DIY: Shoe Box into a Vintage Suit Case

So I have had a to-do list in my head of the things I wanted to make that I have found on Pinterest.  This one has been there for a bit, but today I realized I had cleared out a shoe box and was about to throw it away, BUT WAIT! I need that!
So I stripped the shoe box of the wrapping paper that once adorned it and I used cheap acrylic paint to coat the box.....once, twice, and three times in a few spots.

After the paint finally dried, I used a thin marker/felt tip pen/sharpie to draw my lines. I used a ruler for some of the straight lines but the majority I did freehand to achieve that handmade look. (excuse my poor photography)

 I simply copied the patterns from the boxes I saw....which you can check out on my DIY pinterest board.

HINT: when drawing your lines, do put the lid on to mark where the designs on the bottom should end/begin, then take them apart and work on the separately. It is a hassle to try and work with the box all together... or at least I think it is.

So now my bedroom has a new box to hold all my clutter from on my dresser. I may make more for my  arts and crafts storage....maybe in beige next time?

Illustrations with COLOR

As I sat waiting for my car to be inspected and then fixed of its decaying belt and get new windshield wipers, I drew this little blue bird.  He loves Walt Whitman's poetry but is very distracted by sweets and caffeine. I made this card into a card that you can buy on etsy. It is perhaps my new favorite illustration, although the baby fox gives it a run for its money.

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Baby fox came from...well his mother. I drew a foxy lady sipping on some champagne but I wasn't satisfied with it. However I did enjoy her small pup sitting off to the side and felt it should be made larger. So I did make it larger. Perhaps around mother's day I'll reintroduce the Foxy Momma, but until then you will have to be satisfied with the wee pup above (in card form).  

Skunks in Love and a Caffeinated Hedgehog

I've been doing some illustrations lately. I've actually really been enjoying it....well other than the whole editing thing that takes forever. I thought if I drew with just black it'd be easy to edit, but I was wrong. 

These both are now made into cards and will be up on my etsy shop. Of course they won't have the red lettering on them. Currently they are blank cards, but if a customer had some thoughts on a good snippet to put inside, it can be arranged. 

I've been feeling the on-coming season change and am willing it to be here even sooner with my inspiring drawings.

DIY Envelope and Cards

I've made a few doodles lately that I have made with the intent of making cards out of them.  AND I actually have.  Here is one doodle and three options of text (thanks to my friends on facebook who liked my facebook page)

 I hope it was otter this world.

 I am otterly astonished!

 ...I miss floating around with you.

I have been printing two to a page of 8.5x11" paper. With my new printer I can actually print things that have no border which makes figuring out image sizes a lot easier.

However I still needed envelopes. I checked online to see what size would best fit and found that the size is actually an A2 envelope. It is sized just large enough for half a piece of paper folded in half.

I checked prices and even looked for a template but the ones I found were not large enough, or I had to pay/sign up for something to get them (blech!). So I took it upon myself to make my own template that I could print out and cut out myself. It is 8.5x11" so if your printer prints without a border just print away.  However you may need to do some math to crop it properly and print if you can't print without borders.

Download Template

Just cut to the inside of the black lines and fold along the dotted lines. Glue the larger tab to the small side tabs only up to where the long angles begin, then once your card is in, fold the top tab down. Notice there is no dotted line by the top tab, that is so that you don't have an ugly black line visible when it is opened.

This is the up-side-down view of the envelope template....I am too lazy to change it on the computer since it doesn't matter when you print it! I know it is nothing fancy and you can make one just as nice, but it's already scanned in and ready for printing for whoever doesn't want to waste the time to make their own. ENJOY!

And if you would like already made cards visit my etsy shop!

Horsing Around

I was given some amazing gifts from my parents for my birthday this past month. Pretty much anything of value that we own comes from one of the sets of parents. Mine gave me a fantastic printer, and my in-laws got me a matching scanner (that can even scan film!! so freakin' sweet)

I was also commissioned in the past month to do a horse painting for a friend. The original is the green/teal one below, but thanks to the use of my nifty scanner and photoshop skills I can now do prints of all different hues!

The original above, a photoshopped version below. So now if anyone desires a horse of any color, I can provide prints.  

More Characters

Meet Maribelle (left) and Willow!

Willow is your more modern hippie. She runs her own shop online and sells headbands and jewelry that usually include natural items like feathers or leather....yes she weeps for the cow, but believes it's better to honor their hide with continued use than to throw it away.  She enjoys drum circles and dancing.  She is very much into folk music and that which is inspired by it. 

Maribelle is a classic. She is the epitome of a flower child and spends much of her day gardening (when she is not at the local animal shelter). She cans her own tomatoes and is learning traditional Japanese methods of natural fabric dying. What you wouldn't have guessed is she loves science fiction. 

Prince Xavier is the best friend of Esmera. Although he is royalty he rather likes 'slumming it' with the local merfolk. He thinks it fun to mess with the sharks, tickling them with his trident and challenging them to a fin-race (no foot-races in his part of the world).  He's a good mer-boy and has far too much fun in the depths to desire life on land.

Dwight Schrute lives on Schrute farms which reaps a bountiful amount of beets. (This is fan art of The Office, do excuse the un-original character) Of course there is a lot of borsch cooked on the premises. Beet farming is no joke to Dwight and he fancies himself the best beet farmer to ever live. 

Couples Portraits!

 I haven't been able to post these because for one, I had to wait for the save the date to be sent out, and the picture below was meant to be an anniversary present for the middle of this month, but oops, someone got too excited and gave their gift early! 

This is actually cropped from the original. this is about a 3rd of the painting, the rest was my attempt at a South African landscape, luckily I had their pictures to construct it from.

The above picture was my first couples portrait commission from etsy yay! It was a birthday gift for the young lady, so yet again I had to wait to post it on the VERY slim chance that she might see it.

I've been having a lot of fun doing the portraits, even though they are rather time consuming for what I charge. Still I hope I keep getting people who want them. Get yours quick because the price will only go up, heh heh heh, (Stephen told me to up it 5 dollars every time I sell one).