Covered in Paint

2012-01-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Anyone else get sideswiped by the holidays? I think I got the license of that sleigh, but I could have read it wrong. ^_~

The teacup pincushions turned out quirky and cute. I have not yet listed them as I just haven't had time to go through and give each one it's own photo time. There are around 10 of them so far!

I love the colors of this one, it's got several siblings of different cup styles in the same fabric.

Hubb and I made a deal to help each other with our New Years Resolutions, he would get up and run every day and I would craft one marketable item each day. So far so good!

The first couple of days I made necklaces and have listed this one in the shop. My problem is I'm always creating something I'd wear and I don't always have the supplies to make two!

2011-11-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

My mother volunteers some time with a group called Ponies with a Purpose and they've decided to host a quick craft event on the 10th of Dec! Mom and I are going to share a booth and so I've been on the hunt for fun quick crafty gifts to make.

I decided to wander the goodwill around the corner as my craft room is giving me an eye twitch. I've gotten to the point where I want to go in and just start shipping things out! It's gotten a little crazy. I've been helping the boys do a craft swap with some other kids, so just about everything has been pulled and moved as of late.

I came upon some very cute white tea cups in from various sets and the wheels started spinning. I've been dying to make a couple of tea cup pin cushions with the squares of fabric I was given in a swap...so now I'm all sprawled out at my dining room table creating. I promise to share the finals!

Tutorial: Interchangeable Headband Designs!

2011-08-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

When I received an interchangeable headband in a swap recently it got me in the mood to make some more fun things for my quite useful headband.

So I decided I'd share this simple and yet great for kids who wear headbands idea! Of course this isn't just for those with kids, but any of us who love to add a little something extra to our outfits.

First thing grab some printed fabric {or felt which I have here} that inspires you.

After that you can just start playing with design themes or if one of your prints has a certain shape you like, go with that. I had a piece of felt with hearts on it, so I wanted to play off that.

Originally I had wanted to use the polka dot felt underneath the heart, but the print was too large. So back to the stash I went!

Deciding on something a little more wild, I cut out three heart shapes.

Play around with your layering. My first thought had been to stack the three as they ascended in size slightly. However after stacking, I decided I didn't like that enough and went with something more off kilter.

Next I grabbed my button jar. It's always full of goodies and I love adding them to projects.

I thought about metal studs, or even rhinestones but decided to keep this one a little less glitz.

After deciding how I wanted the buttons to sit on the hearts, I stitched them down. I also stitched the hearts together so that they wouldn't be too floppy but would still lay softly.

The last step is to snip a hole/line just big enough for your headband of choice to go through. Mine is very slim and slick so I used my smallest scissors to cut a slit.

After that, just slide it on the headband and wear!

You can do this in any shape or size. Adding feathers, using fun foam, ribbon bows anything you can create a small space for the headband to slip through will work.

A Grrrreat find.

2011-03-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I love to thrift shop. And I'm usually one to pass by the frames/art section as I like finding little old illustrations for my bathroom which is dog themed. {It was the only place I could find that matched my golden retriever portrait when we moved in. It's just kind of grown since then.....}

I've been avoiding the thrift shops and the only shopping I've been doing lately is grocery, but today I had a donation built up so I of course went in afterwards ^_~

To my surprise I spotted a well drawn tiger cub illustration. Not dogs, so I passed it up at first. Something about it kept drawing me back though. I noticed that the signature on it was done in pencil first and since it was fairly nicely albiet old style framed, I googled the artist.

When I didn't even have to finish typing the artists name {read, got the first letter of the last name in and it found it....} I grabbed it. Scanned the google finds and decided it was mine.

Come to find out, at least from what I know so far, the artist{William Timym} was well known for his bronze sculptures in the UK. He even has one at the St. Louis zoo here in the US. A well known cartoonist in the UK during the 50's through the 70's his work even spun off toys.

Basically it's an awesome find for me. ^_^ I don't care if it's worth less than the $1.99 I paid for it. {Which I really doubt as it doesn't seem to be a print, I can see the pencil lines underneath the ink lines on the tigers not just the signature!} It's a piece of a varied artists history. And I love it.

Now I'm just trying to hunt down more about it. {skitters back to google}

2011-02-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

Things around our house have been busy. So this is about what I feel like. *laughs*

I've been sketching more and more straight from my tablet rather than starting with my sketcbook. Which is good as it's taking me less time to do what I'd like to.

My goal is to be able to whip up an illustration in around an hour.

We've been working on our newspaper so we can get it up and running. If you'd like to stop by and check it out it's...www.centralarkansasfreepress.com

But enough shameless advertising.

I've got a new shirt design sketched up and while it's based on a theme you don't have to know the theme to understand it. Hubb and I decided not to enter it in this round of voting at the site I normally do. Rather, were going to see if we can get it printed somewhere else. ^_^

It's really a kids design, and if I can find a way to get it printed I'll share it!

A new design up for Voting!

2011-02-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

As you can tell I've not done my illustrations for the past few days, I've been working on other things.

One of those things being something you can vote for, so I figured I'd pander for some votes ^_~

http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=49725

This weeks theme was the letter T so it was wide open. I went with the obvious sound, Tea.

Being a procrastinator

2011-01-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

Means that when big events come up, you tend to rush around.

Which I don't mind on average.

Which is why I'm a pro at procrastinating.

Take for instance, Madd's boy scout uniform. He's a cub scout so they are really just introducing them to the boy scout way. The pack were in is fairly laid back as well so the boys usually just wear their cub scout tee's. Not their blues.

Yeah, tonight is derby race night. So guess what I spent today doing.

Yep.

Thankfully the site has an awesome guide to help parent's put it all in the right spots.

It reminds me, I need to sew some more robots, or monster hats, or robots in monster hats.

Wait no. Strike that. That's just silly.

Glee and no I do not mean the show.

2011-01-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

This was me this morning.

I've been waiting for this day all week, as even though I wasn't going to get to throw a vase of my own...I was so ready to just be in a clay studio!

Yes, I'm a dork.

I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to new craft fun. I always enjoy learning new ways to create.

The ArEtsy meet and greet was fun, we had a few people there which was fine as it's a a small space. Hoping to have quite a few people more at the next event. I'll be sure to give plenty of notice!

I enjoyed making new friends and meeting those who came. ^_^

My mom "Retro Momma's" got to come and afterwards we enjoyed a light and delish lunch at the Starving Artist Cafe.

The other crafty fun going on in my house today was boy related. Maddman is a scout and so had to get his pinewood derby racer ready. As we are pretty big Speed Racer fans it was easily decided what the car would be named.

Thus,

The Mach 7. Now it looks in no way as bad as my illustration, it's awesome. The back fin is actually a 7.

So do any of you have derby racers you've just finished? Or did you do anything awesomely crafty today?

* I promise to never try to draw a derby car again, lol. Oh and whoot for two illo's! My tablet and I are starting to get along. ^_~

Yard rolling

2011-01-28T06:34:00.000-08:00

= bath time at my house.

As it was so nice here yesterday the dogs got to spend a good bit of the afternoon outdoors. Apparently the cold had been hiding something in the yard that Ben had not found before.

Guess what he found yesterday. Yep, something stinky.
So he rolled in it.

So guess who got a bath.

Thankfully he doesn't seem to hate me this morning and is super soft.

*By the way, I'm trying to be a good blogger and blog more often.

Not all my illustrations will be dog related, but I'm going to try to illustrate one thing each day.

A what?

2011-01-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

A friend posted on FB that she knew someone who was trying to rehome an angora bunny.

As a yarn enthusiast {That's a nice word for obsessed} I was immediately interested.

One email pop to Hubb later and his response was. " The dog's will eat it."

Which could be true....

I doubt they'd actually eat the sweet little thing, but they would most likely terrorize it a good bit for the first 8000 times they saw it.

You see we have Newfoundland mixes. One old, one young. Lilly the older girl would probably see it as she does the cats " one of her babies." However. Ben would most likely think of it as a toy.

A bouncing moving on it's own, interesting smelling toy.

Which would be bad. So the bun.....yeah, it's a no go.

Snow Day

2011-01-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

I wish I could have gotten out that first morning and gotten so many pictures of all the ice and snow about the area. But I was dressing two adorkable boys for a snow day. ^_~

And yes, we hitched up the team and went for a sleigh ride.

The boys reminded me that I needed to make them monster hats. And that monster hats needed to be shared!
On the craft front, if your an ArEtsy member and havent' seen our new blog requests on the aretsy page, or the blog itself {and don't forget to look us up on Facebook and Twitter!} we've got a lot going right now!

On my craft front: Obviously monster hats, robots galore, and perhaps some painting time.
What's on your craft front?

Holiday Pressures

2010-12-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Wait, did I say pressures? I meant Treasures, really I did.

*laughs*

Holidays are always fun around here, but this year I said I was going to make several gifts instead of purchasing store bought goods. I love putting my heart into gifts for others, but nearly all the time...that takes more time than I've got!

So how are your holiday preparations going?

Another submission sketch -Steampunk

2010-12-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

This last round of submissions was for hatching. As it was a free for all theme I went to what I felt most comfortable with hatching.

I preferred this color set up but the request of others was a different color set. So I submitted it in Cranberry background color and gold lines. It ended up doubling the amount of votes the previous submission got, so yay!

There wasn't a theme for the week after thanksgiving, and then last week was a special round. This week's theme had me stumped, so I'm sitting it out.

Sketches

2010-11-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

As of late my art impulse has been to sketch. I've been doodling animals, and peoples characters.
As well as working toward submitting some designs for printing.
This week the theme on one site is Robots which makes me grin like a Cheshire cat.

Here's some prelim sketches I've got working.

I've also got several ACEO's in the work with robots!

I need to get back to work on sewing but I'm giving my machine a rest as it just flew through several yards of fabric making costumes for the boys!

On the upside....I've learned how to make cute fleece hats and will be doing so for the kiddos in my family! *chuckles*

Just a few more days to vote!

2010-08-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

As the voting to shape the Capture Arkansas book is coming to a close (only 15 more days!) I am keeping my fingers crossed that I'll make it into print.

I appreciate every vote!

Poppets and Steampunk and Swaps Oh My

2010-07-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been crafting more for other people rather than for my shop. (which is like me saying....I'm in a slump -_-)

But I've had fun with it!
1st swap I did recently was a 44c swap. I may start one of these for our ArEtsy group soon as it's so simple and fun!
The deal was you had to see how much you could fit into a standard envelope and mail for just 44c. No overages, must be machinable, etc.
So here was my envelope!

I drew my first ever sugar skull and sent some fabric, embroidery floss, as well as several other things.
And heres the awesomeness I received!

2nd swap was a Multi Themed Steampunk swap. Which I adored. I haven't gotten my goodies yet as it's still early in the swap but as I was raring to go on this one I sent wayyy early. And my partner received yesterday!
So here's the goodies I sent her including my newest Poppet!

The other items are a sleep mask (which is filled with a cold remedy herb mix) a journal and a pair of earrings.
Plus, my big guy turned 6 this past weekend!

He asked for a pirate themed cake again this year. But was very specific that it needed a coconut tree, monkeys, to be an island with a pirate ship crashed on it and have a map. lol.

Capture Arkansas

2010-07-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

Is up and running agian!
This time I've entered several photos and toughed it out til now hoping to garner enough interest without heavy promotion.
So now as the time for printing grows near, I ask for your votes!
I don't mind if you don't like them, feel free to vote how you feel! If you think it's book worthy I'd be honored. If not, thank's for your input. No really I mean it. I like knowing.

You'll have to join, but with all those amazing photos on the site from all around the lovely state of Arkansas, who wouldn't want to take a little trip! ^-~

Trendy Idea

2010-05-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

I want to start a trend...or perhaps it's already out there...

Garden Parties.
All your friends and family come over for a day of yard restoration. Planting, weeding, rebuilding decks...etc, and grilling out. None of the Oooh I have to dress up and be fussy, or stand around and try to make small talk...lets just create a place to hang out! And do one once a month, or every so often. That way everyone who's invited gets a little yard love.

Or...
House Painting parties!
You prep the area to be painted, toss on some tunes and all your buddies get together and create a gorgeous new room. We all know what a new coat of colorful paint can do for a room and it would get done in no time!

Now yes, I realize this sounds like cheap labor or abusing your friends...but if you look at it as getting together to do something fun and you share the oppertunity with all your buds, you all could achieve so much more! How many times have you sat in a room overwhelmed (or your yard) and wondered if you should just hire some help. I know I have! Or had a project go on for ever! (*coughs* I've got a room that I painted backwards...I did the trim last......so it's still not fully finished. I've just lived with it for a while! *hangs head in shame*)

At least it sounds fun to me. Good food, good friends, and projects done in a jiffy.

Photo update

2010-04-28T20:17:00.001-07:00

These shots all come from a hike we took this last weekend. The weather had just brought us storms the day before and so the falls we knew would be beautiful. Besides...we hadn't been able to go do this hike in two years.

