Liquid Paper

bunny :: a child's word for a rabbit

Sometimes I make something and I feel... well... nothing. Blah. No reaction. This is not one of those times people. This is one of the times when I make something and the end result makes me so happy I feel like I'll burst. As soon as I took the photos of this little guy I could hardly wait to post them. I particularly wanted to post them so I could share him with you - because that's really what makes the happiness complete. ♥

Bunny bum.

He comes with a very tiny carrot pin and an wee lily of the valley pin (my favorite spring flower).

Here's one with a penny for scale and a little sneek peek at some of the materials that will be used to make the set.

There were too many photos for me to post all of them here so if you like him too you'll have to go on over to my flickr site to see them all!

What is a Teensy Pin?
A teensy pin is an extraordinarily small polymer clay sculpture placed on the head of a very normal stick pin. Each one is completely designed and handmade by me. If you aren't familiar with them you can check out the gallery here.

A Spring Shop Update
I have big plans for this little guy! I'm going to make a very, very limited quantity special edition teensy set - probably just four or six available. If any of you know a bunny lover or think maybe you'd like one for yourself, I'll keep you posted! There will also be new puppies in the shop and a new "twist" on teensies in general so stay tuned.

ribbon worthy

Update: The package has arrived and the recipient is no longer a secret! She's taken some wonderful pictures so go check them out. Also, thanks again to my secret helper!

I made another small sewing kit for a very creative little girl. I even got to use one of my favorite ribbons for this project - the orange with pale blue/green dots. Mmm... I love this combination. I have to keep the name of the recipient a surprise for now at least because she hasn't gotten the package yet. I owe a big thank you to the person who helped me make this surprise possible - you know who you are!♥ I've had so much fun putting this together. I also sent a couple of other items but I don't want to metion them either or I'm afraid I'll ruin the surprise. Sorry for all of the secrets... I hope the pictures make up for the mystery.

Here's a close-up of the basket bag and ribbon.

A super close-up of the bird button on the scissors case.

impluse buy

Here are a couple of posters that I recently won on ebay. (They're reprints of vintage posters.) They were a total impulse buy and now that I have them I'm not sure where I'll put them. Oh no, I just lied to you. Sorry. I absolutely know that I'll add them to the stack of prints and unframed art that I have here in my studio. It's just so hard for me to put things up on the walls. I daydream of living in a gallery-inspired house with endless white walls. Of course, I also dream of a charming bungalow and then there's the mid-century modern house and the summer cottage in the woods... and the... ahem, excuse me I must have gotten carried away. Funny how my dreams tend to steal my enthusiasm for the here and now, which is what I'm striving to be content with. I'll blame today's departure into la la land on the mountain of housework that I've been avoiding for a few days now. *small almost imperceptible sigh* I'd better go chase some dust bunnies. See you tomorrow.

introductions

Now that you're all familiar with how I feel about ribbon, I thought it was the appropriate time to show you what I prefer to use to wrap all of my gifts and packages. Meet the cotton twine - natural, not waxed. It is both delicate and strong, no? I have it in three colors: cream (shown here and most used), pale blue and tan. I bought all three rolls at a thrift store. I doubt I'll ever see the end of them - their size never seems to diminish no matter how much I use. It's a beautiful thing, yes?

You really ought to see it larger.

danger will robinson

My nephew Isaiah turned the big t-w-o this weekend. He’s officially a toddler now. He says “happy day” instead of “happy birthday” but he holds out the ay in day so it sounds a lot like he’s says the whole thing. I wanted to make something special for him and I’ve been working on a top secret little side project that was perfect for the occasion. I designed two versions of this little robot, added his initial and printed it out onto iron-on transfer paper. Then I put one on a little t-shirt and the other on a gift bag I made to hold the shirt. I also gave him the pointy kitty i made - which he loved!

He looks adorable in this shirt and has added the word "robot" to his vocabulary. My photos of him in the shirt didn't come out but I'll try to get a good one so you can see it on him. You can see the T-shirt design close-up here.

