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.  

Handmade High Flying Easter Bunnies

Welcome Spring. Bunnies are happily hopping out of the studio and to their new homes. I have a good supply in stock for Easter shoppers.

Not only are they hand made with love, but I test each and every one for his/her high flying ability. High jumps are a must when it comes to Bliss Forest bunnies! Made for cuddles, tough enough for action! Speaking of tough, the newest addition to the bunny line, is the blue ninja bunny- ready to raid the cookie jar.

Chocolate Bunny Valentine VS Undead Delivery!

A new batch of chocolate heart bunnies have just hopped into the studio for Valentine's day.

Wouldn't your sweetie just love this all wrapped up cute and delivered to their work place?

Or think ahead to Easter?

Just remember to add the delivery address during the transaction.

Or perhaps your Sweetheart is more the SOUR kind? They prefer the undead variety of plush?

I have just the thing. Stinking in the corner of my studio, is, ta-da! Zombie bunny, ready for delivery!

Gnomes get STUFFED!

The gnomes are tickled to be featured in the new issue of Stuffed magazine. They are giggling and having a little gnome party in the studio as I type.

I had a great time writing the accompanying article, and sharing my passion for creating unique characters with an audience of like-minded souls.

Oh Fi-ya!

It's fun to be in people's treasuries on etsy. Anyone can "curate" their own treasury, you just have to know when the treasuries are open for new postings and NAB one! Fun to make a theme or fav color treasury. This one seems to be inspired by a fire that really happened! Yikes.

I am moving my kids wrist warmers from my AlyTheRed Bliss Monkey Studio shop to Bliss Forest. I think they'd make a good addition to spring Easter baskets. Wrist warmers to accompany the plush bunnies. :-)

Helping Haiti

Ooo, my art quilt, "Tea Time" is up on Craft Hope for Haiti etsy shop. Have a look at the listing. I appreciate that the money goes directly to Drs Without Borders.

This piece is going to be part of the Pretty Little Quilts by Lark books, due out next month. I have just supplied them with more info to help with the selling, for example, the tea cups button off to be reversed to a different color and rearranged! Interactive art quilt. :-)

From Etsy straight to Target

I was in Target two days ago, looking for jeans, and a present for my seven year old's friend. Our wander took us through purses on sale...... wow, those styling little bags with the applique cassette tapes look just like I might find on etsy. Looks handmade. Only it's factory "hand" made, in China. Purposely not-perfect applique, and cheap.

In the toy area, looking for lego, again I spotted something that looked straight off the handmade, OOAK, etsy shelves. I blinked. Was I dreaming of wandering through Etsyland? Could it be true? The Target shelf read, "Woodland" and there were giant stuffed owls, and hedgehogs. They were designed to look hand made, and used "funky" fabrics (faux, up-cycling) and even the etsy-popular, houndstooth print of last winter.

Yep, it's official. The big companies are stealing ideas from Etsy designers. They are at very least, reading the "Trends" articles in the etsy blog. Maybe this is not news to many of you. What do you think?

How many eggs are in your basket?

Happy Autumn. Two hens are doing their seasonal molt, and only one hen is laying her daily eggs. It's rather cold and embarrassing (literally) for the girls to molt, but they are so glossy and pretty when their new feathers grow back in. I can't even share a photo with you, it just wouldn't be nice.



Do you have any leaves left on your trees? We are having a gorgeous Fall here in Oregon. I love it when it's not TOO rainy because the colored leaves last longer. The kids pressed some leaves and I taped them across the door frame tops for decoration. Our pear tree finally made pears this summer. Gorgeous, juicy, heavenly pears for the first time in the three summers we've lived here. I credit the neighbors honey bees. All the leaves have fallen from the pear tree, but there's still some BIG pears at the top of the tree hanging on. Big birds like Jays and Oh, what are they called? The lovely big birds with a dark ring on their neck, and red under the wing? They hop into the tree and nibble the pears. Lovely bird feeder. We are happy to share.


















