Monsters!

I volunteered to fill a drop-out spot in a handmade button swap on 2peas. I've been furiously working on getting them done, as there are only two weeks left until the swap deadline. Here's a peak at three of my four buttons:
Who can resist cute monsters? I'll post a how to as soon as I get them done.

Want A Prize?

A few posts ago I mentioned that we've recently tried to adopt kittens; to no avail because my husband has been having a serious allergic reaction to them. Well, I think I've found a solution. I have located a local lady who has two litters of Siberian kittens. The Siberian breed is commonly considered a "hypoallergenic" cat in that it does not usually incite an allergic reaction even in people allergic to cats. We are planning to go this weekend to pick out two kittens.

So here's where I could use your help. Name ideas. In fact, I'm going to turn this into a contest. We can't bring the kittens home for about a month because they are only four weeks old now. So, until we bring them home, feel free to suggest potential names. If we end up using a name you suggest, I'll send you a scrappin' prize package! There is a potential for up to two winners.

I'll post pictures of the actual kittens we choose next week. But for now here are pictures of the litters.

Now, we're already considering the following names, so you can't win with these:

Widget

Fiddlesticks

Goblin

Also, you should know that I prefer not to give them human names. Other than that, be as creative as you want to be!

And thanks for the help!

Thank You!

Thank you all for your opinions on the hedgehog tags, I will definitely be including the stitching.

I'm working on two technique posts and yet another swap (handmade buttons!) for 2peas, so keep checking back, these posts will be up soon!

Welcome!

Welcome Leesa! It's been a good day, I love meeting new people.

Lessa, feel free to take this opportunity to introduce yourself, if you would like.

Opinion Wanted

So, I'm making some hand painted hedgehog tags for a swap on 2peas (click link if you're interested in looking at or joining the swap): Here's my question: Do you like the tag with the sewn border or the tag without the border better? I can't decide.

Keep in mind that I'm still planning to add some ribbon and an eyelet at the top of the tag (for the tag "hole").

Thanks for your opinion!

Welcome!

Welcome new follower Loni! So glad you found your way here. Please feel free to take this opportunity to introduce yourself (or not, it's completely up to you!).

Two

Maybe I should work on her first birthday photos next :) .

PAD 4-13-09

And this is after washing my hands three times!

PAD 4-11-09 and 4-12-09

Ok, this was my worst Easter weekend ever.

It started out awesome enough. Earlier in the week I had ferreted out some information that there would be four 8-week old orange tabby kittens for adoption at our local Petco. Most of you know I've been desperately searching for a cat to adopt, and for some reason I don't understand, I've been wanting an orange tabby.

Saturday morning my hubby and I headed over to the Petco and meet Otto and Sam. Two of the coolest kittens ever. Otto was outgoing and cool, Sam was shy but a trouble maker. We each had one purring in our arms in no time.

Since they're kittens, the adoption agency didn't want them going home alone, so we adopted both of them! That would be Sam (the instigator) taking a whack at Otto's tail.

Ok, you must understand that my husband is NOT what you would call a cat person. But these kittens even had him wrapped around their littel tails. It was instant love, for both of us.

It didn't take long for it all to fall apart. You see, my hubby has cat allergies, although he is not sensitive to ALL cats, just SOME cats....and apparently THESE cats.

It was really bad. We had to inform the adoption agency that we would be returning them less than 24 hours after adopting them.

Now our apartment feels empty. How do you take a photo of an empty feeling apartment? How about a slice of empty floor where our kittens had been playing 24 hours before?

Sharpie Poster Paint Pens

...I've gotten a couple of comments on my PAD 4-9-09 post stating that others were unaware that the Sharpie poster paint pens have been discontinued. Here's a link to a thread on Scrapbook.com that discusses the discontinuance of these pens and includes a phone number to contact the manufacturer, if you want to petition them to make a replacement.

Link to Scrapbook.com Thread.

PAD 4-10-09

Prepping for Easter. A low key celebration. We'll probably dye (and maybe embellish) a few eggs and hide a few plastic ones from each other. We may even (hopefully!) put some cat nip in a few for our new kitty to play with.

PAD 4-9-09

I recently discovered that I LOVE these Sharpie paint pens. They will write on ANYTHING, canvas, painted surfaces, pastels, ink, etc. They are perfect for art journaling. I MORE recently discovered they've been discontinued....so I ordered a few to have in reserve....

Welcome!

Welcome new follower Kraphti-Dez. Glad you found your way here! Feel free to take this opportunity to tell us a little about yourself (or not, completely up to you).

April Technique Post 1

Ok, this month's technique focus is acrylic paint. Technically, this was March's technique focus, but, well, you know.....stuff gets in the way.

I'm going to start this series of technique posts with a storage/organization and equipment discussion. In this post I'll show you how I organize my painting supplies and in the next post I'll talk about what kind of paints and brushes I prefer to use.

I store paint in two different places in my scrap room, depending on whether it is craft paint or artist's paint. My artist's paint I store on a bookshelf to the right of my scrap table:

I store the paint tubes in what are supposed to be a dish stacking tiers for the kitchen. It turns out that the spaces between the wires are just perfect for holding paint tubes. I have a dinner plate sized one for my colors and a salad plate sized one for my neutrals.

I put a little dab of paint on the lid of each tube to help me locate the colors I want quicker. I find that the tube labels are often inaccurate.

You can see that this method holds both large and small tubes, and tubes from different manufacturers (I have some Golden paint tubes in my neutrals set, LOVE their copper!).

I store my craft paint on the bookshelves behind my chair:

I use black paperboard boxes meant for CD's. I have one for all my Tim Holtz paints. This method allows me to store the bottles upside down, as Tim recommends.

And I have one for all my miscellaneous craft paints.

I'll talk about the difference between the types of paint and their uses in my next post.

Now, if you look on the shelf with my artist's paints, you'll notice my brush collection. I have a bucket stuffed full of foam brushes and a canvas roll-up brush holder for my "real" brushes. I simply store these on the shelf with my artist's paints.

I'll talk about why I like foam brushes in my next post.

Finally, my paint palette pretty much lives on my desk with me. That way, even when I'm not painting, I can use it to wipe excess glue onto, test inks, etc. I use a cheap ($5) silicon baking mat that I bought at Target. The trick is to find a smooth one, a textured one won't let go of dried paint as easily. Notice, the paint peels right off once dry (except Tim's paint, they flake when they dry).

Since this is a baking mat, you can also throw it in the dishwasher! How convenient! It also provides a great mixing surface.

Catching Up - PAD 3-23-09 through 3-27-09

We've been shelter hopping for the last two weeks trying to find the purr-fect addition to our little family. We haven't found him yet, but these are some of the cats we've considered:

Sorry...

...I've been relatively absent these last few weeks. I had a few VERY busy weeks at work followed by a few weeks of low energy/low mojo.

I've fallen behind on my photo-a-days, but have plans to take some makeup photos over the next few days. Hopefully I'll get caught up this weekend.

I also realize I've fallen behind on posting techniques. I'm hoping to post the acrylic paint techniques I had planned for March in April instead.

This no mojo thing really sucks.

But in the meantime, I have FINALLY managed to finish this piece of One Little Word home decor that I made for a friend: It was inspired by a print I saw on Ali Edward's blog. The mat for this project is actually cardboard that I removed the upper layer from and painted white. The background was created using the technique discussed here. The title is copper gilded chipboard.

I also have another project in my head, hopefully you'll be seeing it soon. Here's a hint...it involves elephants.