Best Art Studios

2011 Holiday Shipping Deadlines

2011-12-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

HOLIDAY SHIPPING DEADLINES

With Christmas just around the corner.
We would like to make sure that gifts ordered through our Etsy Shop arrive in time for gift giving so...

Please keep these dates in mind to insure that your order arrives in time.

Domestic Shipping for Custom Made to Order Paintings: December 3rd
Domestic Shipping for Wearable Art: December 8th
Domestic Shipping for 2012 Calendars: December 10th
(Please see note below for large packages shipping to Alaska or Hawaii)
Domestic Shipping for Original Paintings: December 16th
Domestic Shipping for Limited Edition Prints: December 16th
Domestic Shipping for Standard Size Prints: December 16th

Shipping upgrades and Express mail is available for most items in our Etsy Shop until December 20th. Please contact us before placing your order for quotes and availability.

Large Original Paintings ordered from Alaska or Hawaii are shipped via Parcel Post which does take much longer than Ground or Priority Mail. Any Single Canvas Painting that is 24"X36", 24"X48" or 32"X40" will be shipped via Parcel Post to Alaska and Hawaii and so must be ordered on or before December 9th.

We are sorry but the deadline for Custom "Made to order" Paintings, Wearable Art and 2012 Calendars has past for all international orders.
International Shipping is as Follows...

Africa:
Standard size prints: December 2nd
Limited Edition Prints and Original Paintings: December 4th

Central/South America:
Standard size prints: December 2nd
Limited Edition Prints and Original Paintings: December 2nd

Asia/Pacific Rim, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Mexico & Middle East:
Standard size prints: December 8th
Limited Edition Prints and Original Paintings: December 9th

Shipping upgrade to Express Mail is available if ordered on or before December 16th.
Please contact us before placing your order for quotes.

Thanks so much,
Mike and Jaime Best

Prints to be Retired

2011-11-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

We are retiring a large number of prints from our Etsy Shop this month.

All Prints listed below will be pulled from our shop Dec. 1st 2011 and will not be Available again in our Etsy Shop.
If these prints are sold between Nov. 1st 2011 and Dec. 1st 2011 they will not be re-listed (except upon request).

These Prints are the first in a series of Prints to be retired, the next selection of prints for retirement will be posted in December.

Thanks,
Mike and Jaime

Mini Print Sets

2011-08-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

With the holiday season right around the corner we are again offering
Mini Print Packs in our Etsy Shop.

Each Pack comes with Three or Four 4X6" Prints. Professionally Printed
on High Grade Glossy Paper.

With more than 20 Different sets to choose from these packs
are an affordable, fun way to collect our art.

To see the entire collection click here!

Price Adjustments

2011-07-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

We have lowed the price on our Standard Size Fine Art Print For the Summer!!!

We have decided to lower our Standard Size Print Prices for the Summer in our Etsy Shop...
5X7 Prints are now only $10.00 a print!

During this time period we will not be offering wholesaling through our Etsy Shop.

Thanks and Enjoy!
Mike and Jaime Best

Interview

2011-04-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Mike and I did an interview for Etsy On Sale and it has now been posted to their blog.
So, if you'd like to get to know us a bit check it out...

From Sketches to Paintings

2011-03-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to share a few concept sketches
along side the finished paintings.

This first piece is a quick sketch, with a little note about color on the side.

The original painting is titled
"Hurry Up"

The next two sketches were done separately and later put together to create the finished painting seen below.

The Original Painting is titled
"I've got a bad feeling about this"

Both of these pieces belong to the Original Series by Mike Best
Titled "Robots of the Apocalypse"
In which a select few robots are helping a little girl survive
a world destroyed by malfunctioning robots.

Though these original paintings have sold,
you can get prints of these and others in the series by following the link below...
BestArtStudios2

First show of the season...

2010-09-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the first Arts and Craft show we've participated in this year. It was not planned, the invite came a bit late so it was rather thrown together at the last minute. It took place at the Apple Jack Festival in Nebraska City.

We didn't really get to enjoy the festivities but heard that they were quite nice, apple picking, cider tasting and what-have-you.

However, we did debuted a few new products...
Scrabble tile Pendants.

(Which will only be available through the shows)

Magnetic interchangeable magnet Pendants.
These come with three interchangeable buttons that fit on top of a magnetic backing.

Hand-Painted Checkbook Covers
Each is made of 100% Cotton Duck Primed Canvas, stitched across each size to form pockets inside to secure a checkbook. An original painting graces each side of the cover and the inside is painted to match the colors of the painting. Only the finest quality acrylic paints were used and two coats of high gloss varnish protect both the inside and outside of the cover.

Hand-Painted Notebook Covers

Like the checkbook covers each of these notebooks is made of 100% cotton canvas and painted with the finest quality acrylic paints. The sides are sewn to make pockets to secure the notebook.

