Tree in the [Grass]

I received a request from a friend to do a tree painting for her using the elements she liked from my previous tree paintings. So this is what I came up with based off of the following criteria she presented me with:

- whimsical like the Eyvind Earle trees
- mysterious (not obvious) background
- light-colored background but not too light
- "green is good"

Having learned a lesson from my last painting, I started this one by painting the background. I liked how subtle vertical stripes fading into the background color can look like trees in a fog, so I started with fat green vertical stripes blending into a yellow background and then painted over them with another layer of yellow.

Next, I added in the grass in several layers of shades of green but decided that the grass really should be the foreground, so after painting on the tree silhouette I repainted a lot more grass over the bottom of the tree. The nice thing about grass is you can keep adding on as many layers as you want and it keeps giving the illusion of more and more depth.

Etsy Favorites Promotion #5: fringe

When it comes to trend-setting fashion, fringe clearly stands out. This Etsy designer takes scarves to the future by offering a variety of neck-warming fashions that are sure to turn heads. I love these fashion-forward cowls, scarves and shrugs - they come in a variety of styles and colors and could be easily dressed up or dressed down.


This is what I call soft and warm, attractive and functional, wearable art!

The items in my shop are hand-crocheted, knit, sewn, and/or embroidered with care. My creations are original designs I create and they include scarves, cowls, capelets, shrugs, shawls, lariats, ensembles and so much more. Expect an occasional surprise among the items I create. There are many types of styles in my shop. From dramatic couture fashion to urban prairie and lots of styles in between. I always create these items with the idea that they will give their owners a divine self-confidence just by wearing them. - Dennice from fringe

Etsy Favorites Promotion #4: LovingLeeCrafted

LovingLeeCrafted was one of the first Etsy sellers that I added to my favorites because of these whimsical fairy doors. I think it would be a lot of fun to turn a backyard garden into a mystical fairyland by adding doors and miniature fairy furniture among plants and stones so they look almost like they grew there.

The paint job and details on these doors is what makes these stand out as a work of art. Lisa also sells paintings and other wooden pieces like buttons (which would be a gorgeous natural accent to a piece of clothing or a purse or even rustic home decor), but where her painting and woodwork comes together is where you can see that real magic happens!


Imagination and love, two most important ingredients in any craft. I believe I capture both in everything I create. I use a variety of techniques from carving, painting, wood burning, crocheting…the list goes on and on. I try to make every item fun, friendly and decorative. Most recently I’ve indulged in the art of making fairy doors. I spent many years as a youngster reading and dreaming of the faerie folk but then grew up. I missed the mischievous, innocent, honorable people. I invited the fey into my life and it has improved immensely so I'm offering the same opportunity to you! Many of the fey folk will bring with them luck, good wishes and a happy helping hand. Provide them with a door into the mortal world. Keep a look out, I’m always creating something new and exciting and most importantly, something I can be proud of. - Lisa
pictures by LovingLeeCrafted

Upcycling [Plastic Bags]

After reading this article on Etsy I decided to try my hand at fusing plastic bags. This process creates a thicker plastic that you can use as a fabric similar to vinyl or polyurethane. The article covers the process in greater detail, but basically you just iron several layers of bags together between sheets of paper.


After ironing the layers together, I trimmed the edges then decided to make a little pencil pouch out of the "fabric" I had created.


You can't tell from the picture because I shot it from its good angle, but the pouch is totally lopsided because I failed to make a pattern first or do any measuring first. It's ugly but functional! I only used half of the plastic so I might make something else later too. This took 6 plastic bags from my hoard under the kitchen sink. It's better than having them all end up in a landfill!

Etsy Favorites Promotion #3: lolashowgirl

Lolashowgirl is a Victorian-inspired, steampunk clothing line all handmade by Laura Ann.


She makes modern clothing with a unique, eye-catching twist. It's like adding a touch of costume to your every-day clothes in a trendy way that doesn't overstep the "wierd" line. I could totally see myself wearing one of these tank tops with a pair of jeans.

The Gothic couture wrap caught my eye, and I love that it's pictured with a simple white tank top, letting the potential buyer realize that this could be worn not just as a cover-up with a strapless gown on a special occasion, but for a trip to the mall or a night out to dinner with friends. This piece was definately a "heart-worthy" Etsy find.

"I design and sew all types of clothing from bridal wear to couture, and unique tanks!" - Laura Ann

Into the Woods of Teldrassil

The enchanting forest home of the Night Elves was the first area of Azeroth that I encountered when I began playing World of Warcraft.

This painting has been sitting on my easle for over a week now. Today I managed to finally add the last touches and get it to a finished state. I'm not completely happy with it but it was fun to paint on two different canvases and I think it at looks pretty good from a distance at least.

