Friday, July 31, 2009

Custom Small Fairy Wings




This pair of small fairy wings in my Hilary design were customized for a little girl to wear to her mother's wedding. The white edges are a little unusual for me, since my standard is to paint the edges a darker color for contrast. This time, I painted the inside and left the edges the white of the fabric.

A Cool Necklace



When my bead store let me know they were having a one-day trunk show with pearls and jade, I was there like a shot. I like the soft, almost neutral colors of the pearls and they are dramatized by translucent amber glass pendant.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Handmade Promotional Tags: Marketing

This week I finally started cleaning out my craft closet...a task I've been putting off for a while. The great thing about cleaning is finding things that were lost or um...filed away in their proper places. I found an entire box of flying fox stickers...and since I've been thinking a lot about changing my brand name I figure I'd best get to using these up...I think it may take some time though, there are, like, a few hundred. So here are a few promotional tags I made by affixing the stickers to (recycled) cardboard, then distressing the edges with scrapbooking scissors.



Solar Eclipse of the Earth - work in progress

Work in Progress
This acrylic painting is almost finished. It just needs a fishing line with a hook. I was thinking of using something toxic as bait. I also thought of something a little more grusome... like a dead person on a hook, but I don't want to go that extreme for something like this. lol. However I am very serious about the environment. And I am very serious about the message...

I've been down to the Outer Banks and picked up trash before... if you ever do so... bring a couple wheel barrels because that is how much trash washes up on the shore. And I will never support the use of helium balloons ever again. It's the curling ribbon that is the problem. The balloon goes up... and the ribbon lands in the ocean.

poor little fishies...





- Rebecca Michelle Lee

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

New Member


Hello! I am new here and very excited to be a part of Philly Makes. My name is Joan Phillips and I run Chubby Cat Creations. I am a photographer, mixed media artist and arts administrator. I write a blog about the theory of creativity, being an artist and art for everyone. I am hoping to eventually host art exchanges, collaborations and offer downloads of free art. It is a work in progress. Please check it out at Chubby Cat Chat. I also have my own Etsy shop called Chubby Cat Creations. I sell Encaustic Paintings, Photo Charms, Shank Buttons, handmade books and coming soon photographic sets.

The image above is a window from my apartment. I love to photograph my surroundings and I love the variations of light that comes through my windows.

I look forward to contributing to Philly Makes!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Sexy Librarian Tuxedo Clutch


Hello everyone. I'm new to the blog. It may seem like I have multiple personalities because I run an etsy shop where I make mostly purses ( I do have some weird plush art in there as well), make stuffed plush sculptures (headless creatures and such), and work as a freelance photographer. In any case, this is my first posting - a cute little clutch I made this week. Enjoy!
-goodmarvin-
www.goodmarvin.etsy.com
www.melissanannenphotography.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/talula1227

Friday, July 24, 2009

New Webwork

HI everyone I'm Lynn and as some of you may know I am from The old Philly Etsy Team. For a while I put my shop on vacation mode while I was planning my move from Levittown to Elkins Park. And the move happened and I'm back! I do photography and I usually try to do a couple photos a week.

Here's what I did this week:



"Through the Window" http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28170965

I also just made a new blog today for all you dog lovers/owners because I just got a Toy Poodle, Dolly, at the beginning of the month. I will eventually make a new Etsy to sell plush pet toys and edible treats for dogs, but right now I'm just trying to get viewers on the blog. Check it out please!



http://voguefordogs.blogspot.com/

Lynn Roberts
www.studiocaptura.etsy.com
www.lemondrops2.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Philly Makes gets some press!

We got a mention in today's City Paper! Thanks to everyone who has posted such awesome stuff here!

"Philly Makes! is a group blog featuring an impressive range of handmade projects, from an interfaith coloring book to fiber-optic fairy wings. Some are linked for purchase on etsy.com, while others are pure inspiration, like Jeanne Lombardo's Born in the U.S.A. album-cover jigsaw coaster set."

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Instant Faerie Kit


I made this gorgeous little outfit as a charitable donation for a benefit one of my friends held last weekend.
The "Instant Faerie Kit" includes a pair of small fairy wings (this is Anorra #14), a matching tulle tutu, a feather wand, a glitter fairy dust necklace, and a tiny sparkle tiara.
It turned out so darn cute I may have to start making them to sell, or at the very least start making order forms for sets in custom colors and sizes.

