My Daughter is Spoiled, and She's Not Even Born Yet!

  I know, I've been missing from this blog for awhile - it'll be this way over the next month as well, with life being hectic.

  Just checking in to share pics of the adorable outfits gifted to my daughter at my baby shower this past Sunday.  (Please excuse the quality - the weather kept changing: sunny, rainy, overcast, sorta-sunny, etc.)

  Not only will my baby girl be the best-dressed kid ever, but there are a ton of inspiring patterns and colours in these sweet outfits - gotta get creating some new jewelry designs (however, that'll have to wait until renos are done in our upstairs bedrooms...)

  Anyways, on to the cute!

Hello, Miss Piggy!
(By the way, my mom made the adorable floral dress in the upper right corner!)

Here we have rainbow, houndstooth, camo, and all kinds of adorable!

Check out the bright animal prints - can't wait to dress her in these!  Also, gotta love Minnie Mouse!

Here we have some sweet Disney goodies, and then the talent portion of this post:  the sweet grey cardigan and hat set was knit by my youngest brother's girlfriend, Becky; the purple blanket was made by my sister-in-law, Katie; and the sweet lamb-eared bonnet and the purple/grey hat were crocheted by miss Tamsin of BF Crochet Creations!  (She even hand-spun the yarn for the little hat!)

Yes, that is a diaper cake (with other goodies inside too!), made by my aunt Jane (the bibs on the lower right were also made by her!).
Isn't that penguin outfit too cute??
Also, that bunny, and that teddy bear - softest things EVER!

I can't wait to hold my little princess while she's wearing that cuddly pink sleeper in the upper left corner!
Also, that book is the sweetest thing ever - it's pages of babies dressed as fairy tale characters!
How cute are these outfits???

I'm in pink heaven!  (Not to mention the sweet cupcake and cherry prints on these onesies!)
Check out that little yellow ensemble - too cute!
(More on the jailbird set in the next pic!)

How adorable is this hat and bib set???
Friends of ours went to Alcatraz, and brought our baby back the cutest souvenir!
I'm thinking this is the perfect birth announcement outfit - she finally got out after 9 months on the inside! :)

Check out the adorable outfits, and all of those tiny socks!  (Those pink raccoons!)
I'm also in love with the little headbands!

The blanket and pillow set in the foreground are SO SOFT!!!  Like, I want to wrap myself in the blanket and live in it forever!

Isn't this the sweetest photo frame and album set?
I'll be putting the frame on her dresser in the nursery with our first family photo!

Last but not least, these adorable outfits - how sweet is that floral hoodie?!
And, of course, I'm loving the nautical cardigan!
That CD at the bottom?  That is our daughter's first CD, and I'm proud to say, it's a Metallica lullaby CD.  Yes, that is Metallica songs as lullabies.  And yes, I'm super excited about this!!!

There were several other amazing gifts - essentials such as diapers and wipes, some cool useful nursery items, and, of course, our daughter's first car, a little tikes Cozy Coupe!  I can't even begin to thank everyone for everything - the baby shower was great, and I can't wait until our baby girl can meet all of these amazing people who adore her already!

Creativity Out of the Art Room

Creativity doesn't have to mean just working on an art/craft project. It's in music, in writing, in dancing, photography, in the kitchen. Let's be honest, it's bigger than that: It's the way you decide to dress yourself, or do your hair or makeup. The way you sign your name, or the doodles you absentmindedly draw on scrap paper when you're talking on the phone. (some people still use the phone, right?)

A few weeks ago, I had some fun in the kitchen baking cookies for a fundraiser at work. Nothing fancy, but the colors of the frosting really made me smile. It was the first time using one of the cookie cutters from my Wilton Mickey Mouse set.(I do not own Mickey Mouse, Disney does - I'm not worthy!)

If anyone's curious, I used this recipe for the sugar cookies, and this one for the frosting. (I needed a frosting that dried hard and glossy, so I could package up the cookies.)  They were delicious!

