Striped Cat Drawing in Ink

I drew something similar for my best friend last year. I wanted to try drawing some cats again but with black ink this time. I think it turned out pretty neat :)

Maybe I could paint some more cats onto larger canvases?

Meepers in the Shop!

I have trouble with lighting in my photos (You probably noticed in some of my previous posts),
Especially from my bedroom because there is only one window and the side of the house that I am on only has bright sunlight in the morning. I tried putting together a light box to expand the time I could take pictures of my work, but I do not have the correct light bulbs for that either without having a yellowy look to my photos. I really like the way the natural light looks in my photos.

I found a way to edit my photos with Picasa, an photo editing program by Google. It is very user friendly and I can adjust the brightness of my photos in various ways and still have that "natural" light look! I also cropped the photos to a more to have some more up close pictures.

Here are some of the pictures I edited with Picasa to reload on my Etsy shop:

That is kind of a relief to be able to edit the pictures. For a while, I wasn't sure how I would be able to solve the issues without buying more photography equipment. :) So that makes me happy!

Let me know what you think or if you have some tips to improve my photography skills! I'd really appreciate that. Also check out my Etsy shop if you have the chance: 

Pink Chevron Ruffle Skirt!

I had a skirt I really liked and wanted to try to sew something like it myself. I looked at my skirt really hard and put together a lil' blueprint of it. Then, I went to my local fabric store and picked out an elastic band, a pink silk (to go underneath the skirt), a pink chevron fabric, and some white tulle (to add some fluff to the skirt).

Actually, as I put the skirt together I strayed from the blue print... I did not even use the tulle.
But I am surprised at how well it turned out! :D I typically destroy clothes.




The fabric didn't have much stretch to it, so I tried to create a ruffly look by sewing the fabric folded a bit.

I sewed the ruffles onto the silk fabric. I find that the silk keeps the skirt from being "see through".

I like the way this skirt fits and I think it is somewhat cute. The chevron my be a little too childish though. I didn't realize that it had wrinkled so much from me running around in it so much either :)

It was relatively easy to sew this skirt, so perhaps I could try again with some plain fabric or even a newspaper fabric (That would be really cute!). I just need to remember to pick up more fabric this time in order to sew more ruffles...



Let me know what you think! Should I look into sewing with some other fabrics, making some for the Etsy shop (MiaouKeo) or make a tutorial? I could do that :)

Thank You Card Designs

Sooooo....
I have not made any sales since December. I suppose I am okay with that because it gives me more time to prepare myself mentally for the next sale. And it allows me some time prepare some artsy packaging.

I had some ideas for Thank You cards involving a winter scene. I wanted to change the hue to a blueish mint (not sure but I really like that colour being my business theme colour) and write "Thank You!" in a soft, handwritten appearing font. Something along those lines...


I like this one. It is simple and sweet, but I feel like the colour is a little too dull. So I wanted to try a version with brighter background

After fixing the colouring a bit, I came up with this:

Not too much of a difference, but I like the one above better (Maybe just having more of a natural colouring?).

I tried something else with heart shaped lights. I don't mind this card. It is a bit on the violet side. I just have trouble getting the heart light effect to work. 

I want to tinker around with Gimp a bit more to come up with some other ideas. So far Gimp is one of my favorite photo editing programs. It can be hard to work the controls in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it there is a lot you can do with your photos.

Also the font on the first two cards is by Kimberly Geswein. It is called Discover Beauty. I love her designs. She makes amazing fonts! You should definitely check out more of her work at her website: www.kimberlygeswein.com

I didn't make any more designs today, I am actually feeling a bit faint and dizzy. I just had my wisdom teeth removed recently and the medicine makes me feel nauseous and lethargic. Let me know what you think or if you have any tips! Still a bit new to Gimp and photo editing in general. Have a good week everyone!! :)

Darn it!

I don't know! I feel like a butt now though...

So there's a family that constantly lets me come over to their house and they let me have dinner with them all the time. I decided tonight I would make dinner for them and drop it off at their home as a little thank you. I was missing some ingredients and needed to stop at a grocery store. Of course, knowing me, I couldn't find my wallet when it was my turn to check out. so I had to get out of line and look for. The lady behind me felt bad, but I insisted it was my own fault for not being organized. I found my wallet and went behind the lady. As she finished paying for her groceries, I thanked her and apologized again. She assured me it was no problem and was very friendly. Then, right before she left, she handed the cashier a twenty dollar bill and said, "This should cover that young lady's purchase." And she was off before I had time to argue.

I mean, that was super super nice. And she didn't need to do that... I feel really bad and guilty inside... I don't want to be hypocritical, because I know every once in a while I do something nice for someone, but I don't want it to happen to me! It just makes me feel like a jerk and a bad person... :( It was really nice of her and I shouldn't complain, I just feel really bad inside...

... So that is my lovely rant of the day. I guess you do not hear that too often: "Darn it! Someone was really nice to me today! Hate it when that happens!" I wish I could return the favor...