Cute Zombie ATC

I had made this little fella a while back, but I forgot to share him. Shame on me.  He was part of the Cute Zombie ATC Swap over at Swap-Bot.  I liked him an awful lot and was sad to see him go.  I think as the Halloween season gets closer, I'll make another one similar to this. Maybe a bit larger and more cleaned up looking.

I got in!

Or more accurately, my two plushies I sent off got into Stuffed Magazine! I'm not sure which issue yet, but I am so pleased.  And I'm hoping to have my shop open in time to include it on the information I need to fill out and send into the editors.

Yaaay!  *twirls*

Chess Girl

This little drawing/sketch has been in a holding pattern for a while now. I really like her, but am unsure of what I'm going to do with her. Make her into a painting? Make her into a larger drawing and tweak the shading by adding some more light areas? So many ideas for her! She is up on the short list of things to do something with in the next month or so... Definitely expect to see more of her.

Block Printing and Stamping

One of the many arts and crafts I want to do more with is carving my own stamps and block prints. I just really like the feel of carving away at something and watching a design or shape slowly unfold. Unfortunately for my Mama, I discovered that love at the age of 3, using a nail file to dig swirls into the nice wood furniture....  oops!

Several months back I did a little simple carving, using a cheap carving material based off a little doodle I had made YEARS back. Here is my little carving:

I found out that using the cheaper carving material is a little frustrating for smaller details. I'm sure for large designs its fine, but I did buy some nicer carving material for future work.

After finishing the carving, I did a test stamp of him onto a piece of bristol board using some regular stamp ink.

 I think he came out pretty good for my first try.  I have all sorts of designs in mind to carve. In fact, maybe I'll work on one over the weekend. . .

Its been so long!

So long since my last post! Time got away from me as I was busy with preparing for our annual conference at my day job. I was out in San Francisco for only 12 hours before I got a call that there was a family emergency. After some calling back and forth between my sisters and I, I decided to head back to the east coast. My dad was in the hospital for a week, but is out now and feeling a lot better. Plus now he has a scar to show off where they put in his pacemaker.

I spent last weekend wrapping up one of my little girls so I could send her along with a monster friend to California to meet the editors of Stuffed Magazine. I only took one quick picture of her, but will try and get better pictures of her sisters as I finish them up.  I hope the editors love her and her monster friend as much as I do. :D

I'm pretty proud of her, and can't wait to finish up her sisters.

The pieces that didn't sell at the Baby Canvases II show are back in my care. I'll be putting them up for sale in my shop soon.  I'm hoping to open my Etsy shop by the end of August.  I'm so excited!  *wiggles* I'm going to be looking around for a good pigment ink printer so I can print out some art prints and other paper goods for the shop. 

I'm also excited for other opportunities coming up soon. The Soundry is going to be starting up an Art Market at the end of the month. I would LOVE to participate if I can find the time to get some things finished up.  I'm really excited because it might turn into a weekly event, which I would LOVE, because I could definitely particpate.

Also, the next Teeny Tiny Art Show is going to begin accepting submissions for their next show starting in October. Both of these opportunities have me excited, especially since Artomatic may not be happening until next year.

 Look for more frequent updates from me as I dive more into my art and crafts! 

Doll Parts?

Who has a closet filled with partially stuffed doll parts?  Oh, I do!

There is mischief and shenanigans afoot!

Crafty Space

I finally am started to get my craft space organized and usable. I actually had a "craft room" at my last place too, but it was more of a craft supply storage area. Early on I discovered that a futon and coffee table aren't the best of working spaces, at least for me.

When I moved a few months ago, I once again had a room that was designated as my craft room. This space is a good deal larger, and already came with a small desk that I decided to make my sewing table (once I straightened things up).  Up until a few weeks ago, this room was mostly serving as a storage area as well. That is until I got my new drafting table and chair.

I've had a drafting table in my office at work forever, going unused. As we started cleaning out some of the old furniture, I asked about perhaps buying the table off the company. My boss told me to take it... for free. WINS! So my boyfriend and I picked it up one weekend. Once we got it into the condo, I needed to clean up and rearrange the craft room so I'd have a place for it. So not only did a get a drafting table for free, but as a result my craft room got cleaned up and turned into an actual usable space! There is still a good deal more work to be done to set things up really nice (painting, decorating, organizing), but its definitely a more usable space now. I was so excited, I took these pictures at night when I finished. As the space develops, I'll take better photos.

Here is my new drawing/painting area. This was were I spent the majority of the last two weeks finishing up work for the Baby Canvases II show.

And this is my sewing area. You can see one of my helpers investigating the new set up.

And this is the rest of the room/storage spaces. This is definitely the part that needs the most work. The closet space needs to be utilized better to make more room to put everything and get organized. Eventually everything will have its place. But mainly its nice to have a space to run away too and become completely absorbed in creating things.