Plush Team Swap {Slothko}

I've only been on the Etsy Plush Team for about a year and a half now, but it didn't take long to realize my favorite team challenge is definitely the Swap. I believe it was originally planned for around Christmas time, but the holidays always prove to be an extremely busy time for plush artists (not to mention other artists as well!). So last year our exchange was in late January and this year it ended up being a Leap Day Swap - just to give us a bit more time to create our swap item.


It is a secret swap, so we all submit some fun facts about ourselves (favorite colors, favorite animals, favorite foods and smells, etc.) and then the Plush Team leaders pair us all up with our Plushee's info. This year I had the pleasure of making a Fuzzy for Denise of Yummy Pancake. She is so awesome! She makes some wonderful, hilarious crochet creatures which will put an automatic smile on your face. My personal faves are the Cheezburger Pouch and the Bread Cat Costume. So, so fun!


Anyways, when I got Denise's name, I was really happy. We actually have a lot in common! In particular, one of her favorite animals is the sloth. So of COURSE I'm going to make a sloth, since it is MY favorite animal, too! And I've never made one, but have always wanted to. What better excuse, right?


So, without further ado, meet Slothko:

Slothko struggles with the demands of two disciplines...art and science. Having only three
toes has made painting a struggle, even with her love of large blocks of color. And her love of science meant a career sometimes devoid of color...so now she wants a friend who also understands her dilemma and can help bridge the disciplines.


I had so much fun making Slothko. Though it was challenging stuffing those long legs inside the body before I sewed him up and flipped him right-side-out. I may have to figure out a different method in the future.


And since sloths spend a lot of time hanging out in trees, I decided to sew some velcro on each of his feet so he can hang out just like the best of 'em.


If you want to read more about Slothko from Denise's perspective, check out her post on the Plush Team blog - it looks like he even made friends with her cats McPuffypants and Guinness. I'm happy to see he is settling into his new home!


Have a great day,

New Project {BOM Quilt}

Hello!


As the windows are open and the warm breeze is flowing in to my studio, I am trying to focus on work. It is hard, considering it is mid-March in Wisconsin, when the average temps are about 45°F, and today the high is almost 80°F. It is absolutely lovely! And today is not a fluke - we are having about 10 days in a row of way-above normal temperatures. Ahhhhhhh!


But, the work still needs to be done, right? Today I want to share a fun project I started a few months ago. As you may know, I am about 2/3 done with my Home Ec project list. Progress has slowed to a halt, unfortunately, because the last projects are the most complex, therefore they take the longest to complete. And I just don't have time to work on them. The last project on the list was a quilt, and I am SO, SO excited to work on it! My goal was to finish it by Winter 2011...ha! That didn't happen.


So when I discovered the wonderful, colorful blog of fellow Madisonite, Jeni, I couldn't have been happier to see her introduce the Block of the Month quilting club with the start of 2012. I figured I don't have time for a WHOLE quilt, but I probably could handle one block a month, right?!?


This soon-to-be-made finished quilt will be a bit smaller, so I thought it would be perfect for Stella's new twin sized bed. I picked out some bright fabrics that would complement her current decor:

The yellow apple fabric second from the top was the inspiration for all of the others. And guess what - I had all of these fabrics already in my stash! (See, Stephen? THAT is why I need to have all of this fabric! I didn't even need to go shopping!!)


Jeni's instructions are fantastic. I have never quilted before, so I hadn't had experience with some of the basic steps. Thankfully, she breaks it down even further and links to those basic skills. Perfect! 


Here are my first two blocks: January and February:

According to Jeni, January's block is a variation of the Sawtooth Star. And February is called Flying Geese. For February, I decided to use a vintage Big Bird pillowcase with big yellow feathers in honor of the bird-theme...


So far, I'm really enjoying the project. I am discovering it is a absolute necessity to be EXACT, which is a true test of my measuring skills. And Stella is loving the fact that I am making a blanket for her. Though I wonder if she'll have the patience to wait around for almost a year until she can use it!


This post reminds me - I should probably start March one of these days!