So off to Petite Jean Mountain we went.
The boys thought the ride up was just too cool, of course we like to yell at cows as we see them, nothing rude, just Hey Cow! Of course, the rocks at the top of the mountain proved to be just as cool.
Afterwards we had to go explore the old building up there.
The wind was high so we managed to get close to a gorgeous butterfly who posed several times. My camera only caught him a couple of those times. The time he landed on Hubb's hand thought it missed. However the boys had fun trying to get a shot with their camera as well.
Afterward we headed over to the climb. We had a quick picnic at the top and the boys sort of posed for a shot for me at the top...
Of course they wanted a pic of me too. (Which...ended up being the stuff behind me. *chuckles*)
The hike was rewarding. There were little falls all down the path. And not just the knee scraping kind. Almost all the places where a large rock was cracked, you found a small waterfall. All converging to the path leading from the main fall at the bottom.
On our way, the boys spotted a rock that they thought looked like a pirate ship. We had to agree, especially with the tree that happened to be right where a mast would!
At the bottom, we got some great shots of the fall itself.
The puffy clouds above us gave us a small sunny shower for about five minutes of our time down there. Which was amazing to see, but not something I could capture in a still. I did get a video of it, but it's very hard to see. The raindrops looked like they were coming off the cliffs surrounding the falls.

The boys made it through the whole hike without a problem, so we took their picture next to the trail sign. We promised that soon we could go hike another trail and they could add it to their Adventure book.

I can't wait for our next excursion.

But first, lol, the paper! (Which if you've not checked out the post below, please do!!!)

Something New from me to You!

2010-04-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've got some big news! Hubb and I are starting a newspaper!

Yes, yes I know, blogs/sites/twitter and all that have taken a big bite out of the good old print, however were counting on the fact that it's A. free to you to read...and B. going to be a big community resource to help us out.

Now for the part that relates to you artists!
After much whining on my part, Hubb has agreed to add a portion of the paper just for artists! Were going to have a 4 page spread of aggressively priced ads just for artists and art related (shows, gallery spots, etc.) called the Artists Cafe.

Alongside this, we are going to be creating a site that will be linked to the papers main website, and will also be called the Artists Cafe. One more spot for advertising (which is included in the price of the orig. ad in the paper) as well as a bio. Were really hoping this spot will increase your sales.

Now here's what I need from you guys...... Yes you knew there was a catch right...^-~ Nothing much, just a comment about your thoughts!

I'd love to know what you think of the idea and if you'd be interested in a spot.

Each ad will be business card sized and will be $50. We will be circulating 10k copies in the first issue and are going to up circulation with the second printing. At the moment we are looking to have our first printing out as a very special edition to hand out at Riverfest!

If you don't mind, send this out to all artists in Arkansas that you know, I know there are a good number of us in the etsy group (and I'll be posting this to the yahoo group) but I can count on my hand at least (if not more) several artists in Arkansas who aren't an etsy member. The more the word gets out the better chance you've got of keeping this new artist resource growing!

New Photos

2009-09-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have been on an Etsy break as of late as I just wasn't getting any creating done. On a recent trip to Hot Springs though I took lots and lots of pictures. Some of these will end up for sale!

Here are a couple I've already listed.
This one is a statue that is right in the middle of the road and for a good reason. It is in remembrance of a great flood that leveled most of the town. The statue is of a Mother Earth figure and two deer.

The thing that's always struck me about it is why on earth someone shot it. Yes, the discoloration on the deer seeps from a rust wound in it's antler where someone shot it. I'm really not sure why... But it's always caught my eye. It's creepy factor is amped by the fact that right across the street from it is the Wax Museum.

Next you have a little nut that I found resting on a park bench. The two were so colorful I could not help but snap a picture.

You all know how much I love contrast ^-~

The last picture of the day is of a window in my favorite hotel. Teal is my favorite color and I've always loved old peeling windows so how could I resist?
These photos are listed in my etsy shop for sale and soon there will be several more from this trip!

*Legal Stuff.....All images shown here are Copyright Brandy Davis of EkioArt 2009, do not reproduce, reuse, distribute or otherwise claim these images as yours or I will have my legal beagles hunt you down. Seriously, art theft is a dumb and rude thing to do. Don't do it!

2009-07-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

ArEtsy is having a Christmas in July sale! The sale varies from shop to shop, but there are great deals in every shop and some wonderful items though out the group!

I've marked all my prices down in my shop for the duration of the sale. The sale begins in the morning (the 6th) and runs for the next two weeks. So do head over and check out all the goodies on sale in the ArEtsy group!

How NOT to run an art festival.

2009-04-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Especially one thats brand spankin new!

Ok, so Every year we have a great big festival that's held downtown on the river. Aptly named RiverFest it draws a good number of people and for a time showcased local talent. Now as most of these things go corp buys in as vendor spots are open to interpretation and the festival needs the money. Understood. Np. (I'd love for it not to happen but ya know)

Now, there have always been spots open for artists specifically to purchase to show their wares and sell them. Great. Fantastic. A venue where people are spending festival paper money and still have cash burning a hole in their pockets. Hey! Its RiverFest! I can't tell you for sure what the fees for spots were in the past, but I can tell you they are a bit pricey now. Not to mention you have to have insurace for the thing too. Yeahhhhhh, I'm so explaining that over the phone to my rep who's going to see dollar signs. Kaaaching$-$.

Now were I able to plop down said cash for a spot, and I knew I could buffer a very decent ammount of product for said show....I might just do it. I am talking state fair size people count here folks and more as this isn't a cattle showing, bull riding, stuff your face and ride rides kind of thing. It's a walk around and enjoy the fun thing. (Not that I don't LOVE the fair, don't get me wrong, it's just a different kind of event. Sort of. There are still the crazies that come out at night and half naked people. )

But I digress.

The main issue I have this week kids is that said festival has decided to start a juried art show. Asuming that they are trying to bring the art back into the festival as they have run many an artist off with their tactics for business.

Whoot, great. all that.

Ok, the logo useage is close, the show is advertised on the festivals website, the application fee is normal. Looks like a great new portion of RiverFest. Theeeen theres the date.

One week before the main festival. WAaaaaait a minute? Whaaaa? say that again? One Week Before the Festival. You know the same weekend as that other festival that draws a good crowd on the OTHER side of town. The one that has hummus and gyros and makes people want to go.

(Do belive me I've seen this happen before. Another art show I found out about it's very first year and every year since has done it.....)

Oh yeah, and by the way, booth fee. Thats going to be $500. Oh you have a friend who's an artist interested in the show as well? Oh well you can share a spot, np! For $600. And if she/he flakes on your or happens to not get selected to be in the show, You can cover that right? Sure you can.

Folks, this is will be the first year for this show. (next year, they are starting apps now)

Now heres where I can see their side. (*sigh* yes I said I could see their side of it)

A. The show doesn't need to be run over by people selling mass produced or cheaply made things so let's charge a large ammount for the booths! (Ummm...isn't that kind of why you have a juried show?...selected individuals only.)

B. Well it's part of RiverFest and so since were charging other artists that fee to set up a square.. we'll make it the same for this show. (WAAAAAAit......it's not really part of the festival, it's a whole diferent type of fish and it's so not at the same time.)

So yeah, while I see their way of "thinking" I don't appreciate it.

The other show I've seen do this has done some things differently and didn't charge a large ammount for their first show. And you know what? There weren't any mass produced booths. There were a bunch of local artists and a few from out of state who were very kind. The show was unfortunatly timed wrong and is every year. There is usually at least one other big thing going on in town if not three. I had been an artist at that show from the first year until two years ago when they went another wrong route and hired a musician. It killed the atmosphere of the show and drove one of the few other long time artists at the show out.

Oh and while they raise their booth fee every year....they get more and more mass produced and businesses. Too soon they will be realizing that they are A. running themselves into the ground as an art show and B. running out of room at their location.

So theres my rant. There are several other things that the second show I mentioned has done wrong, but we'll leave promotions, advertising, and deciding what exactly your show/fair/festival is for a later date.

One where I don't have a kid falling asleep on my arm.

Monsters V Aliens....the movie...not in my living room.

2009-04-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Ah movies. ^-^
I love creative movies, and the fact that lots of the new kids stuff is in 3d. I mean yes, it hurts my head a bit..and I probably sit too close.....but thats the fun of it!

We saw MvA's tonight It was really fun. So many things thrown in there for the adults and again, nothing I didn't want the kiddos to see. I love cheesy B horror movies and used to stay up nights watching them when I could catch them. .........................So many sleepless nights in front of the tube. *chuckles* ..........................

Oh...and I want to be "Susan" for halloween now.

Speaking of invasions.. Have you all seen the sonic toys this week? Too cute. Little tater tot animals have invaded my house.

Wire Wrapped Goodies.

2009-03-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

They almost look like little bits of rock sugar and I wanna eat them. *chuckles*

Now I just gotta decide if they are all going to be part of one big necklace...or If I'm splitting them up to use in several necklaces.

Other than that I've had a custom order for a robot that was a good bit more detail than my normal ones, though that didn't bother me a bit ^-^ The boys now want one of their own...

And now I'm playing with rocks, magniscope slides, and wire again!

But tonight I'm off to enjoy another night with the boys and Hubb before he flys off again ^-^

Haircuts and Holidays

2009-01-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Busy Busy Busy, thats what it always seems like around here.

Works kept me on my toes and while I've had days off, I've kept them full by looking for a new job. I'm hunting down something that is 9-5 or 7-3 ish, you know, that sort of shift. Of course that's kind of tough to find right now, but I know its out there somewhere ^-^

The boys really enjoyed the holidays, they got all sorts of fun things and just like every year we say "We won't buy them toys, we'll leave that part to the rest of the family and we'll just get them some fun new outfits or something we can all use together as a family" Yeah....right.....*laughs*

That so didn't happen.

Madd's hair was getting long so he got to pick out a new hairdo. He was too funny at the salon. The picture of the kid in the book who's haircut he picked had his thumbs in his ears and hands spread making a silly face. So when Madd got up there to the girl cutting his hair, he said "I want this." matter of factly and stuck his thumbs in his ears and wiggled his fingers. The girl laughed and said "oh yeah?" It was a good first haircut at a salon for him and I was glad ^-^ You hear about kids being scared but he wasn't at all. I was very proud of him.

Little Man did not want his hair cut. Every time I ask, he puts his hands on the top of his head and says in a pitiful voice "Don't cut my hair" *chuckles* I've got to talk him into one soon enough, its getting unruly.

As for on the crafting front,
I've been working on some projects and I keep trying to come up with fun new inspirations. I haven't had the time really though to sit down with tools and work on some of the harder ones I've got in mind. I'm hoping a steady hours job will help with that and the fact that spring is right around the corner will as well. If I'm to do any shows...I'll have to create something! *chuckles*

Butterfly Award

2008-10-15T18:44:00.001-07:00

Aww, Beehive was kind enough to surprise me with a little award that bloggers share.

So heres the rules:
1. Post logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate 10 other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

So heres my ten nominees.
1. Posie Gets Cozy
2. Bittersweet, who tempts me with all the goodies on her blog
3. Subu, Inc.
4. Magpie & Birdie, a vintage clothing blog of a local shop, with tutes on sprucing things up!
5. Devil's Panties, Not satanic *orn. *chuckles*
6.Arkansas Artists On Etsy
7.Cake Wrecks
8.Art Of The Craft Studios
9.A Blondie Day -Sometimes makes me want a girl. ^-~
10. Old Red Barn

Ok, so I read a lot of blogs and it was hard to pick who went in this time....so I did a random pointing act.

And since I'm horrid about posting comments on the blogs I love to read.....It may be a while before I get the notice out.....but I'll try!

Thanks beehive! ^-^

A Sea of Pink

2008-10-11T16:41:00.001-07:00

The Race for the Cure was this morning and it was a blast! Sheena and I walked together and were chuckling and tearing up the whole time.

There were the bikers with their slogans like End the War in my Rack. or Save First Base. Or the firefighters dancing on top of the firetruck.

Then there were the sweetest sights. Like the whole family walking together. The husband with a celebration paper on his back that said he was walking for his wife, in front of him were three ladies. Two of which had celebration papers and in the middle, the mom/wife/grandmother who is a survivor.

It's such an amazing morning to be a part of. I just can't express how much I love it.

I've always wanted to add more pink every year and so this year I made a big hair piece.

I will go bigger next year but not heavier! *chuckles*

It's been fun having cotton candy hair all day.

Were any of you at the Race today? I would love to see pics, I saw some great shots that I really was kicking myself for not having my camera with me for.

So I'm becoming a irregular blogger these days

2008-09-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

And I'm sorry for that. I enjoy blogging, just don't seem to have the time these days.

