Yes, I know its appeared that I have disappeared, but its not true.

Just too full of cookies and new ideas.

Blacklilypie and Batcat are working on new fancy things for the new year. Its all very exciting and stuff.

See you soon!

Black Friday

Ending up on the front page on Black Friday is pretty awesome...
Especially among some other really fantastic black and white goodies! Check out that mug! I am going to resist going on about how every Friday is black Friday for me (Haw haw!) No, they were wrong, I am NOT going to grow out of it!

Being on the front page always brings tons 0f traffic to your shop. I am thankful!! Its nice to know new people are checking out your stuff. Hello new people! :-)Boo! Check out this Spooky Kitten Skeleton! Scary isn't it? Terrifying? Slightly creepy? Ok, maybe just cute...Black and white beasties are the best. I wanted to make sure to post a picture of him so he isn't lost and forgotten. I am just really happy with how he turned out. Awwww.

Oh, and 599 sales. *EEE!*

Neglect is the word I was looking for...

Ok, so that was kind of mean of me, just leaving this blog to fend for itself. I am a bad blog-mother.

But I am going to rehabilitate myself and make it right by posting pictures of things and items and stuff now...

Like this little dude, who appeared in my shop
Aww, its a BABY Batcat! I picture a nest full of those little guys, mewing away like baby birds. (Note to self, don't put ideas like that on the internet, TRADEMARK!) Haha. I think that might have to turn into a painting. Hmmmm.

I have been keeping myself buy making stuff, packaging stuff and waiting for the American Thanksgiving to finally be over (Whats up with that, can't they have it when we do, when you are SUPPOSED TO? Haw haw.) I guess Thanksgiving is this invisible line that Americans wait to cross to shop for Christmas. Canadians don't have that. I just get antsy knowing my "shipping to US cut off date" is fast approaching...

I also make about one billion ACEO's (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) this week....

They are actually really neat, these teeny tiny prints. There is something satisfying about having a little stack of them like you had collector cards when you are a kid. Once a collector, always a collector I guess.

OOh, not to jinx myself (like I often do) BUT I am so close to 600 sales! It really doesn't loose its thrill, each milestone. Thanks so much everyone!! I have so many repeat customers who are super awesome, and new buyers who make me their first Etsy-buy. Grah, its all so sentimental.

So enjoy your pumpkin pie. I wish I had a piece. Only one piece though, cause after that, its really, really gross. :-P

I think its going to snow...

Ugh. I forgot what it was like to be cold.

But it does help get me in the mood for winter things. Like listing this little dude!
Haha! Is he an evil elf? Or a good elf? Who cares. The hat says evil but the scarf says not evil. I never want to sell these little critters, but if I kept them all I would have to eat them so its not a very good option. Haha.

I am working on Holiday cards and have stockings to list and more more more stuff. You would think I am a Christmas nut or something. I *thought* I wasn't...Am I?

And with all this self imposed rush-rush, my little cat dude has become increasingly naughty ,loud and demanding. He hates his food, he hates his bed and he hates me for not spending enough time looking at his cat-face. So annoying!! He sounds like a lost sheep, bleating and bleating all day.

You think I could get a picture of him being bad??? NO, of course not. My "little cat" knows when I am trying to catch him being bad to prove he is the baddest cat in history. He is too smart for that.
He just curls his enormous body into his beer box (where it came from we have no idea) and refuses to perform his devil deeds on film. ARGH.

Jingle Bells...

I am fully switched into Holiday mode now.

Halloween flew by the fastest I can ever remember. The party, the candy *groan* and the crow candle holders we bought for our mantle. (If we had a mantle...)
I was an Indian (inside joke as I am actually a "Status Indian" which is an official Indian in Canada...) The mask was not part of my costume. Haha

I had these plans to stock up for the holiday season but found I sold out of most of my "stock up" before Halloween even hit!! I have to re-stock up again. I do have 10 scarves made and ready to go...Like this one I listed today.I am sure they will go fast. The reason I listed this one first is that I really wanted to keep it for myself and my willpower is WEAK. I will make myself one at some later date...

So I am officially not accepting any more custom orders, because I am too busy. How freaking cool is that??? :-D

So from now on its on. Christmas hardcore. Its funny, I don't even care about Christmas! I mean, I like eating good food and giving and getting gifts and seeing my family, but Etsy has put a new focus on Christmas. I bet by the time it arrives I will hate it. :-)

So, how many days until next Halloween??

