The House Plants

I really love houseplants but my cat, Byron has proven to me that I can't keep most of the plants I'd love to have. Violets, ferns, moss terrariums, they've all fallen victim to the wrath of Byron whose greatest joy is nibbling, pawing and toppling my plants.

I'm not nearly as interested in this organic, rooted cat grass as I am eating the violets your boyfriend gave you.

The best example I have of this sort of tyranny against plants is a visit he took to my family's house where my sister has a few indoor herbs. I left Byron there for a month while work was being done on my apt. During this visit, my sister called me twice.
The first call went like this,
                             "Hello?"
                             "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR CAT DID?"
                             "What?"
                             "HE POOPED IN MY BASIL PLANT! HE KNOCKED IT OVER AND POOPED IN IT, IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR, ALL DUG UP! HE POOPED IN IT!"
That was the point in the conversation I couldn't respond because I was too busy laughing.

The second phone call went like this,
                             "Hey"
                             "HE DID IT AGAIN! HE POOPED IN MY OTHER BASIL PLANT!"
Needless to say, I found the whole thing hilarious, but I also knew I wouldn't be getting any basil plants for my own apt.

Sneaky cat, probably pooping in there.

Luckily for me, succulents are hearty enough to withstand him while being easy to proliferate and absent of floral odor. Which of course means that until I can find a home with enough sunny window sills or ceiling planters for both my cat and my plants, I'm restricted to some tiny spots where I place as many tiny plants as I can.

The greatest love story ever told?

It's also an outlet for my plastic figurine collection that I also can't leave out because of Byron.

"I might be safe here..."

But I can hope too, right? Here's a temporary little set up that lasted about 4 minutes,

Thought I'd try a little scene with the moss & trees my sisters got me but it lasted about 4 minutes

Oh Well.

As an aside, I am in the process of making Etsy store updates so there is a bit of activity going on over there- and more to come.

Come to the Greenpointers Love Birds Valentine's Market

Perhaps some of you have noticed the inactivity in my Etsy shop these days, this is mainly due to my preparation for The Greenpointers "Love Birds Valentine's Market". It's going to be my first public appearance as a shop so spread the word and come on by!

 

I'll be spliting a table with my Bf & his sister's company, Shooting Stars Weddings, the wedding offshoot of his photo and video agency which I work with occasionally. Here is an example of a Super 8mm movie in case you're in the Tri-state area and are looking for a videographer ;).

I'll be making an Etsy update after the fair.  I know that cuts me out of the Valentine's Etsy hype but my pieces take so much time and effort I wasn't about to attempt to double up quantities or risk a double sale, (plus,  I thought I'd offer first dibs to the market). Besides stitched work, I will also have some trinkets and the postcard packs I had printed up a few weeks ago,

And of course I reserved some of the stickers for decorative use for my materials,

Besides the other recent pieces I blogged, I figured I had to make at least one red-rose adorned rococo swan,

And a black lace, lingerie inspired bird too,

The lace motif in the tail is extended onto the body with embroidery

My Work Featured On "Meanderings In Thread"

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Laura, photographer, needlepoint artist and art blogger (of Meanderings In Thread, http://notyourgrandmasneedlepoint.com/blog/)

Her blog is chock full of interesting art from all over the world so I was honored to have some of my pieces featured there, click the screenshot to see the feature,

And here is a new piece, a pretty little silk bird just perfect for spring:

an embroidered key

More to come soon...

Embroidery Hoop Wall Art

Besides dolls, I've been trying my hand at embroidery (with varying degrees of stitch work), both as part of a grander quilt and also as singular pieces for wall art.
On a side note, I can't believe I went so long sewing without using embroidery hoops! I probably could have saved myself a lot of hand cramps, the last 3 months alone have been much aided by using these primitive wooden circles.

In any case, here are the pieces:

This is really about as Valentinesy as I get,

The butterfly is a salvaged scarf remnant that was then re-sewn onto off white silk and beaded,

Some of you would recognize the bunny under the tree, it was the first work example and is a little cleaned up now,

This one is two love birds in a tree, "Tying the Knot",

I got such a positive reception from my spider placed on my other branch piece,  I decided to make a dedicated hoop-framed spider- branch piece. This one is a nice oval shape,

This is actually the cotton spider I had up in my Etsy store, I took down the listing and decided to put it in a permanent home. The silk spider I am still reserving for my own uses.
It almost looks happier,

The Sisters

The past month has been speeding by and though I've seemed pretty quiet, I've been getting a lot of things done on the "business-end" of things.

I'm anxiously awaiting my shipment of printed materials to arrive so I can start offering prints/post cards and stickers (yay stickers!). Included in there will be my first-ever artist business cards. It's very official of me, I know ;), even if they are miniMoos haha.

And, I've also been sewing/crafting almost every day in preparation for a spring Etsy store update and possible vendor sales. One of my major goals last year was to take part in more real-life events as an artist/vendor and I was determined to make that happen this year, updates on that later as they come.

For now, I want to show you the (finally) finished Siamese Sisters:

I wish I had a miniature widow's walk to display them. If I choose to keep them, at least for a while, it might be an appropriate excuse to splurge on an old doll house and make renovations.

Going through my work the past year, I realized I really love rococo era wigs and beaded headdresses.

This was one of my first attempts at embroidery, which I can literally call, "a shipwreck".

The petticoat and bloomers make her dress deliciously poofy.