"In The Waiting Line" Operation Fill-A-Frame #5

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67648352/in-the-waiting-line-monarch-study

Operation Fill-A-Frame #5 is complete! This was one of the frames I was looking forward to filling the most. "In The Waiting Line" features a big (4th instar) Monarch Caterpillar, crawling and munching his way among the Milkweeds, awaiting the time to turn into a chrysalis and become a beautiful Monarch butterfly!

The title seemed appropriate for a caterpillar and was also the name of a song I listened to while creating the art- listen here:



The mat of this picture is outside of the glass, not under it. (It feels like a hard wood or plastic and is painted.) The two drawings are on a single sheet of Canson Recycled Bristol art paper, and the drawing was created with ink and my Forest Choice colored pencils. I hadn't done a colored pencil drawing with ink in a long time- maybe not since my 30 bugs in 30 days project! I yearned to do something a little realistic, a little cartoony, and so this was created.

This was a quick one, and thus, is a cheap one! $25 for this framed original drawing in my Etsy shop- you can see the listing here :)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/67648352/in-the-waiting-line-monarch-study

I have another frame identical to this one and will probably do another caterpillar/butterfly combo drawing. I'm thinking an eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail butterflies for the next one!

Reunited!

When we started packing up and getting ready to move, I de-activated most of the items in my Etsy shop since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to find them again.
Last night I was so excited to FINALLY come across a few items I have been missing (and just in time for Chreeeeeeestmas!).

Butterfly Box- $15 + shipping

One of the items is this upcycled decoupaged Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly Box! It's a slide-top wooden box and I've just re-listed it in my Etsy shop- have a look if you've got someone on your shopping list who loves flowers or bugs... or the state of Maryland! (The Black-Eyed Susan is the Maryland state flower and the Baltimore Checkerspot is the state butterfly.)   :)

Here Today, Gone.... Later Today

A day or two ago I listed this Bees & Cherries (decoupaged with a print of my "Busy, Busy Bees" painting) in my Etsy shop.

I found out this morning that it was featured in this adorable Treasury:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c4ac8dc4a9f8eefe0bf1f0f/cherries-jubilee

And then found out later today I sold it! :)

My Etsy shop is currently still very empty as the things with which I'm filling it take a loooong time to make. Part of that is simply due to drying times combined with my own multi-tasking; Part of that is due to my own inexperience with this type of thing and still learning, and of course only listing an item in my shop when it is absolutely 100% perfect... or as perfect as I'm capable of making an upcycled item. I hope as I learn more and more about working with certain materials, I can get items listed a little faster and complete more of them, because creating these little gifts is a blast!

It's super fun to take trips to thrift shops and find just the right little items that are well crafted, but just need a little makeover. You never find the exact same item twice, so no two will ever be alike. Maybe a defect on the wood somewhere becomes something you have to paint over, which is a new and unique challenge. I could easily go to a craft shop and buy boatloads of wooden or even paper boxes to paint and decoupage, but where's the fun in that? Plus the whole point of finding a used item is not consuming new resources... which adds in another element of challenge and craftiness and uniqueness!  :)

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Building Your Website...

I was just on the Etsy forums a few minutes ago--
wait, WHAT!? Yes! I'm re-opening my Etsy shop!! but more on that on another day.... when the shop actually has stuff in it :) It takes time to create those listings you know!
and came across a post asking which is better? Having your own website (and store) or having an Etsy shop? There were many different viewpoints/pros/cons of each. It seems like most people who prefer *just* having Etsy do so for the simplicity and ease of maintenance.

I, however, am a huge geek and control freak and actually enjoy designing and coding and maintaining my own website. Yeah, HTML for funsies. That is probably the dorkiest thing I've ever written; what's sad is that I had to preface that with 'probably.'

The topic of website hosting also came up and I was surprised at the rates I was seeing. The company I use- MeccaHosting- seems so much cheaper (the service package I am using anyway). Since I'm so extremely happy with my hosting company, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to them and I'd highly HIGHLY recommend them if anyonehas been thinking about starting your own website! Here is their page explaining their services and rates:
http://www.meccahosting.com/us/services/web_hosting/
I currently pay $10 to renew my domain name every year and $30 A YEAR to keep my website up and running. Most rates I've been seeing are $10-$12 a month.

