday. We have SO many plans and idea's and I can't wait to share them with you. We are going to have a tea party, a treats table, cute pom pom balls she is making, I'll be drawing up some forest animals AND things from Beauty and the Beast..... :) My SIL is going to be Snow White and she found this amazing custom made dress that she is going to get.

Me?

Well Snow White is my favorite princess, but I'm not going to copy so I have chosen to be:

                                                                                (source)

I have already found a dress on Etsy I'm DYING to get and it's the closest thing to an actual Disney dress I've seen. I love it. And I think I may actually invest in it as well. :D

We shall seeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Anywho I hope you are having a fabulous day and remember to enter the contest for an art piece dedicated to you! it ends this Friday and it doesn't have to be super complicated.

And anyone expecting an art piece from me I promise it's coming! I'll be sending some things out this week!

Have a great day!

xo

A contest dedicated for you!

(weheartit)

Hello friends! Ever wanted to have a picture dedicated or named after you? Well now is your chance! 

Send me your comments below of a picture you would like to see and I will randomly select a winner, draw it up and put in my shop and name it after you! The winner will get a free print of the finished product. If you want to send me a sketch of what you would like you are more than welcome to at abbeyroo68@gmail.com. But you will have to put a comment below that you sent an email in order for your entry to count. 

A winner will be chosen on May 13th! (Oooh creepy! Friday the 13th!) So make sure you get your entries in by then!

I'm very excited to see what you guys are going to come up with! :) When the winner has been chosen, please allow a week to a week and a half for the piece to be completed. When the winner is chosen I will need you to send me your information so I can mail you your piece! :D

Just remember. You don't have to be this big fancy artist. Or think that you aren't creative. You are. This is about YOU. It doesn't have to match the other stuff in my shop. This is your time to shine. :)

Good luck friends! Can't wait to see what you come up with!! :)

Painting time for me!

Well I FINALLY was able to do some painting today. I confess that I only finished one painting, but it's better than none right? I'll be doing the official posting on my shop next week, but want to give a sneak peak tonight on what I've been working on.....

 

Of course this isn't the finished product, but you'll have to wait till next week to see it. :) It looks pretty much the same, but with more detail. And I may add a little but more to it because I'm always wanting to fix or add to my stuff. But I still love it. I love Alice in Wonderland and has always been one of my favorite classics growing up. I really wanted to do something inspired by it and thought this would be so much fun to do.

I also have some kitty cats and a little fawn coming in the future as well and can't wait to show you! I'm also going to be coordinating with Ginger Melon to be doing artwork based on her cute little woodland animals. She does such a great job on them and I thought they would be adorable as art! So keep an eye out because I'll be posting some of those very soon. I can't wait! :) Please check out her shop and her blog.

I hope you all are having a very lovely evening. I'm sad that this weekend went by so fast. I don't like that it flies so fast when you are having such a good time. :(

I'll keep you guys updated and let you know when the giveaway at Miss Indie's shop starts! There are going to be some fun things given away so I hope you enter! And probably within this next week I'll start the contest for you guys on submitting what artwork you want to see in the shop!

Well it's time to get my geek on and watch me some Batman. I love me some Christian Bale. ;)

purrrrr.....(source)

I love relaxing Sundays........

I love Sundays. This is my time that I get to sincerely relax and get to do things that are calming. Today I gave manicures to myself and Rylie. And I just love her cute little hands and how they turned out.

 Such cute little hands!!

She is incredibly happy that she got little butterflies on her nails. She LOVES butterflies so this was obviously a no brainer.

And she LOVES her picture taken!

After I did hers I put some fun flowers on mine:

sooooo pretty...

soooo pretty!

I guess the excitement was too much for her because she is now fast asleep on the love sac. Didn't realize that I was such a party animal. ;)

So a fabulous friend of mine did a interview on my shop! You can check it out here!

If you want to find out a hidden talent of mine you will only find it on there. ;)

And check back here soon for a chance to enter into the contest dedicated to you!

Now it's time for me to do some painting. I have 3 pictures I already have sketched out calling my name. And I have out it off too long.... eeep! :D

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

xo

Amber

Time for a change!

Hello loves!


I love change. Especially when it's something like, clothing. make up, hair, design....(Yes, I am pretty girly.) But the change I did this weekend was my hair!

