12 Days Of Making, Day One.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I shared some information on the fun Instagram challenge that I am involved in. I thought I would also share each post with you here, with a few extra details, (because I can't stop talking about Christmas!) 

The first day of our challenge prompt was to introduce ourselves and tell you all about our favourite things about Christmas. (An easy start to get the ball rolling!)

As you know, my name is Sinéad, and I was born and raised in Shrewsbury, England, but have been living in America for 13 years now. I have always loved art, and have been creating since I was young. My dream is to own a small shop and gallery one day. In the meantime, I sell my work on Etsy, and lately have been focusing on mixed media collages, greetings cards and steampunk jewelry.

Because I am so far away from my family and friends back home, I admit that the holidays can be a difficult time for me. So, my boyfriend and I have a deal, where we alternate Christmas visits each year. This year we will be with his family in Virginia, but last year we got to travel home to a surprisingly snowy Shrewsbury!

My little sister and I actually used to spend hours talking about our favourite things about Christmas, so this is a fun prompt for me, but unfortunately, I don’t have the space to tell you EVERYTHING I love. To narrow it down, I will just tell you that I love the colder weather, especially if it snows, and I love wearing big coats, hats and boots and going on long walks in the beautiful countryside. I love the Christmas music, (although I try really hard not to play it before December, for my boyfriend’s sanity’s sake!) I love the traditional food, (especially my mum’s cooking!) and I really love all the beautiful décor and festive lights.

Photo credit to Brian Tomayko.

Photo credits to Kate Sanderson.

In the collage above you can see my some beautiful photos of my hometown of Shrewsbury. The first picture was taken at the bottom of Wyle Cop, on a beautiful snowy night when we were out celebrating my Mum's birthday last year. The other four pictures were taken by my sister, Kate, who loves Christmas just as much as I do! Top right is a view of the river and the Old Wakeman school from the English Bridge that crosses the Severn. Bottom left is the old Abbey, built in 1083, bottom right is my mum's garden, and bottom middle is a fantastic snow reindeer, made by my sister!

Twelve Days Of Making Challenge

Good morning everyone! Have you ever seen any of those #meetthemaker challenges on Instagram? They are a great way to get to know the artists involved, to see not only what they create, but what drives and inspires them too. Well these year, I am honoured to say that I was invited to join the lovely Clare over at The Boho Jewellery Box (you can find her fabulous website HERE) as well as ten other talented makers in a Christmas themed Twelve Days Of Making challenge!

From 1st - 12th November, we will be following prompts to create some fun social media posts all about our most Christmassy makes, what we love about Christmas, who we are grateful for, etc. This is the first time I have ever been invited to participate in one of these, and I am so excited!

AND, to make this even more special, we are inviting you all to join in on our fun. Each day, one of us will "host" the challenge on Instagram, and you will have the chance to join in and share your own photos. Just make sure you tag us and use the #12daysofmaking hashtag so we can find you. Each day, the host will pick their favourite out of all the images shared with them that day, and after the challenge is over, one lucky winner from those twelve people will get a special handmade gift or store credit, from each of us!!!!
 

Even if you are not a maker yourself, at the very least, you will see some incredible examples of handmade art, jewelry, clothing and accessories that will inspire you to shop small this Christmas!

Many thanks to Clare Middlecote from The Boho Jewellery Box for coming up with this awesome idea, and for creating all the lovely art work images for us to use. For more information on each of the artists involved, please check out Clare's gorgeous blog post HERE.

HALLOWEEN MONTH!

Does anyone else call October Halloween month? Just me?

I'm sure by now you will know that I love Halloween. I love the excuse to dress up, (not that I need an excuse) and all the parties and the fact that it is Autumn and the trees are dropping their leaves and everything is so pretty. October is also my boyfriend's birthday month, and this year he turns 40, so it's a pretty big deal!

We like to have an early Halloween party to combine with his birthday celebrations, and this year we are going to have a pirate themed one. Since our house is already full of pirate/skull decor, there is not too much we have to do, but I have been looking up traditional recipes for grog. I am keeping my costume a secret, but I have been having fun decorating my accessories, and I still need to practice my makeup. I will share photos after the event. There may even be a makeup tutorial video.

AND, to celebrate Halloween, and to help you get started on your Christmas shopping early, EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop will be 20% off for the whole month of October, 2018. No coupon code needed, just stop by. Don't forget, I am open to commissions, so if you have something in mind that I don't have in my shop, let me know and we can work something out.