When I set up my website a few years ago, I knew nothing about HTML and was adamant about having my site hosted by a company that could provide me with plenty of cheat sheets templates. After hours of extensive research I signed up with some big name company (probably Yahoo but I really don't remember) to find out... at the time... none of their templates were compatible with Macs :(

So after immediately closing the account and getting my moneys back, I decided to go with the cheapest option I could. Lo and behold I found Mecca! I took it upon myself to find online tutorials to teach me the basics of HTML and it was well worth the whole hour it took to find a few simple things. So even if you think you could never learn HTML and it seems hella scary to you, it may actually be worth looking into. You have so much more control over everything. (any other control freaks out there!!? Really???) There are a zillion tutorials online and at first all you really need to learn is how to align stuff and make tables and links and enjoy playing with numbers a little... and that's sort of it.
Here's one of my favorite sites with lots-o-tutorials :)
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/

Then there was this. A blog. I should remember why I picked blogger, but I don't. I thought about doing my own in HTML but seriously why go through all that trouble when this service is free??? There were templates! Templates that I could change and customize if I chose to do so, which of course I did! Because I could. Because I am anal about the tiniest miniscule shit. And because of my controlfreakishness.

So if you've set up a website, and choose to set up a blog, chances are if you're going to sell your art (or bags of hair or contaminated Shrek glasses or whatever it is you sell) online, there's still the question of how. Use your own site? Or go with an online store such as Etsy or Artfire or Ebay or a multitude of others.

I can only compare with Etsy since they are the only one I've ever used...

I moved to selling on my own site for a couple of reasons aside from my pure geekdom.

For one thing you don't need to set up a specific account to shop from my online gallery. I use PayPal buttons and you don't even need a PayPal account, just a credit card like with all other online shopping. With both Etsy and Paypal there are fees (and don't forget to add in the fees of hosting your website, which there are none with Etsy et. al.), and they seem pretty comparable, so I personally would probably not make a decision based on this alone:

QUICK COMPARISON OF FEES:

PayPal buttons: Put as many items on your site as you want. For free. Forever. PayPal charges you 30 cents per transaction plus 2.9% on the amount of the sale. You pay nothing until you make a sale.

Etsy: 20 cents each time you place an item into your store, then if/when you make a sale, Etsy takes 3.5% commission. Item listings expire 4 months after you enter them, and you can re-list them again for 20 cents.

I chose to re-open my Etsy store for a few of my hand-made one-of-a-kind (OOAK you acronym nerds) items. Etsy seems like a more appropriate venue and admittedly, it is a little easier to create a listing on Etsy for these kinds of items rather than a brand-new page from my website for each of them, since they'll all be so different that it would be hard to copy and paste the code from one page to the next.

And, of course, there is a lot of competition on Etsy. This can either work for you or against you. A customer can easily enter your store and begin searching around all over the place and end up just as easily buying an item from someone else. Likewise someone hopping around the site from another Etsy shop can bring customers into your shop.


So if you're thinking about creating a website and/or online shop, hope some of this helps, and feel free to comment here or email me with any questions!

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Ohmigosh, it's almost Earth Day!

With all my recent training and fundraising and being out of town and getting ready (sort of) to move again.... I haven't planned anything for Earth Day! Earth Day is a very special day to me not only for obvious reasons... but it's also my anniversary :)

As of right now I know we're going to a nice local restaurant to eat. And if I remember correctly from last time, they get almost all of their food locally so I can feel good that it's one of the most eco-friendly dining establishments in town. Oh, and it's only 2 blocks away... so we'll DEFINITELY be walking there!

In the spirit of being GREEN, I'll try and come up with a few posts this week!