Cheers!

Birthday Girl

Back in December, Stella turned 4. We had never thrown her a kids-only birthday party, so we thought it was about time! After discussing the potential theme, we decided on Fairies. Not Disney Fairies, per se...more like Woodland Fairies (though Tinkerbell made many appearances!). 

Woodland implies green, right? Unfortunately, December in Wisconsin means snow (though this year there wasn't a lot of snow, but it was still cold, and NOT green). So the party had to be kept indoors - which meant there were a lot of green decorations going on. I got crepe paper in 3 different greens and made a woodland entrance between the dining and living rooms. I attached little felt flowers all over the crepe paper and made big tissue paper butterflies to hang around the room.


Since a Fairy theme is pretty popular, I was able to find some DIY ideas for party favors on the internet. I made Dancing Ribbon Rings out of shower curtain rings and satin ribbon. We made Fairy Dust - filling plastic vials with multicolored confetti and attaching them to ribbons to hang around the kids' necks.

Instead of games, I'm all about crafting, of course! We prepped some ribbon-covered dowels and paper cutouts for the kids to decorate their own Fairy Wands with stickers, jewels, markers and ribbons. Then the kids got to make little Tinkling Bracelets and Anklets with bells and beads.


Stephen was amazing in the kitchen, whipping up some woodsy treats fit for fairies! This included Sticks (pretzel sticks), Spider Webs (string cheese strung out in web formations) and a variety of fresh berries served on large lettuce leaves. And for dessert, Toadstool Cupcakes! Those were so much fun to decorate, though it is REALLY hard to make a good red frosting!


The party ended up being a huge success and Stephen and I were EXHAUSTED afterwards. Of course, Stella was running circles around us as we collapsed on the couch, probably high on cupcakes, juice and presents. It was loads of fun. But unfortunately, these were my only photos! 


If any of you are interested in more How-To details, or where I got some of my supplies, I'd be happy to share. Let me know!


Have a fabulous weekend,

New Screenprint {Holiday Card}

Hello!


I just realized I completely forgot to share the Holiday card I made for our family for 2011! 


I decided I wanted to go with the somewhat non-traditional color combo of pink and red. I've always loved pink as a fun substitute for Christmas colors, and it seems to complement red and green fairly well. And of course, our family had to be included in the illustration!

Ho Ho Ho! The whole fam is doing the Laugh-In peek-through!


The process of creating the screens for this card was a screen printing first for me. I decided I was going to forgo the exposure box for burning the screens and instead, create both screens utilizing only drawing fluid and screen filler. This means I hand-painted both colors onto the screens. Because I chose to use this method, it isn't nearly as exact as burning the perfect image - but that's why I like it! The rougher, mis-aligned registration allows the imperfections of my brushstrokes to shine through.


One issue I had was some really wonky red ink. For some reason it was super globby - with almost a jello-like consistency. I thinned it out a bit, but the coverage still wasn't perfect and the red ended up printing with tiny little bubbles (white spots). If any of you screen printers out there have ever had this experience, please let me know what you did to solve the problem!


Other than that, I loved how they turned out. Stephen wrote the poem which he wrote in every card:

Moving, work, school...all kinds of fun

It seemed some days would never be done.

Now the Holiday season is officially here

And to you we send a whole bunch of CHEER!

And of course, they were sent in a matching red envelope. I love making our cards every year because I feel like it's a little piece of art that we send out. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's one of those rare projects that Stephen and I can work on together and I really enjoy that - even if it IS stressful and MAY be the cause of some arguments...  :-)  But what would the holidays be without a little stress, right?

Cheers!

New Fuzzies {For Crystal}

Hello!


Just popping by to write about some special custom Fuzzies I finished last Fall:

This was a fun bunch. Crystal provided me with some clothes, including a couple fabrics I haven't worked with yet - denim and a knit hat. I liked the challenge of manipulating these materials, and for the most part, they worked pretty well! The knit hat was tough, because I was afraid it would unravel. So I used ample amounts of fray check along the edges in hopes it would stay together.


