The Season for Spooky

Good morning!
I'm getting back into the fall studio routine now that the little ones are in school and soccer.

Halloween, and Dia De Los Muertos are great holidays for inspiring creativity. I took great delight in creating two 8" Vampire Bunnies. This time I hand embroidered their faces. New coffee cozies include Calavera, seen here, and Sugar Skulls.

Skulls have gone from being "morbid" imagery, to "punk", they have followed the upsurge in pirate popularity, and have recently established themselves as cute and decorate motifs for children's clothing and cotton prints. My skull fabric collection keeps growing!

I also have a good sized collection of Zodiac fabric. I loved using the cute prints used to make set
of Zodiac pouches (one seen iin this treasury).

Happy week to everyone!

In the 80's....

"It's a Cruel Summer".... "leaving me here on my own! It's a cruel, cruel summa...." Remember Bananrama and their giant hair and white overalls? Watch the video at least to the part where they eat bananas and sing at the same time! Promise? They are so cute!

I was going to name this clutch "My 80's"... was finishing the bag, and thinking about MTV when it first came out with mind blowing videos... then THAT song came on the radio. I got up to dance!

I love this fabric, not only does it have skulls in black, brown, white on hot pink, it also has tiny video game print skulls. I dressed up this clutch with a strip of black dot, rickrack, and ruffle. Get it while it's hot- it's one of a kind!

"Cruel Summer" matching coffee cozies......... perhaps we'll drink iced latte's with them and croon "It's a COOL, cool summer...." together. Wear your baggy overalls and bandana ok?

Craft photography

I love making my art and crafts, I love selling them, and I love the photography. It's challenging to simply show the product, when I want to be artistic and play. I usually start with a few clear shots of the product. Nice and close. Show front and back. THEN I get to make a little set for the product.

My "set" space is a window shelf in the studio. I lay out fabric and background. If you look closely in some of shots, you can see handmade paper that was created by my grandmother twenty years ago. It's textural and beautiful. I can use it under the product, or to defuse light against the window.

I love to photograph my coffee cozies outside in the backyard. I feature whatevers blooming, the holly tree, the herb bed, the grass, and for "rough pirate cuffs" I stick them right on the weathered wood of the fence. And I swear my cuffs sell better when the photo was taken on a sunny day. Feel sorry for me- remember, I live in Oregon!

Here's two spankin' new items about to go into my etsy shop. I'm enjoying some steampunk action, with background sets, old coins, treasure chest, leather glove, and pelican bones (that are about 50 years old).

The top photo is another of my new key chain cozies to keep your coffee shop punch cards, coins, and coffee cozy. But instead of taking a clear shot, this is my play photo. You won't see these "artsy" shots as the first product photo on it's etsy page, but I hope they are interesting enough for people to click on for further views.

Cheers, me mates!