The last class was all about glazing all the pieces we had made, which was super exciting. I had been itching to bring these babies home.

Once they were home I was still excited and decided each one needed it’s own photo shoot.

So that is what I did!

I have been sharing these on IG and will probably continue with the next batch as well.

So if you’d like to follow along, just check out my InstaGram!

The next session is all about tall cylinders, trays and matching cup sets! I am still so excited!!!!!

This year has been all about experimenting and growing as an artist.

So this weeks shop update is all about surface design on jewelry. I drew up some wonky shapes, laser cut them out of acrylic, hand painted each one and then covered the tiny abstract painting in resin.

These have been so much fun to make and I love that each and every one is 100% one of a kind.

I also took some of my new ceramics designs and translated them to jewelry. These pieces are designed by me, then laser cut and engraved by me and then I fill in the engraved parts in different colors of paint. The finished pieces are so neat to look at and wear!

You can find all the new jewelry pieces here.

In other news, all of the Crafty Bitches Club tshirts have shipped. Once photos started popping up of people wearing them I got a lot of requests for more. So I have started a second preorder with a delivery of early July. If you want to get in on this second run, just click on over to the order page here.

I have been trying to mix things up and have a theme for each shop update! This month’s theme was hand painted laser cut wood (with one or two exceptions)

I went through my old sketchbooks and picked several designs that I thought would make neat brooches. They are all based off my own taste, but I will be open to suggestions in the coming months.

I also went through some of my fabric designs and took out a few elements here and there as tests.

All in all I’m very proud of all the new pieces and love seeing them up in the shop.

Oh and I also threw in some new XL Wall Scissors to mix things up a bit! These are made from 1/4″ MDF with Designer Fabric fused to the surface before laser cutting. They are a great addition to any sewing room (or any space really).

You can find all of these pieces plus more in the shop!

I thinking I’m going to run with this idea and see exactly what I can make when I mix my jewelry with my quilting. The sky is the limit.

For now I’ve added a whole bunch of pieces using the scans to my Society6 shop…

I am slowly ordering swatches from Spoonflower and currently a few colorways are available as yardage with more coming super soon…

Also any designs available in my Spoonflower shop can also be used on Sprout Patterns. How cool is this dress? I want it so bad…

Seriously, there is so much more I can do here! Other shapes, more casting techniques, different colors, etc. I am so excited by this project and will probably be sharing more about it soon!

A few weeks ago I received an email from Zazzle.com with a coupon code for 50% off fleece blankets. I didn’t know that you could get custom made fleece blankets made, and the idea excited me. So I headed on over to their site and quickly uploaded a file and ordered myself a custom fleece blanket.

It wasn’t hard to pick out a design either. CT has been asking for the bedding set that I designed for the “Just Two Words” project a few months back. I haven’t figured out the best way to make it yet, and figured this would be the next best thing. I ordered the 50″x60″ size to try and mimic a large quilt.

I knew CT would be dragging it around with her everywhere, so I made the background dark grey instead of beige to help ward back stains as much as I could.

It only took a week for the blanket to come in, which I found pretty awesome for the fact that it’s custom. The actual blanket is super super soft and fluffy and the design was almost just right (I’ve since adjusted it, as you can see below). The colors are much more saturated than on the screen, but I like them better that way. Though I worry what that would do to an actual photograph.

All in all I am super happy with the finished piece and plan on ordering more in the future. Has anyone else tried out Zazzle’s other custom pieces? I’m eyeing a lamp shade bath mat currently.

Oh and for those few emails I received after posting the photo on Instagram, I did indeed add this blanket to my Zazzle shop for others to buy too. While I was at it, I played around with a few dozen other types of products. Some are a bit silly, but others are pretty neat!

Pin It]]> http://artschooldropout.net/blog/bursting-at-the-seams-with-love-fleece-blanket/feed/ 0 http://artschooldropout.net/blog/just-two-words-project-houses-folk/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=just-two-words-project-houses-folk http://artschooldropout.net/blog/just-two-words-project-houses-folk/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:31:09 +0000 jesseesuem http://artschooldropout.net/blog/?p=3716 Continue reading →]]> This past weeks Just Two Words theme was Houses & Folk and the finished piece should be a set of bed linens. I chose the word Houses and Heidi chose Folk!

