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School is out for winter break and if you are like me, you need fun activities to keep little hands busy, busy, busy. Well expert figure skaters, Sebastian and Sadie, are here and ready to help with that!
To get started, purchase the download here for only $3.99, complete with both figure skaters and three tree shapes. Print out the figure skaters (I recommend using fine art heavy card stock or taking the file to your local print shop for the best quality of print) and cut them out. Cut out support tabs and glue long vertical strip to back of skater for support. (I find it's also helpful to add a piece of thick foam or cardboard for additional support).
Now using hot glue, adhere magnet to the bottom of the flap of skater
Once the glue is dry you are ready to try out your new skater on the "ice"!
To create your ice rink, take a large discarded cereal box and place it on it's side. You may cover it in white butcher paper before hand if you like, leaving one end open. Create slits in the box where you'd like your trees to go. Print out tree shapes. (You can keep them as is or cover them in black duct tape as we did here). Place large tongue depressors to the backs of the trees. Now you are set to place your trees within the slits you created in your large box.
Place your skater a top the box and than place a corresponding magnet
within the cereal box and directly below the skater. Magnets should meet
up. You are now ready to move your skater around on the ice! So fun!!
These make a great stocking stuffer or craft/toy to play an create with friends and family members during these winter months! Hop on over to the shop to get started on your very own skaters now!
(download will be emailed to you after purchase)
Last month Jon and I celebrated our 11th year anniversary. Crazy. I sometimes feel like we are the same young rock-a-billy kids who fell for each other so many years ago. I mean just look at that pompadour on Jon. How could I resist this cutie? I'm not sure what was going on with my fashion, but I think I was trying to channel the "skater girl" look? Who knows really ...anyway...those were the days, right?
On one of our first "dates" in college we walked around my neighborhood for hours into the night. We just walked and talked about our dreams. How we wanted to travel, create art, perform, change the world, you know all that sort of mushy "you just might be the one" type of stuff. We definitely had the rosy colored "starving artist" glasses on and I'm pretty sure we were both hooked from that night on.
Being freelancers - myself an illustrator, creator, and kids craft
blogger, etc. -and Jon an actor, director, teacher etc., life
together has definitely been an adventure. It hasn't always been easy -
not having consistent income, stability, etc. - but I think it's the only
kind of life either of us can really live (otherwise, believe you me,
we'd change things up in a heartbeat! Security and comfort is so NOT overrated, especially with kids).
Throughout our journey together we've been able to travel and live in some pretty incredible places. We started our second year of marriage in NYC and loved it. I think we will always hold a special place in our hearts for NYC. So many things happened for us there and the friends and experiences we had there are unforgettable. We then switched gears and headed south to Knoxville, TN for Jon's graduate school. We bought our first home and that is where we had A (how has it been 6 years?!). Needless to say, this time of our lives, being first time parents, is very special to us.
Then Jon graduated and it was off to LA to dive right into Hollywood. We loved living in South Pasadena and we of course had Little O there. My boys loved Cali and still talk about their friends, the beach, the sun and of course the myriad of exciting amusement parks that were available there. Jon and I also made some wonderful friends who mean so much to us.
We have now moved on and Jon is living his dream as a college acting/theater professor. And let me tell you, he's a natural at it - students love him and he's most definitely in his element in the classroom. In addition to illustrating, I've loved where blogging has taken us and I'm so grateful for opportunities, friends and associations I've been able to make through Mer Mag. Baby number three is about to arrive and we are thrilled about what the next chapter in our life has in store for us (even if we are just a tad bit freaked out about it!).
So as you can see, we don't seem to stay still for very long. In fact, we sort of have a joke that we have a three year limit. When three years hits (right when we're feeling settled and at home) we start getting antsy and life calls for a change of scenery. With kids however, we do hope to find a spot we can call home for a longer period of time (especially for A who doesn't like change so much at all). But in the mean time I think the Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero's song, "Home is Wherever I'm With You" pretty much sums it up for us.
So as a gift to Jon, I created an original paper cut out based on this song (which we of course both love). I wanted it to be a companion piece to the I Lovely Love My Family paper cut out art that I gifted him a couple of years ago. (I think we have a thing for songs in our family...)
And just like the Lovely Love prints, I'm offering a selection of "Home is Wherever I'm With You" prints (in all the same Lovely Love colors!) in my shop for you to also place in
your homes (wherever they may be!). Skip on over to the shop to take a look!
And what about you? Any good stories about how home has come to mean more about who you are with than where it is you live? I'd love to hear them!
 Hello friends! So we all know it's helpful to drop a few hints before
Mother's Day to let our loved ones know what would be extra special for
us, right? And Daily Candy Kids is here to help us out! Today they were so kind to mention my individual pencil portraits, found in my shop here, as a great suggestion for Mother's Day. And I couldn't agree more!
