Bad Gnome Busts Gift Guide

 HGTV's design star, the sweet, fun and very original Emily Henderson has added my Mr Bad Gnome mug to her favorite gifts for the holidays.  Emily's online gift catalogue guide went live this morning and let me tell you, it's simply gorgeous!  238 pages of beautiful decorating ideas, great guest blogger posts, DIY ornaments and gift tags, and of course her hand picked best gifts for the holidays. 

My hand drawn gnome mug is featured a few pages into"Emily's faves" portion of the e-mag, page 64.  I'm honored to be amongst several great etsy items and many big brand names in the guide.

These images are my original designs on an up-cycled mug.  For the catalog, I sourced a style of mug I liked so I could make a large set.  It's now on a matte, stone wear mug that looks like something you would find in a gnome's home.  :-)  When you click on the mug image in the catalogue, it takes you to my page with the NEW mug, beautifully photographed by Lee Rog.

This original green mug is still available in my Bliss Forest etsy shop.  After this one sells, I will be offering more of the new design in blue or black ink.  The perfect gift for the grumpy gnome in your life.  

Tea Journal

Tea Journal

A little canvas tea journal that I made earlier. I didn't share it sooner because I don't really like how it came out. But since then, I realize how much I've learned from it.


I really enjoyed the process of making this journal all about tea time. Paint, ink writing, machine stitching, stamping, and some paper collage, buttons, hand stitches, paint pens, on heavy canvas.





I picked a pale color palette, so if I were to do this project over, I would choose richer colors and more variety. It's too pale, lacking depth. I also happened to use cheaper, thinner paints. Now, I prefer to mix these with heavier body paints with more pigment. About 4 hours total to create this little book.

Back cover

Coffee Cozies are Out of This WORLD!!!!

Need a little rocket fuel in your cup? Coffee cozy fans, strap on your seat belts for this journey into bliss space!

You know me, I love to make coffee cozies because I am an art quilter at heart, and I love using those skills to create art for every day objects. Combining my adoration of art quilts and coffee, and my current playful mind space, I bring you space themed coffee cozy series. They make great gifts for those coffee, tea, cocoa drinking friends of yours.

Above: Milky Way Macchiato coffee cozy, named by Facebook fans. Join in the fun at Bliss Monkey Studio fan page on facebook.

Mocha on Mars coffee cozy. Laid flat, you can see more of the quilting, amount of stitch work, and raw edge applique style. Cheers!

Interplanet Janet coffee cozy. Did you grow up with school house rock? If you are like me, you remember those little learning lessons between cartoons on Saturday mornings. In fact, you remember the lovely jingles all TOO well, thus your brain is now full and unable to store anything new.

Cozies currently available in Bliss Monkey Studio shop on Etsy!

Coffee on the mind

Isn't that beautiful? I love it when I order coffee and I get something pretty in my cup. This was NOT my cup, nor my photo, nor have I ever been handed something so elaborate, but a girl can dream, right?

I'm designing a series of coffee and tea charm beads for my Charmish store. There's a long wait between design and having the new goodie in my hot little hand. Sigh. I think I'll go make some tea while I wait.....

Wake Up

Green Dots cup Wrist Warmers found here.
I'm So Green coffee cozy found here. Get green here.


I woke up to the sound of doves outside my bedroom window accompanied by the sound of my Grandmother snoring in the twin bed next to me. The sun would be streaming in around the edges of the pulled shades. I'd lay in bed, smiling to myself, for a few moments before getting up. If I woke early enough, my Papa would still be eating breakfast in the kitchen. I'd slide into the green vinyl seat silently, and he'd look up, pretending to be surprised and say, "THERE's my Leesie!" He always had a cup of coffee, small bowl of cereal and an egg on a muffin. He's fix me whatever I was in the mood for. We'd chat while he read the paper, then off he'd launch into his day of joyfully working outside and in the garage.

And I would start MY day! It was summer in Southern California. The birds were chattering in the side yard, and chirping in the palm tree, the scent of flowers heavy in the morning air. If Iwas able to get dressed without waking Grandma, I could slip outside without wearing sandals. Bare feet on grass, before it got hot out was delicious. I loved being outside while air was still cool in the morning and the ever-present California sun was just rising.