Did you ever have or see an Awake/Asleep doll when you were a kid? I always wanted one. I kept thinking about making some in Gnome style. Decided to combine that idea with the need to make organic gnome dolls. I made a batch of organic cotton stuffed, pre-washed cotton gnomes for babies to gnaw on and toddlers to play with. Stock got wiped out within 24 hours! I guess the world needs MORE organic awake/asleep rainbow baby gnomes...... (sew sew sew)



Did you ever consider using the search bar to search a shop for something specific? My Bliss Forest store has a few items and it's easy to see everything, but AlyTheRed and Charmish have pages and pages of items, so once you are IN the store, it's great to use the search bar to look for specific things like, "blue", or "frog", or "books".

Holiday Shows:
First Saturday in December: Winter Gift Faire

First Sunday in December: Fenario gallery hosts the "Meet Your Maker" handmade art/craft/design event.

If you are in Eugene Oregon, please come visit. I will be offering wrist warmers in KID and MAN sizes for these two events (by request), along with my ornaments, plush gnomes, ninja bunnies, bags, and many surprises.

New Design Release Party!!

Tomorrow, Friday morning, Charmish is having a New Designs Release Party (morning, Oregon time). I'll be listing many of my brand new designs one after the other. YEY!!! Some, like this Sock Monkey bead, I've been waiting on for 6 months. I'm so excited!!!

Sock Monkey is my new favorite bead, so come see him and all his new friends tomorrow morning. Please bring a friend. There may be prizes and specials going on!

Front page ETSY

My Fairy Bunny hit front page on etsy earlier this week. 600 people clicked on her but nobody bought her? How funny is that?

VOTE for my Gnome Ornaments here: http://www.voteetsy.com/results/2009/7/24

Happy Friday!!!

Good Things

Five Good Things on a Sunday:

#1- New sheets. Cotton bubble sheets, so soft and cool in the summer. I always have one hand-embroidered pillow case on top (estate sale finds) and in an attempt to dissuade the kitties, I make the pillow pile as vertical as possible each morning when I make the bed.

Hey, now before you get the wrong idea, this is the ONLY tidy spot in my house. Really. I make the bed each morning, including a kitty blanket for the bottom 1/2, because it saves us from all the kitty fur! Wish it were this pretty all over the house, but we are busy in the garden, busy in the studio, walking the dog, swimming, going to summer festivals, thinking important thoughts and using the tire swing. You simply can't have it all. Or can you?

Only thing our bed is missing now is some bright aqua pillow cases for the back pillow set!


Ok ok ok, #1, part TWO: New cotton bed spread to go with it. Paisley on top and stripes on the back side.... or is it reversible?

We only have a down comforter and each summer, we wonder what we slept under LAST summer..........? Finally a light weight cotton quilt.


(bedroom Buddha - one of many)

#2 Two bags were sold from my summer Bliss Bags collection in my AlyTheRed store. Yey! They are cute, they are useful, they are made by me, please take them to your homes.


#3 Max and I attended our first neighborhood Chicken Walk-bawk bawk. With so many neighbors interested in urban hen keeping (either already set up or wishing to) we decided to hold a Chicken walk, visiting eachother's hen homes, sharing chicken tales, and snacking along the way. It was great fun. I just love my groovy neighborhood.



#4 I de-shelved a huge stack of fat quarters fabrics and paid the kids $2 each (each child, not $2 for each fabric) to de-sticker, shake out the cardboards, and fluff the fabric to prepare for washing. Now the fabrics are washed/dried and laid out on my chair for folding. How inviting!


#5? Max and I are going to see "H.P. and the H-B.P." tonight. Yey!!!! We are such netflicks hounds, it's a "treat" to go to the movie theater. Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

Homes for Gnomes

MYM July

Thanks Tonia, the Meet Your Maker show was fun. We vended outside and inside this time, and I thought it ended up lucky to be INSIDE in airconditioning on such a hot day. We Oregonians aren't used to 90's temps, esp all at once!

My table was right next to Melissa from Butterfly Effect-- her leaf pouches created quite a buzz. Folks are gearing up for the Oregon Country Fair and Faeryworlds festivals!

My new Zodiac bags were a hit, as well as the water bottle carriers with recycled belt straps.

