New Critters on Blocks

I do a little series for Art-o-mat on small wooden blocks. I started with trees...all shapes and sizes of trees.

Then I became inspired by our lively backyard- filled with birds and bugs and other animals that seem to bloom in the South Florida scene.

cute right- i love the bugs!

I made the birds for my Nana who loved Cardinals.

Then it became beach weather...finally warm enough for us lightweights to swim...which means the water temp got to about 75-80 degrees. I started working on ocean animals. Mahi Mahi, Manatee, Squid, Jellyfish.  These are some of my favorite art blocks!

But recently I did an all white series for a special show for Art-o-mat and I loved how these little critters turned out.

So I decided to do a whole series just on these little guys with glasses. As you can see I have been having fun adding new critters to the mix- and color too!

I have just added these little guys to my ETSY shop...and very soon will be shipping off a new edition to Art-o-mat to be then placed all over the country!

What inspires you to make and create?

~Casey

More Art-O-Mat blocks please!

So- lots going on these days.

First...I ran an ad on Etsy for 7 days...and spent all of $5 doing so...and the response was incredible! I took in 12 orders due to that ad...and made a pretty profit!...that we used on our family vacation last week! Thank You to ETSY- for making advertising affordable- and profitable! I will be running another ad very soon!!! These    were a few of the tiles I just did from last week!

 Second- My family did  take a week off to play in the sands of Sanibel Island.   The boys had so much fun catching fish and crabs and finding the coveted Sand-Dollar...unbroken!

 It was a great week of sun and fun! We stay at this awesome house right off the beach... LOVE IT! This was our third...maybe fourth year at SeaWinds...best 'home away from home' ever!

These are some sunglasses my oldest found on the beach...the boys wore them all week (after Daddy sanitized them of course!)

 Lots of Starfish were in the shallows at low tide...found them every 10 feet or so! We, of course, had starfish and king crown shell races.

Here is a small crab Dain caught...man, these boys were fast- catching tiny fish and all sorts of critters in butterfly nets of all things...at one point I think they had 20 plus little fish in their pails.









First thing in the morning- out the door...nets and pails in hand!

Lastly-
I have posted a few times about being an Artist in Cellophane for the Art-O-Mat project.  I am quite happy about it! I have received a few notices of where my blocks have been purchased...CA, Key West, Michigan...how cool is that!
So I was asked to send in another round of blocks...and I just finished them- all packed and ready to go!

 Aren't they cute? I got some new colors- and worked up some new little creatures...love the frogs and owls! Oh- I love them all- they are like my children! hehehe
Here is the link to find an art-o-mat near you. There are some terrific artists that do jewelry, photos, 2D, 3D...you name it...I need to take a trip down to Boca (the closest machine to me)

So that is it...my past few weeks all wrapped up in this little blog.  Enjoy! I certainly have! :)
~Casey

Whoa Time Flies!

Yes- I suck.  Finding time to blog and paint and do holiday things and actually have a family- how do people do it? I am currently working on a wedding piece a woman is giving to her fiance...so sweet and great stories in their piece...pics to come soon!
My other project is working on my next edition of Art-o-Mat blocks.  I sent in the first set...let's see if they sell??? I am having fun playing around with colors and different plants/animals.

These are the "itty bitty blocks" new in my Etsy store- they are some of the scrap edges that were too small for the Art-o series...but I love the size (2 x 2.5 x .75) so cute to tuck into a tiny place!

 This is the new edition of the Art-o series I am working on.  Don't they look cool all in a row? (That is for you Skip)  I kind of wish I had done my first edition with all of this color- i like them sooo much more than the first...but no stressing over it! These are looking GREAT!

 Trees and birds for now...but, I am playing around with the idea of fun bugs? Would u keep a cool bug on a shelf or desk at work???

Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2012 is spectacular for us all!
~Casey

art-o-mat blocks and West Elm Project

Happy Sunday!

I have finished my art blocks for the West Elm Project/Florida Etsy Street Team swag bags.  This also  coincides with the Art-O-Mat  submission blocks I have been working on.  If you do not know about the Art-O-Mats...you should absolutely look it up- they are such great little gems for people who love to collect really interesting pieces of art- at an excellent price!

So these are my little trees.  They are 2 x 3 ish blocks painted with my quirky little spots of nature! I am thinking of adding in some bird blocks too- especially cardinals...love them! These are headed to Estero, Florida but here is the info for one near you: 

West Elm Holiday Event
December 1, 2011
Your West Elm location
Event time 6-9pm (tentative)

So if you are near Estero on December 1st- you could grab a bag full o goodies from the Florida Etsy Street Team! There are several other artists who are donation great little gifts for the giveaway bags to the first 35 customers! Awesome!!!

Back to the Art-o-Mat...this is my submission block! I am going to do a tree and hopefully the AIC peeps will look up this site and see all the nifty trees I would love to have in their machines! What a super idea- affordable art for all- souvenirs from a trip for everyone! I love it- and I hope I get to be a part of it! Wish me luck!!! And if anyone out there is an  Art-o-Mat artist...lemmie hear what you think!!!