Art by Annika

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:07:00.000+01:00

A dragon creature I made in October.

Where did December go? I wanted to make some proper blog-post now that I am home for the holidays but there always seems that things get in the way... Skyward sword is to blame for a lot of that! ;P

But I wanted to say that my 2011 was a great year and looking forward to what 2012 will bring!

Happy New Year!

Five new pouches

2011-11-09T20:33:00.000+01:00

Angel starglow

Fireflies in the night-sky

Open wings

Pirate skull

Vampire and bats

I managed finishing these on Saturday while I had some time for myself. So now I need to cut out some fabric for the insides and then start sewing them together... :)

Thanks for looking!

Time flies fast...

2011-11-03T01:30:00.000+01:00

Taken in on a photo-walk in October.

Three months is a long time and I feel a little bit bad for not keeping a better update here but lot of things are different for me right now. I am attending a school for the first time in ages and am living there too. It's been a wonderful experience so far and I'm prioritizing spending time with my lovely classmates right now. I still create but not at the same pace that I'm used to, mostly doodles and such. So I'm gathering inspiration instead!

This week we have autumn holiday though, so I'm home at the moment and so far I have spent it with my crazy family. My little niece have grown so much since I last saw her and she is now running around and being cute!

The four finished pouches, here they are before they were sewn.

I have managed to finish four pouches (the ones above), but need to take some better photos of them and show you later on.

I plan to paint as many of the ones you see below this week while I am home but I'm having trouble concentrating so wish me luck!

WIP photo of the black pouches I have planned.

Some of the white pouches that is in progress.

I want to do some more digital work so there might be some speed-paintings and such in the coming month... you have been warned! ;)

Thanks for looking!

A Dance and A Wisp

2011-07-31T21:53:00.009+02:00

Well it's the last hours before July ends and I really wanted to post something.

And I thought that I could show you what book I'm reading at the moment. Which is A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin and it is the fifth book in the series A Song of Ice and Fire.

This is how it looks without the wrapping cover and I think it is very beautiful. Right now I'm half way through and in true Martin spirit there is lots of twist and turns and I'm really enjoining it so far!

There is also a postcard version of Her will-o'-the-wisp in the photos that I talked about in a post earlier this year.

Today it's actually 8 years since I bought the first book in the series (A Game Of Thrones).
I discovered it while visiting the Science Fiction Bokhandeln in Stockholm and didn't know anything about it except that it sounded interesting and I liked the cover art. But I fell in love straight away and devoured the next two books (A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords) that same year. Then I had to wait until 2006 when I bought A Feast for Crows and then wait again until now.
But I don't mind that he takes his time writing... it's better that he is true to the story then rushing it just for the sake of pleasing the fans and publishers. That said... I hope we don't have to wait as long for the next one! ;)

I also want to recommend listening to the audio-book versions of the series, so far I've just listen to the first one but it was a good experience and I love listening to audio-books. I buy mine at Audible.com but I'm sure you could find them else where too.

And then there is the television show that came out earlier this year... but since we don't have the channel that have been showing it here in Sweden I haven't seen it yet. But I want to...

Our dogs Ronja and Zera also wanted to be in the a photo! :)

That is it for now... hope to have more to show and tell in August!

Thanks for looking!

Watercolor Ninja

2011-07-26T19:09:00.006+02:00

This is my 100th blog post and I really wanted to make it a bit more special... but sometimes thing just are the way they are so for now this little Ninja in watercolors just have to be enough! ;)

Thanks for looking!

In the mail!

2011-06-17T22:39:00.012+02:00

I got a package for Germany on Friday!

I were a backer of the The Wormworld Saga App over at Kickstarter to support Daniel Lieske, who is the creator of the online graphic novel The Wormworld Saga. If you haven't read it jet I really think you should at least take a peek! :D

It may seem strange that I'm pledging money to an iPad app when I don't even own one myself but I really think he has a bright future and I hope that by helping out now I will get to read the coming chapters quicker. That and I also really wanted to have the "Treehouses and Skycastles" print. Selfish I know! ;)

Here is the the framed print on a special place beside my desk... that is in great need of some cleaning as you can see!
The other print on the wall is by a local artist named Christina but I don't remember her last name.

Now I better get ready so we can go visit my sister and my adorable little niece, before the others start yelling at me!

Thanks for looking!

Sneak peek of ACEOs to come

2011-06-13T14:13:00.003+02:00

Like the title say... here are some sneak peeks of the new ACEOs. I have fifteen new lineart once finished and two from the last batch that never where shown. There will also be some in watercolors and color-pencils.

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals and can be created in any material and technique as long as it is in the size 2,5 x 3,5 inches (6,3 cm x 8,8 cm). You can find out more about it here.

Thanks for looking!

Her will-o'-the-wisp

2011-05-25T21:14:00.004+02:00

Just a quick post to show you a watercolor painting I did in March. Hope you like it!

Have also made it into a postcard that I have printed myself here at home for our local shop but you can find the original up for sale in my etsy shop. Might show the postcard version once I manage to take some product photos of it. And I do have some new ACEOs finished too that is awaiting a photo-session. Just need some energy first... :)

Thanks for looking!

A Saturday in May

2011-05-14T16:15:00.008+02:00

It's been longer then I planed since I last updated the blog but I have had a lot of things on my mind.
Mostly I where trying to organize and finish as much as possible for "Café med hantverk brevé", that we now have moved into and my table is pretty much setup for now.

The "store" won't open for the season until the 25 of June but there will be some bus tours before that and it will also be opened at our local fair-day on Saturday the 28 of May.

Sadly I had to inactivated some of the pouches and magnets in my etsy shop to get enough things for my table tho. But you had your eyes on one or more of them then please feel free to contact me and I might be able to add them in the store again for you! And if you like something that is in my etsy shop and are planning to visit Café med hantverk brevé then you could choose to pay and pick it up there. Just let me know.

That was all I had for today I think, will try and pull myself together and update at least once a week again. Let me know if there is something special you like me to write about or show, I'm a bit empty on ideas at the moment so any suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks for looking!

Easter + birthdaycard

2011-04-26T18:50:00.004+02:00

I had a very nice easter this year with lots of sunshine and I hope you did too!

My aunt and her husband have their birthdays close to one and other so this year we celebrated them on easter eve with family and friends.

This is the card I made for them.

I had a hard time figuring out what to do so in the end I went with the fact that my aunt collects egg cups, they go to masquerades at times and... well it was easter! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Ellie painting done + progress pictures

2011-04-18T22:32:00.014+02:00

Just like the oh so amazing title say, this is Ellie. ;)
She is one of the naive folk-art inspired little girls that where on my desk a few weeks ago.
I finished her and another girl that I have named Viktualia last week. So this means that I actually have reached my goal of finishing two girls. Yay for me!

I thought I would show you Viktualia in a few days with progress pictures too, but until then you get to see Ellie.

Below is the scanned picture without added glitter.

And this is the photographed version with glitter.

Thanks for looking!

Some new pixies

2011-04-10T20:55:00.006+02:00

Don't have so much to say today... I'm sick again so haven't got much done this week but I did manage to finish the red haired pixie and started on four new magnet (or they might be turned into brooches). The blond pixie is a ACEO that I did a couple of weeks ago that I will be adding to my shop once I have taken some photos of it.

The girls that where on my desk last time have gotten some more colors on them. I'm far from finished tho but I hope that I feel better tomorrow so that I can continue painting them.

Thanks for looking!

On my desk today

2011-03-29T21:43:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I took out the sketches I made last year of these naive folk-art inspired little girls that I have been meaning to get to for some time and since I need to get some paintings done for "Café med hantverk brevé" I thought I would try and finish at least two of the girls.

The "store" will be opening June 25, but we are to set up our things sometime next month since they are expecting some bus tours before and there is also our local fair-day that is the last Saturday of May when the "store" also will be open.

So I have a lot of things that I want to create until then and I also need to tend my etsy shop. I have to reevaluate my prices and work on my descriptions.
Wish me luck! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Pixie, Butterflies and Stars on Strings

2011-03-16T15:36:00.005+01:00

Just wanted to let you know that I've added these three pouches/cases to the shop!
Will be adding the rest I've done one by one during the week to come.
Among the onces to-be added there are a unicorn, cat, monsters and something a bit steam-punkish. :)

Thanks for looking!

Work in progress - white pouches

2011-03-12T13:22:00.003+01:00

Well I know I promised some better photos of the pouches from the last post but I wanted to show what I have been working on this week instead. ;)

This is a photo from Monday before I started painting them but they are all painted now.
Nine white pouches in all and all that is left to do right now is sewing the last parts together and that is what I have planed for today.

All the black pouches have been added to the shop tho so if you like to see the finished result check out: Star Eating Monster, Robot, Skull Spirit and Swamp Monster.

That's what I have for now so now I will battle my sewing machine! :)

Thanks for looking!

Four Pouches Done

2011-02-27T16:03:00.007+01:00

I finished them... yay for me! :)

I actually got them done on Thursday but on Friday we visited my sister and yesterday I spent a good part of the day taking photos of them. :)

Those photos will be used when I list the pouches in the store but first I need to edit them. Mostly that means adding contrast, resizing and sharpening them but it takes a surprisingly long time.

So I will show more and hopefully better pictures of them in a few days when I start adding them to the shop.

Until then I thought I could show the scanned Before & After pictures!

Tomorrow is the last day to use the 5 % discount in my etsy shop.

Coupon Code: ANGELGNOME1YEAR

Thanks for looking!

Sunday Pixies!

2011-02-20T19:35:00.008+01:00

Well it's been longer then I planed since my last post... but I have been sick tho since last Sunday so I guess that is kind of a valid excuse. :)

Pixie magnet no. 24

I'm starting to feel better now tho but this means that I haven't been very creative this last week. Or well... not very but I have not been slacking of completely. I'm almost done painting four of the black pouches from last post, just needs to add the last touches before I can start sewing them.

And I have edited some of the photos I took of the newest pixie magnets and you are seeing two of them today.

Pixie magnet no. 25

But mostly I have been resting and watching my birthday present that my sister got me! She gave me the complete series of Charmed, all eight seasons! Thanks systeryster! :)

I also wanted to leave you with a reminder that I'm having a 5 % discount in my etsy shop through out February.

Coupon Code: ANGELGNOME1YEAR

New things have been added to the shop and hopefully more will come during the week!

Thanks for looking!

Work in progress - black pouches

2011-02-07T00:59:00.005+01:00

Colours will be next!

Today I don't have so much to tell really but I wanted to show you what I have been working on.
Seven black pouches of sixteen that I have sketched out.

I always start with a white soft drawing pencil for the sketch and then add the white fabric-paint to refine my sketch before even thinking about the colours. Once the colours have been added (how much depends on each pouch) I add the final touches with the white fabric pen then fix the colours with the iron.
Then I will start sewing.

I ordered some more zippers early in the week and got them on Thursday and this time I got some more colours. Three meters of turquoise zipper with clasps and two shades of red (also with clasp), I did get some more black too. Was going to order pink or purple too but I think I'll get them another time.

