Canada Day

It was Canada Day weekend, and my parents came to visit.

And of course a bloody HEAT WAVE struck. Like, a terrible, horrible sweaty muggy heatwave, had the nerve to during their trip.

We went to to see the Doré exhibit at The National Gallery of Canada. Which was interesting, but mildly disappointing personally because I had confused him with another artist in my mind. Like getting chocolate when you wanted vanilla really. You can't ever really complain about seeing AMAZING art. In my opinion Doré's best work is this:

SO CUTE. Like the angels and demons are cool and all but awwwwww.

So mostly we spent the weekend eating, sweating then eating again. I don't get to see my parents very often, we mostly just wanted to hang out so we could compare what british shows we have watched. (My mom didn't like SHERLOCKKKKK! *internaly weeping and judging*)

We did do some Canadian stuff. We touched beach, saw people doing extreme water sports things.

We bought beer, saw lakes and trees and ugly tent caterpillars.

But maybe the best part was when it was too hot to do anything, we just got in the car and drove, and ended up on the top of Champlain Lookout in Gatineau Park, we got there as a storm was blowing past and it was crazy neat.

Seriously cool. There was a tornado somewhere in the area that wrecked a bunch of things, we found out later. 

All the pics and driving were done by Nathan, who I told I would credit for his hard work because its not cool to steal content. haha. Plus he is better at taking pictures. All the ones I took of this amazing storm are pathetic.

My parents slept in my cramped studio with all my prettyboy Supernatural pin ups and half finished projects. They never, ever complain, and they always buy extra ice cream "JUST IN CASE." :-) Ugh so cute.

But this blog post is the final step before getting back to work, so I am trying to drag it out for as long as possible..................

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Papier Mache Bat with Donut

That damn bat just stole my donut.

I just finished and listed this papier mache bat with a wire skeleton. The donut (and his feet) are hinged to his body, so it kind of swings back and forth.

Here are some process photos...

My super elaborate idea sketch. Hahaha.

I really should have taken one at the skeleton stage, but anyway...Here is his unpainted body when I was adding the feet. I Added another few layers of papier mache and then sanded it.

Base coats.

I drew his face with a pigment liner then put a coat of white overtop for there is just a faint guide to paint from. 

I think this is almost the completed face. I used like, the tiniest brush I had, and then cut most of the bristles off to make it tinier. Then sealed it with varnish before doing the rest of the sculpture. 

The wings I gave a weird crack/resist effect. You only get one shot at it! Painting over a wet layer, so it kind of breaks and resists the paint as the bottom layer dries. Also because he is not flat I basically had to do each wing segment at a time so it wouldn't all run everywhere. Lots of interesting imperfections.

The donut looks pretty good in real life. Adding a few coats of gloss always helps food art. heh heh.

He hangs from an invisible wire that attached to his wing tops. I designed him to be viewable from all sides, so you could hang him from a ceiling.

Its always fun to make these papier mache work, but it takes FOREVERRRR because you have to wait for each coat of stuff to dry. Like,  this was hanging around for weeks. Turned out cute in the end though. He is here.

I want a donut.

Its 2014?! Why didn't you tell me!

Ok, so its been a year since I posted anything. Heheheheheeh *nervous laughter*

But I decided to start it up again, because I am working on rebranding a lot of my stuff and a blog just fits better now. 

I *just* made a new little hub website. Live today.

Blacklilypie.com had been pointing to my etsy shop for a few years now. It was just the easiest way to show people what I do. But recently I have been doing work for selling on sites like redbubble and society6, so I thought, I should make the website I should have had for years now. 

So I made my website in an afteroon. It is pretty much the most basic of sites that an 8 year old who wanted to get into web design would make, but its functional. Its probably only a temporary one that will be replaced with a serious bizznas one with an incorporated shop someday, but not this day.

So the blog is starting up again, I will probably be posting lots of work in progress pictures, shop updates, sprinkled with instagram pics of cats, Ottawa stuff, and me doing a derp face.

So hi.

Some new stuff at Redbubble

Added some new items to my Redbubble recently.

If you don't already know, Redbubble is a print on demand site. How it works is: I upload designs, and when someone buys it,  they are printed and shipped directly to the person who purchased them.

Strawberry Tea at Redbubble

This lil teapot is actually from a digital download set I did for my cutesy Etsy shop. I just changed some  colours and added a few bits. I think the patterns came out well.

