Peacock Kaylee from Some Odd Girl

So back in January I realized I have been coveting the Copic Sketch Markers a LONG time and if I wanted to get them, I needed 1) another job; 2) to sell some of the craft items I own; 3) Sell finished craft products. Dear husband, David told me to get selling.. I think he meant finished craft products, but I decided to sell my Cricut items, as I am NOT a Cricut fan (sorry!!! I really, REALLY tried to love my Cricut, but I don't).

Every time I go to Fred Vegas I take my piddly pocket money and coupons to Hobby Lobby and Michaels and I buy a (one) copic marker. I do not have even own 1/7th of the Copic Sketch Markers, but I do have a wonderful collection of blues and greens, perfect for Peacock coloring! I have sold my old Cricut items on Amazon and have made $ to buy Copic markers and with this last "check" from Amazon I bought digital stamps from Some Odd Girl. They are sooooo pretty!!!!! Now...if only I could sell my cricut machine and buy more Copics.

Squeeee

My stamp came in! I luuuurve it! I order it from Groopdealz. ^_^ I also ordered one for my Relay for Life team and also for my David and I

Creating Facebook page

It's about time. I have been trying to get an Etsy page up for a year and also a Facebook page. It didn't help that I don't have a computer right now. The best I can do is blogging on my phone. I made a Facebook page (not quite perfected) and and set up my Etsy shop and my amazon shop.

Scratch off cards

I love Pinterest! Don't you? I read about how to make scratch off tickets. I think it would be a fun way to raise money for my Relay for Life team. I have an opportunity to make some today! So excited! My co-worker wanted to make coupons for babysitting and Housekeeping for her daughter-in-law, because she has some babies on the way. I thought to myself, what's better than I coupon? A scratch off card! I'll post photos after we get finished!

Copic Markers

I looooove love copic markers. They are amazing. I want to have a marker-color-gasm that's how amazing they are. However.... David and I discussed buying me these fabuuuulous markers and due to being poor -weeps- we cannot buy sets of them at this time! Sooo instead I am selling items on amazon and eBay. Back in January I sold one of my cricut cartridges and I just sold (last 15 minutes) a set of children's learning-to-read books. I really wanted to save those books for my own children, but we don't have any children right now and aren't sure when we will have any. So, bye bye books, hello Copics! ^_^

I will post some of my favorite copic links and videos tomorrow when I am near a computer!

So far I own about 10 Copic markers.

Being My Best Self

This past weekend I went to Katsucon with David. I didn't think I would be especially grateful, or even happy to go. I only went because David asked me to, and I wanted to spend time with him. Anime Conventions don't seem like something I would really enjoy, but I did. I took a few art classes:

How to Draw Zombies with Obsidian Abnormal (https://www.facebook.com/oabnormal)

Night Owl Drawing with Kristilyn (http://www.kristilyn.com/)

Neo-Traditional Inking

How to Make Comics: Scripting, Penciling...

and

Cel Painting with Steve Bennett (http://www.stevebennettart.com/)

Steve Bennett was the highlight of my week.

Let me explain.

When we got in line for the cel painting, it was VERY popular, but of course, who wouldn't want to be taught by an artist like Steve? I twas very exciting, until they told us no one gathered the items to actually DO cel painting! LOL Oh well, Steve talked about past Katsucon's having the same problem. He was very lively and interesting. Telling us about how he got started an an apprentice in animation and how patience builds discipline and discipline builds patients, which is how you perfect your art work. Steve then talked about the different kind of artists.


Type A who is a little on the cocky side. They know they are good and they don't need to fix their skills 'cuase they already so amazing.
Type B who isn't as confident and nothing is good enough
and Type C, the person who knows they are better than 100 other artists out there, but in reality they know they are not as good as another 100. They continually work at honing their skills to perfection.

I always thought I was a C, continually improving. ... But listening to Steve, I realized I am type B. I don't think I will EVER be as good as anyone else. And that I shouldn't try, because I will fail.

What's really funny about this, is how I believe in EVERYONE else! I believe anyone can do anything! really!!! You can't do art, give it a shot, you can do it! You want to learn a language, you can do it! ...Yeah... but not me. I'll never be anyone, I'll never do anything.

So, here I was listening to Steve and I had a spiritual experience, that I have talents and that I can develop those using patience, discipline and diligence. Further then that, God has given me a gift of only needed a few hours of sleep a night, and that I *need* to use my awake time, whether it's 3 AM building my skills. I shouldn't lay in my bed, hoping for sleep, and wasting my time playing on my iPhone.

I feel so ALIVE for the first time in a long time. I am so grateful David asked me to go to Katsucon. It was exactly what I needed.

Craft-a-thon 2013

How did I do with last years Craft-a-thon let's find out!

x PAPER MACHÉ x

x METAL EMBOSSING x

x WOOD BURNING x

x SCHERENSCHNITTE x 

x CROCHET x

x FELTING x

x QUILTING x

x PRECIOUS METAL CLAY x

x EMBROIDERY x

x PAPER QUILLING x x WOODCUT DESIGN x

x OIL PAINTING x

x  SILHOUTTE x

x PAPER/STONE MOSAICS x

Wow. Okay, so that's terrible.

Really terrible. The only thing I really have to show for this past year, and trust me, there are enough excuses to cover this: I really learned embroidery. I feel so confident in my emroidery work now and have learned to work with felt and I love that, too.

Also, I learned to cross stitch! cute!

Also, I have done a little metal embossing.Mostly working with Vintaj products. Love!

I also have sewed quite a bit on my sewing machine, nothing fancy. Just learning, so hopefully I can make a quilt.