Hopefully I will finish some of them this week and I also have a new batch of white pouches in the making as well.

I have more motives sketched out but I will finish these first.

Today I took some photos of my ACEO drawings that I will be adding to my shop in the coming weeks.

Every one of the drawings is original but I have or will reuse some of the characters for different things, like on the pouches.

I'm also thinking of maybe make them into digital stamps but I'm not sure yet. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Click on the image to go to the listing!

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals and can be created in any material and technique as long as it is in the size 2,5 x 3,5 inches (6,3 cm x 8,8 cm). You can find out more about it here.

Oh and don't forget that I'm having a 5 % discount in my etsy shop through out February.

Coupon Code: ANGELGNOME1YEAR

Thanks for looking!

One Year Anniversary!

2011-01-31T22:16:00.003+01:00

Today I'm celebrating my etsy shop turning 1 year and even tho I really started tending it these last couple of months it still feels like something to celebrate!
Also my birthday is coming up and so is Valentines day! So February is a festive month!

So in honor of this I have decided to give you a 5% off coupon for my etsy shop and it will be active throughout February.

Coupon Code: ANGELGNOME1YEAR

Please note that this code only works for my shop only, so redeem it at angelgnome.etsy.com
You can learn more about how to use Etsy coupons here.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

There will be other celebrating things this month so keep a look out!

Thanks for looking!

Pixie magnets made in 2009

2011-01-30T17:37:00.005+01:00

Pixie no. 1 - Sold

Another Sunday and as you might have guessed this post is going contain photos of the Pixie magnets I made back in 2009.

Pixie no. 4 -Sold

I have shown some of them back then but I uploaded them too my flickr today so I though I let you see! All in all there are 10 pixie magnets from 2009 so check out my flickr to see them all.

Pixie no. 7 - Available here

They are drawn with colour pencils with details and highlight with a white gel pen and fineliner pen. This first batch is drawn on rough wood but now days I sand the surface before drawing the pixies. I also have been adding 3D gel on the eyes to give them that little extra but now I'm not sure whether or not to continue doing that.

Pixie no. 9 - Sold

So that was what I had for today and if you have any question feel free to leave a comment!

Pixie no. 8 - Sold

Thanks for looking!

More WIP and A Vampire Lord

2011-01-23T21:48:00.003+01:00

It's Sunday and it's been another slow week here when inspiration just haven't been working properly or rather my energy is gone. But I know that January generally is a down period for me and I'm staring to accept that that's just how I am. I still have lots of ideas tho and it's not like I haven't done anything... just feels like it! :)

The above pictures is how far I've come on the canvas pixies. There is still lots to do on them but I thought it might be fun too see how my painting progress goes.

I have been adding new things to the shop and among them is this little Vampire Lord.

I have prepared a new batch of the white fabrics that is waiting for me to paint on them and I also have more black once to finish so we will see where I will start!

Thanks for looking!

An embellished print off Kelly-Ann in etsy shop now

2011-01-11T00:26:00.004+01:00

Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that I added Kelly-Ann to my shop today and Ylva will be added later this week.

They are both an embellished print which means I added some extra touches after printing by hand such as glitter. I also have added details in colour-pencils, fine-lines pens and white gel pen.

Here is Kelly-Ann with her little white cat.

I probable forgot something so please feel free to leave a comment if there is something you like to know!

And here is Ylva and a butterfly!

Now I'm off painting some more on the pixies from my last post! And there is still no pictures of my pixie magnets but I'll get there eventually! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Canvas Pixies - new and old

2011-01-05T20:32:00.005+01:00

Whoopee... It's January and the first Wednesday of the year... not that anything special have happened today... but still! ;)

I haven't been doing very much these first days of the year... mostly sitting here in front of the computer procrastinating. Or searching for inspiration and making mental notes of what I want to be doing this year. No clear plans so far but lots of ideas at least.

So as you might guess from my all so cleaver headline and the pictures in here I wanted to show you some pixies.

These will be/have been painted with acrylics on deep edged canvases that have two or three layers of brown paint as base.
The small ones are the new (if you couldn't tell) that I started today and the pixie with the pink eyes where made for my sister's 25 birthday in May 2010.
That one is pretty big, 40cm x 50cm. It is one of the biggest things I painted/drawn since school and it took quit a long time to get done. The flowers are suppose to be calla lily's.

I use my brown shades of Derwent soft drawing pencils to sketch out the pixies and make shadows and highlights before bringing out the acrylics.

I haven't decided yet how I want the new pixies to look, maybe they will have a more sketchy look then the other but I guess I will get a better feel of them once I start working on them again.

I actually have done more on the pixie on the left but unloaded the camera before thinking
of taking another photo.

On a whole other note I just realized that I haven't posted any of my pixie magnets on flickr. I have shown some on here but considering that I made more then twenty so far I do feel a bit bad for keeping them to myself. Or well... most are already sold, so don't know where that leaves us! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Unicorn, Monster and a Cowboy

2010-12-31T17:59:00.003+01:00

A Unicorn pouch, can be found here.

So here I am this last day of the year trying to figure out something interesting to say... but unfortunately I can't think of anything. So... I guess I can tell you that I had a really nice Christmas! :)

This is one of my own favorite of the simple pouches that I made in 2010. Found here!

I have also been adding lots of new pouches to my Etsy shop and among them are the ones you see in this post!
I will continue to add more things to the shop in 2011 so keep a look out.

This little cowboy is found here!

I wanted to do some kind of resume of 2010 but I will never make it in time now before 2010 ends so I might as well wait. I'm looking forward to 2011 and hope I can become a better blogger as we enter the new year.

If there is any suggestion of what you want to see and/or read from me in 2011 please feel free to leave me a comment!

Thanks for looking!

and

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T17:41:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to make a quick stop here today at the blog to wish you a Merry Christmas and to my fellow swedes a say... God Jul!

Will stop by again before 2011 starts I hope but until then...

Thanks for looking
&
Happy Holidays!

More pouches/cases

2010-12-16T16:44:00.005+01:00

Maybe just a bit Twilight inspired ;)
This vampire was sold at Medevi.

These last days I have been doing lots of different things but haven't managed to finish any of them... or well.... lets just say I'm not ready to share them yet at least! ;)

So I thought I could talk a little bit about my other pouches. I call them simple pouches mainly because they don't have the interfacing or padding that my black pouches have and they are a bit smaller (19cm x 8,5cm).

This little vampire was also sold at Medevi.

I've been using black fabric-pen for all of them and then the use of fabric-paint vary between each pouch, some are more painterly then others.

Every one is painted on unbleached cotton and at this point the back side of every pouch is the same fabric but unpainted. It may be a bit boring but will try and figure out something fun for the next batch.

This one is available here.

I finished nineteen simple pouches for the christmas-fairs and sold six so I will be adding the once I have left to my etsy shop over the coming weeks. And I have two more black to list as well. So keep a look out!

Thanks for looking!

Hand-painted pouches: Magic, Heart, Ninja and Apple

2010-12-11T15:17:00.006+01:00

Today I thought I would show you the finished pencil-cases, pouches or whatever you want to call these. They are large enough for those bigger marker pens (tested with my TRIA-markers) but I also know some who have used them for a wallet... so don't let the "pencil" limit your imagination.

They are all painted with fabric-paint and with details with fabric pens on black cotton and fixed with the iron according to the instructions.

The back fabric is white and dark blue striped (from IKEA). To make them a little more sturdy I gave them interfacing and also padded them for protection and softness.

I've used a black zipper for them all but might order some other colours for the coming once.

Here you have a sort of before and after image of them!

I've added Magic Swirls to my esty shop and will be adding the rest in the coming days.

Thanks for looking!

Four "strumpnissar"

2010-12-06T23:57:00.006+01:00

Well I did finish the pencil-cases I talked about in my last post but want to take better photos of them before sharing. So I'm showing you these instead... ;)

Svante and Torsten

Lennart and Orvar

These are the "strumpnisse" dolls (made with nylon-stocking) I made for the fairs this year. Svante found a new home. You can find out more about these kinds of dolls here and here.

The fair in Medevi was really nice and we had a good time. The snowy weather gave the fair a very lovely Christmas spirit but it was also very cold standing there for two days. But we had some really nice fellow sellers in the room to make up for it!

Should probably have more to write but my head in blank right now so this is what you get. ;)

I will be adding some new things to my etsy shop by the end of the week!

Thanks for looking!

Apples, hearts and some magic

2010-12-01T22:02:00.007+01:00

And a ninja... Hmm... Well thinking up cool titles is hard! ;)

Right now I'm taking a little brake from painting these pencil-cases and I wanted to show you what I have done so far.

Will try my best to finish them tonight so that I can sew them tomorrow. Not so much left on the three in the photo but I have a ninja that needs a little bit more work. Wish me luck! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Printing Christmas-cards today

2010-11-29T23:45:00.007+01:00

One of the cards I have printed out today.

I'm sitting here printing out Christmas-cards and trying to figure out what to say...

My table at the fair.

The fair in Tjällmo this weekend went well and even tho it was very cold it was a fun day with lots of nice people!

My doll had their own place on the old stove.

My mothers table with her lovely jewelery.

And now we are trying to deiced what should be made for the next fair in Medevi.
Like I mention in the beginning I am printing out more Christmas-cards. Have already cut out a bunch today and now when the ink on the new once dry a bit I will continue with them.

If I have time I will finish at least some of the black pencil-cases I have prepared this week for the fair. If I don't then they will be added to my etsy shop by the end of the month.

One of the pencil-cases I have prepared. Have twenty in total to finish, with different motives on them all.

Yesterday my dear cousin gave birth to a baby boy... welcome little one!

Well thats all I got today I think!

Thanks for looking!

Christmas fairs!

2010-11-25T22:43:00.003+01:00

April... oops!

Yes that is quit a long time ago and lots have happened since... most exiting thing of all is that I'm now a aunt!
Little beautiful baby girl Amina was born in September and she is just lovely! :)

I've been creating lots of different things these last couple of months even tho I should have been doing more it feel like. But here we are at the end of November and Christmas will soon be here.

And that brings us to the fairs. ;)

Me and my mum will be selling our creations at two fairs this year and the first is this Saturday (27 November) in Tjällmo. It starts at 10.00 and ends 17.00. And it looks like there actually going to be snow this year!

The second Christmas fair is in Medevi and will be two days, the 4-5 December. Both days have the same time 10.00-17.00. It will be fun!

Old drawing of a snowman with rabbit from 2008.

So I guess that's it for now, will try to make some more updates soon!

Thanks for looking!

Magnets in the making

2010-04-22T00:40:00.003+02:00

I got home today after spending some lovely days at my grandmothers and with me was eight nearly finished pixie magnets!

It's kind of strange that in some ways it is much easier to create when being away from home. There isn't the same distractions as I have here and at the same time it is letting myself get inspired to continue to create once I get home (at least thats what I'm hoping for)!

