Christmas Market #2 - Galumptious Goodies from all over the World!

Today more artists and designers from all over the world present samples of their exclusive 'Galumptious Goodies'  to make your Christmas shopping more enjoyable!

Beginning with:

Countrymouse Studio from British Columbia, Canada

I create watercolor paintings of birds or animals. Love of nature drives me to create and humor makes the journey worthwhile so if you love nature and have a sense of humor you should enjoy your shopping experience. 

My store has unique, customizable giftware: T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, travel mugs, stickers, tote bags, shoes, ornaments etc.

Countrymouse's Zazzle Store

  

Custom Watercolor Dragonfly Kindle Keyboard Cases by countrymousestudio


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Diana Ting Delosh from New York


Diana is an illustrator living in the suburbs near NYC. She loves animals and nature which is why they are the subject of many of her whimsical ink and watercolor illustrations.

Diana's Zazzle store

2014 Animal Fair Calendar by deloshdesigns

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Mi Jung Lee from Seattle, Washington

I am a surface pattern designer living in Seattle, Washington.  I love to create designs with a unique feel for beautiful living.  Antonio Gaudi, Parisian iron work and Spanish tiles have propelled inspiration for much of my work.

Mi Jung Lee's website

 

'Swish' Coffee Mug


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Carol Allen Anfinsen from Florida, US

I have had a lifelong career as a freelance writer and a second career as an artist. I sell prints, giclees, greeting cards and originals online.   I have also been an avid Popeye collector and adore the charming characters and toys created by King Features Syndicate, Inc. If you’re looking for something fun and unusual for holiday gifts, try an Olive Oyl Puppet, or an original inlaid Popeye Puzzle or a bendable Popeye doll. Christmas and Valentine cards are also available in my Etsy shop.

Carol's website

Popeye and Olive Oyl

1978 Twister Dolls

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Boriana Giormova from Sofia, Bulgaria

CUTE and STRANGE CREATURES

I draw funny creatures and design stuff. 

I have two wonderful kids which inspire me and I love to read books and to play video games.

Boriana's Zazzle store

Evil Christmas Bug With Present Cards by borianag

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Andrea Rincón, from Mexico, living in Spain

Hello!! My name is Andrea Rincón, my friends call me Anchobee. I’m a Mexican designer living in Spain. I’m passionate about surface pattern design and illustration. I would describe my work as hand drawn, contemporary and bold, organic patterns. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy doing it!

Anchobee's website

http://www.posterjunkies.com/product/anchobee-honey/

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FLORALS by FRED from Southern California

I’m a 50 something retired municipal worker who decided to do something with a lifelong passion, photography. I enjoy many different styles of photography, florals and landscapes are a specialty. Choose from a large variety of floral and landscape posters, wall art and canvas photo art, T shirts, greeting cards and many other products to enjoy and treasure for years to come. I also take requests.

Fred's Zazzle Store

Merry Christmas Snowmen Card by FloralbyFred

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Jessica Lewis from Swansea, South Wales

I am a Graphic and Surface Pattern Designer who loves traditional crafts like knitting and crochet. I particularly like creating items for little people and each item is made to order with love and care. I like tea and Ballroom dancing when I'm not curled up with a crochet hook.

   Jess's Etsy Shop

Toddler or Baby Cute Crotchet Bear Hat in cream and brown

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Sherry Harris from the High Desert of Los Angeles County, California

I'm a stay at home grandmother, awaiting the arrival of my first great-grandson any day. I've been married for 41 1/2 years to the same man. I have two children and six grandchidren...five on earth and one in Heaven. I sell Digital Collage Sheets for Busy Crafters. I find images so they don't have to. I've been selling digital collage sheets on Etsy, Artfire and the Website for over five years as well as greeting cards, as below. I've been a crafter since childhood and love helping others find what they need.

Snowman Christmas Card by kreativesentiments
 

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Fliss Braham from the UK

I am a digital designer; my work is on many products, phone cases, fashion bags, wedding and party invitations, art posters prints, personalized gifts and more. I have designs in many styles but tend to go for quirky, cute and whimsy; think it must be because I am still a kid at heart.

Fliss's Zazzle Store - Flissitations

Cute Carol Singer Snow Scene Company Holiday Cards by Flissitations


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Judy Adamson from Abergavenny, Wales, UK

I am an English grandmother, living in beautiful Wales and enjoying working as a self-employed painter, illustrator, surface pattern designer and blogger. 