I was super excited when I heard the word combo this week! I love drawing houses and was expecting to do something intricate when I thought of the word, but then when I heard Folk my mind switched gears and I couldn’t stop thinking about simple block houses and lots of swirly vines and flowers.

The word Folk is very broad. One of the definitions is “of or relating to the traditional art or culture of a community or nation” which is what first came to my mind and is the idea I ran with. I have always associated the word with Amish and/or Scandinavian art. So I decided to blend the two a bit, which is where I came up with the above design. Every single part came from hours of doodling in my sketchbook. I drew so many swirls, vines, tulips and houses. If I illustrated all of them I’d have a few dozen fabric lines. I loved this theme!

I may have loved setting up the examples even more! I had never used Photoshop mock-up files before, but I think i’m hooked now. I want to see how all of my designs will look as bedspreads, sheets, couches, dresses and more. This may be a new addiction, just saying.

The saddest part of this project is I don’t have a way of making the actual set. Technically I could piece some stuff together, but pieced fitted sheets aren’t very comfortable. The closest I could get was Society6 and their Duvet Cover option. It’s not exactly the same though because the back isn’t that cute little bird fabric, but it’s still neat. Oh and I made a matching rug too, because, “why not?”!

I’ve also ordered swatches from Spoonflower of those two fabrics shown as sheets, along with a baby cheater quilt version of that comforter. I’ll post photos once they come in!

Phew, I think that’s it! Heidi is on vacation, so were taking a week off since she won’t have time and I need to catch up on a few other projects. I’m excited to hear what the next set of words will be though, These challenges really were just the thing I needed.

If you’d like to read more about this project, check out the first blog post I wrote about it.

My “go to” outfit has pretty much been the same for YEARS! The colors and shapes may change a bit, but the overall look is the same.

• A comfy cardigan over a tank top, or sometimes a girls tshirt with something nerdy on it.
• A pair of levis, usually cuffed wide a few inches above my ankles. I do this even in the winter.
• In the summer it’s a pair of no show socks, in the winter it’s usually a pair of striped or polka dotted high socks.
• As for shoes, I prefer New Balance 574′s. I also own a bunch of Van’s classics (slip-on’s and laced up) but I always go back to the 574′s. Currently I have a hunter green pair and my mom got me a pair of bright pink ones for xmas (I’m trying out bright colors this year).
• I have a few purses, but the one that gets the most use is my Fossil Satchel.
• Glasses. I always have glasses on, my newest pair are oversized maroon Ray-Bans.

I also wear dresses, boots and pretty shoes, but the above items are 100% my go to favorite things. They are comfortable and not too constraining. What are your favorite pieces of clothing?

I have a few projects coming up using some of these little drawings! I will obviously share them. I also had someone suggest a coloring book, which sounds pretty neat to me, so i may try that out too. All I know is I love drawing again, and that’s all that matters. Who cares if its good or bad!

Anyway, now onto what the doodles below are all about…

A new friend I have met through IG, Lindsay of Em & Sprout (she makes super duper cute prints, clothes and accessories) has set up a daily doodle challenge. #animaldoodleaday . She put together a list of 31 different animals to doodle (I struggle saying draw, because I’m not sure where my art belongs. A rant for another day). One animal for each day of the month. I don’t normally take part in these type of challenges, but I’ve been feeling stuck lately and I did buy myself some new pens last month, so “why not?”.

Every night before bed, I sit down with a pencil and a brush pen and I quickly draw that days animal. I try not to put too much thought into each one, because if I did, I’d psych myself out. I guess I’m a nervous artist.

I’m falling in love with the process of art all over again. Apparently it was the right time to jump back in, and ignore my worst critic… me. To help with my “art anxiety” I am going to post some of my pieces each week for the next four weeks. They aren’t in any particular order, I just put them together in a way that was pleasing to my eye.

So here goes…

I am nowhere near a perfect artist, but I feel like sharing everything I do will help my anxiety and confidence. Maybe. Haha. One nice thing that has come out of this exercise is I’m opening my mind up to a lot of options. I want to create again, I’m not feeling AS lost.

Am I the only one who gets nervous about sharing the stuff they draw?