Cat On the Hat

When we got our Halloween decor out of the attic I thought the skeleton I usually hang on the door looked a little tired.  I saw this cute craft in a magazine (I don't take credit for the idea but the design is mine) and I had an old hat that I wasn't doing anything with  (I certainly wasn't wearing it.) so I thought why not?

 

 

I painted the brim orange, painted the crown black and waited until it was dry.  Then I went back and touched up any spots I'd missed.  Since a straw hat has a lot of texture, you really have to wiggle  your brush into all of those little spaces.  When it was fully dry I painted on a cute kitty face and 'Trick or Treat'. I had to add a 2nd coat on the face details too.  As soon as that's dry it's going up on my door. 

New ACEO series

I've been working something new on that I am very excited about! When you create ACEOs you can do two types of editions. One kind is to create copies of an ACEO, number them and sell them until they are gone. These are called limited editions. Another kind is to create a set of artworks that are part of a series. The above is, right now, all one image but soon, it will be nine different ACEOs entitled "Spring Fever" 1-9. It's almost too pretty to cut but I'm going to do it anyway.

Front Page Treasury!

I was on the front page of Etsy this afternoon along with some other very talented crafty people and artists! Thanks to Eva Miller of KapKa Design who included my Twirly Orange drawing in her Jelly Fish Party Treasury.

Squirrel Nut Papers

Just posted in my Etsy shop.  I'm so excited about my newest paper collection!  I wanted a little polka dot but something a little more fun and so I came up with a tiny acorn.  You can't have acorns without squirrels and there's always room for paisley.  I'm not so sure about the orange though.  What do you think?  I'm thinking about a second collection with a different color.  Blue maybe.  I am running a contest on my FB page  in which you may be able to download one of these papers for free! 

Halloween Wallpaper Spooky Spider

Get caught in a fun web of Halloween Spirit!  A a cute little critter for you to decorate your desktop, blog or Twitter page. 

It's Starting to Feel Like Fall...

The colder and darker days are coming but at least so are the beautiful colors.

One person's treasure--is another person's treasure too!

Why you should curate an Etsy Treasury:

It's fun to do! First you need to come up with an idea of what to feature.  Sometimes that comes out of finding one thing that you really love and either wanting to see more of the same or thinking about what might go with that item.  Most people like to put together all of one color.  I just did one featuring orange paisley.  

You're paying it forward.  People will want to check out these items and then the shops from which they came.    Featuring other shop's merchandise puts out good karma, sixteen spaces worth!  When the sellers you feature do their own treasuries, they may come looking in your shop to see if you have an item that fits their theme.   Plus, there's all this interacting going on, people visiting other people's shops.  It's a good thing (to quote Martha.)

It's easy.  Once you get an idea, make use of Etsy's new relevancy search and start collecting listings that fit your theme.  All you need do is copy the listing number of an item and then paste it into the little box in one of your sixteen spots.  The picture of the item comes up automatically.

It looks really cool all put together.  Once you get it done, you can brag about it on Twitter, Facebook, your blog and anywhere else that you have an online presence. 

Sodie-Pop

After fiddling around in Photoshop with my snip of a design, I can't decide between lined and unlined.  Which do you like better?

Wordless Wednesday

Two-Fer Thursday

Wordless Thursday was a wash anyway because I had to go blabbing there at the end of my post. It's rare that I post twice in a day so what's the occaision? Well, I'm a bit of a yesterday's newshound but I just discovered that one of my dearest wishes came true (last month.) Blogger has added a feature that allows us to upload our OWN pictures and papers to use as backgrounds. YAY! I've only wanted them to do that since 4-Eva! So to celebrate I am sharing three new lovely background designs with you. Use them for your blog ('cause now you can!) MySpace, Twitter or Desktop. Designs will tile.
You may not reproduce or redistribute to sell my designs, personal use only, please!

 Enjoy these sweet flavors!  Top to bottom: Paisley's Candydish Black, Paisley's Candydish Orange, Paisley's Candydish Pink.

Still not too early... I think.

Making Mockups is almost as fun as sewing real clothes.  Wouldn't you love to have a party dress like this for your daughter?  I would too.  I just can't decide which one  I like best. 

Paisley of the Week! Not Too Early - no, really!

There's no time like the present to get going on your holiday stuff.  Here are two of the same paisley with two different feels to them.  Halloween and Christmas.  I'm partial to the Halloween one.

Both of these designs were born out of this one doodle.  I left off the fussy bits around the edge because it looked less cluttered with the design.

Paisley of the Week! Pink-n-Orange

When I first started Paisley of the Week! I had wanted it to be a window for my fellow artists and Etsians to show off.  I STILL want that but lately, I have been having a hard time finding paisley artists.  Maybe I am looking in the wrong place or maybe I'm not asking enough artists.  Anyway, the one artist I didn't plan on having as guest Paisley of the Week! was myself.  So, in an effort to still have Paisley of the Week be a  giving sort of thing, I am posting a free paisley wallpaper for you to use.  The design will tile so you can use it for your desktop or Twitter. This is only for personal use, please do not copy or redistribute. And if you or someone you know would like to have their work as Paisley of the Week!  please let me know!

Paisley of the Week! Palatable Platter

I recently stumbled upon French Bull which sells uber-fun melamine plates among other housewares and accessories.  Their designs are so scrumptious to the eyes.  Not only do I want to buy half of their stock, but I'm going to see about :ahem: licensing too.  Really, take a sec and look there, it's a fun colorful place and you'll be glad you did!

Looky Look

Here's a little looky look at something I've been working on.  From the left going clockwise:  Jungle Parrots, Surfin' Safari, Pinky's Paradise and Hibiscus Orange.  I'm very excited about these four costal looks!

Paisley of the Week! Silk Scarf

It's Monday--time for the Paisley of the Week!

This gorgeous fuchia, red and orange silk scarf was given to me by my Mom.  As a scarf it's a bit useless, too small to wear around my neck, really but I keep it because I love looking at it. 

Something I've learned photographing silk, it's better to have the flash either low or off.  It took me about 10 shots to get these two pictures.

If you know of a paisley that would be perfect for the Paisley of the Week! leave me a comment/link here or on Twitter or my Facebook page. 

Snowed IN!

This is my front porch and it is STILL snowing and blowing here in Central PA.  In the past, I like to take a day like this and sit by the fire sewing or crocheting something that covers and warms up my lap.  Today, I've made 3 small quilts--on my laptop.  These 3 are a taste of the fabrics that I've been designing.  I'm gearing up to send them off to fabric companies to see how they are received.  Wish them luck!

Rain or Shine

OctobriaSugarbelle

They're Done!

Coming Soon to an Etsy Shop near you!  Don't they look great? The first 3 on top are available as prints too.

I'm featuring this one in particular because I used 'scrambled papers' instead of just the unlined white that the other three have.  I think it's quirky, but  do people need all of one sort of paper in a notebook?  Or are the majority of notebooks  that way simply because they've always been made that way?  I'd have really liked to have bought some orange paper to go with the Tangerine Tango covers, but I somehow didn't get around to it.  Next time!

Tangerine Tango

PLUSPLUS

PLUS

EQUALS

And that's how you do the Tangerine Tango--Ole!

Take Note!

 I like the idea of making my own notebooks--complete with original artwork.  That makes it art with function.  I just need to buy a ream of paper to fill them all, have them bound and they'll be up on Etsy.  I'm toying with the idea of making one of them a scrambled paper book--graph paper, blank paper, lined paper maybe even a few decorative papers all thrown in together.