Custom Work

Sometimes fun little projects come along!

As some of you know I do custom work through most of the year until fall. That is when I stop taking requests due to heavy workload.
Today I finished up

Dilly the Dachshund

for a custom request.
Isnt she cute?

This is her little bio:
She loves long walks on the beach and chasing fireflies. She occasionally catches some accidentally, so try to ignore the little glowing splatter marks. She feels really bad about it.

New Painting!

Quick cell phone images of my newest painting! (First big painting in a very long time!)

I wanted to paint a dreamscape. Where the sky ran into the river. Where the black and white of life can sometimes turn into vivid colors.

It isnt quite done yet, so you all will have to wait to see the finished piece!





My friend Jessica snapped a quick picture of me working on the painting.
It is in water color pencil and inks!

Labels

I have been thinking about getting little labels for my Red Marionette creations to sew on their backsides. I dont think they would mind if their creator tattooed their rear end, but what do you all think?
I really would like to know how you feel about a fairly small label on the plushies and ornaments. The items arent huge, but as of right now, no one knows who made them unless they have my business card.
Thoughts?

Monday shall be "Productive Day!"

Etsy is down for maintenance this morning so I shall have to wait to list my item til I get home this evening. I dont know why I dont do that on a regular basis anyway, I seem to get better views in the evening.

I already have an order for the new design in tote bag so tonight that shall be my task to complete. I also have a painting I am working on at work that is whimsical, colorful and fun. I cant wait to show you guys some work in progress photos ill take today!

Off to get ready for the day!
Happy Monday!

Monster Stockings!

Hooray!

Monster stockings!
This is my prototype. Forgive the photo it is nighttime and the fuchsia felt doesnt show up well. It looks red, even after trying to color correct. So there is the tip of the day, photograph with sunlight handy!

But I am pleased with how it came out!

In this photo she has a full tummy of goodies!

You put the gifts in the monsters mouth where it will keep the items safe until Christmas Day! Or if you are really good, perhaps Christmas Eve!






This is the Monster with nothing in its belly.
I have several other designs but I wanted to conceptualize the actual main body and pieces parts first.

Next time I will use a color that photographs better!

YAY!

Productive! YAY!

Firstly, I would like to introduce you to sketches of the monster stockings that will be sold on www.redmarionette.com this year.
You will insert the gifts into their mouths like an ordinary stocking.
Cant wait to make a prototype to show you all!








New cards! Work in progress photos of a couple of non-holiday cards I painted today!

Birthday or celebration....














This one I call "Quite Nutty" and it is an all occasion card!

I felt it was a very productive day on the whole. Off to do some cleaning!


Also:
New tote bag designs coming soon! I put the old designs on sale and now I have a plan for the new ones! Weee!

Red Marionette has been Featured!

How fun!
Red Marionette has been featured on Pamwares blog! How lovely!

http://www.pamwares.blogspot.com/

Its called Birds of a Feather...


Enjoy!

Quiet Evenings....

Isnt it amazing how much you appreciate a quiet, dare I say "boring", evening when you dont have them for a while?

Ive been busy busy and it would be nice to have a quiet evening soon. Probably will have to wait til Thursday evening, though. I have Friday off, Yay!

On a more personal note: My weight loss goals are going...well...alright. I am down a couple of pounds. Bad me, I havent weighed yet this week. But I know the sushi and cake tonight didnt help!

I feel better and that is what matters to me.
Oh, and to be a tease....
I had the Not-So-Short Strawberry Shortcake tonight from Dessert Lady (Click on the name to see her wonderful creations)
Mr. Red Marionette had the Carrot Cake which is stunning!

Yep. Goodbye pound for the week! :)

NEW! Monster Ornaments

I am finally delivering!
I finished these little guys last week and took photos this morning.

Ice Monster, Fire Monster and the pocket Monster style ornament!


Ice and Fire are about 4.5" tall which is in the same range as my other ornaments.












Their mouth is stitched shut so they dont have a hiding place like the pocket monsters but they are just as cute to hang on your tree this year!













I decided to make this one a little different than the pocket monsters and give him freckles instead of a tongue!

These guys will be listed in my shop this week!

BUSY

Hello out there!

It has been a busy week!
I went to a gallery show last night for my co-worker and artist Maia. She can be found on etsy at
Gallery Maia
It was at a sushi restaurant called Ichiban. Very good place to eat, if you are in downtown Orlando, I highly recommend it. Her artwork will be shown there through August!

