100 ideas: A swap-bot challenge

These are things I did for the Swap-bot challenge. I'm going to be doing plenty more. We had to take Keri Smith's 100 ideas and work with them. We had to do at least five: here are my piece that are "digitally" recorded.
Map Everywhere you went in a day.
Well as you can see, I'm not a very good map maker. (cartographer?) This map is utterly boring and uninspired. I should have done different trips in different colors. That would have been at least a bit more exciting. I might try this again when I have an intersting day planned.

Create an image using dots. I had a blast doing this one and plan to do more dotty art. There's something very relaxing about doing art in dots.

#62 Write an entry in LARGE LETTERS: Ok this one was weird. It's like almost an incomplete though process. Fill an entry in large letters. That means it's got to be short sweet and to the point. So I think this sums it all up.

#100 Draw a Double Handed Mirror Image Drawing (this is one of my own..the last give are ideas of your own making)

#20 Write A Haiku: I like writing Haikus. This one is a bit simple, but i Wanted to play with the color/word play.


I've got another Haiku in a different book, but I can't find it. It's a tiny little portable book and it tends to slip under things and get lost.

So check out Keri Smith's blog and try the 100 ideas yourself. It's a lot of fun! I'm off to dig into the deeper more challenging of the ideas.

a new piece I did today!

I just completed this new piece of artwork. I think I'll be doing a series of these as I just loved the way it turned out! I'm thrilled with the image all together, the joy in the colors. A very happy piece I must say. Thrilled that it turned out so well!

It's a Spring Sprout-ackular!

Over the next few weeks the sprouts will be showing up en masse. Nothing kicks the winter blahs like a lovely shot of lime green, or any green for that matter! What better way to get your shot of green than with an adorable MINI SPROUT! Check out these cuties!







Plus a few shots of Sprouts who've been adopted!

Holy Moley!

Where does the time go!?!?! I swear, only yesterday I was saying to myself; I really need to buckle down and create for selling. It's now the second week of February, and it seems as if I've been dragging my feet. Oh sure, I'm doing tons of things for swaps, (which always help to inspire) but nothing is being done for me to sell online. I've been playing around with shrink plastic. Having a blast making sugar skull charms, fairy pendants, artsy graphic deisgn pendants...I've even been trying to figure out a good "art button" design and size. I've GOT to do more fairies...my poor little etsy shop is starting to look old and moldy. Not enough new things to perk up the masses. Not enough listing being done...not enough creating being done. I was hoping to get things to the gallery in the middle of January and now it's the middle of FEBRUARY! WHERE DOES THE TIME GO! I swear, I need to clone myself!


On the agenda for tomorrow...atcs, photographs of finised projects, uploading said photos, writing to a few friends, and about a million and one more creative things that I won't fit in, no matter how hard I try.....OH YEAH...and sleep!

Ok, I'm off to bed early so I don't waste tomorrow.

Does anyone have any good chicken recipes they'd like to share? I'm bored with my oldies.

working on new patterns!

I've been having so much fun playing around with felt creatures. I've come up with a great squirrel pattern and I'm now looking to work on a hedgehog, a new bat pattern, mini elephant... and then I've got to get to making another crocheted creature for my nephew. He announced last Friday that it was time for me to make him a new animal. Green Gregory Ra is fine, but he'd like something new. For those of you who don't know, Green Gregory Ra was my first attempt into the world of crocheted/knitted animals. He was a large knitted orange and gold lion. Yes, yes, I know...with the name Green Gregory Ra, you'd think he would have been a green lion, or at least would have had some green in him. Nope, not the case. Why my nephew named him Green Gregory Ra I have no idea, but that's what he'll always been named to me. D of course states now that his name is only Gregory Ra, that he's not Green Gregory Ra any longer, but I'll always refer to him as that, and have even been thinking of doing some cartoon panels a'la Calvin and Hobbs to hang in his room.

So my very first squirrel pattern worked out wonderfully well. So much so that I couldn't quit saying how proud of myself I was. I think I drove my husband nuts! He's just so darn cute though and as soon as I get pictures of him I'll be posting them. I'm hoping to do an art festival in May, and I think I'm going to do an army of Squirrels to sell there. I've been sewing them by hand but I think I'll try the next one on the machine. I also might try making them even smaller. He's almost three inches tall.

