Photos and Paris thoughts. December 8, 2009

Today was one of those days…in a good way. I did work all morning and then because we can’t get our heat to work (oh, dear lord), I went to Green Line cafe to study and start my second paper. When I was walking there, snowflakes were falling and I kept thinking, “Big Hot ChocoLate! Big Hot ChocoLate!”. I ended up getting a vegan oreo cupcake and the most giant hot chocolate I’ve seen in awhile. Then I volunteered at the student clinic, which is held in the basement of this neat old church. Now I’m home with tea and no inclination to change into pajamas or brush my teeth because both of those activities mean either being momentarily naked or the possibility of touching cold water. I don’t even really want to pee because the seat will be cold. So I’m huddled in my room with my space heater and my mug, praying that we can get the heat going tomorrow.

Hey! Here’s the mobile I made the other day…

And I never shared my delicious dinner and dessert erasers I got to commemorate starting school. They always make me want pie.

It seems I’ve become something of a francophile of late. There’s just something about the French, their food, their lifestyles, their language. I’ve been reading two books about French society, one is called, “How to Talk to the Snail” and it’s pretty delightful. And kind of hysterical. Last night I had a dream that was back in Paris (inspired by two events: One, I went to see a movie at the Roxy theater and Sansom Street looks so old world and Europeon. Two, I fell asleep watching Paris, Je T’aime on instant Netflix. It’s made up of 18, 5 minute shorts about love in Paris).

That snail is the snootiest snail I’ve ran into for quite some time now.

Well, now I’m off to finish the last of Paris, Je T’aime! Of course I fell asleep during it. Twice.

Feature Friday! Tiger and Lily Boutique September 4, 2009

Recently my blog got a lovely comment from a reader who is also involved in the craft world. After checking out her website, I was excited to see all the neat opportunities it offered. And then I found out, there are TWO lovely creators behind such a cool site. Tiger and Lily Boutique is actually a collaboration between friends Andie and Shanea.

They describe their site as a “one stop shop”, a place to sell crafts, buy crafts and learn how to make new crafts. And it really is! Here’s a couple of the beautiful products I found while cruising the “Buy it!” section.

This sweet little creature is called Natalie. From the accompanying description, I learned that she loves sticker books, long walks and knitting! What a cutie. She is a creation of Dolls for Friends.

Also for sale is this charming little book, written by Zak Zaikine. The extra cool thing is that it printed with soy inks and on recycled paper! The story is based on true events about a kitty family who reunites. Sweet!

A chock full of information can be found in the “Make it!” section. I particularly enjoyed the Egg Carton Green Caterpillar Craft. I could see this being a great afternoon activity to do with my wild nephew monkeys.

If you are interested in becoming a vendor with Tiger and Lily, please email them at info@tigerandlilyboutique.com.

I got Cuteabled!! September 2, 2009

Check it out, my customizable bobby pins passed the cute factor…

Cuteable.com

Pretty cool, right? I thought so.

Announcing…’De Winners! August 9, 2009

Wow, it took me a long time to do this post, ha! The winners have already been notified but I just wanted to announce it too.

The picking process was by random selection, using a counting system I devised. So I’m happy to proclaim…

SiSi from Peacefully Folding!!

Cathy!! See her site.

Swati!! (I don’t think she has a site, but I would be happy to post one!).

Thanks to everyone who entered, this was extremely fun. I’m going to use the feedback to create new Etsy items. It’s also exciting for me to know that my little pieces of art are going to be traveling as far as India and even be hung in someone’s art studio! How cool is that?!

Well, I’m back from cartoon camp and I learned a ton and have lots to share, that will be coming soon!

Two Toe Design’s First GIVEAWAY!!! July 22, 2009

I know, I’m excited too! There are 3 lovely prizes to win. Take a look…

3 original, signed gouache and ink paintings of each of the main characters from The Hard Shell comic in their element. And holy moly, they’re framed in sweet, shiny silver  8 inch by 6 inch frames!

Tobey seems to have a hangover, poor guy.

Euey’s reading his own comic, what???

Milton tries so hard but babes are hard to come by these days.

