Thanks Phil!

Yay! Our furry friend from Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow this morning and has determined that spring will come early this year. Not soon enough for me- it is freezing in Houston right now, and there are rolling black-outs all over the city due to some type of transformer issues... Ugh!

Check out this website all about Phil- he has his own AccuWeather Forecast and you can even purchase tickets to have breakfast with him!

At least we have something to look forward to... Happy Groundhog Day and stay warm everyone!

Hanging On

What a week it has been... I've updated my Etsy shop, website, and online portfolio. The critters and I will be applying to some more juried shows this year, and soon, so it just had to be done! For those of you in the Houston area, you should definitely consider creating a profile and online portfolio on Spacetaker. It is free to set up your profile in their Artist Registry, and you will also be able to post events, calls for artists, and search through numerous artist opportunities. They are an awesome bunch of peeps to work with and are very supportive of the entire Houston arts community. And of course, don't forget about Spacetaker's WHAM (Winter Holiday Art Market), held each November, it is not to be missed, both for artists and shoppers!

Stay warm and have a nice weekend!

Motivation!

All I can say is "Wow" after seeing Handmade Nation this past weekend! It was so thrilling to see hundreds of people turn out for the screening of this documentary and many of them stopped by our Etsy Houston table to make our Valentine's Day paper craft too. Yay! I just LOVED how the beginning of the film showed a bunch of people schlepping all of their boxes and containers from their apartments to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, IL. Just like all of us! It was so interesting to see the workshops of many of the artists and most of their interview responses were pretty funny- it was a fantastic night! In case you missed the screening, both the book and the DVD are available for purchase at BUYOLYMPIA.COM

After being so motivated, I thought I would include a sneak peek of some of the Year of the Rabbit pieces I am currently working on. I've become rather fascinated with the signs/critters of the Chinese Zodiac... More photos to come soon!

Handmade Nation

Etsy Houston will be assisting this Saturday evening with some very crafty events! First, there will be a reception from 6-7 pm and then a screening of the documentary, Handmade Nation, from 7-8 pm at the Lawndale Art Center:

"Handmade Nation is a documentary about the new wave of art, craft and design that is capturing the attention of the nation. Director, author, artist and curator Faythe Levine traveled to 15 cities and covered more than 19,000 miles to interview artists, crafters, makers, curators and community members for her feature film debut..."

At 8:15 pm at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Jenine Bressner, one of the artists featured in Handmade Nation, will give a gallery talk about her new exhibition at HCCC, Inverted Harmony: A Handmade Environment.

Come early to enjoy a beer from St. Arnold Brewing Company and to make a cool Valentine's Day paper craft with us Etsy Houston gals! Handmade Nation books will be for sale from Domy Books as well.

Lawndale Art Center
4912 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002
713.528.5858

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
4848 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002
713.529.4848

30 Artists at Watson Galleries

Watson Galleries is hosting a show with 30 artists both on Friday night (1/21) and Saturday night (1/22) this week, from 6-10 pm! I switched out the critters this past Sunday, so there will be a new bunch for this show. I was very impressed last time with the huge crowd that attended, even in the freezing weather! Hopefully they will return...

This will be Count Frankenbunnyskullyrollie's Watson Gallery debut. The Count was created with the concept in mind of what would happen when a vampire, Frankenstein, bunny and skeleton all become fused into one critter. He was originally created for the Rollie Show at Tenacious Toys in New York, where the artists all created pieces built upon the body of a plastic roll-on deodorant! Yesiree, that would be correct- inside his body, the Count has a pink, plastic Ban roll-on base! The other materials that were used for the Count include a vinyl Skully, vinyl Munny accessories, acrylic paint and ink, varnish, modeling clay, Fimo, Sculpey, and genuine hematite and onyx. He even comes with his own rubber rat comrades to keep him company. The Count would love it if you'd stop by and say hi tomorrow night...

Watson Gallery
716 W. Alabama St.
Houston, TX 77006

How Not to Sell at Markets!

Sweet Fine Day is a wonderful blog written by Jenna Park of Whimsy & Spice, one of my absolutely favorite Etsy shops. W&S's artisan baked goods are definitely among the best around, and how I wish they were located in Houston, instead of Brooklyn, NY! You should try the Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies- they are amazing!

Jenna's posts are thoughtful and insightful, and usually contain fun photos of her two daughters, food, Brooklyn, and New York in general. I found How Not to Sell at Markets particularly humorous and perceptive, considering all of the time I spent selling the critters at art markets and craft fairs last year. It's comforting to know that there are others who share almost exactly the same thoughts while attempting to peddle their handmade wares! It is so much fun to meet new potential customers at these shows, and to talk to them about my critters, however, one always wonders what they really may be thinking- Jenna sums it up perfectly!

Photo Credit: Copyright © 2008-2011 by Jenna Park.

Uglydoll Bling!

Wowie! The folks at Uglydoll have recently released some gorgeous, sparkly cases for our portable Apple devices. These Ice Bat and Ox iPad cases make me want to go out and get an iPad immediately!

This Trunko iPhone case is just too cute, however, it is for the 3G/3GS iPhone. Hopefully, they will release one for the iPhone 4 soon.

Hope these put a little sparkle in your day today!