It's actually auburn, but hard to tell because of the lighting. I have to say, it was SO nice to change! I LOVE auburn hair. And my hair feels so much healthier when it's darker versus being blond. And I feel like it fits my personality more. (That's my little one peeping in the background. It was snowing bad and he was enjoying seeing all the flakes.)


Here is another view of my hair so you can get and idea of the color...

Love it!!!




So just to let you guys know, Abbey Roo is going to be participating in a giveaway with Miss Indie! It will be happening here very soon and I'll share the link for entering! There will be other sponsors as well so you will have a chance to win some fun things!


I also have a contest that I'll be posting on here as well. I feel that it will fun to have something dedicated to YOU! I'll let you know when the contest will start, but to give you a heads up, here is what you can expect!


♥   Send me either a quick little sketch OR send me an idea on a piece of custom artwork you would like to see.

♥   I will sketch up the artwork and name it after YOU!


♥   I will choose one winner randomly and the winner will get a free print of the piece!


♥   Then I will sell the piece at my shop with the dedication to you!


Details of the official date will be coming up here soon so keep your eyes peeled! And soon I'll be posting 3 paintings that I'll be selling as well. They are very cute and I can't wait to share!




Hope you are having a lovely weekend!

♥ xoxo ♥

Givewaway Winner!

Hello! It's time to announce the winner of the giveaway! I have gone to www.random.org  and have found our winner! There were 7 people that entered and per random.org, the winner is:

The 6th person to enter is Erica!! Congratulations on winning the owl pictures! Send me an email at abbeyroo68@gmail.com with your address and I'll get these shipped to you!

Thanks everyone who entered. I have some great ideas of other giveaways and contests I'll be doing so stay tuned!

Congrats again!!! :)

Have a great night!

xo Amber

A-B-C

Hello friends! So I saw this on a lovely ladies blog here, and turns out that I've been tagged! So now it is my turn to share my ABC's.....

A= Available - Sorry loves!!. :]

B= Best Friend - My hubs

C= Cake or pie - Cupcakes!

D= Drink of choice - Eep. Too many. Currently it's Cherry Coke Zero.

E= Essential item you use everyday - Laptop and cell phone.

F= Favorite color - It changes so much because I LOVE colors, but as of now my tops are mustard yellow,

teal, fuchsia, and charcoal gray.

G= Gummy bears or worms - Gummi worms!

H= Hometown - Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and are still residing here.

I= Indulgences - Online shopping, ice cream, and World of Warcraft. (geek alert!)

J= January or February - February because it's closer to spring!!

K= Kids and Names - Ty, Micah, and Rylie.

L= Life is incomplete without? - Yes my family is wonderful, but really.....my art. I don't feel that I could 

handle obstacles if I didn't have that escape. It's very therapeutic for me.

M= Marriage date - I got married December 3rd, 2009

N= Number of siblings - There are 7 of us. Surprise! I am the baby.

O= Oranges or apples - I LOVE fruit. But definitely more of an orange girl.

P= Phobias or Fears - Stupid spiders. Also the dark, and something happening to my little wee's.

Q= Favorite Quote - Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. -Twyla Tharp

R= Reason to smile - My friends and family. And chocolate.

S= Season - Spring and fall

T= Tag 3 or 4 people - I tag everyone that reads this. That means YOU! *wink*

U= Unknown fact about me - The man says I laugh like Scooby doo. Hmm....but I'm a HUGE Disney fan. And I'm also a MAJOR geek. (Yes Star Wars!!!)

V= Vegetable you don't like - Ugh. I hate canned beans and peas.

W= Worst habit - I'm too hard on myself.

X= X-rays - TONS. Especially since I have a fractured ankle!

Y= Your favorite food - Any breakfast food! As long as it involves bacon! YUM!!!

Z= Zodiac Sign - Sagittarius

 Enjoy this post? GOOD! Because if you read it, it's YOUR turn! When you write yours leave a comment here posting to what you wrote. I would love to get to know you more as well!! :)

Grand opening!

Hello lovelies! It is now official that Abbey Roo is opened! I am very excited and for this I would like to share a giveaway! :)

 

The "love me do"  and "Hi" are approx. 5 x 7. The Sweet Dreams is approx. 8 x 10.

