A New Year!!

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and wish you all a happy new year! I'm really glad the holidays are over and my work load has slowed down a little bit. :) Here are the commissions I finished this month!

1. Kellie

 

(yeah, I'm not that good at sketching houses...)

Kellie and her family recently moved to a new home, so she wanted to include their house in the border. They have the cutest girls and she wanted maple leaves for the border. :)

2. Liat

Liat wanted a portrait of her friend and her husband and their dog as a gift. She told me that their dog, Hemi, passed away recently and he was very special to the couple. I love learning about families I draw and what makes them unique, especially when I can portray that in my portraits to make them more special for my customers!

3. Tom

Tom found me on Etsy and he was so excited to get a family portrait from me. They have a son they've adopted from China and two little cute dogs. I meet some of the nicest, most generous people via my Etsy shop, and it's one of the greatest blessings of my work!

4. Katie

Katie McCaslin commissioned me for two different portraits: one for her 83-year-old dad of all of his grandchildren, and another one with the grandkids surrounding the grandparents. I love doing portraits like this that bring people together who may not be able to take pictures together. How thoughtful is Katie for doing this for her parents!? :)

5. Sarah

Sarah ordered this portrait of her friend and her dog because her friend was going to have a surgery and she wanted to give her a gift. I don't know the details, but knowing that Sarah was flying out to see her friend before her surgery, I'm sure they're the best of friends and that this gift will mean a lot to her friend. :)

6. Crystal

I honestly didn't expect to work with so many families with pets. But I love seeing families with pets and it makes me really want to get a dog (or two) as well. My husband wants to get a dog more than a baby, so we'll see who wins. ;)

7. Kristine

Did you notice how in the sketch she's holding the dog but later he's in front of them? That's because at first I didn't know how big their dog actually is just by looking at the picture they gave me:

I'm not very familiar with dog breeds, so I thought he was just a small dog at first! haha

8. Amanda

Amanda asked for bright, colorful flowers for the border, and mentioned that if anyone should be holding their cat, it would be her older daughter. :)

9. Shawn

I've mentioned a couple of times already, but I seriously love it when the husband/boyfriend commissions me to make their wife/girlfriend happy! Shawn has such a cute family with their baby boy and three cats!

10. Louisa

This was so darling. Louisa wanted a portrait of her with her two beautiful daughters. She loves the beach, so she wanted a coastal themed border. :)

11. Vanessa

Vanessa ordered this portrait for her friends and their two dogs. They're such a cute couple with amazing smiles, and I had so much fun drawing their dogs! Such personalities! :D

13. Stacey

Stacey had commissioned me before for Father's Day last year. This time she wanted a portrait of her son who is obsessed with Star Wars! So here's her son, Levi, as a Jedi. :)

14. Steven

Dogs are man's best friend, right?? Steven commissioned me for a portrait of him with his two beloved dogs, Juno & Koji. It was fun to draw such gorgeous dogs!

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This month I celebrated the first anniversary of my Etsy shop. Last year when I opened it, it was with great anxiety, fear, and a very low expectation. I was hoping to get maybe 10 commissions. Much to my surprise, I had a very successful year and received over 100 orders! Every time I'm still so humbled, excited, and happy to work with new and old customers, and it makes me SO HAPPY to make them happy. 

As always, thank you so much for your support and being on this journey with me. I couldn't do this without you, and I'm especially grateful for those that are close to me who were there for me whenever I was feeling down, frustrated, scared, hesitant, doubtful, and just plain dumb. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

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Here is a collection of my work from 2015:

And a map of all the places I received orders from (not including international orders):