Moving on up

Check out My new blog @ http://www.loudfiends.blogspot.com/

My guilt has finally gotten the better of me again and here I am blogging once more. what I have been doing(I always feel like I am starting my "what I did over my summer vacation" speech) in my away time is spring cleaning like there is no tomorrow. Spring is a very small window where I live. It goes from too chilly to have the house open to so freaking bloody hot that it is like having a giant hairdryer blowing in any open windows. So, in that glorious window of time I am cleaning to beat the band(whatever that means).

I rid my house of many pieces of superfluous furniture and repurposed many others. The main bone of contention was my craft area which is actually the small dining area. I have too much crap and not enough space. I kinda got in the zone and tossed a ton of stuff which I may regret later but, I am so happy for now. I had a swap going with a fellow Etsian for a hand crocheted grocery type bag-which I love and I was giving her an assortment of destash supplies. Well, her box ended up becoming a 16X16X16 mass of craft supplies that I hope she has room for:) WooHoo for destash and swaps!!

The boy's room did not escape my cleaning and redecorating. They got a full move around of furniture and a new coat of paint-to cover the sharpie and gaping holes that had been there forever-yay Autism! They both took to it very well and as you can see we had time to make paper hats and tear down all of the books Mom had nicely shelved to read loudly from them, which secretly delighted me :) The pics are of the end result of half of my craft area(craft den, lair..nest?). Some of my extensive collection of Tchochkes are on display including among them are many Etsy created creatures that I treasure.

On the very top you can see the Yeti and Mercat and you can see wonderful amigurumi creations Oswald(Heart!) and pear and the awesome LuchaCat with his incredible wrestling moves he keeps all of the Matryoshka in line. Ilove these "toys" I say I am buying them for my kids but, we really know whats up ;) My etsy shop has also undergone a flood of listings as I am destashing my house, I am trying to offload books and mags to some lucky buyer. Check it out!

My inability to blog expeditiously leaves something to be desired. Even though I may not physically be blogging, I am mentally blogging things that I see that are awesome that everyone in the world needs to see and be in awe of. From my mental blogbanks comes my latest entry under the title "Boys I like, whose mighty talent I Stand in awe of".

I somehow stumbled upon Steve Morris's treasure trove of incredible graphic artwork on etsy. I was, to say the least, hooked. I love the bold colors and subject matter (has flashback to every art docent ever listened to-sorry Steve:). What also peaked my interest is that he has been published- Ahhh greatness! I love to see achievement outside of the insular world of Etsy! Mr. Morris was kind enough to graciously answer the senseless questions I pestered him with- Thanks Steve! So, without further sycophantic ado, here are the five question:

1. What character(s) or person(s) living, dead or fictional strikes fear into your heart?

A: Captain Howdy from The Exorcist, he's got the type of face that just sticks with you. Conversely, I specifically remember have one of my best nights of sleep, ever, after seeing that movie...so I really don't know how to square that.

2) What are your top music choices at the moment? Ever?

A: The new album from Royal Trux, "JJ Got Live RaTX". Although I find myself leaning towards "smooth jazz" (my secret shame), when I'm working, it's relaxing and makes me feel like I'm living in a Lexus commercial.

3) Do you need to set a mood when you are drawing?

A:There are definitely things which put me in the right from of mind, like flipping through an art book and clearing blocks of time so I can focus specifically drawing. Also, cleaning my work space often has a positive effect on my productivity.

4) If you could do one thing effortlessly, what would it be?

A: Drawing. There are rare times where it flows free, but more often than not it's allot of work, and when I get done, I'm not even sure how I managed to do it lol.

5) Rank the following in any personally significant order: zombies, pirates, vikings, ninjas, bears.

A: Viking, pirates, ninjas, bears, zombies. Viking come first since I'm half Danish.

There it is, all of the pertinent questions answered. Damn! Should've asked where babies come from! Oh well next time. Check out DarkHorse comics for more on His graphic novel :"Blessed Thistle", and check back in his Etsy shop for information on any forthcoming material. And for God's sake, purchase a print! It will instantly make you that much cooler. Many thanks again to Steve Morris!