My Goddess ATCs

Made these for a swap. I think I'll be doing more of these paper profiles and faces. I just loved playing with it! Saraswati turned out to be one of my favorites of the batch. Brigid went missing. I'm not sure if I tucked her into someone else's envelope or if she's somehow slipped into a pile of my crafty bits...so Saraswati was made to take her place.

Octopus Amigurumi!

Well here he is finally! My little wee octopus amigurumi. I'm definately going to be making more of this guy! He's too cute! I sent him off to my swap partner the other day and he was well received. I also sent along a traveling companion for him, a little lime green fish friend. I forgot to take pictures of the fishy though. Doh! Oh well, I'll just have to make another.

Working on Custom work once again! YAY!

I had a special request for a poodle with butterfly wings. So here's my rendition. Pretty cute, in an overly pink girly way. :)

What's Stopping You From Taking a Self Portrait?

This question comes from an interview on Chrysti's blog Art By Chysti. She's taking on the 29 days of giving challenge. Quite a fascinating concept and one I'll most likely tackle myself soon. I like random acts of kindness, and feel that this might be the universe's way of pointing me in the "right direction".

So anyway, the first giveaway ( why haven't you gone and checked it out yet??) today was a very interesting looking book Mixed Media Self Portraits by Cate Coulacos Prato. Chrysti's blog held a lovely little interview with Cate and at the end Cate asked, "What's stopping you from taking a self portrait?"

So I thought long and hard about it. I never was really much of a self portrait person. I suppose a lot of it has to do with the fact I never felt myself much to look at, let alone pose myself in front of a camera for the good of all mankind type. Granted, I think everyone has those feelings of insecurity, but mine was heartily backed by years of being picked on as a teenager. I was from a large family, wore hand-me-downs from someone who was wearing them as hand-me-downs. (though I wouldn't change a thing about my formative years now...it's made me the person I am!) I didn't have the "cool" things. I was told I was fat A LOT by peers. Compared to my siblings, all tall lanky and beautifully structured, I was fat, squat and sloppy. At least that's how I felt. So why take a self portrait, when it just cements the fact that you look exactly what people have said you look like.

Over the years, I've gained more trust in my self-worth, my own special beauty. I noticed that over the past five years or so, I've been taking self portraits with more regularity. Most of the time I don't even know what inspires me to take them...but I do. Most are logged away in my digital photo albums, some make appearances in odd places, digitally altered and used as avatars or art. I think my progression into becoming a Self Portrait "Artist" is more about becoming comfortable with exactly who I am as an individual. I'm me, and that's a mighty fine thing to be! There's very little I'd change about me!!

Digitally Altered Me:


Goofy Me at Halloween:



So I ask you .... are you a self portrait artist?

Customized Fairy Pins Ornaments or clips.

Want a customized fairy. I'd love to make one for you. You can either shop through
my etsy shop or find me at my newest venue on ArtFire

New Westie Amigurumi!

A new westie amigurumi has been created! Check him out! So adorable! You can find him Here

Frog in our Hands

Frog in our Hands
Originally uploaded by Chel Morning

Adi and I found this most amazingly small toad on the 4th of July. I just adore this image and want to get prints of it! I wish the coloring were a bit less pink. Ahhh what can you do. Now I just have to see how a digital print will turn out. Then it's offffff to the races! I plan on playing around with a few different ideas. I saw someone some where post that they usually do their business cards as digital prints from wal-mart or target or any of those places that do digital prints. I'm quite happy with the way my business cards are now, but I'm going to need a new set soon and from what I hear vistaprint is ridiculous now. I always wondered why I wasn't getting any email from them anymore. Whom ever it was that said they're ridiculous also said that they require a monthly "membership" fee now. Bahhhh! I hate having to go search for good deals on business cards again.

West Highland Terrier Amigurumi

I had a swap recently with someone who had a west highland terrier. So I tried my hand at making a westie amigurumi! I think he turned out pretty cute!

My Latest ACEO

This is my latest ACEO. I was going to keep all my aceos to the alteredartqueens, but figured if they're fantasy related, I'll keep them on my original etsy shop. I love the way this turned out and the pictures just don't capture it at all.

Auroa goddess of dusk, streams across the sky dropping her star adorned jet hair across the land bringing in night. Her golden sunset crown sparks the last light in the sky before night falls.


The purple gets lost, and the oranges and reds just bleed together. It's hard to show off a lovely piece of artwork, when your scanner and camera don't want to particpate.

I've started painting again!

Thanks to swap-bot, I've picked up the paint again! This is my latest.