One lucky ready will win all 3 of the original prints above! This is a $30 value! I'm very happy to be able to share my love of art with others and feel that this would be a great start! 

Here's how to enter!

1. Follow my blog.

2. Go to my facebook like my page! Here, or below...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abbey-Roo/159078387479321

3. Also go to my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Abbeyroo and tell me which items you like or would like to see!

If you do not have a facebook account, please post two comments below of  what you like in my shop or what you would like to SEE in my shop.

Please post a comment below on each on what you did for your vote to count!

The winner will be announce next Friday April 8th!

I'm going to keep the rules to this very simple since it's my first giveaway I'm very excited for all my new readers and for you taking a moment to look at my shop. It means a lot to me and trust me when I say that I have a lot of plans and ideas for fun things to sell!!

Loves to you all! :)

xo Amber

About me

Hello! So I thought that I would do a little introduction about me so those who don't know who I am, will.

So this is me. I just turned 30 and am finally ok with that. I know I don't look 30 and it's kinda fun because it freaks people out. I don't act 30. I don't think I'll ever "officially" act my age. I like to have fun and enjoy life. It is indeed an adventure and adventures are supposed to be fun. Right???

So a few things about me. I love drawing, I love the 80's, I love owls, actually I love all woodland creatures, (I'm 5"2 and my husband calls me a woodland creature actually. He's 6"4.) I love baking, I play video games and the biggest thing I play right now is W.O.W. I'm also extremely random and usually say things without thinking that may seem really strange, but I like having a silly side. I am also a major geek. I actually do I.T work and really enjoy it. Also, even though a part of me is a little tomboyish, I am very girly and wear vintage dresses quite frequently. I have Celiacs so anything with gluten is a major no no for me. And I actually found out right before I got married so I haven't had it all my life.

This is my lovely hubby Derek and I. He is an artist as well and is incredibly amazing. I wish that he would do it more. I'm trying to convince him that  he needs to draw some custom art for our house. I love all kinds of art and want my house filled with it all.

These are my cute little monkeys. From left to right, Micah, Rylie, and Ty. They love watching me draw. Anytime I get my stuff out, they have to get their stuff out as well and draw along with me. I think my daughter will pick up on it the most, but I still enjoy watching them all make their own creationS.

So this is it for now. I must be getting ready for my grand opening on Thursday. I'm very excited and a little nervous. But it's ok. I have a GREAT support system and am very excited to show my art with you all. 

I hope you have a great night!

xo Amber

A week from today!

*Squeeeeeee*

One week.

One week and it's time for opening. I am excited, nervous, overwhelmed, happy, thankful........everything.

My head is spinning with ideas and it's hard for me that I have to do this one step at a time because I want to do it all now. But I know the time will come when I WILL be able to do that. 

In the next couple of days I'm going to write an introductory about myself so those who don't know me, will be able to get to know me on another level. Beware, I am VERY random and may seem a little insane. ;-)

I'm going to start my giveaway on the day my shop opens. That way you will be able to see the different items I have in my shop. I'll be giving away a 5 X 7 print. Which print? you will just have to wait and see. ;-)

For now, I have lots to do to get ready. I hope that you have a wonderful night and in 7 days........opening night!

xoxo

(source)

More sneak peaks!

I am getting SUPER excited to get my shop opened! I can't believe that my opening date is getting closer. I'm very nervous, but I am upbeat being able to share my love of art with others. I have various types of mediums that I'm planning to use. I'm a very random person and my art will show that as well.

Above are some examples that will be in my shop. 3 are watercolor and the love birds are done with Primsa colored pencils. I will be selling various types of pieces as well as custom  pieces. I will be opening my shop on March 31st and will be doing a giveaway!

For the giveaway you will have a chance to win a print from my shop! To enter you will need to follow this blog and also follow on Facebook. More details will be coming the day the shop is open!

Also my Abbey Roo shop will be featured on some other blogs. More details will be coming with that as well.

I'm very excited to be able to share this with you all. It means so much to me to be able to finally pursue something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Have a great night!

♥ xoxo ♥

Sketchy Sunday

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday night. Getting some sketching in now that little ones are in bed. I'll have to make sure I know when to quit since I feel my best art comes out when it's late at night. I have a habit of staying up until 3 in the morning to squeeze in as much as I can. If it wasn't a work day tomorrow, I would probably consider it. 