For now, here is a neat article on 7 things you can do for Earth Day that actually matter :)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/7-things-you-can-do-for-e_n_541165.html


Another eco-friendly suggestion... Mother's Day is next month. Why not buy your mom something lovely and handmade from Etsy? I saw this adorable hat today, and it's one of those kinds of things that I always see girls my age (and younger) wearing, but was never quite sure if I could pull it off... or where to even find one. Well now I know, they're in SturmDM's shop on Etsy!

It's a great gift for ladies of all ages since this style is timeless (and the flower is even removable):

Buy this hat Here!!

That's all for now... I'll be back with some more eco-friendly ideas for Earth Day!

Last Featured Bug Shop: Honeybee Crochet!

Last (but NOT least!) in my list of featured Etsy Buggy shops this week is:

HoneyBee Crochet,
AKA SturmDM on Etsy!

Honeybee Crochet is a very special bug shop because, while her entire shop doesn't *just* consist of bugs (she has a wide variety of items and subject matter!), she does HELP bugs with her crochet! Specifically, she helps honeybees! She donates proceeds from some of her crochet work to honeybee research.

She has a whole section in her shop with one-of-a-kind freehand bees! They are designs she's made up herself without a pattern!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SturmDM?section_id=5582273

Here are some of Doris's beautiful handmade bees:

Adorable little bee pin, perfect size to pin on a jacket, a purse, a wristlet, etc.

Cute little bees with BIG hearts! Perfect for someone you love...

Realistic fancy bee :)

BEE green, shop handmade this holiday season! :)
http://www.SturmDM.etsy.com


Also, BEE sure to check out her blog here- she ALWAYS has fun stuff to share!
http://CrochetinginGeorgia.blogspot.com

Featured Bug Shop #2: "Buggy Kids"

To continue with our theme of "Bug Week!" this week featuring wonderful handmade things from Etsy, I bring to you shop #2:

"Buggy Kids!"

Inspire a love of nature and bugs at a very, very early age-
her items are great for babies and toddlers! :)

These items for babies are truly unique and one of a kind!

Spider Pillow

Moth Pillow

The pillows have a soft, fluffy fabric on the back. Click on them to see the listing for more information!

Cicada White Polo

Personalized initial onesie

She has great items in her shop and accepts custom orders, too!
Her official Grand Opening is coming soon- so check back often as she adds more crawly buggy items!

To see what she has on hand, check out her Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/buggykids/

Enjoy and happy shopping!

It's Bug Week!!

Since I recently did a post about some ways to have a green Christmas, and suggested shopping for handmade items (with the website Etsy being a great place to start)... This week I've decided to showcase some of my favorite shops on Etsy that feature...
Bugs!!

The first shop I'm featuring is...
"Mutant Caterpillar!"
http://www.mutantcaterpillar.etsy.com

The caterpillars are SUPER cute, and are all sewn by hand!

This photograph makes me smile sooooo much!

You can check out the artist's other website here, where most of her projects can be seen:
www.lisamillerstudio.com
And her blog here:
http://mutantcaterpillar.com/

Be sure to click the links above, or go here, and check out her shop to find yourself a brand new fuzzy friend!
http://www.mutantcaterpillar.etsy.com

Enjoy! :)

More Etsy Treasury Fun!

I found out today that the wonderful Ms. Elizabeth Graf of Etsy has included my "Busy, Busy Bees" in her beautiful treasury! (Alongside some very pretty items- how flattering!) :)

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=93614

In other exciting news, I've sold some more framed artwork from my Imagekind gallery! The great thing about the store at Imagekind is that you can buy printed artwork, already framed, at a very good price... Check it out :)

Wishing everyone a happy weekend full of bugs and hugs! (Or just bug artwork if you're not a fan of being around the real ones.)

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas......

Even though I respect the turkey and generally dislike the idea of putting up Christmas/Holiday/Winter themed decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving, you can't help but have it on your mind as your mailbox starts to flood with catalogs, stores are playing Christmas music incessantly, Victoria's Secret starts showing countless ads on TV again....
With all the consumption and commercialization surrounding Christmas, it's easy to be tempted to drop a small fortune on decor and gifts! So what's a person to do if you're trying to be more green??

