Crafty Photos!!

I found the coolest camera's at Tate's before Christmas and picked one up for a creative friend who I knew would appreciate it. It was a fisheye camera from Lomography. I didn't do much research - it just looked like a cool gift for a cool person. Last weekend I returned to Tates and spent some time checking out the line and the books on Lomography. I was captivated! Besides fisheye, there are lenses that infuse color into your photos, make mosaic tiles of one image on a single print, like this one that I pulled of of the e-lomography flickr group,


and cameras that take four quick shots in 2 seconds for a tiled action print. I got the latter one at the prodding of my son who thought it would be so cool to take on vacation. (He, like his crafty mommy, is very creative.) There is no flash on my little toy so i have to take pictures outside in bright sunshine. The fun thing is it turns ordinary shots into artist photos! I bought some cheap film (yes, not digital either.) and can't wait to have my first roll developed to see what comes out!!!

Godzilla wishes you a Happy Valentines Day

In the long run, having sons may save me from the hormonal turbulence and nastiness that daughters bring (this is paraphrased from my mother, who tells me I was very difficult starting at age 12. Looking back, I just think she couldn't deal.) I do long for someone to make jewelry with and make my dream dollhouse for. Lacking a Hello Kitty loving, pink wearing offspring, I was rewarded with boys who are very creative. They are musical, can whip poems up for their class projects, and raid my craft room often for the same. I recieved a phone call from my son who was looking for my rhinestones to glue on a banner for a rennasiance unit. The younger one creates multi media power point presentations and hand drawn comic books. Don't ask me how much I spend each month on Crayola's Model Magic!

The letter came home from school a week and a half ago with the class valentine policy. Unfortunately this year we would not make mailboxes at home for the little cards (which have morphed into candy with a name on it many times.) Recepticles would be bags decorated in class. The class list was provided so that no child be left out. For the actual valentines, there would be no store bought commercial character cards for the child of this Crafty Mommy. Without prompting from me, he decided he would make is own valentines.



He searched the web for his favorite Godzilla images then added text in speech bubbles. Cut them out, folded them and decorated them with foam heart stickers. I was glad to see the DIY spirit alive in kids during one of these Hallmark holidays.

I do wonder what his classmates thought of his handmade cards mixed in with Scooby Doo, Harry Potter, and Spongebob.

sparking the creativity

My version of playing on a drizzly Saturday afternoon.

More doggy cute

These layered paper cut compositions by SanFran67, another very talented Etsy artist, really caught my eye.


Besides canine cuteness, she has birds, a monkey and beautiful monochromatic work.

Puppy Love

I love my dogs. My three papillons are personalities plus! Never a dull moment when they are around (which is always!)



I fell in love when I saw these paintings and prints from Dog Art by Lyn on Etsy. They truly capture the papillon spirit!



She's got beautiful originals and prints with many other adorable canines.

Must Make Time for Crafting

Crafting and exercising. Two things that I wish I could fit in on a regular basis. Rather than cook dinner...although the guilt drives me to prepare something each and every day for my family, lest I be 'one of those moms' who call the various restaurants around town for curbside pickup.

I finished a cute necklace that is a combination of vintage celluloid charms and new crystals. I have still yet to master good photographs and my easy digital point and shoot camera has a constant 'card can't be used' warning no matter what I do. Sigh.

I managed to squeeze in some time to make some buttons for the parents of my son's basketball team complete with a sports and school logo and the boy's name and number. Made one for each parent because I am so nice and spirited and crafty. I made them for the football team moms and they were much more enthusiastically received. This was a perfect project to keep my hands busy during the Giants football game. Go Patriots! (We are a Boston/NY household here. Always fun at certain sport seasons.)

I got inspired after buying and reading through Sheri Haab's book The Art of Resin.

I have always wanted to learn and now I will. Just another crafty project. If you could only see my craft room (and various spots around the house.) I am still working on the crocheted blanket that I started last summer. Should have known to start with a larger hook. Never thought it would be a blanket though, but I am compelled to finish it. I have jewelry projects everywhere. Collage images needing to me pasted into the images I have in my head. And a zine! That is in my head, too, with ideas jotted down in the art journal that I rarely get to.

Ahhh, but I made nice buttons. And the nice necklace. With lots of projects started, I'll always have one to finish. :)

Art on Etsy

I am a bit obsessed with Etsy (as are most people after they discover it!) They have a new feature called 'pounce' that lets you see what was recently bought and what else is available from that seller. I also like scrolling through the Time Machine 2 that lets you see the most recently listed items.

I have found some great things on Etsy that I have shared in the past. There is especially some great artwork out there. I recently added Mt. Joy School to my list of favorites. Their mixed media compositions are done with such vibrant colors and subject matter. May have to add to my artwork collection!