First Custom Completed!

I am so pleased with this custom order I filled for my mom.  I hope the new mommy it is going to enjoys the pieces as much as I enjoyed making them for her precious baby.

First up was this darling giraffe.  The baby's room theme is zoo-ish (think jungle/safari animals).  And what is cuter than a little giraffe with spots made out of buttons?  It really lent itself to my button art don't you think?  The mane is done with silk embroidery ribbon.  The teal color was a happy "mistake" as I didn't have any brown on hand.  I gave it a go and voila!:

 The tail is braided, and the face is embroidered with thread.  The canvas is water colored and walnut stained for an antiqued look.  And the giraffe itself is from 100% cotton.

Next up was a "Keep 'em Busy" Changing Pad Cover.  I had originally just made the cover with some baby blue minky and this adorable Moda animal print.  But, I felt it needed something more.

 Then I thought about how I'm always needing a toy or something to keep the kiddo busy (and still) while I'm changing the diaper at a frazzled pace.  lol  I thought...how handy would it be to have a toy that matches the changing pad?  So, enter a changing pad toy:

I added a taggy feature for those little fingers (and mouth) to explore.  And it's tail velcro's right to the cover itself...and best yet...it's ALL machine washable.  I wish I had made these for my kids!

Another Treasury!

I made it into another treasury!  Woo!!!  The more exposure I can get the better.  The wonderful ladies over at the OKetsy team have been fabulous and supportive of my shop by including me in their treasuries and blogs.  It's so very sweet of them!

You can visit the Mother's Day Treasury featuring OKetsy Crafters here.

My Kids Recommend - Books

I wanted to start a new segment called "My Kids Recommend."  Covering everything from books, to movies, TV shows, toys, art activities, art supplies, fun places to visit.  You get the idea.  We'll start off with books.  These are just a handful of my children's favorite books.  My son is 2 so his list is what he chose from his shelf spanning from his "baby" books to his "big boy" books.  :)

The Gruffalo by: Julia Donaldson, Animal Strike at the Zoo, It's True! by: Karma Wilson,  Never Ever Shout in the Zoo by: Karma Wilson,  Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by: Kevin Lewis, I Love You Through and Through by: Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak, At the Zoo: A Lift the Flap Shadow Book,  The Circus Ship by: Chris Van Dusen, Cock-a-Doodle Quack! Quack! by: Ivor Baddiel, Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash! by: Barbara Odanaka, My Truck is Stuck! by: Kevin Lewis, From Head to Toe by: Eric Carle, Dear Zoo by: Rod Campbell


My daughter, admittedly, is a little less choosey.  She is only going to be 8 months old tomorrow.  And while she doesn't have the same affinity for reading that her brother does.  Certain books hold her attention better than others.  (She's usually stroking fringe while I read to her so I think she's a seamstress/quilter in the making.  lol)  Her books often involve singing or rhyming.  Very interactive at times (Baby Cakes).  And What Makes a Rainbow? is a really neat book with ribbons in it.

Snuggle Puppy: A Little Love Song by: Sandra Boynton, A Frog in the Bog by: Karma Wilson, Belly Button Book by: Sandra Boynton, Miss Spider's Tea Party by: David Kirk, Jesus Loves the Little Children by: Debby Anderson, That's When I'm Happy by: Beth Shoshan, How Do I Love You? by: Marion Dane Bauer, Baby Cakes by: Karma Wilson, Jesus Loves Me by: Debby Anderson, Ruby's Rainy Day by: Rosemary Wells, I Wear My Tutu Everywhere! by: Wendy  Cheyette Lewison, Little Quack's Opposites by: Lauren Thompson, What Makes a Rainbow? by: Betty Ann Schwartz

My kids have great taste in literature.  And some of my daughter's favorites were favorites of my son as well.  You can also see we're HUGE fans of Karma Wilson here.

Kool-Egg?

I have a strong dislike for the smell of undiluted vinegar.  But, I LOVE dying eggs.  But, it's tradition and so we must.  ;)  So, I did what any good mom does and bought an Easter dying kit.  Only to lose it.  Oops!  Yeah, I found that out yesterday evening.  My bad.

So as I was panicking and frantically looking through every drawer and cabinet in the kitchen I saw Kool-Aid packets I had bought for making playdough.  (That obviously never happened.)  Then my brain began to work and I thought...if it can dye dough then maybe it can dye eggs.

Enter 1 packet of Kool-Aid mix to one cup of water and VOILA!  You have instant, heavenly smelling, egg dying fun!  :)  No vinegar nastiness at all, and pretty eggs to boot.  :)

I used a lemon, lime, strawberry, grape, and some blue one that I can't think of the name right now.

Grape turned out red.  Go figure.  So you'll have to mix colors to get a purple.  We're not quite to that point in our egg dying expertise here.  lol

Here's my cutie patootie son dying his eggs.  We only did six thinking he wouldn't really enjoy it as he hates getting his hands messy, but he loved it and was so sad when he was done!  Shame on me!

