Calorie - Free Cupcakes!

I am madly in love with this cupcake pattern. I think these chubby little cakes are just the cutest thing ever created and I am ecstatic that I finally found a knit pattern for them.

I bought this pattern on Etsy at CakesKnitsandCosies. After drooling over it for weeks I finally gave in and just bought it. I have spent this weekend making up these little cakes as pincushions to sell in My Etsy Store. It just so happens that a local yarn shop is currently closing out all of their knitting yarns and accessories. They are no longer going to cater to the knitter:( On the bright side, I was able to get these nice colored 100% cotton yarns at a great discount. I have to go back there periodically as they continue to drop prices. I really want to snatch up all the wools they have, Alpaca, Merino, Highland wool, etc. It is a knitters dream in there right now.

If you are into knitting, or know someone who is you should check out the ScaryMerry shop on Etsy. They make the cutest stitch holders and knitting needle toppers I have ever seen. They are a favorite shop of mine also. I have not purchased anything from them yet, but I do have a running list of all the things I want to buy for family members that knit. (and to add to my own knitting stash of course!)

I only made 4 cupcakes, so obviously I didn't knit non stop all weekend. but I did spend a few hours on it here and there. The rest of my time was spent adding items to my Etsy store, and checking out the sale on Lion Brand Yarn at our local Hancock Fabrics. They sold all Lion Brand Yarn for 30% off this weekend. I went and picked up a variety of colors in the Lion Wool. I am planning to knit some purses and coasters and things to felt and sell in my Etsy store. Unfortunately these projects will have to wait a few days. I have several commitments for my ATC trades that have to be fulfilled this week before I can do anything else.

tHe BiG EyE BiRd

I recently joined a Collage Bird Swap on my all time favorite site for trading ATCs, and the cards shown above are the result of a day filled with inspiration. I made the first card and thought, let's put a BIG EYE on the bird's face, and so I did. And I loved it so much that I put BIG Eyes on all my birds. My mother says I must have a certain fascination for the BIG EYE since alot of my art recently includes a BIG EYE or two. I think I might make another batch of these birds in a different theme, like maybe a circus theme, and make them into clowns and have them riding elephants and walking the tight rope:)

Rubber Stamp Madness

First I should begin by telling you that I am crazy about ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), and so I am a member of a couple of different sites where I trade cards in both one on one trades and themed group swaps. Well.... as a result of joining the Printmaking ATC Swap at www.atcsforall.com, I worked until the wee hours of the morning drawing and hand carving my own stamps. The only thing I can say is that I am in LOVE with stamp carving. It is so much easier than I thought it would be and it is very satisfying to have an idea and be able to make it into a reusable stamp. I have always hesitated to buy rubber stamps because I felt guilty spending money on something I knew that I could probably draw myself (even though I never attempted to make my own stamps until now).


Since I have been infected with the stamp carving bug, I will be making many, many more stamps and most likely adding them to my Etsy store, as well as using my own stamps in my original art. It is all very exciting.

Since I had only purchased one carving block at Hobby Lobby, I had to go back today and buy another. In the future I will have to buy them online since Hobby Lobby seems to only keep one of each size in stock. While I was out buying my new carving block, I also stopped off at Wal Mart and grabbed a pack of pink erasers so I could try my hand at carving them too.


Well, I must get back to the craft table ( or I should say my dining room table which is currently invisible under all my stuff).

The Big Deck Project

A few weeks ago my dad tore down the old roof to his backyard deck with a plan to cut new rafters and redo everything. Well, my parents are very interested in the Caribbean since they took a trip to the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic many years ago, and they thought an ocean theme would be great in the backyard. I made the mistake of mentioning how great it would be to paint the rafters in an under the sea theme with all kinds of tropical and ocean fish and sea shells etc. My mother's exact response to my suggestion was "that's a great idea, why don't you do that". So it was decided that I would paint the rafters and I was told that I had 1 week to paint them all so that my dad could put the roof back up over the next weekend. Suffice it to say I spent the next 5 days painting morning til night. I couldn't wait to see the end of painting all those fish, imagine my chagrin on day 3 when I realized that I had to paint both sides.
Luckily, my parents decided that 3 of the rafters could be painted to look like sand and we could put dried starfish and sand dollars on it along with some sea shells to break up the monotony of all the fish and add some interesting 3 dimensional elements. I was quite relieved because until that moment I hadn't been sure that I could complete this project in just 5 days. With this change I was able to finish by the weekend, but..........
......... let's fast forward about 3 weeks and the roof is finally going up today. We still have to order the starfish and sand dollars that will go on all the sand painted boards, but the rest of them are complete and have been put back in place above the deck.

