Sushi Candy

Mini Moo Cards

And just in time for my art exhibition in December! I am so happy with the quality and the look. I can’t wait to drop off my artwork next week.

— Rosey

Aranzi Aronzo's The Cuter Book

I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to make plushies that are to scale with BJDs and other dolls. I picked up a book and this is definitely giving me ideas about what I need to do. I’ll be spending quite a bit of time developing the pattern I need. I can’t wait. It should be a fun project! FinishingFishie’s baby mobile gave me a bit more confidence about making my own plushies. I have a very cohesive and strong vision of exactly what I want. I can’t wait to post the pictures of the prototypes.

In the meantime, I am still struggling with health issues. It means more trips to the doctor and possibly consultations with a surgeon. I really wish I was healthy.

— Rosey

Crescent Rolls with Brie filling

Yesterday before I cooked the Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, we went to Len’s Mill Store. I picked up supplies for my friend’s baby mobile which I will post about tomorrow when I start on it. I bought a pretty fat quarters package to use and two wooden embroidery hoops (one 10″ and one 12″).  I have two weeks to get it done. Wish me luck! I’ll start blogging about this tomorrow.

I also bought 3 more additional 12″ hoops for me and one 14″ hoop. I’ve decided to limit the circular projects to five (12″) and one 14.” The rest will be in canvas. To give you a sense of scale, Little Red is a 12″ piece.

This is what I’m hoping to accomplish with the hoops/canvases in late 2011 into 2012:

a)  Dorothy – 12″ (underway)

b)  Snow White – 12″

c)  Sleeping Beauty – 12″

d)  Midsummer Night’s Dream – 12″

e) Snow Queen – 12″

f) Twelve Dancing Princesses – 14″

g) Hansel and Gretel – Wood Canvas

h) Alice’s Tea Party – Wood Canvas

i) The Magical Fish – Wood Canvas

j) Three Ravens – Wood Canvas

I have Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and the Three Raven’s  concept/composition worked out in my head. It’s all a matter of how much time I will have to get these accomplished. There will be mini projects I want to sell on Etsy in between. I also want to schedule in writing as well as doll-related projects.

I am also hoping to have pieces for sale in my Etsy shop soon. Little Mermaid will be the first for sale. She’ll be a bit pricey since her framing will be included. I also will do smaller projects in between that will just be sold in a hoop. These large projects are meant to be entered into the Fair next year and also help me build enough of a portfolio to get into a gallery or do my own solo exhibition.

— Rosey

What's On Tap

I think I’ll be doing this column weekly. It helps me keep track of  everything going on. I always need a ton of projects on the go.

Here’s the list of what I’m working on now:

1) Dorothy – It’s definitely underway

2) A Baby Mobile for Fishie – getting materials this weekend, needs to be done before Oct 22nd, and will be blogging about it

Down the Road:

1) Custom Blythe/Pullip Carrier

2) Hansel and Gretel

3) An illustration/painting

— Rosey

Chichi

Perfectionism can be both an asset and a liability. First, the good! Perfectionism incurs a high standard of work to achieve for and encourages one to get better technically and to create better work. I find myself getting better when I push and push for that greater result. I’m constantly trying to see what I can do with beads and embroider and how I can push the medium further.

Now, the bad! Perfectionism can get you stalled starting a project. There will be this irrational need to have all the supplies on hand to do a project and to have an ideal environment and state of mind before starting. I find this crops up especially when I try to write. I get caught up in world building and having the proper character sketches before I even want to commit a word on a page. I know many writers have spent years just world building and not producing a single page. It’s dangerous. Fortunately, I don’t have this mentality when I embroider or draw. For me, this problem is exclusive to writing. When I draw and embroider, I’m like a locomotive building up steam. It just gets done unless I lose motivation. That is another issue all together.

The second big bad- Perfectionism can get you stuck in a never-ending project. The project will never get done because it needs this one last thing or it just constantly doesn’t look right. There were times in the past I looked at a piece and I just can’t finish it. This is rare for me though because I don’t have open/unfinished projects lying around the house anymore. The only unfinished/stalled thing in the house is my novel. I have many issues with my writing that I have to deal with. I feel I don’t have the writing ability/style/skills to commit my ideas on paper. This same feeling prevents me from starting in the first place. In contrast, my artistic pursuits just magically get done unless I run out of steam.

Creativity is a marvelous beast with Perfectionism as the harness. You’re in control.

— Rosey

Serenity

As I’ve stated in my previous About Me post, dreams will never die. To reach your dreams, you need goals. For the year 2011, I’ve been really good about following through on projects and plans. I have finished everything I have set out to do art-wise.