This time I sanded the wood pieces before drawing on them with my color-pencils. Used the white gel pen for the highlights. Still experimenting with different ways to do them.
Tomorrow I will be sealing and adding the magnets to them.

Some will be going in my etsy shop later in the week but I have to keep most of them for "Café med hantverk brevé" (local craft store) that we are moving into next week. Will talk more about that another time. Until then!

Thanks for looking!

Etsy Shop update

2010-04-15T17:08:00.003+02:00

Hi.... just wanted to say that I have add some new things in my etsy shop.

Two more motives for the postcard have been added. I have also been making some hand-painted zipper pouches that could be use for pencils and markers but also for anything that fits in them. ;)
Also made some eyeglass cases in the same style!

Thats all for now I think!

Thanks for looking!

Pink Sky Girl

2010-04-08T22:59:00.006+02:00

"Kelly-Ann"

Distracted and feeling a bit down... But will be trying too make simple entry's for a while with pictures to bring the blog back to life.

Thanks for looking!

I knew I was forgetting someting

2010-02-02T00:44:00.002+01:00

I was so sure that I posted something in January but...oops!

I have posted a few things on mine & mums blog so feel free to take a look. It's in Swedish but I have added a google translator in the sidebar.

So what has happened since last time?

My mother and me was in the paper the 14th of January in one of our local newspapers called Corren. It's only in Swedish and they don't have this article on their site unfortunately.

And our craft-room has got a new look!
Finally the craft-room has gotten a much needed face lift and there are still somethings to take care of but we are really happy with the outcome!

The first pixie of the year is finished...yay!
I started her late last summer but got stuck and since then she has been laying in my folder. But now she has gotten her wings and I feel done. Yesterday I framed her.

And the first postcard is here!
Another new thing that has happened is that I actually have ordered and received a a set with 100 postcards of my "Pixie with tulips". I will sell them at the local craft place this summer and I will also be selling them on Etsy...

And that brings me to the next big news!
I have now opened a shop at Esty called angelgnome.etsy.com. Nothing is listed yet tho... I spent last evening writing my shop policies and all that. Tomorrow I will take some new photos and start adding at least one thing to the shop. I will keep you updated! ;)

Have also updated my Flickr with all the pixies I made last year. So take a look!

Thats all for now I think... sorry for missing a whole month. Will do my best to make it up for it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Scent of winter

2009-12-16T22:13:00.005+01:00

Yes winter finally found it's way here! Almost felt like picking up a little sledge... almost! ;)
So today I went for a little walk with our dog Ronja and this time I did bring my camera and took some photos of all the snow and of Ronja...haha!

Haven't been doing much today other then surf the net. Been trying to get back into the swing of things at deviantART but have lots to go through there but I think I will try my best to update my gallery there (it's so out of date). Last night I spent some time deleting some of the things there and sent others into the scrap album.

But yesterday something else very exciting happened (that made me very nervous)... The journalist Linda and photographer Åke from the newspaper Corren was here to write a story about me and my mother Yvonne! The journalist had seen us at one of the fairs and really like our creations and wanted to know more about us. But as I said... we where really nervous and especially for the photographing... hehe! I like taking photos NOT being in them ;) They where however really nice and everything went fine and it will be exciting to see the end result in a couple of weeks. Exciting but also a bit scary!!!

This next picture I had planned to show you on December 13 (on Lucia) but since I spent most of the weekend being nervous I will show you now instead. ;)

I have show them before but I took some new photos of them after the fairs.
So that all I got to say this time!

Thanks for looking!

Fairs over...

2009-12-10T23:59:00.004+01:00

Now the Christmas fairs are over and I like to thank all of you that have found your way here because of them! Tack ska ni ha! :)

As usual I forgot to take out the camera at the fairs but here is one of the angelgnomes I made for the fairs. This i Ellinor!

I don't think I have mention this before but I actually have another blog together with my mum Yvonne, Spiksborgs Art & Design ! We only write in swedish there but feel free to have a look.

I know that I am a bad bloger but I would like to change that but having something interesting to tell is always difficult so any suggestions or questions are more then welcome to help me improve.

There are some plans going on behind the screen and hopefully they will be happening soon so keep on checking in for updates!

Nu har jag skrivit på engelska ett tag här i bloggen men om önskemål finns så kan jag börja skriva på båda språken. Eller så besöker ni mammas och min lilla sida. ;)

Thanks for looking!

Ohh well...

2009-11-18T03:25:00.001+01:00

So much for being better organized... ;)

It's that time of year again and I'm really busy creating things for my up coming christmas fairs.
The first one is on november 28 in Tjällmo and the second one is both the 5 and 6 of december in Medevi. I'm looking forward to it but felling a bit stressed out at the moment.
No pictures this time but hopefully you will hear from me soon!

Thanks for stoping by!

Quick message

2009-08-18T02:34:00.003+02:00

It's about time to show that I'm still here don't you think. ;)

I have had a really nice summer even thought I haven't been as creative as I would have liked but I'm planning to make up for that in the coming months. I'm getting myself better organized and with a lot more discipline I hope you will see some changes here!

So thanks for stopping by and I hope you will came back soon! <3

Paint in my hair...

2009-07-24T00:52:00.005+02:00

Just a quick little visit to let you know that I have been busy paining... a house that is ;)

I'm helping my uncle painting his house, so I haven't been home much these last months. Now I'm just home for a few days before heading up again but I thought I let you know whats going on and show you some pictures!

And yes... I do have paint in my hair. White window paint really isn't something I recommended for your hair. ;)

Thanks for looking!

Bookmarks and cards

2009-06-07T00:41:00.006+02:00

Just pictures today!

Thanks for looking! =)

Pixies on my mind

2009-05-09T01:57:00.003+02:00

Yes... pixies!

For the last month or so I have been making pixie portraits, bookmarks and magnets like crazy. The inspiration for them came when I was drawing while I waited for my sister to get her tattoo done (that I had made the lineart for see, picture below). Thats when I discovered how fun colour pencils can be on brown nature paper and since then the pixies keeps poping up in my mind demanding to be drawn. ;)

Here is the first one I did:

I also tried making pixies in paper clay but since I don't know how to finish them this is how they still look.

Have moved in all my things that I'm selling this summer in our local craft store that I'm a member of. This year my mum is also going to be there with her jewelery so that gonna be fun.
It will not open officially until after Midsummer but the women that is organizing everything is having a few guided tours before that (there is a museum in the next door building) so thats why we moved in our stuff early.

Here is the lineart for my sisters tattoo, click on it to see it bigger:

I could write more... but as usual it's late and I should be sleeping. But I know that if I don't post this tonight I will keep on procrastinating and you wouldn't see anything from me i who know how long (but I will try to be better).

Thanks for looking!

A cup of...

2009-04-05T21:37:00.003+02:00

This is just a quick update to let you know that I haven't abandoned the blog. =)

Until next time!

This snowy Sunday...

2009-02-08T22:13:00.004+01:00

...I have spent in front of the computer and resizing photos and then uploaded them to flickr. I was going to tackle the rest of my photos of my angelgnomes too but right now my fingers are freezing and my head feel funny so I better do them another day. =)

I mention in my last post that I have discovered pastel pencil and here is some pictures I have made with them so far.

Have also been painting a bit but noting is near finished and with the way I stared on new paintings I probable never will. I get stuck and don't know how to continue, but hopefully I will have something to show in a not too distant future.

Why is writing interesting thing is sooooo difficult! ;)

My birthday is coming up this week but that not really interesting now is it. Hmm... but I do look forward to the cake... ;)

Been reading Harry Potter and I started with The order of the Phoenix yesterday and yeah I like it so far. Just what you wanted to know... right lol!

My head is pretty empty right now but I hope to have something better to say next time!

Thanks for looking!

just another boring post

2009-01-31T23:50:00.005+01:00

How is it that bad habits always seems to creep up when you least expect it!
Oh well... I guess that is still something that I need to work on. I'm of course referring to to my lack of post but I might just as well be talk about everything else in my life to. =)

I have moved.
Or rather all of my art stuff has, along with my computer into the big room upstairs!

At first I was going to wait until we renovated the big room, because it really is in a bad shape but at the moment we just don't have the money for it. I just have to look at the different torn wallpaper and the missing ceiling part as part of the rooms charm. Lol!

But for me sharing a space with my family is by far the biggest change. I keep getting aware of how I bowser on the webb, on what videos I watch and the music I listen to, though I really shouldnt feel that way. Now it's really not that big of a deal since they already now that I'm really silly and at times pretty stange but it still is a big change if you know what I mean.

The best ting with the move is that I finally have an actual bed room again and I must say that that really feels good. The only thing I'm really missing right now is a bookcase so that I can get all of my books out of storage. That just might get me motivated to read again... or more at least.

I have discovered pastel pencil, guitar hero III and rediscover photoshop since my last post but will talk more about that next week. ;)

I might show some pictures of the new workspace next time but right now I just wanted to let you know what is happening in my life. Hope you are having a nice weekend!

This time I say.

Thanks for reading!

My desk this morning...

2009-01-16T23:59:00.005+01:00

This is how my desk looked this morning... and it still dose!

Have been sick for the last couple of days, witch of course is never fun but I'm starting to feel better so thats good.
This morning I had big plans and knew exactly what I wanted to write. Now I can't remember a thing. That should probably tell me to stop from procrastinating, but I know that it will not so lets move on shall we...

Like I mention in my last post my mum was having a tattoo done on Tuesday and she did choose the first design but with the second sun. The guy that tattooed her was really nice and it took him about three hours from stenciling the design to making the final touches. Mum is really happy and it's healing well.

I must say I would like to get a tattoo myself, have wanted one for years, but my skin doesn't heal well so I'm not sure that would be a good idea. My sister however have already booked a time to get her second and guess who she have decided will design it! =)

So there will be more tattoo designs here in the future.

Today I have added some new photos to my Flickr. Photos of my lucia dolls and the progress of making them. Next up is more of my angelgnomes and two bigger dolls to name a few.

Thanks for looking!

Tattoo design

2009-01-11T23:57:00.006+01:00

I spent my Sunday making tattoo designs for my mum.
She is getting a tattoo on Tuesday so I wanted to have some finished design today so that I can do some last minutes changes if needed.

In the beginning she wanted her children's initials (me and my two sisters) but AAS just didn't seem right somehow. ;)
Then we where going to look up some chines signs but in the end she decided on having hers and ours star signs in a swirly design. Leo, Aquarius, Gemini and Capricorn.

Here are the two designs she is choosing from.

When ever I have had the computer on this week I have made some digital sketches. Noting to advance just yet but I like to share some of them. =)

These two are made on the 4 and 6 of January.

And these on the 7 and 9 January.

Thanks for looking!

Hello 2009!

2009-01-07T01:58:00.002+01:00

And to you!

It's been almost a month since my last post. Both Christmas and New year have past and I had a nice time but I'm excited to see what 2009 will bring.

