New Fall & Halloween Items

Hello, I hope everyone stateside had a wonderful long weekend. I had the most productive weekend in some time and I'm so excited at all thing things I got done!

I cleaned out my sewing room, which was uninhabitable, you will just have to take my word for it as I forgot to take before pictures beforehand (oops) but this is how it looks now! You can actually see the floor and there isn't stuff and fabric strewn everywhere. It really is a huge deal for me, I have more to organize so things don't get out of hand again but for now I have completed phase one.

 

I actually sketched and sewed today in my room so that's pretty exciting because I haven't done that in months.


I finally added some new Fall & Halloween stuff to my Etsy shop! Including candy corn prints and a cute little bat prints.

I love making patterns and banners so I combined the two and created some pdf banners that are available for instant download. So you can print and make your own :)

I love Fall the seasons start to change and get cooler, it's a very big deal in Texas lol.

I've also been working on other drawings and ideas, (like my little fall owl prototype below) which I hope to have added to shop in a couple weeks.

What are you working on lately? Are you excited for Fall?

Free Shipping Today

Free Shipping on Society6 today, I've added some new artwork with fun little owls, the quote is from song lyrics by Hilary Weeks, it reminds me to be more optimistic about every opportunity, and that I can choose to be upbeat about things even when they are hard.

I hope you all have a lovely week :)

Less sleep = creative burst

Here are some things I've been working on lately. While I've been recovering from surgery, I haven't been sleeping as well, that has given way to some fun doodles. Things had been busy lately and I had gotten out of my daily doodling habit. Now with my limited activity, I'm actually having time now to go back to long neglected projects & it's always fun to make progress on those :)

This teeny bday owl was a spur of the moment creation for a friend, I wanted to make a little cute decoration for the cookies I made. This little owl is very festive with a little bday hat on and a celebratory cupcake :)

This is a little flower I did in procreate I love that you can paint and layer texture/color. It's so relaxing & less frustrating than real painting lol but that's another story. 

Here is another drawing I did in adobe ideas/ illustrator. I played around with multi colored pastel curls :) Her facial features were a little big so I tweaked those and thought about keeping the skin tone absent, but it just looked too weird. After much work I got the drawing to where I wanted it.

I can't decide which color version I like better, I'm kind of leaning towards the 1st one with the greenish eyes. I'm really happy with how it came out and I think I will put it in my shop later.

I'm also finally starting to make progress on some Adventure Time drawings, which I'm really excited about! I love all the personalities of the different characters, such a fun show :)

I really love Tree Trunks the elephant, she's just so sweet and loves to make pies, she reminds me of a grandmother type figure. Anyway so hopefully I will be sharing more on that later.

What are you working on lately?  

I think you're a hoot

Hi, just a quick Valentine's drawing. I've been experimenting with different brushstrokes.

Of course it's my go to animal....owls :)

I'm enjoying experimenting with procreate all the fun brushes and pens. I painted the girl owl first and then painted over it with blues and greens for the boy owl

i love bright colors

 

I kind of want to do some Valentine's themed baking, like these heart shaped pies maybe?

But possibly with a different take on the icing.

 

photo and recipe here

 

 We are getting small break from the winter weather here in Texas.

Never realize how much you miss the sunshine until you haven't seen it in a few days. I'm tired of a chance of ice every week.....I'm dreaming of a spring wardrobe.. more on that later :)

painting and day dreaming

Hi there, I have been meaning to do a new post for a while I just couldn't seem to get to it last week.
Lately I have been very busy and very sleepy and that has left me a little brain dead and uninspired.
But I did manage to hang out with my good friend a couple weeks ago, she always gets me inspired to do something.... I love her carefree spontaneity, she's willing to take on any craft, sewing project, and painting and the drop of a hat.....so we had an impromptu painting session the other night.
I was experimenting with watercolors and acrylics. I think I like the watercolor on the left side better probably because of the purple :)

I've also been sketching random creatures, this summer has been awesome for kids movies, and I think this pink monster was inspired by my recent viewing of Monsters University. I really love that the monsters franchise not only celebrates that it's good to be different but values differences especially when it comes to teamwork, a good lesson for kids to learn and adults to remember.