I also utilized a couple pairs of socks for legs - I love the personal touch of the university logos! I had to be careful when stuffing them because they were super stretchy! I feel like I could have kept on stuffing forever, but that would have meant some fat legs! :-)


It's so great working on these custom Fuzzy orders because it pushes my comfort level. New materials or color combinations force me to think of creative solutions to maintain the "Bluestar" look. 


So, Otbie...Sully...Arbot and Happo - I hope you are enjoying your new homes!


Have a wonderful weekend,

Desktop Calendar {March}

Happy Leap Day! Did you do anything fun today? Last night at my cardio class our instructor told us "anything goes" on Leap Day because it doesn't really count. For example, if I decided to totally pig out on candy and pizza today (which I did!) then the calories mean absolutely nothing! It's like a free day for totally indulging. Um, yeah right. I wish. That's why I'm sitting here feeling totally bloated from all the pizza I consumed. Ugh.


Anyways, a new month means a new desktop calendar, right? March's calendar is a little whacky, I'll be honest. I think it's the lack of sleep I've been experiencing lately. 

Inspired by March Madness here in the US, I decided to go with a basketball theme. Even though I don't follow basketball at all. Except maybe a Wisconsin Badgers game here and there, I have no idea what's going on. But yet I thoroughly enjoy setting up my NCAA bracket and I get pretty competitive when it comes down to the end. Don't ask me why - I think it's because I'm just competitive by nature, or maybe it's because it's something my whole family partakes in (yes, even Stella has a bracket!). If you want to read more about my methods for picking teams, check out my March Madness post from a couple years ago.


I wanted to depict some trickster b-ball players, like the Harlem Globetrotters, and I thought it would be especially cool if they were unicorn players so they could spin the ball on their horn. Awesome, right? I know. I need to sleep.

You can click on the above image and save it to your computer, or you can also find it here.

Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Happy March, y'all!

Plush Team Swap {Raccoon}

Yesterday I received my Plush Team swap item in the mail! I was SOOOOO excited!

Casie from BeBe Babies made me the cutest little friend. For the full write-up (and more pics!) head on over to the Plush Team blog.


Yay!

Rachel in Lux

Howdy!


Today I want to share a fun project I recently completed for a friend. Last fall, a couple of our friends, Jordan and Rachel, moved to Luxembourg for a fabulous job opportunity. Rachel decided to start a blog called Rachel in Lux to record her adventures across the pond. She approached me to illustrate a blog header that was unique to her and would encompass her new life in Lux - a little bike riding, some gorgeous architecture and her companion Willow the Dog.

We wanted to keep it crisp and clean, so we limited the color palette on the white background. Rachel and Willow's sweet smiles, some breezy flourishes and subtle patterns keep the imagery whimsical and fun. I even created some additional swirls and category titles to tie all of the elements together.


All-in-all, I really like how it turned out (plus it is inspiring me to freshen up MY blog header!) and I think Rachel likes it, too - even better!


I highly encourage you to head on over to Rachel in Lux to read some interesting and funny posts on the adventures of a Wisconsin girl trying to figure out life in Luxembourg!


Have a great day,

{Happy} Valentines Day!

I was itching to do a little drawing this afternoon, so I decided to sketch a little Valentine.

I was playing around with allowing my underlying sketch to show through and some opacity.


I hope you all have a fabulous Valentine's Day! We're having a heart-shaped pizza tonight to celebrate. It's one of my favorite traditions since Stephen and I have been together!


Love,

Kiddo's Artwork

Now that Stella is in school and is getting uber-interested in art (yay!), we have an ever-growing pile of her artwork. Of course we're not going to throw it away, but there is only so much room on our refrigerator to display it.


One way I've utilized it is by transforming it into Thank-You cards. I cut up her artwork into Letter-sized pieces, paste it onto a Letter-sized sheet of cardstock with Modge Podge, cut it in half, and vóila! A super-cute thank-you card. Not only does it look fun and colorful, but the recipient will get a little piece of original Stella art! Bonus, right? 