I never make new years resolutions (because I can't keep them) but I plan to create lots of things and try to update this blog at least once a week. I also want to do more digital paintings and manipulations (collages) this year, for one simple reason... I miss it! Don't get me wrong. I will still make traditional art, I am painting with acrylic right now as well as creating new dolls!

I will also try and take more photos, might even learn something along the way. I have even started uploading on Flickr so feel free to have a look at my photostream. I'm still not sure how it works though.

Here are some of the pictures that I have so far!

Thanks for looking!

All done

2008-12-14T23:53:00.003+01:00

The second fair was also lot of fun and I did well in it too. I also meet some really nice people and I'm very glad I accepted to be in it. :)

The down side of it is of course that I have felt completely exhausted this week and having a cold upon that did not help much.

So there haven't been much creative things done this week but at least I have rearranged my room and cleaned it. And let me tell you... it was much needed. After a month (perhaps more) intense creating my room really was a big mess.

One of the cards I sold in the fair

Have signed up to Flickr but haven't uploaded anything yet but hopefully I will get to that by tomorrow. Thanks GM for suggesting it!

Sadly I didn't take any photos of the second fair so I can't show you what it looked like. :(

As usual there is more I want to talk about but it's late and I really should go to bed now.

Thanks for looking!

Har du hittat hit med mitt visitkort så får du gärna lämna en kommentar på svenska om det är något du inte förstår!

One fair done...

2008-11-30T23:52:00.003+01:00

I had a lot of fun at the fair and quite a few of my creation found a new home at the end of the day. The weather was good even thought it was a bit cold the last couple of hours.

I shared a table with my aunt who knits doll cloths and makes lovely fabric cones ornaments both big and small.
Here is some pictures of the table. The lighting in the room was not so good so I had to use the flash so it looks a bit harsh.

The cards where displayed on a black noticeboard that we pined a green garland around the edge. The card are hung from a string with mini clothespins. My uncle made the hangers so that the board could hand from the door.

For my "småfolk" I made that ugly looking tree thing. In my mind it was a good idea but it didn't turn out the way I planed but there I ran out of time so I had to use it anyhow. Need to come up with something better for the next fair.

In front of the tree we have some christmas tags I made. Also on the table is some of the angelgnomes (änglatomtar) that I have made, two is also hanging on the wall behind the table.

On the table is also the lucia dolls, both the big from last year and one of the new one I made. Will be showing you more pictures of them.

You can also see two paintings with black frames and both of them is now sold. =)

I also made the soft bunnies that is in the basket. They are made after my own pattern and I will be showing you some better pictures of them later on.

Now I need to make some more things for the next fair but feel free to ask me questions if there is something in specific you like to know more about. Also let me know if you want to see pictures of every single thing I have made for the fair and if not... what would you like to see more of?

Thanks for looking!

A quick update

2008-11-24T01:33:00.005+01:00

October went by in a flash and November will soon join in. Have been meaning to update... but life sure knows how to get in the way doesn't it. =)

Working like crazy to get things done for the Christmas fair I am attending this Saturday. I have also accepted to be in another fair on the 7 december. So this week and the next will be really stressful but I'm excited as well.

Have lots more I want to tell you, but I need to get some sleep now so that my mind will cooperate in the morning!

Here is one of card that will be in the fair.

Thanks for looking!

Goodbye dear September

2008-09-30T23:05:00.003+02:00

This is what I have been making today. Well one of the nightgowns for the Lucia people at least. Only two more left to sew. Yay!
It's times like these I regret deciding to hand sew all dresses because it is very time consuming but hopefully the end result will make up for it.

I thought it might be fun for you to see the progress of these. Once I finished the gowns I will be making faces for the dolls and then attaching them on the loop you see, then I will give them hair. Finally I will be making all the accessories.

I made a Lucia tåg last year but they where 28cm and more adult looking while this new one is 16cm and will be more child like. :)

These next two are actually already finished but you will see more of them and two more like them once I have taken some proper photos of them. So I'm letting you imagine how they look. ;)

Picture From My Archive

One year ago this picture was taken of the lovely kitten that we call Ettan.

And her she is today!

Have a more new stuff to share with you but I'm leaving you with this little image of a girl and a butterfly that I never seem to get done but who knows what October might bring!

Thanks GM for suggesting the name for my blog! :)

Thanks for looking!

Mini Bunnies

2008-09-28T23:54:00.005+02:00

Here are the mini bunnies I talked about in the previews post. All except the last bunny has key chains.
They are about 6-8cm with the ears. So far I have made around 30 of them! All are hand-sewn with small beads for eyes. Turning the ears was very hard in the beginning but with the help of flower sticks it is much easier. ;)

Thanks for looking!

A name for me?

2008-09-15T01:15:00.004+02:00

I thought it was time for a new post since it been awhile now. Don't have that much to say however but hey... do I ever. ;)

Have been wanting to make a banner for my blog for some time now but I can't seem to get anywhere. I keep getingt stuck on the name... I'm not sure if I like the name "Annika's Art Blog" but don't have a clue what else I should call it. Maybe "Akinna's Sketchblog" like the url name but I'm not happy with that either. So if anyone have any ideas or tipes that could help me get past the name, please let me know... I would love to hear them!

Today I have been working on four new 16cm dolls and on two 28cm. They are for the Christmas fair that will be on the 29 November here in my area, so they are going to be Christmas related.

Will be making things for the fair in time this year. That's why I'm starting early. Have already finished some cards and two brownies (well they are almost finished). I will also be selling my soft bunnies that I still haven't shown you jet, pictures coming soon. Will also sell my smallfolk (småfolk) that I have left from this summer.

So you will probable see snow and other winter things in the weeks to come. :)

Below is a little girl I made for my mother's bithday.

And here she is framed.

This card was made for my uncle.

Thanks for looking!

Rosmarie

2008-08-29T14:10:00.003+02:00

Well here is another doll I made. Rosmarie is hanging up the laundry while the little magpie is keeping her company!

Thanks for looking!

Meet Kerry Bluewing

2008-08-12T22:37:00.005+02:00

Today I thought I would introduce you the fairy I made. She is a bit different then my previous dolls but I really like the way she turned out.

The wings are made out of organza fabric glued on to a wire and I made the silver pattern with glitter glue. I almost ran out of the glue the last wing so the lines aren't as good as the first once.

The plank (don't know what it's called) used too be a part of our veranda, but I saved it from the wheelbarrow where it was awaiting it's doom. I thought it looked so pretty and cool that I just couldn't let leave it there. I painted it with acrylics and with my water soluble crayons and then added a coat of varnish. The back is also painted on and there I wrote her name and made some swirls and added varnish on that side too.
Didn't get any good photos of the plank so I can't show you how it look without Kerry on it.

She is not stuck to the plank so she can be placed in other spots, she can even sit on a edge if placed right.

The hair is made out of brown yarn. I love these types of yarn for hair and I have bought other types and colours for future dolls. I got her cone shaped hair style by using four thin wire and then twining the yarn around it. I secured the hair with invisible thread. Then added some beads.

She is holding a little pink heart made out of a fabric. Maybe I should have use lager black beads for her eyes... well I guess I can try that out on the next doll I make in this style.

I thought the bottom part of the dress looked a little empty so I added this little fabric flower that I learned how to make from reading the DIY Fabric Flower instruction on BurdaStyle.

It took me a long time to finish her because I didn't know how I wanted her to look, but again I must say that I really like how she turned out. I hope you will too. ;)

Thanks for looking!

Troll Love

2008-08-07T01:02:00.004+02:00

Oh I really should try and reply to your lovely comments before posting again but if I push this of much longer then you will not see a new post from me in this month. So I hope you will forgive me!

I finished these two troll kids in early July and named them Agust and Lotta, well my mother named them to be exact. They are about 16cm tall and have tails made out of yarn, the same yarn was used for their hair. Sadly I only have these photos of them when they are finished and since they are already sold I can't take new once of them. But I hope you like them anyway! If you have any questions about them just let me know and I will do my best to answer you.

Thanks for looking!

Cats, ladybug and a heart

2008-07-25T23:44:00.010+02:00

It's been another busy day over here but I thought that I would stop by to show you the little girls I have made. =)

I've been inspired by so many talented artists lately and among them are Adriana, Suzi Blu and Tascha. There are more wonderful women I admire out there that inspirer me with their art and words but I will save those for another day. ;)

As far as colours are concerned... well I still need to become a little more brave when it comes to that. I don't know why, but colours scare me more then I can explain. Perhaps I should try and force myself to pick up the brush everyday in something similar to my thumbnail book but... yeah... there is so much going on at the moment that I need to do before thinking about that. It is a lame excuse I know... Oh well who know what tomorrow might bring.

For you - made in june 2008. Black and white acrylic on watercolor paper.

Flickan och nyckelpigan - Made in june 2008. Black & white acrylic on watercolor paper. Colours added with caran d'Ache neocolor II crayons. Some glitter acrylic for her dress.

No name yet. I want to make something out of this lineart but haven't decided what it will be.

Katten & flickan - Made in July 2008. A drawing made with my Touch markers. My scanner didn't pick up the lighter shades so the background looks a bit strange.

Maybe you recognize this little thumbnail. It's was in my last entry when I showed my favorite thumbs from my thumbnail book. Well I was so inspired by it that I started painting it on a black canvas (that was inspired by Adri's Black canvas post). I'm not sure if I'm finished with it yet or not. My mother say it it fine the way it is, (she is the one who will get it), but I don't know... I still need to sign it however. The scanner didn't pick it up the way it looks in real life but I hope you will like it anyway. =)

Thanks for looking!
Annika

A peek into my first thumbnail book

2008-07-18T01:15:00.006+02:00

Wow... two post in the same week! That's almost a record for me. ;)

Just thought that I would share some of my favorite thumbs from my first thumbnail book. I started it on 2008-02-26 and it goes to 2008-06-24. It has 120 pages and a total of 720 thumbs. So picking out the thumbs that I wanted to share was hard. Really hard. I'm now down to 48 thumbs on 8 pictures. They are in a chronological order but they are not all from the same page.

The whole point of this thumbnail book was to force me to draw something everyday. And I have, but there is also a bonus point. I now have lots of ideas just waiting to be used for drawings and paintings. =)

Thanks for looking!
Annika

Småfolks magneter

2008-07-15T02:35:00.004+02:00

Where did June go? Times really fly by it seems and I'm having a hard time keeping up!

Things have been really busy over here. We are in the middle of painting our house and doing other summer related projects.

I have been creating my own stuff too but not as much as I should. But I have managed to finish some paintings, trolls, mini rabbits and... well I guess all my unfinished projects doesn't count but I did get these småfolks magnets done!

Humlan Honey

Sångfågeln Tori

Dragonfly Hanna

Husälvan Britt-Marie

Modefjärilen Dianna

Husälvan Holly

Trädgårdsfen Mary-Ann

Modefjärilen Vonne
I made her for my mum for mothers day because she really liked Dianna.

Sorry for the quality of the photos but I was in a rush since these was going to be at the crafter shop (don't know if that's the right word for it) that I'm apart of. Those that doesn't sell I will take better photos of once summer is over.