  Next, I did some "photography" in my back yard.  I needed a pretty new cover photo for my facebook, and this pretty tree was briefly in bloom:

Of course, the best thing I've ever created is the little girl growing inside me right now! :)  This project is a collaboration ;)

You can't see her legs, but they're up and crossed.  She was active during the whole ultrasound, so it took awhile to get certain photos!

Here she is with her fist at her mouth (the rest of her hand is out of focus here, but we got to watch her - everything is where it should be!)

Lastly, one of her feet.  I can't wait to take my little lady shoe shopping!  (When she's a bit older, of course!!)

  We revealed our baby's gender at a BBQ on the weekend, and that was the last of the events planned for a little while.  That means things should start to wind down on the home front, aside from preparing our home to welcome our baby girl in the Fall, so I'll be able to devote more time to the earrings I've started working on (stay tuned for pics!)  Work is about to get hectic for a month or two, as everyone takes holidays in the summer but me, so I'm hoping I'll be able to manage my time!
 Hope everyone is enjoying the summery weather!

Did a Little Shopping Yesterday...

I notice that many people post their shopping hauls on youtube, tumblr, blogs, etc.
I was lucky enough to receive a $100 Michaels gift card for my birthday two weeks ago (thanks Mom and Dad!!), so I thought I'd show off my haul (I didn't even spend half of the card, woohoo!)

I got mega ribbon for hair bows, etc., neon paints (because I'm so into neon...just like I was 20 years ago!), some wooden shapes to paint for necklaces and earrings, some mod podge dimmensional magic to give my paper quilled jewelry a shiny finish, and a jewlery resin kit - which was on clearance, and since I'd been dying to give resin a try, this is the perfect opportunity!

Close-up of the cute ribbons, and the neon paints.

Can't wait to get into this stuff, but it'll have to wait, as I've got my Grandparents' anniversary party this weekend - can't wait!

One more thing to share - the beautiful, delicious-smelling tree that grows next to my front porch. I have no clue about gardening, plants, etc, so no idea what exactly this is, but it's BEAUTIFUL!

Here's hoping the rest of the summer is as bright and colorful!

PS - Michaels isn't paying me to show off their stuff...though if they ever want to... ;)

Drawing Inspiration From The Past

  I'm inspired by so many things.  In fact, I could probably take inspiration from almost ANYTHING, especially if my mind is open enough to being inspired at that moment.
  In the last several years, though, my main inspirations have been colour (the brighter the better!), the Japanese pop, lolita, and visual kei movements & cute "kawaii" toys and things, and the 80's & 90's (my childhood).
  I'd like to talk about going back to the past, and drawing inspiration from that.
  I have a youtube playlist full of 80's commercials that, when I close my eyes, I can imagine I'm back there, my hometown looking the way it did then, myself having no cares but which neighbourhood park I wanted to play in, the (amazing) music that played on the radio, and the smells of the perfumes, shampoos, candy, and scratch 'n' sniff stickers we had back then.
  I was actually thinking in the shower last night, how I missed the smell of Revlon's Flex shampoo, and LA Looks shampoo.  That got me to thinking of Malibu perfume, and Exclamnation, and, my personal favourite that I'd give anything to smell again (and hey, Amazon has it!!!), Cover Girl's Navy perfume!  Ooh, and Maybelline's Kissin' Coolers  - particularily watermelon flavour!  I can almost smell it now!
  I thought I'd share my two "blast from the past" pinboards (and my truly outrageous Jem pinboard!), so you can see what I loved so much about the 80's and (early) 90's!
 
 
 

