Woolnimals

Eva Funderburgh 's ceramic beasties are some of the most whimsical and otherworldy creations I've seen on Etsy. I've watched her shop for a while now, waiting on the day that I could purchase one of her sculptures. I've seen a lot of favorites purchased by other lucky collectors, but I'm still so glad for her success on Etsy and out in the world. The pale cow blobs gossiping is one of my favorites: As I get older and refine my space, it's important to me to surround myself with inspiration and art. There are few things in this world that bring me more joy than my art collection - which is meager, but growing. I'm blessed to be able to purchase one-of-a-kind pieces of art with the money I earn selling MY art. What a dream come true! So this morning, I finally purchased one of Eva's sculptures: Lately, I've been feeling a little down and out - struggling with work, life, and Self. There is something greatly inspiring about this Grinning Flier. It look...

I have been working very hard on this little project for a long time now. A month or so ago I was inspired to make pendants and brooches using these wood bezel settings from Etsy seller Brightcolorart. Each bezel setting is handmade from wood and oiled to a lovely finish. They are so light and beautiful to hold. I added to the bezels a lovely background of felted wool or vintage Liberty of London Tana lawn fabric (lovely!) purchased from Etsy seller Anniespatch : And then glued in my creations - the smallest little needlefelted creatures you can imagine. Polar bears, busts of foxes, rabbits, owls...all in miniature, all designed to be worn with pride. The fox busts almost look like mini taxidermy busts, but cuter! I'm so proud of these efforts and look forward to expanding on this idea. The brooches and pendants will be available in my Etsy shop very soon! I'm just waiting on the arrival of my fabric backings! Here's a preview of my fox in progress: My husband will be ...

Vermont winters are long and dark. Since my day job consumes most of the daylit hours, I often come home in the winter in the dark. It's depressing at times, but worse? I have to wait until my busy weekends to photograph my products. Bummer! I finally decided to purchase a lightbox and some studio lights from Amazon. It arrived yesterday, and while it's a little rickety, it will work beautifully. I had to do a little tweaking of the pictures on Picnik.com, but I think ultimately this will work out really well for me as an interim light source. Here's the set up in my art studio. The picture looked a lot brighter on my camera screen, but it's a little dim here. I wonder if it's my monitor settings. Hmm.... Here's the pig before tweaking on Picnik.com: And after adjusting the light balance. Again, I think my monitor may be funny, so if the first one looks better than the second one, let me know! And it just so happens that this little piggie is available for sal...

Freshly listed in my shop! I just bought a light tent, some photography lights, and a tripod! Rainy days will no longer keep me from taking pictures as I go. Phew!