They all have different wings and if anyone wants to know more about them then just let me know.

I'm now finished with my first thumbnail book and have been keeping my new one going. Just haven't had the time to scan it yet but once I do I will be showing you some of my favorite thumbnails from it.

Hope your having a nice summer!

Cards and a fairy

2008-06-22T15:19:00.004+02:00

Not much to say today... so here is some of the pictures I made during these last couple of months.

I only have three more days left in my thumbnail book... yay!
Will be showing some of my favorites from it later next week.

Early this morning

2008-06-16T00:41:00.005+02:00

Hi there!

I had planed out what I was going to write in this entry but I can't remember a single thing.

It could be because of my early morning (or night) adventures... didn't feel tired last night and when I looked outside I could see that it was going to be a beautiful morning for a walk. So I grabbed my camera and quietly made my way outside.

I just love the smell and sounds of summer mornings but because I'm more of an night person I rarely get to experience it unless I do that I did last night and just don't go to bed. I know it's not good for me but once in awhile it's worth it! =)

This morning our cats My (that is her name) and her son Felix went along with me.

I didn't have my tripod with me so most pictures are blurry but I really like the light in this.

They have let out the heifers (young cows) in the cow pen next to our house yesterday and this morning I woke them up... So they came over to say hello! ;)

My (the cat) is very playful and she likes to jumped up in trees and look at me like if to say "come on... caught me". She also enjoys trying to scare both me and Felix!

Down the road we meet Polly! We probably disturbed her hunting but she didn't seem to mind and instead she tagged along.

I took lots of pictures this morning but I would probably just bore you if I showed you all of my favorites so I will just show you two more and then I will go and try to get some sleep.

Will post pictures of cards, dolls and some other things I have made later this week!
Until then!

Småfolk and Fia

2008-05-27T21:41:00.005+02:00

Today I wanted to share some of my earlies dolls that I made in autumn and winter 2007. I have made more then these but didn't have time to take pictures of those and some of them is already sold.
I just wanted to show these to you before I post pictures of my new ones I have made. The fairy smallfolk magnets!

A fairy I made for our neighbors daughter. I named her Jen!

This is the angel Silvia. She was sold during the christmas fair.

Here is another angel named Tuva. She was also sold at the christmas fair.

This is stjärngossen Markus. He and Lucian Klara, (didn't take pictures of her), was also sold at the fair.

The doll below is a 16cm doll I made for my cousin.

Fia is the name I gave her. She has a dress that I designed and sewed. It didn't come out exactly as I planed but I'm pretty happy about it anyway. She also have wings that I made and the heart pendant that I made out of something called troll deg or salt deg (I think it would translate to salt paste or dough).

I embroidered the fabric heart with the words "Love me".

I was tagged!

2008-05-23T01:32:00.002+02:00

Hi there! Adri tagged me some time ago and today I thought I would try and write something down!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website

Let's begin!

1. During summer time I like to take walks during the night and early morning (when I haven't been able to sleep) and I usually get at least one of our cats to walk with me. They really like to follow me and I really like their company.
It's so beautiful outside at that time and I love the way nature smells and sounds.

2. I'm very unsure of what my place in the art world is and I'm have trouble keeping focus on what I'm creating. I like so many different art styles and every single one of them have something special about them that inspires me. That is one of the reasons I have so many ideas but haven't made much out of them jet. I just don't know where to begin! Hopefully someday I will get the inspiration sorted out and also get it to come out and not just stay in my head.

3. When my cat Findus was a kitten he used to wake me up by biting my nose! Not hard, but enough to wake me up so that I finally would give in and walk into the kitchen to give him food, while he was walking around my legs and biting my toes! Lucky for me he stopped doing that now! ;)

4. I used to read a lot and I have lots of books, mostly fantasy, but these last couple of years I haven't read as much as I used to. I don't know what changed but now days the books I buy are mostly art and crafts books. My collection of those is so far only containing a few but I have bookmarked a lot for my wish list.

5. I played a lot of video and computer games in my teens, some of my favorite games is all of the Zelda games, Might and Magic 6-9, Heros of Might and Magic 2-5 and Banjo-Kazooie. I played lots of Nintendo games but at the moment I don't remember any more names. I also really like ordinary games like trivial pursuit but I don't have anyone to play with.

6. One of my habits is to swirl my hair around my fingers, it something very therapeutic about it and I do it all the time and mostly without even thinking about it. :)

Now for the hard part... tagging people. I read a lot of blog but I don't comment so I'm just going tag one person and I hope she doesn't mind.

The one I tag is:
Annika Dragonette

Thanks for reading!

Bunny, thumbnails and unfinished paintings

2008-05-20T02:28:00.004+02:00

Hey it been awhile again, times really seems to fly by these days. Life has been hectic these past months and they probably will continue to be so but I will try to update more.

Next post I will do the tag thing that Adri gave me.

Thought I would leave you with some pictures.
Because I like pictures!

The first pages in my thumbnail book that I started 2008-02-26. I have been drawing in it everyday since!

I made this card for our neighbors daughter. :)

Unfinished paintings. The one above I started last year and now I'm stuck at this point. Below is a painting I haven't done much with so far but I'm trying something different.

I was working outside on our porch on a warm day.

This is the bunny Daniella. She is one out of six bunnies I have made.

Leaving you with this photo of one of my smallfolks (småfolk). I have named her but right now I can't remember what it is.

Until next time,
take care!

Birthday, tables and card

2008-02-21T00:34:00.005+01:00

A lot has happened since my last post. The biggest change must be the fact that I turned 25 last week. Not that I feel any different then before but it's still a change right!

Another thing that have changed is my room. I now have three work tables, my VIKA BLECKET Drawing-table that I bought last year and two VIKA AMON/ VIKA CURRY tables from IKEA. I'm using one table as a computer workspace and the other for sewing and creating my dolls. So far it's working really well but I still need to figure out some kind of storage solution, I need somewhere to but all my fabrics and sewing stuff.

I've been working on more of my mini dolls (småfolket) and started on four new 16cm dolls. I need to post more pictures of the dolls I have made so far but I'm not sure how to present them yet. But there will be pictures of them. Maybe I should open a Flickr account but I'm not sure how it works.

I have made another birthday card, this time it was for my cousin and I thought that I would leave you with pictures of it for now before I go. I didn't have time to scan it, so these photos is all I have of the card.

One last thing before I go to bed. I make birthday cards for family, relatives and others but I never seems do get one myself, I think it's kind of funny... ;)

Card and Hallonbobbar

2008-02-07T01:33:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I spent almost the entire day making a birthday card that my sister ordered from me that she was going to give her boyfriends mother.
This is what my desk looked like and how the finished card ended up.

Today I made hallonbobbar. I know that in other parts of sweden they are known as syltgrottor and I'm pretty sure that there is even more names for them, but hallonbobbar is what I have been calling them all my life.
There is probably a english name for them too but I don't know what... so sorry about that!
Here are some pictures of them.
Enjoy!

I used raspberry jam

Snövit also liked them! =)

Småfolk - The Brownies

2008-02-05T16:54:00.000+01:00

I'm not quite sure if brownies is the right word to use but according to Tyda that is how the swedish word "tomtar" is translated. So I guess that what I will call them for now.

So lets meet them!

Marit

Bengt
SOLD

Siv

Åke

They all have transparent string on them so that they can hang where you like them to. The girls can stand on their own but not Bengt and Åke because they constantly fall over! =)

If you like to know something specific about them just ask!
Thanks for looking.

Småfolk - The begining

2008-02-04T22:38:00.000+01:00

Mitt småfolk (som jag har valt att kalla dem), kom till mest av en slump.
Jag hade tänk att göra en nåldyna men mallen blev för liten och jag fick tänka om. Jag hade redan gjort klart strumpdockan Disa och tänkte att varför inte testa och se om jag inte kan göra en mini docka också. Så på detta sätt kom det sig att Tilda blev min allra första småfolks ängel.

My minidolls, (that I like to call "småfolk"), saw their beginning by pure luck.
I was attempting to make a pincushion but I made it too small so it didn't work, the way I planed so I had to think of another way to use the base. I already had made the doll Disa and thought why not make a mini doll too. So that is how Tilda became my first mini angel.

Hennes vingar fick jag min inspiration från videon Emilie Autumn - Crafters Coast to Coast på YouTube, New Butterfly Costume och More Winged Costumes från Martha Stewart (glöm inte att klicka på video-fliken).
Sen skapade jag en egen mall och använde mig av gardinspets tyg, rosa broderi tråd och pärlor för att göra dem.
Ögon och mun är broderade. Tildas hår är natur färgad ull som jag fått en gång i tiden. Färgen på kinderna har hon fått från mina gamla vax kritor. Hon har även ett halsband med pärlor i rosa nyanser.

The inspiration for making Tilda's wings comes from Emilie Autumn - Crafters Coast to Coast på YouTube, New Butterfly Costume and More Winged Costumes from Martha Stewart (don't forget to click on the video-tab).
I then made my own template and used a curtain fabric, pink embroidery thread and beads in pink nuances.
Both the eyes and mouth are embroidered. Tilda's hair is made out of wool and the colours on her cheeks are from crayons. She also has a necklace with different pink beads.

I don't know how much information to add here when I write, should I have more pictures and less talk?
I'm also wondering if it's hard to read the text with two languages? Should I go back to just writing in english?
It would really help if you let me know what you think!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lucia tåget

2008-02-01T23:13:00.000+01:00

Näst i tur för att visas upp är mitt lucia tåg. De kanske inte är de allra skönaste du sett men håll med om att de har charm!

Next in line to show you are my "lucia tåg" (I have no clue how to translate it, but it is a part of a swedish tradition that we celibate on the 13 of December). They may not be the most good looking of their kind. But they sure has charm!

Först ut får väl självaste Lucian bli. Av nån konstig anledning döpte jag henne till Signe!
Om du tycker Signe är ful så skulle du ha sett de andra kandidaterna. Hihi!
Lucia kronan är gjord av cenit lera och piprensare på en stomme av ståltråd.
Egentligen var det meningen att hon skulle bära på en bricka med lussekatter men jag hann inte med det just då. Kanske får det bli det när hon kommer upp ur lådan igen.

The first one to be shown is the Lucia herself. I named her Signe!
If you think she is ugly then you should have seen the other candidates. He he!
The Lucia crown is made out of cenit clay and pipecleaners on a wire base.
She was suppose to carry a tray with Lucia cat but I didn't have time to finish them. Maybe I will do that the next time she gets out of the box.

Nu ska du få träffa stjärngossen Göte.
Gosse kanske inte är det rätta ordet att beskriva honom men å andra sidan så är ju varken Lucian eller tärnan några direkt ungdomar ju.
Till honom testade jag att använda garn som hår. Mustachen kom dit mest på skoj men jag gillar den verkligen... Han har ett så fåraktigt leende att man inte kan låta bli att dra på smilbanden när man ser honom.

