Pretty Things

Wow! Here's some samples of artwork by Jen Stark. She makes these out of construction paper. See more here.

Found via metafilter.

Spats! Who Knew I Loved Them?!

I bookmarked a post from Ullabenulla a few days ago so I could keep going back and gaze adoringly at her find.

Spats made in Germany by Maide. Ullabenulla's post is here (with lots more spats including some incredibly ornate ones). She links to Maide's site as well. Her blog is one of my faves - full of beautiful things.

So now I need spats (and likely more boots to wear them over).

Everyone Else is Doing It..

So why not me?. Plus I love pretty clothes. My faves are:

This pretty lady with Wahlberg. Sometimes I hate that the only dresses that get covered are by the big celebs. Often you'll see someone in the crowd walking in in something stunning and wish that they'd stop the woman just to look at her dress.

This one isn't super stunning, but I love the pretty simplicity of it.

Reese's dress was such a wonderful color on her. And I have hair envy cause that cut is cute! Still can't say I have much respect for her as an actress (Pretty in Pink looks ungodly awful), but she can dress like no ones business.

I liked Nicole Kidman's dress. I can even handle the bow. She stood out so much from the other ladies because of that color. It was hard not to look at her.

And this one is my very fave! She looks like some kind of goddess in this. So pretty!

Hmmm...What Next?

Next project should be something different. It'll either by some Day of the Dead art with the skulls I made a while back. Or maybe try some of those cute headbands from Heather Bailey's site. Especially when I just recently got some fabrics that would be excellent for them.

The one in the back has bison. Too cute! Plus there's all sorts of great flickr inspiration as well. Here, here and here.

Plus I still have to figure out an appropriate project for a 10 year old boy. Hmmm....

Fruit Cat

Done! Here's the third and final softie for my trio of cutie pie lil nephews. The dilemma now is what to make for their older brother who's age 10 or so. Stuffed animals aren't gonna cut it. Hmmmmm.....

He's a fruit cat cause his belly and ear fabric have tiny little fruit slices on them.


I like how his tail came out.
He does appear to have a pretty serious lean going on though. Kinda like the Ed character in Ed, Edd, & Eddie when he runs (No I do not have kids and yes I'm probably too old to be aware of the finer details of cartoons. I have no shame). His head's a bit on the pancake side of things too.

And his his face. My husband picked out the eyes and nose.

My first Etsy purchase

And I can't tell you how much I love it. More than words could ever say. See it here. It's called Trailer Park Princess and its completely adorable and will soon be hanging in my apartment.

Color

...follow me...
Originally uploaded by ManonManon.

Bad bad bad leaky roof, car problem galore, crappy day. So to cheer myself up I'm looking at pretty flickr pictures and envisioning what crafty things they could become.

This one......a quilt! A vibrant beautiful stripey quilt. Too bad I have no quilting skills. My mum is an excellent quiltress (and if that isn't a word it should be). I cannot send the idea her way though cause she's still working on my wedding quilt. And as that's almost a year and a half overdue (hint hint if you're reading this, mum), I should keep other ideas to myself.

I suppose its a good thing I haven't gotten it yet because there's still the leaky ceiling issue. It hasn't gotten my bed, but it would if there was a beautiful subtley colored Irish chain quilt adorning my bed.

Anyway, I love these colors much. Oh and some of the photographer's other pics would make delightful quilts. Like this or this. I like the idea of looking for more inspiration from random things rather than just other craftiness.

Or this would make a great embroidered piece or this a painting or this another quilt or printing on a skirt (from completely different photographers). I know that everyone takes ideas from the whole world around them, but I am enjoying this exercise of looking closely at pictures that appeal to me and determining what I could specifically do with each different inspiration.

Oh Yeah

Here' Turtle Dog from behind. His tail keeps him from looking too bunny-ish.

Turtle Dog - Finito (almost)

Here's the just completed TurtleDog. Except I think I wanna sew him a mouth so he doesn't have to be the strong silent type. Strong yes - I didn't triple sew those seams for nothing. Silent's not necessary though.

Turtle Dog Progress

I'm making a stuffed puppy for one of my nephews. I'm using adorable flannel sleepwear fabrics. I found the blue and green fabric first and then went back to find the perfect fabric for his belly and ears. I couldn't resist the turtle so now he's Turtle Dog!

Here's all the bits cut out:

And here's close-up on his turtle tummy.

Mural

Martha Mural 138
Originally uploaded by thistledew.

People are so clever! Isn't this lovely? Okay maybe in addition to painting my walls, I should be thinking of cool murals to put on them. I usually am not all that taken with murals. They have to be done really well not to make me think of a nursery room.