FREE for Halloweeeen

I am giving away FREE sets of Halloween pins with Etsy purchases on October 29th,30th and 31st!Head on over to my shop to check it out.

I am destroyed from my weekend of Halloween fun, it was worth it. :-) But even though my party is already over, I want to keep in the Halloween spirit. Boo!

Process post! Danzig the Cat.

Another little custom order, a portrait of a much loved and "right up my alley" sort of wild and naughty little boy cat named Danzig. (How could I turn it down, a boy super-loving his cat and naming it Danzig is like a freaking fairytale to me!)

It was fun and fast and I took a few photos of...
This was the original design sketch. I had some photos of the little dude for reference, so it was more working out what would be around him. I did another separate one for the actual cat, and then spliced them together for the final sketch. This is the scanned pencil drawing on illustration board. Thats why its a bit muddy, I had to up the contrast. On to the painting! I guess you aren't supposed to give away your secrets to painting, but its not like I even paint the same way each time so there isn't really any secret. I tried to keep this one from getting too tight, and colouring it in like a colouring book, but it just happens like that at the beginning. I use really watery acrylic and blast it with a hairdryer every five seconds. And I listen to HIM.I think I should have taken another one in between this and the last one.I basically just added dark and light a few times...dark then light then darker than lighter until its high contrast enough for me. Like this. With a paintbrush! Secret REVEALED! Ok, here is the final guy... Danzig! I think its pretty cute. He is a sort of bad boy, but with a heart of gold, like all orange cats are. :-) Whatever bad thing he did, you'll forgive him.

I have a plan.

I started early this year working on Holiday season stuff. Its SO hard to not focus on Halloween (Because I love it SO much!) But I have been keeping myself busy planning and gathering and working on holiday stuff so as soon as November hits I am in business for Christmas!

So thats why its a bit quiet around here. I have things I am dying to post about but will have to wait until after Halloween!

For now, I will show you the last of the "Critter Love" sets I have made fro my shop. The bat!This is the fifth "love" set. Fox,rat,squirrel,raccoon and bat pretty much cover it. Why bat is last I will never really understand. it was one of those "DUH!" moments for me. Why wasn't bat FIRST? Ok, maybe second after Fox...

I have a new "Love" series taking shape in my head, and its not animals. OOOh!

Halloweeeen! Yeah! I am like a kid who can hardly wait! I already thought of a costume for next year. Hahaha.


***Post update!***

Ok, I lied. I added something new to the shop after I said I wouldn't...Hee hee. Fruit Bat!
Don't even try and touch that strawberry, he will nip your fingers right off!
Ok, NOW I am not adding anything else I am supposed to be hoarding...
:-)

Wow!

500 sales!!Aww! My dude is the best and always surprises me with one for every hundred sales. This one may be the last as 500 is "the big leagues" to me. At 600 I will buy something for myself! :-)

I can't belive I am almost too busy to make Halloween stuff (aside from bat cookies and my costume and all my regular stuff) But I did manage to make this little lady...She is evil witch in training, but it isn't going very well because she is too nice and cute. Gawd, I love to make these cat things.

:-)

Big Project!

OhmygodIforgottoupdatemyblog!

Ok, not "forgot" so much as "was super busy." October is so full for me, both with things I control and things I don't.

The BIG project I hinted at is safe to show now. Its a quilt! I made this for two really good friends that got married. They have been together for like 9 years so its not like they need toasters and muffin tins. I thought something more traditional would be better for them as a keepsake. And the bride's favorite colour is orange... Its a pretty relaxed pattern with black and white prints. I hand tied all those teeny ties, which I think makes it look more traditional, and makes it warmer. I really like the backs of quilts. I really am winging it making this thing, I sew with only basic knowledge and luck. But the backs of quilts just "happen" and its so neat! I also added their names and the date of their wedding. They are a Halloweeny couple, so orange and black is just too perfect. :-)

It was a lot of work, mostly because it takes up so much space. But not difficult work, just A LOT! I told them they can never get married again , as I am only making baby sized ones from now on.

Now I have two weeks of feverish work before Halloween comes (yayayayaa!) and then November which is my "sell everything you got" month. I am like a big rolling snowball, if everyone stays out of my way no one will get hurt!