Kitten Thoughts at Redbubble

Cats are probably hating on your right now. Even the sweet ones.

I first did this little guy with no knife in his mouth. I think he might get a few other weapons......heh heh  

Digital Downloads

I have had a second Etsy shop since 2009, it was a place for my sweeter creations. I sometimes make cute animal things, kid friendly things, and its kind of hard to showcase those type of items in a shop with my regular coffins and vampire items.

This year, I only had a few items in my cute store, so I decided to test out Etsy's new-ish feature that allows you to sell digital items. Like, knitting patterns, design work or printable/digital scrapbook items. I often get messages from people who want to use my work for other purposes (wedding invites, birthday cards, etc) so why not?

DON'T FREAK OUT. This stuff is pretty cutesy. Its just a sideline, its not a total personality shift or something, haha.

Strawberry Tea Set

So for a few dollars, you can download a ZIP file of a bunch of high quality images for use in any of your personal projects. This was the first one I did. Its the closest to my regular colour preferences...You get a bunch of super clean PNG files with transparent backgrounds, repeating wallpapers, printable posters and also JPEG copies of everything.

Fox Party

I updated this older set of illustrations so they could be blown up large and still be smooth. I want a fox party!

This is a combo of Clipart Cat Faces and Printable Label / Bookplates

See? Pretty kid friendly stuff. Not that I know anything about kids or being friendly... 

Lastly, I made a printable Bat Garland! 

A few different colour combinations of a nice bat, and printable pages with directions for cutting and stringing them.

Doing digital-only work has been a nice change. I think it gives me space between making physical items to relax and just work without struggling or problem solving too strenuously. 

My next post will have some of my less sweet work I have been updating my Redbubble with.

Art Doll - Blue Cat

I thought it would be interesting to paint a doll before sewing it. This is my little test guy.

I made a rough pattern out of paper first, then traced it on the fabric. This would be the basic ink outline. I didn't really plan what he would end up looking like,  this was more of a "figure out how this is going to work" scenario.

I mixed my acrylic with fabric medium, so when it was complete I would be able to heat set it.

I found that I had to build up layers so it wouldn't all run together in a soggy mess (although sometimes that is EXACTLY what looks the best.) I did thin washes and spatters, blasted them with my dryer (which I always use when I paint) And slowly built up this little guy's face.

After painting all the parts, and heat setting them with an iron,  I cut them out with a seam allowance. Then I used a piece of black cotton the same size and sewed alone the outline with right sides facing each other. Get it? 

I left the toes and wrists open and added little hands and toenails. Then stuffed it.

I initially was going to have the limbs be fixed to the body but I thought it would be nice if he could sit or hang out like a cool cat. So I attached the limbs with thread, kind of like you attach a button to a shirt.

I think he turned out quite good for a test run! His feet are my favorite part.

Little Blue Cat is available in my Etsy Shop right now. I am planning to make a few more critters now with this format, its a nice combo of painting and sewing for me.

Makes you late for dinner.

I haven't been drawing much, because sitting in a chair makes my back hurt. Which is a pretty serious concern for someone who sits at the computer or sits at the sewing machine, or sits at a drawing table all day.

I think I prematurely aged.  Possibly going to be one of those "Ow my back" people for life now. Its really helping my cheer levels, which were pretty high to begin with. *Sarcasm chasm, watch out*

I think I am on the mend though. I completed this. (For no discernable reason...)

The Hobbit is so cute. Re-watching it, I still think its cute. All the characters are cute. All the actors are cute. Ugh, Bilbo's house is so dang cuute. The movie has no women in it, which is terribly UNCUTE, but other than that problematic crap...CUTE.  Should have put off seeing it until all three movies were finished, though. Waiting is the worst.

As for the comic, I know its a popular act on tumblr to be like "Oh, I hate people, I just need my computers heat for love" but seriously, that is me. This comic isn't an exaggeration. Everyone, you are nice and lovely and I might even like you, but I want you to GO AWAY.  Even if you are an amazing wizard and offering the adventure of a lifetime..Nahhhh.

Heat Transfer Patches

I had some heat transfer paper squirrelled away, and I decided on a whim to try to make some heat transfer things.

I took a bunch of images I had created lately and printed them on the inkjet transfer sheets. I had a few Dark T-shirt sheets, and a few Light T-shirt ones. I generally like the Dark T-shirt ones better because I use a lot of dark fabric, and I like pressing it onto black cotton. But the Light T-shirt ones work well for certain images. It was also way easier to press with the iron and peel the backing paper off.

