Back to Basics…

February 3rd, 2010

Last night at my Tuesday art league meeting we decided to take it back to basics and practice some watercolor washes. Boy is it harder than it looks! lol I have successfully finished two watercolor bird paintings in the past… {in which I suppose I avoided doing washes without even thinking}… because I just couldn’t get the hang of it! One and a half hours and ten sheets of paper later, I finally decided to call it quits. But, we all enjoyed ourselves experimenting, giggling, and complaining! I guess I need more practice… or perhaps I could blame it on the supplies. ;0)

After I gave up on the watercolor washes, I whipped out my journal and started doing some sketches. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working on creating a new design for my blog which involves creating a cartoon of myself; so I needed to figure out a cartoon style that I liked. I came up with a couple cute ideas… now to decide on a direction and finalize one. The only problem is that I think the wider faces look cuter; but unfortunately I was born with a tall face! lol

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Sneak Peek!

January 25th, 2010

I’ve been busy trying out new techniques and different projects for the upcoming Earthstock fair in Plainville, CT. I’m getting excited, I had to share a sneak peek with you! Sorry for the horrible photos. (Hey, do you want the sneak peak now, or when its sunny enough to get good photos? lol)

This was my first project… a bead bowl. I had a huge bag of those plastic pony beads that have been sitting in the basement for years; so I made something new with them! I love how it came out. It definately looks better in person. (Man, do I need photo lessons or what?!) I want to try making some smaller ones too for candle holders or something. I’ll be taking some photos when I make my next one so I can show you how they’re made. :)

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My next project was some zipper pouches made from food wrappers. I was really frustrated with sewing these up at first… but a friend on the PrimMart forum suggested I try putting powder on the plastic so it glides better in the machine; and it solved my problems!! Thank you! The strawberry one in the back is an unfinished one that I’m working on now. Isn’t it CUTE! he he

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One project that has been sitting on my table unfinished for a few days is this woven cereal box container. I had no idea it would take so long to make! lol I may not do any more of these… well we’ll see how I feel when its finished! ;0) 

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This last one I’ve been really excited about. I have recently fell in LOVE with jelly fish; and I went crazy when I saw a few photos of some jelly fish made from plastic bottles. I had to give it a try! My first one (in the back) didn’t come out too well, but I tried again, and I think my second one came out pretty good. I just wish I could find light pink and blue bottles! lol  I’ll have to do some searching and experimenting on doing a bit of color on them. The clear looks neat too though.

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Other than working on projects for the fair, I’ve also been thinking about my blog and TwiddleLee website. I would like to have them both up and designed before the show. The way my blog looks now is just from a free template that I’ve found and edited. I still need to update it with my own graphics. So, you may (hopefully) see some changes to the way my blog looks soon. (Yeah, I know I’ve said that before! hush now!) I do have a sketchy idea now of what I want it to look like. (I was totally confused about it before.) I think its going to be very clean and simple; mostly white. I know I want to stick with my cloud/thought bubble  idea I’ve been using on my plush tags. Some swirlies would be nice… okay, I’m just rambling now. (and realizing that I’m using way too many parentheses! lol)

~Twiddle Lee

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My first show as Twiddle-Lee!

November 24th, 2009

I have successfully finished my first show as Twiddle-Lee this past Saturday! It was so much fun; I can’t wait to do more shows!  I’m already scouting out shows for next year. ;0) So anyway, I decided to make my first show a small easy one for practice – I picked out a nice church fair in Berlin.  I was lucky to get the best table spot in the whole show – right near the kitchen and lounge area in the largest room. I did pretty good for such a small show. Everyone was attracted to my cupcakes; they all had to come over and see if they were real! lol My daughter joined me too.. she made some button jewelry, a few paintings, and ornaments. It was great to spend some time with her and do a team effort; we had a blast! Here’s some pics from the show:

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Miss Penelope with her goodies! I love her button bracelets, I made her make one for me too! he he Visit her site at: www.SweetPeaArt.com

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My new “Munchies”! Each  pillow monster has a pocket mouth to hide toys, treasures, or to hold their babies!

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Bottle Cap Necklaces & Magnets… yeah, I know… these are all over the place now; but remember I was one of the first who started them back in 2001! lol   Penelope made the cool Americana pins and the starfish painting. :)

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I’ve been really excited about these new goodies… JuNk PiNs!! Each pin is made from candy wrappers, junk mail, magazines, and other junk! 

See the little snowman head peaking out in the corner? I only had eight of those… and sold out in the first hour of the show! It’s always the things you have the least of that sells the quickest! lol

All my new goodies will be available through my new website www.TwiddleLee.com shortly, so be sure to sign up for the mailing list on my site.   I’ll be working hard within the next few weeks taking pics, writing descriptions, listing them on Etsy, and hopefully working on the final layout of the website. In between Christmas shopping & crafting of course! ;0) he he

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Holy Cupcakes Batman!

October 26th, 2009

I have been over run by cupcakes for the last week! I decided to try my hand at fake cupcakes for my upcoming craft show; and unfortunately my packing desk was the best place to set up my cupcake station. Let me tell you… trying to pack up orders on the floor is no fun!! I had probably about a hundred cupcakes taking over my craft room all week. I couldn’t do anything else until I finally got them finished, photographed, and packed away yesturday.

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I decided to try the expansion foam method – thinking it was the quickest and easiest way to go. Boy was I wrong… that stuff is temperamental! lol  Out of the 100 or so cupcakes I tried to make, I was able to keep 55 large cupcakes and a couple handfuls of minis. Even still, the ones I kept are a bit lop-sided and wobbly on their “feet”. Although, being imperfect just makes them look more real! My poor two year old daughter was crying to eat them! lol 

I have a large array of German glass glitter and glass bead samples from my glitter manufacturer that I work with; so I decided to try some of those for the cupcake toppings. They came out super cute!! I especially like the large red silver balls on the blue cupcakes!

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I had so much fun making these, I’ll definately be making more in the future. I have some really cute ideas that I would like to try out; but that would involve buying more supplies. Something I must stop myself from doing for a little while until I clean out this craft room! ;0)

These cupcakes will be up for sale in my new Etsy shop TwiddleLee probably next week. I have another project I’m working on this week to add to the shop too. :) Meanwhile, here’s some cool cupcake photos I found on the web…

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My First Twiddle-Lee Project

February 28th, 2009

I took my new chick make-do pattern and decided to make some fun and funky birds with them. How fun! :0)

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I didn’t even start building the Twiddle-Lee website yet, I wish I could just say “poof” and have it be finished! lol Maybe I’ll start selling the goodies on etsy for now… we’ll see!

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