Coming soon

Polar Bear Puppet
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

This polar bear puppet will be appearing on the handmade page of my site next week. A chilly sweetie that will warm your heart. The body sports a light blue square/dot pattern that is reminiscent of ice cubes, with light blue velvet trim and a light blue velvet blanket stitched bear tail in back. He's still in season, though we've had a warm winter here by Maine Standards.

He's up! You can find him here.

I'm working on many new hand and finger puppets for spring. I'l be updating my website frequently during late March thru June, so check in often. There will be lot sof sneak peeks here as my creations are completed.

25 handpuppets are in the works, including two new owls, several new kitty designs, and an alligator with a super cool body.

I'm very excited about the new work, despite that fact that today I am sleepy and not very motivated. My birthday is Monday, and maybe I'm not so thrilled about turning a year older. On the other hand, I should be happy to be alive! Enough of this rambling, off to important business: I'm going to take a nap.

Endangered Kitty Puppet...HELP!

Asian Print Kitty
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

Oh my gosh! Uplifting Arts has used one of my kitty puppets to make a handbag. Save the Kitty Puppets, Eat Tofu...Peace,love... and puppets!


Seriously, speaking of Uplifting Arts, look at these cool buttons there! I love these and am tempted to get some to embellish my puppets with. The turtles are very cool, and there are some cool owl ones, too. The koi are my favorites, but are sold out.

Illustration Friday: Cats

This catty post is a detail from a larger painting of mine called Twilight Time. Do you think the cat knows the bird is there?

One of the Wild Women

lady3
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

As per popular request, here's a closer look at one of the colored pencil drawings above the window of my studio. You can see a few more at my Flickr page. Unfortunately, they are a bit too big for my scanner, and I don't have a digital camera (can you believe it!?-- also no cell phone--I'm crazy enough without that crap). Anyway, here's a taste and I'll try to get my hands on my boyfriend's digital camera to get some more shots in the future.

I've been saving these Ladies...I've got quite a few of them. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with them-- probably I'll end up incorporating them into some other creative project, though they are quite lovely on their own. Another thought I had was to dry mount them on foamcore and frame them somehow. They have sort of a paper doll feel. Any more ideas?

studio friday: i spy...

studio 2
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

i spy a UFO out the window (OK, its really the relfection of the lamp, but humor me!)

Illustration Friday: E is for Elemental

atomic circles 1
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

This little Space Age Painting in gouache, colored pencil and mixed media is elemental in so many ways--it works with the elements of design (shape, color, line), and there's something very elemental about getting out your art supplies and going for it to create something full of life and energy.

Atomic Circles by Christina Heiniger
[warning, blatant self-promotion] E is also for Etsy, these are fer sale at my etsy shop.

...And The Winner Is...

The winner of the card drawing from all of you wonderful people who posted your favorite for my next card design is...

Dawn Anderson of Lark Studio.

Congratulations, Dawn!

And thanks, everyone, for your help.

And the card design with the most votes was Kiss from Above. So that will be the next Fern House Studio card. Look out for it.

I'll be posting more giveways at random, so check back in at my blog now & then.

Help me chose my next card design

You can WIN a free pack of Fern House Studio cards by helping me choose my next new card design for spring. Just post a comment below as to which design you think I should use for my next card. On January 9th I'll choose a winner at random from all those who posted.



Kiss from Above

or



Golden Kiss

I've already got one new card for Valentine's Day up at my website. So if you're looking for that special card for your sweetie, check it out.

I'm looking forward to getting your feedback, and good luck in the drawing.

Illustration Friday: Flavor

cantaloupe 1
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

Gosh, it was hard to choose for this one-- I've done so many works with that lurking somewhere in the subtext. For one thing, I often chose colors to go together by how they taste (not literally, but visually, I experience colors are having a visual taste)...weird, huh? But I opted for this set of three that have a very obvious relationship to the topic of flavor.

**SALE** at my Etsy Shop

To encourage folks to shop at my Etsy shop, I'm having a sale on all prints and small works there.
Among the gems you'll find there...
Small Works on Paper like this painting called "Yellow Circles". It's beautifully matted and shrinkwrapped--ready to pop into a frame.

& Prints, like this lovely print, "3 in a Tree". Only limited quantities of the prints are available for sale, so be quick!


...and a very cool vintage Rooster wall hanging.

NEW at my Etsy Shop

Looking to do some after-Holidays blues-busting retail therapy? Well, these are sure to cheer you up. These cards are NEW at my Etsy Shop.





These gorgeous limited edition handpainted postcards are made on heavy paper. Painted in gouache and acylic with colored pencil details added--lovely contrast of textures. This edition has a gold background with warm and cool color sets in a circle motif.

These can be sent as a postcard, framed as a painting, or sent as a gift in the white envelope that comes with it.
Only 25 of these cards have been created. Each is unique.

Size: approx. 4 1/4" x 6"
Price: $5.50 each or set of 3 for $14.00 each comes with a white envelope.

I'll hope you'll take a few mometns to visit my Etsy shop (hopefully during your long vacation).

Happy Holidays Everyone

Thanks everyone, for stopping by my blog this year and especially this Holiday season. This has been my first Christmas season with a website and blog, and it's been so wonderful getting support form people all over the world for my artwork and creative pursuits. Thanks so much!

For a fun holiday song, click here.

PS Thanks to ThriftGoddess for mentioning my panda puppet in her Holiday Bliss Guide 2005.