Today is my day off, and I've spent it with the boys, enjoying the free time to just wander in a park (while my boys picked up two girls around 17, lol) Took them out to breakfast for pancakes because I couldn't see making a huge mess in the kitchen and having to spend the whole morning cleaning it up. *chuckles* And now I'm settling down to watch Across the Universe and do some updating.

Works been fun and frustrating at the same time lately. The frustrating has gotten close to outweighing the fun some days, but overall, I really like my job.

I made a bracelet this last weekend to donate to our Komen event at the store. I might make more in that theme or just along those lines. It was fun to make ^-^

I got my hair cut the other day and I'm still loving it. It was getting to weird at the length it was and I don't have the patience to find new ways to wear it up besides a variation of a ponytail for work. So off with the mess I say!

I put myself in the hands of a talented student (Yeah my mom cringed at that, lol) and I said " Do what you think looks good and won't get me fired" with a laugh. (Yeah Yeah, I know, Double Cringe) It turned out great and I'm excited to go back and let her chose color next time. I'm keeping tabs on this gal! ^-~

On my last day off I got to go thrift shopping a tiny bit and found a bag of buttons I couldn't pass by. There was one I saw that I thought was worth hoping there was more than one in there for so I bought it. Come to find out there were lots that were very cute.

This pair was my favorite though. They weren't the ones I was hoping were in the bag, but they are too cool. They kinda shimmer.

By the way the big purple ones were the one I spotted first in the bag. Those guys are nearly palm sized.

One last thing that we did the other day was that we picked up some lizards for the yard. We don't have a colony in the yard and we want to because they take care of any unwanted bugs. They are so funny and cute. The boys wanted to hold them so I ended up with them climbing on me.

Then we let them loose in the yard, Of course not before one got loose in the house and I had to catch it. He thought the vacuum cleaner looked great to him apparently and I told him if he wanted to do the cleaning, he could completely stay in the house. ^-~

Did I mention I love Across the Universe? It's taken me nearly 30 min to write this post. ^-~ *chuckles* Off to enjoy the rest of my movie!

Changes

2008-09-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Ah fall,

I really enjoy this season, most of the time it lasts a good while and its just so pretty I'm glad it does.

Fall also means changes often and this years no different. The boys started preschool/daycare and are loving it. They are so funny, they call it Apple School because it's got a big apple in its logo. The first week Madd cried when we picked him up to come home, he really didn't want to leave.

They are teaching them things that make me smile, todays sheet from the teacher *which I think is so cool by the way, they send home a sheet that tells me what the kiddo did today ^-^* said that they learned the sign for butter after they had made fresh butter from cream. 0-0 Can I say I love this place? Tomorrow we are going to the store to pick up carrots because Madd is to bring carrots for the veggie soup that his class is going to make.

Kai is so funny, he won't talk to the teachers. They put up a picture of something and he will quickly say the answer then when they ask him what he said he hangs his head and whispers.

Other changes around our house are that both Hubb and I got new jobs. Hubb is working for a company that he will be traveling quite a bit for and I got a gig with Coldwater Creek. ^-^ I get to make the store look pretty.

Speaking of Coldwater Creek, they are big sponsers of the Koman Race for the Cure and on the 21st our store will be having Try it on for the Cure. All day, everything you try on earns a dollar for Koman in Arkansas. Plus 10% of that days sales go to the foundation as well. It's really neat. So stop by if you feel like it. ^-^

I decided to start selling robots in my shop and go a different route with sections. I plan on sticking with the funky fun jewelry I was making, keeping a couple of paintings and photos in the shop as well as the robots. While I like making dainty pretty things my fingers don't like it so much, so I will probably toss one or two in from time to time, but mostly it'll be big fun organic shapes. Might even do some mixed media stuff. Depends on what I get my hands on.

That and time, the ever elusive snake that slithers out the door when your not looking. ^-~

Well, off to enjoy an evening with my husband before he starts being a jetsetter. *chuckles*

Whew!

2008-08-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic month in general but this last few days have been the most.

I started working for Chicos recently because Hubb decided he wanted to change jobs so he could get back into school, which I was more than happy to oblige. I mean who wouldn't be ^-^

Then Coldwater Creek recruited me. I love their atmosphere because its so much more comfortable and I love their beginnings. I can remember getting their catalogs (well my mom did) when I was younger. So now I'm working for them! It's exciting to get to start a brand new store in a brand new shopping center.

All good things ^-^

Last week one of my grandparents passed. It was sudden to me because he's an ex-step grandfather and we haven't been in touch for a bit. So I had no idea he'd been sick recently and wasn't expecting it. He was a fun guy.

One of the funniest memories of him ( and one that fairly well sums up who he was) was when he told us all that you couldn't roll the go carts. We'd been out driving them all morning around the yard and having a blast when one of the moms mentioned their worry about rolling. Bill said, Can't do it.

Not long after (most of us had started preparing lunch) he came in his hair all wild and he looked a little crazy to say the least. He'd rolled one. He said he was fine but later we found out that he'd actually hurt his ribs.

I always enjoyed being around him and I'll really miss him. But I'm glad hes not in pain anymore.
Then........

Sunday, Hubb crashed the van. He's ok ^-^ Thank goodness, but the van.....not so much. He said he was coming down a hill and felt like he was going too fast even though the speedometer showed him going normal speed. He could see water on the road ahead and thought he needed to slow down. So he lightly tapped the breaks and immediately knew it wasn't going to be good. He was lucky though and managed to keep a small amount of control over the van. He didn't hit anyone else on the road but he did hit a light pole and took out a phone box. The van looks like someone with their nose broken.

Lots of the engine parts got all shifted around, the on-board computer cracked, and the frames tweaked. See the way the rim on the tires bent in at an angle, the hood mimics that angle so they think that the van was on two wheels at the point it hit the pole.

But in the end all is ok, it's funny, I dislike the van a ton....I never ever ever wanted to drive a van and still don't.....but it worked for us. And it's going to be hard to replace. Mostly because were in the middle of me changing jobs and Hubb going to an interview tomorrow to switch from working overnights to a traveling job.

Hubb wants to replace it with a conversion van. One from the 80s. I kicked him. lol. No offense if you own one, I mean shoot, I loved the one we drove to Florida in when I was a kiddo...but I'm just not in on driving one. He said I wouldn't have to if we got it, I could drive the car and we'd only use the van for trips. Then his idea was that it would be big enough I could use it when I went to art shows........and I reminded him ever so gently that I would have to drive it for that to happen......

It's been a little crazy here lately, but hopefully once things settle down here I can dive back into my supplies.

I'm entering a contest ^-^

2008-07-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

So I saw information on a local book being put together by the Dem Gaz and a book company that I thought I'd enter. ^-^ Its going to be a book full of photos from all around the state.

So I entered a few tonight and I may enter a good bit more tomrrow depending on my afternoon, but what this post is really about is a request.

If you wouldn't mind....I'd love it if you clicked that pretty little button over there with some of my photos in it and voted away. Don't feel like you just have to vote for me though! Vote for every photo you like. Believe me it's hard to break away from though. I've been voting for an hour!

Anywho, thanks in advance if you decide to vote for me. ^-^ It would be so cool to be in a book! Oh! And enter yourself if you have any photos you'd like to contribute. (then whisper my direction and I'll pass a vote to you too ^-~ ) As long as the photos from Arkansas they are more than happy to have it!

My little froggy guy got featured ^-^

2008-06-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

The very sweet littlewishes contacted me and said, Hey chicka! I put you in a treasury ^-~ Ok perhaps not those words, but you get what I mean.

It was a cute frog treasury!

So cute, I just love them all. I've always had a fondness for frogs.

Anywho, thought I'd share my joy.

Back to work, I'm trying to get lots done this week so that next week while the kiddos are away at VBS and staying with their grandparents, I can do some serious fun stuff. Like painting a room, and actually hanging pictures without worrying about waking the kiddos or a little someone trying to help out. ^-~

Whats going on here.....at my house...with the crazy folks.

2008-06-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

Worked on my front porch mostly yesterday, lol you should have seen me out there. We get the most spiders ever I promise! Must be something attracting them to my front door, it's crazy, and boy am I ever scared of them. So there I was whacking my broom around the front porch trying to get rid of them all. I kept thinking there was one on me and jumping. I'm sure all the neighbors were laughing. I'm just glad to have reclaimed my porch again. (I have to do this like once a week or they take over!)

I'm grouchy at my neighbors anyway and so the whacking of cobwebs was good for me. They cut down two trees in the past two days. For no reason. Not encroaching on their houses or bothering power lines, not even sick or anything. I'm not sure if they got a two for one deal or what, but it was nuts. It was two older ladies right next to each other and they chopped down the only tree in each of their front yards. The one had a swing out under her tree and so now I'm not sure if she'll be enjoying the heat or what. Oh well, their choice, I'll just be laughing when their bills go up.

I'm not very nice when it comes down to it am I? lol.

Anywho, that was my day, and I'm off to do some more work today, I really want a clean house and I'm getting tired of stepping on blocks....the boys may not like me later.

Yart Sale!!!!!!!

2008-06-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

I've joined the fun of the Yart Sale and marked some of my listings down to 50% off. So if you've had your eye on anything, head on over!

Ok, now I'm done with my silly sales pitch. I always feel like a dork typing those out or saying them. Even when I worked in retail framing and had to write the silly things out for both myself and others to say over the speaker system, I felt silly.

I've always felt similar to a barker at a carnival. But I suppose thats what sales is all about really.

So yeah, if you don't mind, hop on over to my etsy shop (you can just click that cute little box of photos on the side) and see if theres something that strikes your fancy.

Thanks for looking!

**Oh and please ignore how messed up the lettering and sizing is on this post, apparently Blogger hates me today, lol. I'll try to fix it again in a bit. ****

Not so peaceful anymore.

2008-06-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Can I just scream? I really feel like it. Shrieking all over the house would be nice. Or yelling obscenities would work too. Kids are still up though.

Heres why.

My oldest (nearly 4) just opened the door for some guy. I had taken the dogs out back because were still watching Diamond to make sure she doesn't go rolling in yucky stuff. Well apparently Madd thought he'd just open the door for who ever this was that knocked. I had forgotten to lock the chain at the top when I came back in from taking a bag to the trash earlier.

The guy seemed nice enough, just down on his luck and looking to make some cash for rent by doing odd jobs, but jeeze!

So we just had a sit down talk about strangers. We've had them before but apparently not enough that he didn't think twice about opening the front door. I was nearly shaking trying to tell the guy I didn't have anything I could have him do around the house.

The guy backed off quickly when Lilly our newf mix came running toward the door as I did. Sometimes I wish she wasn't so aggressive toward the door, like when our friends come over, but I'm sure glad for her right now.

I promised a more peaceful post

2008-06-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

And whats more peaceful than flowers?
I snapped some shots of the flowers outside while our family reunion ebbed. They were doing clean up and I had a cranky kiddo. So outside we went!

There were lots of flowers to photograph but the grouping of red poppy(poppies?) caught my eye first. They've always been one of my favorite flowers. ^-^
There were several metal crosses scattered through the little seating garden and I loved their rusty texture.

And last but not least, I found this little guy snug as a bug (well perhaps waiting for one) in a great big plant. He was too cute to pass by without snapping a few shots.
**Please don't swipe my photos. I've not watermarked the snap out of them because I dislike seeing words in front of an image. So please, please, if you want to use them, contact me and we'll talk. I don't bite! *

My recent beef with Etsy

2008-06-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

In all honesty I think Etsy is the coolest thing.

Lately however I've seen some things I've not liked.

Example One.
The head honcho of Etsy recently stated that no matter how much sellers asked for something to be changed, they heard but weren't changing it.

Example Two.
In that same day said head honcho belittled a seller because she mentioned that gas prices were rising and that it hurt her bottom line. He told her to "watch out"
*Uh yeah, ok, you live in NY, walk most places or take a cab........what do you know about how much gas prices are hurting your average american?*
He also mentioned that he'd worked hard in his life for little pay. Then he mentioned a couple of his jobs and pay scale for one. Both were no where near minimum wage for their time period.

Example Three.

This just happened a moment ago so it's still fresh and makes me grouchy.
We the sellers/buyers/forum goers were having a discussion about a certain product that was under some scrutiny as of late. There was no hate, no bashing, just debate over some things that well, just about everyone who makes something and sells it will have to deal with in their life. No biggie right.

Commonly found out info was posted in the thread, ie: something that we all could have found easily by contacting the company or just looking their info up online. (I have a feeling I know who went and griped about it to the mods, but I'm not stating names as I'm not going that route) Other than that the thread had been nothing but banter back and forth over an issue that was highly informative to me personally and others as I could tell from their responses.

Admin shut it down.

Now if someone starts another thread with anything to do with that last one, it'll get shut down fast.

I don't usually gripe about the forums because there is always so much going on in there, but this one just bothered me.

Oh well, not much I can do about it, at least for now.

Anywho, I'll be back with a more peaceful post later. Some new photos I'm going to offer up for print ^-^

Zoo Day!

