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I showed off my blank mini munny a couple of weeks ago, so it became time i spend some time actually decorating her. I tried and learned through mistakes. I had fun along the way. So much that i know i will definitely get myself a second one and go at it again in the near future!
For now, let me take you through my progress with Miss Munny.
1. I started out drawing drawing my basic ideas on her.
2. Then i took out my favorite markers and started adding color. But oh no, it didn't cover as intense as i wanted it to.
3. Hold on, i got a different set of professional markers, sent to me a long time ago by kate from udream2, maybe they would do the trick. Okay, better. But the thing i don't like with markers is the stripes they leave. You could of course turn that into some sort of pattern, but it wasn't what i was after. Plus it didn't dry quickly, so it stained my fingers and then the doll where i was holding her.
4. This is where my Genius Husband comes in, hey babe, why don't you use nailpolish? Nailpolish?! That would work! It covers well, it dries fast and it gives a pretty shine! So off running to the 99cent store to grab lots of bright colors and i was ready to finish Miss Munny!

After i added all the color i decided she could use some jewelry. A glued on a button flower in her hair and a remnant of an old necklace.
I pretty much like how she ended up, although i would like the lines to be more perfect and she has some blotches on her face (from step 3). Next time, i will move straight from the sketch to the nailpolish!

It has been a long time ago that i made my cutest creation. Going back through my blog i can't believe i almost had to go back to the beginning! It was January 2006!
When i moved to NY i had to leave my lovely pillow back in Amsterdam. She would have filled up an entire suitcase and space was precious!
Recently, when my parents came over for a visit, they brought her with them! So i'm finally reunited with my cuteness.
Plus it gives me a kick in the but to get going and finish the new versions i so excitedly started a while ago.

I am so in love with Japanese craft books. I don't know what it is, but the Japanese designers and publishing houses really know how a great craft book should look like. I love the designs, i love the layouts, the project photos, all of it!
The only down point is that most often the books are pretty expensive plus you need to add the shipping costs, so buying the Japanese books is normally not a regular thing for me, but a special treat.
Luckily i have found a big lot of the lovely books, so many i can't keep them all to myself. In comes my Etsy shop. I think i have set up some fair prizes with matching low shipping, so if you are like me and love Japanese craft books, check out the shop. There are books on felting, sewing, crocheting, knitting and more. Hope you love! ♥

Is it a bowl of candy? I think it looks like something sweet you would like to eat.
But no, in this house a bowl of colorful sprinkles is just a bowl filled with paper scrappies left over from making a bunch of new spiral bound journals!

I made a whole stack of them, most are already up in the notebook section of my Etsy shop, or waiting to be put up, or already sold!
Hope you love!

Have an hour to spare? Check out the new book from my friend Maria Binns "One Hour Craft". (on Amazon now) Creating for the time-poor but imagination-rich! I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet, but knowing her and the projects i've seen on the wonderful One Hour Craft blog, i know it's going to be good.

And do check out this video she and her twin sister made based on the book. They are hilariously funny!

I had a couple of colorful washcloths around and a little bit of spare time. (=time that i wasn't feeling like spending on things from my todo list)
Add a bit of trim, some beads and other embellishments and tada: Washcloth cupcakes!
These would make a perfect baby shower gift i think. Would these sell on Etsy? Hm. I think i should do some research. I bet i'm not the first one to make these. But who knows, we'll see. Do share you're thoughts!

Finally, here are the pictures of the notebooks i made recently. I really like how they came out.
Link to Etsy listing.

For most of them i used photos of vintage interiors as the background and edited my own illustrations in them. This deer has found herself a very vintage livingroom to live in!
Link to Etsy listing.

Then again, this blue bear and its birdie friend wanted to play in a lovely park today.
Link to Etsy listing.

I'm having somewhat of a busy week, busy in a good way. But I keep thinking i have to blog about my visit to Etsy!
This last Monday, my friend Diana taught a soapmaking class at the Monday craft night at the Etsy Labs. We had fun. I ended up sort of being her personal assistant, which basically meant i had the privilige to cut up the soap to be melted. Somebody had to do it... hihi. And i did get help from some of the people who attended the workshop. Oh, there also was a camera crew of one of the evening news channels. They did a feature on Etsy. Allthough i just had a new haircut, i tried to stay away from the camera's angle. No, not necessarily camera shy, but c'mon, i was cutting up a big piece of soap in a bucket. Not exactly how i envisioned my moment of fame. Lol.

I promise to post shots of my journals later today or tomorrow morning! They will go up on my Etsy shop of course too! And i also have some photos and experiences to share about my Shrinky dink adventures. Coming up!

Having fun with my Bind It All machine! How pretty does this stack of new journals look? I'm really happy with how they came out. I still have to make separate product pics, but i already wanted to share this with you all. I wanted to give them something extra, so i added pretty ribbons with a bead on the end as a bookmark. The covers will be revealed soon, i really hope you like them as much as i do!

I think i quickly mentioned it already, but i got myself a Bind It All Machine! It's pink, it's easy, it works terrific, and did i say it's pink? ;)
I am in love.

The two journals in the photo were test cases, one will go to a friend back home in the Netherlands and the other will stay here with me. I am prepping a lot of cover images so i'll be making more of these to put up in my shop. Stay tuned for more binditall adventures!

I was so in need of new inspiration and what better than nice company and new craft techniques? Yesterday i had the pleasure to visit the lovely Diana of Sweet Buddha Designs. We tried out my new Bind it All Machine (more on that in a later post) and she taught me how to make paper beads using embossing powder and a heat gun! You understand, now i want to get a heat gun!

Today was another new craft technique day, or better said, very old craft technique day. The mailman didn't only deliver an order of new wool felt for me this morning, he also had a package with Shrink Plastic for me! You might remember this from back in the day, i know i made shrinky dink charms as a little girl and today i gave it another try. You see the tiny charm in the middle, with the deer stamp on it? That was my first test piece. It's very cute, but i won't be able to use it as a charm, because obviously not only the design shrinks with heat, the hole that you would put a jump ring through also shrank! Now it's too tiny to put anything through... Always good to do a testpiece. I am a bit confused why with some pieces the white background turned out a bit yellowish, maybe i kept the charm in the oven too long? Anyone knows? Now that i have the shrink plastic i obviously have another reason to get that heatgun. I have a feeling that the way the pieces shrink is more controllable with a heatgun than in the oven. Especially since my oven doesn't have a front window, so i have to open it to check if the charm is ready..

I will try out some things to get some kind of (glossy) seal on the charms. I don't really like the feel of the charms as they are now. Strange, i remember the shrinkies from the past being very smooth. Maybe the ones that you can't run through your printer still are? Got some research to do.

My plan always is to first show finished crafts here before i potentially list them on Etsy. But i guess most of the times it's the other way around.
It can be because of the excitement to get it out there as soon as something is finished, or maybe because after finishing it takes me a little bit to gather my thoughts about it and be able to show and tell on my blog.

Like this piece. Maybe you recognize the illustration from when i entered it in the Tigerprint Fashion Illustration Competition.
You know, i really love it, but i do think that if i would enter a similar competition right at this moment, it would look totally different. Reminds me to make more time and spend it making illustrations. There are so many ideas floating in my mind, i just don't know where to start i guess.
But back to this new piece, so i transferred the illustration onto white wool felt. And then i embellished it. Added the bead necklace and the fabric flower, embroidered a backstitch line around the woman's hair.
I took the glass out of the pink frame. I like the way the contrast stands out between the soft felt and the smoothness on the illustration. And you couldn't have the flower and the beads with the glass in it.
Hope you like!