eek people!

wow I suddenly got popular - 4 new followers overnight!  Thanks for the love everybody.

I was pretty ill last night, not sure why, I think it might have been a migraine-type-thing hence the lack of post.

I've entered one of my geckos Ghost into Pets Jubilee's monthly cuteness contest.  Please visit and vote for Ghost by commenting on his photograph.

My parents are back from their holiday so the house is suddenly really busy again.  It's hard to know whether to be grateful for the company or miss the peace and quiet.  Apart from a lot of cleaning prior to my parents' arrival, I painted this greyhound as promised this afternoon, whilst watching InkHeart, which I highly recommend as an exceptional film. 

The anatomy is a little off but this really isn't my area of expertise.   All in all I don't think it came out too badly.  I'm still getting to grips with the acrylics and one of the most challenging things at the moment is the inability to mix the colours on the canvas.  If anybody is interested in buying this canvas I am selling it for the Retired Greyhound Trust, please contact me for details.

Artist Feature: MilesOfTextiles

Sorry for another missed post yesterday; I've got some relationship stuff going on at the moment that is taking up a fair amount of time and energy.

There haven't been any entries into the 'On the other Hand' photography challenge.  I will therefore run through the rules again in the hope somebody will want to share a photograph with us:

To enter your photographic take on the theme 'on the other hand' please comment on this post with a link to your image. At the end of the week I'll open a poll to choose the winner, whose work I will do a feature on.

Please enjoy this little interview with Etsy seller Catheline of MilesOf Textiles.

How long have you been an etsy seller?

I have been an Etsy seller since January '09.

How do you get your inspiration?
The textiles themselves inspire me. I'll take a little snippet or whole piece, combine a few of them together, hold them under different lighting, and magically something happens and a new design will pop into my head. That's usually the start. 

How long do you spend working on your shop in the average week?
I work on my designs almost every day. Since I'm retired I have the luxury of creating as much or as little as I choose. If a design is really coming together for me I will work almost non-stop on it until it is the way I like it. If its not coming together I'll most likely put it aside and in a few days or weeks it may take on a whole new dimension. Its not beyond me to take something apart many many times until it right. 

What your favourite item in your shop at the moment?
This is my favorite pillow for sale at the moment. It is very very plush and soft. Its my favorite because a) it took me weeks to make it, b) its completely handstitched, c) everything on it really came together the way I envisioned it. I also try to master new techniques in working with the fabrics. This pillow has handsewn "shark's teeth" around that white & silver center piece. They added the special touch I was looking for. Also...the gold studding you see around the edges: they are all individually sewn on with fishing wire and are very strong. It gives a dramatic look to the contrasting softness of the fabrics.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24254671

Is there anything else we should know?
I'm retired from the foreign service. I've lived and traveled all over the world. My favorite memories and inspiration for my designs come from my time spent in the Middle East. It is where I bought the majority of the textiles I now use. 

Undiscovered Artist - NicksHippieGlass

I've made a lot more paper pulp today, the termite hill is starting to take shape but I have some concerns about how long it is going to take to dry - anybody with ideas on how I can speed the drying process up please let me know.  

I've also been trying to put a cloak together that I started making a couple of years ago but it just keeps going wrong, partly because the instructions are so terrible, it is most frustrating.  I need to recut one bit but I've run out of large enough bits of fabric so I either need to try and buy some more (though I bought the last lot in London two years ago so goodness knows if I can get any here) or patch the scraps together, which I think will look too obvious and messy.

Now the boring stuff about me is out of the way, how about we have a look at an undiscovered artist.

Nick of NicksHippieGlass sells some beautiful and unique glass pendants.  His main line is in the most adorable little mushrooms suspended in glass teardrops.  Who can resist a bunch of cute little mushrooms?!

Nick not only sells these cute little 'shrooms but also makes stunning dichroic pendants such as this celtic knot pendant, which is my personal favourite item from Nick's store.