I Draw, Too

   ...In fact, drawing has always been my first love.  Ever since I could hold a crayon, I've been filling up notebooks, and pieces of paper with doodles and designs.
  For the longest time, I had planned on studying fashion design in Paris, and being a famous fashion designer.  Of course, once I got nearer college-age, I decided that the fashion world was pretentious, and I could never justify charging $1000 for a tee shirt.  (Had I known, at the time, that the internet was going to be a big thing, and places like etsy would be available for me to maybe be successful in my own private label, maybe I would have gone to a more local college's design program, but I digress.)
  To be honest, sewing and draping isn't my thing.  I love to design, to put it on paper, to DRAW.  No formal training, no real technique.  I'm not really all that good at all, if you're looking for rules to be followed (light and shading...huh?)
  Know what I've noticed, though?  Once I realized that I didn't follow any rules, that I had no technique, I kinda stopped churning out drawings every single day, like I used to.  I'm not as creative as I once was, even with my handmade craft, for the same reason.  I just need to DO and not THINK!  (Something I must tell myself in many aspects of my life.)  The internet allows me to share my creativity with others, and allows me to enjoy the amazing things others create...but it's also overloaded me, and given me sort of an inferiority complex, and I plan to erradicate that asap!
  A great place to discover and share visual artwork of any kind, is deviantArt.  Here's the link to my account: http://roxyguitarz.deviantart.com/  (Yes, my username is roxyguitarz...as in Roxy from the Misfits, from Jem and the Holograms).  I started there in 2007, and went strong, submitting all the time for a few years, and then my submissions eventually became few and far between.  I submitted drawings, jewelry, crafts, and even my couple of attempts at digital art.  I've met some great artists, great PEOPLE, on dA, and I encourage you to explore the site and enjoy the art, all skill levels, all genres, all types of people, just doing what they love.
  If you, dear reader, dabble in arts and/or crafts, I encourage you to share your work on deviantArt - it's so easy!  (I warn you, though, it's addictive!)

Here are a few galleries I recommend, of some deviants I've met along the way!
myroski
amjara
foozma73
zombietastic
blue-willow
myntkat
jerzee-girl

Please explore the site, and find some favourite artists of your own.  If you'd just like to "collect" your favourite artworks but don't want to post any work of your own, you can become a member, and simply add the work you love to your "favourites", and even organize it by genre, artist, or however you'd like!

It would be silly of me to make a post about drawings without a single image in it.  So, though there's much more on my deviantArt page, here's a sampling of some of my drawings through the years...

(Okay, so technically this last one is a painting...but I drew it out before painting it, so it counts!)

Loving BF Crochet Creations

  If you love beautiful, intricate, BREATHTAKING - not to mention soft and cozy - wardrobe accessories, then I must direct you to the blog of a very talented (and smart and beautiful to boot!) friend of mine: http://bfcrochet.blogspot.ca/   (Seriously, click it - not only is she talented, but she's hillarious.  I never thought a mission to organize one's craft stash could be so entertaining!)

  Tamsin TAUGHT HERSELF how to crochet, and not all that long ago, either!  (And for someone like moi, who has tried and failed at crochet and knitting - I just don't have the knack - this is a HUGE deal!)   
   She works mostly in luxury yarns (and she has a knack for selecting the most beautiful color-ways), and designs all of her grogeous creations.  Soon, she'll even be making her patterns available for anyone to purchase, and create in their own favourite yarns!

  I'm actually writing this post wrapped up in a beautiful, cozy throw that Tamsin made my husband and I for our wedding gift!   She also made my garter!  (That's Tamsin's hand, she was fitting the garter on my leg, deciding where to finish it off.  Yes, those are skulls.  Yes, she's THAT awesome!!!)

   Here's a photo of Loki, master of the house, having claimed the beautiful starburst throw Tamsin made my husband and I.  Sadly, it doesn't come close to showing off the blanket in the LEAST, but it does prove that it's loved!  (I have to steal it back every night, or at least wriggle myself carefully under a section...)  Also, yes, it's sparkly!

  THIS is the gorgeous shawl Tamsin made me for my last birthday.  I had snapped a photo of myself wearing it as a cowl that I was sure was on my laptop, or saved on a flash drive, but I can't find it ANYWHERE!  A shot of it on my dining room table will have to do, and this photo doesn't do it justice in the least.  The colors are WAY more intense, they practically GLOW!

Edit: found the photo of myself wearing my shawl like a cowl...

  It was Tamsin's jump into blogging (and a facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/tamsinjuby ), that inspired me to start taking more creative time for myself, and to share it with the world again.  Look out for some collaborations in the near future, too - we've got things in the works!

  Follow her blog and/or her facebook fanpage to see her latest creations (and contact her about purchasing), read her entertaining anecdotes, and just be inspired by the beauty that can come from two hands and a crochet hook!