*coming soon to the shop*
-wool felted baby bats
-wool felted cats
-printed scarves
-mounted prints
-stockings

*phew*

Victory over varnish

Sometimes its a struggle to get things done. This week is SO going to be like that. Nothing seems to want to cooperate with me!

This painting...
Was such a struggle! The painting was easy and came together pretty well, but the varnish took like 8 coats and sanding and redoing and UGH! But it came out ok, just with ten times the amount of work it should have...One lesson I always fail to retain about varnish is that spray just makes life easier! WHY can't I just remember that!! Its basically what saved this painting's life.

Now I have all these custom orders and things to do that all fall right before the wedding I am in on the weekend. Sigh! Thats always how it happens....

AND I have a super secret project I am working on, that needs urgently to be finished...Its my biggest sewing project ever! Oooh... next week...

Messy is just better.

Remember how I said in the last post that I can't see getting anything done is a pristine white studio?

Take a look at the tools I use... A lot of my brushes are hard with dried varnishes, curved from sitting in water (for weeks, I will admit...) and I just cut off bristles when they get really raggedly and still use them. I use old painty water for far longer than you should because I like things to have grayish cast to them. And my cutting mat is useless because most of the lines are obscured by paint and stains and ink.
Here is a painting in progress. Its getting its 5th or 6th coat of varnish, some of them tinted purple. This is when things can go great or a painting can easily get destroyed, as each coat could bubble or streak or dry milky. But I try not to be afraid to try things on paintings, because you can always start over.
And here is another one. I am not even sure how this one is going to progress. Its this ink drawing washed with acrylic. I am working on a few really tight and clean custom orders right now and I just want to "paint messy" and not worry about stuff and see what happens. Its a super tiny and fat canvas, and the proportions of the girl on it are all super wonky. Its a mess but I am liking it that way. No stress.

But first I have to eat strawberries with painty hands. Another one of my studio secrets.

What? Its non-toxic!

In my studio...

sI do a lot of hopping around to other crafty blogs, and its not unusual for people to do "Here is my studio" posts. I find them super interesting, just like the work in progress post below this one, it feels like a little secret look into their head.

I can appreciate the magazine like tranquility of some of these studios, with their carefully folded vintage textiles and whitewashed wood furniture. I just don't understand how they can get any work done. My studio is packed with junk,items,things,objects and stuff. Its messy and has paint on a lot of it. I have cutting boards and brushes and books and paper. AND I don't want to hide any of it, because thats the point of a studio. This is my sewing/shipping/computer/paper area. My sewing machine is a Singer from 1970, and its awesome. I covered its table in stickers to show my appreciation. See what I mean about stuff? There is a lot on that shelf. This is where I keep books and supplies and packing supplies,button machine,silkscreens. Life would be so much easier if I only made one type of thing. Across the room are my work tables. One side is paint and one is general work space. Above are shelves packed with supplies and pins and frames. On the right is my dudes computer, squeezed in and covered with his own things. Yes, I have a TV in my studio, which no one seems to want to admit to. I listen to the food network. I don't really cook.

Its kind of a dark little studio, it has a window and door to outside, but they don't do that much for light. But I make do. I live in a super old building that is a weird shape has handmade closets that don't fit hangers, and only a few electrical outlets (in the closets?!) I counteracted the quirkiness by painting it purple and pink and black apple red.

I have a little helper too....He hates the studio and meows just outside the door all the time trying to call me out into the rooms he would rather be in. Sometimes he gives in an hangs out with me, but is only comfortable if he is the center of attention.

Its not my dream studio by any means, but it works pretty well. And by the time I post these pictures, it will be back to its normal messy self.

Custom Cat

I have been working on a custom order for one of my best customers at my shop. I hope she doesn't mind me posting the progress here. I love seeing other peoples works in progress, it feels a bit like you are are learning their secrets...