See...messy hands.  He was okay once I wiped it off...even though his hands stayed red.  Yes, this will stain.  I have yet to do the laundry so I'll have to let you know how it comes out of clothes.

And here you have them.  Pretty vibrant eggs...in poor lighting.  lol

Some lessons learned...lemon Kool-Aid does NOT work well for egg dying.  It just gave the egg a bumpy look.  Maybe if we had left them in longer it would have but I think that yellow is just too light.

Lesson #2:  When they first come out of the dye they are VERY sensitive to touch.  Try not to handle them too much with your fingers.  It takes the dye off a tad.  The ones I used a paper towel on to dry off a bit straight away turned out the best.

Happy Easter!!!

Ah yes - and the Easter egg dying kit I bought...I found it about 2 seconds after I mixed up the Kool-Aid dye!

What a day...

I made it into two treasuries today!!!  WOO!!!!  Thanks to the ladies who put my paintings in their treasuries.  Both are from my Oklahoma Disciples of Etsy Team.

Dara was a darling and put me on her "Etsy's Hidden Treasures of the Week" Treasury on her blog.  She has a super cute shop as well, so hop on over to her blog...click on her Etsy link and get yourself something for Easter.  Or maybe something for Mother's Day.  It's coming up!

The other was on Etsy "In Remembrance of those Lost" as today is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.  I'm very honored to be a part of this treasury.  Especially as a recent transplant to the state.  Hop on over there and see if anything catches your eye.  Everyone on there is also from the Oklahoma Disciples of Etsy Team.  :)

Currently I'm mid project.  Custom order.  (Thanks, Mom!)  It's always great when your mom is the first one to order from you.  It says she really believes in you.  It means a lot.  As cheesy as that may sound.

Pictures to come of that.  She has a changing pad cover and an art piece coming her way for a friend who just had a baby boy.  :)  So excited to be working on these pieces for the little guy.

Learning from Mistakes

Well, I've been working on my car/truck series and I have learned something.  Modge Podge and Walnut Stain on any surface don't play well together.  The Modge Podge is too wet and just smears the stain.  This painting looked PERFECT until I sealed it with Modge Podge.  So, this one will stay at our house in my son's room.  Another one is in the works and will be sealed with a craft spray leaving the antiquing just the way I want it and will go in the shop.  Should be done in a couple of days.  :)  But, here is a preview of what it will look like...minus the streakiness.

Domain Name Change

More fun news...I have purchased my own domain name for The Cozy Pumpkin Blog.  I believe the old link will work, but you may want to update your bookmarks to:

 http://www.thecozypumpkin.com

And while you're at it go ahead and bookmark my Etsy shop.  ;)

http://thecozypumpkin.etsy.com

REAL Artists Get Messy!

Exposing kids to various mediums of art at a young age is extremely important to their development.  As soon as your child has enough coordination to move their hands in a purposeful manner they are ready to being their journey as an artist.  :)  Here my 7 month old daughter (I probably could have done this a bit sooner, but we were in the middle of moving) is having her first finger painting experience, and my 2 year old son is learning that it's okay to get your hands "messy".  I would say paint is the easiest one to start with.  Just make sure it's non-toxic.  I highly recommend Crayola.

My son has moved into Play dough (it's even fun to have them help make their own), stickers, markers, crayons, and watercolors.  It's so exciting to see them learning and experiencing new things.  I'll have to post about some of my favorite art books for little kids.  The key thing is to not get too tied up in a recognizable end product.  Let them have fun and experiment.  After all...what is the point of being a kid if you don't get to be a little messy.  And it cleans up, Mom.  Trust me...you can clean it up.  :)  Leave me some comments on what art projects you're doing with your little ones.  I'd love to know...even if it's in the kitchen.  I need some baking/cooking projects for my son in the kitchen.

Grand Opening

My Etsy store, The Cozy Pumpkin, is officially open for business!  YAY!!!!  Cue the parades and cheering crowds!

Now if only people will buy things.  If you build it, they will come...right?  Fingers crossed.  :)

Right now I only have a few old watercolor paintings for sale, that I adore but just don't have room to house anymore.  But, there are projects galore sitting around the house that I'm in the midst of.

Which reminds me I need to work on focusing on one project at a time.  :)  Now off to bed.  Opening a store and creating an LLC is hard work.

Oh, but before I go...please stop by and peruse.  Ya know...get familiar with the place.  You'll want to shop there often.  (Did my Obi Wan wave of the hand and use of the force convince you to go?  Yeah.  I'm a Star Wars nerd.)

A few things I had lying around...

So, while beginning my crafting for my store I realize that I don't have anything in it.  And people want me to have things in it.  Understandable of course!  :)  So, I went through some old watercolors I had lying around and took some pictures.  My header and logo should be ready tomorrow so I'm hoping to put these gems up then.  Fingers crossed.  In the meantime...if you have comments about the photography...mainly suggestions on how to improve it I'm all ears.  I know it's backlit which I hate.  But...right now it's soooo breezy and the grass is dead so outside shots are bleh.  And inside...with all of the things that still need to find a home...I'm limited on nice locations to take pictures.  So, with that in mind...ideas?  ;)