Go check out Nick's store and his  lovely handmade hippie items.

Artist Feature - DaffKnee

I've had a pretty slow day, partly because of the rain stopping me from doing the outside things I want to get done but I've made a couple of books up today - I've ordered some nice paper and a leather hide and I'm out to make some leather sketch books for a couple of friend's birthdays that are coming up.  If they turn out nicely and people are interested I can make these to sell - photographs to come along with rough prices (not sure what it's going to cost me to make them yet).

It's vintage day!  

Our first Featured Seller for the week is Daphne of DaffKnee who specalises in collecting up vintage patterns for us all.  When I was doing music halls, I had a really hard time finding suitable patterns to make my dresses from and I never thought of buying them vintage (obvious really isn't it?!).

How long have you been an etsy seller?

I joined etsy in Sept 2008. I started selling on etsy in Feb 2009. 

How do you get your inspiration?

I am inspired by lots of different things. Sometimes it's a television show, sometimes it's junking at the flea market, sometimes it's when I open up my cupboard doors!

How long do you spend working on your shop in the average week?

I spend about 2-4 hours per day photographing and listing new items, about 4 hours per week ironing out patterns and checking to make sure they are all complete. I also spend about 5 hours a week just checking on my shop, editing, and posting in the forums.

Are there any shops that you can't go a day without stalking?

Roxy Mamas: she makes the most adorable dresses for little ones!
CreatedbyLee: she has sock monkeys and dammit dolls!
knittingmette: I think she could knit just about anything!

What your favourite item in your shop at the moment?

My favorite item right now is my Tupperlamp! I was inspired to make it when I saw the stack of bowls sitting on my counter. It's definately a conversation piece! Check it out for yourself and see what you think....http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19733645

Pets? Family? Tell us about those?

I am a single mother of 4 teenagers. My oldest daughter, Liz, just graduated today! I'm soooo proud of her! My next oldest, Hannah, is a really sweet girl. She plans to join the army this summer as a junior in High School. She will attend basic training the summer after she graduates next year! Then I have a set of Twins, Sarah and Matthew, both freshman in high school. Sarah is a beautiful girl, she loves animals and plans to be a vet when she grows up. She is also a talented young artist who enjoys drawing and painting like "Bob Ross". Matthew is in the NJROTC at school, he has been given the opportunity to go to Basic Leadership Training this summer. It's a big honor for him since they only pick 5 cadets from each school to go.
I am proud of all of my kids!

Tell us about a typical day in the life of Daphne

A typical "working day" for me goes something like this... 
Get up around 8am, clean up the house, my sister usually comes over and we talk "shop" We both like to sew and are always bouncing ideas for new projects off each other. She likes to make purses and has recently started making dresses for herself. I like to make toddler dresses as seen in my shop and hats that I plan on featuring soon.
Around 11am, I start photographing my items and listing. I am usually done around 2pm or 3pm. The rest of the day, I like to work outside in my gardens and watch a little tv in the evening.

What else interests you?

I love to go flea marketing and to yard sales. Recently my passion has been vintage sewing patterns, sewing machines, and I am starting to really like searching for vintage clothing. I have started my own blog about my flea market adventures. You can see it here: http://daffknee.blogspot.com/

Is there anything else we should know?

I love to knit and spend my winter just knitting away making baby hats and booties, hats for kids, and want to try to knit some stuffed animals and dolls this winter. I am excited to be a member of etsy and am finding it to be a great site to sell from as well as making new friends!

Oh no now I have to think of new titles!

I spent this morning undergoing possibly the single most humiliating experience of my life in the form of a 'Back to Work Session' at the DWP office.  I remember when I was in year 8 (about 12) at school and we had PSHE classes on finding work and interview techniques, those classes not skipped over the completely obvious stuff that was covered this morning; which can be summarised by 'you have to find a job. In order to find a job you have to look for a job', but actually taught me more useful things.  It was almost as insulting to my intelligence (and indeed anybody else's) as the woman who told me my CV couldn't possibly be good enough unless she looked at it and when I said the Cambridge University Careers Service had seen it and were impressed, she said they didn't know anything either.  

