That's What She Said Sunday

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No one ever tells you about the real life happenings of a stay at home mom. You read all the mommy blogs trying to prepare yourself, but most of those blogs are staged. You learn this after you have a baby and you never sleep or have a free moment to yourself. Makes me wonder if those staged moms are robots, or wizards that just have house elves (I'm going with wizard).

Free time becomes a hot commodity. Those days of shopping, showering, going out to eat, hanging with friends, watching something besides educational kiddie shows/My Little Pony, or talking to your spouse about something besides poop are over. Some parents may have got a system down, and are able to function as active members of society...me I'm lucky if I'm able to brush my teeth and put on pants (apparently leggings aren't pants).

So what keeps me sane besides talking to real people via twitter and the occasional face time with my sister? Making dolls, scrapbooking, sketching, painting, writing in my journal, baking, dreaming. As a creative I need some alone time or I go insane and Hulk out. I need that time to hear my thoughts, let out some ideas, get my hands dirty, or just vent to my journal about how I haven't slept in days and would love a shower. I spend 24/7 with Amelia and I love her more than anything, but getting that hour by myself keeps me sane enough to keep going when there's laundry, dishes, diapers, puppies, teething, toys, baby food in my hair, and a crying baby to cheer up. I will never have one of those picture perfect houses or be dressed to the nines, and seriously who has time for that?! I would rather spend my time with family, and my limited alone time doing something I love and that keeps me sane. I don't need to prove to anyone that I'm a wizard....

What keeps you sane?

Scrawny Girl Shop Update

I've been working hard on a few new patterns I hope to share soon. In between thinking up new ideas, I've been trying to crank out a few chibi dolls.

If you missed out on the giveaway at My Life as A Teacup, you're in luck because I have another Teacup Doll that I just listed today! I only have a small amount of this fabric left, so this cutie is limited edition.

This fabric is actually from a Chelsea & Violet shirt I bought myself for my birthday a few years ago. It had a weird cut to it, so I never wore it, but it was too cute to get rid of. I am glad I am able to reuse it, and hopefully someone else will enjoy the pattern as much as I did.

Am I the only one who buys random things because they are cute?

The other doll I listed is my very first Halloween Doll! Halloween and Fall are my favorite time of the year! I found some really cute fabric, so prepare yourself for lots of spooky cuteness in the next few weeks.

After talking with my business adviser (that's my sister lol), I've decided to lower the prices in my shop. I think I was looking at too many other doll makers and what they were charging, and even though I was charging less it still seemed like too much to me. I want people to be able to afford my dolls and enjoy them! I want the doll to make your face light up like it does my daughter's each time I show her what I'm working on. With that being said, my Chibi dolls are now $8, and made with lots of love!

I've also added my first illustration for sale in the shop, at the insistence of my business adviser. ;)

You can find out more about my inspiration for the Princess Mononoke Illustration here, or purchase your very own copy here for only $5.

Somewhere Down The Barrel

The other day I had the itch to sketch it out, here was the result:

This was a totally different outcome than my normal sketches of cute things puked into my sketchbook.

When I was in college I had an unhealthy obsession with Daniel Johns from Silverchair. He had a side project called The Dissociatives, which was completely insane to my alternative loving self at the time, but the lyrics really spoke to me.

Here is the video to give you a visual:

Maybe my morning pages have been giving me deep thoughts, but here are a selection of lyrics that were swimming in my head while drawing:

"when everyone's a stranger
they call for you by your first name
and laugh at jokes you once made
when you were a kid"

"i'm plagued by small town fascists
like a rash on my skin"

"when paintings seem like bargains
but they're nothing but wallpaper"

The illustration reminds me of myself a long time ago. Kinda quirky, ready for crazy, and usually smiling on the outside. I've been thinking a lot about being "grown up" these days, which had me reflecting on the days where people ask you, "Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?"

Are you where you thought you'd be? Where do you think you'll be? Something to think about for sure.

Find Your Voice: Week 3

It took me a while to finish this weeks worksheet and project, but I finally found some time to focus and think about it.