Tip: Make sure you use a de-fuzzing sticky roller or something to remove fluff from the fabric before ironing. Even the most microscopic bit of fuzz will be super visible on the white parts of the image after you iron it. Go crazy on the fabric and brush off the transfer with a dry paintbrush.

I thought I would include some pics of my horrible failures. You know, so you can feel better about yourself. I mixed up The Dark and Light T-shirt transfers when pressing them, and since they have different processes, this happened. That black and white teapot is part of the disaster sheet.

The full page tea set was going to be a zipper pouch, but I neglected to remember that after sewing a zipper pouch, you press it flat, and you cannot iron a transfer once its set on paper. So...I am going to make something else with the tea set. Appliques probably.

So once the transfer was on fabric, I backed it in black cotton and zig zag stitched around the outside. My early 2000's Singer did not like to do this at all. But my early 1970's Singer just breezes through.

I made a few, photographed them and listed a couple of them in my Etsy Shop. I am keeping the "1st Place in Disinterest" for my own jacket, because I try not to care about things that are stupid. Its a lifestyle.

So I guess the experiment was a partial success. The images look crisp and they are nice and flexible. I still think this counts as a "test batch" though as none of them are quite perfect. 

Heat transfers are fussy, and its easy to mess up, and every time I make a project with them there are some failures. So if you try it, and royally screw up some images, just remember this post and then immediately go and eat a cookie.

Farm!

After my bro's mini-wedding, I got to stop by my friends farm!

I just have two words to say: Goat baby.

Argh! So cute, I can't handle this shit. She was so light and small. Her name is Fiona, she is a Nubian (I say like I actually know anything about goats...) Go here to see a post about her birth and more pics of her.
Her interests include: Wearing a little coat and making people baby talk like fools.

She's only a day or so old, and so sleepy and pliable, it was hard to not be a bit grossed out by her sweet little face. She was shivering from the horrible Canadian cold, so right after this she was taken out of the barn and brought to cuddle on a warm lap inside the house.

I also got a sneak peek at the goat's milk soap curing on the rack.

Smelled so good in there. This is all spoken for. There is a waiting list. This small business is growing fast.

But the soap maker/farm boss is my best friend so I always skip the line. Aw yiss.

This has been a "good feelings" post by Tara.

Unexpected Wedding

My younger brother got married, pretty much as a surprise.

I don't care about weddings. They aren't my thing. The idea of getting married is a nightmare, not a dream to me. But this might be the the closest I have ever came to understanding the appeal.

This couple has a decade of good times, two cute kids, so they are already a family. This is just a little symbol that puts a bow on top of that. It was so uncomplicated and so them. Just show up, say nice things, kiss then go out for dinner. Fifteen people and no accessories.

Just putting this post out there into the universe, hoping more people will just do this in the future. It is ok to just get married, you don't have to have a wedding.

I Quit Quitting.

Wait...What?

I stopped posting in this blog a year ago. I was sort of over blogging I think. Blogging burnout is something I see a lot of people get. It is supposed to be fun to write about things you enjoy,  and after a while always being positive or creative can get to be a drag. (Plus I was totally sucking at it.)

Things change.

Real life things happen, good and bad, they change you a bit at a time. Your interests shift, your style (art and personal) shifts with it. I just can't understand how people eat the same breakfast every morning!

I still get hits and comments on old posts on this blog. I still get nice messages and not-so-nice messages. I just thought "Why not use it again? Why not tell the internet useless stuff." Admittedly, I have no real plan for what will end up here, but I can guess that it will still be a place to dump photos of things I make, studio shots and painting progress pics.

If you read my blog before, I warn you I think I might be a bit less sweet, and a bit more ok with not being sweet. There are 10,000 "positive crafty girl with retro glasses and pink hair"blogs,  and that just isn't quite me. Yeah I went to art school and I have pink hair, but UGH, enough with that shit.

I still draw batcat. Some things don't change.

Bored!

Blogging is boring.

Blogag is blooging.

Really, this blog has been dead for a bit. I always thought "I'll start up again..." but then I remembered it was like work.

So this blog is dead.

Been toying with the idea of adding junk to my tumblr, maybe actually reblogging something someday, but that is probably also one of those idle threats.

I was going to delete this blog, but its less work to just not do anything.

Bye!