In five years…

1. Writing – Have a polished manuscript that has been read by beta-readers and submitted to publishers.
2. Beading Embroidery – Had my first exhibition/gallery show. I will find two other artists that complement my work and organize a show held at a local town hall. I would have entered more county fairs to gain local exposure. Hopefully by this time, I have garnered some exposure on the web as well. I also should have tested the waters on Etsy for sale of smaller works.
3. Dolls – Have a few magazine submissions under my belt, started customizing my own Blythes, made a few dioramas, also own a fantasy mermaid Blythe done by one of my favourite Blythe customizers
4. Traditional Art – The basement would be done. My studio is complete. I would have some paintings done.

I think I’ve set realistic creative-driven goals. It will keep me motivated so I can achieve my dreams.

— Rosey

Conversations with the Ryukin (2007)

All of you know by now, I have hilariously rampant creative ADHD. I want to try and learn so many new things. Unless I can live forever or I can clone myself, I cannot take on all the hobbies I want to. This begs the question: How do I determine which new hobby to take on?

First, let’s see what is on my plate at the moment:

• Beading Embroidery – This is my mainstay and what I will always go back to. I find the picture in my head matches the result. There is something so calming doing the beading embroidery.
• Drawing – The embroidery has unseated this long time lover for now. Even though I rarely draw now, I still have the urge to do so and I don’t think it’ll ever go away. Drawing is my first love and always will be. I was a regular eBay artist back in 2005-2007. One of the works I made is the picture you see above. For some unfathomable reason, I just stopped drawing. My favourite medium are colored pencils, ink, and watercolours. I really want to take it up again regularly in the future.
• Doll Sewing – I love sewing for my dolls. I make them custom clothes. I don’t do this on a regular basis anymore since my dolls are put away. Natalie is still a baby and the basement is not done. Once my craft room is finished, I can have my dolls out within reach again and I know I’ll be sewing for them more often.
• Customizing Trikkys – I still have a bare Trikky waiting to be customized. I want to finish this and perhaps get more to ink work on. I really like the black and white look. It’s an awesome medium.
• Writing – I still want to rewrite this novel. I need to really get moving in the conception stage with character sketches and world-building and get my ass in gear. Sadly, I get writer’s block often.

• Money/Finances – Do I have enough money to buy the supplies and tools to properly learn this craft? How much will everything cost in total? Do I need to sell things to justify this hobby?
• Time – How long will it take to do this activity? Can I just pick it up and work on it anytime? Are there processes in this hobby that require large blocks of time? Can I only do this at night when Natalie is asleep?
• Degree of Difficulty – How hard is it to start this hobby? Do any of my present skills give me an advantage in pursuing this? Do I have the patience? Is there instant gratification involved?

Where I store my works at the moment

I am trying to juggle three burgeoning projects in my brain at the same time. I’ve stated numerous times before, I have creative ADD. It’s just in the blood. It’s running rampant right now. I’m still working on the magazine submission and I’ve been painting props this afternoon and will again tonight once Natalie is in bed.

I’m also going to be starting my niche project ahead of schedule. I couldn’t help myself since I’ve found the perfect box! I’ll be doing a niche post tomorrow or Tuesday with an update. I picked it up at Mary Maxim in Paris yesterday. It is pretty perfect scale wise for my Pullip. Her head barely touches the top which I’m okay with.

In the meantime, Dorothy is still bubbling in my brain and is ready to be started. I picked up my yellow beads for the yellow brick road. It’s ready to be started once the magazine submission project is done. I don’t think I’ll be finishing the Pullip Niche soon because I’m pacing myself with my spending. I need to wait for next month to make the miniature furniture order and yet a bit more afterwards to make my Rement order from eBay.

Of course while all of this is happening, I have the novel rewrite in the back of my mind. I’m just bubbling away with ideas I jot down here and there. I need to do comprehensive character sketches, plot outline, etc. before I even begin to start the writing process.

— Rosey

Steph's Clips

The clips are done! These are now ready for me to package up for mailing on Monday. 😀

I hope to start my mini portrait hoop tonight as well.

— Rosey

Julius' Garden

It was the civic holiday weekend up here. It was fairly quiet which is always nice. I am in between projects now. I’m in the midst of making a friend’s birthday present. It is a set of clips for her hair with six Sanrio characters: The Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, Korillakuma, and Mamegoma. She is into lolita fashion and these clips will look adorable in her hair. I should be done this project by the end of next week at the latest.

The next project will be an oval portrait of a fairy tale character. I have decided to do a series of these in addition to the larger pieces. The portraits are quicker to finish and are a bit of a break from the larger, labour-intensive pieces like Little Red. This portrait will be my fifth piece since January when I began to embroider. It’s nice to be able to look back and see how far I’ve come and what I’ve learned.

If you are an avid reader, I thank you. Feel free to ask questions so I can do a mailbag post once a week.

— Rosey

N.B. Bead stash is getting low. I’ll need to do a drive by bead run sometime soon!