Must....stop...

this is just a quick post. i don't have the camera today. willie went to the fest for beatle's fans today and took it with him. so i can't post any in progress pictures of my tote. just wanted to say right now i'm browsing a pretty dangerous site for an artist. wait...did i just refer to myself as an artist? i'll go with it. anyway, 1001 journals. i'm sure you've heard of the original 1000 journal project. well this is the 2nd installment. i registered and i've been adding myself to some of the lists to receive a journal. when i first saw 1000 journals i didn't get to join in the fun so when i saw that there was a 2nd installment, i got giddy. yay! now i can take part!! so yes, i'm taking advantage.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes!

so i was catching up on my blog reading and came across a recipe for key lime pie cupcakes at culinary concoctions by peabody.
i decided to make mini's this time. filling them didn't go as smoothly as i would have liked but they still turned out awesome!! soooo good! this recipe really captures everything great about key lime pies...but in cupcake form! yay! and the graham cracker crumbles on top...just perfect! if you're afraid of filling cupcakes, skip it. i was barely able to get much filling at all in mine and i really don't think they were missing anything. next time i'll make regular sized ones. i'm sure filling them will work out much better.

Polka polka polka!!

just a quick post to show the newest hatchling. she's very colorful! i really love her! i had so much fun making her too!

Meet Orbiselanguis Longirutilus:




i baked perler beads in the oven to flatten them out and that's what i covered her shell with. then i chose a 3 color palette to paint the beads.
now i'm off to post her in the shop!

Keep on ramblin'

so i kinda got whacked over the head with a bit of the flu or something. started to get a sore throat late thursday night and by the next day i was feeling sooooo drained and sore. so for a good part of the day today i've been camped out in front of my laptop just browsing. one thing i LOVE to do is look around flickr. so much inspiration! i love doing all kinds of random searches. so today i decided to look for keys. specifically antique keys. antique keys are gorgeous! and while i was browsing i came across this photo:

i really loved it so i decided to look at the rest of this person's pictures. wow! his name is Jeff Rinehart and you HAVE to look at his photos. they're just gorgeous! i love the style. this is why i'm a flickr addict.
also, my second hatchling is nearing completion. she's just waiting to be mounted on the wood block and labeled and she'll be ready for the store!
after that i have a project in the works that is actually for a friend of mine's benefit show called "TOTE". they sent a bunch of blank totes to different artists to design on it however we want. then we mail them back and they will be sold at the show. the point of the show is to encourage everyone to live a little greener by using the totes instead of plastic bags. all of the proceeds will go to the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a new york based organization committed to environmental advocacy and education. the gallery is called Open Space and it's in beacon, ny. the opening reception will be on april 12th. i won't be able to go unfortunately but if any of you will be in the area you should definitely check it out. so that's my next project that i will be focusing on. i have a great idea for the design. so i'm really excited about that. hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Who Needs Chopsticks?

well, it's been a good week so far! i've been able to stay away from the blogs! which is a huge deal for me. because they are a serious addiction. so many creative and inspirational people out there! but, i've had something keeping me busy and my mind off the blogs...

i am soooo tired! i've been working on this little guy every chance i get and the time just flies by! a couple of nights i really had to make myself stop and go to bed. but i guess it's a good thing right? because i'm doing something i enjoy doing!
this little one should be up in the shop tomorrow night. along with one other item.
i've also been practicing my chopsticks every chance i get. because we're going to japan next month! and i really do suck at using chopsticks. i'm trying! it's just so hard! since the trip is coming up so fast, i'm going to be using chopsticks with every meal. yes, EVERY MEAL. i am determined. i will learn how to use those suckers.
well, i'm off to bed. where i'm sure gigantic chopsticks are waiting to chase me down in my dreams.

