weekend of shopping mayhem

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope you are warm and cozy and still under the influence of a delicious turkey induced coma! If you haven't seen on Instagram, I'm currently over in Utah with family. More or less off the grid too. There's no cell service back in the canyon and wifi only works around the house. So when we go off on 4-wheeler rides up the little winding trails, we are completely disconnected. And it's lovely!

I'm taking a quick break from the incredible technology silence to share a couple quick reminders! As I'm sure you know, today is the dreaded Black Friday. I have mixed feelings about this shopping day but there are some great deals out there to snatch up. 

Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday! This day is one of my favorite excuses to shop! Shopping combined with supported small businesses, hard to say no! Then Monday is Cyber Monday for all those last minute deals you may have missed (or opted to miss in order to stay home in pajamas!). 

I have some sales happening in the Notional Notions Etsy shop and the Sketchy Notions shop as well! If you're on the mailing list, you already got a head start on the sales but now everyone can get in on it! Until midnight on Monday, you can use the coupon THANKFUL20 for 20% off in BOTH shops! (This excludes custom work in the Etsy shop, sorry!)

Also! If you order over $40 worth of goodies in either shop, I'll throw in a set of Holiday cards for free! Hooray! There's also some other coupons in the Sketchy Notions shop. PRINTLOVE gets you any TWO large prints for $32! PEARLYLOVE will get you THREE pairs of Pearl Snap Earrings for $30, a nice way to knock out some of those stocking stuffers. My special listing for a pair of earrings, a card and a hand-printed pouch is still one of my favorites too! 

Happy early Holiday shopping guys! I hope you are able to find some gifts (maybe even for yourself!)

Have you found any killer deals? Any Etsy shops having amazing sales out there? 

bits & pieces and Monday goodness

Is anyone else kinda freaking out that it's already December? Christmas will be here in no time, then the New Year, then my birthday and Etsy shop anniversary! It will be my golden birthday (turning 26 on the 26th) so expect some sweet sales and giveaways! And then Valentine's Day...if making Christmas stuff on Halloween felt strange, I'm sure making heartsy stuff on New Years will feel just as weird!

Speaking of sales, it's Cyber Monday! Today only, I upped the ante on the discounts! If you use the code MONDAY20 you can get 20% off in both the Sketchy Notions and Notional Notions Etsy shops! There's no minimum order today but the coupon won't work on custom orders. So stock up on some hand-printed wrapping paper, Pearl Snap earrings, travel postcards and Holiday card specials! 

Here's a peek at what's been happening this past month according to Instagram...

1. Last month I had my first Holiday market in Santa Barbara at Monte Vista! It was really fun decorating and trying out some new booth arrangements. It went surprisingly well too! I had an awesome booth slave helper who kept me going and on top of everything all day! I really have some awesome friends. 

2. I don't think I've shared a photo of these babies on here yet but I started making some little Holiday gift tags. Aren't they cute? I think they look great with my hand-printed wrapping paper but I might be a bit biased...

3. I've been getting ready for my next market, a Holiday Open House at Koehler Winery. It's such a pretty spot here in the valley! I've been cranking out vineyard watercolors like a fiend but it's no easy task.

4. Not sure why it took me so long to carve up a stamp just for me! But I finally did! It looks pretty snazzy stamped across packages.

5. My family and I had an early Thanksgiving down in San Diego with my sister. I haven't spent much time down in San Diego before but I'd like to!

6. Remember these little books? They both found new homes! I love when my little books find new homes, it always feels like I'm sending my baby off to college or something...

7. I even made some little pouches to keep them safe! Make me want to sew up some printed scarves...

8. I'm still in love with these Thank You cards. I wish I could send one to all of you sweet readers and clients and followers. You make the hard days and long to-do lists so much easier! 

cyber friday business weekend extravaganza!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the day and feasting upon mountains of stuffing and mashed potatoes! I have a little surprise for you all, so snap out of that turkey coma...