2008-04-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I said one main photo post a week.....but I had to share our trip to the zoo. ^-^

The tigers were not happy with each other today and though I didn't get a photo of them sparring this guy was pacing quite a while.

I've always loved these birds, I'm not sure why. Perhaps its our taste in hair color or style.....^-~

Hubb says this photo really speaks, that it's sad looking. I don't know, it's just a very pretty elephant to me.(She actually has a bit of a smile to me, mischievous gal!) But I can see where he's coming from I guess.

The obligatory artsy shot. *chuckles*
I took this one in action mode so they weren't total blurs, but I really want to go shoot them when they aren't moving. I've always loved carousels and the fact that this one is a restored historical one makes it even more special.
There were a ton more. I took a total of 165 photos today, lol. I'm a snap happy momma ^-^ I got some of the boys, just haven't edited them yet.

For now, that was our trip!

*Oh and um, don't steal my photos, lol. You want to use them, contact me and ask. I'm usually more than happy, I just don't like theft. I mean who does.*

Picture day!

2008-04-17T15:06:00.001-07:00

He he, I'm bad about this, so I thought I'd just share everything (ok, well a sample because I take a ton of pictures) that I downloaded from my camera today.

Perhaps I'll make it a weekly thing.

Anywho, on with the pictures ^-^

My azaleas have bloomed and they are always such a lovely watermelon color. This year the leaves are mostly a bright green and so it made a fun combo.
Two years ago I transplanted some pretty burgundy iris's that were growing under a bush in our yard. I also planted some purple ones as well as a white one that year. The burgundy one has bloomed and I'm happily waiting on the other colors to show. ^-^ The purple have budded. The white may not have survived. *It was a second time transplant*
I'm pretty sure I shared my happiness over making my own donuts recently, if not, let me tell you, I love making them ^-^ It's quick, no where near the sugar/fried content and yummy!

Ok, so they are donut holes but they are still donuts!

My cat (Thing One) actually likes people unlike her brother who only likes the lady across the street who likes to feed him. She has her days but most of the time she follows us around the yard.
The boys and I picked up something fun at the store today.
They are toys! Funky funny moving sushi. lol. They are little wind up sushi in different forms.

I may have to go back to get the rest of the types. he he.

And now for the boys themselves ^-^

Kai went off on his own while Mom and I had our garage sale last weekend. He walked over to her front steps and sat for a bit.

Madd wanted to stay out with us the whole time and ended up in a coat of my moms. We were laughing that he looked like a little thug when he's really the farthest from one.
The boys had Popsicles while we spent some warm afternoon outside time and it was interesting to see how they ate them. Madd dove right in and started biting his, K didn't, he's a savor it guy.
So thats my picture scramble for the week. ^-^ Hope you enjoyed!

A yummy contest!

2008-04-14T12:56:00.001-07:00

Over at Suburose.com there is a contest for a yummy sounding bath scrub. It sounds light and perfect for spring. ^-^

So go check it out!

Suburose (Great blog, not just for the fun giveaways but for the light humor and fun ^-^)
Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen-the giver! She has a great shop full of wonderful smells and textures.

Ah Cooking.

2008-04-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

So I love to cook. And it should be no surprise that I like to watch the Food Network in the evenings. Most of my other tv watching time is with the boys and that consists of Disney movies and cartoons.

One of the things about turning the tv on in the mornings is that I always click over to to a channel I watch to keep the boys from getting upset when one of their shows is just going off. (We wake up at different times and sometimes I don't watch tv in the evenings.)

This morning I turned the tv on and I had left the food network on from last night. Jamie Oliver was cooking up some pumpkin and it caught my eye. My oldest didn't automatically say "Mommy change the channel" so I left it without scanning the guide. The commercial came and my kiddo was still hooked! He didn't ask to change and he actually asked if the guy was coming back. ^=^

I'm thrilled. So we watched Jamie cook up some different types of food using squash and pumpkins. Then when it was over I was expecting to be asked to switch to cartoons.....but no! He wanted to watch what ever came up next. He said, can we watch that lady? (there was an ad for the show coming up next.)

She was doing a remake on some fast foods and one of the things was a sundae, so now he's making me sundaes. he he.

I think I could get used to this ^-~

I made a cute set of gals I had to share!

2008-03-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

In my attempts at recycling some of the supplies in my craft room for the swap in my state team I came up with some gals I couldn't resist. ^-^

The Garden Shop Gal's will be sticking around my house for a while, but I'm thinking of buying some more peg people to make a few for sale.

These three gals seem to have a cheeky Desperate Housewives flair but they also make me think they would be fun to work with!

I had planned on making them little baskets of flowers as well as giving them arms and aprons....but I think that may be too much for their size. I mean they are barely over an inch tall! I had a blast painting them and then sewing their little dresses by hand.

I made a few flops in my attempt at recycling some supplies, but some may turn out to be good in the end. I made a few hair ties out of yarn and scrap wire that I may try with some different yarn to see if I like them. They are sturdy enough, just not my colors!

Oh! and in case you missed it, check the post below out. ^-~ Oh and the one below that for the results of the boys easter roving dying fun!

Ok, I'm so swamped, but you know me.....

2008-03-28T20:42:00.001-07:00

I love swaps!

I gravitated towards a large one recently and had a blast putting together enough items to send out (I can't wait to see what comes back! I mean 20 surprises?! What fun ^-^ )

Then theres the very cool recycle swap in the ArEtsy group. Which has been a mess. I mean I keep making things thinking, Oh! This'll be great! Then I either hate it....or don't want it to leave my house......^-~

I have a doll I'm supposed to be making a fellow poppeteer, but I keep missing the fur when I go to the store. Either the wrong dye lot (to match what I already have here) or theres just one on the shelf. Of course, had I bought the one last time then next time I'd only need one.....Doh!

Today I saw a PIF over on Sugarbug's blog that seemed like fun ^-^ So I jumped in. Not thinking....uh Hey lady! You've got a house to get ready to put on the market.....but Meh, it's all in fun!

So heres the deal, now that I've rambled a bit, The first three folks to comment on this post that they'd like to enter the PIF fun gets a present in the mail from me. Whats the catch? You've got to PIF as well! (Don't know what in the world PIF means? Pay It Forward means you got a fun freebie, now you do the same for three other lucky folks!)
So the first three who pop in here and say, Hey! I'd love to play the PIF game get a surprise in the mail from me. (I'll pay shipping and everything, you just do the same for some other lucky goose! Or geese in this matter.)

***Feel free to nab the lil image there and pop it on your blog. ^-^ ***

Easter Roving Turns into Easter Yarn!

2008-03-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

All dry and funky!

I'm really loving this so far. ^-^ I may be ordering a larger lot of white next time................^-~

All spun up!
I really do love it! I can't wait to see what my MIL can come up with for me using it. I think I'm going to request a business card holder. Or a mini scarf!

Easter means color!

2008-03-21T13:06:00.001-07:00

At least at our house, lol. We painted eggs this morning and while we didn't do a ton we had a blast making them. Then we moved on to painting roving! I was a bit worried with the two boys not quite understanding what I meant, but they soon got the hang of it. They created some colorful stuff!
*please ignore the silly painting surface, it's a tablecloth bought at Halloween that wasn't quite big enough.*
When they were done I laid out some longer strips and tried to make some colorful stuff of my own to match theirs so I could spin it all up together. Theirs has more white spots, but it also meant theirs has less color touch problems. I have a couple of brown spots on mine, but they should blend in nicely ^-^ It was my first time dying as well. Here the finished roving is drying on the line.

*I didn't quite realize Eeyore lived next door.....Oh and please ignore my yard that will grow nothing. ^-~*
I love love love drying stuff outdoors. Mm........ And last but not least, I've been coming up with some new pendants this week. I got the idea after painting a couple of mini paintings for a swap. I just grabbed some near card sized wood pieces and started painting. Then I found a couple of little wooden tiles, so I painted those. Next thing you knew I was headed for the store to buy more little wooden tiles. ^-~
So heres one, this one goes in a swap but no one know's who its going to *not even me!* so it'll be a surprise to who ever opens it. There will be more soon! I have to edit photos and list a couple tonight!

Wowie, sems like a long day

2008-03-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

And its only early afternoon!

We headed out this morning to go to Kids Club and when we got there I saw the signs that today was a free kids craft event day. *Yippie!* They had three tables set up with different crayola products and we were trying them out. ^-^ The baby paints they just released are ok, but very messy! They have thin paint in them that smears all over the place until it's dry. Granted most paint smears but this is like watercolor/tempra mixed or something. The other thing I could see was the paints running out quickly and having to replace the whole set often if your kiddo really likes to paint.

The second table was the new markers they put out that are very bright. The boys really liked them so I might pick some up soon. ^-^

The third table was their play clay stuff. Not model magic but the newer version. The boys made wands and then we had a meltdown. Madd wanted to roll them up in the paper mat provided and I knew that they would get squished together and stuck. They are still drying and that was 11:30 or so......

He got really upset and started throwing a tantrum. So I walked him away from the tables to the other side of the store.That kids got a set of lungs on him and I knew it wasn't far from screaming temper time. I sat down and put him in a "corner" basically facing a wall. I spanked his bottom for thrashing out when I picked him up and tried to explain why he shouldn't wrap up the wands. He only got worse and I knew it wasn't going to solve anything to spank his bottom again. So I took him into my lap and held him tight. He was crying and upset. One of the employees walked over and said, Can I help you? I thought Uh, No....I'm calming my kid down lady, walk away. I'm sure she thought he'd hurt himself at first (or maybe not and she just wanted me to make him stop) but she gave me this look when I said No thanks, just calming a temper tantrum down. I wanted to smack her. Lady, raise your kids your way, sorry if I'm bothering other customers by calming my toddler down while sitting next to my cart in an isle. It's not like there was anyone in the isle with us! Grrr.......

Got him calmed down and we had fun coloring for a bit. He said he was sorry to me and to Angie (the art teacher) and life went on.

Then we headed to W-Mart to pick up groceries. I knew that there was a McDondalds (Madd's way of saying it ^-^) in their and I could sit down with them and eat. The easter bunny wandered in and their eyes lit up. I was so happy that they weren't screaming or afraid of him. It was funny though when he turned around and you could see his neck and the back of his hair, Madd said, "Mommy, thats not the Easter Bunny...." I just smiled and said, Nope, its one of his helpers.They were having free pictures with him so after we ate we headed over there to get our picture taken.

The boys were wearing their pirate bandannas from their Happy meals and though Madd took his off Lil Man kept his on.

*Lil Man has on his Monkey Muffin shirt from DogboneArt on etsy. ^-^ It was one of his christmas gifts and he loves it.*

Then we went back to pirating our "ship" around store. ^-^ Now were home and I'm zonked. I think I'm going to take a nap......

How to make yarn dread falls.

2008-03-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

So you want to make dread falls out of yarn. Well, you could sit and braid for hours on end just to get chunky braids, or you could go with the less heavy version of mine. ^-^ Not saying either ones right or better, just saying mine weigh a bit less........

So here we go. ^-^

Step one:-----
Cut out yarn! Grab a skien you like or two, or three (how ever many really) of colors you want. I've used two, but many more are easy to add.

You pick your yarn length out yourself. I've got with a strand thats just over a yard long because I want long falls. You have to remember when deciding what length to cut out that you are folding this piece in half. So if it seems uber long and you just want chest length falls, then go with my measurement, if you want shorter, go with less! (Oh and to get those layered looks, go with a bunch of different lengths.)

Now you've got most of a skien or how ever much you feel like using. (I only used a bit of the black skien I picked up which is your basic skien you see at Wallyworld or most craft stores. The green was a smaller skien and I've used most of it. )

Step Two:-----
Cut out holder. I've used ribbon *black* for this set of falls because I wanted to just tie them in and bobby pin for hold. You can use stretchy lace ribbon, elastics (though the falls will have to be really scrunched for most pony tail holders) or basic sewing elastic (like for clothes)

I've used a fairly long piece as I'm loading it with yarn and want to have a good amount left to tie with security.

Step Three:---------
Fold a few strands of your cut yarn in half and lay under your holder.

Then fold the loop the folded yarn has made over the holder.

Lastly pull the ends of your yarn through the loop and tighten.

It should kind of look like a mans tie at the top. ^-^

Step Four:--------
Fill that puppy up! Squish the yarn loops together and put as many on their as you'd like, leaving a tail on both ends thats long enough to tie. (If you used a pony tail holder, just fill it to the brim!)

Step five:------

Pull your hair up in buns and secure with bobby pins. Of course if your just making a single fall, by all means, make one bun on the back of your head. ^-^

I like mine higher than I did for these photos, I was just popping them in to show off. ^-~

I recommend these bobby pins if your doing yours like mine. they help support the weight of the fall and are large enough to go over the yarn and holder. I got mine at the local beauty supply store and I love them. (Also means I only have to use two pins for a bun in my hair, they hold like a dream!)