Sorry for the rant, I just despair rather.

Mondays are a time for new things so here's a little feature of a few newer items for sale in my etsy shop,  http://amazoncat.etsy.com  after which I will be using Monday's to show off new works.

Gersemi

Frigg

Sunday always comes too late.

I want to start doing something a bit thought provoking for Sundays so I'm thinking it's a good opportunity to display some of my photographs, possibly without any text.  Those of you who follow my deviantart may have seen some of them before (sorry), I'll try to mix some new works in too.  I would also be interested in using my image to spark of a photo challenge of sorts, getting others to submit a link to a photograph they have taken on a similar theme.

This week we have an old favourite of mine:

'On The Other Hand'

To enter your photographic take on the theme 'on the other hand' please comment on this post with a link to your image. At the end of the week I'll open a poll to choose the winner, whose photographs I will do a feature on.

Quote of the day: 'I took an emotional inventory and realised I have some issues'

Saturday Wait!

Today we have Undiscovered Artist, Alyce of Fabric Greetings who makes beautiful cards using fabric (it's kind of in the name isn't it).  As somebody who has been making cards for many many years, there's not too much in the card making sphere of life that is totally new and original to me but Alyce has some really refreshingly unique cards for all occasions.  She was kind enough to answer a few questions for me to share with you all.

How long have you been an etsy seller?

I signed up for etsy in February and then panicked at thought of using the computer for this venture. So it took me until mid-March to convince this old dog she could learn a few new tricks. But my hubby and adult daughter kept urging me on, so here I am. Still learning, but more at ease everyday.

How do you get your inspiration?
I find that my inspiration comes from a variety of places. A piece of fabric catches my eye and I'm off. Case in point - I saw the bra fabric I use in my breast cancer awareness cards at a quilt show and just had to have some. A year later when I was trying to come up with a unique fundraiser for my Relay for Life contribution, I remembered the bra fabric and a light bulb went off. Sometimes it is an occasion that trips an inspirational spurt. 

How long do you spend working on your shop in the average week?
I generally sew two to three hours a day. If inspiration is really coming, I can spend an entire day in the studio. My other off line business is making OOAK clothing for the 18" dolls. Computer time takes longer simply because I generally hit the wrong button and have to start all over. I do spend time in the forums every day as that is a great learning experience. 

Are there any shops that you can't go a day without stalking?
I can't say that I am a "stalker" of any shop at this point. I am trying to check out as many of them as possible to familiarize myself with the variety being offered here. And I am totally awed by the talent that is showcased on this site.

What your favourite item in your shop at the moment?
I guess that everyone has a favorite item in their shop. Mine happened to be a card with an Emily Dickinson quotation. It just recently sold. So I guess my next favorite is the one dealing with age being important only if you are cheese!

Pets? Family? Tell us about those?
I am a former school teacher who stopped teaching 38 years ago and became a stay at home Mom. Our daughter is a school librarian working on her second Master's degree to become an Archivist. She was just awarded a summer internship at the Biltmore Estate. So we will have a place to explore when we visit her. Hubby is retired from power company. We've been married almost 43 years. Met in high school, married after college.

Tell us about a typical day in the life of Alyce
My typical day starts by 6 AM. I am a morning person. I generally walk 2-4 miles before I start my day. If I am not attending a meeting or teaching at the quilt shop, I am sewing or puttering in the studio. I do love to bake and do that on a regular basis. Anything fabric interests me. I piece "quilty" things, but turn tops over to a longarm quilter to be quilted. I read when I want to really relax - nothing that requires much thought. And if there is a chance to travel, I am all for it as long as my sewing machine is in the car.