1/25/09

Pretty Pretties and Other Objects of Inspiration

I've kind of been in an art slump. A three year long art slump, to be exact. Scarlett and I have been "arting" (as we call it) a bit, and since she's started school again, I'm kind of slumping again.

I'm here at Barnes and Noble (free Wi-Fi for at&t subscribers!) with Dustin to my left and Scarlett to my right and I've just been kind of farting around for the past three hours. Newest People magazine? Check! US weekly? Check! Health and organizing magazines? Check! So, I decided to do some Etsy.com searches for possible inspiration and this is what I've found.


I simply adore these Gocco printed "Owl Post" telegrams from Chiara at Celestefrittata.
I. Want. Some. Pink and Robin's Egg Blue, please!



Adorable hand painted Owl nesting dolls, from SavageArtworks. Mmmm..



Insanely cute felted animals from VioletPie.

Two of a Kind, by Emily Martin from Inside a Black Apple.

I don't think that there is a way to look at this piece and not be inspired. I wish the woman in the painting were real so I could stare into her crimson eyes and be frightened! *swoon*
Honestly, if you've never seen any of Emily's wok, have a look at her site. She also sells various beauties on her Esty store, The Black Apple.



Kimberly's new painting, Midnight. She has a set of cards for sale, here. I just can't take my eyes off of the bottom of the vase - it make the whole piece. *drool*

1/18/09

Stale Gingerbread: A Card Tutorial.

I was planning on making these cute cards to send out at Christmastime, but time escaped me (awesome movie watching and tea drinking won me over). I decided that since I had made 60 of the little felt Gingerbread houses, I should send them out to to at least a few people and spread some cuteness around the world. I sent them out as Thank You cards for all of the wonderful Christmas gifts Dustin and I (and the boys) received.

Here is a quick little tutorial for both the felt gingerbread houses and completed card. :]


[I drew that ^ by finger. Yes, I said finger... my laptop's touchpad/mouse! Tough stuff.]

The Card:

1. I carved this stamp using my Speedball stamp making kit. (I can do a stamp carving tutorial, if anyone is interested!)


2. Cut white computer paper to the size of your card. Use red ink and stamp your little brick path on the top and bottom of the white sheet. (I was making 15 cards, so this was purely a timesaving tactic.) Let ink dry.

3. Tear stamped sheet for a snowy effect. Glue in place. I used a glue stick, but I'm sure double stick tape or an adhesive runner would work just as well.

4. Glue felt Gingerbread house to card, positioning over top of pathway. I used Elmer's clear glue to secure the house to the card, after failing with both double stick tape (DST) and giant glue dots. Don't use too much glue, or it will soak through the felt and leave gross hard marks. :]

5. Next, I used a white ink pad and a cloud stamp that I carved to stamp clouds around the house. The darker the card, the better the cloud showed up, so keep that in mind when picking out your base card.

6. Use a white gel pen (I love my Uniball Singo) to draw around the clouds, exagerating some of the lines.

7. Use a corner rounder to round the two outer corners. Cute, cute, cute!


A herd of drying cards.




1/11/09

A Whipple Procedure Write Up!

I recently posted a full write-up of what went down during my hospital stay when I had my Whipple Procedure/Surgery done. This isn't really the place where I want to relive that expeience, so I thought I'd just put a link to the post, in case anyone who has had, or will have, or knows someone who might have a Whipple done. Hard core stuff!

Here's the link.


Coming soon... a cute gingerbread card tutorial (better late than never!), Saturday night Scrap Diva crafting exposed and awesome Valentine's Day pom-poms!

Lots of love,
Little Miss Violet

1/10/09

She Does Matter.

I've been a reader of Emily Faclonbridge's blog for at least a year or so. She's a neat "Earthy" lady, complete with dread locks, Australian accent and two darling girls who have fairy tea parties and adorable handmade dolls. She is just a cool chick and seems to have a heart full of love. There should be more people like her.

Anyways, a while back, Em posted something about a friend of hers, Kimberly, who was going through a terrible family crisis. Emily posted a link to her friend's blog, It Matters, and I've been a reader ever since. I honestly check Kimberly's blog daily and I've found that she's much stronger than she thinks. Even with a soul that's been injured and a terrible void where her husband once was, she still manages to keep going. She still holds her head up and cares for her two little boys and manages to paint beautiful pictures. She's amazing and I really admire her for her strength and perseverance. I wish I could help glue a little piece of her heart back together and hold her hand in person. I wish I could show her that things will eventually work out and that the jagged edges will become a little bit more smooth over time. *sniffle, sigh* I'm here for you, sister.

Life is beautiful and rotten and amazing and terrible all at the same time. You know?


Just another day, in my quiet life.

1/9/09

New Lens? Time for a Test!

Dustin got me this lens for Christmas!
Was I really good enough for this -- I'm usually such a bad girl!

I'm in love! It's perhaps my new favorite possesion, if you don't count The Darjeeling Limited and Marie Antoinette DVDs that I also got for Christmas.
Wait a second.
While on the subject of said movies, I just have to stop and spread some beauty brought to you by two of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola.







Oh colors!
Mustard. Robin's Egg Blue. Salmon. Celery. Burnt Rose.
Fuschia. Creamy, Dreamy Ivory.
Turquoise. Charcoal.
*Swoon*


Anywho, here are the test shots that I took with my lovely new lens.




Super fun. :]

1/8/09

Hello, 2009, How Are You Today?

Wow. I'm a lazy lady.
Does it count that I THOUGHT about blogging, even if I didn't actually do it?

*crickets*

Ok.

Want to know the real reasons that I've been absent for so long?


My Best Friend

The Love of My Life.

Sushi.
Good Books.


Good Movies.

[Tomorrow, Scarlett and I are seeing this... again. If you see a movie in the theather 5 times, does that qualify you as a Fangirl?]

He gets two pictures.

:]