For more information on how the ordering process takes place hop on over to my illustration blog to read more and see some great before photos and after portraits. And don't delay because slots for Mother's Day portraits will fill up fast, so order yours today!
I've been having a lot of fun adapting my work to fabric and wanted to share a few items with you. Now in my shop I'm offering some of your most beloved prints in pillow form!
Shop Love is Spoken Here and I Lovely Love My Family pillows here!
Order before Dec. 15 for Christmas delivery.
And this weekend get 20% off all print purchases! Just enter "lovelysale" in the convo section and I'll refund the difference!
Hello friends! Thanks so much to those of you who took advantage of my Cyber Monday sale over in my shop. I always love to see what you are drawn too and I'm always so happy to see my little prints go off to enjoy themselves in your homes. In fact, I was especially delighted to spot one of my I Lovely Love My Family prints in a recent before-and-after dining nook makeover on Design Sponge. Kelly, of Let's Die Friends, did a great job and her makeover turned out fantastic. And I'm so flattered to see a spot of Lovely Love in her home!
And now on to some more good news! I have created a small batch of my very own Lovely Love and Love is Spoken Here pillows. I'm super excited about them! I am teaming up with a few of my favorite South Pasadena gals for a little craft fair of sorts and these pillows will be making their debut there. After that...whatever is left will be in the shop for you to have your pick from! So stay tuned.
Oh and I just found out that MerMag was listed as one of Babble's top 50 Design blogs for Mom! I'm so thrilled and very humbled to be listed among some seriously great gals with some seriously great blogs. Thanks babble!!
How was your Thanksgiving?! Are you stuffed to the gills and sick of the Black Friday crowds? I love how on Monday we can all sit in our jammies, recuperate, and...shop some more online!!! And...In celebration of Cyber Monday I'm offering a buy one get one deal in my Tuesday Mourning shop!
Just purchase the first print and mention in a convo which print you want for free!! I've listed a slew of new prints that you'll love. And your tried and true beloved prints are there as well! Happy Holiday Shopping!
So I've been a busy, busy bee this past month. In between a number of illustration projects, preparing for a move and trying to keep my littles entertained in the California heat, I've managed to squeeze in a 2-day, day camp that I just happened to be in charge of planning and carrying out. The camp was for girls ages 8-11 and I couldn't have asked for a more ideal age range or group of girls. This age is the most common demographic for which I do much of my illustration work for and I love it. These girls are not jaded, are full of life, ready and excited for the future, are amazingly resilient and willing to see the good and beauty in everyone and everything. In short, I love these girls and had a fantastic last couple of days.
It was such a treat to see how each girl would light up when seeing her creation come to life and to realize just what she was capable of. I also really loved seeing a sea of flower adorned heads bobbing up and down throughout the camp and most every girl proudly brought along their newly sewn tote bag to the field trip on the second day. All in all it was a great success!
Now that the camp is over, we have loved having the tote bag around here as well. It makes the perfect library bag for little A.
 On our bag we varied a bit from the Purl tutorial and used an old elastic belt for the handles (which worked great!) and then I added the stitched "x" marks where the handles are attached. I was also fond of the illustration that I created for the camp flyer and thought I'd offer a print variation of it for you in the shop! Enjoy!
I once again have to say a BIG thanks for your lovely generosity and kind hearts in reaching out to little Davy and her lovely family. Together we have raised over $2000 for this incredible little girl and I couldn't be happier. The BOGO offer is officially over but, as I mentioned, the print proceeds will continue to go to the Schultz family.
Every time I look up at our framed Lovely, Love artwork a smile comes to my face. It already held such a special place in my heart for my own family, but now there is even more love associated with it. And that is thanks to all of you.
Thank you for being so lovely.
xo Mer
I can't even begin to tell all of you lovely readers what a wonderful opportunity it's been to be in the middle of such an outpouring of love for darling Davy Jean and her family. You guys are the BEST! We've raised over $1000 and that's just in the first three days! I've heard from Ruth and she mentioned that they are now able pay an ambulance bill that they have since May of last year. Way to go you guys!
You have the rest of today and tomorrow for the bogo offer but these print proceeds will continue to go towards this special family, so the Lovely, Love never stops! And as you can see from this incredible stack of Lovely Love orders (which are x'2 as per the sale), that I'll be busy working away on getting all of you fantastic people your lovely prints. It's just me chugging away at these orders, so I appreciate your patience. I promise to get them out in as timely a manner as possible. And thanks again for letting me see your lovely hearts. Your generosity, warmth, kind comments and excitement about helping this inspiring family has really made my week. Thank you all for your Lovely Loveliness.
xo Mer
*image of Davy courtesy of the mom.