Each is an original one of a kind painting to wrap around others thought or sketches.
I am offering two different sizes, the Moleskine 5" X 8.5" and the Composition 7 1/2" X 9 3/4". I have chosen these sizes for ease of replacement notebooks.

These products as well as several of our Original Paintings, Prints, Mini Prints and Bookmarks will be available at the other four shows we will be doing this year... Check us out at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln Nebraska...

October 9th,
November 6th and 7th,
November 20
and December 4th and 5th.

Treasury Tales Tuesday...

2010-04-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

"Snow White"

"The Bad Apple" by ceramicmatt

Okay, so not that snow white.
This Story is by The Brothers Grimm
Translated by D. L. Ashliman

Once upon a time, as a queen sits sewing at her window, she pricks her finger on her needle and three drops of blood fall on the snow that had fallen on her ebony window frame. As she looks at the blood on the snow, she says to herself, "Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony". Soon after that, the queen gives birth to a baby girl who has skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. They name her Princess Snow White. As soon as the child is born, the queen dies.

"Blood Drops" by stacysdesigns88

Soon after, the king takes a new wife, who is beautiful but also very vain. The Queen possesses a magical mirror that answers any question, to whom she often asks: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?" to which the mirror always replies "You, my queen, are fairest of all." But when Snow White reaches the age of sixteen, she becomes as beautiful as the day, and when the queen asks her mirror, it responds: "Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, but Snow White is fairer than you."

"Mirror, mirror on the wall" by Danae777

The queen becomes jealous, and orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the woods to be killed. She demands that the huntsman, as proof of killing Snow White, return with her heart. The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest, but after raising his knife to stab her, he finds himself unable to kill her. Instead, he lets her go, telling her to flee and hide from the Queen. He then brings the queen the heart of a young deer, which is prepared by the cook and eaten by the queen.

"The Queen" by Maddhatterslab

In the forest, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to a group of seven dwarfs, where she rests. There, the dwarfs take pity on her, saying "If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want." They warn her to take care and let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains. Meanwhile, the Queen asks her mirror once again "Who's the fairest of them all?", and is horrified to learn that Snow White is not only alive and well and living with the dwarfs, but is still the fairest of them all.

"Fairytale Forest" by Madewithlovebyhannah

Three times the Queen disguises herself and visits the dwarfs' cottage while they are away during the day, trying to kill Snow White. First, disguised as a peddler, the Queen offers colorful stay-laces and laces Snow White up so tight that she faints, causing the Queen to leave her for dead. However, Snow White is revived by the dwarfs when they loosen the laces. Next, the Queen dresses as a different old woman and brushes Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb. Snow White again collapses, but again is saved by the dwarfs. Finally, the Queen makes a poisoned apple, and in the disguise of a farmer's wife, offers it to Snow White. When she is hesitant to accept it, the Queen cuts the apple in half, eats the white part and gives the poisoned red part to Snow White. She eats the apple eagerly and immediately falls into a deep stupor. When the dwarfs find her, they cannot revive her, and they place her in a glass coffin, assuming that she is dead.

"Snow White" by ellemoss

Time passes, and a prince traveling through the land sees Snow White. He strides to her coffin. The prince is enchanted by her beauty and instantly falls in love with her. He begs the dwarfs to let him have the coffin. The prince's servants carry the coffin away. While doing so, they stumble on some bushes and the movement causes the piece of poisoned apple to dislodge from Snow White's throat, awakening her. The prince then declares his love for her and soon a wedding is planned.

"The Romantic Kiss" by maclancy

The vain Queen, still believing that Snow White is dead, once again asks her mirror who is the fairest in the land, and yet again the mirror disappoints her by responding that "You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you."

Not knowing that this new queen was indeed her stepdaughter, she arrives at the wedding, and her heart fills with the deepest of dread when she realizes the truth. As punishment for her wicked ways, a pair of heated iron shoes are brought forth with tongs and placed before the Queen. She is then forced to step into the iron shoes and dance until she falls down dead.

...The End

Snow, glass, apples
A collection of Handmade items and Fine Art found on Etsy.com
that collectively tells the story of "Snow White"
Curated by Jaime Best of Best Art Studios2

Show & Tale Saturday...

2010-04-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

Our First Ever...
Show & Tale Saturday

The Show...
Books & Zine

Poets Hand stitched leather journal cover by PennyFarrow
This attractive hand stitched journal cover is constructed out of embossed kangaroo skin and glossy olive leather. Hand stitched with natural and black waxed thread.

357 Magnum Revolver Gun Book by Strikebooks
Is made to scale, with 84 pages of blank white handmade paper from St-Armands Papermakers in Montreal.

Gothik Virtues Art Bookmark By RusticGoth
'Temperance' is 2.5 X 8.5 inches and is Hand Printed and Professionally Laminated.