In the next couple of weeks I'm going to post some ideas focusing on how to make your Christmas (and other holidays) more green, as there are plenty of ways you can go about it.

For starters, Home Depot is advertising something wonderful (which I posted last week on my Facebook page):
The Christmas Light Trade-In!!

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=SF_EV_Christmas_Light_Trade-In&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&cm_mmc=hd_email-_-102809_GC-1028-Wed-_-1027-GC21-_-LED-VAL

Bring in your old used/broken Christmas light strands and get $3 back toward the purchase of new eco-friendly LED Christmas Light Strands! LED lights use much less energy than the traditional bulbs, so you'll save money on your electric bill. They also last up to 10 times as long as traditional bulbs, too, so you'll stretch your money even further!

Another thing you can do, as the catalogs start piling up in the recycle bin- is to call the companies who are sending them and request to be removed from their mailing list (unless you regularly order from them). A lot of companies share names and once you're subscribed to one, you end up getting 5 affiliate catalogs as well. (As a plus side to this, often when you call to unsubscribe from one, they will take you off the shared list- but it's hard to know exactly who shares with who.)

One last tip for today is to look for handmade gifts and decor, rather than mass-produced. Many towns and cities have gift shops where local artists sell their one-of-a-kind handmade items, so see if you can find one! And if you prefer to shop online (like me), try Etsy! They have just about everything you could ever want. To get even greener, try the Shop Local option and your item won't have to travel as far to get to you! You'll be surprised at how many local handmade goods you can find!

Etsy Treasury!

I created an Etsy Treasury this Friday afternoon!
Here you can see some great examples of the variety of items on Etsy :)



http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=92499
I know this treasury will be a hit because it has "vampire" in its name... hehe!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

New- Featured Item!

NEW!
Featured Item:

"Passiflora" Colored Pencil Drawing
8"x10" double matted & framed in an 11"x14" frame.
$130 and FREE SHIPPING!
Buy it HERE!

I tend to showcase my original drawings and paintings at art shows, or the few pieces I've got over at Gallerie 13 in Mechanicsburg PA. Otherwise, the original work is kept packed away so it doesn't get damaged, or I hang it up so that I know exactly where each piece is and I can find it when I need it. I realized recently that those pieces aren't doing anyone any good just sitting around like that, now are they? So I've decided to start promoting my originals a little more with.... Featured Items. I'll list the item in my Etsy shop and offer free shipping on it... until I decide to feature a different item.

If you'd like to buy one of my featured items but you don't have an Etsy account, it's free and simple to set one up!

Etsy Promotion! Today & This weekend...

FREE SHIPPING on my "Baltimore Checkerspot & Black Eyed Susan" 8"x10" print on Etsy!

Today and this weekend!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10855548#

I'm back in Maryland for the weekend on a mini-vacation, so I thought I'd celebrate and promote some local subject matter!....

This is the official State Butterfly of Maryland. Did you know that some states have designated state butterflies? Some don't, but most at least have a designated state insect! This colorful butterfly is sipping nectar from the Maryland State Flower, a Black Eyed Susan.

Enjoy, and happy shopping :)

Featured Etsy Shop... SturmDM!

Since I'm part of the handmade community over at Etsy, every now and then I like to spotlight an extra special shop...

This time I've decided to feature "Honeybee Crochet", the shop of a dear friend of mine, Doris. Like me, Doris is a friend to the bees!... Which is how we became acquainted. Her shop is full of many functional handmade items such as afghans, pillows, kitchen items, shawls and other wearables.
But my favorite things in her shop are her bees!

Is this patriotic bee not one of the most cute and creative things you've ever seen!?

She crochets them all by hand from patterns that she has created herself, so all of the bees are one of a kind! She truly has a creative gift, to make all these wonderful and adorable bees!.. Here are some of my favorites:

"Beeatrice" the Autumn bee

"Sassy Bee" pin accessory- Sooo sweet and cute!!

"Frizzy the Frazzled Honey Bee"

Little Bees with Big Hearts!

(Great for Valentine's day, Christmas, Anniversary, or any other occasion for someone you love who loves bees!)

