Poe Tribute (or The Pit and the Tentacles)

I, much like the errant Poe Toaster, should have delivered this entry back on Tuesday, January 19. Alas, I have only now to try and make up for my mistake.



Inspired by an episode of 'Gilmore Girls', I decided to embellish my two couch pillows.



I burned a quick stencil and went to work with my fabric paint.

The second pillow was naked, so I stenciled an octopus.



Tentacular!



Also, I'm quite excited to announce that fun things are brewing in the Robot In Bloom album design universe... As soon as everything is finalized, there will be a cool development coming in the next few weeks.

Hope you're as excited as I am!

Fox Clocks (or Glitter Felt... Again!)

I wanted to share with you a clock I made about a year ago...

I was inspired by some excellent deep blue glitter felt (Moi?? Attracted to glittery felt?? Perish the thought!) at the craft store one day and thought it was a perfect setting for an adorable fox.

I didn't catch any shots of myself drilling the center hole into the wood base, but here's what it looked like after a few pieces of felt and some strategic cuts.



I started with fabric glue, but quickly found a hot glue gun to be the path to felt-gluing salvation.



Sir Foxington the VII proved to be a challenge, but I think he came out as close to my vision as 20 cent felt and a pair of nail scissors can get.

What a handsome devil!



The finished product.



I never did decide if I want to paint the hands... White? Perhaps a bright red? Maybe orange with white tips like Sir Foxington's tail?

I've been toying with selling my extra creations on Etsy just for fun, but I'm hoping I can find the strength to let them go to new homes.

Stay tuned to see a cheerful fabric necklace I finished yesterday, and a ghoulish plague doctor clock from last year.

And In The End (... Or Is It?)

I finished my recent foray into the embroidery world a few weeks ago, and thought I'd share the pictures with you.



I tried my hand at some free-style embroidery, inspired by the excellent book, Doodle Stitching.







And, quelle suprise! A robot somehow found his way into my coaster set. And on glitter felt, nonetheless. Hmmm... I'm sensing a pattern here.

Diversions (or Things I Covet)

There is so much awesomeness online, I can't help but feel compelled to share some of my findings with you. I spend way too much time on the Internet to not do something at least partially constructive with the list of treasures I find...

If you're at all concerned with building a stylish, small, and temporary nest for yourself, I'm sure you're heard of Apartment Therapy. They're the harbingers of design who, in their own words, are "saving the world, one room at a time."

Yesterday, they featured some art that I just refuse to accept as paintings.



I mean, that's got to be a photo from the 70s, right?
Artist David Imlay is clearly a master of the brush. Go read the write-up at Apartment Therapy for more paintings and information.



Also, in keeping with my my love for all things whimsical, bizarre, hilarious, and vaguely old-timey, there is this:



This dandy Boxer dog is the brainchild of The Utilitarian Franchise. Please go check out their Etsy shop. You won't be disappointed.



And finally, here's a picture of an awesome glittery purple skull I bought yesterday.



No, no 99 Cent Store... Thank you!

Crafts (or I Love That Goat!)

I have a confession. I'm crazy. But it's okay because Josh is too.
How does our insanity manifest itself?

Goat love.

In a field near our house, there is a goat. This goat has no idea, but he has become our little mascot. Our own little folk hero, even.

He's adorable. He likes to stand on top of an old rusty truck in his field. He spends most of his time eating grass with the grey donkey. He has a brown head. We've named him Bartamus and have ascribed many outlandishly untrue (Or are they??) character traits to him including, but not limited to, Bartamus being a secret breakdancer who goes out and busts his moves on the weekends at many fine Houston nightclubs.

He's the source of many ridiculous, hilarious converstaions between me and my husband.

So, as a tribute to him, I sewed some coasters!
(Hey, you accept the creative spark wherever you can get it, right? Plus, I'm trying to get better at embroidery.)

I didn't take very good pictures of the process because I didn't think about it until too late. Regardless, in this one, you can see mine and Josh's attempts at drawing goats on neon Post-its. Very technical stuff. (Mine is on the left, Josh's is on the right.)




Goats are really hard to draw, by the way. Try it. It's nearly impossible to stop them from simultaneously looking like dogs, deer, and horses. I think we did okay, though...

A closer look at my novice embroidery.



So, yeah. That's Bartamus.* I hope he likes being immortalized in felt.

Oh, and I made a spaceship, too, because I like spaceships. And I had glittery felt.





* Well, that's felt Bartamus. I'll post a picture of the real one as soon as I get up enough nerve to stop the car near the field and get out. I'm kind of worried about invoking 'Deliverance'-style farmer wrath...

Design Genesis (or First Contact)

Well, here I am. Sitting at home on the first Thursday of my new life. Happy as a clam.

I recently quit my job and have decided to Fosbury Flop my way into the world of sole proprietorship. I've always had a passion for design (which is the classy way to say that I like how stuff looks) and now that I'm barreling my way toward 30, I decided it was time to stop fuming at my desk all day, get all Oprah-y on myself, and try to live the one life I have in the awesomest way possible. I'm now a freelance wedding photo album designer, and I'm incredibly glad about that...

I started my wedding-related career as most folks in the wedding world start out - by holding a wedding of my very own. Josh and I were married in March of 2008. I know it's cliche to say, "OMG muh wedding wuz teh best thing evar!!1!" but it really was. I won't go into details about how awesome our marriage is and how Josh is the best husband (and person) in the world, because as much as I want to say them, you might lose your lunch... So I'll just focus on the more digestable superficial aspects:



Photo by Kasey Marsh of Monkey Tree Photography


I love color. And I love balancing wacky fun with timeless class. I'm also incredibly indecisive and can see beauty in all styles of design... Hence, our wedding style.
As a result of our (relatively) non-cookie-cutter approach to tradtion, we were featured on Offbeat Bride. (You can read our write-up here.)

Anyway, that's all I'll say for now because I really do have a ton of work to do. Being the boss and the employee is a new concept for me. Plus, it involves a lot of reading in the beginning as I've found out this summer. That's okay, though. I'm looking forward to my upcoming visit to Amazon to obtain more literature on how to propel myself into the entreprenurial stratosphere. Also, I'll probably pick up the 'Mama Mia' soundtrack new Wilco album.




Photo by Kasey Marsh of Monkey Tree Photography