I also wrote "Thanks" with an oil pastel, but of course the message could be changed to suit different occasions.


Now I have to figure out ways of displaying some of her art on the walls - do you have any creative ideas, beyond framing it? That can get so expensive. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts...


Cheers!

Desktop Calendar {February}

Here in Wisconsin it is just after 11pm on Februrary 1, which means I'm getting this February desktop calendar in just in the nick of time. Whew!

This one was inspired by The Black Keys' song, "Howlin' For You".

I thought it was somewhat appropriate for February, being the month of Love and all!

Plus, it gave me an excuse to draw a different animal and environment.

You can click on the above image and save it to your computer, or you can also find it here.

Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Happy Februrary!

Shop Talk {Valentines}

Howdy!


I'm excited to share the new products that have just been listed in the Bluestar Ink shop - Valentines! 


One of my goals for 2012 is to create more goods that cater to different seasons and holidays. First up, Valentine's Day! 

For this Love series, I wanted a fresh take on the traditional Valentine's Day card. Utilizing super-saturated colors, illustrations and hand-drawn type, I was able to put the Bluestar spin on love. (or lust, if you're looking at the NAKED card!)


All cards are 1-color screen prints on my favorite French Paper. They will be sold individually with matching envelopes.


So if you're looking for a little color this Valentine's Day, check out the new line of Love cards in the Bluestar Ink shop!


Have a fabulous weekend,

Painted Lyrics {Brunettes}

Okay, so I'm realizing that painting with gouache is MUCH harder than I thought. 


When I was in college and painting with watercolor, I always disliked it because of the transparency and overlapping brushstrokes. Sometimes there were really pretty effects that were created, but I didn't know how to control them. And the lack of opacity meant so much PLANNING - if you wanted white, you better get that figured out before you paint over it and lose that white space forever. In retrospect, I probably didn't give it enough of a chance, since I gave it up as soon as the watercolor section was over and we moved onto another medium.


Anyways, now that I am attempting this gouache thing, I'm finding a lot of the same issues cropping up. It's slightly more opaque, but all of those overlapping issues are still happening. Ugh! This is why I usually color my illustrations digitally, so I can get a nice flat wash of color. Maybe I'm mixing in too much water?

I should probably stop whining - this is why I'm practicing, right? 


This painting is inspired by the song "If You Were Alien" by Brunettes.

It's such a cute song! It was fun imagining Stephen and I as aliens. And now that I'm finished and looking at it, Stephen's alien outfit reminds me of the Whos in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Little PJs...plus the antennae! Hehe. It makes me laugh.

Oh - and if you get a chance, you should check out this video compilation of the Etsy Plush Team in 2011 - are we a fabulous bunch or what?

Have a great weekend,

Painted Lyrics {Zero 7}

Howdy!


A couple years ago I picked up a nice set of gouache paints to give me another option for coloring my illustrations. I practiced with a few paintings, but I haven't touched them since. Since I've been spending so much of my time graphic-designing, I have really been itching do do something more with my hands. So I decided to break out the paints again. 


I'm assigning myself a mini project: since I listen to music every day while working, I thought I would use it as my inspiration for some mini paintings to hone my gouache skills. 


Today's inspiration is from the song "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 7. Here's the song in case you aren't familiar:

I don't want to spend a lot of time on these, since I have plenty of other things to do. I'm going to try to limit myself to 2 or 3 colors to keep it simple. And I don't think I'll do these every day, just when the lyrical inspiration hits. 

Have a wonderful day!

Project {Yoga Mat Bag}

Hello, and Happy Wednesday!


Last Fall, my friend approached me with a request to make her husband a bag for his new yoga mat. She had seen the disc golf bags I had made, and thought I might want to tackle this sewing project. Of course, I'd love to help!


Initially, I thought it would be fairly simple, just a long tube with two circular ends, and found lots of tutorials on the Internet that could guide me. But all of those instructions were for bags with a drawstring closure, and I didn't feel that a drawstring bag was "manly" enough. My hubby agreed. {Insert frustrated growl here.}


Okay, I'll make a bag with a zipper closure. Not too much harder, right? Well, those instructions were MUCH harder to come by. Finally, I found one shop on Etsy with downloadable instructions: Needle and Spatula. That would at least give me a starting point.