Now really, that wasn't too hard was it?! ^-^ I love these and can't wait to wear them out. I'll be making some other ones soon though, I've got roving to try and I want to add some foam to some. When I figure those all out I'll post tutes!

Pic heavy post. ^-~

2008-03-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

First off, theres my surprise today! Johnny our mail man got a stern bark from Lily as he had to stand there more than a moment to put the packages in my mail box. One package was the yarn I ordered the other day. (So fast!) The other was my surprise from the ArEtsy swap we've got going on right now.

I'm so in love with this mini scrapbook that BeeHive made me! And the cool little snake family will make the boys grin. They made me grin! ^-~

Whats cool about this swap was the rules. Had to be stuff you wouldn't just grab out of your supply box, but stuff you've recycled into something cool. I'm still working on mine to send out. Its evolved as I've thought it out.

This mini album as Beehive told me was made from some cords, a belt, sandwich bags, old post cards, bottle caps and a shoe lace! I'm amazed. I keep flipping through it. ^-^

Check out her store here and her blog here! She's so talented. ^-^

The forecasters called for a huge chunk of snow for today and while we didn't get the 8in they said we might, we did get some more snow ^-^

The boys haven't been out in it yet today as it just now stopped snowing. I take that back, its still snowing, but just not a steady almost looked like rain fall snow. But I've run out to take a few pictures.

Heres a bird I caught hanging out in one of our bushes.

The amount of snow thats blown up onto my porch is crazy. The snow was just blowing the right direction though because as I opened my front door it came right in. *laughs*
Heres an update on the next yarn I'm spinning from fabric. It was a large cut of blue mottled (painted/tie dyed/or something like that) silky fabric. I've hardly made a dent in it and I've spun quite a few yards already. Each little cut piece is over 2 yards long so it will be a good sized skein!

The last thing I've done in the past couple of days is try to make some yarn falls. (Dread falls) I've always loved crazy funky hair and though I like to have normal hair for most outings, I do have some punk urges. ^-~ So I've been playing with some scrap yarn to learn what weights and how much to put on each fall. The one here is going to be one of two but for now its just one.

I've got to finish the other side so I can do buns and cover them. I want to make a few that braid in like normal dreads but I like the idea that I can just tie in falls and take them out when I need to.

So thats my picture heavy post and an idea of what I've been up to in the past couple of days. Back to work!

Astroturf Summer

2008-03-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

The funky outdoor fabric samples I got yesterday were sliced and diced last night to create a new yarn ^-^ I cut lots and lots of strips and spun them up into this.!

It's really bright and colorful. I'm hoping it makes it through the setting process, I'm pretty sure it will but I've never even heard of Vinyon fabric before. The label says Vinyon (PVC). There were two of the samples made out of that, and the others were acrylic. It's 16 yards (give or take a few inches) and most of it is about pinky finger in size. It sheds a bit, but its really fun. ^-^ I'm planning on putting it on etsy, I'm sure someone can use it!

Productivity and a Steal at the thrift shop.

2008-03-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

I for some reason got really productive yesterday afternoon and made a bunch of jewelry stuff. Mostly earrings and all for a swap I'm in. Lots of sterling silver in there. ^-^
Then today I decided to swing by our local Goodwill. Every so often they have something I need or want and today was a surprise. I wandered back by their "craft stuff" section and dug in the 50cents a yard baskets. I found some fun prints and some soft silky stuff thats going to make some really cool projects when I get done with it.

My favorite of the prints though is the light blue one here.

These three are vintage I think. They feel it, but as I haven't seen any marks yet I can't assure that they are vintage. But they sure feel like the older calico's you find. ^-^

Theres some samples from a company in there in some vibrant colors and a cute turtle pattern piece that I'll probably use for the boys. I'm excited to get to use them all though! I paid 7.50 for the lot and I know the silky blue piece would have cost me that in store. ^-^ I love thrifting!

Ah a fresh snow.

2008-03-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Of course it is kind of crazy since just two days ago I was wearing long shorts and a short sleeved shirt, but oh well. ^-^ Snow is fun on its own!

We bundled up and headed out to play in it as soon as it stopped snowing. The boys had sat on the couch watching since we'd gotten up so I knew they were excited about it.

I took lots of pics but heres a few of the better ones. There are lots of funny ones of them playing in the snow, but these are the ones I like the best.

Kai loves to flop down on the ground so I was not surprised when that was the first thing he did ^-~

Lilly watching out for the boys and her kitty.

Madd said "Mooooom!" and I quickly turned around. He'd been cleaning off the van and some of the snow fell on him. I couldn't resist a shot before helping him dust off.

Hope you all are staying warm and cozy or out enjoying the fresh layer on the ground. ^-^

Were enjoying some hot coco and a scooby movie. ^-^

Funny Forums Tonight.

2008-03-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

I just had to laugh. I'd just commented in a thread and hit the Etc button to check what else was new. I nearly spit my drink out laughing. It's a bit lewd and too close to a dirty joke not to share.

*Hit the picture to see it larger.No not with your fist! with that lil button on your mouse. Yeah....that one. *

Ok, so may not be as funny to everyone, but it cracked me up. ^-^ And I needed that!

Treasure Chest.

2008-03-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

I've had a single (extra large one ^-^) sitting on my spindle for oh I guess over a week or so now and it's fairly well set itself. I've been meaning to ply it but just had one thing or another come up or my wrist would start hurting me and I wouldn't feel like doing it.

Last night I said, Hmpf! I'm finishing that! Helps that I'd finally decided what I was plying it with. *chuckles* So I started plying it with thread and little beads. At the half mark I started using large chunky beads with some medium sized ones mixed in. Then I folded it at the half and plied it back onto itself in a very loose ply. I adore it and can't wait to use it for something.

I know it's not really knit able as it's as big as my index finger as a single and then you double that since I plied it, but it will make a neat non knitted scarf or some interesting jewelry or perhaps even a mermaids hair. Overall I just can't wait to spin something new. ^-^

I've ordered some more roving, black green and then some white so I can possibly try my hand at dying. If nothing else the white may become some little dreads that I dip into kool-aid to dye the ends. ^-~

Book Tag

2008-02-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

So no shortage of books in my house, but when this popped up on Twisted's blog I chuckled. My books fall into two catagories. Well three, but I don't count my kids books as mine.

A. Books I read like crazy. Stephen King, semi fantasy or sci fi and horror.

B. Books I've picked up at antique stores or estate sales to lay around the house to make it feel more like home.

So when the tag said to pick up the next nearest book I knew it would be of the second category as theres one on the table at my back.

Here's the tag.

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five other people.

And here is the excerpt from A Short History of England by Edward P. Cheyney. Copyright 1904

"On the same occasion he did homage to the king. That is to say, he knelt before the king and took an oath to be faithful to him. This was followed by the consecration , a religious service in which the new bishop or abbot was inducted by the archbishop or some other bishops into the religious functions of his position. "

I enjoyed the book when I picked it up, its worn in some spots, the pages are long ago yellowed and it is written quite nicely. While I wouldn't call myself a history buff or lover, I do from time to time enjoy picking up books on other places. Especially when they were written before my time.

It was sold for $1.40 at a drug store at some point in the past, it's got a little stamp in the corner. Theres also an address and a few lines written in pencil. There are lines underlined and small notes in the margin throughout the book which make me smile when I come across them.

Alright.....5 other people.

Hmm...tell you what I always feel so pressed by these things to choose just the right people. And I know there are so many tags floating out there that it seems they never end. So I tell you what. If you feel like sharing a book, do so then post a comment here letting me know you have. I've always got an eye out for something new and love to see others views on books. So share, ^-^

Robot Plush

2008-02-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

And I do mean plush. ^-^ He's quite snuggly.

Blue Fleece, red fleece and black fleece all snugly stitched together into one robot with a heart.

I was making him for my little brother for his birthday Sat......but I think I'll be making him something else. ^-~

Just had to share...

2008-02-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

I really love a good fresh fruit smoothie and every so often I get the urge to make one. Now I make one every couple of days for the kiddos, it includes carrots and fruits and what ever good stuff I can include for them. Gotta get the good stuff in where I can. ^-~

Today I wanted to make one that I would enjoy as well (I'm not a fan of carrots in mine, they make it too gritty for me. 0-o) so I started grabbing the fruit bags from the freezer. Well its nearly stock up time again so I used what I could get ahold of and just hoped it would be yummy. It was!

So heres my new smoothie recipe.

3 spoon fulls of honey.
2 shakes of cinnamon. (My shakes are fairly good shakes, and my containers got good sized holes. So I suppose it'd be about 1tsp but you don't have to use that much)

One large chunk of frozen berry mix. (this one has ras, blue, and black berries in it)

1 Philly Swirl blueberry flavored. I(t comes in a pack of 6 or so different flavor mixes, they are in the ice cream section but are a non dairy shaved ice sort of thing. I was just using it for the ice and the blueberry flavor. I don't like to add a bunch of ice chunks as it makes it harder to blend and my lil guy is afraid of the blender.)

1 Frusion Strawberry Banana yougurt smoothie. It's cheap, its a filler and it tastes good.

Blend until smooth as you like.

Now most of the things I use I keep around, but you may not have the specific brands, any yogurt or yogurt smoothie will do, I like the smoothies better because they are liquid and i don't have to add extra juice. But I've used all kinds in these. The shaved ice thingy, really any sort of ice and flavor mix works, even if its adding blueberries and ice cubes.

Just play with it. ^-^ I like this mix the best out of all I've made lately because the hint of cinnamon kept popping up and making it interesting. Not to sweet and not to tangy, it was a hit with both the kids and myself.

*^-~ And it means I got my fruits in for the day. he he.

0-0......I grabbed my camera to shoot a few shots of the yummy stuff before it was all gone and got spooked when I went to edit the photos! Apparently something else likes my drink.

Weird.....

On a lighter note

2008-02-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

I just had to laugh. I hadn't gripped much this morning with my right hand, so when I set about making lunch for my kiddos I noticed my hand hurt.

I looked down and I have a large bruise where I was holding my round nose pliers handle. ^-~ Guess I did a bit too much spiral making last night. he he.

Just a note.

2008-02-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

I don't normally cross post my blogs or even tell people about the others, I like my other lives secret. ^-~, but today I'm frustrated. So I'm sharing a bit of a rant on one of my other blogs. It's been made for just that, ranting. Not a sole actually reads it (or at least that I know of no ones ever commented and I'm rarely over there) so feel free to ignore it as well.

It's about the scare we had about two weeks ago and whats happened since. But again it's a rant, with words I can't say outloud anymore (I have little ears in the house ^_^) so not really anyone friendly.

Check it here if you want to. I wouldn't mind another thought on the subject, but do understand, it's a rant blog. It's not got many posts and its rarely a. updated b. read.

And its another side of me that not everyone cares for so fair warning.

I've been tagged! Twice ^-^

2008-02-19T11:07:00.001-08:00

Never really been good at these tagging things, so here goes.

I've been tagged by both Cyndi *see here*
as well as Vicki of Parrotise Beads

Heres the tag, which by the way is an award ^-^ Which makes it a cool tag.

This was started by Erin of Idyll Hands

-Post the award on your own blog. (Post who gave it to you)
-Indicate its original link and link to that site.
-Give the award to 5 other blogs that you enjoy, find creative and inspire you.

So heres my 5

1. Posie Gets Cozy, She makes some really cute stuff and writes a blog thats a great read anyday.

2. BitterSweet, A blog I check on a daily basis. She has a wonderful writing style and a delicious blog in general. Plus shes a young author of a cookbook!

3.Etsians Say The Darnest Things, Because when ever I need a good laugh, I check this blog. It's based off the forums and the folks who say funny things in it. I've found some great shops through this blog.

4.Some Girls Wander, is a neat blog about some of the fun fashions popping up on Etsy.

5. The Twisted Pearl, A fellow ArEtsy gal who does some very pretty spinning and dying of yarn. I love her stuff and if I can't get ahold of some fiber of my own, I know I can get a fiber fix there!

Hope you all enjoy the blogs, if you've seen them before or not, and I hope you bloggers enjoy your award! ^-^ I know I've enjoyed sharing some of my favs.

Elysium the faun poppet

2008-02-18T12:04:00.001-08:00

She's been floating around in my head for a good bit so I thought I'd let her out. ^-^

Today I took her outside and got some shots while it was nice and sunny. Though she said it was too cold and quickly wanted to go back in. *chuckles*

For now she's back to hanging out with Calypso. Which I'm not sure is a great idea....they might be scheming. ^-~

A joyful blurb on my sick day ^-^

2008-02-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

Our house for the past few days has been nothing but coughs and couch lazy time. I've done some spinning but other than that it's been mostly sit and be covered by kids.

Which is why I was nearly skipping from my front door to the table when my ArEtsy Valentines Swap package got here today. ^-^ Nothing makes a sick lady feel better than jewelry. Ok, maybe not all ladies, but absolutely this one!