I painted this using acryllics on primed canvas with an in-game screenshot for reference.

Etsy Favorites Promotion #2: DotandLine

DotandLine is today's featured Etsy shop. Gone are the days of boring white lamp shades! These graphic prints will turn a boring necessessity into a fabulous feature of any room, and whether your style is modern, rustic, traditional, retro, or totally unique, if you can't find it already in their shop, a custom lampshade is sure to be the right choice for your space.


Here's what Annie from DotandLine has to say about her company:

Hello from Dot&Line Home Accessories. We are a small but growing company! My name is Annie Bierma and I am the owner/founder. I have my degree in Theatre Lighting Design and now find my joy in designing pieces that allow you to add your own story to a room.

As a company, we do our best create pieces inspired by nature, vintage materials and light itself. We try to keep our designs as "green" as possible, reusing materials and lamp bases as much as possible. Using hand printed and vintage fabrics also keeps our footprint small and results in one of a kind, handmade items you can't find anywhere else.

In addition to making pieces inspired but us directly, we also enjoy collaboration with individuals to create something that is uniquely "them". This guarantees that our clients get exactly what they want and need for their space and nothing makes us happier!

Etsy Favorites Promotion #1: RedHarp

Since I don't always have a new craft to blog about, I decided to start promoting sellers and items in my Etsy favorites, particularly items I have "hearted" that haven't sold in a while or sellers that I think are worth promoting.



RedHarp is a seller I know personally so she gets to be first! Not only is she skilled with a sewing machine, but she is also quite crafty - she once showed me that it is possible create a lightsaber out of plumbing parts and without the need for power tools.

RedHarp's Etsy Shop contains a variety of items including colorful fabric shopper bags and purses in many different fun themes, and of course you shouldn't go without the handy purse organizers! Her bags are great catch-alls for shoppers and convention-goers and the fun prints just scream personality and uniqueness. She doesn't mass-produce these so you can be sure a lot of love and careful work went into each one.

I know some of you love the beauty of the English countryside so you should definately check out her photography.

She also offers clever glass photo pendants that should satisfy both Steampunk fans and the SCA. These are made by attaching a tiny photography behind a glass stone so the glass magnifies the photo (similar to the [Push Pins] I made a few days ago). In particular think the pendants that have pictures of circuit boards are fabulous idea!

On a /roll

Decorating the first group of pillowboxes was so much fun last night that I continued the project today and tried some different colors and styles. Mother's Day is coming up (my mom loves purple!) as well as several birthdays in our family. If I don't plan a gift ahead of time, there's always the last-minute gift card and if I already have these little boxes decorated, they would be a great way to quickly wrap up a gift card (with room to spare for a handful of candy!).

[Rosey Pillowboxes]

I think these pillow boxes would make great gifts for any occasion, such as wedding favors, baby or bridal shower favors, or gift wrapping for small gifts like candy or gift cards.

One piece of 12x12" scrapbooking paper was more than enough to decorate two boxes and I used some of the scraps to create coordinating gift tags. Ivory satin and organza ribbon leftover from my wedding added a finishing touch.

I look forward to making more of these! There is no end to the way these can be decorated to fit the occasion, whether with paper and ribbon or perhaps fabric and twine or even a felt wrap with a button closure.

Schnazzy [Push Pins]

I saw these on Etsy and decided I wanted to make my own! I found some old tacks in a bag of stuff from my elementary school days and I had glass stones leftover from my wedding centerpieces so I didn't need to buy anything at all. I cut out little circles from some scrapbooking carstock, glued them to the back of the stones with Mod Podge, then (because I couldn't find any better glue) used white glue to attach the stone to the tacks. With some other paper and a piece of cardboard I made a coordinating board to stick them on so they would be easy transport to work without poking myself.

Happy Easter!

Bunnies and eggs are for kids! I decided to stick with a spring floral theme for these Easter cards. Pastels and bright colors helped bring Spring to the cloudy gray rainy Sunday.

She calls it a [Money Bag]

My sister asked me to make this for her, I hope it is what she had in mind! It's a black and white damask cotton bag with a hot pink ribbon drawstring.

Not a Boomkin.

Rowr!

I found this blank plastic toy at the San Diego Comic-Con last summer and decided I would jump on the "draw on a blank toy" bandwagon. It took me a while to figure out what to do on this one. The shape is interesting and the top piece is actually seperate from the base. I originally thought I would paint on it with acryllics but I decided to try out the Sharpies.

I drew my inspiration from my level 28 druid in the World of Warcraft. After shifting into kitty form I left my character on the screen and started doodling away on this blank canvas.