I am always amazed at the amount of talent on Etsy! So many incredible artists and ideas! Today's post is dedicated to a few of my favorite items. Should I ever create an Etsy wishlist- that should totally be a sight feature. I would include these items post haste! At wove I spied this incredible willow playhouse that I would have lived in as a kid. Who am I kidding, I would live in it now. I would want it exactly where it is in the pic. What with the mists of Avalon blowing the flags and all. Meaning that I would have to negotiate a land rental agreement with the owner. Which opens up questions regarding whether they will let me hold Medieval reenactments there. So, it may just be easier to swoon from afar.

Maybe I will just see if I can squeeze into this spectacular metal dollhouse from fluffyflowersvintage. How awesome would this be to have on display. Ohh for another girl in the house so I have an excuse for a dollhouse. Do I need an excuse? Hmmm

And lastly some art from Morrisetsy to decorate my dream castle or dollhouse. I am entranced by the colors and , well, everything about this piece. I may need to base the rest of my life on it. Peruse my shop favorites and see if you can find your next life altering piece of vintage or art.

OPEN LETTER TO MY BLOG:

Dear Blog,

It has been dog's years since I have blogged you with all of the daily drama that are the goings-on in my head. I am sorry for not being a more attentive blogger! I have been busy crafting, raising kids, getting tattooed and holding it all together. You'll have to forgive me. Here are some pics of what I did with my month. You can give me the silent treatment for a week if it makes you feel better Blog, I won't blame you :) The following is a thoroughly uninspiring bit of page filler- still trying to get back into the hang of things...

The stars on my left foot were done years ago and sadly(because it hurts like a MOFO) they need to be redone. I had been wanting my boy's initials for some time. The old tax return helped make that a dream come true!

I have been in a haze of crafting Etsy requests lately so, I have been busy. I love that I am busy but, I sometimes struggle to keep balanced with my kids and house-stuff. I am happy to do anything that keeps me home with my boys. I love being able to take my oldest to school everyday and I love the time I get with the baby. Finances being what they are, unless I get a major order or am featured in O magazine (Ha!) I will be throwing newspapers in the wee hours to make sure I can stay home. Then I get to figure out how to not be a Zombie- if it's not one thing it's another. Oh well. I am trying to get enthused and inspired to create more items and give you all something to give a crap about in this here blog. I was completely enthralled by this blog- ahhh to have the time and energy to do these!

Note to self: see if there are any foot fetish sites that like large, tattooed feet- CHAching!

So, the Kid crafty craft of the week was Homemade Crayons. We had a ton of crayons just calling out to be stripped nudie and boiled alive! This is a very kid friendly craft. It involves ripping paper and breaking things. Any person even slightly affiliated with the kid community will tell you that those two things are way up on the list of good fun.

Gather the following:

Crayons
any colors-different brands may melt at different rates-some not at all
Candy or muffin mold
you may want to use this only for this so buy a cheapy one at Target in the dollar section- that's where I got mine.
Baking sheet
you will place the mold on this- it will keep the mold stable because, hot wax+skin=Yeeouch!
Small children
preferrably your own, bribe them with the delights of crafting.

Do the following:

1) set oven to 350 degrees
2) strip all of the paper off of crayons- you can also leave it on and fish it out once the wax has melted but, not my favorite method.
3) break crayons into small chunks- kids LOVE this part, by far the most fun step
4) place bits of crayons in mold. Any more than 3 colors in each little cup and you may end up with muddy colored crayons
5) place mold on baking sheet and put in oven for 15 minutes or so. Different crayons melt at different times and sometimes not at all(usually the metallic colors or certain cheap brands seem to have trouble).
6) once crayons are liquid you can take the mold out of the oven- leave them in the mold and let cool for approximately 45 minutes on the counter. Or pop those suckers in the freezer and have crayons 10 minutes later- you can guess which way we went with this;)

COMMON SENSE:

Do NOT let children handle hot wax! A responsible adult should take care of the oven part.

I am back in the land of the living. After a week of sick kids and all of the laundry, sanitizing and sleeplessness that comes with that. I am back in action and have a veritable fount of ideas for the blog. I am sure it is the same with you that when it rains it pours. Two weeks ago I nearly had to set fire to myself to get anyone to check out my etsy shops. This week we are on the front page twice and had some items featured in a Storque article! What the Hell!? I am thrilled. But, as it goes too, I think we have officially shot our wad- that was our 15 minutes! We will probably be dusting the cobwebs away this time next week :) Thanks to http://www.littlepapoose.etsy.com/ for featuring both hubby and myself in her treasury! You doll!