Be Inspired to Buy Handmade

Creativity isn't just for arts and crafts. You can be creative in all of your endeavors. Take holiday shopping for example. You can do the easy thing and purchase a gift card to some mass merchandiser for everyone on your list, or you could take a little time to think about the person, their likes and dislikes, their interests and hobbies, their personal style (or lack of in some instances), and their wants and needs. Isn't that what gift giving should be about? I have always loved finding the perfect gift for someone I love. I think it's even better when you can make them something. Remember when you were little and you made a gift at school for your Parents and they ooooed and ahhhhed. Well I have been a recipient of many of those gifts over the last couple years and I can tell you that nothing tops them. Now if you aren't crafty enough to make something as a gift , why not buy something handmade instead? You will be giving a unique quality item and getting personal service directly from the artist. Even better, you will be supporting an artist instead of greedy corporate CEOs! It's really quite easy, just head on over to Etsy.com for a little handmade goodness. The stores on Etsy have gifts for everyone on your list. Here are a few suggestions for your immediate family:

Need a gift for your mother that really celebrates her amazing sense of style? How about this incredible necklace from Stonehousestudio.etsy.com


Is your Dad a corporate manager by day and a motorhead by night? How about this super cool tie from toybreaker.etsy.com

How about your crafty Aunt who loves to knit? I'm sure she would love some luscious handspun yarn from knittydirtygirl.etsy.com and some funky knitty needles from chelle.etsy.com










Here's a little something for your uncle that travels internationally for work and has a quirky sense of humor. A fun and informative passport cover from tinymeat.etsy.com . Going through customs will never be the same.

Here's a little something for your sister who just moved into her first apartment. A couple of cool prints for her bare walls from scottgarrette.etsy.com .













Let's not forget your older brother who is a bit of a video game geek and a die hard star wars fan. Some storm trooper cufflinks from luxdeluxe.etsy.com and some pacman coasters from
lostmitten.etsy.com. are sure to please.











You can't forget about Grandma and Grandma. How about this incredibly lifelike ceramic fish by PiscesCeramics.etsy.com to commemorate the one that got away from Gramps.

And I am sure grandma would really get a kick out of this Bowlegged babe from Artsy.etsy.com featuring a vintage enamelware coffeepot:

You have to admit that there are some amazing handmade gifts out there just waiting to be snatched up. I have decided to stray a bit from my regular inspirational pieces this week to promote buying handmade and sharing some great gift ideas. Please come back to see handmade gift suggestions for your significant other, co-workers & bosses, babies and kids, teens, pets, holiday decorations, stocking stuffers and even custom commissions. So take a break this week and let me help you get ready for the holidays. Please also head over to buyhandmade.org and pledge to buy handmade. There have already been over 5000 people who have taken the pledge. If you are having trouble sifting through all the handmade items on Etsy check out the All Things Handmade blog which separates some fabulous sellers by category and offers a glimpse of the items they have available which makes for easy browsing. Take some time this week to make something special for someone on your holiday list, and don't forget to buy handmade this holiday season!



Did You??

Through My Eyes - Anything Can be Art ...Right?

Well if you have been following along with my blog, you may know that inspiration strikes me quite often , and in some of the strangest places. If there is one thing I would like to pass along to you from this blog it is to keep an open mind and an open eye for things that could inspire you, or that could become art. For me creating is like breathing and I feel "off" if I haven't made something or thought about making something. So for me anything is fair game. As you know I have a 4 year old (5 this month) artist in my house and his favorite thing to do is to paint with my acrylic paints. He has one of those plastic palettes with the little circles around it for the paint to sit in. Being the lazy mother I am, I never wash it off, I let the paint dry and just keep adding more when he decides to paint. Well I looked at the palette yesterday and determined that I needed to clean it out. All of the little wells were completely full, so I commenced pulling and scraping the pain out. As I did this, I realized that I had just struck gold. The little half sphere's of paint that came out were just too cool to throw away. So I laid them all out on a sheet of white paper and started to take some pics. I also decided that I will be gluing them to a canvas or putting them in a shadow box for my wall. Instant art from something most people would throw away. The best part is that when I look at these little paint blobs on my wall, I will remember all of the fun paint sessions Kyle and I have had. So the lesson of the day is to keep your eyes peeled, your mind open and only clean out your palette when you absolutely have too.

