IF - Vacant

This is my entry for Illustration Friday this week. The theme is Vacant.

When I was a kid we had a vacant lot across the street. This is where we went exploring and bug collecting in the summer and it's also where we built our snowmen in the winter. There's a house there now and I don't think any of the neighborhood kids (all grown up now) have fully forgiven them for building on our vacant lot.

("Snowman" will be in my ETSY shop soon!)

ETSY Shop Update

I am planning an

ETSY shop update

in my bumblebina shop for Monday, November 3rd.

Here's a preview:

Newest Teacher Sign

This one is going in the mail today. Teacher signs are available in both of my ETSY shops --tmatthews and bumblebina.

Early Voting - Anybody else?

Birthday Hat

Here's what I've found. I cannot follow a knitting pattern. Not cannot=unable, but cannot=unwilling. I find that I have to do something to change it. I don't know why, but I do. This hat is one from Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats. I ADORE this book and her 2nd book Itty Bitty Nursery.

I followed her pattern pretty closely--the most I've ever followed a pattern actually--except for the noted changes below:


This hat is for my sweet angel niece who turns 1 this week. She won't wear headbands so I imagine she'll not keep the hat on long. Hopefully long enough for my sister to take her picture so she can lie to me and tell me how much the baby loves it and won't take it off! :)

Haley's Animals

I have been dying to blog these little sweeties since I completed them but I had to wait until they arrived at my sister's house. She commissioned them for her daughter Haley's room. Haley is turning 1 next week and is, I swear I am not biased, the cutest thing you've ever seen. Okay, I'm a little biased, but seriously she's an angel.

Anywho...these are each 12" x 12". Below is the scan of each which had to be cropped since my scanner cannot accomodate 12" x 12" but the color is more true.

Step By Step - The Birth of a Dog, a Bird, a Cow and a Fish

...without the gross stuff. :)

Here's some WIP pictures from my latest paintings.

The sketchbook

Sketched on primed canvas with pencil

The black outlines done with a small brush

The Paint

The finished paintings

In their new home--my niece's bedroom

Inspire Me Thursday - Nervous

I'm always a little nervous when I send a commission out to the buyer. You want so much for them to love it. And it's a little like sending a part of yourself out into the world. These arrived yesterday and the buyer said she loves them so much she danced around when she saw them. Yeah! Love to hear that. :)

The theme this week for Inspire Me Thursday is NERVOUS.

These Things Are Like Rabbits...

They are so fun to make, they just seem to multiply. I started with just a few for my daughter, but they were such a huge hit I decided to make more.

Hair Blossoms are in my bumblebina ETSY shop now.

IF - Late

Illustration Friday - theme this week is LATE.

Just finished this painting I did for my step sister who got married in August. Right on time, huh? I know, I'm a little late, but you have a year to send a gift, right?

I'm hoping to put some Wedding Paintings in my ETSY shop soon. I'll keep you posted.

New ETSY Shop

I have opened a second ETSY shop. My plan is to eventually move all crafty stuff over and just have my original shop have paintings in it. I know people still go there for to order name signs so for now, I'll leave them in both shops. But I'm slowly moving things over and I've added some brand new stuff in my brand new shop!


This Bride's Hat, for instance is a fun, new item. A friend of mine saw my baby hats and suggested, nay demanded, :) that I made some for grown ups. (Seriously, I never say nay. How pretentious does that sound?)

She suggested the first hat be a white one for a winter bride. Well, who am I to say no to a new knitting project? Okay, I KNOW a bride is not going to wear this to her wedding--hello, hat hair! But wouldn't it be fun for a shower or a bachelorette night out or even to leave the church or reception in?

Anyway, it's in my new 2nd shop. Okay, how many links do I have to give you before you go check it out? :)

*SOLD*

E.L. Fugde Ghosts - a Small Tutorial

As far as I know, my sister invented these. And now we all make them every year. I've seen them done before with Nutter Butters, but it really only makes sense to do them with E.L. Fudge Cookies.

Here's what you'll need: E.L. Fudge Cookies (I could only find Double Stuffed), white chocolate, a small amount of mini chocolate chips, a glass bowl or double boiler to melt the white chocolate and trays with parchment paper on them.

I like to lay everything out before I get started because you sort of have to work fast before the white chocolate sets up too much. So here's my work space all ready. I melt the white chocolate in the microwave and then place the whole bowl over a pan with hot water in the very bottom.


I've found that if you just sort of spread the white chocolate on the front and sides using a plastic or wooden spoon (leaving the feet showing of course!!) it's easier to make and eat them. If you dip the cookie, you use a lot more white chocolate and they are SOOOO rich when you eat them. I couldn't get a picture of this since I needed both hands. So really what kind of tutorial is this that I don't show you the most important step? Oh well, you're smart. You'll figure it out!

While the white chocolate is still melty, add the mini chips for the eyes.


I found that one bag of white chocolate chips can cover (front and sides) of about 40 E.L. Fudge cookies.

The benefit of using Double Stuffed (besides the extra frosting)? They can even stand on their own!

Newest Name Sign

This one went in the mail Saturday. As always, Name Signs are available in my ETSY shop.

IF - Strings

This is Batty (3.5" x 4.75" acrylics on 1/4" wood - available). All he wants to do is suck your blood--no strings attached. He's not looking for any sort of commitment or relationship.
This is my entry for Illustration Friday this week. The theme is STRINGS.


*SOLD

Gifts That Went Out This Week

I can't remember the last time I actually bought a baby gift. I did buy a Batman Lego set for my son's friend for a birthday party today. You just can't really craft or knit a gift for a 9 year old boy. Believe me, if there were a way, I would have found it. :) But for babies, I just think handmade is so much more personal and special.

These are for my brand new nephews. They are twins, but I still thought they should each have signs and hats that are similar, yes, but not exact. They each have their own distinct personalities. They live in Alaska so I hope the hats will keep them toasty warm!

Inspire Me Thursday - Poem By Rumi

Out beyond ideas

of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down

in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language

- even the phrase “each other” -

do not make any sense.

Now in My ETSY Shop

Batty, 2008, 3.5" x 4.75", acrylic on 1/4" wood

I painted this little guy for the EBSQ Bat Show. He's available now in my ETSY shop.

UPDATE: *SOLD

Some Fun Thankgiving Projects

Small Give Thanks Blocks (SOLD)

Large FALL Blocks

I made a set of these for each of my sisters. When I asked them what they wanted for Christmas, they both said they had enough Christmas stuff, but needed some Thanksgiving or Fall decorations. So they each got their Christmas presents this week. :)

I also made a Blessings Book for each of them. I thought we could start a tradition of writing down what everyone is thankful for each year--sort of a Thanksgiving journal. These were made on Composition Books. I just love to alter them.

Below are two I did for myself. See I can't stop making them! :)

New Name Signs

These just went in the mail today. They were ordered to match a fun playroom. Connected Name Signs are a new item in my ETSY shop.

Lookie What I Got!

Just got this darling Halloween dress from my2sweetboutique. Isn't it fun? She even threw in a fun hair bow to match. My daughter is thrilled!!

I'm a Little Obsessed...

I seriously can't stop making Halloween stuff. Got the instructions for these hair bows here. Any kind of hair bow you wanna make, they have the instructions for.


I've even got my kids in on the fun. We saw these shirts in Family Fun and knew we had to do them. Then it sort of expanded to jeans and socks too. :)