An earlier update today as I have some time after going to the post office with a big pile of packages, mostly books from my degree that I'm selling on amazon at the moment because I'm seriously snowed under with stuff.  Has anybody else had an success selling on Amazon?  I'm moving books, albeit slower than I'd like but the commission they take is terrible; far more than ebay.  My accounts show that They're taking almost 50% of what the buyer is charged and I then have to pay postage, I'm just not sure where else to list them and I guess some money is better than a box of books I keep falling over.

I'm planning to get on with some more clay sculptures at some point but I've got a commission for a very large termite hill hide, from a leopard gecko keeper to get done.  I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to make it as it needs to have a base circumference of 26" and although I'd love to make it out of clay it's going to weigh a tonne if I do.

Onto an undiscovered artist since you didn't get one yesterday:

Courtney of Teal Stripes sells beautiful handmade books and pins.  

I've chosen to feature her because I love her unique, vibrant style.  Her books make me want to write and draw, it's all so exciting!  I'm the sort of person who likes nothing more than a clean sheet of paper or better still a brand new sketch book.  The problem is I'm pretty bad at drawing so that feeling of ecstasy at the slight of a new page all full of possibilities normally ends in frustration for me. 

The Butterfly Sketch Book was the item that first caught my attention.  The idea is very simple but the result is a perfectly executed, stylish design that I think appeals to female artists of all ages or just those who like to doodle.

It would be negligent of me to feature Courtney's work without making a point of showing you all the beautiful detail she puts into her work.  As you can see from the photograph above, each page of this book (and many others) is hand decorated with beautiful designs that fir the cover theme.  I can only imagine how much time and creativity goes into creating works like this, yet her prices are really affordable; this book is just $20 + p&p.  

Well I couldn't ignore the cute little cat could I?  This design is adorable whilst offering a stylish contemporary simplicity.  The cat reminds me of my cat 'Dotty' who has spent much of this spring chasing blossoms as they fall from our cherry tree.

I love the way Courtney is able to connect with her buyers through these sketch books, creating something so personal to her that will go onto the buyer to make personally theirs with their art or writing.  There is something very poignant about the connection she is able to make with her buyers through this sharing and passing on of art.

Finally I wanted to show you some of the beautiful pins that Courtney also makes.  As you can see they mostly fall into two categories, little colourful animals (which also feature on some of her books) and world stamps, which I think is a really cool idea.  The animals are acrylic on canvas creating fun little characters with an unusual finish for a pin.

If you want to know a bit more about Courtney and her artwork she has an excellent blog: http://addictivecreative.wordpress.com