Illustration Friday: Holiday Zeke

Every year I used to do a Holiday card of my dog , Zeke. As he passed away this year, I think it's a fitting memorial to include one of them as this Illustration Friday post. Happy Holidays everyone...I know Zeke is still delivering gifts up in doggie heaven-- it's not a sad thing.

Ornament Thursday #9: Creative Trees

Even though it comes from the Martha Stewart Empire, which I never thought I'd like anything from, I'm smitten with this quarterly magazine called Kids fun stuff to do together. It's for parents and kids and it's so neat, I think I'm going to get a subscription to it and give a subscription to my sister and niece. It's the art teacher in me.


This latest issue had the coolest Christmas tree decorating ideas-- I mean really sweet and creative!

(Little known fact: my framer, Raymond Strout of Ahlblad's Frameshop in Bar Harbor, Maine, knows Martha Stewart and has even been over to her house in Northeast Harbor for Thanksgiving before. This is officially the only piece of celebrity gossip you will ever read on this blog!)

Ok...asides aside, look at these awesome tree decorating ideas from the Kids magazine:

This tree made from Tinker Toys (I always snicker when I say that ...tinker toys...heeheehee) is so colorful, and decorated with buttons. I love it!


Then there's this incredibly inventive & fun tree decorated solely with office supplies--if only I'd seen this years ago! Look, there are colored paperclip chains, keytage ornaments adorned with stickers, and a bubble wrap base. It's THE tree for us office supply store lovers.


I had so many suggestions for Ornament Thursday and I wish I could've mentioned them all. But I'll leave you with one of my favorites...these lovely and festive stained glass ornaments with Holiday words from Humble Beads. I truly adore these:

packages flying out!

Lots of packages are flying out of Fern House Studio last minute! I'm posting this parrot for Meredith, as she asked about parrots-- yes I do have this one last parrot left at the moment...

Thanks Secret Santas

A big thanks to Rose Flash of Ontario for being a very cool Switchboards Secret Santa. She sent me a lovely red/pink bracelet and matching earrings.

And thanks to Jen at Sic on Sin for sending these very cool magents to me as a thank you for the Secret Santa gift I sent her. How sweet! She has a very cool store-- check it out.

Ornament Thursday # 8: Puff Daddy and More

How about some **handmade, puffy, stuffy, fabric ornaments**?

Here are some great ones...
a Brown Bird Ornament from circle circle dot dot:


Merry Magic Mushroom Ornaments from Keykalou's etsy shop...

Diamond Garden Patchwork Ornament by Counting Sheep Studio at Funky Utopia. I Couldn't get the picture to upload, so go see it :)

I've been seeing lots of cool **vintage ornaments** around here lately. These from Wisteria are reproductions, not true vintage, but cool nonetheless:


Lastly, this how-to from Craftgodesss shows how to make your own very cute beer coaster Christmas ornaments. I wish I could put the picture here, but I couldn't pull it off the page. They are so fun looking.

Happy Ornament Shopping & Making!

Ornament Thursday # 7--longer post coming soon!

This week's Ornament Thursday post is a quick one, as my mom's in the hospital and I have a trunk show this weekend.

So here are just a few links to keep you going-- I'll try to get a longer post up on Sunday or Monday.
Frosted Miniature Fruit Set of 6 from European Trading Company .

Beaded ornaments from Beaded Things...


& Snowflake ornaments kit from Sparkle & Shine

A Crafty Christmas & then some

Sales are humming along here at Fern House Studio. I suggest if you've got your eye on something, order soon, because I'm doing a big trunk show this weekend (Dec 10th) and may sell out on many things.

Just finished this dog puppet commission for a student of mine... her parents commissioned it for her as a Christmas gift (very thoughtful!):


I've gotten so many suggestions for Ornament Thursday, that here are a few early sneak peeks.

These star ornaments from Sprout Studio are lovely...But I love all her stuff!


And these puffy penguins from Bake Sale Designs are the sweetest!

The HUGE ornaments from Wisteria (below) are quite something!
Wisteria is one of those catalogs founded by rich people and for rich people and it cracks me up & intrigues me at the same time. Full of expensive, cool stuff that nobody really needs, but...

(For the record, I have nothing against rich people, actually I'd like to be one!)

The text in their catalog is quite creative, as well... get this: (from the site) "Three sizes of sparkly etched-glass ornaments in turquoise and silver for spectacular holiday arranging. Each has a satin ribbon for hanging. The largest seems almost as big as Susanna, and is very heavy. This is an ornament that could be seen from the street if you hang it artfully in a window. Passersby will gaze in awe, getting out of their cars to visit quietly with other families who have paused to view your ornament. Perhaps caroling will break out spontaneously. You might find yourselves on TV. It could happen. "

Ok... Whatever, but those ornaments are impressive, I admit!

Ornament Thursday #6: Christmas Trees

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas tree....
I'm getting my tree this weekend, if the weather and boyfriend cooperate.

There are some really cute Christmas tree ornaments out there to hang on your...well...tree. By that I mean ornaments that look like trees.

How about this Bucktoothed tree ornament from Bridge Troll. net Wish I could've gotten the image posted, but it just didn't work (you'll have to visit her site to see it).

Or this tree ornament made from recycled computer circuit board from Acorn Studios Very clever (and earth-friendly)!




Now, for the Motherload of ornaments, especially glass blown ornaments, you have got to check out this site. It's THE BEST! It's hard to even pick which to mention, but I loved this fall leaf and this Christmas Tree They've got lots of great tree ornament to choose from, and I'll point you in some other directions on their site in future posts.


Have you put up your tree yet? It's always so exciting. I love decorating the tree, its like painting a canvas.