I wanted to start Valentines Day off with a lovely, love story and a new print in my shop to go along with it.
About a week ago I got an email from Ruth Schultz, wife of Scott Schultz - the creator of a little known kids show you might have heard of.... Yo Gabba Gabba. Ruth had seen my Lovely, Love My Family paper heart cut out I had made for Jon for Christmas and wanted to purchase a print of it for her husband's office. Needless to say I was completely flattered and more than happy to accommodate. In fact, her request inspired me to take it further and offer several Lovely, Love prints in various colors in my etsy shop.
After hearing from Ruth I later came across this beautiful story about her, her family and more specifically her lovely daughter, Davy. Darling Davy was born with a cleft lip and palate, congenital heart defects and several other conditions. From there I went on to read more about this amazing mother/daughter team on Ruth's own blog, the mom. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with little Davy and her talented, humorous, gorgeous, and incredibly strong mother, Ruth. Her blog tells the story of Davy's growth, trials and triumphs and is filled with hope amidst weariness, and happiness amidst adversity...all while being shared in Ruth's transparent, down to earth, day-in-the-life-of writing style. Ruth is also a mother to three happy, healthy, hyper and hilarious boys, Max, Oliver and Harper. Just about every post concerning these little guys makes me smile with familiarity (and I think I've even spotted one or two or all three of them on our favorite little show ;)). Needless to say, Ruth's a busy woman.
 After catching up on Ruth and Davy, I knew right away that these Lovely, Love prints had to be for them. It just felt right. So I have decided that the proceeds from all of the Lovely, Love prints in my shop will go to Davy and her family for things such as hospital, medical, and doctor bills, medications, supplies, etc. (something I've since learned that they are always in need of, despite the success of the show). And to kick it off, I've decided to start spreading the love around by offering ONE FREE PRINT with every LOVELY, LOVE print purchase...all week long!! Just indicate which print you want for free in the comment section at check out and I'll be sure to mail them both off to you.    A very Happy Valentines day to all of you!! And get on over to the shop, and start your week off right by sharing a little love.
xo
Mer
(all Ruth and Davy photos courtesy of the mom)
*** And there are more prints now back in the shop! So sorry, I wasn't up to speed on things when Odeedoh posted about this, but now there should be plenty...so keep on spreading the love!
 Hello friends! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and scored on a lot of great Black Friday deals (I actually got up at 4 AM this year for the first time and hit the shops with my sister! It was a blast!). But isn't it great that the sales don't stop there. I love this cyber Monday thing! So, just like last year, and in the spirit of it all I'm offering a free print with every print (or original portrait) purchase you make in my Etsy shop here. When you check out just enter promo code: CYBERSALE along with which print you want to have for free and I'll ship them off to you!
Happy cyber shopping!
(I'm on the road today, trying to get out of the Colorado and Utah snow back to sunny California! I'll try to keep the shop stocked as much as possible but if you see a print that you want that is not available when you want it, just convo me and I'll be sure you get it for the sale price).
I've been playing around with watercolors lately and these two paintings, Beth of Billings Hill and Eleanor, are the result of some of my experimenting. I'm really becoming quite the fan of watercolor and gouache. I've always been an acrylic kind of girl when it comes to painting, so it's been a fun challenge to mix things up a bit and explore these mediums.
Hop on over to the shop and check these new gals out.
OK, so now the dolls are really in the shop...no really...they are there. And because I've taken such a silly long time to get them there I'm offering up another sale!!
 Purchase a little mod rag doll and bring home a print or your choice for free. Just enter the code MODDOLLS and mention which print you want in a message and I'll be sure to ship it off along with your new little darling. The sale will go on all weekend and dolls will ship in time for Christmas (can I just say they make the cutest stocking stuffers!).
(a big thanks to my mini mod models, Little Lucy and Camilla!)
I've been a busy bee bringing to life evie, camilla, beth, ella, jane, elanor, milla, izzy, anna, and elsa. These thoroughly modern gals are just the right size to slip into a little one's stocking and more importantly, right into their heart. They will be available to you this week in my little shop.
Each mod rag doll has her name sewn onto the back and fabrics range from vintage/vintage inspired to personally hand drawn, such as on elanor and milla, posing below.
And as for more shop news, I've recently added a new print, Love is Spoken Here, in a variety of colors into the shop. I created this little poster back in September of 2008. It's been such a joy to have in my home so I thought I'd share it all with you.
And for the final Cyber Monday fun, I'm having a little shop sale
Buy any print (or a custom portrait, etc.) and receive a print of your choice for free. And get, this...this sale is not just for Cyber Monday, but will be going on all week!! So get your holiday orders in now. Just enter promo code: CYBERSALE and I'll be sure to reimburse you for your free print. Happy holiday shopping!
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