IF: Leap

I read this quote once, in Honey From Stone by Chet Raymo [wonderful book]: "Put on you jumping shoes which are intellect and love."

Ok, so you are saying to yourself, but a jump is not a leap - and here are my arguements to the contrary:

a) in my handy Collins English Gem Dictionary , ©1960, the defintion of leap is "spring, jump;"

b) it's hard to leap when you are always painted with your legs stiffly together.

'nough said. Happy Leap Day!

Let's get this thing started again!

So you may have noticed that I've been a little "absent" lately. I was busy combing the beach on Siesta Key collecting AWESOME shells, drawing the ocean, and snapping 1100 (yes that is more than a thousand) photos of people & things (I got a new camera). And since I didn't even think about work for the past 2+ weeks (ha) I have nothing to blog about (again, ha).

This little test came pretty true - for those of you who know me, know that this is my personality and my favorite color. I am happy that my "quirks" have not scared you off yet!

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts any strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

Swimmy, Etsy, and a lot of orange fish

So, Etsy's founder, Rob read the story of Swimmy by Leo Leoni to describe what Etsy is all about. It's actually a wonderful children's story about how 1 little (black) fish with a "vision" helped all the other little (orange) fish band together to scare off the big bully fish (i.e. black fish = etsy, orange fish = small entrepeneurs, big fish = corporations). Anyway, EtsyRain, the Seattle Team of Etsy sellers is banding together and creating a bunch of orange fish to send to Rob for a diorama. This is my contribution.

$10 and Top Ten Toys in Greenwood...

So here's what happens when you give a girl a $10 and send her into a toy store. I came home with Sea Monkeys (the last one passed away last September, so it's time to hatch some new ones - but more on that later) and Shrinky Dinks! Who woulda thought that these could be so fun. You draw your design on the plastic (these started off 4" tall), pop it in the oven, and out it comes in under 2 min. at half the size (they ended up 2" tall). Can you say promo material?

Norm Nesting Dolls?

So it seemed a natural fit, once I looked at the silhouette of Norm and the silhouette of the nesting dolls. I found out it's really difficult translating something I see as 2D into a 3D object. For example, in my mind, Norm has a front and a back - but I have no idea what his sides look like... not to mention, I had to follow someone else's template for a shape (I think his shoes are a little skimpy, I would prefer my boy to wear sensible shoes).

All in all I am happy with the way the first "Team Norm" turned out. I learned a lot on the prototype - like sealing the wood 1st makes more work (go figure) and tube acrylics are more transparent than those little plastic bottles. So, the next Team will go much faster, with fewer problems, and hopefully turn-out exactly as I originally visualized (one can always dream)! There are more photos on my FlickR page

buddies in Rhode Island

so we (as in EtsyRain, the Seattle group of Etsy sellers) teamed up with Rhode Island Arts Street team to help promote each other. Funny that we are at the far reaches of the continent - you don't get much further east or west - and yet we are all very similar in our talent for creating new and wonderful treasures! Here are a few artists that caught my eye (it's kinda making me want to go to RI to one of their craft fairs...)

electronrings makes wonrderful felted goodies including rings, lariats, and this bellydancing belt!

spiderbite makes that rockin' cool journals -

julibcreative painted these wonderful "lollipop" trees - I LOVE lollipop trees. My art teacher in the 3rd grade was so impressed by my ability to draw trees with the V branches that she told me only little kids drew lollipop trees. Well here's to all the little kids at heart! (you'll note that I've reverted back to my little kidness too!)

and lastly, but definitely not leastly, a woman who takes skelton keys (another thing near and dear to my heart) and creates beautiful glass beads right onto the key! How cool is that? Oh her shop name is The Venerable Bead

IF: Blanket

Give me a blanket, a piece of construction paper and a cardboard box, and I will rule the kingdom!