Now its time to meet the starboy(?) Göte.
Well boy may not be the best way to describe him but then again non in the "lucia tåg" are any youths.
For his hair I used yarn. The mustachio was mostly a joke but I really like it... It gives him a face expression that always makes me smile and that has to be a good thing right!

Sist men inte minst har vi tärnan Tyra.
Hon har fått Tilda dockhår från Panduro som hår och ljuset är gjort av cenit lera. Är inte helt nöjd med ljus hållaren men har man limmat så har man.
Alla tre har hand sydda lucianattlinnen. De har dessutom både tofflor och underkläder, för av nån konstig anledning så tittar folk alltid under kjolen när de håller i dockorna!
Alla dockorna är omkring 28cm höga utan nått på huvudet.

Last out we have "tärnan" (another word I don't know how to translate) Tyra.
She got the Tilda dollhair from Panduro as hair and the candle is made out of cenit clay. I'm not all that happy with how the candle-holder turned out but once you have glued it sticks there!
All three dolls have hand sewed nightgowns. They also have slippers and underwear, because for some strange reason people alway look up the dress whenever they hold the dolls!
All three dolls are around 28cm tall without anything on the heads.

Thanks for looking!

Disa

2008-02-01T09:39:00.000+01:00

Här kommer bilder på strumpnissan Disa.

Here you have some pictures of the stocking doll Disa.

Disa
Disa är min andra strumpnisse som jag har gjort. Om du vill veta hela historien om hur jag kom i kontakt men Ulla Paaskes Strumpnissar se inlägget före detta.

Disa
Disa is my second "strumpnisse" doll that I have made and if you like to know the whole story behind how I discovered Ulla Paaske's book "Strumpnissar" then please take a look at the previus post.

Fyllning
I boken så står det att man ska använda ull när man stoppar nissarna men eftersom jag inte hade det tillgängligt så har jag använt mig av fyllnads vadd. Det fungerar och eftersom jag aldrig har testat med ull så är det svårt att säga vilken skillnaden blir.

Filling
In the book she writes that you shall use wool, but since I don't have that I have been using cotton wool (the thing you stuff pillows and stuffed animals with). It works just fine, but then again I haven't tried wool so it is hard to say what the differences is.

Strumpbyxor
Kommer inte ihåg om jag har nämnt det men man använder sig av strumpbyxor när man skapar dessa dockor. Strump-byxan blir huden som du sedan syr fram ansiktet och andra kropps delar ur.

Nylon stocking
I don't know if I mentioned this before but when you make these dolls you use nylon stockings, that act like the skin that you then sew the face and other body parts in.

Gamla eller ej?
Visst kan man återanvända sina gamla strumpbyxor men själv har jag helt enkelt köpt nya one size byxor som är billiga. Har nu även använt mig av knä strumpbyxor i sunburn färgen, egentligen tycker jag att det blir lite i mörkaste laget men har inte hittat några i den nyansen jag skulle vilja ha än.

Old or new?
Of course you can use your old nylon stockings but I simply just buy the cheep one size once that come in large packs.

Min fråga till dig
Jag vet inte riktigt hur jag ska lösa det här med två språk i texten. Olika färger eller typsnitt? Bold text på ena eller inte. Kom gärna med förslag på hur jag kan lösa det!

My question to you
I really don't know I I should solve the two languages in my blogs. Should I use different colours on the text or different type faces. Bold text on one of the languages or not. Please let me know what you think!

The story behind my "strumpnissar"

2008-01-31T12:46:00.000+01:00

Hur det började

Jag tror det var nån gång under hösten 2004 som jag för första gången kom i kontakt med strumpnissar. Då var jag i en sy-verkstad några timmar i veckan och min handledare tyckte att jag skulle testa på att göra min egen. Sagt och gjort. Hon lånade Ulla Paaskes bok Strumpnissar från biblioteket och vips så hade jag skapat min första strumpnisse!
Jag tyckte det var jätteroligt att skapa dockan, och om jag inte minns fel så blev det en liten nisse-pojke med en julklapps säck. Skapandet gav mer smak men jag slutade på sy-versktaden innan jag hann göra en till strumpnisse.

How it started
I think it was during the autumn of 2004 that I first came into contact with "Strumpnissar". (I really don't know how to translate that into english but it's basically a doll made of nylon stockings... hmm so I guess you might call them stocking dolls... Oh well lets move on.)
During this autumn I was in a place where we sewed things and the leader talked about these strumpnissar and thought that I should try doing one. So I did! She borrowed Ulla Paaske's book Strumpnissar from our library and before I knew it I hade made my very first stocking doll. I had lots of fun and wanted to make another one but unfortunately I left the place before I had a chance to make one more.

Sökandet
Sedan dess har jag tänkt att jag skulle låna boken själv men eftersom jag sällan kommer till biblioteket nu för tiden så har det aldrig blivit av. Så då tänkte jag att jag skulle köpa boken, men vid det laget hade jag redan glömt både vad boken och författaren hette så då kom jag ju inte så långt i mitt sökande.

The search
Ever since then I have been wanting to borrow the book for myself but since I rarely get the chance to go to the library nowadays it has never happened. So then I thought, why not buy the book. Well by this time I had already forgotten both the name of the book and the author so that didn't help my search.

Ibland har man tur
Men så nu i sommras så ploppade det in i huvudet igen och jag gjorde en sökning på google. Hittade författaren Ulla Paaskes hemsida men där finns bara boken på orginalspråket (som är danska). Men boken hittade jag även på Bokus, men där var den slut på lagret. Senare när jag var hos min mormor så satt jag och surfade runt på tradera så hände det! Där var den...men just vid detta tillfälle hade jag inga pengar så med trånande blick fick jag säga tack och hej. Och så kunde det ha slutat, men ibland har man tur. För ingen hade bjudit på den så den gick om! Och med en snäll mamma som lånade mig lite pengar så kunde jag lägga ett bud och sista dan satt jag som på nålar och hoppas på att det bara skulle vara jag som var intresserad. Som tur var så blev det så och jag vann Strumpnissar av Ulla Paaske för 72kronor + frakt. Gissa om jag blev lycklig!

Lucky me
But during this last summer it just popped into my head again and I did a search on google. I found the author's homepage but the book was only available in it's original language (danish). But I also found the book on Bokus, but it was sold out. That made me sad but then when I was visiting my grandmother I found it on tradera (our ebay). However at this time I didn't have any money so I couldn't buy it. But sometimes even I get lucky because the auction ended without any bids... yay for me! So I asked my mother to lend me the money and then made a bid when the auction came back. I was biting my nails the last day... maybe someone would bid over me but luckily for me I won!!! That made me really happy!

Tips på hur du hittar din egen bok
Nu verkar det dock som boken på svenska är helt slut så om du vill ha ditt eget ex så får du hålla ögonen öppna på loppisar, på tradera och andra ställen där man kan hitta begagnade böcker. Eller se om ditt bibliotek har den eller om de kan fjärr-låna den åt dig. Ett annat alternativ är att köpa det danska versionen (om den finns kvar), som finns att köpa antingen på Paaskes egen hemsida eller på internet bokhandlarna Saxo eller Bokus (där har jag sett den i allafall). Boken har bra och informativa foton som hjälper om man inte är så haj på danska. Och på dessa sidor kan man även köpa hennes övriga böcker som visar hur du skapar tex änglar, troll, häxor och andra äventyrliga figurer. Dessa böcker vill jag faktiskt gärna själv ha men om man är lite påhittig och har fantasin kvar så kan man ju faktiskt använda stommen till strumpnissarna för att skapa andra dockor med.

Where you might find your own book
If you want a copy of your own you either have to go to Paaske's own store at her homepage or look at book stores online. I have no idea if the books have been translated into english or not but the photos are pretty easy to follow along and if you have experience in sewing most parts are pretty clear. She also have books about making angels, trolls, witches and other characters that you might want to check out.

I will be posting pictures of my dolls soon!
Thanks for reading!

Christmas cards from 2007

2008-01-28T09:08:00.000+01:00

Här kommer julkorten jag gjorde till vår lokala jul marknaden. Tyvärr så hann jag bara få klart dessa i tid. Så till i år måste jag börja i god tid. Ideer och skisser har jag gott om... men jag måste ju göra dem också!
Det vikta kort är 10x15cm.

Here you can see the Christmas cards I made for our local Christmas fair. Sadly I only managed to finish these so for this year I need to start early if I'm going to make it. I have lots of ideas and sketches... but for some reason it seems that I need to finish them too... how odd! The folded cards is 10x15cm.

Skidåkande snögubbe, 2007
SOLD

Snögubbe par 1, 2007
SOLD

Ängel med klocka, 2007

Ängel med stjärna, 2007

Ängel med tomtebloss, 2007
SOLD

Gröt nissar, 2007
SOLD

Snögubbe par 2, 2007
SOLD

Other cards from 2007

2008-01-27T12:55:00.000+01:00

Här kommer några fler kort från 2007. Korten är vikta med en enkel bakgrund på insidan där det finns plats för text. Vikta är korten 10x21cm.

Here are some more cards from 2007. The cards are folded with a simple background inside where there is room for text. The folded card is 10x21cm.

Ängel 1, 2007

The love bee, 2007

Maskrosor i vinden, 2007

Regn + paraply, 2007
SOLD

Nyckelpigorna, 2007
SOLD

Häst tjejen, 2007
SOLD

Katt 1, 2007

Blommor i sitt hår, 2007
SOLD

Birthday cards from 2007

2008-01-26T12:01:00.000+01:00

Under året 2007 har jag skapat en hel del födelsedags kort till släktet. Det blev till och med några beställningar!
Så jag tänkte att jag skulle dela med mig av dem i detta inlägg.

During the year 2007 I did make a whole lot of birthday cards for relatives. I even got a few orders!
So in this post I thought that I would share them with you.

January 2007

February 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

June 2007

August 2007

August 2007

September 2007

January 2008

Jag har också gjort andra kort men tänkte att jag skulle visa dem i ett nytt inlägg. Det finns bland annat några julkort.

I have also made other cards but thought that I should make a new post for them.

Changes - Bloggen här kommer jag

2008-01-23T17:36:00.000+01:00

HELLO!

Rabbit with flower, 2007

Det är väldigt länge sedan jag uppdaterade min blogg.... det är bara att konstatera.
Mycket har hänt sen sist men mitt största hinder har nog ändå varit mig själv.
Så är det bara och hur gärna jag skulle vilja lova att det aldrig ska hända igen så vet jag att det vore en lögn...

It has been a long time since I updated my blog... as I'm sure some of you have already noticed. A lot of things has happened but my biggest obstacle have been myself.
That's just the way it is and as much as I would like to promise you that it will never happen again, the fact is that would only be a lie...

My first mini angel, done 2007

Men med det är dags att leva i nuet och blicka mot framtiden. Det är det jag nu tänker använda min blogg till. Att få någon slags ordning inför sommaren då jag ska vara med att sälja mina saker i en hantverks bod som finns i det samhälle jag bor.
Och jag behöver redan nu fundera ut och planera vad jag ska sälja och börja skapa det. Än så länge går det väldans trögt, så min förhoppning är att genom att göra upp en lista och skriva ner mina tankar inför allmän beskådan så ökar mina chanser att faktiskt genomföra dem.
Kanske är det önsketänkande men man måste ju börja någonstans eller hur...!

