FOOD.

My parents gave me an older bread machine.

My parents live a healthier life than I do, I guess. They stopped using this old machine. Yay for me! I am loving it.

Breakfast: bread!

Lunch: bread!

Dinner: bread!!!

I have only had it for a week or so and already I already have said the phrase "My pants are so tight, wait...these are my loose pants!" ARGH. That might have something to do with me cutting fat slabs of it and then slathering them with butter and peanut butter for ever meal.

My breads have been quirky. Dude called them artisan bread. I guess I can blame the machine. Its not like *I* had anything to do with it. The machine is an artisan.

I also was handed down this book from my grandfather, which has more hazardous recipes for me to try. I am going to make a bread from each continent.

I laughed at a particular chapter in the book...

What? You need someone to tell you how to slice bread?? You shouldn't handling a knife then, because you obviously have the brain of some sort of chimp.

Then I tried to cut my bread...Pathetic.

I sucked it up and went and read the chapter. I must have chimp brain. My slices were 2 inches thick at one end, and paper thin at the other and the whole loaf look like wolves tore at it.

But it tasted SO GOOD.

*Explodes*

tokidoki overload!

I know I just did a post that consisted entirely of "Look at this stuff I got", and that posts liket hat can come off as obnoxious, but LOOK AT THE STUFF I GOT!

I died of cuteness.

They smell of blueberries. *melts*

And this little thingamabobber.

Its the softest thing ever. I am having a hard time even touching this kabuki to makeup, I want to save it and pet it. :-)

These items were ordered from Sephora online, after my fruitless visit to the downtown Sephora left me heartbroken, as they didn't carry the tokidoki line (yet?) I wanted more things as well, but a few days into the release, some things were already sold out! 

Gawd, its cute! The packaging destroys me. I would buy it if it had a lump of coal in that box.

Thing photos.

Things from Easter weekend...

Ok, now back to work.

FOX!

This may be one of the cutest things I have ever made. I just think it came out really well.

Lil Fox!

Photographing him was difficult, I couldn't get really get the angles I wanted. On inspection I should have faced my photo studio differently so the light was on the opposite side... He turns to the side a bit, with one arm a bit higher than the other. It gives him a natural "good side."

He is stereotypically cute, with his little beady black glass eyes. He is remarkably not quirky, he looks like a real little stuffed animal. I think making the legs grey wool was a good idea. I mean, I think the cutest part of a fox are his black legs! The backs of his ears are also grey.

He is for sale at blackforestcake.etsy.com

I am going to give my hands a rest after sewing for a few days. They always get pretty beat up from wool, which my skin finds irritating. I think once they heal up a bit, I will use this fox pattern for other animals. Maybe after Easter.

Off to eat a cadbury creme egg now. :-)

A few new things

I have listed a few new items today!

A super lady-like cat doll.

I struggled with deciding which of my Etsy shops she should be listed in. She is definitely sugary sweet and an animal (blackforestcake?) but she also is similar to cats I have sold in the past (blacklilypie?) I suppose it doesn't really matter.

I also listed a weird little rabbit...

The little circles of grey behind his eyes instantly turn him from "cute rabbit" to "Tim Burton inspired creepy rabbit." Haha. Such a small thing. They give him sort of a skull like face. He is a test of a new pattern, really. I haven't decided if I will be making more of his type of doll yet...Probably!

I also added this:

A cat face chalkboard.

This item has been hanging out in my studio for QUITE some time. I finally decided to make a "Scratch and Dent" section at blackforestcake, for projects with more quirks than others. This blackboard has some scratches on it from my first chalking attempt. (See them?) But thats ok, its still cute and works great!

I am already working on a new tiny fox plush, and have a little glittery fox mobile to Photoshop and list. It must be the Spring that is making me make animals like mad. :-)

New at blackforestcake.etsy.com

Fox! (Of course...)

Party Fox!

The orange felted wool I had in my studio was calling out to be a bright little fox. He is a quirky one, with little green glass eyes and wild whiskers. He is available at my blackforestcake etsy shop, if you want to see more photos of him.

The little felt hat is removable, and the gift box fits overtop of the cake so you can surprise him. the cake is made from paper, modeling paste and sculpey.

This orange is so vibrant it is really hard to photograph. He looks radioactive in some pictures. Haha.