Snappin' out of it!

thanks so much for the wonderful comments guys! i can't begin to tell you how really encouraging they are. i'm working my way out of the funk. feeling better! i'm going to get my workspace cleaned up this weekend. it's like a tornado hit!
i also updated my hatchling listing on etsy. i didn't like the way i had the label on the wood base, it looked too cheap. so i took it off and put a metal label holder over it. much better!

BEFORE


AFTER


i'm also in a swap right now on craftster for a bunch of 1.5 inch squares of fabric so hopefully i'll get to work some more on my postage stamp quilt. that one's gonna take me a good long while. but this will be the first quilt i'll be making for me and willie to keep. so i'm very excited about that. i haven't quite decided how i'm going to arrange the top. i'm just randomly piecing the little squares together. i don't want it to be planned out as far as that is concerned. but beyond that, i haven't quite decided if i just wanted to make the entire top all of the little squares sewn together or if i want to make them into larger blocks and maybe put a solid black border around each one. i'm leaning towards that one but...eh..we'll see. i'm so fickle.

In a funk

i just wanted to say sorry folks for not posting in a bit. i don't know what's wrong with me right now. i'm in such a creative funk. i'm not sure why. i should be super motivated right now! i posted my 3rd item in my shop sunday night and woke up monday morning for work to an email that it had sold! my first sale! i'm so excited about it! it's an amazingly good feeling! so you would think that would motivate me to get some new stuff posted! yeah...not happening. yeah..i'm in a funk. i must pull myself out of this! i'm gonna do some nice relaxing yoga and try to get my mind in a more creative place.
i also really need to clean my workspace. i won't even post a picture. it's THAT embarassing. so that probably isn't helping.
as i'm looking at the tasks for the week for the artist's way, i'm looking at #8. Honestly my creative block is.....blogs. oh that sounds so bad. but right now it's so true! there are so many creative and inspiring blogs and people out there that i feel like i'm drowning myself. does that make sense? i feel so bad saying that!
i was extremely bad with the reading deprivation last week. i think i'm gonna give that another go. maybe just take a break from reading my blogs for a week. stay away from the computer and internet altogether? hmmm...sounds to me like i need to take some quiet time for myself. i need to get back on track.
sorry for the weird slightly rambling rant.
but on a positive note, thank you so much everyone for the encouragement with my shop! your support is amazing and i truly appreciate it! hopefully next time i post i'll be in a more positive frame of mind.

Big Day!!!

my shop is finally open! please take a look! the design isn't done yet. the hubster is still designing my banner for me. i'm such a lucky girl to have such a talented graphic designer for a husband! anyway, i'm going to be listing a couple more items before the night is over but i just had to announce! i'm so excited!!!!

Vote Starla!

i entered into one of the craftster challenges finally. i've wanted to do one for so long. and this one was just perfect. it was "represent your hometown".
i actually had a project already done that was perfect for it!
voting has started here. so go vote! mine is "the girl from new york city"....ya know, in case you wanted to vote for me. :)

Button Swap Yippee!

well, i have nothing to show as of yet. i do have my etsy store set up but no items posted yet and willie still needs to design my banner for me. i'm gonna take a few more pictures of my items and banner or no banner, i'll have it up and running very soon!
but in the meantime, if you're in the mood for a really really fun swap head on over to greetingarts for an embroidered button swap! i am CRAZY excited about this! i missed the last one and was very disappointed. she also gives a link to a great tutorial to make the fabric covered buttons. fun stuff!

So Sweet!

as i've said before, i'm a HUGE fan of meredith dittmars polymer clay sculptures!
today i found this video that fashion buddha did using her designs. it's so sweet!

Welcome to the world!

oh my oh my. my hatchling is so close to being finished! the design is done. just waiting on a couple of finishing touches. gotta run to home depot this week. now that'll get ya thinkin'! hehe.
speaking of thinking, i might be overthinking the name of my etsy shop too much. right now that's where i'm stuck. i WILL have a name by the end of the day tomorrow.
so that's where i am right now.
here, just for fun....an "i'm gonna get you!" shot.