My friends weren't out yet so I had time just to be quiet. I'd walk along the yard, looking at the Bird of Paradise and Lily blooms, and check the Guava plant for fruit big enough to eat. I'd walk through the tunnel of Bougainvillea, touching the thick leaves of the money plant. Maybe Papa would be out back picking oranges to make juice.

I would feel quietly excited that it was summer, that the whole day was laid out before me to be enjoyed, that I had so many fun things to do, that the world was beautiful, that Grandma would soon be up and available to chat with inside, that Papa would be doing many interesting things I could tag along with outside, that I could play with friends. It was summer and the day would be mine!

As an adult, I love thinking back to that time of my life. The summers spent at Grandma and Papa's house, feeling so safe and loved and spoiled "rotten". My dreams often take place in that house. I was a kid, totally confident, happy, safe, with the whole day of fun before me. I like to tap into that feeling before I head into the art studio.

When were you so happy, confident, and relaxed about life? Go into that memory, hold that in your heart and restart your day smiling to yourself.






My new garden companion. Maybe he'll ward off real snails since he's so giant!

Here he is on his dirt mound. I'm hoping to get all this earth green with ground cover. This is a view of the fairy/moomintroll garden that I started two years ago. It's been slow going getting the ground cover to stay in this part of the garden. I think I'll try installing an automatic mist watering system this summer.

Santa brought us that "toad bath". It's turned out to be very handy, because, as you know, toads are incredibly filthy.

Coffee House

These are my new art quilts. They are 8" high and stretched on a wooden frame, ready to hang, and feature a free-motion, quilted steaming mug. Coffee? Tea? What's your pleasure?

Back view.

Lucky 333

I feel like celebrating the 300's. Etsy sale #333 gets a free coffee cozy! Coming right up.............. will you be the lucky one?

(click here to shop if you like)

The kids are back to school this week and I'm stocking up for the big holiday rush. Coffee cozies: new designs and old favorites back in stock. Wrist warmers: never two exactly alike. Show and tell coming soon.

I'm having some wacky issues with Blogger not publishing so I haven't been able to write as much. Hmmmm

xo
Aly

Give Away Celebration!

I'm celebrating the 300's. Be sale #333 in my etsy store, mention this give-away, and get a free coffee cozy of your choosing (any regular cozy).

(check out that sky, will ya? Looks like I photoshopped it..... only wish I were that clever..)

Coffee Monsters

I'm thrilled to find my work in this collection along with some artists i've marked in MY FAV's list! Thanks so much!

Pirata-Girl-Rocks!

This piratica coffee serving set is laiden with hand stitching. One lucky pirate will drag it off to her ship! Destined to be OOAK like my other coffee pot cozies, and comes with two coasters (see my etsy shop for more details). Working with recycled sweaters is fun-warm and wonderfully dense to stitch into.

Oh and folks are asking about the bones. I have a basket of old old old pelican bones from my art grandma's house, and they occasionally make it into one of the photo sessions.

Oregon jokes

Q: How many Oregonians does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Five. One to change the bulb and four more to chase off the Californians who have come up to relate to the experience.

YOU KNOW you are an Oregonian if........

* You've ever ordered a half caff/decaf, nonfat mocha grande with sugar-free cranberry whip (or you know what it is). (Yes!)

* The bride and groom registered at REI. (sport supply store)

* You are amazed at an accurate weather forecast.

* You know more than 10 words to describe a cup of coffee.

* You throw an aluminum can in the trash and feel guilty. (but then we'd take it to the recycling can, wouldn't we? Why waste time feeling just guilty?) :-)

* You use the words 'sun breaks' and know what it means. (Totally!)

* You never go camping without water-proof matches and ponchos. (Oh yea, I've been flooded out on more than one camping trip!)

* You know more people who own boats than air conditioners. (Yes! And the actual wood finish boats too!)

* You only honk your horn if collision is imminent and never for anything else. (We might be quacker backers but we aren't much for honking).

* You consider swimming an indoor sport. (yes! ha ha ha!)

* You consider something a "hill" (not a mountain) if it doesn't have snow on it or has not recently erupted, regardless of its altitude.

* You can't tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai food.(That simply isn't true! We have all those in Eugene and I am addicted to Thai and Korean)