A HUGE Robin in my back yard!

I dread the back yard with 'undressed' trees and lack of color. But my clever Friend Nicole thought of something. She had my Robin printed on a type of sail fabric. It measures 1 meter square/ over a square yard, and the colors pop!

It withstands the Dutch Autumn weather!

It will liven up my back yard and perhaps more people will miss the summer colors a little less if they look at this English Robin.

More info available via my e-mail address: mirthquake at gmail dot com.

Pillow fight no longer in boring white!

I hope it will take a few weeks until the next time you're having a slumber party. By that time I hope to have these birdies available. They're MirthQuake pillow cases! And just like yesterday's post, I have ordered some fabric with my friends on it. The quality of the fabric will be organic cotton sateen ( GOTS certification) and the back will be in a nice matching color. As with the skirt fabric it will be a test to see if people will like this.

I kinda do. I mean, hanging up frames is a hassle, popping old pillow inserts in these cases is a job anyone can do right?

I guess it will be a matter of weeks until these pillows will be up in my etsy shop. If you would like to be informed when exactly you can also e-mail me, and I will keep you posted! mirthquake at gmail.com

Little Owl Skirt

I took the plunge:-) I am going to mix my illustrations with my fashion ideas. Fashion is where I am coming from and I am very excited to do this. I ordered some fabrics to make some fashion items and I will see how things will develop.

It is something I have been thinking about for a long time, and why not try it?

I have ordered black fabric, printed with my Little Owl. The pencil skirt will be the first item. I can make this in a hip width ranging from XXS to 143cm/56.5 inch.

I've got more up my sleeve which I am going to keep a secret for now!

Etsy front page and 2 wonderful jewellery designers

I think I was asleep when this happened, on the other side of the world, but thanks to the lovely jewellery designer Cindy from Peacock Jewellery I could enjoy it still!

Cindy makes jewellery from lava, stone, pearl, recycled sea glass & paua abalone shells. Absolutely worth it to go and check it out!

Of course also many thanks to Rachellucie who curated this collection! Rachellucie is also a talented jewellery designer who uses semi precious stones and sterling silver. Look at this necklace!

Easy Framing for Messy People

I remember when my art class teacher at high school told me to redo the framing of a watercolor. I hated it, I also completely understood because I am a messy person, but I hated it. I must've complained a bit in his presence. My face probably didn't radiate happiness, anyhow he told me that we had it easy. When he was in school they had to cut the thickest of matting in a perfect angle. A cutting line that was a fraction of a cm/inch longer than calculated as the perfect line would ruin the whole work and you could start over. I didn't actually feel better about my extra work but I understood his point :-) I only had to cut out a square out of a piece of thick paper to cover the messy edges of my watercolor to make it presentable. Today thankfully for me, no teachers are checking out my work anymore. So now I have invented my own way of framing that I advise to people who don't really demand a museum standard in their home. (People who do, bless you too, because secretly I am a sucker for the thick old fashioned framing.) BUT I DIGRESS again.

A while ago some one who bought the this set of prints. Asked me how I framed them. She was a beginner at these type of things so I advised her the method too.

What you do is cut out the prints with a 2.5cm/1inch edge, or whatever you would like.

Sometimes you don't have enough white around the edges, then you cut out the print exactly along the edge of the print. A white edge is recommended so cut out a square of white paper that is 5cm/2 inches wider and longer. (With originals and limited edition artworks it can be a problem as there is a signature you don't want to cut off. Then you can keep the edge small and add a light grey matting to the project. )

After that you paste the art work on the square with some sort of glue that allows you to remove the art work if you are not happy with it. Also make sure the glue doesn't damage or distort the paper. You know the kind! Look at the project from a distance so you know when the artwork is not exactly in the middle. In doubt get a ruler, but believe me, the human eye is a good advisor!

Now we have to pick a nice color for the backing. I usually look at the art work and make sure my eyes are set to ' blurry' and see what color is most dominating. With the KingFisher for instance, you see a lot of orange that you want to pop out. Choose the color complementary to orange, which is blue, but not bright blue because it will mute the colors on the art work. I use dull greyish tones.

On this picture the arrows point at each other's complementary colors. But remember to pick out a dull color, to make it sublte.

To get a coherent feel about the several different birds I make sure I sure the matting for one of the other birds too, and use the same other color for the 2 birds that are left. These colours should match nicely, and not be very contrasting with each other. That would distract the eye from the artwork to the fabulous matting. Although I know you will be proud of the matting, the point was getting the art work up, and not just the matting right?

This is the easy part, you get the glass from your frame and place it on the color matting. Cut out the shape of the glass. Now all you have to do is paste the art work on the colored background, and frame the whole project!

Smile at the birdie, if you see it!

We were in Concord, New Hampshire, coming out of our hotel, when I was drawn to such cheerful chatter by this birdie. It wasn't a very small bird, and I don't know them from home. Who can tell me who this fellow is, that looked a bit pale, but gave color to our morning!

What a craft fair with Etsians looks like.

Now I am having my vacation I can do all the things I was planning earlier (and still work all day) I am way overdue, but it is so worth it to watch.

The lovely Maria and Jaime of Leelabijou have made a videoreport on the craft fair that is really funny and perfect! You can see all the lovely European Etsy ladies in action. Visit her blog! Or check out the video on You tube!