Mark noticed that my robot design bears a striking resemblance to a french press. I have no further comment. :) You can see the gift bag design close-up here.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen the famous Isaiah you can find a small album of him here on my flickr page.

p.s. I’ve got some more robot related things going on but they’re still top secret - shh!

ribbons are for saving

I wish that I used more ribbon in my crafts. It bothers me when I think about it, like a small nagging voice inside my head. Ribbons are so pretty and they should be used and enjoyed. Why do I resist using them? I've held onto three rolls of my grandmother's velvet ribbon for over a decade and only ever used about fifteen inches. (Is it obsessive that I know that?) Do I conserve ribbon because it is too precious to use? That could be but other than my grandmother’s ribbon I wouldn’t consider any of them precious. I don’t dream about amassing a huge collection. In fact, this picture is almost my entire stash minus one or two large rolls that won’t fit on the bar. I got several of them about a month ago because they were on sale for 87 cents per roll. I surrendered to that small nagging voice that said I needed more ribbon.

Why I do save them? Why is it that I rarely bring scissors to ribbon unless I’m positive that whatever I’m doing wouldn’t be complete without that exact piece? I can’t help but admire their slightly pompous attitude as they sit up high on their display, daring me to find a use for them knowing all the while that it will be a very long time before that day comes.

My one consolation is that I don’t like to use ribbon for gift-wrapping. When I wrap a gift I almost always tie it with twine, string or yarn. I love the simple and natural look it gives to a package. Take that ribbon! (Seriously, have I stooped to taunting inanimate objects now?)

flavor

See it larger here.

punc-tu-ate

What is it that a picture is worth? I know, I know a thousand words. But I've been finding a lot of photos in the blogosphere recently that I like for their simplicity. So, instead of using a thousand words to tell you about them (and failing miserably because my words always do) I thought I'd start a little photography series called:

punc-tu-ate To interrupt periodically: “lectures punctuated by questions and discussions.”

This is my excuse to share photos that don't always have a story to accompany them. It could be a daily, weekly, monthly or just an "s often as I come across something-type series. No pressure. The goal is to take and find pictures that make me want to interrupt the current flow of my normal blog-versation.

Oh, and I also want to share links because I've accumulated so many favorite bloggers and flickr contacts (and hope to find more!) who take amazing photos that I love. Here are just a couple:

Cotton Strudel (How does she make every photo that she takes so lovely?)
her blog - her flickr photos

port 2 port (Is there anyone who does not know their work?)
the blog - mav's flickr photos

made by his hand

The update: You all waited patiently (well, almost all of you - hehe) for the big reveal. So without any further ado I present my present from Mark... RAM! I am now working on a computer that runs instead of crawls with a whopping 1.5 GB. (It used to have 512 MB.) You know what that means... no more walking to the kitchen for a drink of water while I wait for a file to open. Yippee! I will now set my computer down to do the happy dance. (Sorry, no pictures of happy dance because they just wouldn't do it justice.)

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Original post:
If you're thinking that this is one of my latest creations you'd be wrong. Actually, this is what happens when you don't pay attention to what your husband is doing as he tiptoes around gathering fabric, needle and thread from your stash. Yep, he secretly hand sewed the fabric wrapping for my Valentine's Day gift.

You know, now that I think about it Mark told me that he used to make pockets for himself when he was little. I love that he decided to dust off some of those sewing skills in order to cleverly and adorably wrap my gift. And he tells me that he did it all while I was sitting on the couch, i.e. laptop in lap and completely oblivious to what was happening around me. ♥

my pointy kitty

I now know what can bring me out of a creative rut... Hillary of Wee Wonderfuls and her adorable Pointy Kitty pattern! As soon as I saw the image of her kitty on flickr I hopped over to her blog and downloaded the free pattern. (And downloaded it again after I discovered the "C" mystery. haha)

I have to confess that in a very weird way, following instructions I can actually read was "foreign" to me because all of the other ones I've made came with instructions in Japanese. (It should be the other way around right?) Thankfully her pattern was super easy to follow and I loved making it. I probably could have added more stuffing to the head. I followed her advice and really stuffed the body and it does stand up great. I'm already planning to make another one out of a soft flannel fabric. Thanks again Hillary, I can't wait for you to complete your pattern book!