Etsy updates!

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately. . . I have been swamped with work. Which is definitely good for ghost academy. I am quite excited that Halloween is just around the corner, and I've listed four Halloween designs in the etsy shop. I was a bit loopy this year - I decided not to do any designs for Christmas and do Halloween instead. What can I say? Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday! I'm even thinking of sending these out to all of my friends and relatives instead of Christmas cards this year.






http://ghostacademy.etsy.com

Does anyone else out there love Halloween as much as I do? I would love to hear about your favorite traditions/stories!

Blog love: Just Something I made

So is it just me, or is the online world pretty firmly divided into the twitter-ers and the twitter-nots? I was, up until today, a staunch twitter-not. I also don't have a facebook or myspace and I never had a friendster. Yup, I'm that kind of a girl. Today I took the leap and joined Twitter. Ostensibly to be better about promotion and networking. Ostensibly. I suspect it will take me about a week to be on twitter all day posting about lolcats, what I'm eating, and how I'm mad at my UPS man. {Aside: I am TOTALLY mad at my UPS man today}.



Anyway. I needed a twitter button for my blog and of course I wanted a cute one. I immediately popped over to Just Something I made and bingo, of course I found an adorable one. And that's what this post is supposed to be about - JSIM, not twitter. Let me start again.






Just Something I Made is one of my absolute favorite blogs. I know it's fairly popular, but I thought I'd mention it for crafty readers who don't know about it. JSIM is the creative and inspirational journal of Cathe Holden, who is a graphic designer and crafting goddess. Cathe is the epitome of that surprising generosity that I am so often amazed to find on the internet. She posts wonderful projects with detailed how-tos constantly, and she also is incredibly generous with posting free graphic design goodies (like my swanky new twitter button) and vintage ephemera. She is incredibly talented, and all about spreading that goodness around. Check it out, I am sure you will love it!



Just Something I Made

Inspiration and excitement: Home Ec!!!

Crafting superstar Jenny Ryan (of Sew Darn Cute and Felt Club fame) has just launched her own store in Silverlake, Home Ec. The shop showcases handmade goodies and supplies and best of all, it offers crafting workshops (which will change on a monthly basis).

The grand opening is this Friday (September 4th). I am already drooling over the pics of the store on Jenny's Flickr. The store looks jam-packed with adorable crafty inspiration.

Bask in the cuteness! Bask, I tell you!

(darlin' collage from home ec's blog)

Places to visit:

Home Ec (the shop)
Home Ec (the blog)

New card series!

It all started with a present I sent to my friend and fellow etsy seller whiteapple. Along with the present I sent a note that said "you make me feel like kittens are exploding out of my head." Which may seem odd, but it's a pretty accurate description of how I feel about this kickass lady. She was excited about the present - but she was SUPER into the card. And thought I should add a card that said that to my line.

At the time, I didn't think I could legibly carve and print that much text. But as time passed and my confidence in my linoleum skillz grew, I thought I'd give it a go. And so this card was born:




I liked it so much that I made another like it. And then one more. And then because they were all different colors I felt like I needed a full six to even out a rainbow. Because that's how I roll. And here they are:






I call the series "confessions." They're things you might not think to say very often. . . but I think you probably should.

They're all in my etsy shop now. (and I restocked my award ribbons too!)

New work!

Thank you to everyone who came out to Sweet Breams last week for the opening!

I made four new prints for the show, and I think they'll eventually be part of a bigger series. They're all based on imaginary fairy tales. Meaning, I drew inspiration from fairy tale imagery and themes but the actual subject matter is original.

I've always found fairy tales really intriguing and inspiring. I love the way they use the fantastical to teach practical lessons on how to negotiate life in the real world.

For my pieces, I came up with short scenarios for stories, sketched them out, and then made large carvings. The finished pieces are printed on 12" by 12" sheets of plywood. I added small metal eyelets to the corners so that they can be hung on nails.

Here are the pieces I made:


This one is called The homecoming. A girl is lost in a forest and she is rescued by a bear king, who makes the journey home with her.


This piece is called The transformation. It's about a twin brother and sister. The mischievous brother is cursed and transformed into a deer. His sister has to remain with him and help him return to human form.


This piece is called The escape. A girl is imprisoned into servitude at the palace of a wicked ruler. She steals the royal fleet of hedgehogs and escapes.


This is called The Kidnapping. A race of giant birds kidnap all of the young girls in the land.


And here are all of the pieces hanging together at the show. Once the show is over, I'll be printing more to sell in my etsy shop.

Every Moment Is A Jubilee

If you're in the Bay Area, I'm going to be part of an art show called Every Moment is a Jubilee opening this Saturday at Sweet Breams in San Mateo!

The opening reception is 8-10 pm at 220 2nd Avenue, San Mateo, CA, 94401.

Also showing are ghostghostteeth, Emily Hillburg, Andy Anderson, spareorgan, Marisa Page, Reed Birklund, Cat Oshiro, and CatmAndru.

Sweets and art! Be there!

COME VISIT ME!!!!

Tomorrow I'll be shilling my wares at the Handmade Brigade at the Tall Mouse in Cerritos. Come and visit! Bring me cookies!