Limited Edition Hand-Bound Coffee Haiku Book By CreativeMiscellany
Hand bound in a cover made from a recycled coffee sleeve. Limited Edition of 40.

Vanilla Sandwich Cookie with Tea Bookmark
By glamasaurus
Do you love cookies and a good book? Or maybe you know a cookie loving bookworm.Well they are sure to love this adorable cookie bookmark. Each cookie is handmade!
*********************************************************

Those are just a few of the wonderful items found on Zibbet, each is handmade and fabulous for us book lovers.

********************

The Tale...
Fantastic leather covers, handmade paper, gothic bookmarks, cookies and coffee are just a few of the reasons that I love books. I can't help but love the feel of paper between my fingers, the smell of a brand new book and the journey that awaits me inside.
I am currently reading Elizabeth Haydon's 'Prophecy' the sequel to her Bestselling Rhapsody...

Prophecy continues the stories of Rhapsody, the Namer who uses song, herb-lore, and affinities with fire and starlight to heal and protect, and her adoptive family: Achmed the Snake, an obnoxious former assassin and King of the savage Firbolg race, and Grunthor, his huge, cheerfully cannibalistic sidekick.

Marking the pages is my very own 'Beautiful Disaster' Bookmark.
Thanks for reading
-Jaime

Featured Seller....

2010-04-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

Zibbet is a market place that connects buyers and sellers
of Handmake, Fine Art, Vintage and Crafting Supplies.

This week I am the featured seller on Zibbet!
You can read the interview here...

I am currently having a 25% off Spring Sale...
Plus, get an additional 25% off all Fine Art Prints
by entering the code...
LN17KY
during checkout.

So, head on over and check it out...
A Melancholy Dwelling!

Thanks,
Jaime

A Thousand Sales Giveaway...

2010-04-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Right now our Shop has 994 sales!!! When this number reaches 1000 the person who purchased the 1000th item will receive a $25.00 gift certificate to our shop...

The gift certificate will be emailed to the purchaser of the 1000th item and is valid only at BestArtStudios2.etsy.com. Instructions to redeem the Gift Certificate will be sent with the email.

By your side

2010-03-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Oh...
and Jaime's painting "By your side" was featured on Etsy's Front Page this morning.

Here is a link to the painting.

and the archived Front page...

Our Offical Website

2010-03-24T15:11:00.001-07:00

After many weeks of hard work our website is now up....
You can view it here!

Art Bookmarks in the Heartache and Poetry Series

2010-02-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a line of bookmarks for some time now.

Perfecting the designs, finding the best lamination available and printing out samples in a variety
of sizes until I was happy with the product.

And I can now say that I am.

Bookmarks in the Heartache and Poetry Series are now available in our Etsy Shop!

The displays above were created using resources made available fellow artists...

Villa-Arts

and

JavierZhx

Etsy's Front Page

2010-02-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

In a 24 hour period my Print 'Because I love you' and my mother's (Rusticgoth) bookmark
'All in the moment' were featured on Etsy's Front page.

Because it had been a while since either of us had made it there I was extra excited that our items were chosen so close together.

If you want to check them out...
Here is a link to the Front page my print was on,
and a link to the Front page my mother's bookmark was on.

Mikey and his modding of the Heroclix

2010-01-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Mike Best has been playing heroclox for 6 years, and is always modding the figures.
Here is his latest...

The Aviator

2010-01-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

" The Aviator"

One of the many wonderful new pieces in the Melancholy Girls series by Rusticgoth

Here are a few more...

"The Red Room"

"Gloomy Sunday"

"Steampuck Bibliophie"

"Ides of March"

"All in the Moment"

New Years...

2009-12-31T12:09:00.000-08:00

...a time for thinking up new dreams and goals and making resolutions to kick bad habits.
And I suppose that there is no better time to getting your goals and resolutions in order than on the night of a "Blue Moon".
As for me, I like to envision the coming year and decide what could happen to make it better than the one that came before it and in so doing decide how best to make that vision possible.

Here is what I have...
I do love my work, almost every part of it.
But mostly I love to paint and 2009 was not a year of painting but rather printing.
So I envision myself painting daily, the feeling of creative release, the smell of paint on canvas and the sound of brush strokes. But how do I manage, with family that wants for my attention and prints that need printing and orders that need filling and communications that need attending, with networking, listing, relisting, and renewing.
Well, I have decided to set aside an hour each day for this little indulgence and the rest must wait for the hour to end. This is of course tricky, for an hour can fly by when you are doing what you love and then two and three and before you know it a day is lost. Perhaps an alarm clock or buzzer... we'll have to see.

Secondly I will only be having a couple of print sale in 2010 and they will only last for 24 to 48 hours each time. I realize my folly in having them so often and for the duration to be so long, for they bury me each time in work up to my ears.