I have made it a goal to get some new photos of products and some of my cards listed this weekend. It is now in writing so I have to stick to it!

A call to Crafters in the St. Petersburg, FL area!

Handmade Holiday Bazaar 2009

The Handmade Holiday Bazaar is coming to St. Pete again!

Saturday, Dec. 5th, 2009

10am-4pm

Fiberologie - 411 15th Ave N.

We're looking for edgy, interesting, amusing crafts and crafters for the Handmade Holiday Bazaar. If that is you, please follow this link: Handmade Holiday Bazaar Application
Follow these directions to download it from scribd:

• Once you're viewing the document on the scribd website, click on the drop down arrow on the download button at the top of the document.
• Select Microsoft Word (.doc)
• Enter your scribd username and password or sign up for a free account (it really is quick and easy)
• Complete the application by tabbing to each of the highlighted fields (be sure to fill out all 3 pages!)
• Email your completed app to handmadeholidaybazaar@gmail.com

If you have any problems using Scribd, you can request an emailed application by emailing handmadeholidaybazaar@gmail.com

The ONLY one... I promise.

This is the only post I will ever write about Michael Jackson.
I loved his music through the years, but I am not one to obsess about people I didnt know personally. Yes, it is sad. It is sad when anyone dies.
I recently had a class that some of the students didnt know what the Thriller Dance was. So on the large projector we played the music video and I educated them. It was a good time.

Here is something that will make you smile while remembering him.

http://www.eternalmoonwalk.com/

Lets get physical!

My friend Lisa (Savor on Etsy) introduced me to www.sparkpeople.com
It is a site where you can track your calories and nutrition. I have been utilizing it for a couple of weeks now and have lost a pound a week. I have not been exercising. I do think it is time for me to introduce exercise as I know it will give me more energy and help me sleep better. Also burn more fat while maintaining good food intake.
I had lost a lot of weight in the past and what I am trying to shed crept up on me over about two years. So I know what I need to do, I just need to do it.
So its time for me to get Physical.
I use the Leslie Sansone dvd called Walk Away the Pounds. She measures her progress in the videos by miles walked. Its low impact so people with not so great knees (me) or those who lack a decent amount of coordination (me too) can do this without feeling like they are tango-ing in their living room.

So this is another personal post, but I do find I hold myself accountable when all of you read this. So heres to another 18 lbs that need to go away! :)

Saturday Random Posting #3

Its not Saturday anymore, I know. I forgot to do my random post yesterday so I will go ahead and post it today! Better late than never, right?

Mr. Red Marionette really likes to play video games. I like playing some of them, not all of them. But one in particular is my absolute favorite and they keep coming out with little expansion packs. Fallout 3.
So, because I want to keep working on Red Marionette stuff, Mr. Red Marionette plays the game so I can watch. :)
How strange is that?
But I tell you, the game is like watching a really long really good movie. It has a great plot and interesting characters.

I also wanted to note I was featured on this blog! How cool!
http://www.epherielldesigns.com/superb-sunday-11th-july-2009

Doodlies

Doodlies from my notebook. I always have notebooks on me with doodlies, ideas and lists.

These are monster ornament ideas. Similar to the designs of my pocket monsters.

Oh yes, and Mushrooms. You see the little guy bottom center?

I suggest sketching ideas and words to get the creative juices flowing. There is something about putting it on paper instead of just typing it on the computer.
How many of you still use pen and paper? :)

I will survive! I will survive!

I will survive! I will survive! As long as I know how to love I know ill stay alive...

Im totally jamming out to that.



Lets start with the happy thoughts first! This is my personal little rear view sculpted Hangy-doo. He looks like my cat.
He is a wonderful navigator and stares at the passengers to make them uncomfortable.



On to other things....

Slow times are upon me.
It has been just over 30 days without a sale.
I cant complain too loudly though (so, ill just whisper it) as I haven't been promoting Red Marionette as much as I possibly could. I was in classes all last month that were as consuming as...well... they were consuming.
I am like a breath of fresh air now that classes are done! My shop has paid for it though.
BUT, summer is a notoriously slow time for Red Marionette anyway.
How do you use your down time?
I am trying to get back into the habit of working on Red Marionette stuff at least a little bit every night. I need to build back up stock. It really isn't a horrible thing that sales have dried up as I need this time to prep for Holidays.
Yet I do talk out of both sides of my mouth. I want sales, but I don't mind TOO horribly if they wait a little bit. But Id like some sales.
:) Quite the conundrum.

