For some people, Valentine’s day means roses and candy; for others it means Harlequin romances, dart boards and voodoo dolls.

While I was in school, we were given an illustration assignment to design a mock cover for the New Yorker. “Cry Day the 14th” was on the list of concepts that we could choose to illustrate from. I was never really happy with the painting that I made, but I loved this idea. So I decided to revisit it for this year’s Valentine’s Day post.

Thanks to my friend Derek, who kindly lent his photo for the dart board. This illustration will be available as a custom print where you can have your ex’s face put on the dart board! Or as a friend suggested of her own boyfriend, you could use a photo of your current partner if he proves to be a disappointing Valentine.

Hope you have a lovely afternoon and a very happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s hard to believe that these little sweetheart candies have been around since the 1840s. Some of the original sayings included “Married in pink, he will take a drink” and “Married in white, you have chosen right”. I love how Necco, the company who produces the hearts, is constantly updating the phrases and even apply suggestions from customers. I’ve included some of my favourites in this illustration. Hope you enjoy and have a great day!

There’s nothing that makes me feel more in touch with a “typical” Canadian experience than meeting people from other parts of the world. On a recent trip, I introduced some new friends to the old campfire classic, (and the only song that I can play on guitar and ukulele), “Land of the Silver Birch”. I love how Candiana has come into fashion in recent years. It was that combination of fashion and kitsch that inspired this illustration. The painting draws from the folk song’s lyrics and some the most common Canadian stereotypes. This piece was so much fun to make… I think that I may need to make it a series. What do you think?

Happy Chinese New Year! To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, I put together this illustration inspired by a beautiful friend of mine. I love all of the symbolism of the Chinese Lunar New Year and the palette of gold and red is one of my favourites. Here too are some of my favourite articles about the celebrations:

Read what’s in store for you in 2012 thestar.com.

Take a look at these gorgeous shots of New Year celebrations at Mail Online.

See how some of the world’s search engines marked the occasion at the Washington Post.

Finally, Warren Buffet welcomes the Chinese New Year on a ukulele on YouTube.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just a day away! One of my favourite new holiday traditions is making deliveries for last minute orders of cards, calendars and agendas on Christmas Eve. It gives me a chance to see old friends and their families in my hometown. And with the streets still clear of snow and ice, I’m going to be traveling by bike!

This year, I decided to thank my Kingston customers by giving away some fabulous prizes from local businesses in Kingston. The prizes in my “Home for the Holidays Giveaway” include: A copy of my 2012 Illustrated Agenda, a Gift Certificate for Dinner for 2 at Curry Original and a Gift Certificate to Bellagio Hair and Skin Care.
I entered everyone on my Kingston mailing list and used a random number generator to select the winners.

And the winners are…

A copy of my 2012 Illustrated Agenda: Sharon N.

Gift Certificate to Bellagio Hair and Skin Care: Suzy L.

Gift Certificate to Curry Original: Sarah S.

Winners will be contacted by email. Thank you for reading and best wishes for a very happy holiday!

Last Thursday, House of Angelis hosted my Art & Eggnog Event at Catwalk Boutique. The event was so much fun. Thank you to everyone who came out! Also thanks to Tiffany Brick, who took these lovely photos of the evening.

I hope that you are enjoying the holiday season! I just wrapped up a busy week that included my Art and Eggnog Show at Catwalk Boutique. The show was fantastic and I can’t wait to share the photos with you. But first, I’d like to introduce my 2012 Weekly Agenda. Here are the images that you will find in this year’s addition.

After receiving so many requests for a new addition of my Weekly Agenda, I decided to produce a limited run of them for 2012. The weekly agenda features 52 pages of weekly calendars, 12 full-colour illustrations, a monthly calendar, and note pages at the back. The agenda is bound with a thin, metal, coil binding and is printed on FSC certified paper.

If you are interested in ordering one, visit my Etsy Shop.

I will be raffling off a copy for members of my Kingston mailing list in a “Home for the Holidays Giveaway”. In addition to the agenda I will also be giving away a Gift Certificate for dinner for 2 at Curry Original and a hair cut with a senior stylist at Bellagio Hair and Skin Care. The winners will be announced on Saturday!

I am very excited to announce my Art and Eggnog event this Thursday, December 15th at Catwalk Boutique! The event is sponsored in part by the Entrepreneurship Centre and will showcase my illustrations, paintings and paper products, as well as all of the fabulous merchandise at Catwalk and Cybil Scott.

And since a party isn’t a party without prizes, we’re going to raffling off some fantastic ones including: 2 tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion at the K-Rock Centre; a Gift Certificate from Chez Piggy; a Gift Basket from Cooke’s Fine Foods; a 60-Minute Massage with Tiffany Brick, RMT; a Gift Certificate from Catwalk Boutique; As well as one of my prints and a 2012 calendar.

There will be cupcakes, cookies and eggnog of course! Things get underway at 6:30 at 65 Brock Street in Kingston. Hope to see you there!

Happy December! It’s officially time to crack out your advent calendars and to start the countdown
to Christmas! December is also a great time to start thinking about calendars of other sorts….
like the guilt-free, non-edible sort. So, today seemed like the perfect day to showcase my 2012
Wall Calendar!

The calendar is one of my favourite annual projects. Working on it gives me a chance to look back at
the year’s work; to extract, improve on and develop new work. Many of the pieces in this year’s calendar
are new. Some of the most fun were the Love, Cat Lady and Heartbreaker illustrations that gave me
a chance to get back to the basics and drawing with pencils.

Hope you like the end result! If you’re interested in ordering a 2012 wall calendar, come and visit my Etsy Shop.

This week, we had our first snowfall across Ontario and it really put me in the mood for the holidays. I don’t think I’ve experienced a white Christmas in years, but still, nothing feels more festive than the first snowfall. The snow is gone now, but my holiday spirit is not… It’s Black Friday after all. So, without further delay, I would like to introduce 4 new holiday cards that I created as part of the 2011 Holiday Collection.

This year’s additions are designed around some of my favourite holiday themes: cardinals and winter clothes; glittering holiday parties; kissing under mistletoe and skating under the stars (with reindeer watching, of course.) I hope you like these new additions!

The cards are available at select retailers and through my updated Etsy shop.

Have a fantastic weekend! And to my U.S. readers, Happy Thanksgiving!