So, if you would like to get a print while it is on sale I would check out our Holiday Sale as it is over tomorrow and will not be back for a few months.

I will be offering a larger verity of products that require a smaller amount of work for me in 2010 as well. These will include...
Pocket mirrors (I will be offering a larger verity in greater numbers)
Jewelry and Wearable Art (Rings, Bracelets, Pendants and Earrings)
Bookmarks (I have finally found a professional laminater, that does a fantastic job)
Pin Back Buttons
Magnets
and I am toying with the notion of Zipper Pulls (feedback on Zipper Pulls would be great).

I have also been investigating sites like TweetDeck and HootSuite to help with social networking. And sites like EtsyHacks to help with the multitudes of work on I have on Etsy.

I have also decided to take weekends off altogether. This will be the time I have to give my full and undivided attention to the ones who love and support me.

So here's to hoping for more Original Painting by Jaime in 2010.

"My Star is Fading"

If you haven't gotten enough reading about "New Years Resolutions" or "Blue Moons" yet, check these out...

My art was featured in this bloggers New Years Resolution Blog Post.
and in this bloggers "Blue Moon" post.

My mothers ideas on keeping your "New Years Resolution" was featured in the Wall Street Journal today. Be sure to check that out...
Oh and Congrats on being featured in the Wall Street Journal mom:)

Happy New Year Everybody,
Jaime

Gift Certificates now available...

2009-12-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

We are now offering Gift Certificates...

They are available from $25.00 - $200.00

Etsy Gift Guide...

2009-12-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

My mothers Print "Night is Falling"...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36196883

made it into the Etsy Gift Guides...

http://www.etsy.com/gift-guides/last-minute-shipping/274

Only 8 left...

2009-12-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

These are the Last 2009 Original Paintings I have left...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BestArtStudios2?section_id=6400604

Shipping Upgrade

2009-12-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

Free Shipping Upgrade...

All US packages shipped between the 15th - 21st will be upgraded from USPS First Class and UPS Ground to USPS Priority Mail at no extra charge.

Sorry but I can not upgrade international packages (However, most Canvas Paintings already ship Internation Priority).

Featured in EBSQ Must Have Monday

2009-12-14T15:44:00.000-08:00

"Frost Bitten III" was featured today in the EBSQ blog, check it out...

http://blog.ebsqart.com

Featured on FoundHandmade

2009-12-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

My print "Frost Bitten II"

...was featured today on FoundHandmade.com

Check it out...
http://foundhandmade.com/news/itemize

Jaime

Christmas Logo

2009-12-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas is my favorite time of year.

There is just something magical about the holiday.

Mike and I decorate our Christmas tree, put up our stockings and hang the Christmas cards our friends and family send us in the doorways, but that's all the decorating we do to celebrate. It is normally enough but this year I decided to decorate our shop and blog as well. So I created this wonderful little logo...

Just click on the image for a larger view so you can catch some of the detail.

A Handmade Christmas!

2009-12-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

I have been having such a great time making my Christmas Cards and Gift Tags this year. Normally I would buy both but I'm glad I made them this year (maybe I'll figure out how to make wrapping paper by next year).

Here are the Christmas cards, they fold in half and...

have a cute little insert done on some fancy paper.

(The paw prints are my dogs signatures.)

and here are the gift tags, done in both red and green!

Thanks to http://www.obsidiandawn.com for the Christmas Lights I used for the tags!

Jaime

Interview with The Handmade Gift Guru

2009-11-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

This is the very first Interview Mike and I have agreed to do.
Check it out at http://HandmadeGiftGuru.blogspot.com

Jaime

Painting Sale

2009-10-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

We are having a Painting Sale in our Etsy Shop!

All Original Paintings have been marked down 25%.

The sale ends Nov. 1st

In addition we are still running our Jewelry Sale which also includes pocket mirrors.

This sale will end Nov. 1st

♥♥♥SALE♥♥♥

2009-09-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

We will be putting a new sale in our Etsy Shop later tonight♥

During this sale we will be offering "Buy one get one free" on all of our Fine Art Prints. In addition to the "Buy one get one free" sale we will also be offering 10-50% discounts on all of our Original Paintings.

This is only a week long sale and will end Thursday morning October 1st.

Beautiful Disaster

2009-09-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Heartache and Poetry XXXIII...

Beautiful Disaster

I both started and finished this piece last night. It is the 33rd painting in the Heartache and Poetry series and is being offered for sale in my Etsy Shop.

The inspiration behind the Heartache and Poetry series is simply Heartache, it is something that every human deals with during thier lifetime.

I try to depict this emotion in a soft aesthetic manner and enhance it with a poetic title.

This particular piece was futher inspired by the Kelly Clarkson song "Beautiful Disaster"

Best Art Studios Blog

2009-08-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Is coming soon!