My family and I have been through some trying times lately and I've been thinking about how much I really don't like the saying "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade". I'm all for making the best of a bad situation it's just not my favorite. But it did get me thinking about what cute little creatures would look like running a lemonade stand of their own.

so cute and happy :)

Anyway, I'm trying to get my creative groove back and work on stuff daily so I hope to have more new stuff to share soon. What are you up to the as we near the end of summer?
Happy Tuesday to you!

Special and Loved

Making people feel special and appreciated is one of my favorite things to do. Luckily, there have been some parties and birthdays so they have gotten me in the baking and drawing mood.
I made a card for my coworker, she's getting married soon and her favorite cake strawberry!

owls in love

When it comes to a cute couple in love my go to animals are owls. I am still pretty obsessed with acrylic paper and colored pencils. I love the awesome blending effect.

so happy together

And here is the strawberry cake. I decided at the last minute to top it with a fresh strawberry design.
I love a pretty garnish  to finish off the presentation. Which automatically makes me think of one of my favorite scenes from "You've Got Mail" 

 "What are you doing?! That caviar is a garnish!" lol (scene starts @ 2:15, having trouble embedding sorry )  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAQogHJ529g

party goodies

strawberry goodness

the bride to be

We had a great time celebrating with our coworker. I got her beach mats with a built in pillow. They are a cute patchwork print and come in his and hers colors. From Target of course!

I've got some birthdays coming up and I'm dreaming up the perfect things to make some of my favorite people feel special and loved! What are you up to lately?

4 bunnies and 1 owl

I mentioned I was sewing again, softies for friends and family. I finished a baby owl for a friend who is welcoming her own baby soon. This was my first fleece owl, I had made some plush owls before with cotton fabric and fabric markers.

And on a side note doesn't Target have the cutest gift cards? I love the novelty shaped ones and they always have fun patterned ones too.

On to the bunnies, I have been interested in bunnies for a while now.  I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to make a plush bunny. Here are my previous attempts.

first attempt 

 

 

second attempt

I took a break for a while and then started sewing late at night and came up with a unbalanced cartoonish fellow on the left, but it really helped me work out my issues and I came up with the prototype on the right. So it was overall a good learning experience.

I wanted to make a bunny for my little cousin who broke her leg, so I made a bunny with cast on her leg too so they can get better together :)

I just used a strip of fleece and tied around the leg to emulate a cast. It's not pictured but you get the idea. I would have liked to add more detail to the face and ears, but I lost a lot of time being sick and I didn't want to wait too long.

Bunny tail

Close up of the face, in previous versions I was hand stitching all facial details, but I used the machine more, it was kind of nerve racking but I'm happy with the embroidery and machine stitch combo.

 That's all my sewing adventures for now. I'd very much like to make major progress on my drawings projects so that's my goal for this week. Hope you have a fantastic Thursday :)

Food and Fun

I had a really great time hanging out with one of my friends Friday night, we love to go to fun places to eat and she is a fearless Dallas driver (I am not at all). So we went to the best pizza place in Dallas, Cane Rosso, the first time we went we got to sit in front of the oven and watch the delicious pizza bake which was awesome, but this time we got a regular table and separate pizzas, because I really wanted to savor the leftovers :)

The flavors are so fresh and amazing, it takes me back to my brief Italian memories. It is made according to Neapolitan standards, so you know it's good quality. They have amazing dessert pizza too, which I have never really been a fan until I tried their Bella Mena which is vanilla bean mascarpone with caramelized apples with a caramel drizzle...yep amazing.

Pizza Bliss

Then we went to my favorite pie place for dessert. To my surprise and delight they new seasonal pies for Valentine's Day, a strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb pie, a red velvet chess pie and last but not least good old key lime, which I had been craving for quite a while. My friend tried Lord of the Pies ala mode, and I had a little taste and it was freaking amazing, next time I'm getting that one :)

my friend with lord of the pies

I also went to a painting class and still need to finish my painting, a separate post on that later :)

Recently, I started thinking about baby owls, some of my friends are pregnant so I was thinking about making their kids a cute softie.