My swap partner liked the nouveau style. While this can't compete with the real thing, it's not a bad rendition. I love these gallery wrapped canvases (i think that's what they're called anyway) It allows you to bleed the work over the side. A great way for me to practice running my art "off the page" so to speak.

Finally! The Flower Fairies are BACK!

Check out my two newest flower fairies!


Triana the fairy of Goodness
Meet Triana! She's the fairy of Goodness. She's constantly there for a friend in need, does good deeds, always wants to help, and is just an all around good fairy. In her arms she' holds a lovely blue flower gift. It's her way of sharing the joy she gets out of giving!

and
Jemma the fairy of Wonderment

Meet Jemma! She's the fairy of childlike wonderment. She's the one who creates the joy and gleam of bubbles. She hand crafts all the gorgeous rainbow patterns that appear on bubbles. She's in charge of making the most interesting bugs irresistable to children. She makes sure they are dressed in their best glimmery, gleaming wings and shells to attract the most attention! She's great for keeping the amazing child-like wonder in the front of your mind

Yellow Floral Brooches

Here are some lovely yellow brooches soon to be listed in the
Altered Art Queens Shop

This one has two lovely purple and fuschia shell buttons highlighed with a single pearlized bead.

This one has one large central white disc bead.



Each one is backed in yellow felt with a pin back attached. The pin back is stitched over decoratively for long wearing durability. No wimpy glued pin backs here!

Check me out at the new shop!

I'm still on etsy under
Chelmorning/Viridian Muse Designs and also
The Altered Art Queens but I was introduced to a cute little new marketplace. So I'm giving it a try and hoping to make the best of it. You can see my new shop
Viridian Muse Designs on winkelf.com. I hope you'll come see me. I've got a few things listed already.

the carnation pink ribbon rosette pin:

The Grey Queen felted floral brooch:

and last but not least, another mini sprout!

Getting Ready for Christmas

"WHAT?!?! Christmas you say?? That's crazy, Christmas is a full three months away, nearly four if you take into consideration what's left of August."

Yes, but I'm actually late in planning for Christmas. Christmas shopping starts soon, and to have a fully stocked shop and things on hand for a holiday show or two, I should have started two months ago! I'm terrible for being on top of the holidays. I'm usually the one listing holiday things the week of the holiday. I'm trying very hard not to do that this year. I'm hoping that in the next few weekends I'll be able to put together a small bank of items to put on etsy, and a bunch of fairies to get listed. My fairies have been suffering since I took my current job a year ago. I haven't much time to create like I used to. Sure I like the money I make at my current job....but being able to craft on my down time would be nice.

So what's my goal this weekend? Well I've got a bunch of ornaments I'd like to get sew up, a few plush toys, and perhaps even an amigurumi or two. Now, that's a bit over the top, but if I get at least two of those ideas into play, I'll be quite happy!

Oh and here's some eye candy for you! :)

My newest Fairy Dotee!

I love the way this one turned out! It was so hard to send it out, but I did. Thankfully it was well recieved by my swap partner and her 3 year old daughter! I originally didn't inten to use these wings and was going to hand form a wire crown, but I absolutely love the way this all came together. I have to say she's one of my best dotees yet!

mm-checka mmmchecka mmm check it out!

Above you will see a lovely etsy mini of the wonderous talent of FAE and their Atlantis exhibition! SO much lovely art and craft, so little money to buy it all ;)


To see other fine FAE (Fantasy Art of ETSY) just search the tag FAETEAM in the search bar at ETSY

WOW! Check out the FAE Visions of Atlantis Exhibition!

The amazing artists of FAE (the fantasy artists of etsy) have submitted beautiful Atlantian beauties for your perusal! Check it out and perhaps you might find that perfect something for someone special!!!! Visions of Atlantis

wowza! too long between posts!

Well it's been far too long between posts again. I've been kind of under a creative funk, and kind of (well ok, reallllllly)overly busy. It's been a little sad and depressing to be honest.

I've been dabbling in projects that take under an hour or there about to make as that's about all the down time I have before going to bed to prepare for the new day to dawn. The Sprout series of Amigurumi have been keeping me pretty happy. Their constantly popping up and making things happy. They're also something I can do a bit "mindlessly" as they're pattern free. They're like my flower fairies, they come out with their own personalities as I crochet along.



I'm thinking of doing rain drops/water droplets and little flame characters too. I've got a bird or two to do and a request for a Kangaroo. I've sold two of my little Sheepies, and need to finish a third. Things are slowly picking up.