Heres the goodies I received today from my fabulous swap partner Vicki of Parrotise Beads.

A lovely pair of earrings *In just my colors! I can't wait to get to wear them.* And a very cute, very fun cell phone charm that has a story of its own.
You can check her out at http://www.parrotisebeads.com

Now on to the yarn ^-^ I started a single the other day and it finally finished drying out this morning. So I snapped a few shots of the small but pretty skien.

The second one is still hanging out on the spindle as I want to ply it but haven't figured out a. exactly how and b. with what yet. So here's a preview.

It's the same roving, so not much difference, except I made this yarn a good bit thicker than the other and want to ply it with something tiny.

What I am finding is that apparently I'm in a bit of a blue green kick these days and I think it may have started with this photo I took in game recently.

I've been struck by this outfit and I can't quite get peacock feathers out of my head. *chuckles as she realizes she recently added a peacock feather to her banner......*

What a Day!

2008-02-09T21:28:00.001-08:00

Ohmygoodness long day. Went out shopping yesterday afternoon for mom a new dress, found nothing for myself to wear. So out I went this morning to find something. I started feeling dizzy as I was walking around looking at things. Not long afterwards Hubb called. Apparently we had a gas leak!

So he grabbed the boys from their room and called the fire department. Then he ran around opening windows.
They said that the rooms upstairs were fairly dangerous and that it's good our boys didn't actually go to sleep when we put them down for a nap. Then the gas co guy came and tried to go into the attic *which is upstairs in back of our rooms* and got light headed just inside the door. 0-0.......So yeah. The vent on the roof had gotten clogged in the last storm and had Hubb not forgotten to turn off the stove, we'd not have found that out this weekend. I'm notorious for forgetting the stove until I go back into the kitchen after we eat, so it would have been me and the boys. *Whew!*

Mom's wedding was quick, painless and very pretty for the informal wedding it was. Lucky for all of us the Arkansas weather didn't change its mind last min. ^-~
(Image copyright Brandy Davis, do not steal, reproduce, or use without consent. Thank you)

(Image copyright Brandy Davis, do not steal, reproduce, or use without consent. Thank you)

The second great fun of the afternoon was playing outside with the boys since it was so nice out. I still had my camera with me, so I snapped some shots.

Got one that I'm going to send to Sony and thank them for the camera. I mean really. I'm in love with this shot.

(Image copyright Brandy Davis, do not steal, reproduce, or use without consent. Thank you)

Little Man is harder to catch, he's just not much of a camera ham since he's always on the move, but I managed to snap a couple of him as well.
(Image copyright Brandy Davis, do not steal, reproduce, or use without consent. Thank you)

Hope you all have had a good weekend. I'm hoping tomorrow is less stressful. ^-^

With Love from ArEtsy

2008-02-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

I got a treasury!

So check it out, i'll be swapping out goodies from all the aretsy shops as the time passes. ^-^

Ooh! I got featured in a treasury!

Such pretty copper things.

Resizing your photographs for etsy- a small tutorial

2008-02-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

There was a question posed in the forums today about how to get the right size photo to upload for etsy. Basically from a larger image.

So I thought I'd share my reply since I know that when I got my new camera I encountered this problem. (That thing takes some HUGE pictures) It's made editing a bit faster since I don't even have to go through the process of cropping anymore.

______________________________________________________________
What I've done is to take and make a 1000x1000 pixel document in photoshop. Then when I take photos of items I just add a layer on top of that square and size it down.

Um, let me try to explain that better.

1000x1000 pxl document in photoshop, just a blank canvas.
*open picture to adjust*
Ctrl-A- to select the whole picture I'm trying to adjust to size.
Ctrl-C- to copy the image
*back to the blank canvas*
Ctrl-V- to paste the image to the blank canvas. (will create a new layer on its own unless your starting from the background or base layer. I tend to make a new layer when I first open the blank canvas square)
Move tool- to slide the picture around a little bit
Click twice while moving or go to an edged to scale down and it will change the tool to free transform

Then just scale to the right size for the square. Sometimes I crop the image by not using all of the picture and just scaling it to where I want, and sometimes I have to make the picture smaller than the square to do a rectangle. But overall it just scales your image. That way if you have one that can't be cropped because the item is all the way out to the sides, you don't have to.

Plus it means that all my thumbnails are square. (unless its one of the rectangle smaller ones of course, but even then you still see the whole picture in the square thumbnail alotment)

Hope that made sense. It's worked out easy for me. Of course I'm also using a camera that takes extra large photos, so it may depend on your actual picture size.

Best thing I can say is just to play with it!

Ah Spring

2008-02-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling a bit more like I want to get out and plant some things, but I know it will have to wait a while. The weather here is a mess. ^-^ Today it was in the 70's but by the end of the week it promises to be chilly again. Who knows.

In the spirit of spring I felt like making a new banner for my shop. Its the same as the one above us here, and its a bit on the different side. But it's fresh and I like that.

Plus I've been going the spring route with the new jewelry pieces I've been making.

Heres a sampling. ^-~

This last piece I've been trying to figure out how to finish off. It's made to be worn with a ribbon or something but I just haven't found the right set up for it yet. Same theme though.

And as for the rest of my crafting....I've got a poppet in the works (the dolls) but I just haven't had the time to clean out my machine before I can start. Felting wise I've kind of hit a stand still. Partially because I've been so wrapped up in the moving out of my husband. (Not a bad thing 0-0, he's just working for a bit in the area were going to be moving to soon. Getting things set up as it were.)

Oh and I've been itching to pick up spinning. So with the profits of the last few sales, I'm buying a small drop spindle to try it out. I've got a stash of roving so I can start with that. It just looks like too much fun!

Anywho, off to bed now, sleepy sleepy and all that.

Dust's off blog

2008-01-31T09:32:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been busy around here. Life's taken its toll on my crafting. ^-^ But that's ok.

I managed to get my secret swap item finished and I can't wait to give it.

I've made a couple of pairs of earrings over the last week, a new bracelet and started a necklace. Plus I've sketched out some designs for new poppets. So not all life in the past little bits been devoid of crafting. ^-^

*yawns* But all this rain were getting is making me sleepy. So I'm off to snuggle with my boys!

I have to say a big Thank You!

2008-01-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

To Denise Felton.

She asked to feature me on her blog and I couldn't be happier. ^-^

She's a great collage artist and a member of the ArEtsy Street Team, so head on over and check her out. Her Blog, You can also find here Etsy shop, Here

Oh! And if your on Flicker and an Etsy seller, check out the....

ArEtsy threw a challenge out to see if we can reach the goal of a million etsy related photos. So grab your street teams and head on over! Find the Flicker group Here.

Whew....that was a day.

2008-01-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday started out like any other Thursday for us. Other than the fact that we no longer have to get up at the crack of dawn so we have time to drop Hubb off at work that is. (Hooray for a second vehicle! ^-^ )

The morning went as it almost always does. Drop boys off at Mothers Day Out, head over to the barn, help with tack and prep for kids, then walk for hours with one hand in the air. Best exercise plan ever. ^-~ Then head back over to pick up boys.

We had scheduled my youngest to get a speech evaluation yesterday and the therapist had hoped to squeeze him in while they were still there at MDO. Unfortunately she couldn't so we hung out a bit afterwards to see if she'd have time before lunch. The speech therapist came back out and told us she'd had to schedule him in at 3pm and she was so sorry. I was ok with that, it meant Lil Man could take a nap and get some lunch. Lucky for us, LoLo(thats what my boys call my mom) showed up and so we all went to lunch.

The boys and I went to LoLo's house to let Lil Man take a nap and then when it was time we headed back to the clinic for his eval. The eval went well and we headed out. It was around 4:40 when I stopped at Wal-Mart that I noticed my diaperbag was gone. I dug through the van and couldn't find it. So I called the Wendy's we'd eaten at and asked if anyone had turned it in. They said no.

I drove to LoLo's house and ran quickly around the rooms we'd been in to see if I'd taken it in and set it down. Nope.

Called the clinic. They didn't see it.
I called Hubb to let him know and he said to go look at Wendys.
I did, and still didn't find it.
Hubb called me about 18 times not making me any less stressed.
Finally I called our bank and reported my card lost/stolen. They said they'd send me a new one and that they'd stop the old one.

Hubb called me again and said to go back to LoLo's one more time and look around all over the place. So I did. By now it's nearly 6pm and I've driven all over the place. I started looking around when my sis showed up. I stopped looking a few min to talk to her. When the boys came in the room with us and wanted to change the channel on the tv we headed into that room. It was getting dark in that room so I went to turn the lights on. And there...sitting on the fireplace...was my diaperbag.

Maddman had moved it. Where he put it was right next to my mom's wood burning stove fireplace thing. It's one of those inserts. It's black and large, my diaperbag, black and large. So sitting right next to each other I'd easily glanced over it when running through looking earlier. I nearly cried. The funny thing is, Madd told me earlier in the search he'd moved it. But the answer he gave when I asked where, instinctively, was not any thing rational. So I didn't give it any thought. *laughs*

The boys were so wiped when we got home they were snoring in their car seats. I just needed a drink!

In the end it all turned out ok, I'm happy my diaperbags not gone for good, and that Hooray the speech therapist said she doesn't think Lil Man needs speech therapy ^-^ He's just a busy kiddo, and sometimes too busy to talk.

Calypso

2008-01-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

My first sewn doll!

I joined a craftalong on Craftster a while back and have just not had the time to do the project until this last week. So for the past three days I've been sewing off and on trying to get her finished.

I started out following the pattern, then got distracted and all the sudden knew she should be a mermaid. So I pulled out some icy blue suede that I had in my stash for her tail.

I cut out my own pattern and just went with it. The day before I started I stopped by an area of town I hadn't been around lately and found some of the neatest yarn to use as her hair.

So after all the finger killing work, I'm very proud to introduce you to my mermaid companion.

She's got a necklace with two fish beads and a clear shell bead.

Her tail is beaded with a large set of beads around her waist.

In her hair I put a few wooden beads to accent, and in her ears, she has some clear drop earrings with one wire wrapped pendant earring I made and a dolphin charm I found.

I found a design online I liked for her face and painted it on.

I nearly killed my sewing machine trying to sew her hair into tracts so I could stitch them to her head. And my fingers, oy.

But boy howdy was it fun to see her come together. I think I'll do a faun next. ^-^

A very merry Unbirthday to me ^-^

2008-01-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

To me.

When the treasury box popped up it's all I could think of. *laughs* We saw the movie the other day and my boys loved it. I on the other hand, have the song running through my head. Hooray for songs that loop really easy. ^-~

So heres a list for friends and family....I love these things. ^-^
Ya know, since my b-days in March

I ended up picking things from my favorites that were almost all black and white. Mmmm I love that color combo.

On that same color scheme I posted a new series in my shop. Quirky Quotations.

They will be odd things I think up and put on pins or patches to wear. Plus mustache designs as well. I mean they are just fun ^-^ So keep an eye out for them.

I tried to sculpt with clay.

2008-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

And all I got was a good laugh. ^-^

Ok, so it's not horrid, my little huskey/fox creature is kinda cute. But in that my 6yr old made it kinda way. (Please don't remind me I'm not 6)

Don't get me wrong, I love him, but he's not exactly what I had pictured when I started. I almost completely ruined him in the baking process. Somewhere along the line we'd picked up some clay and I'd tossed it in the kids craft box. Well when I pulled out my sculpey yesterday, guess who wanted to craft along side me. Madd.

So I pulled out the nameless, instructionless clay package and let him have at it. When he saw I was putting my creation in the oven to bake, his just had to go in too. His clay ended up being no bake clay. *laughs* I glanced in the oven after a few min and there was a puddle of colorful mess on each side of my critter.

So out they came and into another dish went my fox guy. Thankfully the puddles hadn't seeped under him though there was a bit of oil underneath him. No color contact though. I popped him back in the oven and said nothing to Madd, who was still happily playing with the rest of his clay.

So now I have my fox guy, and on my counter, is a tray of creative marbles/planets, a couple of what he said were monsters and one mass of clay bars stuck together. Oh and the poor dish that sacrificed itself to the gooey mess of melted clay.

*************************************************************
So I went back to fiber sculpting, until I can get better reacquainted with polymer clay.

I made a new monster guy out of fiber, he'll have friends in his species as I have a few color combos planned. Jess has a new home she'll be leaving for tomorrow, so Mimi insisted on some new friends. A whole house party of them. ^-~

*************************************************************
Oh! I got my business cards in the other day. They aren't exactly what I wanted, I had hoped they would be darker and that the light grey stripe across them would actually be as silvery as it looked on the web site, but oh well. They look good and I'm happy to actually have cards ^-^

Thought I'd share a bit of our holiday...wordy and pictures abound!

2008-01-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

Hubb always gets into the cooking scene around holidays. I think mostly it's because his grandmother cooked large meals and he associates them with the holidays. I realize that most do, My family did bigger meals than normal, but I just wasn't that interested in them.

Hubb on the other hand has a semi love affair with food. Ok forget semi, its a full blown affair. That man loves food. ^-^

So every year he forces a turkey into our freezer along with the various other foods needed. This year I managed to talk him out of a large bird since everyone else in the family was already doing big dinners and it would never get eaten! Then his boss got him a ham for Christmas.

Whoo......hoo....

He was excited and I was happy to let him cook.
The ham took hours and hours. This ham was huge! I'm talking....well why talk when I can show you.

So yeah.....most of that's still in my fridge.

Our boys enjoyed the holidays. I bought them lots of goodies from Etsy, Hubb found them a couple of things in the mass market, Superman, board games and the like. Not that that bothers me ^-^ I love that he likes to shop.

The house was all lit up. I tried to talk Hubb out of putting the lights up..I'm not sure what was wrong with me...I love Christmas lights, just didn't feel like we had time this year. But up they went ^-^

We had the fireplace going for a week, ya know with the heater going out, and that was something I enjoyed.

Ok, I'll hush now. One last shot of a family friend who's been around for years and years. He's always right by the front door and the boys love to hear him tinkle out jingle bells. He's one of the first things I put up each year and one of the last things to come down.

Ah Christmas.

A Happy New Year and ArEtsy

2007-12-31T15:49:00.000-08:00

I grabbed hold of a treasury this morning and wanted to showcase Aretsy again.

So without further ado.....

Oh and heres the link if you want to go straight to it.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! In 08 I hope to get better at the many things I dabble at now, as well as try a few new things. I would also like to lose a little weight, and figure out why my dog is so smelly! *Holding nose, really, they decided to lay at my feet today and smell like they rolled in poo....0-o*

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

Here at my house, the tree is trimmed, the fireplace is warm...even though we've now fixed the heater (little happy dance here) and yummy smells are wafting out of the oven.

Ahh Christmas.

I snagged a treasury this morning,
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=20156

Well back to baking ^-^ Hope you all are having a safe and happy holiday!

Tiny little rant.

2007-12-17T11:42:00.001-08:00

Ok, got one of those great little items I ordered in today and while I think they are great (though a little smaller than I remember thinking they were going to be...but I'm awful at not reading a size, lol) they came in a box with packing peanuts.

Can I just say how much I dispise the things? I don't mind the biodegradable ones, as even if I let the kids use them as art work and somewhere down the line they get tossed *you know, that omg i've got to clean out some of these art projects or I'll be swimming in the piles of paper around here clean outs* they will just melt away.

These are the non bio ones. The funky ones that leave little bits of styro on you that float around your house forever. The ones that squeak.

Sigh. We will use them in a project but I will still feel awful about them. And you know what that means, they will be sitting in my storage boxes until I die, then my kids can look at them and laugh. Hopefully by that time they will have found a way to delete these things without harming other things. 0-o.

Thats all..I'm off my soapbox.

Baby its Cold outside!

2007-12-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

Goodness! It's chilly outside today ^-^

Especially since the moter that turns the fan in our heater went out. So while it lights and trys to heat the house...the fan just makes a funny noise and dies.

Thank goodness for our fireplace! Hubb's going to get some more wood as our supply from last year has dwindled since yesterday morning. Our house is very old and no one's replaced the windows, so we get all sorts of drafts. We had just talked about getting the film to cover the windows again the other day and hadn't done it yet. But you can bet as soon as I can get to it those puppies are going to be shrink wrapped!

For now were curling up under blankets, drinking lots of warm drinks like cocoa and tea and keeping the fire stoked. ^-^

Thankfully Hubb's dad is coming down Sat and will be able to fix it, provided they can find a motor for the silly thing. (It's OLD. Trane no longer has the unit on their website old.)

We got our lights up last night so I'll post pictures of that when I get done. It always makes the house look so cozy. Even if it is only 65 in here! ^-~

Picture time!

2007-12-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

I decided that even if my family reads my blog....they won't really know what they are getting as I'm only sharing one thing I made with the fabric.

I got the other stuff done...but haven't photographed it yet. So anywho...heres the pincushion I made myself since I screwed up one of the other ideas...and it turned into this! ^-^

Then theres my Christmas Tree. See that candy cane hanging off the left? Thats a hand made knotted one from my grandmother on my dads side. And that fun little snowflake right in the middle? Thats from my grandmother on my mom's side. I have sets of each and neither has made any for years. I love them.

Oh yeah..that ballerina. She's from my mom, I danced for 12 years. Most of that ballet. I'd have a whole tree of ballerina ornaments if I put them all up. She's just my fav.

Then there's my latest painting to list. It's not the newest one I've done, but it's one I never can photograph right. Its a floral grouping. Kind of like a puzzle, I promise to send the key to whomever buys it, it is six 5x5 square canvas blocks. They can hang or sit. though sitting I wouldn't stack them all up right like I have them here. They are propped up against a candle stick. Hence the photoshoping.

Last but not least. Jess. I keep wanting to call her Pim and I get evil looks. She's going up for sale.

Oh by the way...these are all taken in my new photo studio box. Not sure how much I like it actually. I'm having to do a lot of photo shopping to make pictures I would consider good. These just break even. But this is my first time playing with it. The lights are nice. I think I had them too close.

Back to working! I need to wrap some gifts. Not just the ones that came yesterday but also the ones that arrived today! Still more on the way, so don't want to lose something in the mix. ^-^

Oh oh oh! I almost forgot. In one of yesterdays packages, I got the cutest little extra! A bundle of roving in this fab sherbert coloring! Just had to share!

I miss the old days.

2007-12-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

Seriously.

You know Wal-Mart is chopping their fabric departments out of their stores. They've already taken it out of some and as they rebuild/remodel the older ones, they are slowly filtering them out. This makes me very sad.

I love one stop shopping places. Don't get me wrong, just like every other gal, I like to shop. When I've got my kids in tow, I'd rather pick it all up in one stop than to have to run to 4 shops to get things. My boys tend to fall asleep in between and then its a hassle to get them to be happy when we get to the new place.

So I started thinking. I miss the Sears Catalog. Not the silly glossy ones they send out these days...if they still do, I'm not a fan of Sears around here....You know what I mean, the old fashioned one you found in those general stores.

Thats what Sam Walton's idea was when he started wal-mart. The good old general store.

I want the real Sears Catalog back. If Wal-Mart's going the way of Target, I want a real general store back.

Call me old fashioned, call me cheep. I'll admit to them both. I just really appreciate a place I can get it all done at once. Especially with the gas prices these days!

Oh and I want those big glass jars with the shiny candies in them back too. While your at it...can I have a soda fountain? Guess I better get started building that small town in the middle of nowhere huh. ^-~

Squee!

2007-12-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

Oh My. My mailbox just got overloaded. ^-^

Poor Johnny, our mailman, he was sticking them in the best he could and still had to stack a couple of things on the ledge. *laughs*

So quite a few of the funky fun items I ordered got here today! Now I'm waiting for the next wave. I've found most of my gifts on Etsy this year and couldn't be happier.

Now if I could just finish the ones I'm making....then get them all wrapped. O-o

Oh and I got a great freebie in one! Some wild roving and a big group of cupons for etsy sellers in a team! I know some folks get frustrated with all that extra in their package and just want what they ordered....but I couldn't be happier. ***AaaaahChoo!*** Now If I could just get rid of these sniffles. ^-^

I need a hot bath

2007-12-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

Really. Please? What if I bat my eyes and pout my lip? Later you say....I can handle that. ^-^

I snagged a treasury this morning and since a nice warm soak is on my mind...I went with that as a theme.

After the Rush.

Any of these yummy treats for the senses would be welcome in my home. Purr....

I've still been killing my sewing machine, so no new pics yet of anything for the shop. But I am going to try to photograph one or two of the items to share.

Oh and Mimi's new friend Jess. Shes a little bit voodoo and a little bit punk. ^-~

A little bit new necklace

2007-12-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

I love adding an old piece of jewelry to a new one. Something about finding a discarded item at a yard-sale,estate sale, or even a thrift store and then giving it new life makes me smile.

I've got a box of broken pieces of jewelery, or things that were considered outdated, or perhaps just not made for that person. The other day a dig through the box brought inspiration. A pair of old clip on earrings and one broken broach soon became a necklace fit for any steampunk/newvictorian garb.

It's fall, its warm and inviting, and yes while I know its winter where most of us are, lingering leaves still remind me of the warm weather that was just a week ago.

No seriously a week ago. Can I have that back please?! Bitter wind and I don't get along. ^-~

*Ps. The model here is the lone pumpkin that has been hanging around since before Halloween. He's just enjoying the view from my porch I suppose. He was lucky, or unlucky how ever you look at it, enough to have escaped my carving excitement and has held a firm standing against the weather and cats. And kids and squirrels and what not. Anywho, he's here to stay 'till he feels like it!*

**Pss. I updated the Mimi post with her picture, so if you want to see what the little scamp looks like, scroll on down ^-^**

A homemade holiday

2007-12-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well sorta.

I have quite a few gifts I'm working on...er towards. I always find couples gifts hard. You either buy something for each of them, or do a combined gift. Then who gets to open it? What if one half likes it and the other doesn't. Blah. Oh well, still making them.

Wha? you want to know what I'm making? Tough cookie. I'm not showing til after i gift them ^-^ Because...well I've shared my etsy shop with my family *Who doesn't!* and as I have my blog posted there, I would bet they'd saunter over here. So with the off chance I'd spoil the surprise...I'll be keeping those secrets.

Though believe me, I'll be posting a large post when the gifts reach their homes. ^-~

Oh and on the other secret hand...I've got a project that I'm testing out right now that might just spur a new product! I can't wait to see if it turns out ^-^ *giggles with glee*

With that, I'm off and running toward what looks to be my cowering sewing machine ^-~

Treasury time!

2007-12-03T12:42:00.000-08:00

I waited for a treasury today. I popped in to check them out and it was only a few from batch time. So I hung out a bit. Was sure it would crash as there were 410 people watching, but it didn't!

Wasn't really sure what I wanted to make this one about, but ended up typing in Sage and Satin. Satin being for a creamy color as I didn't really think Sage and Cream sounded as nice.

So heres what I came up with.

Boy was cream/satin ever hard to come up with. Mostly body lotions. Which are not always the prettiest photos. Nothing against them, but after 40 or so tops of cream containers....I was out.

Oh and I left the alternates open so you could see what might pop in if someone gets an item purchased. *crosses fingers for folks* Plus its not fair if they don't, then they are just sitting there. -_-

I think it turned out pretty. Hopefully front page material. I think that would just be so cool, to pop open etsy and find my treasury on the front. Shoot or to find myself on the front! I think I'd just keel over. *chuckles*

Boys scarfs

2007-11-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

I finished both the boys scarfs right before Thanksgiving. I mean literally. I was sewing Madd's together as I was packing. *laughs*

So heres a pic of the scarfs.

I took old baby clothes and cut them up. Things I didn't want to get rid of because of sentimental value, but didn't see the reason to store. I mean I have a few of their most adorable outfits stored, but I keep finding things I don't want to pass along!

This fabric is one of the outfits I just adored. It was comfy, cool enough to wear outdoors in the spring (our springs are short, so its really a summer) and cute enough to wear where ever! Then it got paint on it at one of my art shows. Kai was trying to help me paint. That didn't work out as well as he'd hoped. Oh well.

They love them which is great, means I'm not fighting two kiddos who don't want to wear scarfs. ^-^

My newest companion

2007-11-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

I have been playing with needle felting for a bit now and just finished my second project. She lead me to her.

Started out making a pincushion for my needles and was drawn to another color to add over top. The more I needled the more it became a cute little cube. When finished I said...hmm. Lets make another and make a cute little bear or something. So I made another.

Then I began to make the body. As I worked I noticed more and more I liked the shape of the body. Then I went to add the second color for the main fur color. I started by making a little v of roving near the top of the now egg shaped body. As I wrapped the sides I noticed I liked the look of a full belly but still wanted a heart in the first color. So I went to shape the bottom of the heart. Thats when she struck me. This was no bears body. This was a cute little alien gal.

So I covered the back of her in the outer fur color and left only the two stripes across her front in an x. Then I took a bit of black roving and made her some eyes. Beady little eyes, but with fuzzy eyelashes. Girls gotta be able to wink ya know!^-~

Then I took what was going to be her legs, and made them ears/hair/buns? Something on top. added a little heart earring in black roving and she was finished.

Now I can't leave her alone. Mimi (Thats what she said her name was) is a trouble maker! Rolling around on the table bumping into other supplies. Messing up my ribbon stash and trying her hardest to get off the table and into more trouble. ^-^

I think I need to make her a man or a friend to keep her busy.

I am still working on getting my pictures uploaded from her photoshoot, but for now here's a rough drawing of her.