Welcome Autumn!

Those of you that know me will know that Autumn has always been my favourite season. I just adore the crisp weather, the beautiful colours, and the chance to wear boots, coats and hats again!
Since I have lived in Virginia, I have really started to miss the season back home. It can be beautiful here, but summer lasts so long, that often you don't see the leaves fall until late November, or even December. It can still be swelteringly hot very late in the year, which does not go well with my love of warm clothes. It is strange to see pumpkin-spice EVERYTHING, everywhere, when it is still above 30C. I guess I really just miss home and the change of seasons there. It is what I grew up with, what I am used to, and no matter how long I've been away, I can't seem to get used to this climate!

 Anyway, in celebration of the official Equinox and arrival of my favourite season, (regardless of how it feels outside) I am sharing this coupon code for my Etsy shop, OriginalSinArt. Use code AUTUMNEQUINOX2018 to get 20% off your order, from 22nd – 26th September 2018, EST. (No minimum sale needed, but does not apply to Taxes or Shipping Costs.)

Well, I'm back...

Hello everyone, I am back! Well, I've been back over a week, but I'm not sure if I've come to terms with it yet. I wish I was still in Ireland! 

We had such an incredible holiday, and saw and did so much, that coming back to America, and work, has been difficult for me. The trip only reaffirmed my dream of living there one day, and owning a little shop/gallery in Donegal. Now I am thinking of all the things that have to happen to make that dream come true!

I have been busy catching up with work-work after our trip, but I have a couple of exciting things in the works that I will share with you soon. Watch this space! 

Here are a few Ireland selfie pics just to give you a hint of what we got up to, (if you want to see ALL the 1700 photos I took, please find me on Facebook!) I get that the cropped images show more of my face than anything else, sorry!

Locations, clockwise from top left: Cliff of Moher, Dunluce Castle, Ballyliffin Golf Club, Guinness Storehouse, Poulnabrone Dolmen, Inis Cealtra, Mussenden Temple.

Ireland is calling...

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that I am off to Ireland, and won't be back until the end of the month. I have not been back to my soul-country for eight years, so you can imagine how excited I am! And I have not had a proper holiday from work, (i.e, NO access to work accounts, social media, emails or anything) for almost six years, so this time I am going to take full advantage of the remote locations that we will be staying, and I will unplug and RELAX!
The photo below was taken at Ballyliffin, Donegal, which is where my mum's side of the family is from. My great grandparents had a little cottage on the beach, and all the generations of the family since then have grown up visiting it and loving it. I spent every summer holiday of my childhood and teenage years there, and although I was born and raised in England, I think of Donegal as my home. I have so many happy memories of the shore, and it spoiled me for other beaches. This beach has it all; Soft sand, pebbles, rocks, rock pools, cliffs, surf, sand dunes, and even a castle! These days if I visit a beach that is just sand, I find it very boring, I am sorry to say.
We will be spending a week at Ballyliffin, where I am looking forward to walks along the shore and over the rocks, good meals and proper pints in cozy pubs, and stories by the fireplace in the evenings. The second week we will be in county Clare and exploring a lot of places I have never been to before, like the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, etc, and the last day will be in Dublin. I have been to Dublin multiple times, but not for a long time, and not since I was old enough to enjoy the night life and explore the city, so I'm looking forward to that too.
So, wish me good weather, (I don't care if it's cold, I just don't want it to rain all day, every day) and I wish you all a fabulous summer. I will be in touch with more photos after I get back!

COMIC CON ANNOUNCEMENT!

I am going to be vending my Steampunk jewelry and art at the upcoming Gloucester County Public Library Comic Con next Saturday! Woo hoo!
This FREE event will be held at the main library, 6920 Main Street, Gloucester, VA, 23061, from 10:00 to 14:00 on Saturday 11th August, 2018. For more information, head HERE.
There will be workshops, multiple sellers of awesome original products, activities, contests, and prizes. All ages are welcome, and of course, costumes are strongly encouraged. I have a fun costume all ready to go, but you'll have to come and see me if you want to know what it is!
Last year there were over 3000 people joining in the fun, so they expect great things this year. I am so excited to be a part of this, and honoured to have been selected as a vendor.
After this event, I only have one day to get ready before we leave for Ireland, so I have lots to do this week for the Comic Con and our trip, but it will be worth it! Now I'm off to create some new mini mixed media collages to bring with me to the Comic Con.