1. What stories do you want to tell? Your stories? Stories about others? The BIG stories? or the everyday life detail stories?

I want to tell the everyday stories of me, my friends, and family. I want to make sure I don't forget the little things. Things that bring simply joy to our everyday lives.

2. What do you want from your creative life? Escape? Recognition? Relaxing? Memory keeping? Tradition?

Creative life: purpose, expression, fulfillment, happiness and a chance to share that happiness. Eventually I would like to make my creative life into a career to help support my family.

3. How do your storytelling and creativity goals fit into the rest of your life goals? Do you need to make room for new priorities in order to meet your storytelling and creative goals or are you comfortable with where you are right now?

I definitely need to make more time for these goals and myself. As a new mom this change has been really hard for me, but hopefully by organizing my time better I can make my goals happen. Right now I am able to stay home to take care of my daughter, which also gives me the opportunity to work towards my goals in a way I've never been able to before.

The creative prompt I chose was to create a project that makes you happy and come up with 5 reasons why it makes you happy. And how do the reasons compare with your creative goals?

I chose a painting I have been working on. I won't call it finished yet, but I think it's getting closer. Here it is at a stopping point:

And here it is, where I've stopped for tonight:

This is completely out of my comfort zone and I was trying some new techniques. I almost went in the direction I usually go by adding a cute face on there, but painted over it. I wanted a more abstract feel, which I've never tried before. I was inspired by Paramore's song "Still Into You".

5 Reasons This Painting Made Me Happy

1. Listening to music and painting helps me to relax. I can just be messy, play and bop my head to the beat.

2. I suck at expressing my emotions. Painting helps with that, even if no one ever sees it.

3. Teaching myself new things makes me feel happy and accomplished.

4. Having paint on my hands shows that I've been working on something joyful.

5. This painting makes me think of the love I have for my husband, even if it's corny. But we are corny. And if I want to get all deep and arty about it, I could compare our love to blossoming flowers growing into something beautiful. How we began and the journey to where we are today. LOL But that makes me feel all awkward even typing it, so lets stick with we are corny.

Here's the music video (just for fun)!


If you would like to participate in the Find Your Voice workshop (IT’S FREE!!), check out the links below:

Click Here to learn more about Find Your Voice

Download lesson one here

Join the facebook group

Sign up for lessons delivered straight to your email

Working on Dolls

My husband snuck in and started taking pictures when I was working on a new pattern a few weeks ago (clearly my hair is still dark). I'm not one of those people with a fancy studio, stages my life to look perfect, or even puts on makeup everyday. Seriously, I live in the real world, who has time for that?! So here's a peek at messy me and my 'studio'...ENJOY!



I caught him! Then he made me laugh! We are such dorks! :)









Do you have any pictures of your creative space or studio? I'd love to see them!

Scrawny Girl Etsy Shop Open

I tried a few different selling platforms and decided to stick with Etsy. I felt like this was the best decision for my business for now. I have 7 handmade dolls up for sale, with 3 of them on sale. The sale dolls are patterns I designed, but didn't love. I'm super excited to have found a focus, and I have really enjoyed designing and sewing these dolls. I can only foresee lots of fun experimenting with my designs, and improving my sewing skills.

Please check out my shop and let me know what you think or if there is something you'd like to see! Thanks!

Open for Business

I have just officially opened my online store of cute Scrawny Girl goodness! Here are a few items listed in my shop:
I can't wait to add more! I have so many ideas and cute things coming soon. I will keep updating here as I update the shop. Thanks for dropping by and supporting handmade! xo

Creative Space: Kelly Rae Roberts

One of my favorite things to see on the blogs of artists is their messy studios. I like to see that I'm not the only one who makes a mess as I work on a project. Kelly Rae Roberts is one of my favorite artists, and she is such an inspiration. I really enjoy her series Art In Motion,  where she shares the visual journey through the life of one of her paintings — from the blank canvas, to the first splash of inspiration, all the way to the finished piece.