Artist: Myko Bocek Studios

I've been staring at this little puffball owl for weeks now. Isn't he the cutest! All of these wooly pom pom characters are by Myko of Myko Bocek Studios. Check out more of her creations in her etsy store, facebook and blog. She has tons of Easter/Spring cuties in the store right now. How fun!

Hoop Up 2 swap

Hi all. I thought I'd share a project that I worked on during my hiatus from blog land over the holidays.

While scanning my Twitter last summer I found out that John (Quilt Dad) was going to have a "Hoop Up 2" embroidery swap. I thought the swap would be a fun way to make some new embroideries and meet some new peeps so I signed up. The way the swap worked was everyone would be placed into a group of about 5 people. Each person in the group comes up with their own theme for an embroidery. After everyone shares their theme, each person has to stitch an embroidery for every other swap partner in their group based on that partner's theme.

The theme that I chose was "Pretty Pets in Pretty Borders". I made a sample of my theme to share with the others in my group. You can see my process of the sample piece for my theme here and here. Above are pics of the embroideries I did based on my partner's themes. The "Owl in Laurel" is for John's (Quilt Dad) "whimsical woodland" theme. Lim's Cafe is for Amy's (badskirt) "retro or silly sign" theme. The Etch-a-Sketch is for Jill's (spinster sister) "Text + ?" theme, where Jill wanted us to have text plus something else in our embroideries. And the final piece is for Cara's (quiltnookgal) "Bluebirds with Tea" theme. I had such a good time stitching everyone's piece and it was a fun challenge to work within someone else's theme. Once I receive all my "Pretty Pets in Pretty Borders" from my group partners, I'll be sure to take some pics and share them. I'm so excited to see how they all turned out!

Another exciting thing about the swap was that it allowed me to develop my iron-on transfer Puppy embroidery patterns. I love when work and play collide!

Artist: Fishing Flies by Claudio D'Angelo

I was helping the hubs out with a project this morning where I needed to find some fishing imagery (weird right, but kind of a nice change of pace). I came upon these gorgeous flies by Claudio D'Angelo. Aren't they amazing! Definitely little works of art. I love how graphic and tribal they look. It'd be fun to print one out on a huge canvas and hang it up somewhere around the house. Check out his flickr page for more pics.

Jon's short film: Photos and Drawings

Photos & Drawings Trailer from Studio Collective on Vimeo.

Last year was the "year of film" for my husband. He was one of the producers for the feature length film, "Ghost from the Machine", and also finished his first short film, "Photos and Drawings". Above is the trailer for the short. It was so much work but really fun. I can't wait to be able to help on more of them! Go Jon!

2 Short of a Dozen Holiday Boutique

Hey all. I'll be participating in a holiday boutique show in Wayzata this weekend. It's going to be super fun and full of crafty loveliness. For more info and to check out the 10 artist's work visit the 2 Short of a Dozen Holiday Boutique blog. I'll be there all day on Saturday, I can't wait!

Artist: Ana Belen Salatino of Merry Blues Art

It's almost that time of year again (although you wouldn't know from the 80 degree weather we had here over the weekend). Time to start thinking about the holidays. Check out these eco-friendly, Warm Winter Greetings cards from Ana Belen Salatino of Merry Blues Art. They are printed on 100% banana paper made from agricultural waste–meaning no trees! Check out more works from Merry Blues Art and read more about their commitment to helping the environment. etsy and website

My "Vintage by Crystal" Unicorn from the Handmade Market

Just had to share this little guy. I got it from Vintage by Crystal at The Creative Connection's Handmade Market craft fair. Isn't he awesome!!! It's my little spun cotton unicorn, eeeee!

Artist: The Storybook Rabbit

Bam! Did I kill you with cuteness? My heart skipped a beat when I saw these adorable plates by The Storybook Rabbit. Aren't they darling! See much more in The Storybook Rabbit etsy shop and the Made by White website and blog.

The Creative Connection Event - Jennifer Murphy class

Yesterday I had the most amazing day. I attended The Creative Connection Event that is currently taking place right now here in Minneapolis. I met the most amazing people who were all incredible and inspiring. But more on that in a bit...right now I have to jump ahead to the class I took with Jennifer Murphy during the event. Jennifer creates the most amazing quirky, vintage inspired stuffed animals and she was gracious enough to share one of her patterns and teach a class how to make her little bunny. You can see my in process and finished bunny above (mine is the one with the big blue bow), some other bunnies people made in the class, and a few of Jennifer's original bears. The last pic is my little bunny getting ready to eat the apple kuchen at the gala dinner. Check out the table cloth made from Amy Butler fabric. She spoke during the dinner btw, eeeeee!

We Love To Illustrate - Free Downloads

It's September and that means that it's back to school time. The girls over at We Love To Illustrate have made these super cute bookplates/stickers as free downloads! We Love To Illustrate is made up of children's illustrators: Julissa Mora, Jennifer A. Bell, Nina Seven, Shirley NG-Benitez, Cally Jane Studio and Belinda Strong. Head over to We Love To Illustrate for the free printable download and to check out more of their amazing work. And have fun at school today!

Artist: Cameron Oehler of 1337motif

Gah! These cutting boards and coasters are AMAZING! Cameron Oehler of 1337motif (pronounce "leet motif" for you non-gamers) constructs his cutting boards out of blocks of different woods to create his PacMan and Space Invaders. Too cool! Check out more on the 1337motif website and etsy store.

Artist: Tilly Bloom

Check out these super fun jewelry pieces by Tilly Bloom. I love all the little Victorian faces! See oodles more on the Tilly Bloom website and etsy store. FUN!

Kitties by Jamie Shelman and Gemma Correll

Today I was missing my kitty, Sammy (actually my bros cat that lives at my parent's house), so I decided to share some art from my "go to" favorite kitty artists: Jamie Shelman and Gemma Correll. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their kitties! I want them tattooed on me, heh heh. The top three images are Jamie's and the bottom two are Gemma's. Gah, they're so cute it just kills me.