But this is stunning - and the design is somewhat simple (not easy, but not too fancyish). Hmmm...the possibilities are endless.

See this whole set here.

Squoosh

Squoosh
Originally uploaded by Felt Up Design.

More inspiration! I spotted this dress on flickr. She made it from a pattern found at her local goodwill. Cute, original looking pieces like this are another reason I need to keep practicing on the sewing machine. (and looking at that dress, getting familiar with my pilates tapes again wouldn't hurt either).

You can see more of her clothes on Flickr.


I did cut out the pieces for a turtle puppy for another nephew. I think he'll come together pretty easy unless I keep making it harder by adding ideas to it. I'll share some progess pictures tonight. I'm making him and the kitty to go with out of kids flannel fabrics which is pretty fun to work with after all that grey corduroy I used for the robot. These ones are very bright.

And I watched Marie Antoinette last night. Pretty! That's the best description for it - pretty, pretty, pretty! And I often find Kirsten Dunst a little on the annoying side (especially in that one movie where she had a southern accent and played a flight attendant. Bleh!). But she was perfect in this one. And oh my the costumes and sets were spectacular.

Bird Tree Corset

bird tree corset
Originally uploaded by smicksy.

This is stunning! I'm always awed by the talent and creativity in the world. This is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Visit Smicksy's flickr page to see it from all angles.

Cake!

The only thing I created yesterday was cake (that counts, right?). Oh and more origami stars - but my plans for them are so big that I won't have a finished project with them to show for eons. I can't ever think small. Anyway, here's the cake:

It's Blueberry Lime Curd Cake. Recipe is here: Delicious Days

Drippy lime curd detail. This cake was perfect - summery and fresh and nothing like the weather i'm seeing out this window. I want to try almost everything on her site. Maybe next it'll be the honey cake. Yum.

Middle Eastern Lamb and Cranberry Pizza

We made this pizza tonight and man was it good!
Recipe from Cumin & Coriander food blog. Yum!

Get Drunk Make Art Party

Last month, we held a party in honor of my husband's 29th birthday. In addition to the regular cake and booze and fondue pot, we set up a get drunk and make art area. It was lots of fun. Here's a few of the art projects that were made:

Many many cranes were made.

A snake and bunny combo (don't look Kelly!) created because someone's ex wife had switched from owning pet bunnies to raising them to feed to her new husband's snakes - which we all agreed was creepy. Bunnies and snakes are great - it was just a weird reversal we thought.

Other art included a balloon with the name Becki stamped all over it, a psychadelic mushroom, and several odd paper thingies including a birthday card for my husband. I highly approve of drunken artmaking, but I was unfortunately too on the drunk side to make much art (damn those tequila spiked limeades!).

The next party I'm attending is going to have a get drunk make art station specifically for making masks. I think its a very cool idea.

Mail Holder

My latest thrifty find is this napkin holder. However, since ours is not a napkin kind of house (especially when paper towels work just fine), I'm going to use it for outgoing mail. Don't you just love that orangey-ness? It's cast iron and the paint is a buit beat up and I lurve it.

Pottery Class Skulls and More

I'm hooked on puffy origami stars. I'm envisioning a humongo garland of them that I can drape around a room - or maybe just my ficus tree if the urge goes away. Pottery class update! Here's two of the skulls I made plus a litlle cat head. I'm going to incorporate them into a day of the dead art project. People in my pottery class are starting to give me strange looks.
Here's the other two. I promise that I'm working on my lackluster photography skills. Promise!
And a little pot I did. The glazing isn't great, but I'm learning and having fun. Not much else counts in my book.

CD Case Art

This was all my husband's work. The project is from the ReadyMade book. The photograph is his own.

He accidentally flipped a few of the panels, but it doesn't show too much with a big landscape like this. And he'll be able to change the picture when he likes cause they're just velcroed to the wall. Best part is that he's using CD cases which is something that cannot be recycled. We've had lots of compliments and some friends even want him to come over and install something similiar in their own homes.

The light isn't great in the picture, but you get the idea. Here's the link to rasterbate a picture. For project instructions, you'll want to check out this book.

Things I Want and Things That Give Me the Creeps

I'm currently coveting bento boxes. They're cool! I don't know if I could embrace making cute lunches, but I could definitely embrace putting my boring lunches in a cute box. I blame flickr for this current obsession: Bento Box Pool

Oh and I need this light so bad I can't even explain it:

Found via Not Martha who found it on DesignSponge (how's that for a reference?). One day to be sold from here. Soon I hope!

This game I find strangely soothing: Castle

What's creeping me out? Those Blythe dolls. I find them so disturbing, and I can't figure out why. See them here if you dare. I'm I the only one who has this reaction to them?