Critter peek!

Back to work!

I am back at it, in my little studio. I am working on a new little critter that will be listed in my blackforestcake Etsy shop.

Here is a little hat that will come with him...Its about 4 inches tall.

Want a bit of a peek at his weird little face? Here you go...

Crazy whiskers!

I don't know exactly when he will be listed, as I have a few other bits and bobs to add to him that are at that *experimental* state where they could go well or go in the bin. :-) Plus its gloomsville outside and that always makes taking photos more of a pain.

I am also working on a DIY purse project that I will post soon. All I will say is *STUDS!*

Little rest

I have been on a little rest this week. I guess you can call it a vacation.

-Looking at stuff. Stuff I like.

-Alice in Wonderland (Seems wrong to punch a mom but I wanted to. SHUSH!)

-wasting time and  slowly running errands

-scouring Winners for purses (I found SO MANY I WANT!)

-buying anime that looks like its for 14 year old goth girls

-eating burritos and BBQ at hipster joints

-shopping for running shoes I might actually run in. (Maybe.)

-getting my health card updated and signing up to donate my tissue and organs to transplant patients and misc. SCIENCE research.

-visiting asian supermarkets (LOVE.)

-being out of my studio for a change

The weather has been crazy nice for this time of year. Perfect to recharge my batteries.

Newness

New blog layout!

I get bored of looking at the same old thing. I always start to say to myself "What was I thinking when I designed this?" 

I am still working out some of the quirky bits, and need to make a few more graphics...

I think I like it.

:-)

I have the touch. Of death.

My baby is sick!

(Ok, more accurately, my baby is DEAD. Hows that for overdramatic. DEAD BABY!!)

So life has been a freaking bowl full of cherries for me lately. 

1. Jury Duty. Yes, it actually happens in real life. I had to waste a week of my time sitting around waiting to be chosen for a jury. In no way do I think being on a jury is a waste of time. If I was chosen I would take it very seriously. BUT I wouldn't be chosen. I have pink hair, am hard to pin down on what my opinions would be by what I look like or what my job is, and I am self employed and wouldn't get paid while the trial was on.  So I just sit in limbo for a week. P.S. The Toronto courthouse is kind of a dump.

2. Hard drive on netbook died. It just gave it up and is basically a super expensive trivet now. I was using it, I killed it. I blame Twitter. it was also just a baby, like 6 months old or something.

3. My iMac DIES!!!!!!!

AHHH!

My BABY!

ARGH!

Nothing could revive it. Eventually had to go to the Apple store for some nerd love. Hard drive is being replaced as I write this. At considerable cost. CONSIDERABLE.

So two hard drive failures in three days? Awesome luck all around. Thankfully, I have *most* of my stuff backed up on an external drive, but I did loose tons of photos, my itunes library, email archives, and an awesome vector project that I had worked on for days and days. Probably other stuff but I don't even want to think about it...

So basically if anything else goes wrong at all, ANYTHING at all, I am basically going to go nuclear and destroy the earth.

Both my Etsy shops are closed until my iMac comes home with its organ transplant, and I reinstall everything and all that nonsense. 

Sad Mac. :-(

Invisible threads

Here are some photos of one of the projects I have been working on lately...

Mobile with black sparkle hearts.

I have never had so much trouble photographing something. EVER! I mean, its made from INVISIBLE THREAD. And black sparkles are no picnic to photo either. Plus it spins and sways constantly. YEESH. Even though its terrible to capture, I am actually quite happy with it.  I have a mobile hanging in my kitchen (Its bats, from a Martha Stewart halloween project pattern) and I love it...

I haven't listed this in my Etsy shop yet, as I think it needs a new photo session, and I may as well wait until some of the other mobiles I am currently finishing up are ready to be photographed. 

There are sparkles on EVERYTHING!!

Messing around

Decided to start some new little projects today, as I wasn't feeling the paintings I had started.

What could this black bat shape be for? hmmm?

I have been off to a slow start this year with completing projects. I start them then I hate them. Its so easy to get distracted. But when I am laying in bed thinking a project, and I can't stop and go to sleep, like I was last night, I know I am on the right track.

Oh, did you see my bobcat print? Its listed at blackforestcake. I think I see many more animal paintings in my future. I want to to do a wolf next. That will be challenging...