But it is time to live in the moment and look towards the future. And that's what I'm going to use my blog for. To keep some kind of order of things for this summer when I'm going to sell my work in a local craft store with the other local craftsmen/artists.
And I need to start thinking about what it is I'm gonna sell and start creating it. So far I haven't made much progress but I hope that by making a list and writing down my thoughts in this public way my chances of actually doing them increases.
Maybe it just wishful thinking but I need to start somewhere right...!

Tomtebarn med paket, 2007

Fram över kommer jag skriva både på svenska och engelska, även om svenskan kommer vara basen för allt.
Har sett andra svenska bloggare använda denna utgångs punkt så jag tänkte att jag skulle testa åtminstone.

From now on I will write in both swedish and english, but swedish is going to be my main focus. Have seen other swedish blogers doing it like this and I thought that I should at least try it out.

Page in my art journal, done 2007

Min plan är att jag ska fylla bloggen med bilder och länkar till inspirerade ställen på webben som jag hittar.

My plan is to fill this blog with lots of pictures and share links to inspiring plases that I find on the webb.

A digital sketch done in Corel Painter Essentials 2, 2007

För den som inte visste det så har jag en Youtube kanal (länk till vänster) och det kan dyka upp videos så småning om igen men för tillfället känner jag att jag ska försöka få ordning på denna blogg. Men vem vet vad som händer.

For those who didn't know I have a YouTube channel (link to the left) and I might create more videos later on but right now I like to get this blog organized and find some kind of flow. But who knows what might happen.
And to all the people that has commented and left me messages and subscribed to my channel I say THANK YOU! And I'm sorry for not answering or comment on the people that I'm subscribed to. I might go in on why another day but know that I am sorry!

Molly as a kitten =)

Tror vi tar och säger så så länge, har mycket som jag skulle vilja säga men lika bra att skriva ett nytt inlägg istället.
Hoppas jag inte verkar allt för virrig och att jag kan hålla bloggen vid liv längre denna gång!

I think that is about it for now, I have lots more I would like to say but that will have to be a whole noter entry.
I hope that I can keep the blog alive a little bit longer this time!

My moms cat Snövit

Thanks for reading!

Hmm... I need to come up with better titles

2007-04-13T02:39:00.000+02:00

Titles has always been something I have struggled with... even when I write in Swedish. And naming my pictures is even harder... hmm yeah. Sometimes my imagination sucks. ;)

So instead of me going on and on I thought that I would show you some the digital doodles I have done so far this year. Most of them are done in Corel Painter Essentials 2 but one or two have been made in Photoshop CS. Here we go.

YouTube videos and the final images

2007-04-11T03:01:00.000+02:00

Ok here comes some of the videos I've made so far along with the final image.

A digital sketch of I girl that I did in Corel Painter Essentials 2 and the music in the video is also improvised by me on a keyboard. Nothing great and I messed up the left eye... Oh well.

Second digital painting I made was meant to be in more parts but I have messed up and I don't know if I want to continue painting on it. Maybe I will give it another go... but for know this is what I have. Also made in Corel Painter Essentials 2 and music in this video is by Sunrise Ave with the song Fairytale gone bad.

This next one is something very strange but for some reason I like it and it was really fun to make. I a few days ago I came across a video named The YouTube Art Show (Pt. 2) by anakin1814 where he shares a song that he had made and he also said that on his website he had more songs that could be downloaded and I really liked the song "Balance" so I headed over and downloaded all his song and I really liked them too. So I thought that why not send a message and ask if I could get permission to use his songs in my videos and he he was kind enough to let me. =) I plan to use more of his songs in future videos. If you like his music check out his website and be sure to take a look at his art work as well at http://www.g-manink.com. The song in this video is called "Mad Scientist". So thanks once again Gary for letting me use your music.

I have more digital doodles coming but I will post them tomorrow because now I really need to get some sleep!

It's been a while...

2007-04-11T00:01:00.000+02:00

... and a lot of things has happened and at the same time nothing at all.

I have been drawing and creating things, maybe not as much as I would have liked to but still. But I actually have kept my new years resolution about drawing daily sketches according to the list of subjects I set up for myself and I feel really good about that. As far as other projects go I haven't been as good at keeping up I'm afraid. I have a long to do list... and it keeps building up. Oh well, I guess I'll get there in time and if not... it's not like it would be the end of the world.

Another thing that has happened is that I turned 24 in February... yeah another year older and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up...
Form the birthday money I got I bought my self a VIKA BLECKET Drawing-table top from IKEA with VIKA ARTUR legs that is "Adjustable to different positions for flat or angled table top".
And it feels great having a good place to sit and draw at and the glass top works just like a light table/light-box which makes it easy for me to take sketches and trace them onto good paper. I usually use cheap printer paper when I start out drawing something because I don't see any reason for ruining expensive art paper on something that might just turn out to be a doodle.

Another thing that I'm working on is making birthday card to sell in a local "store" (in lack of a better word), it's basically a place where local crafters and artists can sell their work. It's only open during the summer time and I'm going to be having a table together with my aunt who is selling handmade doll cloths. And if it goes well I might have my own table next year. But now I must get my act together and actually make the damn cards to... Grrr.... it's so much easier to do personal cards for friends and family members since I know them and can make it funnier and with more feeling then making a card for a complete stranger. But I'm working on it.

Another thing new is that I actually have a YouTube channel now... I first created it so that I could do video blogs but I really don't think that that is something I want to do... I think I would be a easy target for the so called "haters", (I really don't like that term thought) , so right now I'm posting time-lapse paintings and other art related things. I might do videos with me in it if I feel I have something to say that have so do with my art work... but with that said I'm sure I will be tempted to dive into the youtube community and do video responses and what not. But I don't think so. My channel name is TheCloudedMind if you would like to check out the video I have posted so far. I will probable add some of the videos in this blog when I have figured out how it works.

Soon you might have to endure a lot of photos of kittens because our cat My (that is her name) is expecting babies at the end of April and I'm planning on taking as much photos as I possible can... It going to be lots of fun and I'm excited.

I really need to update my deviantART gallery and journal soon but I find it really hard getting into it after this long... I still check in but now days I'm a lurker that simply observes and it has been months since I read any of the journals in my messages... it's not that I'm not interested but there is just so many people that I watch and some of them post several journals a day and I find that reading text on the computer screen really hurts my eyes... but I guess the basic truth is that I'm lazy.

Hmm there was more things that I was going to talk about but it seems like I have rambled on too far already so I think I will rap it up now. I will add a new blog post for the images instead of making this go on forever.

So in conclusion... I'm alive but I am not very active on the Internet. I simply watch and observe... And if you managed to make your way through this long text I salute you... ;)

My silly cat

2007-01-22T03:14:00.000+01:00

Yes... he is a very silly cat my Findus. He have decided to occupy my lap once again which of course makes it really hard to write this and also make drawing a pain in the ass... but he knows all to well that I love him too much to chase him away... ;)

As for today's sketch blog entries... hmm or rather the sketches from the 21st of January, I haven't done so many but I will show you what I did mange to make.

I tried to draw a face from my mind in this first one, but it didn't turn out as I would like it to have, but perhaps I learned something from it...

A butterfly and dog... yeah that is my real life drawing for today. I made them with a ballpoint pen.

This is an idea that I drew a thumbnail sketch of and I really like it and I really want to make a finished painting of it.

Well I drew another YouTuber today. This time it's a girl called l3ryz and the video I looked at was Will you please draw me marcoseiji?. I use pencil and a smudge thing (don't know the name for it in English). I added the paper texture in photoshop.

Drawing people from YouTube

2007-01-20T23:45:00.000+01:00

Yeah so a couple a days ago a guy named marcoseiji got featured on the first page on YouTube with his video drawing youtube and I really like it. He is really good at drawing and I think that it was a really cool idea... So I felt like giving it a go too. I need to practise drawing people and I spend way to much time on youtube anyway so I thought that I might as well get something out of it... I have only managed to draw two so far but I plan to make more.

The first youtuber is tomlmc and the video I looked at was Re: drawing youtube. It's just a quick sketch done in photoshop but I might paint some more on it... maybe.

The second youtuber is XxHayleyE10xX and the video I use for reference was blog omg.

A very small sketch of a spider and a half butterfly... the butterfly is my real life sketch for today, it's a toy butterfly that I have on a box.

I made a fairy today... I was going to draw the wings to but I got lazy, I will probably do them later on.

Uninspired

2007-01-19T23:53:00.000+01:00

Yes... today I have felt pretty uninspired but I did manage to make some stuff.

In this first one I tried to draw from real life, which is something I haven't done since school. It's suppose to be one of my pencil-sharpener but somehow I managed to mess up the proportions. Oh well I guess I need to practice...

I don't know what this second one is... something cute. I might colour it later on.

The third is more of an experiment done with colour pencils but my scanner didn't pick up the purple colour that well. I like the idea but I think I might have to redo it sometime.

Last one... hmm yeah... it some kind of horse/dog/donkey creature. Didn't know how to make the body so I just did the head.

Ink On Fingertip...

2007-01-18T02:18:00.000+01:00

... yes that is what I have tonight. And that happened when I got frustrated with my self once again for not getting in the mood for drawing. So I simply felt like making a mess... Of course that is also what the picture turned out to be... a messy picture that I will never show. But it did fur fill it's purpose because after that I managed to make a few sketches and even one digital speed paint. They may not be that good but then again they are just sketches...

This fist one is a thumbnail sketch I did very quickly because I felt in the mood of making a acrylic painting (but on this I used coloured pencils), but then I lost the inspiration for it. She is suppose to be offering her heart to the viewer... I have made other sketches like this before but I don't think I have made a finished picture so far.
I want to paint with acrylics but I always have a lot of trouble choosing colours so I often end up not doing it at all. For this I had though that I only would use shades of red, yellow and orange but I'm not sure jet. And besides I might think of a better motive before taking out the pallet.
This is also a thumbnail sketch that I made with a purple/pinkish felt marker... I really don't know what this is but I started on the head and the things growing out of it is suppose to be trees. It's strange... but I like it.

The third one is also something that just happened. I was drawing lines with my pencil and I fell for the hair (as I usually do). I was going to make a jacket with a fur like collar but I didn't know how the jacket should look, (and I got lazy), so this is is what I made. The darker parts have been made with a black ballpoint pen.

Ok... so here comes something with a very silly smile... and I don't know if that is some sort of dance or if he (or she) is trying to steel the nut from the squirrel. I tried to make a background for this... yay for me! ;)

Well the one bellow is actually probably going to be a finished drawing later on (if I don't get side tracked). Happy rain... of course I will draw the rain in the finished version don't you worry. So far I have use a pencil to draw the sketch and then use my brush pen to make the line art. Don't know if I should colour it in traditional media or in photoshop. Hmm... I guess I could do both... we'll see.