There were new vendors, that I hadn't met yet, and several people who had never sold their things before ever! We chatted them up encouragingly.

OH! And while I was outside, visiting all the booths, I spotted a San Fran friend who was just happening by on a bike tour of the West coast. It was delightful!

New Birthday Bunny gift package

Birthday Bunny Gift set! I think this is one of my funner ideas.... a gift package. Gift one: the 8" plush cupcake bunny. Gift two: the tiny coloring/workbook. All gift wrapped in bright tissue paper, and shipped in a sturdy envelope with my hand carved stamps. I think that's pretty special!

This wee book has 8 pages, but is made of one single sheet of paper! I had a great time writing the prompts, decorating the pages and putting it all together. It's intended for kids of ALL ages.

Other prompts include: Your wish for the world, This year I wish to write/make/sing/paint/hear/do....", "I wish to learn...." "Draw the world.. my wish for the world....", "I wish to go here..."


This is the back of the little book, with room for me to add someone's name, or special message.

In my store, I have the bunny package listed, with bunny color choices, and will eventually add a listing for just the card/coloring/wish book. If you need one sooner, just pop to my etsy store and "convo" me!

New Gnomes!

Meet Nissa (sold) and Treezel, new gnomes in Bliss Forest. They were so much fun at the photo shoot! Check out their mug shots in my store. Thank you to Tonia for the fantastic paperclay mushroom. :-)

Garden Gnome Brooch

Garden Gnome To-Go Brooch is the latest creation in BlissForest shop. He's handmade by me! I carved a stamp block to create a form to press the polymer clay into. I wanted the look of a hand carved wood pin. He was baked, then painted, distressed, detail painted, given a coat of eco-varnish in gloss, and a pin back. Your companion on the go.

I had a great time photographing him. You can click on the above link to see the other photos and snag one for yourself!

Birthstones, Beads and Bees

Charmish beads update:



Birthstones are in at Charmish! I love this design and wear it on my bracelet (with my April birthstone). I don't have them all listed just yet, but have all the birthstones in stock. A nice bit of bling!

I also have a Love Yo Motha, sale going on, with selected heart designs. Easy to spot in the "featured" section of Charmish.




A view of my bracelet. I don't have it filled with charms yet. I'm holding out for some designs still in the works. I have been collecting handmade glass by different artists. Hand made, lampwork glass looks gorgeous next to all the silver charms.


Spring bee friend, hanging out on the bamboo, during a photo shoot. I'm planting some bee- encouraging flowers in the garden and yard this year. Oh and I got a new camera. You probably can't tell the difference, but it's really lovely to use!

Garden project- Spring goodness:

Before: You can see we had planted two curly willow starts in the previous fall. Actually we'd put in three but one died. Willows and threw some leaves on to kill the grass over winter. Oooo, it's gonna be so pretty! It's part of an out door "room" by my art studio.

See that tall green tool against the fence? That's my dandelion puller. I got it for my birthday two years ago and LOVe that thing! It's so much fun to use, neighbors literally stop by, when I'm out front, and ask to have a try. Then I have to wrestle it away from them 20 minutes later.... We had a six year old child over for a play date, and HE got picking dandelions for half hour. I had to lure him away with a snack. Later I told his mum what HE'd like for his next birthday.... oh yea, everyone loves this tool. LOL.



Digging in the stand-up bricks and getting them even was a JOB. I'm glad to have Max's patience! I love the planning and doing parts, but not the fiddly stuff. I put in two lovely bushy flowers, a lava rock and an old stump, and lots of seeds. The funnest part was planting a whole package of alpine strawberries by seed! I put them in all along the bricks, as a surprise for the kids. I hope they grow. Have you ever planted strawberries by seed?

I'll take some more photos for you as things start growing.



This stump has been in our vege garden for two years and we've worked around it. Who wants to dig out a stump that big. One day Max discovered that it was just sitting there on top of the ground! LOL. Turns out you can just pick it up! It was home to a garden snake and many bugs and spiders (sorry for the relocate guys). I brought it to the flower garden as a fun focal piece, and tamped dirt and seeds into crevices to see what happens.

