Halloween Queen: Nancy Michalak

I really like the style Nancy Michalak's cards because they evoke an eerie feeling of Halloween!  You can walk right into the scenes.  I asked Nancy about her process of designing her art.  Here is her response:

"My work is a mixture of both collage and paper cutting. I use black silhouette paper, then drawing a detailed design or image.  Then I cut out the image using small manicure scissors.  The resulting image is one piece.

This image is then overlayed onto a collage background that is created by using various papers and watercolor media.  The collage must align with the paper cutting to create the mood or effect intended. Finally, in addition to the underlying collage, I sometimes overlay on top of the paper cut additional decorative elements. I then print the images and hand apply them to cards."

Check out her website and shopping pages:
Nancy Michalak
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NancyMichalak?ref=shop_sugg
Fine Art America: http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/Nancy+Michalak/all

Halloween Mail Art

I fell in love with Wendy Wallin Malinow's Halloween mail art when I first saw it. What is mail Art ? It is a process where strangers (or friends) mail each other art, and in Wendy's case, "make art" out of mail.

Wendy grew up in a family of artists. Her dad was an architect, but also collected stamps and loved getting things in the mail. Her mom was a calligrapher and loved any kind of hand lettered forms. She has always loved drawing and painting. Early on, she made her own cards and faux stamps. She is an illustrator and has created commericial greeting cards, gift items, and books.

Wendy says "I love participating in swaps and pen pals. I'm currently working on altering vintage envelopes and postcards, mixing them up with vintage stamps and my own stamps. Some of my originals and prints are in my Etsy shop and my tumblr site."


Contact Wendy: 

Wendy Wallin Malinow eyefun@comcast.net
Etsy store: eyefun.etsy.com
Website: inkhead.tumblr.com

Got Mail Art? View or Contribute your own work to the Mail Art Gallery on this blog.

Photoshop and Illustrator Shortcuts

Here's a handy keyboard shortcut guide for photoshop by forgetfoo.com:

And here's one for Adobe illustrator that Patsy Coogan (see an example of her Halloween Dog on this blog!) She alerted me of on izazeyza blog.

Halloween Cards: Outside the Box

Here are some Halloween cards submissions that I found either unusual, interesting or fun.  Not your typical card.

A Halloween queen of everything scary!  Fun for looking at details.  

I could see children seeking out all the creepy images hidden in corners.  Great detail.

 I love the colors and textures, especially the swirly images at the bottom.  

You can feel the wind being stirred up by the ghosts!

 Artist who is REALLY thinking outside of the box.
Perfect card for a chef.

 

I can't help but feel this is the beginning of a great Halloween ghost romance.
I like the background texture mixed with the simplicity of the ghosts.

 Candy corn graphics in a new way:

Sock Puppets seems to be all the rage these days -- now they are popping up in Halloween cards!

Halloween Cards for Dog Lovers

LISA BELLA BRYSON

How could you not give your best candy to these trick-or-treaters?  

This dog wins best Halloween costume award.Adorable characters.  

PATSY COOGAN

I had one of those emotion "awww" responses when I saw this card by Patsy Coogan.  

I think the message is great!  Her website shows animals in other settings.

 FRONT:

 

INSIDE:

Patsy Coogan
www.for-you-flowers.com
Illustration - licensing


There's nothing like a candy corn fanged dog greeting you at the door!

Halloween Cards: Words-as-art

Here are cards by three artists that do a great job of mixing words into their art to make a Halloween card.

ALEX COLOMBO

 LEZLIE ELLIOT

SCARLETT GREETINGS

Halloween Card of the Day - Maureen Grigs

Here's a Halloween card by Maureen Grigs.

I like all the motion and detail in the image.

Unlike a scary Halloween cat, this cat is inviting and welcomes you -- a nice touch. 

Here's a close up:

I could see this cat character being used in additional ways for other holidays and occasions.

~

Halloween Cards by Wendy Wood

Here are some cute handmade Halloween cards submitted by Wendy Wood.  Check out her other cool Halloween cards on ETSY.

I think she has done a great job at making Halloween feel playful, and receiving one of these cards would indeed be special.

My only suggestion: I'm thinking she could easily raise her $3.50 price point, but perhaps in this "scary" economy she'll develop a fan club.  I'd also like to see her picture on her etsy page.  Who is this fun artist behind the art?

Do you have any additional comments for Wendy?

-Kate

 

Mixing Halloween with the Nightly News

Just got the yard decorated for Halloween.  Just like greeting cards, humor is best when the timing is right with current events.

 

Unusual Halloween Card - Revelle Taillon

This Halloween card by Revelle Taillon is very interesting.  I haven't seen anything quite like it.  A little mix of nostalgia, Edgar Allan Poe feeling and graphic textures. I particularly like the colors, even though they are not traditional Halloween colors.  A publisher might request the colors be changed, but would you change them if it was your card?

Revelle Taillon
Taillon Design

http://revelleimagemaker.blogspot.com/

ABOUT CARD REVIEWS: 
Periodically I will select a greeting card submitted to this blog and comment on it.  
If you would like your card considered, see guidelines for submissions.

--

Do You Have a Halloween Card?

If you are an artist and have a Halloween Card Design, I am looking for submissions to feature on this blog during October.  *Please submit all art according to guidelines page and please put BLOG HALLOWEEN CARD SUBMISSION in the subject line. Thanks so much!

If selected, your card will be posted on this blog which has over 30,000 visitors and subscribers a month!  I post a high percentage of the submissions I receive.

 ARTIST PATTI GAY

Here's a colorful Halloween card by artist Patti Gay.  I can see this one jumping out from the card rack.

Visit her website www.pattigay.com  and blog http://pattigay.blogspot.com 

Halloween meets Earthquakes

Well it's been a scary week, so putting Halloween decorations in the front yard seems appropriate.

We are having multiple earthquakes at all hours of the day here in Berkeley, the most recent one happened at 5:30 this morning. Local officials have warned us for years that we are way overdue for a huge earthquake and most of us have a stash of survival supplies in our backyards.

Earthquakes are a continual reminder to ask "what really matters to me?"

While I can philosophize about the answer to that question on a calm day, life becomes raw reality in the middle of an earthquake.

As an artist, some of us may have thousands of designs stored on our computers, and even though I have online backup storage, I still found myself grabbing my laptop and running out the front door with it, which made me realize how much of our life is on the computer (and how heavy a laptop becomes when you run with it).

What about you? What is the first thing you would grab on the way out the door?

(Leave comment below)

-Kate

Simple but Vibrant Halloween Cat Card

Here's a cute Halloween card by Vermont Artist Dale Coykendall. See more of her art on etsy.

Amazing Halloween cards

Check out this etsy artist who makes hand cut halloween cards:

Halloween Fonts to Download

Check out this article at Underworld Magazine blog:

Halloween Tombstones Based on Tech News

Halloween is my favorite holiday because it involves decorating...and I know that most artists love creating Halloween costumes and art.

This week I've been working on making humorous tombstones for my front yard. I'm looking at what is going on in the tech and science world. Since tech news changes faster than any other news, it's easy to find products that have "died" or are flops all the time.

Several things have happened this month: Customers are unhappy with certain tech companies (Netflix raised prices, HP is going through it's 8th CEO in a decade, and they dropped supporting their operating system WebOS) and physics is challenging Einstein's theory of the speed of light.

Mail Art Gallery

Do you do "mail art"? 

Mail Art is a process where strangers (or friends) mail each other handmade art on the back of a postcard. Here are some examples of mail art I have received or discovered. 

My Bulletin Board of Mail Art

eyefun /Wendy Wallin Malinow

IMGirl

JessicaHicklin

StreamStitchin
pamholladay.blogspot.com/

 

HeARToftheMagpie 



 

Julia Laing, Materialized

tidbitsandscraps

See more of Mim Scalin mail art here.

3elizabeths

 

HOW TO DO MAIL ART:

 
Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art 

 The term “mail art” refers to pieces of art sent through the mail rather than displayed or sold in traditional venues. Mail artists often use inexpensive and recycled materials including postcards, collage, rubber stamps, and photocopied images. Mail art is a fun way to connect with people in every corner of the globe. Readers will learn to create decorated and illustrated envelopes, faux postage and artistamps, find penpals, make a mail art kit, and much more!