The Kira Nichols Etsy Shop

Plenty more to see at kiranichols.etsy.com! Bookmarks, planner clips, digital stamps, ornaments, and many more unique gifts. Thanks for supporting this artist!

Aaaand I'm back!


Hey everyone! I'm back from visiting Oregon! I'm back in Alabama, and it's nice to be home. Regular scheduled crafty blogposts will be resuming :) Soon. I hope. Haha, no, it's going to take me a little while to recover from the traveling, as looong plane rides are something my back doesn't tolerate well. But definitely expect more posts than have been happening in the last couple weeks! Anyhoo, this little black and white painting is one I did at my parent's house in Oregon for my dad. It was hard to photograph because it was pretty glossy and kept glaring. I was too lazy to correct the glares and shadows in photoshop. Meh. Happy Tuesday!
Posted by Picasa

Sleepy Cat Sketchbook Page

I finished a page in my sketchbook late last evening. It's kind of a collage page with a lot of little paper scraps, then black and white acrylic ink for the rain drops.
The blue cat is watercolored, then outlined with a micron pen size 005. Of course, has his favorite yarn ball. This picture is before I cut it out and gluesticked it onto the page.

I'm having a good time here at my parents' house with my family! It's pretty crazy, though. I've gotten really used to spending the majority of my time alone, so the commotion can be overwhelming. Ah well! Happy Tuesday!
Posted by Picasa

Floating Dog Sketch


Hey everyone! I'm on vacation visiting my parents in Oregon, so I won't be posting very often, if at all, for the next couple of weeks. For now, enjoy this floating dog that I drew in my sketchbook at the airport on Saturday :)
Posted by Picasa

Ultimate High Five!

Alright, I know, I've been a bad blogger. I guess I have slacked a little bit, but I've been feeling pretty crummy. I thought it was just my pain medication making me feel extra sick, but it turned out I was legitimately sick, fever and all. Well, I've done a little bit of crafting. This is another page in my sketchbook project book. High-fivin' cats!
I originally drew this doodle for my BFF because she needed a picture of her boyfriend's cat and her cat high fiving so she could get it put on a birthday cake (I wish I had a picture of the cake). I had the drawing laying around, so I thought I'd use it since my theme is cat-related.
The background is watercolor on a base of acrylic ink and glitter. That's why it looks a little grainy.
I also got around to rebinding my book, and it turned out really well for my first attempt at binding a book like this! I had to finish putting it together so I'll have something to work on while I'm traveling on Saturday :)
Posted by Picasa

Chubby Monster Sparkly Ornament

Here's another monster ornament! I bought the base at Hobby Lobby that one time I went a few months ago, and it was just a plain brown paper mache (?) ornament. I painted it blue, then made it a little shabby using some colorbox stamp pads along the edges.
I used my handy-dandy cricut to cut out the oval out of scrap booking paper, then slapped it on for a background for my monster! The sequins and beads along the edges are held on by sticking headpins directly into the sides of the ornament, and held in place with a little dot of glue!
Here's the monster half-way done, in that stage after sketching and painting, but before ink outlining. I think the outlining is the best part, haha. Anyway, happy monday! I hope you all have the day off :)
Posted by Picasa

Teeny Monster Ball

Now I remember why I NEVER crochet boucle yarn! Haha, I crocheted this little furry monster ball to make into an ornament for a swap. He turned out pretty cute, but truly, crocheting boucle yarn is a serious test of patience, and I won't be doing that again soon :)
I made his horns out of some corduroy material that prettyinpaisley sent me! It's delightfully fuzzy. Oh, speaking of fuzzy and delightful, Peanut has started squawking again. That sure didn't last very long! I knew that a quiet sun conure was too good to be true. Oh well, I love that bird, even if he is loud :) Have a great long weekend!
Posted by Picasa

Sketchbook Project: It's Raining Dogs and Cats!

I am so excited to tell you guys that I'm participating in this year's Sketchbook Project put on by Art House Co-Op in New York City! It's basically an exhibition of thousands of sketchbooks completed by artists from around the world! (To learn more about it, go to the official website here.) There are lots of different themes to choose from, and I chose the theme "It's Raining Dogs and Cats" for my book, because it was the closest thing to an animal-related theme, and you all know how I love creatures... This is my first page, a kitty in a rain drop. There are 80 pages in my book, so I'm going to need to hustle to fill it up! Anyway, I hope you guys are in the mood to see some art journaling, because there's bound to be a lot of that between now and January :) Happy Wednesday!
Posted by Picasa