Monday, November 30, 2009

Gang Related

Someone (who, I just don't know) when ahead and tagged up the plaza in front of a local theatre...










The tags on the "tags" looked something like this:





Thursday, November 26, 2009

Awww.....!!!


This is too perfect. I had to share this beautiful work of art; I love it!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!


Wednesday, November 25, 2009

FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING!



AHHH!!!

Yes, that's right, I am offering free worldwide shipping, now through Sunday, November 29th on all items. AND, if your purchase totals $65 or more, you will receive an additional 10% off!

All discounts will be given after your payment is sent, but you will receive your refund within 24 hours!

Please take a look!!






Monday, November 23, 2009

Purple Love



I used this yarn to knit a sort of improvisational cap. It took one evening, start to finish, no pattern. I put a little point at the top...still don't know how I feel about that part. Sorry there's no picture of it on my head! I may get better pictures, I just wanted to share NOW!









Coming soon: a BIG Thanksgiving weekend sale at Folk, a giveaway (hopefully!), and possibly crafty hijinks with Wichita Handmade and others out and about town....

Friday, November 20, 2009

In the Craftlight: Carapace



Please tell us a bit about yourself.


Tall, Texan, hopelessly addicted to scifi, cheesy monster movies, and musicals. Devoted to comics, illustration, and my husband, all of which go together. Generally cheerful.


Oh, and I'm prone to being unconscious against my will. It really interferes with all the fun stuff above, but I'm working on it. Someday, I will be awake for more than 10 hours at a time!


What is your craft?


Illustration. I work in any medium that seems interesting, but every piece or picture I make has a story to tell. Sometimes I don't know what that is until the piece is done. Those are some of my favorite pieces, because then I get to learn their story while I'm working, and I love hearing new stories.


How and when did you get involved in it?


I don't know that I ever officially became involved with art. It's not like I'm in a guild or anything.


My first exposure to art was from the illustrations in stories I read. Some of the greatest artists in the modern era put their hearts into illustration; I couldn't help falling in love with what I saw. There were pages and pages of art made for short stories that were never meant to survive, little fables for toddlers and adventures for eight year olds, and they were glorious! And the stories I read made me want to tell my own. And pencils and paper were almost free for a kid, so I gave it a try. No one stopped me! I've just kept going since, and try to improve as I go along.


How would you describe your style?


Adolescent. That's not pejorative or anything. But I feel like I'm finally beginning to learn what my style is, and watching it develop in unexpected ways. So it's sort of hard for me to claim at the moment-- stylized fantastic realism? If anyone has a good tagline for my art style, I would sincerely love to know it. But man, don't ask me.


Who inspires you?


I've come to believe that it's not a question of being inspired; it's about being able to focus on just one idea out of all the ones that bubble up in the brain every day. If I could do justice to even a tenth of the ideas that headsmack me every day, I'd be a happy artbug.


That said, my husband is the one who most often fires me up to get stuff done. He's an artist too, and it just ticks me off to see him sitting there all smug and working while I'm not getting anything done. That, and his ability to give really good criticism, make him indispensable to my ever actually getting a piece done.


What inspires you?


Pretty much everything! Hence the focusing problem. The hard part isn't getting ideas, it spotting the good ones. And, somewhat painfully, spotting the ones I can serve well. So often I get ideas for large sculptural pieces, or hyperreal illusion paintings, which I cannot create. So when my mental inspiration file is overfull and unsorted, I like to put on an album I know really well, drink three cups of coffee, and clean the toilet and bake cookies and scrub the oven. I get my best clarity doing stuff I really hate and would rather not have to do ever.


This is why I got so much art practice in during high school math lectures. Sorry, notebooks of the past!


What are your favorite materials to work with?


Watercolor, pencil, and my dear sweet precious Cintiq tablet, of which I am not worthy.


Do you have any particular favorite pieces that you've created?

No, not really. I like to have fun making a piece, and there are a few pieces I hated doing, start to finish. But when a piece is done, it's done, I'm bored with it, and I want to move on! This is a problem, by the way, because my Creator Attention Deficit sometimes kicks in when a piece isn't done yet. Thus I have many many pieces I will theoretically someday maybe perhaps finish later.



Where can we find you online?

My shop

http://carapace.etsy.com

and my blog

www.caramakes.blogspot.com

are really my only venues. Though you can always contact me from either one! I love personal correspondence to an unhealthy degree, and even if it takes a while, I will write back if you ask!










Monday, November 16, 2009

Yarn and Apologies.

Apologies first. As you may have noticed, I did NOT feature a seller on Friday as usual! I am sorry about this, but WILL have a featured seller this Friday, so watch out for her! :)

Now, to the fun stuff! I finished spinning this a while back, but didn't set the spin until this weekend. So, without further ado, Purple Love by The Gourmet Sheep! A locally-made product sold at my local yarn shop, Twist. (Yeah I know, I'm a little obsessed.)

Please enjoy various shots of this lovely yarn! {I believe it's 80% merino/20% silk??}









Sunday, November 15, 2009

Orange/Peach.

I bought some tulips. It made me happy. :)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Christmas Tags, Anyone?