Sorry for the small pic. the only one I could upload was a photo from my phone. And its tiny. So I traced it in photoshop. Still tiny, but if I blow it up, she's all fuzzy.

OH! and I made a new piece of jewelry, painted a new art piece and wet felted a soap! I'm crafting like crazy over here ^-^.

*****Update!***
Well I managed to get Mimi out of the house for a photoshoot. All was going well until she spotted Mr. Pumpkin....

I think she loves him. Hopefully she won't beg to see him all the time. He might leave sooner than she wants.

Finally I got her out to the rock wall to get a good shot, she insisted on laying down. *Sigh* Models. ^-~

Got a Treasury!

2007-11-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Named it Let it Snow. I had left a window open to the treasury but had forgotten when to check. Then on my way back through my tabs I noticed the box. So I typed as fast as I could ^-^ Didn't have a hard time finding beautiful items related to snow. Snowflakes have always amazed me. Each one is different and the thought that every one I've touched had a separate life from its brethren makes me smile.

Hope you enjoy my treasury. Heres to crossing fingers it makes the front page!

Our holiday trip

2007-11-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday at Hubb's parents house. They live way out in the country so the trip is always a pretty one.

There are three trees clumped together that I love to pass under. They make me smile and I call them the sisters. I can just picture them gossiping as they are along one of the main roads. I'm sure they've seen it all.

I've always wanted to photograph them, but we usually have two sleepy boys in the back seat. This time I got lucky as they were in a good mood.

I shot them in both color and sepia. I love the sepia treatment on them, Hubb loves the color. Either way they turned out fun.

Heres the shot I listed as a print. I haven't decided the number of prints I'll make but it will be a limited edition.

*Copyright 2007 Brandy R.*

I wanted the shot to look like an old photo. Something found in a barn where it was stored for years. Perhaps it was in a fire. Who knows, all anyone really knows is that it tells a story. I love story shots. ^-~

Listing like crazy

2007-11-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Just wish I was still creating like crazy! Or at least for you guys. I've been making Christmas gifts for the past few days.

Heres a couple of the things I listed in the past couple of days.

Spiraling...into Christmas

2007-11-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday I got the chance to craft a little. Spending time in an area with little to no internet is conducive to crafting. ^-~ I made a group of rings, as well as two new necklaces. I also got a little felting time in, though I won't be selling the first piece and the second is still in production. *Crossing my fingers it turns out like I want it too*

Heres the first necklace I listed.

I'll be listing the rings and the other necklace throughout the weekend. Trying to stretch some things out over time, so I can hopefully get some exposure. ^-^

Oh and heres the first felted piece.

Its the size of an Artist Trading Card, but I don't know that I'll ever really trade it.

Updated my banner!

2007-11-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

Finally got around to doing something other than tossing a bunch of funky brushes on top of a blue background and made myself a new banner.

It helped starting out with the right size, lol. I did my first one by making my design and then sizing it....not so great. It worked, but wasn't exactly easy. ^-^

So heres the old......

And heres the new! I wanted a splash of color that didn't compete with my jewelry backgrounds.

I like it, tell me what you think? My new avatar is just the swirly/ekio art text on the end. Simple and easy to read. Though since it isn't a sample of my work I don't know that it will draw people in. I guess we will just have to see. ^-^

Now to spiff up this page................^-~

Squee!

2007-11-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Sheena (My mother) is engaged!

She called me just a few min ago to pop the news. Shes giddy and its so cute. ^-^ She's been married twice before, but neither worked out. She and my Dad were too young and didn't really know what they wanted. My step-dad was......well I don't really know....0-o,I'm just glad ....Just....glad.

She recently met a guy who she probably wouldn't have thrown a second glance to if he hadn't been a friend of a friend. Not that he isn't a good looking guy, he's just a red head and Sheena's never really looked at many red heads. Ya know, you just get those things in your head sometimes.

They got introduced and hit it off from the start. They've been hard to separate since. Well apparently Friday night he gave her a ring. He said, "It's not 'the' ring because that ones still being made, but I wanted you to have a ring." She said its very nice and if its not as pretty as the one thats being made, then that one must be gorgeous!

My sis and Hubb are the two not quite as thrilled about it right now. Princess (sis) was dating a guy who's my age (she's 18) and Sheena told her to stop dating him. Now Princess is angry at Sheena because NewMan is younger than Sheena. Not a ton younger, but enough that it makes Princess mad. Pfft! Get over it girly! Two adults with a small age difference is a good bit different than a teen and a twenty-something hooking up. Blah.

Hubb's thing is that he things they are rushing into things. At which time I tug his ear and remind him of how long it took before we decided we were meant to be. *chuckles* Same exact time period.

Had a good laugh about that one too. While talking to her she mentioned that they had decided on a date that they thought was good. Yeah...One day before Hubb and I's anniversary. She said, Oh no! I didn't remember. I said Chill lady! I'ts all good. Go with it! ^-~

Eeee! I can't wait to help plan. I just hope she isn't rushing into things. I know Hubb and I didn't really rush...but sometimes we feel like we did. (Not that we'd do it different, just that we wish we could have taken longer to plan and work things the way we wanted)

Anywho, just thought I'd share. Fixed my sewing machine and have back up needles as well as oil for the machine. Made one of those cute harimaku...harjamakjuju.....muffin top covers....draft stoppers...thingymabobbers. ^-^ Now I want to make a bunch! So cute.

I think I have a sixth sense for the treasury.

2007-11-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

I logged on this morning and saw that the treasury was only min away from 222. So I snagged another one ^-^

Lucky for me, my last one expired an hour before the ability to make a new one popped up.

This time my theme was Rust and Teal. A color combo I wear often as its soothing to me.

Hope you enjoy it too!

Spent last night frustrated.

2007-11-17T07:09:00.000-08:00

I wanted to work on some of my sewing projects while I had the free time. Last night was going to be a sewing madhouse. Unfortunately my poor sewing machine said no.....So I didn't get a thing done.

I think it just needs a good oiling but I didn't have any on hand last night, so I plan on grabbing some today. I need that silly machine to work! I've got plans. ^-^

I'm sure it hears that and starts trembling....no more blue jean material please lady! He he.

2007-11-14T20:54:00.001-08:00

Logged on at just the right time tonight to snag a treasury. So I went with a color theme. I love to wear tones of brown in fall and so I went in search of yummy looking browns and creams.

I called it Cream and Coffee...I think.....its something like that. ^-^
Above is the screen shot of it. I love these tones together.

Anywho, off to bed, the rest of the week is work and craft work! Christmas craft mostly, but I've also got to crank out a piece for a local art auction or my Mother will kill me, *laughs* Not to mention the guy who's a friend who's running it.

Princess of Procrastination.
Ekioart

My sewing machine's getting a work out!

2007-11-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

I've been filled to the brim with ideas from the November craft along from the blog SewMommaSew. So many fun items that will fit most of the gifts I've been pondering. Which is great!

I've been working on scarfs the past two days, and let me tell you, its fun^-^. I spent yesterday afternoon ripping seams out of some of the baby clothes the boys have grown out of that I just hadn't been able to make myself get rid of. Now they are going to be fabric panels in scarfs. He He. And whats better, the grandparents get to see that we didn't just toss those outfits that they purchased with love.

It's also helping me clean out my fabric drawers. Which means soon I'll get to buy some more! *Hubbs not going to like that, lol. but If I'm using it, he'll get over it*

So don't be surprised if I start listing scarfs. I'm having a hard time only making a couple!

Felting!

2007-11-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

As I've explored the wide world of crafts on Etsy I've found I have a fondness for felt. I've been reading blogs and checking out crafts with this medium and decided recently I wanted to try it out.

Off on the hunt I went. I found that HL had what I needed to get started so I picked up supplies last week. On Fri night I sat down and started a project. So far its been really fun. I made a flat piece so it's just going to hang out around here for a while, but hopefully soon I'll feel confident enough to share some of my creations. Of course that will mean more supplies.....and more time.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now overall. My youngest got a toy stuck in my unruly hair Sat night and I had to cut it out. Plus I have to get something done for an art auction I said I'd donate to, and I've got an urge to sew. Which only happens at night and during naps as my youngest (Kai) is afraid of the sewing machine. *Sigh*

I suppose I'd better go get to work if I wan't to get anything done! He He.

Costumes, Candy, and Cute Kids!

2007-10-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ah Halloween, the very start of the holiday season. *Well if you don't count when the stores start putting out Christmas stuff in Sept!* I love Halloween. It's wild, kooky and even spooky.

I've always been a big Halloween fan. Once I had kids I knew I was going to be making their costumes as often as I could. About three months ago I came up with the idea that I wanted the boys to be Thing One and Thing Two. Unfortunatly the shops didn't come through for me. No luck on red footed pjs. Oh well.

Recently we started watching a different channel in the afternoons for cartoons. My oldest *Madd* has become a big Superman fan. So Superman he would be. The costume ended up pretty cute and I'm almost positive I'll be leaving that little emblem on the front of his new sweatshirt. Shoot I spent three hours making two of them! I know the cape will be around for a while.

The little guy *Kai* is going to be a dragon. With all the mess, I decided to go with something we already had in the costume box. A friend a while back had given us a dragon costume to play with and it fits Kai nicely.

As for me I try to dress up too, I'll most likely be a pirate. Since its easy and warm. If not that a cat of some sort.

I've been making sets of cat and dog ears. Not sure if I'm going to put them on headbands or put them on clips so you can just clip them in. Either way they are going to be sturdy and fun. I made my first pair hoping for cat ears and got German shepherd instead! he he.

Hope you all have a fun Halloween! I know were going to, but first we have to finish our Jack-o-lanterns!

New pics

2007-10-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

Manged to get all the pictures I'd taken of the pieces in my shop off the camera. Been busy working on halloween costumes for my kiddos so I kept forgetting. Now the pics have a common theme, though I haven't finished all the pictures.

I finished a new necklace that I have to photograph now as well as put up my entry for the costume contest. ^-^

I love Halloween. Such fun.

Question to any of you out there.

2007-10-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have cards for sale, and cards I plan on doing that will be up for sale. I want to make sure they all get where they are going safe and sound and in the condition I put them in the package in.

Anyone have any tricks they use? I have thought of trying to find those clear packages that they sell single cards in so that I know each card is safe and isn't bothering any of the others. In case of weather accidents. I know that mailmen try to keep things safe, but sometimes things are out of a persons control. Like humidity!

Of course I'm not asking for you to slip me trade secrets ^-^ I'm kinda just hoping for a pointer in the right direction as I'm new to this game.

On another note, what sealant do you card makers use for things drawn on...I'm thinking of doing a set of flowers drawn and shaded in ebony pencils, and would hate to have them smudge because I didn't use the right sealant!

Covered in Paint

Tutorial: Interchangeable Headband Designs!

A Grrrreat find.

A new design up for Voting!

Being a procrastinator

Glee and no I do not mean the show.

Yard rolling

A what?

Snow Day

Holiday Pressures

Another submission sketch -Steampunk

Sketches

Just a few more days to vote!

Poppets and Steampunk and Swaps Oh My

Capture Arkansas

Trendy Idea

Photo update

Something New from me to You!

New Photos

How NOT to run an art festival.

Monsters V Aliens....the movie...not in my living room.

Wire Wrapped Goodies.

Haircuts and Holidays

Butterfly Award

A Sea of Pink

So I'm becoming a irregular blogger these days

Changes

Whew!

I'm entering a contest ^-^

My little froggy guy got featured ^-^

Whats going on here.....at my house...with the crazy folks.

Yart Sale!!!!!!!

Not so peaceful anymore.

I promised a more peaceful post

My recent beef with Etsy

Zoo Day!

Picture day!

A yummy contest!

Ah Cooking.

I made a cute set of gals I had to share!

Ok, I'm so swamped, but you know me.....

Easter Roving *Turns into Easter Yarn!*

Easter means color!

Wowie, sems like a long day

How to make yarn dread falls.

Pic heavy post. ^-~

Astroturf Summer

Productivity and a Steal at the thrift shop.

Ah a fresh snow.

Funny Forums Tonight.

Treasure Chest.

Book Tag

Robot Plush

Just had to share...

On a lighter note

Just a note.

I've been tagged! Twice ^-^

Elysium the faun poppet

A joyful blurb on my sick day ^-^

What a Day!

With Love from ArEtsy

Resizing your photographs for etsy- a small tutorial

Ah Spring

*Dust's off blog*

I have to say a big Thank You!

Whew....that was a day.

Calypso

A very merry Unbirthday to me ^-^

I tried to sculpt with clay.

Thought I'd share a bit of our holiday...wordy and pictures abound!

A Happy New Year and ArEtsy

Happy Holidays!

Tiny little rant.

Baby its Cold outside!

Picture time!

I miss the old days.

Squee!

I need a hot bath

A little bit new necklace

A homemade holiday

Easter Roving Turns into Easter Yarn!

Dust's off blog