Eyes Everywhere!

I have a new background on my twitter page!

http://twitter.com/RedMarionette
Look at all of those eyes!

Id love it if any of you out there have twitter and would add me! I love making new friends!

Handmade Holiday Bazaar

Handmade Holiday Bazaar has been officially announced!
http://www.handmadeholidaybazaar.blogspot.com/

It will be held in St. Petersburg, Saturday December 5th! 10am to 4pm
Applications for vendors will go out to the general public at the end of this month.

I am helping to coordinate this with Stacey from Elle Belle
http://www.etsy.com/ellebelleonetsy

Hooray!

Closet

Just peeking in the closet you can see the massive amount of felt I have stacked so neatly. About 2/3rds of that was purchased at Joanns recently.

The squares of felt cant be seen to the right of it.

below in the drawers is packing and shipping materials and miscellany.












Then you open the door all the way.

Ta DA! My poor plastic shelf can barely hold all of the fabric in the tubs.

This will probably be the last time it is this organized for a while. Once I kick Red Marionette production into high gear this month, it will never be the same! :)

So there is my sneak peek at my closet in my studio space.

Like a bandit!

I apologize for not posting about my Joanns trip earlier! I am sure you all were waiting anxiously for a report. Heehee.
It was educational and interesting.
I purchased felt by the yard, felt squares, ribbon and pillow forms and some other stuff.
I discovered you can use multiple coupons if it is from their flyer in the mail, the sunday paper, and the email coupon you get. On top of that I was able to use a michaels coupon from online and a michaels coupon from their flyer in the paper.
Amazing! On top of all of that they had a 10% off coupon for the Holiday weekend which I totally took advantage of. I made out like a bandit!
I shall post photos of my newly organized and huge stacks of fabric and felt soon! I always think it inspirational to see other peoples work spaces (and how they store all their stuff!)

Back to the day job for me!

Facebook Fan Page!

I have officially made a Red Marionette fan page!
Come friend me, if you would so I can keep track of you all too!

Red Marionette on Facebook

Happy Sunday and Tata!

Startling Realization

I had grand intentions to get a lot done this three day weekend. It is just now midnight on Saturday/Sunday and I shall report.
My priority was my studio space.
It was bad.
Bad in the sense of the word that I was just chucking anything I had into the hole that once was called a closet.
I couldnt access much on my sewing table because things were stacked there as well. Tubs were starting to migrate onto the floor space.
I really should have taken a photo so you all could see how shameful it was.
It was time to call an intervention.

I drug everything out of the studio space and started fresh. I purged a lot of stuff, organized a ton more and put it all back in its rightful place.
I bought some larger tubs than I had been using to store finished product. In my logic it was nice to have one large tub to organize instead of three small ones.
I then realized that the amount of finished product I have on hand was not near what I thought it was.
That startled me.
I thought I was in a better position than that with what I had made for this fall and shows this holiday season.
Erm.
Poop.
Granted, I have a decent amount of stuff cut out so far, but not that much that is finished. Keyword: FINISHED.....eep!
There is already talk at work about overtime this fall so I better get cracking while I have the chance!
(Can you hear the desperation in my typey-voice?)
Cleaning my studio space, oddly enough, lit the fire under my rear that I needed.

Miscellany

Saturday Random Posting #2

Has no one heard of the word Miscellany?
I used it recently and got asked what it meant.
Well it is the word for the day my random post for today.

mis⋅cel⋅la⋅nymɪsəˌleɪni; Brit. mɪˈsɛləni/ Show Spelled Pronunciation

noun, plural -nies.

1.	a miscellaneous collection or group of various or somewhat unrelated items.

2.	a miscellaneous collection of literary compositions or pieces by several authors, dealing with various topics, assembled in a volume or book.

So does that make sense now? :)

CRAZY!

I must be crazy.
I woke up this morning thinking I should have a wild crazy sale on something in my shop for the weekend.
I decided tote bags should be HALF off!
eek! Ive never done a discount this deep before!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5529741&section_id=6196792 Here is the link!

Happy Shopping!