Later tonight I'm gonna post some pottery projects that I picked up tonight.

Escaping to Tuscany

I'm reading A Thousands Days in Tuscany. Read this little bit about a 60 year old Tuscan woman:

I run down to meet Floriana who is breathless from her hike. She stops in the road, the last light at her back. Prickles of rain cling to her unkerchiefed, loosened hair, capturing in her the flickering russet frame of it. Topaz almonds are her eyes, lit tonight from some new, old place, from some exquisitely secret oubliette, which she must often forget she possesses. We talk for a minute and Barlozzo passes us by like a boy too shy to speak to two girls at once.

I like authors who enjoy language. Mostly the book is a sleepy account of countryside, local people, and food. Its a great escape from this bitter February.

As Promised

First off, more felt goodness:

I really like this one - the shape and the colors are pretty. I'm not gonna even risk mucking it up with bad embroidery.
Branching out from regular 2d flowers. This 3d flower is too much of a temptation for the critters. The cats see it as a kitty toy. Lincoln thinks its his. I have to keep it in my button jar for safety.

I'm not satisfied with the pink haired woman. I'm gonna fuss with her some more.
I put this up over our spare room (computer/ craft space). Its a good reminder for both of us. Me to be crafting and him to be taking photographs more often.


This I do not love. I did them cause I saw them on Flickr (I'll find the link here in a moment). It didn't work out so well as I'd hoped, but I kind of like the flowery look of it when smooshed. Pondering a flowery wall art piece now instead of hanging globes.

Good news!

My computer is fixed (and wasn't nearly as messed up as I had assumed). Tonight I will busily be getting all those pictures that have been pent up on my camera. Hooray! I like sharing other people's pictures, but am feeling quite unoriginal lately without much of my own content to add.

In not so great news, my poor little Lincoln hurt his hip playing the other day so we're on a strict regimen of buffered aspirin and no horsing around. Its sad to see the bouncy lil guy not without his high spirits. Hopefully, he recovers quickly. We've had long talks together on how he has to take good care of himself so he can grow old with me. I'm hopelessly smitten with my dog.

I purchased fabrics for a stuffed dog and kitty to be sent out with my robot buddy. I need a cute tummy and ear fabric to go with before I get started. In the meantime, I'm making lots of little puffy origami stars for a garland. Only 1 out of every 3 is okay at the moment so hopefully I get better quickly.

As for inspirations, Danielle White does the most adorable softies:

Blog - http://www.danielleorama.com/
Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/30329685@N00/
Buy - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=72244

Martini
Originally uploaded by danielleorama.

So freakin' cute! Those ears! Her beavers and oddball creatures are the coolest I've seen. Stuff like this keeps me practicing.

Bee

Bee
Originally uploaded by Victoriano.

In the meantime, here's more prettiness to share. Love this picture. I wish I were a better photographer and could capture amazing things like this. More reason to practice I guess.

Ack!

So I've been making stuff like mad, but can I share pictures? Nooooo. The computer isn't recognizing the camera and so all those pictures languish away unseen until hubby gets home to make it all work again. I think I know what's wrong but the fix is scary territory and I would rather not be responsible for killing the computer.

So I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed that all will be well later tonight.

"Transparent"

"Transparent"
Originally uploaded by tararossstudios.

In the meantime, isn't this lovely? Its a painting by Tara Ross I stumbled across on flickr.

You can see the artist's site at http://www.tararossstudios.blogspot.com/ or even purchase her art on http://www.tarasartcamp.etsy.com/. Very cool stuff. I'm finding it very inspiring at the moment.

Slacker

So I missed creating something yesterday, but I can recover my doing two things tonight, right? That's what I'm gonna do so expect pics up later. I've also been doing the 365 day project on flickr and the combination of taking a self-portrait everyday (and figuring out this over-complicated camera) and creating something every day tripped me up for a sec. No more though.

Making Things

February is make something new everyday month (or something like that). Yesterday I made more of these:



Today I finished Robot Buddy, my first softie ever. He's not the best, but I'm happy to have finished him. He's made out of soft, stretchy grey corduroy with lots and lots of buttons for little fingers to push.

Next softies are gonna be a dog and a cat for Robot Buddy's owner's two older brothers. I'm looking forward to a less square shaped project.

Rubber Boots

Spring will come (I got to keep telling myself that). So its okay that I'm lusting after rubber boots, right? Here's the cutest pair I found on ebay:

Lurve them! Wrong size and a bit too pricey for me, but so cute! If you happen to be a size nine and speedy, you can snap them up here.

Or OMG these!:

Found here in a size 7. Not in my size, but I may need to hunt these down. They're perfect!