Mid Summer Garden

Click this picture to visit my Etsy Art Shop
Okay... Okay... I know flowers are over done, blah blah blah. But it's what I do... okay! lol
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Instead of taking photos of my flowers as they are in the garden, which tends to be too busy, I simply find some sun filtering through my trees against the side of my house. I pick the flowers and then move them around while looking through the viewfinder until I get just the right spotlight on them... and then snap! I take the picture :-)
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The spotlight really keeps the flower looking as rich as it does in person, and the solid background really makes the flower stand out. I just love day lillies, they are a native flower, and I have a ton of them in my NWF Certified Backyard Habitat.
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Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Collaged House Tiles

These are some new pieces I've been working on to sell at my upcoming fall shows. Currently, they're about 5"x8", but I'll be making them in smaller sizes as well. I've been struggling a lot with getting some quality shots of them, but this is what I have for now. They are painted and burned recycled wood scraps with paper & fabric:




new collage

As yet untitled, a new collage on canvas board.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I love coral




When my brother asked me to make a coral necklace as a birthday gift for a friend, I had no idea how much I would fall in love with this material. It's so bright a color that I really didn't understand its depth and substance. Plus it's very light and you can wear a lot of it with little weight. I like it with silver, as in the Hill Tribe silver pendants on these pieces, but I might try it with gold.....maybe.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Embroidered Notes

I make more plans for myself than I can possibly execute. I wonder: why so many notes? I've got books and books of them...or is this just the process some people go through, only actually working on some of the projects - the ones that call out to a person when they least expect it? It's the overlap between the notes, writing and art/ embroidery that I've chosen to focus on lately.


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

New Watercolors in my Pointillism Style

Click image to purchase today... Hurry only one available!


Click image to purchase today... Hurry only one available!

Click image to purchase today... Hurry only one available!
I have made some more original, one-of-a-kind pointillism watercolors! I even managed to frame some and upload them to my Etsy Art Shop: pigeons in the attic I will hopefully start some acrylic paintings with the above pointillism style... so be sure to check back next week to see what I've done!

- enjoy!
Rebecca Michelle Lee

Boss Coasters





I made these coasters from a Born in the USA album cover, modge podge, 4 x 4 pieces of glass, foil tape and added little rubber feet =) I gave these as a birthday gift to a good friend who LOVES Bruce Springsteen (almost as much as I love him).

Monday, July 13, 2009

Brown Peyote-Stitched Necklace

This is my peyote-stitched necklace made using brown and neutral colored beads, seashells, with wood, amber, carnelian, and glass seed beads. This necklace took 3 months to make!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

smocked sundress



Finally got a chance to make the smocked sundress from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. This was a baby shower gift. I made the dress and matching bloomers size 12mo, and then decorated a NB size onesie. Something for now, something for later. The bloomers aren't actually from Weekend Sewing; i just traced some shorts that belong to my 12mo son, because i too lazy to go trace another pattern.

I actually tried it on my 12mo son to see how it fit. He was not happy!! But I think it had more to do with the fact that I dared dress him, than that it was a dress. heh, heh.




-- Jeannette

Worry Fish Necklace


I made this necklace with wooden beads and some turquoise beads a couple of weeks ago and they have flown out of my shop. This one is made with beautiful, unpolished green glass beads to compliment the organic nature of the worry fish beads. You can see a more complete description and more pictures of the piece on my etsy site.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

more painting in progress

Still working on the painting I posted last month. This has turned into a textbook example of how sometimes I hit a wall and need to do something really radical and even destructive to get around it. All the paintings I've done that I really love went through a really difficult stage like that. Usually it's an exercise in letting go of something to get something better in the end.

In this case, I've been fiddling with the sky endlessly, carefully painting around all those nice collaged pieces with itty bitty brushes. But all that carefulness made the sky feel really awkward and flat, so I finally realized I'd have to sacrifice the collaged bits to get the sky right. So I'm finally happy with the sky, and I can still see the outlines of the collaged pieces, which will get painted back in, hopefully for the better!


Fresh Organic Herb Garden




I didn't do anything artsy this week, but I did manage to get out into the fresh air a bit. On the suggestion of my hubby we planted a couple pots of fresh herbs. It made me hungry smelling all of the plants! It makes me wish we did this last year, but better late then never.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Corn Palace Card

My first post!!!! I have been mostly working on cards. This is one of a series of cards using mini postcards from South Dakota. This is an image of "The World's Only Corn Palace" mounted on a piece from a vintage map of Los Angeles. I just spent a week in Texas gathering some incredible ephemera, which I will be using and posting in coming weeks.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

I made Something! I made Something!

Hooray!
I'm back, after a long absence. I put my mind to it, and decided it was now or never...
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Pink Face ACEO June 2009 R M Lee

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Yellow Face ACEO June 2009 by R M Lee

Introducing brand new watercolors, in my famous pointillism style!
Let me know what you think!
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enjoy!