I can already feel the holiday rush creeping up on me...can a rush creep? I dunno. Anyway, regardless, I thought I would design some printable Christmas tags--and offer them on Etsy! (Hehe, I'm sure you didn't see that coming!) These are 12 different tags that I send in a file and YOU print on your computer. Each one features a message of "Merry Christmas" in a different language. And what does taking on a new project have to do with impending busyness? I'm not sure. Just felt like it. Anyway, you should definitely take a peek at the listing... PLEEASSE??? :)



Also, I was listening to Craftlit today, which is my favorite podcast of all time. And it reminded me that I need to talk about it and tell you all that if you haven't already, you should really check it out! It's a delightful hour or so of the lovely Heather talking about crafts and literature. And not just talking about it, but actually reading it. The last book was The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and currently she is beginning Flatland by Edwin A. Abbot.

And if you like what you hear, please check this out and help.




Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Happenings and Whatnots.

1. Took a little Sunday drive. Saw the usual Kansas-y stuff. I did take more pictures, but they're not as spectacular as I hoped they would be. (I am always disappointed and surprised at how a camera cannot capture the same kind of beauty you see with your eyes!)



These are some sad, sad pumpkins...so why does this picture make me laugh?




2. Pine cones + Glitter = Awesome!!! These are bad pictures, I know. This was sort of my test garland of pine cones, and they're hanging from my future herb shelf, so there are all sorts of things that were blocking my view like junk mail and the trash can and other assorted lovelies. I plan on going outside and getting quite a few more of these pine cones so I can make an impressive garland and hang it somewhere a little more scenic.




3. New listings in the SHOP!! Please check them out, I added about 6 new items this morning.





Friday, November 6, 2009

In the Craftlight: JustPuff


Today I have another very special artist to feature in this week's edition of In the Craftlight! She is my very own mother, Puff, of justpuff.etsy.com. She has many cute, quirky, and beautiful ceramic clay items in her shop, so please check it OUT!


Please tell us a bit about yourself.


My artist's name is "Puff" (so my Etsy shop is called JustPuff!) I'm a sensible gal with a sense of humor and I love nature.


What is your craft?


I do many things, but mainly sculpt and build clay pieces.


How and when did you get involved in it?


I realized that I had an interest and skills in sculpting when I was about 35 years old and was playing with my daughter in her sand box. So, I began taking a sculpting class.


How would you describe your style?


My style is pretty much all over the place!

Who inspires you?


Can't say who inspires me, just myself.


What inspires you?


Nature inspires me. I really like to create realistic faces, or sweet little whimsical characters. I also love fish, mushrooms, owls...


What are your favorite materials to work with?


Low fire white clay and Missouri gold stoneware clay. I also like casting things out of molds that I've made and sometimes altering them.


Do you have any particular favorite pieces that you've created?

One of my favorite things to do is cast a fat, cute, little pig that I made for the company I work for. It's intended use was a piggy bank, but I cut a hole in the side and plug the bottom so it's sold, and cut a small hole in the top so that I can hang it from a jute cord. Then I attach a pair of wings I sculpt from clay. After firing it, I paint it with glaze, fire it a second time, and have a flying pig birdhouse! It's so cute. I also like making clay plaques and putting messages like Peace, Hope, etc. on them. I made one with just an olive branch that I really liked. I also have a piece called Pixie Z that I sculpted out of Missouri gold stoneware, finished with red iron oxide; her wings are made from rusted wire.


Where can we find you online?


justpuff.etsy.com

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Paper Flowers

I love these. So simple, fun to make, but very elegant and lovely. At least I think so. Made from a book that I didn't think much of. At least it has a use now!! ;)


Orchids in the night

In their fragrance hidden -

The flowers white

~Buson






Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Simple Pleasures

...ah, buttons. White, cream, ecru, and ivory buttons, no less...reminding me of pretty vintage things and snow and milk and lace and Doris Day.





And I love it when a tiny little button inspires an entire piece!


{cloth corsage available at the shop...of course!}


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

No Shave November!

Yes!! It's No Shave November. Didn't you know? Of course, I had never even heard about this until a couple days ago. I have absolutely no idea why, but the concept really tickles my fancy. Perhaps it's because I have a gentleman friend who decided to grow his beard out, and who told me about this just less than a week before I learned about NSN. He didn't know about this special month, either. Hopefully the brotherly bonds of this--um--cause will give him the strength he needs to deflect the haters, i.e. the girls at work.

I'm thinking of offering some custom beard portraits at my Etsy shop...or not. We'll have to see if I can depict actual people. (This guy's just from my imagination.) And I know it's been a while since I've posted any actual "crafty" stuff...please be patient, my pretties!

Monday, November 2, 2009

"Art"


Once upon a time...I used to draw and paint! Incredible, I know. The only things I've drawn in the few years have been sketches and designs of things I want to sew. But, thanks to a friend, I've decided that I want to start drawing again! I am a little rusty, to put it mildly...or maybe I'm just as good as I ever was and don't want to admit that I was that bad. :P

ANYWAY, I may try to make a point of sharing some of my sketches with you. It seems like maybe I try a little harder if people actually have to see my work. ;)

But for today, I'm just going to share my favorite recent drawing. The hand is a little weird, but I SLIPPED when I was doing the ink! It was fine in pencil. Trust me.