Unfortunately, the mat I was making a bag for was bigger than your standard yoga mat. It was wider and thicker. Plus, even though I had it for sizing, it was still in its package which would mean it would expand once unwrapped. I knew I'd have to adjust the instructions for all of the new dimensions, but it was still a shot in the dark, considering I didn't know how MUCH to adjust. I went with 2 inches wider and hoped for the best...

After all the initial freaking out, the execution wasn't too difficult. Lots of steps, the lining and 2 zippers later, I finished up his bag! I upcycled a pair of old corduroy pants for the main body and hand-painted an abstract design on some chartreuse duck cloth for the bottom. Even though I kept thinking "manly", I still wanted to add a pop of color, so I found a cool geometric pattern for the lining. All-in-all, I was really happy with how it turned out.


...And, in case you are wondering, now that Christmas is over, and he received his new yoga mat and bag, turns out the bag could have been a bit bigger to fit his mat. In a very nice way, he told me "he needs to get in a zen mindset when rolling up his mat after yoga class". Ah, well. At least it fits! Now I know for next time - 2 inches isn't quite enough...


Take care,

CB Massage {Logo}

Hello!


Today I'd like to share a logo design I finished up a few months ago. It is for a company called Cindi Bannink Massage, or CB Massage, for short. Cindi is the owner of a successful triathlon training business called Madison Multisport, which I blogged about here. She is also a certified massage therapist, which is a fantastic complement to the triathlon training.


There were a few things she was looking for in her new logo:
- A sense of 'oneness' in the number 3: How it relates to Triathlon; Bringing together Body • Mind • Spirit; An underlying faith in the Trinity
-She liked the color purple, but also wanted something that would complement her Madison Multisport Logo which is turquoise, orange, grey and black.
-Though she works with a lot of athletes, she didn't want it to look too 'sporty' - she wanted something more on the softer side.


With that great feedback, I started sketching. Here are some of the initial sketches:

I focused on three concepts - the letters 'CB', hands (representing massage) and a 3-part icon. I digitized the strongest concepts and sent them to her to get the conversation rolling.

After some discussions and revisions, here is the final logo!

So if you're in the Madison area and need an amazing massage (I've had one!), check out CB Massage!


Cheers!

New Fuzzies {Blankets}

Howdy!


How is 2012 treating you? Well, I hope. Today is my first official work day, now that Stella is back at school. I was really excited to get back to business. The break was great, but I have lots of plans for Bluestar Ink, and I'm anxious to start executing.


First order of business - getting back to blogging! There are a lot of projects I've been working on the last few months which will be nice to share.


I'll start off with some new Fuzzies - blankets!

These little guys are called Ni-Nis, after Stella's favorite blanket whom she'd named Ni-Ni. I'm sure you've seen them - little blankets with a stuffed head attached. They are perfect companions for little hands and not only does the kiddo have a friend, there's a blanket built right in!


Well, seeing how attached Stella has been to her Ni-Ni, I thought making a Fuzzy version would be a great gift for newborns. Plenty of babies have received my Fuzzies when they were born, but the size of the Fuzzies totally dwarfs the itty-bitty babies. These Fuzzy blankets have a smaller head than the classic animals, so they're a much better size for snuggling.


As far as the blanket portion goes, I'm going to utilize the collection of graphic tees I've been accumulating. Plus, there is some satin binding for those kiddos who like lots of different textures.


Since these were my first two attempts, I've been experimenting with the placement of the head: Corner vs. middle. I think I'm leaning towards the middle placement - it's more snuggly - plus I don't have to deal with the satin binding when attaching the head.


What do you think? Are there little babies in your life that may want a new Fuzzy Ni-Ni friend?


Take care,

BIG SALE! {2012 Calendars}

Howdy!


I just wanted to let you know about the big sale in my shop. My 2012 calendars have been marked down by 60%!