I was debating between closed or open eyes, and I went with closed eyes. I thought it would be fun to make the body and the wings contrast and I had to add a cute little bow of course.

I will have to add more stuffing and take better pictures this week :)

This weekend was jam packed with stuff I love to do: eat at awesome places, painting, and sewing. Usually only one of these things gets done so I'm glad I got to do so much and that doesn't even count the Superbowl. I've got big plans, for February and I'm going to set a calendar get focused and accomplishment some fun ideas. What have you got planned for Feb?

New ideas new sketches

So this is some of the things I've been sketching lately.

A birthday card for a cat lover.Which was hilariously re-gifted to me since my bday is next week.....oh the usefulness of a copy machine lol.

Thinking about woodland creatures like a large moose wearing a Christmas sweater.

 I love the fair isle print on a sweater.

 

Like I said before I have been been thinking about making a cute little platypus.

This is what I have so far.

And I decided to do the next best thing to painting in my opinion, PASTELS!

Here's my new colorful owl.

This was kind of an experiment with my scanner and I'm really happy with how well it captured the color. I think I will continue to experiment with pastels and maybe put some in the shop.

Happy Saturday to you!

Back to the drawing board

So I mentioned awhile ago that I was going to work on making a bunny plush, well it started out ok and then I had a problem with the ears. Then I can up with an ear solution, but still ran into problems.
It's still not turning out like I want, but out of that came more concept sketches so I am excited about that. I'm still going to play with some ideas this week, right now I'm thinking about koalas and platypuses lol

bunny attempt #1

close up of the face

bunny attempt #2 he looks like a neon tater tot lol

I finally got frustrated enough to switch gears and start working on drawings again. I finished my scarf owl and I'm happy with how he turned out. I tried some different techniques on the tree bark and the background.

 I also got some new pansies, I really love pansies they are my favorite fall flower, with their happy little faces, pretty color variations and pleasant subtle fragrance.......what more could you want from a flower?


My Thanksgiving was wonderful watching the parade, cooking and hanging out. I was so happy to see the Kaws balloon in the parade. See more about the balloon and the process here.


The leaves have really started to turn finally and it makes for a beautiful back road drive.
I did pretty good Black Friday and got some pretty good deals online, will have to do a fashion post soon :)

Craft Show Roundup

Here's my craft show excitement, as I said in my previous post I had been to Funky Finds before and I was happy to see some of my old favorites.

First off, Sharen Chatterton does really amazing and vibrant watercolors. I love flowers and her painting are so happy and bright. The first year we saw her we bought a bookmark and started following her newsletter. This year I'm happy to report, I got this wonderful pansy print for my Mom.
I love pansies, and the gardening items mixed in.

Another one of my favorites I was happy to see again is Gypsyharte. Three years ago I really didn't know anything about needle felting but her creations were just so cute and personable I bought a felting kit determined to created little creatures of my own. My mom has more patience and does well at it. Three dimensional items are a little more tricky, but  I think we feel a little more confident so this year we got a pumpkin kit! Look how cute Gyspyharte's little pumpkin is! She is very talented.

I love her little mushroom toadstools and birdies :)

photo by gypsyharte

i love her little owls

Another fun shop I saw was Fuzzy hippo I love the 3-D texture in solid color, and the ones that make actual shapes are fun too. The wedding stuff is cute and they even have furniture too, perfect for graphic geeks :)

I love texture and color together

It's fun to mix art with useful things

 And I finished my 3rd octopus. Her name is Ruby and her favorite color is purple (as you can tell by her bow). She loves to play dress up with her friends, and practice her hula hooping. Her favorite snack is chocolate pudding cups. She will soon be in the shop :)

She is made out of Fuchsia fleeces with purple accents and hand stitched facial features, including her eyelashes.

I think she turned out pretty cute, and I can't wait to make a little blue guy with a bow tie, inspired by my sketch.

Ok hope to post more soon, hope you are having a marvelous Monday!