Sunday, October 20, 2013

Plan for the Year Ahead with 2014 Calendars

Every year at Christmas, my sister in law creates a calendar using her digital artwork, has it printed out and then sends it to family and friends as Christmas gifts. I've often thought about doing something similar (although not sending to the same family and friends, lol)

But I've always been held back by the thought that I don't have 12 images that follow a theme, or are the right size and orientation for use in a 12-page calendar.

Recently I saw some great single page calendars on Zazzle and realized this was something I could do! After checking in the Zazzle forums, I found that a fellow Zazzler had created a free 2014 calendar template and made it available at http://www.gatterwe.com/2012/06/07/free-calendar-2014-template/

So, after spending a lovely morning out in the garden today, I spent the afternoon playing around with some of my digital renderings and photographs and made some calendars with them.
The first one I did was with one of my earlier artworks, "Rainy Day at the Lake". It took me a few tries to get the layout correct and I had a different, but distracting background to start with. I'm happier with the final version.


The next one I did used a more recent artwork, "Country Lane in Fall". I selected a plain brown background and then added a lighter block so that the dates would be easy to read.



After making a couple of posters, I saw on another Zazzler's store that they had used the acrylic block "awards" to make calendars with, so I thought I would give it a try. I really love how this came out, although I fear that in reality, the text may be too small to read on in the finished product!



I'm not done with these yet -- I think several of my artworks and many of my photos would work as calendar posters, but that's for another day.

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As I mentioned earlier, I was inspired to create these calendars by other Zazzle designers, so let's have a look at some of the 2014 calendars now.

Zazzle designer Bebops lives in upstate New York, so she is surrounded by beautiful scenery and at this time of year, wonderful fall colors. I love this calendar she made with a fine art photograph of a red barn surrounded by fall foliage. She has enhanced the photo to give it a painterly feel.

Red Barn in Autumn 2014 Calendar Poster
Red Barn in Autumn 2014 Calendar Poster by Bebops
Browse through more Posters, Art & Prints at Zazzle.com


Fantasy lovers will appreciate this beautiful "Enchantment and Fantasy" calendar, featuring the fantasy artwork of Rachel Anderson. This 12 month calendar is fully customized with matching artwork on the date pages, which really makes it look attractive.



Scenic photographs are popular for calendars, such as this "Colorado Scenic Calendar" featuring photos of Colorado by Cameron Miller.



Here's another calendar that reminds me of our summer road trip vacation -- this one has a photo of Donner Lake, which we saw as we went through the Rockies (although it wasn't snowy when we drove through!). I especially like that the designer, dlgray, has framed with a blue that matches the deep blue of the lake.



 This calendar from the Calendar Shoppe features beautiful fine art landscape and seascape paintings.



My husband and I are planning a trip to Scotland next spring, so I was happy to find this lovely calendar featuring a variety of beautiful views from around the Scottish coast and countryside from Zazzle designer Treadsoftly. Includes: Highland cow by a loch; Dunnottar castle; sunrise and moonrise on the Isle of Skye; fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife; and more images from rural Scotland. It would make a lovely Scottish souvenir to remind you of your vacation or tour.



Here's another 12 month single page poster style calendar, similar to the style I made. This one is from MuseMagic and features a lovely autumn lakeside scene.

2014 Autumn Lake Scene Poster Calendar
2014 Autumn Lake Scene Poster Calendar by MuseMagic
Check out 2014 Posters online at zazzle


Well as always, I could go on forever, there are so many great calendars on Zazzle (and I'll be adding some more of my own). But now it's your turn. If you are a designer on Zazzle, you are invited to add a link to your 2014 calendars in the Linky Tool below. Use Option 1 in the Link Widget on the page of the Zazzle product/design you'd like to add. It will show up below as a small thumbnail and when clicked on, will link directly to your product.

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Beauty of Fall

Fall is my favorite season.  After six months of the heat and humidity of a Texas summer I am more than ready for a change.  I love fall colors, although we don't get too much of that down here, and of course, I love feeling that (very slight) chill in the air.

When I think about it, a disproportionate amount of my artwork features fall scenes.

Here's my latest artwork, "Country Lane in Fall", which is available as a poster, as well as on numerous different products, such as this mousepad.

Last week, I wrote a post on my Art by Jayne Wilson blog about how I created this image in the 3D graphics program, Vue.


One of my favorite fall-themed artworks is "Autumn Companions". It's seen here with a wonderful quote from Elizabeth Lawrence, "Even if something remains undone, everyone should take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."



This is another autumn scene, Autumn by the Lake, which depicts a deserted lakehouse, surrounded by trees with turning leaves. All the summer visitors have gone home, leaving only the rowboat tied to the dock.


On a more whimsical note, this sweet Autumn Fairy is a departure from my usual style of art. Earlier in the year I did a number of fantasy artworks, of which this was one.

There are so many gorgeous autumn themed designs on Zazzle, I hardly know where to start. I'll just show you a few that caught my eye and then I'll let you have a turn.

My first selection is "Autumn Stillness," a poster from Zazzle designer HopefulOne, a very serene scene of a pathway leading through woodland.

This canvas print, "Tree Story" from yesterdaysgirl looks like tryptych with three side by side images of a tree through the seasons.


Couples planning to get married in Fall will love this colorful Fall Wedding invitation from pics4weddings. It features colorful yellow, red and orange leaves falling into a river and is easily customized with your own wedding details.

Or perhaps you're planning a fall baby shower. There are hundreds of selections on Zazzle, including this one from OrangeOstrichDesigns.


A great way to bring some autumn color in to your home is with this Autumn Leaves Are Falling Throw Pillow by Zazzle designer CustomPro.

Imagine sitting on the deck of your lake house in autumn, taking in the panorama of the fall colors around you and sipping hot coffee from your Lake House Personalized Coffee Mug! What a great idea from pamdicar!
As always, I could go on and on but I'll wrap it up here. Now it's your turn. If you are a designer on Zazzle, you are invited to add a link to your fall or autumn-themed designs in the Linky Tool below. Use Option 1 in the Link Widget on the page of the Zazzle product/design you'd like to add. It will show up below as a small thumbnail and when clicked on, will link directly to your product.