More pics of sheep box--now with the collage images

Here is the sheep box with more paint and images. The front of the box has images of sheep that I sketched from photos and the other images are cut out from magazines. I hope to be doing many more custom boxes in the future so if you have an idea for a unique box contact me at my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5894609 and we can talk about what you'd like to see.

New custom box! sheep theme

I've been working on my first custom box for my fabulous client Tamara. Its been a lot of fun finding the textures and images for the theme of sheep. That's whats fun about a custom box, it pushes you past your own images to think of something else. I have a big box of images cut out from magazines so I sorted out my mess--I hadn't looked in there for ages and I couldn't find what I wanted at first. Once I'd organized my images into people,patterns,and objects ( I used big ziplock bags cause that's all I had)then I could find what I wanted. Ziplock bags are actually okay for this use I think, but if you didn't want the corners bent it might be a problem. Also these bags have those areas to write in which was handy.

Cool, look !

More hemp spring bags

Here are more pics of the new hemp spring bags. I lined some with vintage pink satin and with green shantung silk. They are decorated with embroidery,buttons, and glass beads.

attracting spring with color!

I have been crocheting natural hemp bags and using spring colors like fresh green and pink to line them. Their straps are knotted and have beads and buttons interspersed...its been fun. I think of the straps as necklaces so you are getting a bag and a necklace in one. Here are some pics of the new bags....and also some new buttons made of sculpey for any of your projects!

tagged!

Okay Beautifully Chaotic, you tagged me so I'll respond;
1. I now live in the coolest apartment I've every had because it has wooden molding, wooden floors, and LOTS of storage which is because it used to be a fancy apt back in the day. It has a lovely big living room where me and my boyfriend work side by side. I make things and he programs on his computer.
2. I have LOTS of plastic dolls, wooden mannequins, leaf skeletons and other stuff that I find on the road that inspires me.
3. I get obsessive about crochetting, drinking tea, movie watching, making origami cranes, and hopefully sculpture.
4. I love to watch movies but since once I start watching movies I have a hard time stopping.
5. I like to talk to interesting strangers...that has gotten me into trouble.
6. Dolls whose faces are ugly such as cabbage patch kids and some antique dolls, really disturb me.
7. I love cats and most animals
8. I am half English

enjoying making old-looking buttons

I've just finished making about six sculpey buttons. They were pretty fun to make and it was a bonus to feature my gi joe figurine by pressing him into the faces of the buttons. I didn't expect that they would look like artifacts of some ancient civilization. I do have pendants in my etsy site that are similar except that I also used another, smaller guy figure in these buttons. These photos will give you an idea of what I just finished, because I don't have a photo of the buttons yet. The other fun part of making the pendants, buttons and the small plaques are the acrylic paint finish I experimented with.
First, I painted the piece white then waited for it to dry. Then I painted the main color, waited for it to dry then brushed over with another color and while it was pretty wet, wiped off parts of the piece. Sometimes I used a little bit of black paint in the most detailed areas to make them stand out more. Its fun to try and I'm thinking of making bigger pieces with more figurines imprinted.
Maybe someone who follows this blog will try it out and let me know how it went.
I'm also still crocheting handbags and knotting handles and lining some of them with vintage fabric and hoping to finish them in time for Valentines' day. I'll probably have some deal involving buying a bag and a pendant, we'll see.
I'm having fun following etsians blogs and seeing the breadth of their talent and skills with art and promotion. I still don't understand how to add links to other artists' pages and adding advertisement. All in good time I suppose...