Very happy news! My Etsy shop is officially open for business! (Actually, it's been officially open for business for a week) And just this very moment I made my first sale! This "My Neighbor Totoro" embroidery hoop sold and now is going to live in Virginia! YAY!

"Totoro and Mushrooms"

7 inches, felt and embroidery floss on fabric

I couldn't be more excited! I've been checking my Etsy page obsessively and was getting a little discouraged that my items weren't instantly "flying off the shelves". But now...now I'm super duper inspired to make more hoops. I think it's funny that I just learned how to make these hoops less than 2 weeks ago and now one is the first thing that sold in my shop. Funny. Here are some photos of other hoops that I've done since my last post.

"Little Blue Owl"

6 inches, felt, buttons and embroidery floss on fabric

"Totoro Playing the Flute"

6 inches, felt and embroidery floss on fabric

If you want to take a peek-a-loo at my wares up for sale, please visit my humble shop at:

www.iggystarpup.etsy.com

I'm off to the post office!

Laters!

The Return of the Blogger

So I'm pretty much the worst blogger of all time. It's been almost a year since my last post. So what have I been doing all of this time? Well, a lot actually. Thanks for asking! I graduated summa cum laude from ASU in May of 2011. I was told that my GPA was in the top percentage of my graduating class so I'm very proud of that. Graduating from college was my greatest accomplishment thus far and I'm very happy that I went back after such a long absence. Although it was hard to return to school knowing that I would be older than the majority of my classmates I think that I went at the perfect point in my life. I was more mature, had some life experiences under my belt and felt really motivated to prove myself as an artist. I even surprised myself with my art; I've always been really insecure about my abilities as an artist and was lacking confidence. However, after every semester my style emerged just a little bit more and my skills developed further with each new drawing. Since graduation I've been working on my portfolio and even discovered some new crafts. Here's some examples of my post graduation work:

"The Queen"

22 x 30 inches

charcoal on paper

"Selena and Bruce"

22 x 30 inches

charcoal on paper

"Mee and Myne"

22 x 30 inches

charcoal on paper

"Dear Harry"

22 x 30 inches

charcoal on paper

I'm about 60% finished with a new piece which will be my first illustration of the new year so I'm excited to post that when it's complete. Back in November a coworker of mine saw that I dabbled in polymer clay and asked me if I could make a cupcake brooch for her daughter. I've never been good with any type of ceramics and didn't feel comfortable enough with the materials to make her a piece so I opted to make a felt cupcake brooch instead. I make plushies so I have a lot of experience working with felt but I'd never made a brooch before so I had to do some internet research first. It turns out that felt brooches are really simple to make so I whipped her up a little cuppie cake brooch. She loved it and told everyone at work about it and before I knew it, I had a small business going! I've sold dozens of brooches and found a talent that I didn't know I had. It's also really rewarding being able to complete a piece from start to finish in 2 1/2 hours (my illustrations take much longer--around 30-35 hours). Sure, I'm not getting rich off of my art (yet...) but it makes me so happy knowing that people like my art enough to buy it. Here's a few examples of my pins:

Psyduck Brooch

Meowth Brooch

Butterfree Brooch

Koffing Brooch

Lately I've been making Pokemon pins exclusively. They're so much fun to make and there's so many Pokemon now to choose from. I've recently discovered embroidery hoop art as well so tomorrow I'm going to take a crack at it. I'm really excited to try something new. Also, I just got in all of my shipping supplies so tomorrow I also plan to FINALLY open up my Etsy shop. I will have prints and pins for sale and hopefully some hoops soon too. So so excited to start using my degree and pursue my dream of someday being a full-time artist. I hope people like my art and that my items will sell. Cross your fingers! I have more developments that I'd like to catch everyone up on but that'll have to wait til another day. I'm getting ice-hands from typing too much >__< 


P.S. you can find my Etsy shop at: www.iggystarpup.etsy.com