hearts ♥

happy Valentine's day! *new pelican with umbrella print* and much more in my Etsy art print shop- Patrician Prints. now go eat some chocolate (or homemade vegan fudge carob cake, as i am ;) xoxo

special orders and owl kings

the month has been whizzing by! i've been busy with my art prints and special orders, like the group above i just completed- 3 christmas bear ornies ('member these? revisit the original gang here).

a special order for a white bear inspired by a childhood imaginary friend ♥

 and more imaginary friends... my latest original mixed media art print just released today: Owl King Twins. available in my Patrician Prints Etsy shop!  

now i'm off to pick up a few last minute ingredients for thanksgiving tomorroooow. xoxo

parisian delights + recipe + new print

here's a few belated photos from our trip to Paris/ post-Hugglets. we stayed with our friend Melanie and her 2 cats in her petite apartment.  i know it is SO evil of me to post these pictures of a typical French breakfast...but a healthy alternative follows :) from her neighborhood bakery: fresh croissants, pain chocolat, pain aux raisin, the made-by-the-devil Nutella (spread on crepes, bread), soft brioche (similar to callah here in the states), juice and coffee. the manufactured Nutella isn't very healthy (as i said, made by the devil) plus it has nuts which i'm allergic to...but that chocolately smooth texture had me jonesing to make my own version soon as we got back to chicago.

  

viola! healthy, vegan, better-than-nutella! i substituted with almonds. made in a matter of minutes. recipe via chocolate covered katie. it is heavenly spread on multigrain or sourdough toast, with a lot less guilt.

the ladies swooned over the macarons at Laduree. the rose & caramel were my favorites. i never had a macaron before, so where a better place than Paris to try my first!

which inspired my new print: elephant eating macarons! there are a few more fun elephant prints now available in my etsy print shop.

enjoy the weekend! it's rain, rain, rainy here. ☂

Oh Deer! New Mixed Media Art Prints

holy smokes, it's August already! that means the final crunch until Hugglets UK show in September. i'm working on exciting *new bears* for you this month, so there will be a big August update! whoo hoo!

in between stitches, i've also added new prints to my art shop. i must share with you my latest deer prints...Christmas Deer on Skates and Lets Play Ball Deer. they're a bit different being mixed media print with real acrylic paint on top of the antique English dictionary book page for a lovely effect. oh, it's good to be painting again! my mixed media prints come signed "PP" and dated.

i was toying with the idea of starting a blog for Patrician Prints, but think it's just too much to juggle.. so be sure to visit my little print paradise often to see what's new!

have a wonderful wednesday ☺

my new art print shop!

after a long hiatus, i am happy to be making art prints again! this time around i'm offering my prints in it's own dedicated Etsy shop, due to the volume of designs i have available. currently over 100 designs! the name of my print shop is another "PP"... Patrician Prints! Patricia is my american birth name, so it just made good sense :) thanks to my brother for thinking that up. PPrints had its grand opening last month, but i kept it hush hush til i had enough prints to make an official announcement to you today!

the images are my original collage/ montage designs printed with archival pigment inks on upcycled antique dictionary and book pages... so each print is one of a kind! feel good knowing these are eco-friendly and make great gifts. to read more about what's behind Patrician Prints, visit my etsy "about me" page for the whole story.

so without further ado, click here to be transported to my print paradise! hope you love them!

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PatricianPrints

etsy treasury ~ charmed

hey! remember my art prints? i've totally neglected my 2-d art, and my fancy archival ink printer. but i do have some prints ready to go, like my old favorite *the silver squirrel* which is featured in etsy treasury "charmed" -curated by a very talented lady, dawn of laTouchables.

tomorrow is the 10th which = PFATT marketplace november update! check back tomorrow to see what cutie pie will be showcased.

signing off... and heading outside to enjoy this california-esque weather chicago is having! the gods have smiled on us :)

The New Redheads

My post title would make a good rock band name, yes? I'm giddy about my latest prints, the Redheaded Pillow Children. Girl and Boy are now up in my shop, available individually- though they also make a fetching set (I kinda planned it that way :o).
These illustrations are printed on archival 8.5x11" matte paper with archival pigment inks. *Watermark will not appear on your print.

I love the faux bois (wood grain) on the boy. Do take a peek!

Have a relaxing Monday evening! xoxo

Best Friends Treasury

Such a nice thing happened today. Just the sorta thing I needed to boost my spirits as I've been struck with a bad case of stomach virus, which has kept me bedridden all day.
chyrls put together a lovely Etsy treasury about Best Friends, and my print of the same title is featured! chyrls, what a sweetheart, and her shop is super cute (I love her miniature cards).

This is about all the typing I can do, will check in later when I'm feeling 100%.

Thank god Rob stayed home from work to monitor me. A best friend indeed ;o)

Happy Earth Day & SALE!

Happy Earth Day to you!

