Halloween at etsy

I thought it would be nice to showcase some of the Halloween treasuries at Etsy, where I have my shop. This blog can't always be about me! Since October is right around the corner, I thought I would share some Halloween and Autumn artwork. If you haven't been to Etsy before, it's a wonderful website where thousands of artists and craftsmen sell their hand made wares. Vintage and retro items are available there too.

To start off, I thought this Orange treasury was bright and fun! Who doesn't like orange?


This next treasury is called Purple Perfection and it's just that! I especially love the purple hair!
What's the glowing in the jar? I want one of those..



Haunted forests, spooky bottles and old crows are part of this next treasury, called Haunted House in the Forsaken Forest. I think I've found a kindred spirit!

Finally, here's a treasury full of mummies! It's called Show me the Mummy!

I do have to admit that one of my mummies is in this treasury, the tall standing one. It's always fun and an honor to be placed in a treasury, so I thought I would share this one.




If you enjoyed these Halloween Treasuries, let me know. Click on the links to see the actual treasury. You might even find something you can't live without!

Halloween Shadow Box Cupboard

I like to wander around resale shops hoping that I'll find something wonderful. Just the other day I found some great items. I got a brand new Scrabble game,


a brand new cat/pumpkin face that I can plug in, two bags of Halloween stuffed animals (? I don't know why I bought them, but I'm going to donate them to an auction), and a little cupboard. The cupboard was white with purple flowers painted on it, but I knew that the flowers wouldn't do, because I had plans for this cupboard.

I painted it a rusty color, printed out some retro images that I enhanced in Photoshop, made some cute Halloween clay babies and started to decorate my find. It's so much fun to decorate these boxes, especially now that I have a color laser printer. I can create images right at my fingerprints.




Of course, with my clay I can create little characters and props. For this box, I made ghosts, pumpkins, a cup, cookies on a plate and some books. I use super glue and hot glue to attach everything. It took me about three hours from beginning to end to complete this project and now it's for sale on etsy.How about you? Any great finds lately?

Fatty Fairies have arrived

For several years I've had this idea to make a series of fatty fairies.

I was brain storming with a friend once and told her about the fairies. I said, "Fatty Fairies, we're too fat to fly." Without a beat she said, "so we don't even try!" I loved it!

I have a friend named Lori who makes the cutest fairies and after talking with her the other day, she got me so inspired to continue on with this idea, that I made three fatty fairies. She gave me some great tips about marketing and displaying the fairies and even some inside secrets of her own. This was great, as many artists don't share their ideas too easily.




Here are two of the fairies I made. I'll be posting these on ebay tomorrow.

I have a lot of ideas for fatty fairies (I never lack for ideas, that's for sure.) As excited as I am to start this new line, I'm still doing animal toppers and lots of Christmas ornaments and Halloween characters. The holiday season is just around the corner and I've been busy creating lots of fun, cute and unique polymer clay ornaments and dolls. Stay tuned!

Dogsmom is the winner!

Well, I randomly picked a winner from random. org and Dogsmom won the piggy. All she has to do is send me her email, and I'll send her the pig. Thanks for all who played. I'll have another giveaway in a few weeks..

Recent Work

Thought I share some pictures of what I've been up to this past week.



These are Christmas ornaments shaped as tags. Can be used as tags, but at $4.00 each, better for an ornament.



Cute scarecrow with a pumpkin, one of my favorite characters to make during the fall.


Frog cake toppers. These are ready to ship or I can do a custom design with different colors of flowers. I can do most animals, so if there is something you've been looking for, let me know.



These are Halloween Ornaments, made for a Halloween tree. Once again, in the shape of a tag. It is entirely made of clay, with a textured background. I love making these.

Tomorrow is the deadline for the contest to win the Halloween pig, so leave a comment and good luck!

I just couldn't give polymer clay up.

It was a tough five months, but I finally got back to claying. There are several reasons, the first being that I think I'm good at it and I believe it's a talent that God has given me. Secondly, it sells. I love doing the posters and prints, but I practically had to give them away. I'm going to consider that part of my life a hobby! Thirdly, there was an uproar among my friends and relatives about why I wasn't claying anymore and so I started to question it myself. Finally, I felt I was missing out on something, plain and simple.

So, to celebrate my return to clay, I'm having a giveaway.

I love making pigs and this one is too cute. She is holding two pumpkins and is ready for fall. This polymer clay piece is 2 inches tall. Her value is $8.00 but someone out there is going to get her for free!

How can you win?

Tweet about me, leave a comment, become a follower, like my facebook page,,those are all ways that you can get into the drawing.

Just let me know by email or by leaving a comment what you did (tweeting, commenting,following, liking)...This contest goes till September 5th. I'll pick a winner then and ship it out.

Pulled in too many directions

Wow, there are so many things I want to do and so little time to do it. I bet you know the feeling. I am the proverbial jack of all trades, and master of none. I want to paint, do collage, draw, and, although I said I was "retired" from clay, I still have an urge to create sculptures. (I just may do some Halloween ones soon).

I don't know if it's my attention deficit that gets in my way, but here's an average day for me.

• sponge paint paper for collage
• scan different images
• draw images and scan
• manipulate images in photoshop
• look at other artist's work
• make posters
• market my art
• fine tune skills in Illustrator (that's something I just started, although I've taken classes this is a tough program for me to learn)
• bid on jobs at Elance and then get cold feet when someone starts acting interested
• twitter my art
• facebook my art
• renew work or add new art work to etsy
• make cards

This would all be great if I were set in my style of artwork, everything would mesh and look unified and cohesive.

But, here are some of the things I'm working on,,

• bubble houses
• retro images
• kids alphabet
• kids pictures with my granddaughter
• dark dreams imagery (posters and prints)
• manipulated images of my art dolls
• inspirational images for prints and posters
• rainbow, glittery peace signs and posters

I love doing it all, but you can't find ME in any of it. I want to become an artist with that "style" that you can see in all of their work. This is very difficult for me to attain. I think I have a "wait if" attitude,,for instance,,what if I do it this way but the other way is better. What if I work on primitive folkart style and no one likes it. What if I am on to something here but I better do the other stuff too. Get my drift?

To thine own self be true is something I believe in but I don't know how to do it. I plod along daily making art but it is off on so many levels and tangents that I just don't know how to find my style.

Here are a few artists whose style is distinct in every aspect of their work..

Art by Erin She creates mixed media and spiritual art. I love her style. It is apparent in each thing she does. She is true to herself. How did she get there? That's what I need to find out. I'm older than she is for sure, but still, I haven't found it.

Another artist who's style is distinct is Little Sonrisa Her characters all look related, her backgrounds and style is definitely her own. She has achieved what I'm trying to find.

As my brain continues to bounce around in pinball fashion, maybe someone out there can give me a word of advice. It's tiring to me to continue in this way. In order for me to achieve some kind of success in my art I want to find my style yet I'm wandering around in a maze of ideas.

The journey continues.

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On the road again

I love taking pictures of roads. There is something about an image of a road that makes me wonder, "where does it lead, and what will happen when I get there?"

I'm always on the lookout for a great road photo opportunity and I guess I'm not the only one.

Post Cards In the Attic made a beautiful treasury on etsy called "On The Road Again." and she honored me by putting one of my road prints on it. Not only did she include me in this wonderful treasury, she blogged about it on her beautiful blog, Butterfly in the attic. She's got some great old vintage postcards and images in her etsy shop and on her blog, so you might want to visit her. Enjoy your travels!

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken