Black and white and read all over!

I love black and white animals! Almost as much as I love giraffes ;) I carved the zebra, orca, and sleeping panda stamps after sketching out their main shapes from wildlife photos found on the 'net. Identifying basic shapes and patterns in nature is the focus of the next art class I am teaching ;) And I wanted these stamps for a swap I am in...stay tuned for ATCs!

The horse and flower stamps were carved from a piece of paper that I found while cleaning my creative space! I had drawn them a while ago, when I first started carving stamps; I do not remember if they were drawn from a source, or if I actually drew them (I'm sure I didn't draw the horse....but doesn't it have a lovely Mary Poppins feel to it? =)

Last, and probably least, is a felt mini-stocking, created for a swap. I think it's adorable! It is stuffed with a tiny baggie of colourful buttons, ready to be sent off to it's new home in Mission Viejo (I used to live there, in a past life).


Ooooh, it's a jolly holiday with Mary...no wonder that it's Mary that we love...

Slowdown the birthday train!

I have so many birthdays coming up! TWO close friends, brother, nephew, husband, brother-in-law...yikes! Also, an ooooold friend of mine form my high school years is coming to town on a research project, and she will be staying here on our sofa for a week. She's been living in Scotland, going to school there, so, like, I've only seen her once in the past, ooooh...8 years? =X It will be interesting, but I am excited =]

Okay, onto the fun stuff!

Doodlebug stamp for my mom:

There was a book that I used to read to my kids every night, called "Daddy is a doodlebug". I don't know what happened to that book...
My mom designed this little guy, she calls a doodlebug. She had appliqued it onto some aprons she made for the kids last Christmas, and requested I carve a stamp of the doodlebug for her.

Birthday card for Michael:

The browns match better irl than this pic shows.
I made this card for my friend, Michael. I got the layout and colors from this card. I had no papers that were even close to what I wanted, so I made the striped and brown papers on my computer (at 300dpi). Oh, I made the "Happy Birthday" piece on my computer, too, and gave it several thin coats of acrylic medium to give it a glossy look.
Now that I am looking at it, I have an even better idea in mind for his bday card, lol...too bad I've already signed the inside -_-

Christmas Candies:

Little felt candy ornaments made for the Feltbots: Christmas Ornament #4 - Candy swap at Swapbot.

Birdy tags!

Been practicing with my Martha Stewart circle cutter.
Tree and bird stamps hand-carved by myself. I sponged a slightly darker blue ink around the edges of the circles, and then sponged on some prown ink lightly over that. I dabbed black and brown Versacraft inks on the trees, and embossed them with clear ep. I printed the birds in brown Versacraft ink on yellow patterned paper, cut them out, and glue-sticked them onto the tags.

I have another bday card that I have already finished, but haven't photo'd, yet. I'm off to pick up my Stampin' Up! catalog today (only 4 more days left on this catalog!). I have many more cards to make this week...and it's already Thursday! =X

CRE8R

OMG, this cold just won't go away! I've fallen behind on 2 of my 1 on 1 swaps =[ I have them packaged & ready to ship, but I've been sleeping like shit, and during the day, just kinda...being. Staring at the walls. Well, not really. I've been making stuff, too, but, yanno, that's just what I do.


These are some of the stamps in my sketchbook that I am carving for December.

The robot faces and heads will all be individual stamps, and I am going to put them together with a nice blank journal, some ink pads, and metallic gel pens for Isaac, for Christmas =]

I'm planning on using the Christmas-y stamps on cards and gift tags.

The skulls are really just for me, but I think I'll make one up for my swap partner in the Skull Love Swap.

I love carving the Staedtler Mars erasers, but how do I get rid of the raised pattern on them??! =X I don't want little swirlies on my penguin -_-

I also need something wider; I wonder if they make different sizes of that eraser?


This blog is so fun, and has incredible patterns, including these two here!
Some bitsy elf clogs, and peppermint stars, made for a 1 on 1 swap (I traded them for a mix CD *full* of awesome Christmas music). These took me about 2-3 hours to make them all, but I took time out for dinner:


Damn, I make some GOOOOOOOOOOOD cheesesteaks!!

For dessert, we had fried plantains, with ginger & cinnamon (sorry Mom, I just love ginger ;) Oh oh! We also had these:


My yellow pear tomatoes! The only two that ripened before the cold weather killed off my plant *sniffle* There are almost 2 dozen baby tomatoes on the plant that are all shriveled up =[

Still, it's the first time I have gotten edible fruit from my garden (and I've been trying for almost 10 years!).

They were delicious =]

Flight of the Busy Bee

Cripes! Where haven't I been??!

I went to the emergency room yesterday. Severe dizziness and nausea. I couldn't open my eyes without falling over, because I was sooo dizzy.

Survey says:
Severe vertigo, caused by infection in my throat screwing with my inner ear.

I went to the E.R. for a COLD.

Anyway, this is what I have been doing lately:

Mermaid Dotee Doll


My first amigurumi ^_^ Cute little teddy bear, modified from a pattern in this Softies book. Excellent book for learning to make softies, but only one amigurumi pattern I wish I had more....and I wish I had more yarn!)


A couple sketchy drawinglings


A new ATC! This one has some tulle across it that doesn't show well. Come to think of it, all these pics are kinda blurry. Symptom of this wretched cold I've had =X


And, finally, some Skellington ornaments I've been working on. I really like how the mouths came out =] They are done and stuffed now, just haven't had the daylight to snap a new picture!

I need a nap.

Hokey Pokey

So, I spend the majority of my crafting time sitting on the sofa, with my embroidery scissors, a skein or two of embroidery floss, my current project, and my standard tomato pincushion. Problem is, that little tomato pincushion is always rolling away! I'm constantly digging it out from under the sofa, from between the cushions, and the worst is when I reposition myself, and get stabbed in the butt by my wayward pincushion X[

So, of course, I made a new one. A flatter, prettier one! Woot! =]




Stupid, blurry pics *shakes fist*
It's dark, and I just didn't have the patience for properly photographing it. But it's cute. Really really cute. I don't even like brown, but this brown & pink combo really does it for me.

The embroidery took me two evenings, but it probably would have gone faster without Hubby's intense amusment at tickling me while I have a needle in my hand.