So, as far as Craftathon for this year, here are my goals! I have started on some and will keep updated

x QUILTING x

x BOOK BINDING x

x WOOD BURNING x

x Web Comic w/ Copic Sketch Markers x

x PAPER MACHÉ x

x FURNITURE MAKEOVERS x

x DIGITAL STAMPS x

Moving

David and I move into our FIRST home come August 1, needless to say we are VERY!!!!!! excited!

Do you want to know the best part?? I mean, there are a lot, but ...these is BIG BIG NEWS!

Best part is there are THREE bedrooms, which means I get my very own CRAFT room!!!! -squeeeeee-

Dave and I have been staying my parents house for 9 months, talk about stressful for everyone. Add on the fact we are living with all my craft in our bedroom? Yuck! I am excited that all of my craftiness will have it's own space and that I will be able to get crafty! I'll be sure to post photos of new room.

See Vanessa Craft: giveaway

I ran across Vanessa's amazing blog through a link on felt. Flowers on pinterest. And you know I love the name Vanessa (not only my best friends name but also its an anagram of my last name!).

The Fat Quarter Shop, which has the most beautiful fabric possibly ever, is giving away a bundle (worth $59.99) of coordinating fabric!

http://seevanessacraft.com/2012/07/giveaway-fat-quarter-shop-fabric-bundle/#more-3680

"Win It: Fat Quarter Shop is giving away a Fat Quarter Bundle of Song Bird by Carina Gardner for Riley Blake Designs to 1 winner (worth $59.99). This giveaway is open worldwide. This is a Rafflecopter giveaway, you must open up the post for the widget to appear. The first entry is mandatory, the rest are extra ways to enter. Remember to leave an email address and good luck!"

Unrelated to crafting

I went and saw Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter last night. It was horrible. And not in the way that it sounds like the whole plot/concept is terrible- the book was amazing. It was the perfect Combination of history mixed with horror, adding fictitious vampires, while staying accurate to facts.

Hollywood took my new all-time favorite book and, I apologize for the term, but they raped my book. Not like how they take books and tweak them... This was a full on gang rape Hollywood style.

The more I think about it the madder I get. Honestly this film could have been called anything else, been unrelated to Lincoln and had no journal- as none if these three items had no purpose in the movie.

Hollywood took out the need for Lincoln's journal (which is home the author of the book found out to write about lincoln); changed Lincoln's family- no sister, stepmother and step siblings, no Edgar Allen Poe, added a friend who was a free slave (assuming that without this character the movie seems to harsh or racist), left out that his father knew about vampires and that Lincoln got revenge on the vampire that killed his mother- through his own skills/training. The solo vamp hunting in which Lincoln meets Henry was butchered and Hollywood changes Henry's house, the fact that Abe recognizes Henry as a vampire right away and struggles to become his friend AND Henry's history as one of the members of the list colony of Roanoke. Instead Hollywood dishes out the crap about 'vampires can't kill each other' and having to use 'silver'. Where was Abe's young adult life of working on the Mississippi? And making friends with the rowdy boys? And Abe's quick flame distractions? His first love who died? The giant massacre/vamp fight in NYC, Abe meeting with the good vampire legion and meeting other vampire hunters. The fact that they helped him win his presidential office. Where was Lincoln's other children? And his cabinet that he explained about vampires to begin with.

Okay, I know I'm being unreasonable. I know they couldn't have showed his all in one film. But they could have broken it into two, or even three films. I'm going to stop being mad soon. :( I promise.

Also my friend texted me this morning she said: "I had to let my disgust digest". So I'm not the only one.

Felt Embroidering

I have been teaching doodle stitching, inspired by Aimee Ray's books, at the library since February. Each month I pick another aspect of this art form: Color tinting, bead work, French knots.

This month we used felt and embroidered on that. It's versatile in the ways you can create pillows, jewelry, accessories, appliqué for other craft projects and more. I am LOVING working on felt :)

Quilling pt 2

So I spent last evening quilling a gift for a friend of mine. There is a game on Facebook that I *LOVE* and my friend is sweet and sends me gifts on there. So as a token of our friendship and her awesomenss I created a quilling of her character.

So while I was quilling this girl came up and asked me, "ma'am" (EW!) "are you quilling?" I told her that I was and she said she used to do it as a kid. "My mother used to shove me in my room with various art kits, quilling was one of them".

Apparently as a child EVERYONE quilled!!!! How did I miss it? Quilling popularity decline in the mid-80s? I remember beading kits (by the ever so popular, Lisa Frank). I think maybe my childohod was busy of being poor and doing FREE things. Like sleeping, playing outside and going to the public library.

Post Secret App

Do you read PostSecret? They have a website, www.postsecret.com and there are books. For a short time there was an App through Apple. I think I loved it more than anything. Here are just a few inspirations that I adored.

CRAFTATHON Twenty-12

Laura Donald from the website, DropStitchBlog, had an AMAZING (well...two) blog posts. One was her  2011 Craft Goals- Craftathon and her accomplistments . It's all very exciting and I'll let you read her articles, but here is my Twenty-12 Craft Goals (some of these will be new and some are more along the lines of perfecting)

• PAPER MACHÉ 
• METAL EMBOSSING 
• WOOD BURNING 
• SCHERENSCHNITTE 
• CROCHET 
• FELTING 
• QUILTING
• PRECIOUS METAL CLAY
• EMBROIDERY
• WOODCUT DESIGN 
• OIL PAINTING
• SILHOUTTE
• PAPER/STONE MOSAICS 

I found there is an art ...school? (non-credited) that is only about two hours away. I am going to see if  they have any classes that coincide with my list and I try to save money and go sometime this summer. :)