I will post some pics when it is all done so you can see the finished project. They are going to totally repaint the deck and add a Palm Beach Ceiling fan in the center over the table and chairs.

I couldn't help but mention how nice it would be if they had a painted Mural on the side of the house so that it looked like they were on the land end of a long dock stretching out over the blue greens of the ocean with a sunset on the horizon...................I need to be careful what I say or I could spend my whole summer painting the house:)

Yearning to Create!

I have been fairly down in the dumps over the last week or two. I have loads of ideas and plenty of desire when it comes to my art, but sometimes the end result just does not match the idea in my head. Believe it or not, when I make a piece of art that falls short of my expectations, I THROW IT AWAY! My mother was appalled that I would dare do such a thing, "All art must be kept, even the ones you don't like" she says. For her sake I have started keeping my catastrophes. Maybe someday when they become "new" to me again, I might be able to salvage them. Currently they live in the Dead Zone, until I can get up the courage to take another look at them.

Over the past couple of days however, my Artistic Journey has taken a turn for the better, and I am happy to share with you my most recent endeavors. First, I should tell you that I am in love with books. All kinds, softcover, hardcover, big, small, notebooks, journals. Basically I am drawn to anything that is bound together and whose primary ingredient is paper. So it is not unusual that after starting a project with the intention of making some small matchbooks, I ended up making some Mini Notebooks, and I instantly fell in love with this project. I spent all of today cutting out cardstock templates that I designed, and scanning artwork that I drew up yesterday for the covers, and I even went so far as to make a collage item for some cover art today and it turned out pretty good, If I do say so myself. I am usually not a collage person, so it takes me a while to put together compositions in collage, and I am never really certain how they are going to turn out.

As a result of all this creative energy, I was able to list my first finished notebook on my Etsy Store today, and I am anxious to see how it is received. I would love to be able to make art each and every day and make enough money selling my art to pay living expenses and feed my need to make more art. I know the majority opinion is that once you take something you love, and turn it into a job, it ceases to be enjoyable and just becomes work. Well I am hoping that this isn't true. I can't say for certain that it isn't, because I am not currently making a living with my art, and paying the bills does not require that I sell something today or tomorrow. Right now , Art is a yearning that makes me get up every morning and brush my teeth and wash my face. I look forward to getting my coffee and sitting in front of my laptop with all my art supplies and my art board and scanner filling up the dining room table. I log into all of my art sites, my blog, my Etsy, and keep a Google page at the ready if I need to research anything while I am working. I stay up until all hours of the night and well into the early morning when inspiration strikes, refusing to close my eyes until the piece is completed. I even go to bed thinking of all the things I want to create the next day. This is how I know that spending time on my art is the right thing for me, right now.

Vintage Twinchies Completed

Vintage Twinchies Completed
Originally uploaded by lildebi

Here are the Twinchies. They are 2x2 inches and much easier to work with than the inchies. I have already traded 3 of these and hope to send the rest of them off to new owners soon.

bird inchies

bird inchies
Originally uploaded by lildebi

I made these inchies for a swap at www.ATCsforall.com. I generally do hand drawn work, but I was recently in a collage kind of mood and made several inchies and what are now being called 'Twinchies' in vintage themes. I love swapping art....It makes me look forward to getting the mail:)

Fairy Skinny Page

Fairy Skinny Page
Originally uploaded by lildebi

I have finally returned to the world of ATCs and other art. My favorite ATC trading site had closed and now everyone has joined up again at www.ATCsforall.com. I just completed my first Fairy Skinny Page for a personal trade. I am so in love with this project I think I will make several more.