Saturday, October 28, 2006

Etsy Feature: Flora & Fauna ACEOs

ACEOs have caught my attention lately. ACEO stands for 'Art Cards, Editions, and Originals' and the only rule is that the artwork has to be 2,5 by 3,5 inches (6,35 x 8,89 cm). Any style and material is allowed, as long as the dimensions are correct. In addition to paintings and drawings on paper, I've seen for example collages, metal, fabric and clay. More info can be found at www.art-cards.org.

I've found many ACEOs on Etsy and I want to show off some of my favourites. I chose the theme fauna and flora, because that is what I often turn to for inspiration for my own work.

As usual, I'll let the images do most of the talking, because they do a better job than me. Note that all images link to the ACEO in question.


SharonFosterArt.etsy.com has such lovely colourful artwork. They give me a good mood by just looking at them.



The paintings at laurali.etsy.com show beautiful, atmospheric scenes. You can also visit Laura's website called Zen Breeze Gallery for more ACEOs and other artwork.



Be sure to check out Talia's pencil work at TaliaArt.etsy.com. Great colour and detail!



The artwork in bluedingodesigns.etsy.com simply makes me smile. I love this style!



If you like cats, then you have to visit cdingo.etsy.com for wonderful feline portraits.


That's all of them this time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Cuteness Overload and Dinosaurs, Oh My

I got another Treasury list and filled it with cuteness! See it here and see it quick, for soon it will be gone.

In other news, I just finished my third Tommy. All three are tyrannosaurs, all are knitted and they're all called Tommy: Big Tommy, Little Tommy and Tiny Tommy. And no, there's nothing wrong with my imagination. It was just on vacation for a bit.

It all started with Big Tommy and a contest at deviantArt. I wanted to make the biggest softie I'd made yet for the contest and figured a T-rex would be perfect. I didn't quite plan on him becoming as big as he ended up though: 120 cm (4 ft) from nose to tail, needing 36 hours of knitting! You can find the original contest entry on dA, with more details on creation.

Let me introduce you to Big Tommy with the original description I wrote:

Here's Tommy the T-rex. He used to get teased for his pastel colours by the bigger, tougher T-rexes, the poor thing. He tried to fit in by growling menacingly and stomping around in a threatening fashion, but he didn't fool anyone. Everyone could tell he's really a cuddly big softie. Poor Tommy felt so alone, who would ever like a kind and cuddly Tyrannosaurus?

Fortunately everything turned out well in the end. Tommy found peace, happiness and acceptance once he got a job as a dinosaur kindergarten teacher and is now one of the little dino kids' favorite teachers.


Soon after the contest my Mom threatened to steal Tommy away, so I had to make her one - Little Tommy was born just in time for her birthday. Recently my brother started showing the same tendency, so Tiny Tommy was made for his birthday last week. Let's see what will happen for my Dad's birthday next month...

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Etsy Feature: Temptations of a Yarn Addict

It's time for a confession. I'm a yarn addict. I have bags full of yarn everywhere, waiting to be used up. I shouldn’t buy any more before I’ve used up what I have, but it gets so darn hard not to when I see the wonderful yarns for sale at Etsy. I figured that if I can’t buy any right now, I’ll at least show off some of my favourites.

And as an added bonus, I'll be creating a handy shopping list for later at the same time. Just don’t tell my hubby, or I’ll get one of those suffering looks that say "not more yarn AGAIN".

Anyways, enough chatting and on to the important bit! I'll let the images do most of the talking, because I'm sure they'll do a great job of luring you over by themselves. Note that each image also links to the yarn in question.

Visiting chewyspaghetti.etsy.com sets my imagination going every time. Just look at these two!







ruby297.etsy.com has so many yarns I'd love to use... I wouldn't know which to choose, it was difficult enough to decide on which to use as examples.






I just love the look of that pink yarn. Spazspun.etsy.com also has more than just your usual wool - how about some llama, yak or ingeo?






Want a change from the usual striped socks? Epicurus.etsy.com offers something special: sock yarn that goes from light at one end to dark at the other.