There are only a few left, so get 'em before the New Year is not so "new"...!


Have a wonderful day,

Desktop Calendar {January 2012}

Hello and Happy New Year!


I hope y'all had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to 2012. If it wasn't obvious, I took December off from the Bluestar Bloggery so I could focus on all of the Christmas projects that were on my VERY long to-do list. I will post more about those projects later.


For now, though it's a couple days late, I wanted to share my first desktop calendar of 2012:

This guy was inspired by one of my great friends who used to dress up as a bear at our college hockey games. It was so much fun going to games with him, because he was such a super-fan - he just radiated happiness and excitement; but it was also kinda hard to communicate with him through his big bear-head - There was a lot of hopping up-and-down and fist-pumping!


Enjoy your January calendar. You can also download it here.

Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. 

Happy January!

Desktop Calendar {December 2011}

Can you believe it's December already? I feel like it was only a few weeks ago when I was sweating up in my studio, and now I have the space heater about 12 inches away from my feet. Pretty soon I'm going to have to break out the Snuggie™!


And in honor of the 1st of the month, here is the December calendar to brighten your desktop:

For this calendar, I wanted to acknowledge the holiday season without being too over-the-top Christmas-y. One of my favorite things about the holidays is the twinkling lights, so I knew I had to feature them. Though, I just discovered that our new (85 year-old) house doesn't have any electrical outlets on the outside, so I'm not sure how we are going to decorate the exterior sans electricity! Maybe we'll hire someone to install some...or maybe we'll just put some candles in the windows this year, and figure out the whole electricity thing for 2012. Hmmm...


Now, I'll just settle for this calendar. Much easier, wouldn't you say?


Happy December!

New Bluestar Product

Hello again!


Are you finding lots of wonderful goodies this Cyber Monday? Before you fulfill EVERYTHING on your list, I wanted to quick share with you the newest Bluestar products that just hit my shops this weekend.

First off, the new 2012 wall calendar. This 11 x 17 calendar features my new "Sitting Lotus" illustration in pale yellow, blue and teal. It is printed on the heavy-duty Arches watercolor paper and comes ready to hang with a white grosgrain ribbon. Calendar can be found here.

I love this new tote! I upcycled some vintage drapes to create these whimsical new totes. My new floral illustration is screen printed across the front. These bags are lined with coordinating floral fabric, complete with 2 pockets for all of your incidentals. Do you like pom poms? There is an option with, and one without.

Holiday cards, woot, woot! I decided to take a more simplistic, graphic approach when designing these cards. Each 8-pack assortment features 2 reindeer, 2 snowmen, 2 trees and 2 retro ornaments screen printed onto either white or Kraft cardstock. Coordinating envelopes, (red, white, tiffany blue, magenta) are also included. The white pack can be found here, and the Kraft pack can be found here.

Here we have the new floral illustration again, this time screen printed onto thick, 100lb French Pop-Tone paper. Printed on 5 colors: magenta, aqua, green, red and purple. Just a simple print to brighten any room!

Finally, lots of my personal illustrations have made it into the shop as prints! These include some of the Daily Animal Doodles, along with other fun illustrations I've created over the last year or so. All are printed on 8.5 x 11 creamy Epson Ultra Premium matte paper with a white border for easy framing. Print shop can be found here.

And last, but not least, the newest Fuzzies! Meet Valentino, Galama, Wanda, Tringo, Yasu, Jemizee and Zazu. All can be found in the Bluestar Fuzzies shop. And, I've finally listed the 3 circus Fuzzies who were featured in STUFFED Magazine. Fuzzies make great gifts for the kiddos on your list!


In case you missed it there are special Cyber Monday deals happening in both my shops today only!


Bluestar Fuzzies : 20% off your purchase using the coupon code CYBERMONDAY20 at checkout.


Bluestar Ink: A free print of YOUR CHOICE with any purchase. This includes screen prints! Just note your choice at checkout.


Thanks again!
Now I'm going to go check out the sweet Cyber Monday deals floating around the Interweb...