Work in Progress: A flock of birds

I'm on a color kick but I'll have to wait till I'm able to shop for the appropriate silk,
till then bling bling:

I didn't used to like seed beads but I found that I like them for dolls

"Wig" in progress, modeled by a bird in progress

This one won't end up with the wig

pinned tail

Working on some very little birds, considering calling them "The Little Darlings"

 

This one still needs legs

Working on a swan too, a little different than the norm

Collections- Matchbooks

It's been a slow week for production because of a lot other work so I thought I'd share one of the collections of mine that doesn't get any air time, matchbooks:

check out the tiny ones in the bottom right and those gold tipped ones in the center

It's not very large yet but there's a fairly good assortment.

I like these for the side detail,



And the firecracker matches have a hidden picture inside,



And then there are these that are tiny and smart marketing, I love details like that.


They're all stored in a leather jewelry box, part of another collection of mine maybe I'll get to photographing that sometime ... :)

I made a Valentine for my lovely readers...

At least *you're* the cookie!

Ok, you can probably tell from this I'm not that into Valentine's day but  hope you have a good one anyway because you ARE amazing :)

fresh out of the oven, check out that flaky crisp top!

I should add though that I did make some brownies for the occasion, straight from the Green & Black's Organic recipe book, "Ultimate Chocolate Recipes- The New Collection," (except I halved it).

They came out A LOT gooier than I expected (even though I baked them longer). They take a while to firm up but what am I crazy? Why would I complain about gooey, decadent brownies? They're really  tasty and have enough salt to cut the sweetness, crisp edges and rich, moist insides.

If you want to make your own, here's a link I found to Mostly About Chocolate (they documented the recipe and their prep process: Ultimate Chocolate Brownies.
Her recipe is slightly different from mine though, I have the newer edited version and instead of brown sugar, mine said to use white.

Hope your Valentine's day is super sweet ;) I'm always curious to know whether a more recent, commercial holiday like this is celebrated in other places so if you're in another country- do let me know ^__^?

New Rococo Bird- Etsy Shop Updates

I made a new Rococo bird and "made-over" another. I'll be focusing on some consignment pieces for a while so shop updates will be slowed till March.

But you can get these, annnd there's a felt sale in  my Etsy shop too, so go and pick out something nice for yourself, be it silk or felt ;)

Looking wistful (can you tell I'm having fun with the wigs?)

The coloring reminds me of the flat, creamy "Barry Lyndon" look

Ruffle Tailed Rococo Bird on Etsy

Marie Antoinette wig makeover

Pink Hearts Rococo Bird on Etsy


Ah and check out the Etsy Treasury my cake topper was featured in:

"Regency Wedding" by bubbletime

The Etsy Symposium, did you see it?

I spent a good part of  yesterday watching the "Etsy Success Symposium," a live-streaming presentation for Etsy selling. It's no secret I'm sweet on Etsy, (it's so sexy, how could I not?) but this was helpful for anyone trying to actualize their small business or utilize social-media in their everyday lives.
If you missed it, don't worry they're working on making them available here.

My favorite speaker was April Bowles-Olin (of Blacksburg Belle), she gave a lot of direct advice that really inspired me to re-evaluate how I was allowing myself to be perceived, (vague and possibly socially inept? *cough*)  as well as tips to optimize the steps I've already been taking to step up my game.

My favorite piece of advice?
"Only do six things a day." 
That sounds counter-intuitive to productivity but she explained how we often get overwhelmed by our long "to-do lists" (they're so long, we don't do anything on them!)
By making a short list, we're more likely to prioritize what needs to be done, we don't waste a lot of time trying to prioritize 40ish things and we actually get to feel accomplished when we finish.
And she's right- it's totally re-energizing, I started today:)

P.S. I'm still working on re-designing this blog but did you notice the shiny new e-mail subscription option? *ahem, nudge*. A great option for those who aren't interested in Readers.


P.P.S  I'm finally making time for my longer term projects involving scenes.
Take a look at my new tree:

The perfect place to hoard your strawberries

A Lovely Gift (a.k.a.- YAY, PRESENTS!)

One of the most rewarding things about making/selling my stuff is the wonderful people I've "met" along the way. Often my customers happen to be the nicest people, encouraging and friendly. A lot of them are also artists, craftspeople and dreamers. One of these amazing people is Monika Viktoria who paints decadent, wistful girls of poetic mythologies; she commissioned a bespoke antlered nymph from me about a year ago:

And has since been an amazing source of friendship and encouragement. More than I could ever ask for but on top of that, I received this beautiful one-of-a-kind original in the mail!

Customer appreciation photos are loved and appreciated but a painting of doll I made that also happens to be gorgeous? It makes it completely worthwhile :) (Thank you, Monika!!! I love it!)

To swoon over more artwork by Monika Viktoria visit:
Monika's
                  blog, "The Long Lost Woods"
                  site, MonikaViktoria.com
                  etsy, monikaviktoria

Techy stuff & Treasuries

No new tangible objects to show for my time at this moment but that's because I've been spending so much time on the "webstuff". There are a few visible changes here on the blog and a lot of things I didn't end up using  -uggghh-  =/ (the flickr button you see today is a temporary choice but I think the Twitter is a keeper ;)).

But I did learn some very important PS tricks (my usual way being "get it done- whatever means necessary" as opposed to "do it the proper way") so that's all taken time and I'm also borrowing a wacom tablet for the first time which should speed things up... after it stops breeding so much  distraction:

My First Wacom Drawing (haha, I feel like a preschooler):

I didn't feel like spending too much time on a "serious" drawing so this is based off an inside joke I have with my sister, she is searching for our family-dog in the blizzard.  She's a huge anime fan so she's been sent back to the feudal era for this task.

But I did make a treasury which is semi productive (not really but it's good to show love to other artists you like, esp when it's less excruciating than the repetitive work I was doing ;)):

"Worlds In And Of Themselves" Treasury by me (Crystalistic)


AND I was also featured in a treasury,

"In the shade." Treasury by moosegirlmaria

I wish it was as green outside as in this treasury, there's black ice out and I'm not a fan. Also, I just realized it's 4:30 a.m., also not a fan of that- good night!