In Celebration of Earth Day (and Mother's Day approaching), I'm having a special offer in my Etsy shop this weekend only March 28-29:

Buy One Art Print, get One Art Print FREE!! Sale had ended, thank u! No limits, your choice :) If you've had an inkling or curiosity about my art prints, or would like to give someone a nice gift, now is a perfect time. No promo code needed, I will send a revised invoice.

http://pengpengs.etsy.com

~ and remember:

Earth Hour is tonight, Saturday March 28, at 8:30pm local time wherever you live on the planet Earth. "Vote Earth" by turning off your lights for one hour :)

I'm looking forward to Earth Hour, I hope all the little houses in my neighborhood will be cozy and dark (except for those dang city street lights!).

for more info:
http://www.earthhour.org

Have a glorious, green weekend!
xo, Peng Peng

A HOOTenanny of New Prints!

"mama", 8"x10"

"Hoot", 8"x10"

"Buddha Bear in the Pom Poms", 8"x10"

These new prints are a bit of an experiment that turned out quite delightfully. They are prints of original ink illustrations on brown paper bag, then digitally colored. The brown bag's texture, seams, and speckled irregularities add interest to the print. The images have a naive saw-toothed edge, so the effect is like a whimsical matte board!
Each measures 8"x10" for easy framing, just pop 'em in! Note: the watermark does not appear on the actual print ;)

Oh, and they're available now in my shop.

Gosh, it's Wednesday already! I've got a Miss Marple DVD to enjoy tonight. Can't resist a good mystery :) xo

Hidden Paradise

I think everyone needs a special hidden paradise to escape the world now and then.

"Hidden Paradise (the Red Horse)" is an original painting by me, 17.5"x14", acrylic on canvas, 2002 or 2003, so this predates my bear making! From my personal collection, and now I'm sharing "paradise" with you as a reproduction print, available in my Etsy shop.

A bit of Pengy trivia (I mentioned this before in a previous post) is that my website was once my art/ painting website, prior to bear making. So things have come full circle once again, or rather, things have begun to merge. I'm happy to be involved in 2D, 3D, and points in between. Exploring, experimenting, revisiting, rethinking.

Around the time I painted this, Rob and I had visited "true life" paradise, in a remote part of Costa Rica (I barely made it out alive, but that is another story!). On our first day, while being led through rain forest jungle, our tour guide said something I often think of: "Every day, regeneration".

Isn't that a wonderful thought? Every day is anew, every day invites creation.

Fresh Greens

Our Friday IKEA trip was fruitful & exhausting (per usual). By the time we made it to the bottom level for rugs we were delirious with decision making. After much deliberation (and pining over the $1000+ handwoven Turkish rugs that are WAY WAY out of our budget), we finally chose the EGEBY sisal rug with green border to grace our home (2 of 'em). Now that we have the rugs down, our living areas feel more like well, a living area, rather than a dusty construction zone pass-through. Now we all know rugs are intended to protect the floor from wear, but funnily enough we've been tip-toeing around the rugs as if not to spoil them. Silly, right? In a few days the newness will wear off and they'll be surely 'broken in' ;o)

Another IKEA score, the RIBBA frames. I think they're pretty handsome in the black. My letter-sized prints fit perfectly and looks great with their matt board. BTW, that's a new print in my shop entitled "Jade Buddha", ain't he sweet?

Those are my fresh greens for today! toodle-loo!

Two More Today

"Pebbles" Print

"My Best Friend" Print

Behind all of my illustrations are inspirations. You can read about these 2 new prints (and others) in my Etsy shop.

We have the rest of an Errol Flynn DVD to watch tonight. And if that runs out, there's an episode of Secret Agent aka Danger Man (my "second husband" Patrick McGoohan, who passed away last month... the news completely crushed me).

Enjoy your evening, or day, depending when you tune into my blog :O)

Yay! New Prints in the Shop!

"The Black Cats"

"Little Pots"

"The Rouge Rabbit"

These 3 new prints are now in the shop.
My veggie quiche is just about ready to come out of the oven (and a bottle of Yellow Tail awaits :) Have a great evening!

and the lucky Winner is....

(gong sound) Katie Anderson! Please stand up and take a buddha bow! You have won the miniature buddha bear figurine!! Please email me, peng[at]peng-peng.com, so I can send it to you.

Congrats to Katie and big hugs to everyone for your inspiring zen/zen-like quotes... it was a lovely read. And since you guys made it so fun I think there will be another giveaway in the future (horray!) ;O)

Now, I have lots of goodies to show you! I'm really really (that's *2* really's) excited about the new projects I've been working on and here they are:

Firstly,

There will be a *new* batch of mini buddha bear figurines posted in the shop this weekend. One bearded, and all behatted (to protect their tiny heads from the chills :).

Secondly, BIG news: PRINTS PRINTS PRINTS! Of the art variety! I have been dying to show you my illustrations/ art prints and finally the moment has arrived. Here are a few:







These prints are from my original drawings then digitally colored. The ones shown here and others will be available in my Etsy shop beginning this weekend or soon as tonight. These prints measure convenient 8x10" or 8.5x11" for easy framing. I am thrilled to be offering professional quality, archival prints in delicious pigment inks (the best!).

Hope you like!
Have a fabulously fun Friday :)