Off to England

All my bags are packed, and I'm off in... 17 hours! And it's hard to know what to be most excited about... the salt and vinegar crisps, the people who understand what I mean when I say 'crisps', the chocolate (ahhhh... 5 years of Hersey's mud-bars, I've suffered!), the sausages, the gravy, the Primark bargains, the Topshop style, the ability to walk somewhere...

Nope! None of that. What I miss the most, more than anything edible or shoppable in England is... Mr. Kipling's Fondant Fanices! Little spongey cakes with yummy icing and the most incredible creamy filling... If I had a box in front of me right now, I'd eat a yellow one, a brown one, another yellow one, a pink one, and then I'd probably be sick.

And almost as much as I want a Fondant Fancy, I want a set of BritishCreamTea's felt French Fancies...

So life-like! My mouth is watering. Watch out, Fancies, I'm a coming!

P.S. BritishCreamTea has all kinds of British felty goodness! The Bourbon biscuit brought back fond memories (I'm not sure if anyone else remembers Harry Enfield and Chums... and the skit with the man in the shed who'd come out and say "This week, I been mostly eatin' Bourbon biscuits!"), as do the fish fingers!

What's In A Name?

Yes, searching for yourself on Google is fun, but I've got a better game. Searching for yourself on etsy.com! I'm not sure anyone has ever compiled a collection of Astrids before... but the 8 I've found make quite an exceptional little group!

Here they are, Astrids of the world:

1. Astrid is a fairy with attitude! Oh yes! Felt DiDi Doll by FeltLikeStitchin

2. Astrid is 12.5" long not including her 2.5" antennae. (Eeek, I thought I kept them hidden!) Astrid Agnew Doll by beecah

Also note that Astrid dislikes: cruelty to animals, mean people and excessively loud music! How true.

3. Astrid: #1 (What an ego boost...!) Print 1 of the Hundred Dresses Project by tollipop

4. Clearance Astrid (sometimes we all go on sale). Rag Doll by HarrietsHaven

5. Dancing Donkey Astrid (yes, that just about sums up my dancing skill!) by wendyclarke

6. Astrid is ready to be a mighty special friend to someone. Awww! Blue Kitty by BertieBeanflower

7. Astrid is ready for summer with this tee and shorts set by doodlesbycarolyn

8. Pretty Astrid! Print by JulieFillo

Astrid likes to hear about Astrid! Thanks to these artists for putting my name to such good use!

(And my apologies for such a self-centred post! I'll only do it this once, I promise!)

Dogs, Dogs, Everywhere...

This new design took me absolutely ages... I'm such a perfectionist and couldn't let any of the dogs go to the park if they were less than 100% perfect. But here it is, in it's final framed green glory!

And here are a few details:

I had so much fun with this! Each dog has a name and a little description of what they are doing. You can read that all, and purchase prints, right here!

Growl

I just finished a new design called "Let Lazy Dogs Lie"... but before I show it to you, here is the lazy dog that inspired it!

Rufus the Swedish Irish Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier who lives in China... the fluffiest ball of barks in the whole world. (This was taken in his younger days... but he's still nice and curly!)

And here's Betsy, who has picked him up against his will. If you've got a dog, perhaps you can imagine the growl-yawn he's making at this indignity!

Grumpy much, Rufus? And his little tail says "Woof!"

Not for sale yet, but hang in there, it's coming! (I snapped too many of the little metal things off the back of my frame, so until I get another, no new listing! Joann's frames sure don't last too long... although I guess I probably framed and reframed about a hundred prints in there before it gave up the ghost!)

The Brightest Feather

So, these days everyone has peacock feathers clipped in their hair or hanging from their ears. I've got them, I bet you've got them, and Fatty McBeaver wears hers all the time.

But maybe it's time to try peacock style in a more subtle way. Is that possible? Well, from the fun finds listed below, I'd have to say yes yes completely yes.

Maybe you take it to the opposite end of your body... down to your feet with these funky Royal Peacock Vintage Pumps (my size, don't you know!) by norakaren.

Or, bring the focus to a different part of the bird, like in this Garden Peacock necklace by ConnorInspiresAmy, where the neck is way more beautiful than the feathers (which are still nice, too!).

Or just don't wear it at all-- snuggle up with peacock on the couch! This hand silk-screened pillow by sewluckygirl comes in regular peacock colours, too, but I just love the orange and pink together. (Reminds me of curry... and Tibetan prayer flags)

But maybe you think I'm crazy. Maybe you're saying "I just can't get enough peacock!" and wearing your feather clips and earrings day in, day out (yes you, Fatty McBeaver)... well, then, this is for you!

A peacock feather bustier by neworleansmagpie. Wow! (Do you think you could turn it round and have a skirt, too? Or a lamp shade... take note IKEA hackers!)

Poached Brooches

I've never really been a brooch person... it never really occured to me that brooches could be anything other than dull-coloured flowers in chinzy frames. But then I saw this darling little thing, made by LePetitCadeau and my opinion changed completely!

...And, of course, I had the urge to buy it immediately. (As you all probably do now!) But the large stack of felt by my desk said "Astrid, hey, how about you use me and try it yourself?" Oh, stack of felt, you never let me get away with anything! So I tried it. And it was hard. I still want Le Petit Cadeau's... but I'll have to wait until my birthday, maybe!

Not quite so classy as Le Petit's, but here are my attempts, modeled by Mr. Monkey and Fatty Mc Beaver:

Smile, Monkey!

Try not to look quite so gormless, Beaver.

I haven't bothered to find proper pin-backs for them, so I'm just using a regular pin! (It's on the back! Who will know?!)