I'm sure you're already aware of the craziness that starts tomorrow...Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. All of which adds up to the potential for a lot of insanity out in the shopping world, but also the chance of some sweet deals! Including in my own shops! 

Starting at 12:00 am on Friday November 29th until 11:59 pm Monday December 2nd, if you use the code WEEKEND15 you can get 15% your order in the Sketchy Notions shop and the Notional Notions Etsy shop! Huzzah! You have to purchase at least $20 worth of goodies, and I'm sorry but it doesn't apply to custom orders. But you can still snag some sweet goods, including the newest items in my shops...

1. World Traveler Postcard Set

2. Marigolds Blank Card Set

3. Blushing Denim II Mini Artist Book

4. Dark Posey OOAK Notebook

chelsea ward art & sketchy notions

All of the secretive work I have been working on these past few months is reaching the final reveal! It starts today with the reveal of my new personal art site, separate from the name Sketchy Notions. I loved that original site so much but building Sketchy Notions as a brand meant that I needed to sever the personal art ties to it. I am so excited to share my new personal art site: chelseawardart.com! 

So what will happen to sketchynotions.com? Right now, most of the site is still accessible so anyone that lands there knows what changes are happening. But if all goes according to plan today and tomorrow, that domain will become my new shop separate from my Notional Notions Etsy shop! Exciting, right? I will still have the Etsy shop for custom orders and one-of-a-kind  hand-made goodies, but the new Sketchy Notions shop will be the place to find prints of my travel art, holiday greeting cards, watercolor postcards and eventually a variety of other printed goods! 

To celebrate all of this, and the fact that today is Halloween (my favorite Holiday), you can now get 15% off my Etsy shop when you use the code "HALLOWEEN" at checkout! Snatch up some of my Day of the Dead skulls before they're all gone! I participated in a trunk show on Tuesday night and those cards were very popular! I'll be sharing the hand-printed Holiday cards and goodies in a matter of hours too! Time to dive back into the art bubble and get to work...

a notional notions sale!

The Notional Notions Etsy shop has been updated with all the new goodies I made in the last month! Lots of original illustrations already framed and a bunch of hand-bound mini books! I had a lot of fun photographing everything, especially using daisies from my booth this past  weekend and my mini bud vases as props! 

And to celebrate how fully stocked it is (34 items! The most I've ever had at one time!) I have a SALE for you! Not only are all the framed original mini illustrations marked down but if you spend $20 or more and use the code JUSTFORKICKS at checkout, you will get %15 percent off your order! (with the exception of custom orders...sorry!) Pick up some cute little illustrations for a late Mother's Day gift, or for a Graduation present or get a combo of some hand-printed cards and a pair of Pearl Snap Earrings! So many possibilities...

Hand-printed Fat Leaves Artist Book

Leaf Wreath Framed Original Illustration

Heart Doodle Framed Original Illustration

Mini Denim Artist Book

Teeny Heart Framed Original Mini mini Illustration

Spring Daisies Artist Book

I Love You So - Framed Original Mini Illustration

lately & a birthday sale!

The crazy 2 weeks of running about has come to an end! I think this week I will actually be able to sleep more than 2 consecutive nights in my own bed. I've accomplished a lot these past 2 weeks but there's still an epicly long list to finish, not including my 24 before 25 list... 

One of the things I've been doing lately required spending some time in Venice Beach. It doesn't take much to get me down to Venice, it's such a fun and quirky little corner of Los Angeles. And I could spend hours cruising the canals and dream house shopping. I snapped these instacracks  while I was down in Venice, then the third atop a mountain above Santa Barbara while I was showing my friends around California. 

But I mentioned a BIRTHDAY SALE... with my 25th birthday fast approaching (13 days to be exact!), I wanted to celebrate with a sale in my Etsy shops! So right now you can use the code BIRTHDAY25 in BOTH of my Etsy shops and get 15% off your order! This excludes book and illustration commissions in the Notional Notions shop but there are plenty of other goodies and prints to use it on!