Birthdays and Gold Star days

I'm having a great birthday! Thanks for the emails and birthday greetings. xoxoxoxo





Hugging Kitties. I wear this one on my charm bracelet for my two beloved kitties.

I have some fun new European beads charm designs in my shop, Charmish. European beads is the name for this style of charm bracelet, that's popular all over the world. Many people call them "Pandora Beads" because that's one of the top companies who make these styles. Its nice that all the major brands have standard sizing so everyone can mix and match their charm beads from different companies.


Bracelets are IN!!! You can see the thick 4mm sterling bracelet, the enclosure clasp (great engineering to keep that bracelet closed) that also looks like a bead, and the first part of the bracelet with the threading. Threading allows the beads to twist on, the slide freely without falling off again.

Measure your wrist, and let me know your size when ordering. I add one inch to the length to allow for the beads. Start with one bead or a whole set! Very fun to collect.

Fortune cookie charm. 6mm wide. Tiny with perfect details, and the "777" good luck fortune just peeping out. Love this one!

Example of a fuller charm bracelet, including birthstone beads, dangles, locks and lettering beads.

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of some new bead series:
Gnomes and Mushroom home.
Tree of Life series, with six different leaf styles, acorn, tree of life and leaf dangles.
Aussie animals, including some most Americans have never heard of!

A little later this summer:
Favorite dog breeds.
Yoga, meditation, kung fu, healing arts energy series.
And dun da dun! Right before the big "Talk like a Pirate" celebration day, I have a big pirate series arriving! So exciting!

*********************************
What's a Gold Star day? Some of you have heard me talk about a gold star day. It means I've sold something out of each of my three etsy stores on that day. It's really fun, and rather pleasing to sell an item from each store.

The Meet Your Maker indie craft show was so fun last night! Lots of my High Flying Easter Bunnies went to good homes. The crowds were constant, and people were so chatty and friendly. That's how we like it. It's fun to interact, hear people's thoughts, know if they have been in central downtown at the gallery tour, or just here for the wine bar, and hear what they like in my shop. Very fun to sell in person when folks are chatty and friendly. And I always love seeing my etsy vendor friends and meeting new vendors. We support one another and exchange ideas and fun.

Thanks for coming down!!!
xo

Where oh where?

where oh where have I been?



Let's guess..... have I been locked in the studio, training heaps of wild High Flying Easter bunnies??





Have I been hiding in a snow cave??






Have I been on a journey to the ends of the Earth??





Have I been sitting at the computer till my European beads jewelry store got it's first treasury???


And the answer is...

Yes, yes, and yes, but not the last one, although I am nicely pleased about that!

We took two actual vacations in March, and one day trip out of town. Including a get-away during spring break and now I'm BUSY. Holy mackerel Easter Bunny!!! I am sooo busy.

I planned well, but life has a way of gently expressing,
"HOW DARE YOU GO AWAY FROM HOME!!!!!"

So I've been a tad busy this week.

************* onto the news with dates*************
I am at Meet Your Maker indie craft show
4/3/09
Friday evening
5-8
Broadway Winebar
Downtown
as part of the First Friday Artwalk

Come down and say hi, see your local artists and crafters in action, and please please please take home a bunny. You have no idea what it's like to live with all these High Flying Easter Bunnies in training.......

*****
And tomorrow is the big Birth Day!
4-4
!!!!!!!!
*****

Stay tuned for next episode, of As the Plush Turns, in which I host a birthday give-away, and reveal WHICH plush bunny I created but could not put up for sale!!!

Sky Gnome Pillow Doll

Sky Gnomes- the latest in the Spring Gnome collection! ( Both Sky Gnomes have sold, but there are others to be homed.... )
I had so much fun with the photo shoot yesterday, then the sun popped out while it was raining and Sky Gnome jumped out of my arms and raced outside! It's their job, you see, to monitor the weather, and start rainbows with their little rainbow seed. I followed quickly with my camera and was just able to capture this shot of the Sky Gnome starting a rainbow... can you see the hint of the rainbow just above the treeline? I was amazed to see it in action!


xoxoxoxoxoxoxox