Make something fun today from something left over from your medium of choice and if you make something brilliant, please leave a comment so that I can feature it here.


Just so you know it is taking all of my willpower not to fill all of my palettes with paint just so I can get more of these little treasures.... Maybe I shouldn't fight it!

Inspired by Another World

Well, if you haven't noticed, I am losing the battle of trying to be organized and scheduled and trying to fit everything in. Unfortunately the thing that has taken a back seat has been the blog, which sucks because I really enjoy writing it. I have tons of ideas that I want to share, but not a lot of time with the both of my sons birthdays fast approaching, as well as holiday preparations, and of course making things. I am going to do my best to get in at least 3 posts a week through the rest of the year, so please bear with me. OK, enough excuses. Now on to the good stuff.

It may be because of the interview with tinaseamonster, or maybe since Halloween just passed and I saw all the kids dressing up in their costumes, or maybe I have been browsing Etsy a bit too much , but whimsical ideas keep popping into my head. I even made a treasury last week titled" Transport me to Another World" featuring whimsical/fanciful art that together would make a fantastic world where Cursters and robots fall from the sky, hedgehogs ride snails, flowers come in cubes, flower girls have petals, bunnies live on cupcakes, tube worms are beautiful and balloons can wisk you away at a moment's notice. How can you look at these items and not be inspired to stretch your imagination and create a new world of your own? (Click each item to see more of each artists work.)


























































Sometimes I think art can be a bit too serious. I mean there is always an argument about whether something is true art, or if it is high-end . I feel like saying "why does art have to be serious? Why can't it be fun and thought-provoking? Or silly and beautiful? Well these artists prove that all of those things can be true. They include whimsical details in a creative way. If you are feeling a little less than inspired, thinking about fanciful, whimsical things can really get the creative juices moving because there is no limit to where you can go. People can sprout animal heads, you can create your own creatures, use colors or patterns that you normally wouldn't, heck, you can even make pigs can fly! Take a little time this week to create a little world of your own. Imagine the characters in your world, how they look, the environment in which they live, how they get around and how they interact. Exercising your whimsical side can be freeing and a whole lot of fun. Once you get started , I bet the ideas will just flow. For more inspiration this week, read a couple children's books and let your inner child out to play! Happy Creating!

Happy Halloween!

Get some inspiration from all the ghosts and goblins out tonight. Add a little macabre to your work and if inspiration still doesn't strike, eat enough sugar until you get a sugar high and that is bound to inspire you to create something amazing!! Here's some Halloween Cupcakes from me to you! Happy Halloween!

Inspired by Zombies - Artist Feature with Tinaseamonster.etsy

Since it is almost Halloween, I thought it would be the perfect time to showcase Tinaseamonster.etsy and her Zombie t-shirts. They aren't specifically Halloween shirts, but zombies are certainly scary and the thought of a Zombie plague is down right worrisome!

Last month I had a chance to meet Tina at the Crafty Bastards show in D.C. We have convoed back and forth on Etsy, so it was very cool to meet her person. She was sweet enough to give me 2 t-shirts for my boys, as long as I sent her some pics of them in the shirts. That was a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. So the kids modeled the t-shirts and now you can see them in Tina's Etsy shop. The phrase on the t-shirts says "Sometimes I worry about Zombies" and I began to wonder what inspired the phrase, so I asked Tina and here is what she said:


What inspired this piece?
The first "Sometimes I Worry About Zombies" shirt was made in the middle of the night last year before the Crafty Bastards Arts and Craft Fair. I had one Gocco screen left and 9 shirts so I made this new design. I had just painted a collage about worrying about owls and I thought, "I am not that worried about owls anymore. But zombies, everyone worries about zombies." :) The shirt is really not about zombies at all, but about people who worry about things that they cannot control. I think worrying about most things is useless and a waste of time, really. Living is better than worrying.

Can you detail how you translated your inspiration into your work of art?
My Print Gocco makes it easy for me to write just about anything on any piece of fabric, so there isn't much detail involved. This design has evolved in the past year, though. I added Mr. Z and now he makes the design less scary and more funny.

Where do you tend to find inspiration for your art pieces?
Most of my work comes from my own blog. I know that is weird. But I totally search my blog for past entries that are interesting. I always find something that is ready to be a new design. It is like a past self is sending my future self new designs. I also always check to see what people are Googling to get to my web site. This can often times be hilarious.

Any advice for someone feeling uninspired?
Live. Don't close yourself off from life. Living is the only way to create something new. I spent all of my early twenties not living, just existing and I didn't make anything. What a waste of time.


Zombies aren't all that she has to offer, although they can also be found on underwear, Christmas cards, buttons, magnets and even Christmas ornaments. You will also find ghosts, seamonsters, yetis and even panda poo (yes, I said panda poo).
























Tina and her goodies are all over the web and you can check them out here:

Blog:
http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com

Television Podcast:
http://www.televisionzombies.com

Craft Mutiny Collective and Podcast:
http://www.craftmutiny.com

Handmade for kid's Etsy Street Team:
http://www.yetilovesseamonster.com

And just in case you didn't know, Zombies are the new bunnies. Seriously, they are.

Masquerade Ball - PCAGOE October Challenge - VOTE & WIN

It's that time again for the PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy) to display our talents in our monthly challenge. With Halloween around the corner, we decided on a mask theme. The members came up with some incredibly innovative mask designs. You can go to pcagoe.com and vote for your favorite to be entered to win one of 2 polymer clay prize packs worth over $100 each and donated by PCAGOE members. Here are all of this month's entries:


My entry is the last one and I call him the "Avian Prince" :

I was inspired to create a bird mask from these prints by rosiemusic.etsy.com (formerly Menta). I used one in a treasury list a week or so ago and I just couldn't stop thinking about the bird masks in her prints, so I decided on the bird from there. I didn't really use her imagery so much, as she had full face masks, and that seemed like too much work for me. I also new I wanted to do individual feathers since I could easily carve a stamp of those and i was thinking more along the lines of a bird of prey than a song bird.














This was my first mask and will have to say it was not easy. I burnt the first base that I made, but luckily I was able to salvage the beak (thank you liquid polymer clay!!) Then some how a bunch of feathers on one side got broken off while it was sitting on my kitchen counter before cooking and mysteriously the broken pieces were missing (obviously some was trying to conceal the damage, hmmm....). I finally got it in one piece and baked and then was able to paint. Of course I was in a hurry and tried to distress it before the paint was thoroughly dry. That's why there are some large chunks of paint missing. I decided that rather than painting, I would go with it and started chipping away at all the feathers to make it look like it was purposeful (Ha!). He turned out looking a little more like the Chicken Prince than a bird of prey, but overall I like the way he turned out. I even found out that if I leaned him on his beak, he can stand alone, so now he is on display in my living room. It's always fun to try something new. Making a mask was never high on my creativity to-do list, but I found it to be a lot of fun. Be inspired by the PCAGOE's masks and either create your own or use their innovation and creativity as a jumping point for you to try something new, stretch your creative muscles and create a masterpiece of your own. (And don't forget to vote!!) Polymer Clay Productions also has a polymer clay mask tutorial on their site. Check it out for some more inspiration.

I almost forgot. Kyle was inspired by my mask to create his own. He mixed the colors, I cut out the base and he did all the embellishments. The mask is wearable , is all polymer clay and is modeled by his brother,Trey. It also glows in the dark! For fun, we entered it into the Etsy Costume contest:

You Were Inspired By What? - An Ogre & An Onion?

A couple of months ago one of the Etsy forum challenges was to create something inspired by a fairy tale. Being forced to watch Shrek almost nightly, I started sketching things inspired by the movie. My favorite part of the movie is when Shrek says that Ogres are like onions because they have a lot of layers, so I started drawing some onion shaped things and then began adding swirls and leaves and ended up with this pendant, which I entered into the challenge and that was basically the end of it.

Recently, I was going through my sketchbook when I came across one of the sketches and it made me think of a crest that would be perfect for Princess Fiona. So I headed off to create the block and ended up with this necklace, which I call "Ogres Are Like Onions".


You may not be inspired by onions and big green ogres, but I was. Think about a favorite movie character or fairytale character this week and make something inspired by them, or something that they might wear or keep in their house. Putting yourself in a movie character's "shoes" can help open your eyes to possibilities that you may not have seen on your own. Their character traits, where they live, their family and their likes and dislikes can all become your inspiration. Here are some more works of art inspired by onions and ogres (click the photo to be taken to the artist's Etsy shop):























I even found something that would be perfect for Shrek and Fiona's triplets: