2015 Calendar by Shalom Schultz Designs

My 2015 Calendar is online! This year I wanted to focus on encouragement and positivity so I chose 12 simple phrases for each month and matched it with my original artwork to help convey the message. Available in printed form as a desktop or hanging calendar and also as a digital download.

Click here to purchase.2015 Calendar by Shalom Schultz Designs

© Shalom Schultz. All rights reserved.

Shop Additions: Upcycled Earrings

It's fun to watch my shop filling up with cute little gems like these...hoping they will find their way into someone's stocking this Christmas. I just wish I had more time for making them. Most of these earrings contain elements that have been upcycled from old jewelry and probably have a story of their own to tell.  If anyon'e interested you can find them here.

 Genuine turquoise nugget (upcycled from old jewelry) and silver-tone wire drop earrings. (to buy)

Sterling silver rose-patterned beads (upcycled from old jewelry), and silver-tone beads and wire, dangling earrings. (to buy)

Pink-toned mother of pearl, silver-tone beads and silver-tone wire drop earrings. (to buy) 

 Sterling silver rose-patterned beads (upcycled from old jewelry), black glass beads and silver-tone wire drop earrings. (to buy)

Iridescent mother of pearl, silver-tone beads and silver-tone wire drop earrings. (to buy)

Making Mini Display Pillows

 We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful Independence Day yesterday, so I supposed it's only fitting that today is cool and cloudy with more thunderstorms onthe horizon. Still, it's a nice opportunity to just relax indoors after all the excitement. A good day for a long bath (for the little one) while I work on my next sewing project. I made these 'LOVE' pillows back in February for my Valentines display and I want to make more like them for my Etsy shop. I also like the words 'HOME' and 'NEST'. Any other suggestions for words you'd like to see on display in your home?

Me getting some work done while my son takes his bath (sometimes it's the only way - haha!). I'm fraying the edges of the 'O' by pulling the outer threads loose with a straight pin and then trimming the ends.

New BLOOMing artwork and a summer sale!

 In between gardening projects, I finally found time to finish my 'Bloom Where You're Planted' prints and list them in my Etsy shop. This is the 1st piece of brand-new artwork I've created since before I got pregnant with my son (over 3 years ago). Woot! Woot! To celebrate, I'm offering 15% off all purchases from my shop (with Coupon Code: BLOOM. Good through the end of August). Happy Day!!! :)

Shalom Schultz  Designs on Etsy

Bloom Where You're Planted...Finished the Sketch Today

So this is what I've accomplished in the past 2 weeks since I posted the photo of my partial sketch. I have to say, I was definitely motivated by all your encouragement to continue working on it in whatever pockets of time I could find (15 minutes here...30 minutes there...). So thanks again! The next steps to finishing the art piece, now that it's been scanned, are for me to move and re-size portions of the drawing digitally until I have the layout exactly where I want it (this is where it helps to be a graphic designer). Then I will print it out, VERY carefully trace over it with a fine art ink pen, then re-scan it again and digitally color it so I can offer it in different color combinations. After all that, Voilà! It will be done...hopefully before the end of the summer. :)

INSTANT Modern Art...your kids can do!

I'd like to highlight a new artist I've just discovered...my son!! Connor is 2 1/2 and LOVES to create with anything I put in front of him. Earlier this week he did watercolors and paper mosaics for the first time and suddenly I knew what to do with that barren spot on the wall in my kitchen. I hung up a bulletin board and then tacked up his artwork so it overlapped the board by 2-3" on all sides (thicker paper like card stock works best as it won't curl on the edges). The result is one big, colorful, abstract art piece and it looks AWESOME if I do say so myself. I know I'm a bit biased, but it's just such a cheerful pop of color now where there once was nothing but a phone jack we don't use anymore. Just around the corner is a dark hallway that could also use some sprucing up...can't wait to see what my baby comes up with next! 

Sneak Peak...NEW Flower Art Coming Soon!!

It's been a while (read: several years) since I've sat down with pencil and paper and actually created something brand new...to say that life got in the way is a major understatement. But now that I'm getting back in the swing of things I've decided I want to take my shop in a 'new' direction. Get back to my 'roots', so to speak, and do more of what I've always loved about art (like drawing!) and less of what I didn't love so much (like doing the same thing over and over and over again). The nice thing about starting over is that I no longer feel constrained by the need for a steady income. I don't have to keep doing something I don't enjoy just because it sells well. Of course, I want my shop to make money. But this time I won't let that stop me from doing what makes me happy.
. . .
So anyway...this is a drawing I am working on that I hope will turn into a line of new hand-drawn prints, featuring beautiful & whimsical artwork mixed with inspiring quotations. This one will read, "Bloom Where You're Planted", which has become the mantra of my life.

Rings for Spring!! Fun and Whimsical Vintage Button and Bead Jewelry

For the past 2 weeks, I've been focusing my creativity on making fun & whimsical rings from vintage buttons I've collected and from my ever-growing collection of beads. Of course, I couldn't help, but set aside of few of my favorites to keep for myself, but I finally got the rest of them photographed, edited, and listed in my Etsy shop. Please take a look and let me know what you think!