So the last one is a little speed-painting that I did after resizing all the other pictures above. It's been a long time since I painted anything in photoshop and I realised how much I missed it...
This was going to be the logo for this blog but it didn't work out as I planed and I kept on adding things to it so in the end I decided to just put it in today's sketch-blog.

Silly little creatures and a face

2007-01-17T00:31:00.000+01:00

Well the good news is that the external hard drive isn't broken so I haven't lost my files. The bad news is that it's my computer that there is something wrong with. It's probably something to do with the usb thingies but since I really don't know anything about those I can't be sure.
Hopefully my sisters boyfriend will be able to help me so that I can access my files from my computer... if not... well then I will have to go through the time consuming process of connecting the external hard drive to dad's comp and making the files available though the network and then copy the files I want to use from my comp... I really don't want to do that because that would mean that I probably wont get my lazy ass around to complete things. So lets hope I don't have to!

As for drawing. Well I have been drawing something everyday for the past three weeks and I really am getting into it. But most of the things I have made this far are sketches and doodles but I'm trying to get myself to learn by looking at all sort of different things. So every day of the week I draw different subjects.
So on Mondays I draw women, Tuesday I try to draw men, Wednesday is animal or bird day, Thursday I'm forcing myself to draw buildings or rooms. On Friday I draw nature or plants, Saturday is bugs day and on Sunday I can draw whatever I want. I will probable change the subjects or add more things as I go along but for now this is good.

Another thing that I have started on these past few days is following a sort of video tutorial by Riven Phoenix. I found him through YouTube but he also have a blog called The Structure of Man. I really like his videos and I find it much easier to learn by seeing and listening so for me this is great. I have watch through Drawing the Human Figure From Your Mind - Lesson 1 - 6 so far but I hope to do lesson 7 when I have finished this blog post.
To see the first lesson simply scroll down in his blog.

And the sketches for this blog will be:

All except the one on the right side of the face has been done with a ballpoint pen.

I have a lot of things that I need to do and one of them is writing a new journal for my deviantART account. I also need to comment on a lot of people over there... =)

Lost files and Speed paintings from 2006

2007-01-10T04:34:00.000+01:00

Well I was going to scan in some new stuff tonight, then re-size them and post them in this blog. But well... for some unknown reason the external usb hard drive, where I keep all my drawings, photographs and photoshop files, won't show up on my computer... So I don't know if I have lost everything or if I can fix it, but I was too upset to do it tonight so I will look into it more tomorrow. Hopefully I can get it to work again and if not... then I have lost all my latest photoshop files and my latest photos (which have a lot of pictures of our puppy Ronja that I can never get back). As for drawings... well I did burn a back up cd on those files a few days ago so I don't have to worry about those at least...

The Sketches

So for this sketch blog entry I had to take out some speed paintings I have done in Painter Essentials 2 that I happened to have saved on my local hard drive.

I did this after a small pencil sketch I had done... I will probably do a "real" version of this some day.

Yeah... nothing special.

Sketches from December 2006

2007-01-08T03:10:00.000+01:00

Just like the title says here are some sketches from December 2006 that I will show. Nothing really special but I do like them and hopefully I can use some of the ideas for "real" paintings... that is the plan at least. ;)

For 2007 I hope that I will use this sketch blog more then last year. I want to improve my drawing skills too and I have started drawing sketches with different topic every day of the week and so far I have actually done just that! I might show some of the best from every week later on depending on what I have used as reference and if I like them.

Who knows what 2007 might bring...

Speedpainting Done 2 December, 2006

2006-12-05T02:31:00.000+01:00

Speedpaintings Done 26 November, 2006

2006-11-30T02:42:00.000+01:00

Bird Like Things

2006-11-29T02:39:00.000+01:00

Nothing special... just some random sketches!

Ideas for game room

2006-10-16T23:45:00.000+02:00

Well my sister and her boyfriend has a "game" room where they keep a air-hockey game and they also have a "bar" in one corner. And on the walls my sister haves a some of my drawings but on one wall there still is room for more... so my sister has asked me to draw something and I came up with a mini "comic" that might be fun.

The girl is supposed to be my sister and of course then the boy is her boyfriend. I know that in every panel they have a different look but it's still just a sketch and I haven't really decided on which look I want for it.

I might do four single drawings or make a big one like on the sketch... I don't know yet.

Thanks Marianna!

2006-10-15T02:35:00.000+02:00

Thank you Marianna for all you lovely comments that you have made in my blog... I really appreciate it! Hopefully I will get more active on DA soon. But after being away for so long I do feel a little scared to get going again... stupid I know but I can't help it...

And here are some sketches:

Digital speedpaint!

2006-09-28T00:06:00.000+02:00

Some September Sketches

2006-09-26T21:58:00.000+02:00

A new member off the family!

2006-09-23T21:54:00.000+02:00

The Puppy

Yes thats right... we now have another dog in the family. I told you about the puppy my sister was getting in an earlier blog entry and how my mother and I wanted one of our own... Well mum did get dad to see our way (which wasn't that hard since he really wanted one too) so on Wednesday the 20 September we went to the same women and looked at the two puppies she had left. And even tho they both where very cute, we all fell for the one with the most fur, she was the one that was most forward and she acted just like she wanted us to pick her... and we did!

We have had a hard time deciding on what we are going to call her...On the paper she her name is Samira, witch is a really lovely name but it's a little to close to Safir and Saffy witch is the name on my sisters oldest dog... so we wanted her to have another name. At first we called her Tammy but that proved to be hard to remember and then we named her Buffy but again that was a little too close to Saffy. Finally we have decided on Ronja after Astid Lindgren's character because our Ronja is much like the girl in the book Ronia, the Robber's Daughter or Ronja Rövardotter as it's called in Swedish.

So with the new puppy here there haven't been much time for anything else other then taking her out to pee and to play with her. So in the evenings I have been so tired that I haven't had the energy to turn the computer on... I'm very tired now too but I have taken the opportunity to sit down and relax. So if there are lots of spelling mistakes in this you know why.

The Sketches

I have done some sketches while I have been "babysitting" but since I am so tired right now I haven't scanned them in jet so you will be seeing some older sketches today.

This first one is a sketch where I tried to do a full-body drawing in a pose that I haven't drawn before. It's not perfect but I sort of like it anyway.

I don't now what I was thinking when I drew this one... the arms look so strange but... hmm... yeah I still like to show it to you.

Some last words

In my last blog I talked about telling you about a great magazine I know but since I am so tired right now I will write about it in my next blog instead.

Strange creatures...

2006-09-20T00:13:00.000+02:00

I'm still trying to figure out what I could write in this blog... yes I know that this is a sketch-blog, but I would like to take the opportunity to write down things I find important.

However, the thing is I neither speak good English nor let alone write it and my spelling is awful at times, I'm aware of this but if I should write only in Swedish then most wouldn't have a clue on what I said and besides do I know that most Swedish people can understand English pretty well even though they may not be as good at the writing or speaking it.

Men finns det någon som undra va sjutton jag har skrivit så är det bara att att fråga på svenska. Hihi!!!

I use Google's spellcheck tool when I write but I still wish I had payed a little more attention in my English classes at school.

I don't think I have anything interesting to say right now but tomorrow I plan to tell you a little bit more about a great magazine I have bought for the last couple of months that I simply love! So stay tuned... ;)

Today's collection of sketches will be of some strange creatures I have drawn and I hope you will like them.

The creature above is just something a started on when I was with my friend and drew pictures for each other. Hmmm... well she was the one on a drawing spree and drew funny and cute pictures for me but I only manage to make a few for her... but this one I never finished and even tho I was planing to make a proper drawing out of it I haven't been able so far...

I acually named the creature above (the one withe the funny looking eyes) to Bizzy... I don't know why but it has been on my big pile of "must finish" picture for ever but I never seem to get to it. So I thought I should show you how far I have come... You can't see it that clearly but in the background I am making a tree with a hive hanging from one of the branches. I hope I can get the inspiration to finish it soon. =)

This cat, rabbit, lion and kangaroo looking creature I made one day when me and my sister sat down and drew together, I can't remember what she said bit I do know that she inspired me to make this one...

Some faces!

2006-09-19T01:54:00.000+02:00

Here comes some sketches of random faces I have done this year... All have been done with pencil on ordinary computer paper.

As you might notice I have a thing for making those kinds of pointy ears... I don't' know why but I really like doing them... And on the sketch over here you see how I tried making a half-animal girl with leopard spots, (YES..I know it doesn't look anything near leopard spots but I tried).

On the sketch below I was going for some kind of native tribe person, I say person because even tho I was trying to draw a man I don't think I did a very good job... Why is drawing men and boys so darn hard... hmm... I guess I need to try harder next time.

Below you see a sketch of a clown I did as reference for a gift art, I never use this one though but might use it for something else later on.

STRIPPED -Raw and Real

2006-09-18T01:06:00.000+02:00

Today I thought I could tell you about http://www.strippedmusic.com/... STRIPPED -Raw and Real... this a great place to listen to music on the web, I really love the fact that it is "raw and real" because it really brings... at least me closer to the music and makes me really stop and listen. And some of the artist that has been on so far has been completely unknown for me so it has opened my eyes to some new music... and the fact that almost all the artist that has been on have been singing a cover of a song they have chosen and making their own version of it really gives it an edge. I also enjoy the Interviews too. You can choose between seeing the video or listen to the audio and either play all or choose one of the songs. =)

And since this is my blog I will tell you about some of my personal favourites, but remember you don't have to like them... hehehe.
One of the first artist I heard on Stripped was Gavin DeGraw and I especially like the song "Belief". Another favourite is Brad Paisley and his cover of Eric Clapton's song "Layla". And I really love the song "Wild West Show" by Big & Rich, their other songs are alright but "Wild West Show" simply great. Reba's song "Fancy" is also a really great song! And I love all the songs by Shinedown along with Nelly Furtado's songs "Promiscuous", "Maneater" and her cover of Gnarls Barkley’s "Crazy". And today was the first time I heard The Fray (they are the newest featured performance on the first page) and I feel in love with all the songs...
Well there you have some of my favourite artist on http://www.strippedmusic.com/.

Hmm... and since this is a sketch-blog I better show you some sketches or don't you think. ;)

No words!

2006-09-17T00:25:00.000+02:00

Work in progress: Dear...

2006-09-16T01:16:00.000+02:00

I thought I should share some of the digital paintings I'm working on and even tho I am far from finished on this one you might as well see it. =)

The work name for this is dear... simply because I haven't come up with a better name jet. It started out as a doddle where I just drew some lines and when I saw the "dear" I kept on adding new things to is and after awhile I decided to but in a fairy child on it back because I wanted something more to it... I'm planing to make another background and perhaps even add more things and who knows... I might even come up with a story for the final version!

Some digital doodles!

2006-09-15T01:56:00.000+02:00

Well like the title says here are some doodles that I have made in Photoshop this year. =)