I need to prepare more fairies. My site is looking thin at the moment. I've got a bunch of bodies prepared, but getting them wrapped and dressed and decked out in their fairy finest takes a bit more time than I've had lately.

So my last creative offering for this post, is my two lovely little blue birds. It's a 5x7 watercolor piece that I've put into the The Altered Art Queens

That's all for now!

HOLY MOLEY! I'm winning!!!!

A lovely member of the FAE group is going through some really rough times medically. Numerous surgerys, and terrible pain. Some of the members have been doing some wonderful charity pieces of which the funds will be donated to Nora and her family to help defray costs.

I'm currently the highest bidder on this gorgeous piece from Battlemaide Studios! Check it out and maybe make a bid! Too lovely a piece to let it slip by, and an original no less! Seriously, I'm getting it at a steal if no-one outbids me!
here's the link! Go check it out!
http://battlemaidenart.blogspot.com/

New Dotee Doll

As I've been taking small breaks from work I've been working on this dotee. I think she turned out pretty amazing. I'm kind of getting bored with the dotees. While they're cute, and really easy to make, they're also a little boring to make. This one however piqued my interest. It was a "fairy" dotee. So I thought that would make it fun and give it an interesting twist. I tried something new with this one and used a rub on transfer in a few spots on her body. I wasn't sure how it was going to hold up and was pleasantly surprise that it stuck pretty well. To help in keeping it attached I glossed over it with gel medium. I'm come to the decision that it will work as long as you don't have any additional fabric scraps attached as I did on this one. As you can see in some of the images the bird transfer split right on the division of the green patch and where it's attached to the brown material. While most people would have found that incredibly frustrating I find it lends a kind of aged look to her. Like she's beena bit weathered. The wings are hand formed and wired by me. I found the wire loops in some jewelry findings and worked them into shape last night . They're not exactly perfect mates, one is slightly rounder than the other, but again I think it lends to her charm and just makes the hand crafted beauty of her that much more appealing. I did her in earth toned colors as that's what my swap partner likes. So I hope she likes this one! :)

I really like the way her face came out. I usually either paint the face, or embroider flat simplistic faces. This one took on a life of her own though! She really came out with a neat personality and grace. I did her nose in a build up trying to give it a bit of dimension. It looks pretty good, I'm not 100% happy with it, but it looks ok. Her "hair" of course is a manner of free form embroidery to help hold her face on it turned out pretty neat.

Over all I'm realitively happy with her! I'm going to work on some more in kind of the same fashion but with shaped bodies. I have been obsessed sketching out fairy dolls, in notebooks on breaks at work. Hopefully as soon as I get these Dia de Los Muertos books out of here I can get back into making my little flower fairies and fairy dolls.

My newest creations

Another Fairy

I did this for a swap on swap-bot. I love the way she turned out. I think I might start making little matchbox "suitcases" for the ones I sell on etsy. I think it's a fun little collection of goodies to go with the fairies.

NEW FAIRIES FOR 2008!!!

Yay my sencond Fairy for the new year. My first one went to a very special person! :) This is Antheia Queen of the Flowers. I love the way she turned out. She's so very purple and beautiful. I try to come up with a little blub story for each of my fairys. Most of the time they come to me while I'm creating the fairies themselves. As each fairy presents it's personality to me, a story usually emerges. I'm working on improving my photos of them to create more "wow" factor. I think this image is pretty, but I feel the background takes away from the fairy.

Her little story "She's the Queen and there's no doubting it. She loves to make sure all the flowers come up in time for the first spring blooming. Her favorites are the purple flowers of course, but she likes the other colors too. On her head she wears her little leaf crown and golden flower."


Another image of Antheia:

2008! It's here!

I'm hoping very much to spend a great part of 2008 creating things for my etsy shop. I had a pretty nice pace going there for awhile, and with my new job it kind of took a back seat. I'd love to take it back to full swing and really start pumping out wonderful handmade crafts.

FAE is top priority at the moment. The lovely people there at FAE are growing in leaps and bounds membership wise, and we're hoping to take the group to all kinds of new professional highs. We're looking to get into specialty magazines and publications geared toward our general buyer base.

In that respect there are tons of new ideas floating about from a brainstorming session with some of the lovely gals from FAE. They filled my head with all kinds of new package plans for my fairies, and ideas for new items! So if you like my fairies, keep your eyes peeled! They'll be arriving soooooon!

In the meantime, here's an old one to give some eye candy to the blog. It's sad it's been so bare lately.