But right now, its Friday, and I have to go and play Mini Ninjas. (I spend a lot of time awwing over turning into foxes and raccoon dogs!)

Blackforestcake!

This little raccoon was just added to my Blackforestcake shop!

He's waving.

My parents found this amazing wool, which I think was intended for clothing production. May mens suiting or coats... It probably is vintage actually, but I guess I can't say that unless I actually know...but I bet it is.

This wool is perfect for critters! Its so sad that I can only make a few of them then its gone forever. SIGH.

When people touch this raccoon in real life, the first thing they say is "Wow, He is sturdy!" That sturdiness is why sewing felt dolls is only an intermittent thing for me. Its tough! :-)

More critters listed tomorrow I think...

Blackforestcake

I made a new little print available at my "cute shop" blackforestcake!

Little squirrel having a lunch break.

I did this painting before the Holiday madness set in, and its been sitting around my studio. I am varnishing the original today, and depending on how it turns out, I may sell it too. :-)

I am having a hard time getting back into my normal routine because something is going on with the heat in my studio. Its not broken, but its not working either! I am usually always complaining about being cold, but it is actually cold in here this time. The heat is cranked up and the heaters are merely warm.  My apartment building is really old and has no insulation.

Its making me grumpy. Grumpier than usual!!

P.S. Tomorrow is photo day for the wool critters I made before Christmas.

See ya 2009...

Not going to sugar coat it. 2009 was a crapfest.

I usually don't care about the New Year, much like I don't care about birthdays or anniversaries. This year I feel different, like I can't wait for 2009 to bite it. It was terrible.

You can't have really good years without bad ones, right?

So see you in 2010. I hope it will be a totally different kind of year than 2009, and bad or good, at least its will be new.

Look at this!

Prezzies!
Originally uploaded by Kyestera

Hey guys, do do remember a sneak peek I did a while ago with a picture of a sock creature? Here he is completed and at his new home! Thanks for posting pics of him L! :-)

He was a birthday git for an awesome friend. For a while he was lost in the mail, I was scared he had escaped.

So is he a cat, or is he a monster? Who knows...

Peek!

Sneaky peek!

New stuffed wool guys, sitting in a box, waiting for their makeup and accessories!

Orange Cat is a gift, but the others will be in the shop in the New Year.

Keeping busy. :-)

Holiday!

Its that time of year!

Both my Etsy Shops (blacklilypie and blackforestcake) are closed until after Christmas!

I closed earlier than many other shops chose to this year. I think its the right decision for me, but it feels very strange to have complete freedom. Its weird to not get so much email. haha

Right now is kind of a prep period before the New Year when I think a few changes will take place.

I am going to be posting some progress of new projects and items that will be ready in the New Year, hope you come by to see.

Rocko the Cat

Rocko the Cat learned a new trick. He has decided he no longer meows, he just squeaks.

This is amusing because he is a massive fat man cat.

Fearsome, no?

Happy Friday the 13th. :-)

Christmas already?

I am so not in the Christmas mood yet, but I am actually late on all my Christmas items this year! Being a Canadian selling mostly to Americans and overseas, means Christmas is actually super close!! Eeep.

Hope this isn't a sign of how this Holiday Season is going to unfold. Must organize!

I put the Spooky Christmas Pin Set back in my shop.

I often get a request for it about this time of year and go "Oh yeah!" to myself...

I also made two sets of gift tag stickers this year from previous years illustrations.

In an effort to make them as affordable as possible, I chose to laser print them this year on glossy sticker paper and they came out great. I wanted to do a bigger set, because everyone hates scrambling for labels while you are wrapping. There are 28 stickers in each set.

Spooky but subtle.

You could use them on Grannies gift and she would be ok with it, right?

And a "Bad Cat" set for my second shop, Blackforestcake.

I am not sure if I will do any more "Christmas" themed items this year. That might be it. Unless the Holiday spirit somehow infects me. ;-) You never know, I am already dying to bake Christmas cookies and cakes and cupcakes...But I have to wait, as I still have Halloween baked goods!!

Tonight I am off to see AFI and Gallows. Um YAY! Hopefully everyone is 15 and short so I can see something. *Off to find tallest boots I own.*