And yes, well, now I'm pretty excited about brooches! Mine aren't for sale... (Monkey and Beaver would never part with them now!), but check out these other awesome brooches that are up for grabs:

Back Where You Belong Brooch, by tinatarnoff

My Kimono Brooch, by munieca

Armando Portrait Brooch by Utter Rubbish

So, get adorning those cardigans! (Or stuffed toys...!)

If Life Gives You Lemons...

...you make lemonade, right?

Well, that's what Betsy's doing in the newest print! She's in her favourite gingham dress, with a nice tall glass of iced lemonade, and a big pitcher to share with you!

Here she is all nicely framed:

And a detail:

(And today, Tucson is giving me lemons: it's horrible and rainy outside, but I'm using the weather as an excuse to stay inside and draw instead of going to my least favourite place in the world... my local Post Office!)

On a more personal note...

Today is our first wedding anniversary! We're off out tonight to celebrate (yummy Old Pueblo Grille) and as a little present, I've made this for Justin:

He's been trying to get a print off me for weeks, and I keep taking them off him as his office is such a mess, but this one is already framed and on his wall... an original! :)

And, in honour of love, here's a little photo of our wedding!

Betsy's Daily Dress, Inspired by 'Some Girls Wander'

So, after Copenhagen Street Style, my favourite place to browse fashion is the vintage, thrifty, polka-dotted, bow-tying, red-accessory-loving blog Some Girls Wander. And her latest outfit has inspired little Betsy's dress for June 18th.

It's all about the little touches of red! Little red bow, little red shoes. (Betsy's hair reads: "A little bow makes my day") Ahhh... if only we could all have a wardrobe with dresses like this!

Betsy Inspired By Etsy!

Here are some of my favourites from Etsy which have been Betsified!

Sergio Valente Shirt : High-waisted shorts and a unisex shirt. I even tried to give little B. the same attitude as the model! (Her hair reads "Vintage is the new black")

Sunny Side Up Housewife Dress : My favourite style of egg makes a pretty interesting dress! Yolky, with fried-whites type ruffles! (Her hair reads "Sunny side up"... of course!)

Dress pattern : Cute cute completely cute. Betsy's so lucky she doesn't have to do any sewing to get into this polka-dotted, look-at-my-undies dress! (Her hair reads "Vintage is the best age")

Shop for other Betsy prints here

Project Runway

Any other Project Runway fans out there? Yes? Well, I'm sure you're familiar with my all-time favourite P.R. phrase: "Pooping fabric!" Here is Blayne's hideously awesome parachute-netting mess:

And here is little Betsy, in the same ensemble. Make it work, Betsy, make it work.

Copenhagen Street Style

There is no other fashion site where you can see quite the same range of beauty and off-the-wall-- Copenhagen Street Style is my favourite time waster! And as it's almost impossible to find the clothes you see on there, I'm doing the next best thing: letting Betsy wear them!

The first in the Betsy Inspired By Copenhagen series: Sara the Danish Dynamite, or as I call her "Queen of Stripes"

Copenhagen Street Style

And Hanna, in her thrifty get-up, inspired this little poppet, "Pretty in Patterns"

Copenhagen Street Style

Both available as prints HERE!

The Curse of the Caffeine

It's official: I cannot handle caffeine. Not at all. I had one Coke at 4pm... not a litre of Coke, but one little bottle... and here I am at 3am, still buzzing! (A little woozy, but eyes open, mind working, hands shaking)

My Coke was my reward. I was celebrating making a sale to someone who is not related to me/married to me, and I treated myself. (Really went all out, I know, but I didn't want to spend the money I was celebrating making!) And now I'm cursed to type the night away... or at least browse the night away. I'm making preparations for the new line of Betsies: Betsies inspired by Copenhagen Stret Style, Besties inspired by Etsies, and Besties inspired by Tucson. At this rate, I'll have them all finished before the sun comes up... but the outlines might be a little wobbly from my crazy hyper hands!

Betsy Worldwide

I was just writing the address on the envelope for my latest sale, when I realized what a little international traveller Betsy is! So far, I've sold four illustrations, and they've all gone to different countries... one Betsy is shipping out to Canada tomorrow, one is on her way to Norway, one is destined for China, and one is staying here in Tucson! If only we could all lead such jet-setting lives!

Betsy's Daily Dress

Some people upload photos of their own outfits every day, but I've decided to give Betsy a new outfit every day instead. (Hers'll be much cuter than mine anyway!)

Outfit for June 16th:

Her outfit today is inspired by the saying, "Paint the Town Red", as you could probably guess from her hair! Not only does she love the colour red, but she loves to go out and have a good time while wearing red! Especially her red heels, and this vintage ruffled dress she looks so darn cute in! Available as a print at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26565028

Do you have lovely outfits, or clothes for sale? Ideas for daily dresses are welcome!

New Cards!

So, I finally showed my Mum my etsy shop for the first time yesterday! She's always very good at giving advice on my art, and so I wanted it to look pretty nice before she saw it. And she really liked everything... so much so, in fact, that I made a keep-it-in-the-family sale! But what really helped was her asking the question no one wants to be asked:

"What's going to make people buy this?"

The fact that it's pretty? Hopefully! But I started thinking about more useful applications... and thought that I'd design a few greetings cards, and see how that went.

So far, I've got two designs, both featuring my little Betsy: Thank You, and Happy Birthday.

You can find them here, in my etsy shop (RedRedCompletelyRed).

Hopefully, these will soon be jetting around the world with nice messages inside them!

Oh, and I just got to 50 hearts! I heart being hearted. Number 50 was OliviaClara, and as a thank you, I'll post a link to her shop!