FearlessFibers.etsy.com has a wide selection of both subtle and striking colours, as well as different fibers. My knitting fingers are itching already!





That's all of them this time. So, away with you to browse all these shops, you're bound to find something (or, such as in my case, many things) you like!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Here Be Dragons

I knit my first dragon ages ago, I must have been around 12 or so. I've been meaning to knit another for a while now and this weekend I finally got around to it. Probably because I had lots of other things I should have done instead.

Meet Primrose, a playful little one as young dragons should be. She is knitted and crocheted from yellow, cream and purple acrylic baby yarn and stuffed with synthetic fill. She's 28 cm (11 in) long and 15 cm (6 in) tall when standing. All in all she needed 10 separate pieces, but I did most of the shaping during knitting and crocheting. The arms and legs are made in one piece, for example, with no seams at all.

Knitting Primrose was a very enjoyable experience, probably because she needed a lot of meticulous attention. It seems that to be happy about knitting, really happy, and to reach that relaxing level, I need to make something as detailed and complex as possible. I know, it doesn't make any sense.

She took me hours to finish and was a challenge, but I'm happy with the result.

I decided to make a listing for a custom dragon on Etsy, even though one will cost quite a bit. Maybe some dragon enthusiast will stumble across it, you never know. ;)

Want a custom dragon of your own?

Friday, October 13, 2006

I Like Catfish!

The aquarium kind of catfish, that is. I'm something of a fish fanatic, as anyone who knows me can testify. I have 5 aquariums running at the moment, with mostly catfish and loaches. Some of my favorite ones are plecos, a group of catfish from South America with often striking coloration. For me it wasn't enough to have them in my aquariums - I made some from yarn as well. Yeah, I'm a bit weird that way.

I first knit the huge one in the photo, making up the pattern as I made him. This one is based on a catfish called Snowball Pleco, currently known scientifically as Baryancistrus sp. LDA 033. (Many of these have not yet been scientifically described, hence the number and letter combination to keep track of species.) You'll find photos of this beautiful catfish on this page of Planet Catfish. How well did I do? ;) He was knitted from black yarn (mix of wool and polyamide), stuffed with synthetic fill and the white spots were embroidered on. More photos of him can be seen in this deviantArt entry.

The smaller catfish were made in the same way, though with crocheted fins, using the Starlight Bristlenose Catfish (Ancistrus dolichopterus, L183) as the model. Photos of that beauty can be found on this page. I have close relatives of this species in my own aquarium, but mine lost the white fringe of the fins as they got older. They still have the white spots on a black body and look great, in my humble opinion.

The big pleco is 65 cm (~25 in) long and does a good impression of a comfy pillow while lying on the bed. The smaller ones are 15 cm (6 in) and 12 cm (~5 in) long and are available through my Etsy shop. I don't think you want to pay me as much as it would take to make you a big one, however. ;)

Small Starlight catfish
Slightly bigger Starlight catfish

Thursday, October 12, 2006

My first Etsy Treasury list!

I was finally fast enough to get one of the elusive Etsy Treasury lists. I went with my good old obsession, fishies! I was amazed by how many different items decorated with fish I found on Etsy. I'd need more than one list to show off all the cool stuff.

Anyways, head over to my Treasury list for fish in all shapes and materials. Come on, I know you want to. Be quick, for in two days time it will be gone!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Why hello there, newly created blog of Morrgan!

So I went and created another blog, because I wanted a place where I could shamelessly advertise my handmade creatures and creations. Most of what I will be posting here can be bought from my Etsy shop, so if you like what you see, head on over!

I will also feature other Etsy members whose work I like now and then, because there's plenty of great items there that deserve more attention.

But now it's time for my first shameless plug. I'd like you to meet some cute little critters I listed today. They're tiny, only 5 cm (2 in) tall, and love the finer things in life, such as cookies and hugs. The ones pictured are so darn cute I'll keep them myself, but I can make more little ones just like them for you upon request.

These little ones are available from my Etsy shop.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...