This is the original sketch I did for her.This is Neo, this little man cat went off to kitty heaven to cause havoc. He has a wonderful interesting face with lots of character...
I did a few roughs first, to get it all set up and then sketched my "final rough" onto illustration board. I have a drafting table thats devoted to painting, so I can leave out projects and work on them over time. I use a Sta-wet painter's palette, which keeps your paint wet over days or even weeks. I spread a few pictures of Neo around to make sure I get his splotches in the right place.
I rarely paint two paintings the same way. I learned from a few fantastic illustrators in university that everyone has their own way, some work on the whole image, some finish small places then move on to the next. I am usually an "all over" kind of worker. I kind of painted him in reverse, using the background to carve him out. On a lot of my paintings, I use a pigment liner to draw the image then kind of colour it in with paint. But Neo needed a more "traditional" painting feel to him.Ok, I could have put another photo before this one as its progressed quite a bit. I usually go progressively darker and darker, and then start all over with lighter over top to get more contrast. Make sense? My best friend is the hairdryer. I lock each paint wash by drying it.

You can see that even though this is a somewhat realistic painting (for me) I messed about with his face a bit to make him smile. I had to fight the urge to give him fangs, even though his don't show like my cat. And here is the final face. I will admit, its a bit "prettier" than the real cat is. In the photos he is a bit more handsome and masculine, but I have come to terms that I just paint pretty. Its what I like. Most portraits do it intentionally anyway... As always, the original painting looks vastly different than the scan, the computer just can't capture it. You loose the transparency of the paint and it deadens the c0lours. So here is is! The final painting. I wish I could frame it up in a antique oval frame painted black and rubbed with white, and hang it up at my house. :-)

Bye Neo.

Scarves!

Hmm, what can I print on? What can I print on......?Scarves! Much better than T-shirts, as they are one size fits all. Plus summer is almost over and those Fall days are coming... I made three, as a test (I do alot of testing I guess...) I printed on the "wrong side" of the fabric because I thought it would be cooler to have the print on the inside. If I make more I might print on the "right" side as jersey curls up a bit at the edges...

I see a whole bunch of these in my store in the future, I have some ideas for new stamps....Its kind of time consuming, depending on how dense I make the pattern. This Moz one progressed a bit faster, as its more spread out... I timed how long it took me to make them by watching Martha Stewart. (I often forget to actually time my work, and then have to guess if I am working for like $3 an hour...) All three of these will be going into the shop today or tomorrow. I have to fight not to let myself keep the Moz one. or all of them.Rocko the Cat helped me a lot by laying on top of the huge mess that is my printing table. His body is on t-shirts (not for the shop, don't worry) and his face is on a painting. ARGH!!

Damn! Then he has to go and look all cute and fat cheeked and I forgive him (again and again...) Jerk!

*Goes to de-fur the studio....*

Two and a half hoodies

Oh no. I found a store that sells my favorite kind of weird imported Japanese clothes. FOR HALF PRICE. DANGER.

This hoodie will either call up extreme jealousy or extreme confusion to why someone would want to wear it. I think its so fancy...
Yeah, it has skeleton arms that I failed to photograph. BUT WAIT! Its also has zip off arms and comes with TWO DIFFERENT ARMS! Mummy wrapped screenprinted arms. Like, what the heck?? Its awesome.
Its more of a little jacket, so I won't be able to wear if for a while, which kills me.

Plus, as if that wasn't enough hoodie for my week, I made myself one. (Ok, made it better.)
Moz hoodie! Its printed front, back and arms. It was my first printing on an actual garment, but it came out without too many flubs. the arms were the most trying, as I wanted it to be a continuing pattern all around. Think Moz will like it? I am sure he would approve of my DIY-ness.

Tomorrow I am back to the Japanese clothes store for the "new stuff" they were unpacking and insisted I needed to see, buying clothes/scarves/whatever to stamp on and trying to scrub purple hair dye out of the countertops/floor walls.

Two Colour Printing!

Test batch of two colour stamp prints!

After making the two colour printed skeleton bag, I wanted to try more! So I carved up some second stamps to coordinate with some of my older designs...

They came out really rough and worn and splotchy, which I love. I printed the images with white ink, heat set them then printed over with black ink. I didn't have registration marks, so they are all a little off. I think it reminds me of graffiti. The ones on cotton worked much better than the blended fabrics. But then, doesn't everything?


I took this little batch of tests and made up a little batch of triangular pouches.

Its cool when your "tests" actually work out and can be made into something to sell (or keep!) I am going to start listing these pouches on Etsy starting tomorrow.

I had a helper who tried to eat any threads that fell on the floor all day....Then he runs when I try to pull them out of his mouth. But you would never know by this pic what a pain in the rear he is. Aww.