Doris donates some of her proceeds from sales in her Etsy shop to Honeybee Research. Check her Etsy Profile for more info.

You can find Doris on Etsy at:
http://www.SturmDM.etsy.com




And read about her life of bees, Gizzy, crochet, and Georgia here:
http://crochetingingeorgia.blogspot.com/
She's always got something interesting to blog about, and she's currently got a pet costume contest going on! But if you're going to enter, hurry, because there is only 1 week left for submissions! (Entry deadline to submit your pets' pictures is Oct. 21st!)

In addition to having a wonderful creative gift, Doris also has a big heart and is one of the nicest people ever. Please go visit her blog and her shop and show her a little love :)

Little Bug Boxes!

I'll keep this short and sweet since I'm recovering from a cold and want to take advantage of a grey, cloudy day, some cold medicine, and a snuggly kitty for some napping.

I've been thinking it would be fun to create some art that is not only bright and colorful and fun but also functional....
Behold the tiny Bug Box!

So far it's only got one clear coat on the top of it- I'm going to apply more and sand them down for a smooth finish. This is the first experimental piece- the guinea pig, er caterpillar, if you will. I've got a couple of different sized boxes to play around with techniques and designs. I think the combination I've got here of decoupage and hand-painting works well, but some of the boxes may be all hand painted. However, to put a significant amount of detail into them, I'd have to spend a fairly large chunk of time though- which would make them get expensive quickly. This is why I like the idea of decoupaging my existing art onto a piece and then hand painting some simple colorful touches too.

We'll see where it goes, but I soon hope to have some of these in my Etsy shop!

If you've got ideas that you'd like to see on a Bug Box, let me know! Just leave a comment- I'd love to hear!

An Etsy shop for flower lovers....

If you're following my blog, my guess is that you like art, and bright colors, and flowers (and other naturey stuff)! Soooo, I want to write a feature on the beautiful accessories found in Etsy shop, "Satin Dolly".
I love her use of bright colored polymer clay (and fully admit to being jealous of her talents, since I would love to be able to create with polymer clay!) and she even has a similar fashion philosophy to mine:
"I think that wearing bright accessories will actually make you feel happy and enjoy life." (from her shop.)

(The yellow rose above is my personal favorite item from her shop, the "Paradise City Ring.")

I asked her a few questions about her craft and her shop.

How long have you been working with polymer clay?
I have been working with Polymer Clay on and off for a few years. A couple of years ago, I made magnets and sold them on ebay, and was so thrilled. But I only did a couple and that was the end of it. Just recently this March, I began using Polymer Clay again. I then started making magnets again and quickly realized that it wasn't working out. So I started making roses. I don't even know how I taught myself how to make them, but I practiced for awhile and tried my best to sell what I thought was pretty.

Is it a difficult medium?
It's not difficult at all. The hard part is using your imagination and creating what you see in your head and on paper, and transferring to the clay. Using the clay is easy to work with. But I always in-vision these extravagant pieces, and yet I make them so simple looking at the end. I personally like simple jewelry, but I have to add some pretty color to my accessories.

How did you learn about polymer clay and what made you decide to try your hand at creating with it?
I learned about polymer clay about 11 years ago. My parents and I had annual passes to Disneyland, and we would take weekly trips just to hang around and get coffee. One time while checking out the shops, I met an artist there that was creating Disney Character sculptures out of polymer clay. Instead of just observing, I studied what he did and asked him tons of questions. He was very kind and answered every one, and then handed me 3 colors of clay and told me to practice at home. I tried, but it wasn't working for me at the time. I should have kept practicing. Now I'm loving every moment of it, and I can't get enough.

Some of SatinDolly's own favorite items:

"Go Green Ring"
Her thoughts about the ring:
"I was really hesitant about using this color on a rose, but I fell in love with it when it was done. I was actually going to create it as a hair clip instead, but my boyfriend suggested a ring and I couldn't have agreed with him more. To me, it just looks amazing. The color, the shimmer, I love it all."


