Matting like Mad

Its really hard to deny that matting things makes them SO much better looking. I matted two tiny little paintings and they came out pretty cute.

A little acrylic painting on watercolour paper. I haven't even listed it on Etsy yet (Update: Now its is)...I hope people out there like the messy acrylic edges as much as I do. Its funny how hard I work on that to make it look so accidental and random.

And a little Batcat painting. Batcat and the Night Pond. I don't know if I would even sell something like this if it wasn't matted. Its really strange how it changes from "Meh, its ok I guess" to "aww, its so cute!" as soon as I pop it in a mat. I might even try and make a print the exact same size to sell later on in the shop.

I still haven't finished photographing all my silk screened stuff. I am such a procrastinator!

Oh, and here is one more little addition to the shop. Its a little bat!

It was gloomy when I photographed this little guy, so the photos were kind of crappy, but he is really cute in real life. Yes, boy bats can have blush and pink wings. I don't think I will be making any bats for a while. So enjoy this little face while it lasts! :-)

Now, what else can I mat today? *Looks around* haha.

Matted Prints!

Being a DIY person, I sometimes forget people don't like to do it themselves. Or can't. Or won't. Matting stuff is one of those things that people mean to do, but never get around to...

Starting today, I am offering matted prints that fit into store bought frames. You just pop it in and its ready to roll.

I think I may eventually stop selling prints on their own with no mat. I just like the delivery of a finished product better. Its such a nice little package. And it safer, less likely to be damaged, and a better gift. Its just better! BETTER!

In other news, a miraculous thing occurred! Rocko the Cat actually sat in his cat bed!! This may not seem newsworthy, but indeed it IS. Rocko is a jerk who hates anything he is supposed to like.

I always try and shove his fat little body into this thing, but he jumps out of it like its made of fire. He would rather try and sleep in my photography light box or lumpy electric cords. But finally, in secret, he went into it!

HAHA. Photographic evidence that I rule. I put it on the table that sits in front of our window and he sat in it and watched birds. See him lick those little black lips?

As soon as I took these pictures he ran out of it. He doesn't like to be shamed on the internet.

Feels like Monday...

After the dullest long weekend ever, I am feeling surprisingly upbeat.

Do you remember this?

It became this...

She is available as a print in my shop.

Its nice when a painting comes out easily. There was very little smudges, flubs, things I would remind myself to Photoshop out. The print is basically the same as the original, which is rare. I think knowing this wasy a pointless painting of a girl, with no rules, and no one to please, just made it more fun. I even left her eyes white the way I always want to, knowing most people feel differently than I do about it.

Haven't decided if I am going to sell the original yet. Probably. I think I would want to mat it myself.

So on this "Monday" after the long weekend, I am working on:
-my new silk screened tote bags! Canvas bags, some natural coloured, some dyed, some embellished....
-resizing prints to fit my new little mats (I hope will arrive today) I always want to control the mat. I would frame it and hang it up in your house if you let me.
-working on new business card design! I can't believe I blew through 1000 business cards already. Time for a change. A glossy, fancy change.
-eating a vegetable.
-trying not to ruin the season finale of House for my dude who hasn't seen it yet.

Let me be truthful.

I totally scrapped my silkscreen!!!! It sucked, it was making me insane, and it was super obvious I made my image too large. I can admit defeat. I restarted on a new little screen, and I know that will make my life less full of rage.

NOW. The weekend!

I traveled "home" for the weekend to see some of my friends wedding. I had an important delivery to make. The cake topper!!

The bride and groom were looking for a topper that was close to their hearts, and they are both huge rat lovers. So plans were made and I got started.

I actually made a little pink prototype first, to make myself a paper pattern. Then I made the white one shown here after learning from the mistakes. I had to back the wool felt with interfacing so it would stand up to being turned and stuffed.

Once I had both made I worked on posing them.

Then I made a base and attached them and their little tails. The most fun part was making the teeny tiny bouquet and other stuff.

And here they are on the cake! I had no idea what the cake was going to look like or how big it was or anything. I think it worked out great.

Here is the happy couple with the cake. I didn't get any fantastic pics of them with the cake, but I am not worried as there were about 200 digital cameras at this wedding and I am sure lots of great photos exist.

The bride gave me a super sweet and totally embarrassing shout out in her thank you speech, which was perfect. How many people get their website pimped out over a loudspeaker?

Here is me and the girls in the bathroom. I am going to pretend that tilt is intentional, and we hadn't drank for 10 hours. :-)

As if all the whole wedding thing wasn't ENOUGH, it was also Mothers day PLUS my dude's birthday! Fit all that into a weekend.

So we squeezed in a night of drinks and videogames until 4am. Ill advised before a wedding, but totally necessary.

So thats it. So much squeezed into three days, on basically no sleep. I am getting too old for this. ;-)

Urge to kill rising.

Ok, as stated in posts before I SUCK at silk screening.

I thought being truthful about it would somehow help me? Maybe I would prove myself wrong and everything would go great!

Nah.



My burn looked good, but then as I clumsily washed it out in my tub, it started to lighten around the edges! I guess this was water causing it to lift? Maybe I hadn't let it burn long enough, maybe my transparency wasn't tight enough to the screen...Anyway, I let it dry, fixed any pinholes, tried a bit of a patch up on some areas and gave it a shot.



ewwww.

I only got one print that wasn't a complete wash.

So I think it has to be redone. Half of the screen prints perfectly, and half is terrible. I think the key to my future success is the way I rinse it out. I was pretty rough and careless, and I think I learned something.

I can say this all calmly now because my insane anger at this screen has worn off and I no longer want to kick it into the sun like the Hulk.

So silk screened totes and tees will have to wait a bit longer.
In the meantime
-I have redesigned my dry erase boards to be WAY cheaper and they can be shipped way cheaper (Yayyy!)
-I have two completed separate wedding projects I can post later on in the week. Cutenesssss. I swear.
-I have some sketches waiting to be made into paintings.


-Oh, and listen to the new NIN album. FREE download! Its should be at the top of the To Do list. Thanks Mr.Reznor, you made my day.