Even after nearly four years of selling online, I still find it ridiculously exciting to see my patterns on products in stores such as Zazzle! My newest store, 'Posh & Painterly' focuses on shopping by 'collection'. If you see a pattern you like but it's not on the product you want, just contact me through the store and I'll create what you need in double quick time and at no extra cost!

Posh & Painterly on Zazzle

Giftwrap Magenta, Blue, Purple Stripes Pattern Gift Wrap Paper by poshandpainterly
 

I hope this selection of Galumptious Goodies, brought to you by artists and designers from all over the world, has given you some ideas for your Christmas shopping!

Guest Post by Illustrator/Author Diana Ting Delosh

Our guest post this week is an 'email interview' with Diana Ting Delosh, illustrator and author, whose work I have very much admired ever since I discovered it a couple of years ago.

Diana also designs wonderful greeting cards and she has stores at Greeting Card Universe and Zazzle. And you can see more of Diana's work on her website and blogs - links at the foot of this post.





My first question for Diana was:

Why did you choose Illustration as a profession?
'I had always thought that I would go into biology, because I loved animals, until one fateful day in high school biology class when we were supposed to kill and dissect a bullfrog. That was the day I realized I’d better think of something else. As I had been doodling since I was two, being an artist was an obvious choice but what type of artist?  As a child my first exposure to art was through picture books and one of my favorite artists is the illustrator, author Beatrix Potter. Choosing to be an illustrator seemed a natural choice. My training however was a bit circuitous. At the time when I went to school, few colleges offered illustration as a major. So I studied commercial art and took extra illustration classes.'

What did you gain from your Art Training?
'As I was schooled  in the pre-computer era - we were expected to be able to draw everything. No Googling for clip art allowed. So along with design, typography and life drawing classes, we just drew everything. A big part of my art/design education was the group crit. Basically we all displayed our work in front of the class and the teacher and your peers, sometimes humorously, many times cruelly, deconstructed your efforts. This ritual was done weekly in every class. As students we derived a perverse pleasure from surviving our crits as well as dishing them out. The crit did force you to do your very best for each assignment, gave you a discerning eye, taught you how to express why something worked or didn’t work for you and finally helped give your ego a thicker skin'.

Why do you like to work in Ink & Watercolor?
'I create my whimsical illustrations with ink line and “watercolor”. I actually use colored ink as I prefer the intensity of the pigments. I use a Rapidiograph pen to draw my ink line on watercolor paper and then brush in the color. While I have experimented with a few other mediums, this is the one I feel I can get the most range of expression and is the most comfortable for me.'

Animals feature in most of your illustrations and greeting card designs. Is there a particular reason for this?
'Animals play a big part in my personal illustrations. As I noted earlier, Beatrix Potter is my favorite illustrator and as a child I imitated her rabbits until they became part of my own image vocabulary. Early in my illustration career I freelanced for a few greeting card companies. Greeting card companies prefer florals and animal art because people are just too specific. Animals can represent a type. The audience could see themselves as the sweet rabbit or cat but the very specific women with freckles would be limiting. So I created more florals and animals. Yes, I do draw people but I prefer animals because they can be more empathetic and universal'.

Of all the projects you have worked on to date, can you pick out one that is your favourite?
'My favorite illustration projects have been those that I have learned from. I have found that a good editor or art director can bring the best out of you and lead you to a higher artistic level. My own self-directed projects can also be challenging but I find that I usually just have a lot of fun with them. Which is just fine as not everything has to be a learning experience.'

What are you working on at the moment and what are you hopes and plans for the future?
'Currently I’m shopping around a manuscript for a picture book along with a few finished illustrations to publishers. I would love for this project to become a reality.'

'The 2 illustrations posted here are from that story.' 

Diana, I would like to thank you very much indeed for finding the time, from amongst your busy schedule, to answer my queries. I'm sure that reading about your experience as an illustrator will be both helpful and inspiring to others. And I wish you well with your current project and look forward to hearing that it has indeed 'become a reality'!

Diana Ting Delosh
Illustrator
Website: http://dianadelosh.com
Blogs: http://dtdelosh.blogspot.com
http://arthareswares.blogspot.com

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