"Ali Rose Pendant"
Her thoughts about the pendant:
"This has to be my favorite color out of all the clay I have. It's so vibrant and beautiful, it only made sense to make a rose out of it."





"Earthy Blue Rose Pendant"
Her thoughts about this pendant:
"This is also one of my favorites. It's such a summery color and almost peaceful. Every time I look at it I want to go to a tropical island and watch the waves on the beach."






Find SatinDolly at these links:

Etsy shop: http://www.SatinDolly.etsy.com
Blog: http://satindolly.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SatinDolly/67623441887?ref=ts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/satindolly

Caterpillars in the Garden!

I can't believe it's already mid summer!
Where is 2009 going!?

Upon my return from Alaska, I see all the gardens and landscapes in the area are in full bloom! It makes me miss gardening a little bit.

Particularly I miss all the bugs. Part of why I loved gardening so much was seeing the many butterflies, moths, caterpillars, bees, beetles, millipedes, potato bugs....
(At least I am volunteering some time at the Hershey Butterfly House this summer so I will get my fix!)

This bug here is a Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillar that I painted a few years ago. The original painting is 20" wide by 16" tall. Looking at the painting of him always makes me happy because it's so bright and SO much larger than life!
The original painting is currently framed and hanging (for sale) at Gallerie 13 in Mechanicsburg, PA. I've also got prints of him available in my Etsy shop.

Here is one of the reference shots I snapped in my garden which inspired him:


He's chomping on some dill that's going to seed. Dill is one of the host plants for Swallowtail butterflies- meaning that it's a plant they want to lay their eggs on because the caterpillars eat dill. When the eggs hatch there is an instant food supply ready and available! Apparently these guys also REALLY like parsely, so if you want butterflies in your garden but you also enjoy raising parsley, I suggest you plant a lot of extra to share with these guys! :)

Eastern Hercules Beetle: Bug #30!

Bug #30: Eastern Hercules Beetle, complete!

Here is quite an interesting website about them:
http://entomology.uark.edu/museum/dynastes.html

(I am so sad that I couldn't find a video to include of a clip from "The Nutty Professor" with the mom going "Her-calees! Her-calees! Her-calees!" Oh well.)

I never found very many of these when I was a kid (or as an adult, either). But on the rare occasions when I do find one, they never fail to impress me! They're some of the biggest beetles (if not the biggest) on the East Coast.

At least 5 or 6 times during my bug series, I've looked these guys up for reference photos, then changed my mind. I couldn't think of a composition and kept making things too complicated. I didn't want to duplicate my millipede with a bug walking on an old log with foliage around either. I decided on just a plain bright colored background again, and after scribbling a few colors in the margin of this drawing, picked red as I liked how it looked against the colors of the beetle.

So there we have it, my series is done!
Thanks so much to everyone who followed along, and sorry some of the bugs in the last week or so kept getting posted late. Working on the hydrant in all my spare time meant late-night-buggin', then it just seemed easier to scan a few in at a time, etc.

I'll be on vacation later this week, but when I return, I hope to have some ideas for a new series of some sort! Either more ACEOs, or else perhaps little paintings (8x10's) derived from some of these bugs!

Bumble Bee & Rose: Bug #26

I knew I wanted to include at least one composition with some bees in my series. I did honeybees for Bug #6, but knew I wanted to eventually add a bumble bee, too. So here he is, in his giant, fuzzy glory! Actually maybe too giant... I tried to illustrate a small, baby rose bloom here with the small petals all packed in together, not fully unfurled. But I think I just ended up making the bee look REALLY HUGE.

Huge bees.... Awesome. All the more fun for petting.

Water Beetle! Bug # 25

Click to see him in my Etsy shop!

Tuesday's bug is a Water Beetle! I don't really know a lot about these guys, except that you can often find pictues of them actually killing small frogs to eat, some people eat them, and some of these water beetles can get VERY BIG!
Those are known as the Giant Water Beetles.

My husband did ask what the background is supposed to be, so just to clarify... This beetle is diving down in some shallow water, amongst some green water plants and marshy reed grass.