The above pic is something that I was working on today. I'm planning on having some childrens's pictures on top of everything else I'm planning. Rylie couldn't stay away from me as I was doing this. She is in love and squealed when she saw that I was doing rainbow hearts on the chest. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep this for her or sell some prints. I guess it couldn't hurt right?

Well better finish my stuff so I can spend these last couple hours with the hubby. 

Good night!

xoxo Amber

Childrens Banner

I did this banner for a friend of mine who is having a baby. She is naming her baby Rainey. Even though in this pic it looks like there are 2 N's, but really, I was in a hurry and just took the pictures. I did this all with paper, but I am planning to do more in fabric.

First step is Rylie's room. Her  room has owls in it and I wanted to use owl fabric for the banner. 

I found this from a place called Spoonflower and fell in love! This fabric above matches exactly the stuffed owls she has now, so this is something I can't pass up. I'm also going to be drawing her pictures to match everything as well. As soon as I am done I will be posting pics! :)

I am in love with their fabric and it's incredible dangerous of me looking at their stuff, but I can't help it! check out some of their other owl fabrics they have......

I'm looking forward to creating with fabric! It's been a while since I've really done much, but I know that this fabric is something I would love to use for making items in my shop as well! This site has so many different styles and if you are into fabric as well, I highly encourage you take a look!

Happy weekend!!

♥ xoxo ♥

Inspiration

Ok, so tibit about me, I am a geek. Like a MAJOR geek. But I'm a girly geek. I love the girly stuff like owls, and deer, and many things whimsical.

But there is also a side of me that goes CRAZY over things like, Batman, Ironman,Comic books, collectibles, DC, Marvel, etc...........

I can't help it. Growing up I had a huge tomboy side. I still do, but I can tell that I am getting girlier about things as well. Comics actually are what inspired me to want to draw. I was so amazed by everything that I saw and decided that I wanted to do that as well.

I was actually going to school for animation.I was ready to move my family to California and pursue my dream to be an animator. But then of course more kids decided to sneak on through and some other troubling issues that prevented me from taking those steps. (I'm actually fine with that because then I wouldn't have met my hubby now who I heart!!!!!) Oh and did I mention that he is an artist too? Score!

We pretty much have the same taste in art so I LOVE talking to him about it. (We were up until almost 2 in the morning last night talking about it. It's the little things for me.)

And one person that we greatly admire and feel he is SUCH a great inspiration to the both us of is Jim Lee.

(source)

We were watching Youtube videos of him drawing live. He is amazing. It just comes so natural to him. He can be quick and yet still be so accurate. Watching him inspires me to want to do more. And become better. I know that you can do amazing things with your art, but you can always learn new styles and ways to just become better. And that's what I want to do. And my hubby and I talked about having  night together where we just draw. Even if it's for an hour. *swoon*

I am so excited. I feel by doing this we'll  be able to come up with SO many more ideas and creations. 

And to be able to share this with someone I deeply love makes it SO much better. I can't wait to share more of what I am doing with you all. 

Seriously AMAZING!!!!!! (source)

  

♥ xoxo ♥

Yay for owls!

So I LOVE me some Owls. And here is a sneak of some owls that I am doing now. They are turning out SO cute and I can't wait to show the final product! I love woodland creatures and am planning to do more of them. I will also be doing portraits, floral pictures, custom name pictures, custom frames and more. This is going to make me very busy, but at least it's doing something that I love.

My plan for now is to launch my shop on March 31st. If I can get it done sooner I will. But with working a full time job already AND taking care of 3 kids does present some challenges. But it's ok! Because I'm super excited for this!

♥ xoxo ♥

Sneak Peak!

Here is a sneak peak of something you can look forward to in my shop. This isn't even done yet and it won't be all cupcakes, but I don't want to give everything away either. ;-)

I am VERY happy as I have a lot of exciting things I will be posting.

Stay tuned!!

♥ xoxo ♥

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Welcome!

I am finally going to be setting up an Etsy shop called Abbey Roo! I also wanted to have a blog dedicated for my artwork including what mediums I use, the process of my work and even giveaways!

Stay tuned for  more information regarding the grand opening of my Etsy shop and a giveaway I'll be doing!



♥ xoxo ♥