Each also includes some fancy hardware pieces to hang the frame on the wall.

Or you can just stick it on a flat surface, if you’re tool phobic.

So, if you’d like to enter, all you have to do is take a peek at my Etsy store and leave a comment replying to this post letting me know what item(s) you like and what you’d like to see more of. Don’t forget to leave me a way to contact you! And then 3 lovely people will be randomly picked and shipped their new art!

All entries need to be in by next Wednesday. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Featured Necklace! July 13, 2009

Hey folks!  I was feeling pretty grouchy and tired by the time I got home and had some dinner. But check out this lovely pick me up. Sheena Matheiken is the creator and “star” of the Uniform Project, a fundraiser to help kids living in Indian slums get to school. Not only is she raising money, she’s also dressing super cool to do it! In an effort to promote sustainability, for one year, she has seven identical black dresses to wear. She can dress it up with any accessories or layers that suite her fancy. Everyday she posts a photo of her outfit and they are so much fun to see!

For about the past two weeks, I had been working on a custom necklace to donate to Sheena. And today she wore it! What was that? Your mouse isn’t working? Okay, I’ll just post the photos from her site right here for you to see… Please note that these are her photos and she has the rights to them.

 

Yay! If possible, please consider donating to her cause. If you’re interested in learning more, here’s an interesting interview.

Something cool! July 1, 2009

So I, like many others, pretty much stalk the internet for cool stuff to look at, to enter into or to buy. One of the more interesting sites I’ve found is called Yaami Handmade. It’s an online compilation of lots of great indie shops and provides an organized way to search for items your looking for. Yay for buying stuff!

If you’re on the other end of the credit card, you might be into some of their more unique features. Yaami Handmade provides a “free plug” for one item in your shop for 48 hours! It’s so cool! You can also “shout out” by replying to them on Twitter and it will show up on their home page. I personally found it a little frustrating putting in a request to have my shop added, but that was due to things like password characters and tag length. Otherwise, it’s an awesome resource! I plugged my dinosaur ring as a test run and got over 100 views.

All in all, awesome!

So I realized I haven’t been blogging as much this week. Yesterday was an official “sick day” for me and today was “clean up animals day”, which took up most of the morning. And let me tell you, a bunch of teeny eyes gave me mean looks today. The angriest was from Euey when he was getting a bath in the sink.

And I hope everyone has a lovely night.

Some Pictorial Representations… June 22, 2009

Well, I got very excited today because I went to the bead store and that carries a lot of emotions with it for me. I got lots of good stuff, some that will be going into the store, some that will be going into a custom piece of jewelry and some that will be going into my submission for The Sampler. And I haven’t eaten anything but mini donuts and apple jacks for the last day so I’m very excitable right now.

Anywho, check out some photos. Here’s a bunch of the beautiful, old bound classics that I got at the flea market.

It was $1 for 1 bag of books!

And here’s the vintage pins I scored for $1.50.

I especially like the bike and the black satin bow.

And finally, TWO TOE SNEAK PEAK!

Some new jewelry will be going up tonight around 10 p.m. Here’s a hint of what’s to come…

Just a bit of titilation for your soul.

Step By Step, Day By Day June 19, 2009

I used to watch the show “Step by Step” with that theme song. I’m pretty sure Suzanne Somers was in it and that guy who apparently was an abusive boyfriend in real life. I think his name was Cody on the show.

ANYWHO, I got inspired to do a process photo shoot today. I made a new set of “danglers”, decorative laminated art to hang on hooks, doorknobs, wherever. It’s kind of fun to watch the process of one being made, starting with blank paper.

Wow, it’s like magic when I watch it like this.

My little work station today is my kitchen table, which is perfect. I can watch the rain out the window and am not tempted to check my email every 4 seconds.

I wish I could go for a bike ride but a snack and a nap will have to do instead.

The Devil Inside Me June 18, 2009

The devil inside me has a side ponytail and blue Nike high tops. She loves all things sugary, spicy, trendy and scandalous. But fortunately, I think she’s pretty small. For now.

 

So I think I’m going to be making more paper dolls for sale. Let me know if there are any ones in particular I should make.