Foxy Bloop, go!

In prep for a show next weekend, a red fox "Foxy Bloop"

So yeah, I'm not good at this blogging thing. I imagine ithttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif's partially because there are SO MANY different venues for social networking anyone.

I've got several, so here are some that I maintain better than this:

Deviantart - where I keep my portfolio

Twitter

Facebook Group

Tumblr

This blog will be part of a grand scheme soon, however. So here is hoping I get my act together.

Dolls, dolls I say!

So I realized I had posted this to my other blog but not this one(oops!)

TokyoPop, a manga company teamed up with the Principality of Sealand to host an appreciation contest. Being a fan of Hetalia and Sealand in general, I decided to enter.

This, in turn, opened up a whole new world of potential for me: Dolls.



As mentioned in my previous post, I plan to start making this for adopting out. I love the idea of making customs for people, of their characters and the like.

I hope you like him!

Mrs B's 31 Days of Halloween

It's that time of year again folks! Mrs B is hosting her 31 days of Halloween(And you can expect to see a couple items from me soon)

Today she has this absolutely fabulous bath and body set up for grabs! Wonderful, hand mixed items to melt away a long day of tension. I can't deny it, I'm hopeful to get it! She's also got a book and bookmark that are lovely. Stop by and check them out!

Bath set

Book

Bookmark


In other news, I've been working on preparing for Youmacon in Detroit over Samhain/Halloween weekend. Lots of adorable Bloops just waiting to get home and some new items as well.

I have to say, I've been feeling sort of down in regard to my art. I feel like I haven't come up with anything really new/original/appealing in a while. It's sort of like I'm drifting along a river while there is a party going on on the shore. I look around and see all these amazing things and wonder "Why didn't I think of that?"

I'm one of those people that want to do everything, so I spread myself super thin, then I feel like I'm not really growing in any one field.

What do you do to get our of your slump/spark the muse? I'm afraid that my first full year of business was a fluke and I won't really be successful in this.

To add to the "new things that I shouldn't be focusing on" I did a little sewing yesterday:



Not anything too super fantastic, just playing around with this Minky Fabric I have. The ears weren't sewn in far enough, but it's a start.

Maybe I'll get into making sewn plush once I get the craft room finished.

And this was a very rambly post. I hope this finds you all well!

~Aria

P.S. During August I went to Japan for 18 days. I may post some of my photos here for the heck of it. I apologize now for the potential pic spam!

A new project!

So I fell off the face of blogging for a bit(EEP!) but I'm back now and will try to keep up with this xD Thank you to all my watchers who haven't vanished! I promise I'll do better from now on.

So anyways, I'm writing today to spread the word about the new fund raiser I have going on!

Recently we have been hashing out the details for making high quality, acrylic jewelry featuring our Octobloops.



After a lot of research(and help from my mum, thanks Mom!) we stumbled across a charity called "Kick Starter" that helps Indie artists start up fund raising projects to get their artistic endeavors off the ground.

Project home:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manifesteddreams/spreading-happinessone-bloop-at-a-time-3

The goal is $1,500 by June 1st, 2010. If we are successful we will be able to produce a minimum of 10 designs to be made into; Rings, Cell phone straps, hair pins, necklaces, earrings and more! I am EXTREMELY excited about this prospect and am really hopeful that it will be a success.

There are gifts for each donation tier which you will receive for donating. The items are matched up with donation amounts in such a way that it is essentially a pre-order without the cost of shipping!

Please have a look and if you are interested, your donations are greatly appreciated! Be the first to have some awesomely amazing Octobloop swag <3 Even if you can't donate or would prefer not, that's totally cool too! I'm thankful to any re-posting/word of mouth advertisement I can get for it. This is the first really huge art endeavor I'm taking and admittedly, it's scares me. I have a huge fear of failure but at the same time, I've met so many amazingly awesome artists that took steps even though they were afraid. It gives me a lot of hope.

I'm hoping that by the end of this, I'll have a wonderful story to tell and intend to frequent the site in search of other projects to donate to.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Sailor Moon Re-Design Contest on DeviantArt, Please help vote!

Hey guys, today I'm here to ask for a little help!

My boyfriend entered a redesign contest that Vbabe on DeviantArt is holding. He is an amazing artist and I'm really proud of him so I'm trying to rally as much support as I can and spread his art around!

For those that don't know, "Sailor Moon" is an Anime(Japanese Cartoon) from the 90s that was the gateway for so many of us. We grew up with it and it holds a special place for us. When he saw the contest, he knew he had to enter.

He is entry #1, Sailor Mercury Redone as a Knight. If you have a moment, please head over and have a look at it. Any and all votes are highly appreciated!

Contest here!:

Knight Mercury - Guardian of Love

Thank You!

Getting an artist the recognition she deserves

A friend of mine made the following post on her journal and I wanted to spread the word:

"Hey guys. I'm going to ask for a quick favor -- if you haven't already seen this elsewhere.

My aunt, Margaret, is an artist living in Brooklyn. She does incredible, haunting, sometimes extremely weird art. One of her pieces was featured in a recent art competition at the Smithsonian, but it only placed 4th (losing to decent pieces that had nothing on it at all). So what we're trying to do now is get her some recognition and get her the Peoples' Choice award. Any vote is lovely and appreciated because this woman has done this work for a while and has never gotten the recognition she deserves.

http://www.portraitcompetition.si.edu/exhibition2009/PeoplesChoiceAward/EntryDetails.aspx?RID=431112736

Thank you so much!"

I found the piece to remind me of a "Woman in White". Too often we see talented artists that get over looked for one reason or another.

Please have a look at the piece, if you feel she deserves it, it would be greatly appreciated if you voted for her! I'll be passing this on to as many as I can. Even if she doesn't win, she'll at least have her art spread just a little farther.

Thanks everyone!